THACKERAL'S IRISHMAN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 110, 1 February 1908, Page 13

THACKERAL'S IRISHMAN.

r 8 - December {number ( of JiJacknood s Magazine" is "Menioiies of a London. Club,- .by David Masson; as dictated j to his daughter, Flora'Massoii. It is a. fascinating paper, jn %vhjch the late Professor, drew upon- his' great storo of 'recollections, T and. presented a lively.' picture' of literary London as •it was about years . a 6°' - Douglas . Jorrold,- Thackeray, and .other lions" wero pibinbers ot the club in .question, . and they '.figure in somo' entertainmg anecdotes.'

. On one occasion Thackeray told Masson that though ho, tho novelist, could describe an Irishman perfectly,''he never*:eouldvde- • scribe • a ''Sc'otsdiafi.^J 1 ' .i-pifiincVedi' liim' of Jlr. Bmme. ■ T ' r'.^ph,!.! .Th'aqkeray- ""that's' not .what Lmpanj thqt'sia. mere facsimile of a man I know,, a .mere, description from lifo, But .what 1-mean is, I couldn't invent a Scotchman , I should go; wrong;: But, oh II am qui.te at home with the Insll character 1 ■ I know the, Irish-thoroughlv. Tho bost friend I .ever. had> in the: world—tho , nicest- arid mpst delightful follow I cvor. knew in the world —was an Irishman. . But d've ' know, lie jus great ,iascal!.. I'll tell you .how lie served' me',oncei;; He.'was in low'water,' and was always coining -to me-to borrow a. sovereign 01- two, wluiu' 1 hadn't many, to spare.;.' But: he ;waa such a 'deay,' delightft|l fellow, it,was quite! a' pleasure',to'- lend thenV tp" hi in. ,Ono day,-'however, he came to me and said, 'I say,.'Th'ack, you're a writer for .magazines.' ;"gpt;'' a : paper that I think 'would. ; a TOagazino, : and*. I wish you'd .get it into. one-'of -for' mo,' because .I'm 'hard ''up(a> 'pre'^ant, l and a /few guiiioas . would;, pome/in, handy.V; I" took - li'ispapei',' and, actually,.''kept'' one of my own .'pftpers. .put :-of "Eraser's Magazine" of . the -corriiiife month, though it was' rather a 'con-' isiderable';sa6rifice'. for.''me at :tKo. time,' : in order! to,; get., my ''.friend's, ptyier in. ' "Oh 1 'you've uoidea what' a v nice, • delightful follow ..that '.was 1-. Well,'; the" paper ■ appeared j. and it-was perhaps' a week or two after the beginning of : - tho months before. I next stepped into Fraser's, the publisher's, shop, vl'' thought Fraser looked rather glum when I .went, in'; : but I did riot' know ;tho cause till he said: • ! ; ;;v ,' -. ) ' '"Well, this js a .pretty affair, 1 Jlr. Thackeray]' ,rtv';V " ■■■■; 1 What-affair ?-'.L asked. ■ '."Why,, that paper, ;;of your friend's, in this number!' ' . '.' 'What about it?' I said '•'• . .• ■■;.■ ''Ho .\vent .to'va ; drawer, and took out a newspaper,, cliping*', and' asked ; m'o to • ilook at.it.. - I .did j. iind;tourid, to ■ iny that my paper w ; as denounced •as a bare,%edr plagiarism. . It. had been copied vorbatim from' an article that had appeared in some 'Other periodical'.;''.' The.'. date and all other particulars were given.' V ' "I was of'/course . greatly annoyed, and indeed excessively; angry,; . and I thought, 'Well. I must cut the fellow" for '■ ever ;• there : s'no getting.on with, him:'; I took tho cjippihg with me, and went' straight to .my: friend's, rooms, ; intonc(ing tp' blow him up, once for .all, and- havo done with him. I showed him the';; clipping, and; declared , his behaviour to ; have' been scandalous. , What do- you, think he did ? Ho laughed in my face, and treated the whole affair as a capital 'joke!, That's how my Irish friend served me;.but oh! he - was tho nicest friend, the dearest, most delightful fellow, I ever knew,in tho wprld!'.' ;, .!"