life in the eighteenth century. This work is one of the great
historical novels in our language. The time of queen Anne is
reconstructed with remarkable skill. The social etiquette, the ideals
of honor, the life and spirit of that bygone day, reappear with a
powerful vividness. Thackeray even went so far as to disguise his own
natural, graceful style, and to imitate eighteenth-century prose.
_Henry Esmond_ is a dangerous rival of _Vanity Fair_. The earlier work
has a freshness of humor and a spontaneity of manner that are not so
apparent in _Henry Esmond_. On the other hand, _Esmond_ has a superior
plot and possesses a true hero.

In _The Newcomes_ (1854-1855), Thackeray exhibits again his incisive
power of delineating character. This book would continue to live if
for nothing except the simple-hearted, courtly Colonel Newcome. Few
scenes in English fiction are more affecting than those connected with
his death. The accompanying lines will show what a simple pathos
Thackeray could command:--

"At the usual evening hour the chapel bell begin to toll, and
Thomas Newcome's hands outside the bed feebly beat time--and just
as the last bell struck, a peculiar sweet smile shone over his face,
and he lifted up his head a little, and quickly said, '_Adsum_'--and
fell back. It was the word we used at school when names were called;
and, lo! he whose heart was as that of a little child had answered
to his name, and stood in the presence of the Master!"

_The History of Pendennis_ (1849) and _The Virginians_ (1857-1859) are
both popular novels and take rank inferior only to the author's three
greatest works. _The Virginians_ is a sequel to _Esmond_, and carries
the Castlewood family through adventures in the New World.

Essays.--Thackeray will live in English literature as an essayist as
well as a novelist. _The English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century_
(1853) and _The Four Georges_ (1860) are among the most delightful
essays of the age. The author of _Henry Esmond_ knew Swift, Addison,
Fielding, and Smollett, almost as one knows the mental peculiarities
of an intimate friend. In _The English Humorists of the Eighteenth
Century_, Thackeray writes of their conversations, foibles, and strong
points of character, in a most easy and entertaining way. There is a
constant charm about his manner, which, without effort or display of
learning, brings the authors vividly before the reader. In addition to
this presentation