Mr. Thackeray, of Vanity Fair, announced a simple course of lectures on a purely literary subject; and for the reason that Mr. Thackeray, living entirely by his pen, was still recognised as a fine gentleman by all--and they were many--who knew him in private, so accordingly his room was filled by an audience as brilliant and fashionable, as intelligent and judicious--in fact, after the lecturer, the agreeable sight of the excellent set of people who gathered about him with such thoughtful attention was really an attraction. [Sidenote: =Château de Brequerecque, Boulogne-sur-Mer= _see page 20_] [Sidenote: =No. 36, Onslow Square, Brompton= _see page 19_] On October 30th, 1852, Thackeray set sail for the United States, where he remained until the spring of 1853. He lectured in various towns--New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and Richmond amongst others. Upon his return to Europe he made a very short stay in London, and then proceeded to Switzerland, where the story of “The Newcomes” was, according to his own statement, “revealed to him somehow.” Much of the novel was written abroad while its author was travelling in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, or staying at the Château de Brequerecque at Boulogne, where he is said to have evolved the noble figure of Colonel Newcome. The Château de Brequerecque lies pleasantly nestled in trees and shrubberies on the outskirts of the town, and is surrounded by a high wall screening it from public gaze. “The Newcomes” was completed at No. 36, Onslow Square, where Thackeray moved from Young Street in 1857. “The result of my father’s furnishings,” wrote Mrs. Richmond Ritchie of this residence, “was a pleasant, bowery sort of home, with green curtains and carpets, looking out upon the elm trees of Onslow Square. We lived for seven years at No. 36, and it was there he wrote the ‘Lectures on the George’s, and the end of ‘The Newcomes,’ and ‘The Virginians,’ part of ‘Philip,’ and many of the ‘Roundabout Papers.’ His study was over the drawing-room, and looked out upon the elm trees.” Thackeray stood for Parliament in the Oxford City division in July of 1857, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1860 he undertook the editorship of the _Cornhill Magazine_, of which Messrs. Smith & Elder had commenced publication in the January of that year. Though continuing to contribute to this magazine until the last, he retired from the editorship in April 1862, doubtless finding the work too exacting for his now failing health. [Sidenote: =No. 2, Palace Green, Kensington, where Thackeray died= _see page 32_] [Sidenote: =The M.S. of “Denis Duval.”= _see page 31_] [Sidenote: =Thackeray’s Grave at Kensal Green Cemetery= _see page 33_]