But they who have called him a cynic have spoken of him merely as a writer,--and as writer he has certainly taken upon himself the special task of barking at the vices and follies of the world around him.

Any satirist might in the same way be called a cynic in so far as his satire goes.
Swift was a cynic certainly.

Pope was cynical when he was a satirist.
Juvenal was all cynical, because he was all satirist.

If that be what is meant, Thackeray was certainly a cynic.

But that is not all that the word implies.