ABSTRACT
In 1836 Thackeray returned to London to settle the preliminaries of a scheme for establishing a daily newspaper projected by his stepfather. Major Smyth had chosen the moment when the old newspaper tax was about to be much reduced. The Constitutional dragged on an almost saleless existence until July 1, when the last number appeared, with a black border for the death of the king, and an announcement, probably written by Thackeray himself, explaining the cause of the failure of the paper. The moral of Elizabeth Brownrigge and Catherine is identical. It is a purpose for which Thackeray was never tired of labouring in both these stories, and in his almost unknown article on Fielding. When the Constitutional failed, Thackeray, having a wife to provide for, and having no source of income, plunged into work with immense energy, and wrote for many magazines and papers, though, as most of the writings were published anonymously.
