ABSTRACT
Of all characters, Thackeray’s is one of the most difficult to understand. It is apparently so complex that the unravelling appears, at a first glance, almost impossible. ‘Amongst the many interesting people who gathered round Thackeray’s father and mother,’ she says, ‘none made such a vivid impression on childish imagination as Thackeray. He is the central figure which stands out in bold relief from the dim surroundings. Thackeray mounted the many steps leading to the desolate chamber, administered some little rebuke on the thoughtlessness of not laying by some of the easily gained gold of youth or manhood, and, slipping into a blotting-book a hundred-pound note, hurried away. Thackeray spoke as Newton spoke about gathering pebbles on the shore, and affirmed that one of the best results of knowledge was to convince man of his ignorance. He seemed to preach from the text, though he did not quote it, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
