the eighteenth century, and on the first four Hanoverian monarchs. The latter series was published in book form as The Four Georges. In July 1857, Thackeray stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal for the city of Oxford in Parliament. Although not the most fiery agitator, Thackeray was always a decided liberal in his politics, and he promised to vote for the ballot in extension of the suffrage and was ready to accept triennial parliaments. He was narrowly beaten by Cardwell, who received 1,070 votes, as against 1,005 for Thackeray. In 1860, Thackeray became editor of the newly established Cornhill Magazine, but he was never comfortable in the role, preferring to contribute to the magazine as the writer of a column called "Roundabout Papers". Thackeray's health worsened during the 1850s, and he was plagued by a recurring stricture of the urethra that laid him up for days at a time. He also felt that he had lost much of his creative impetus. He worsened matters by excessive eating and drinking and avoiding exercise, though he enjoyed riding (he kept a horse). He has been described as "the greatest literary glutton who ever lived". His main activity apart from writing was "gutting and gorging". He could not break his addiction to spicy peppers, further ruining his digestion. On 23 December 1863, after returning from dining out and before dressing for bed, he suffered a stroke. He was found dead in his bed the following morning. His death at the age of fifty-two was unexpected and shocked his family, his friends and the reading public. An estimated 7,000 people attended his funeral at Kensington Gardens. He was buried on 29 December at Kensal Green Cemetery, and a memorial bust sculpted by Marochetti can be found in Westminster Abbey. Works The Yellowplush Papers (1837) Catherine (1839–1840) A Shabby Genteel Story (1840) The Paris Sketchbook (1840) Second Funeral of Napoleon (1841) The Irish Sketchbook (1842) The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844) Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo (1846) Mrs. Perkin's Ball (1846), under the name M. A. Titmarsh Stray Papers: Being Stories, Reviews, Verses, and Sketches (1821–1847) The Book of Snobs (1848) Vanity Fair (1848) Pendennis (1848–1850) Rebecca and Rowena (1850) Men's Wives (1852) The History of Henry Esmond (1852) The English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century (1853) The Newcomes (1855) The Rose and the Ring (1855) The Virginians (1857–1859) Lovel the Widower