"Pendennis,'' it must be noted, was interrupted by a
severe illness, and "The Bride of Lammermoor" was
dictated by Sir Walter when in great physical pain. On
one occasion Thackeray "lit upon a very stupid part of
' Pendennis,' I am sorry to say ; and yet how well written
it is ! What a shame the author don't write a complete
good story ! Will he die before doing so ? or come back
from America and do it ? "

Did he ever write " a complete, good story " ? Did any
one ever do such a thing as write a three-volume novel,
or a novel of equal length, which was " a complete, good
story"? Probably not; or if any mortal ever succeeded
in the task, it was the great Alexander Dumas. "The
Three Musketeers," I take leave to think, and "Twenty
Years After," are complete good stories, good from beginning
to end, stories from beginning to end without a break, with-
out needless episode. Perhaps one may say as much for
" Old Mortality," and for " Quentin Durward." But Scott



THACKERAY. in

and Dumas were born story-tellers; narrative was the
essence of their genius at its best ; the current of romance
rolls fleetly on, bearing with it persons and events, mirroring
scenes, but never ceasing to be the main thing — the central
interest. Perhaps narrative like this is the chief success
of the novelist. He is triumphant when he carries us on,
as Wolf, the famous critic, was carried on by the tide of
the Iliad, "in that pure and rapid current of action."
Nobody would claim this especial merit for Thackeray.
