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force which moves the man to speak because he must, because 

 he has something to say. Another of these substantial quali- 

 ties is breadth or range. Another is wholesomeness ; in the 

 best literature must be nothing morbid and unhealthy. Some 

 of the qualities of form are its unity or directness, its imagina- 

 tive power, and the ease or smoothness of the style. lyCt us look 

 at our poor victim of an author, then, along these lines. 



In the eyes of his contemporaries I suppose Thackeray 

 seemed to be daringly unconventional. The spirit of rebellion 

 against the usual style of the far-fetched and romantic novels 

 common at that time showed itself in Thackeray's keen and 

 quiet satire, in his desire to exhibit men and women as they 

 are, even if it should be necessary to write a story without a 

 hero. For the hero w^as an indispensable requisite to every 

 well-regulated novel before Thackeray's day. Some being of 

 transcendent excellence, man or woman, must dominate the 

 story ; at his or her appearance every knee must bow, the 

 choicest adjectives were scattered V\^ith unsparing hand, the 

 most unusual adventures must be devised to show off hero and 

 heroine, their woes must be heaped mountain high, their inven- 

 tion and daring, their passion and pain, their valor and fore- 

 sight must be superhuman, else the tale was voted by novel 

 readers of the forties and fifties tame and insipid. Here, for 

 example, is a short passage from Miss Jane Porter's " Scottish 

 Chiefs," an exceedingly popular book in its time and written 

 about 1809. 



' 'The shriek of horror that burst from every mouth interrupted 

 Wallace. "Vengeance! Vengeance!" was the cry of the 

 men, while tumultuous lamentations for the "sweet lyady of 

 Ellerslie" filled the air from the women. 



Wallace sprang from the cliff into the midst of his brave 

 countrymen : ' ' Follow me, then, to strike the mortal blow ! " * 



^ ^ ^ ^ 



"Death and Lady Marion!" was echoed with shouts from 

 mouth to mouth. Every .sword was drawn ; and those hardy peas- 

 ants who owned none, seizing the implements of pasturage, armed 

 themselves with wolf-spears, pickaxes, forks and scythes. 



Sixty resolute men now arranged themselves around their 

 chief. Wallace, whose widowed heart turned icy cold at the 



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