will do well to omit the earlier satires
of Thackeray, written while he was struggling to earn a living from the
magazines, and open _Henry Esmond_ (1852), his most perfect novel, though
not the most widely known and read. The fine historical and literary,
flavor of this story is one of its most marked characteristics, and only
one who knows something of the history and literature of the eighteenth
century can appreciate its value. The hero, Colonel Esmond; relates his own
story, carrying the reader through the courts and camps of Queen Anne's
reign, and giving the most complete and accurate picture of a past age that
has ever appeared in a novel. Thackeray is, as we have said, a realist, and
he begins his story by adopting the style and manner of a scholarly
gentleman of the period he is describing. He has an extraordinary knowledge
of eighteenth-century literature, and he reproduces its style in detail,
going so far as to insert in his narrative an alleged essay from the
_Tatler_. And so perfectly is it done that it is impossible to say wherein
it differs from the style of Addison and Steele.

In his matter also Thackeray is realistic, reflecting not the pride and
pomp of war, which are largely delusions, but its brutality and barbarism,
which are all too real; painting generals and leaders, not as the newspaper
heroes to whom we are accustomed, but as moved by intrigues, petty
jealousies, and selfish ambitions; showing us the great Duke of Marlborough
not as the military hero, the idol of war-crazed multitudes, but as without
personal honor, and governed by despicable avarice. In a word, Thackeray
gives us the "back stairs" view of war, which is, as a rule, totally
neglected in our histories. When he deals with the literary men of the
period, he uses the same frank realism, showing us Steele and Addison and
other leaders, not with halos about their heads, as popular authors, but in
slippers and dressing gowns, smoking a pipe in their own rooms, or else
growing tipsy and hilarious in the taverns,--just as they appeared in daily
life. Both in style and in matter, therefore, _Esmond_ deserves to rank as
probably the best historical novel in our language.

The plot of the story is, like most of Thackeray's plots, very slight, but
perfectly suited to the novelist's purpose. The plans of his characters
fail; their ideals grow dim; there is a general disappearance of youthful
ambitions. There is a love story at the center;