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Puns and Sayings of Jerrold.

DOGMATISM is the maturity of puppyism.

UNREMITTING KINDNESS-Call that a kind man,' said an actor, speaking of an absent acquaintance; a man who is away from his family, and never sends them a farthing! Call that kindness! Yes, unremitting kindness,' Jerrold replied.

THE RETORT DIRECT.-Some member of Our Club,' hearing an air mentioned, exclaimed: "That always carries me away when I hear it.' Can nobody whistle it?' exclaimed Jerrold.

AUSTRALIA.-Earth is so kindly there that, tickle her with a hoe, and she laughs with a harvest.

THE SHARP ATTORNEY.-A friend of an unfortunate lawyer met Jerrold, and said: Have you heard about poor R.—? His business is going to the devil.' JERROLD: That's all right: then he is sure to get it back again.'

THE REASON WHY.-One evening at the Museum Club a member very ostentatiously said in a loud voice: Isn't it strange; we had no fish at the marquis's last night? That has happened twice lately-I can't account for it.' 'Nor I,' replied Jerrold, unless they ate it all up-stairs.' OSTENTATIOUS GRIEF.-Reading the pompous and fulsome inscription which Soyer the cook put on his wife's tomb in Kensal Green Cemetery, Jerrold shook his head and said: Mock-turtle.'

A FILIAL SMILE.-In a railway-carriage one day, a gentleman expatiated on the beauty of nature. Cows were grazing in the fields. In reading in the fields,' said he, sometimes a cow comes and bends its head over me. I look up benignantly at it.' With a filial smile,' rejoined Jerrold.

THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE -A Frenchman said he was proud to see the English and French such good friends at last. JERROLD: Tut! the best thing I know between France and England is-the sea.'

THE SCOTCH-Jerrold was foud of girding at the Scotch jocularly. Every Scotchman has a niche [an itch] in the temple of Fame.' Look at the antiquity of the paintings in Holyrood Palace! Ay, and you had the distemper before the oilpaintings.'

GILBERT ABBOT À BECKETT-MARK LEMON—SHIRLEY BROOKS

TOM TAYLOR.

This cluster of genial wits and humorists-contributors to Punch,' and all of them well known in general literature-attempted the drama, and one of them (Mr Taylor) with continued and marked success. MR. À BECKETT (1810–1856) delighted in puns and burlesque; he produced above thirty dramatic pieces, and wrote the 'Comic Blackstone' and 'Comic Histories of England' and 'Rome.' He latterly filled the office of police magistrate-a man universally respected and beloved.

MARK LEMON (1809-1870) wrote a vast number of dramatic pieces above fifty, it is said-but his highest honours were derived from his editorship of Punch,' a valuable weekly per lical, witty without coarseness, and satirical without scurrility-which he conducted from its commencement, July 17, 1841, till his death. Mr. Lemon was author also of occasional poems and prose sketches.

CHARLES SHIRLEY BROOKS (1815-1874) succeeded Mark Lemon as editor of 'Punch,' to which he had for many years been a regular contributor. Mr. Brooks was a native of London, studied for the law, and was articled to a solicitor (his uncle) at Oswestry; but he early adopted literature as a profession. He was engaged on the 'Morning Chronicle,' writing the parliamentary summary of that

journal for five years. He also travelled in the south of Russia, Asia Minor, and Egypt as special commissioner for the Chronicle,' investigating the condition of the labouring classes; and part of the results of his journey was published under the title of The Russians in the South. Mr. Brooks was author of several successful dramas and of four novels-'Aspen Court,' The Gordian Knot,' 'The Silver Cord' and Sooner or Later.' All these works are distinguished by witty and sparkling dialogue, by variety of incident and knowledge of the world, especially of town life and character. We subjoin one short extract from 'The Gordian Knot:'

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Portrait of Douglas Jerrold.

Margaret found herself alone; but not being one of the persons who find themselves bores, and must always seek companionship. she sat down, and amused herself with one of the new books on the table. And as the volume happened to be a fresh and noble poe.n by a poetess who is unreasonable enough to demand that those who would understand her magnificent lines shall bestow on them some little thought in exchange for the great thought that has produced them (and then the reader is but like the scrubby Diomed giving his brass arms for the golden harness of splendid Sarpedon), Margaret's earnest attention to Mrs. Browning rendered the reader unaware that another person had ent red the room.

His footfall was so light that her not hearing his approach was not surprising; and as he stood for a minute or more watching her intelligent face as it expressed the pleasure she felt as rose-leaf after rose-leaf of an involved and beautiful thought unfolded and expanded to her mind. Then, as she raised her eyes, her half-fornied smile changed to a look of surprise as she found herself confronted by a stranger; and she coloured highly as that look was returned by a pleasant glance and a bow, respectful and yet playful, as the situation and the difference of age might warrant.

Before her stood a gentleman, considerably below the middle height, and in form delicate almost to fragility, but whose appearance was redeemed from aught of feebleness by a lion-like head, and features which, classically chiselled, told of a mental force and will rarely allotted. The hair, whose gray was almost whiteness, was long and luxuriant, and fell back from a noble forehead. The eye, set back under a bold strong brow, yet in itself somewha prominent, was in repose, but its depths were those that, under excitement, light up to a glow. About the flexible mouth there lingered a smile, too gentle to be called mocking, but evidence of a humour ready at the slightest call-and yet the lips could frame themselves for stern or passionate utterauces at need. The slight stoop was at first taken by Margaret for part of the bow with which the stranger had greeted her, but she perceived that it was habitual, as the latter, resting his small white hands on the head of an ivory-handled cane, said in a cheerful and kindly voice, and with a nod at the book: Fine diamonds in a fine casket there, are there not?'

His tone was evidently intended to put Margaret at her ease, and to make her forget that she had been surprised; and his manner was so pleasant, and almost fatherly, that she felt herself in the presence of some one of a kindred nature to that of her Uncle Cheriton. By a curious confusion of idea, to be explained only by the suddenness of the introduction. Margaret seized the notion that her other uncle was before her. I am sorry, however, to say that neither the poetess's page nor the visitor's phrase inspired her with a cleverer answer to his speech than a hesitating ‘O— O Yes, very.'

And then she naturally expected to receive her relative's greeting; but as she rose, the gentleman made a slight and courteons gesture, which seemed to beg her to sit, or do exactly what she liked, and she resumed her chair in perplexity. Her companion looked at her again with some interest, and his bright eye then fell upon Bertha's volume, which Margaret had laid on the table

'Ah,' he said, pointing to the word on the cover. 'those five letters again in conspiracy against the peace of mankind. They ought to be dispersed by a social police. But may one look ?

There is scarcely anything there,' said Margarer, as he opened the book. Only a few pages have been touched.'

"Ah, I see,' he said. Just a few songstere, as the bird-catchers put some caged birds near the nets, to persuade the others that the sita. tion is eligible But.' He continued, turning on until he came to a drawing, this is another kind of thing. This is capital' It was a sketch by Margaret, and represented her cousin Latimer, in shooting-costume, and gun in hand. At his feet lay a hare, victim of his skill. "Capital,' he repeated. Your own work?'

Yes,' said Margaret; ne likeness happened to be thonght fortunate, and so '-
No. no; you draw cha mingly. I'll give you a motto for the picture. Shall I ?'
I am glad of any contribution."

Look a pen and in a curious little hand wrote below the sketch:

And beauty draws us with a igle hare.

'I shall not find any poetry of yours here he said. You read Mrs. Browning, and so you know better. What a treasure i use of thought that woman is! Some of the boxes are locked, and you must the key with a will; but when you have opened, you are rich for life.''

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TOM TAYLOR is said to have produced about a hundred dramatic pieces, original and translated Many of these have been highly successful, and in particular we may mention Still Waters Run Deep,' The Ticket-of-Leave Man,' Victims,''An Unequal Match,' "The Contested Election,' 'The Overland Route,' "Twixt Axe and Crown,' and 'Joan of Arc.' The two last mentioned are historical dramas of a superior class, and to 'Joan of Arc,' Mrs. Tom Taylor (nee Laura Barker, distinguisher as a musical composer) contributed an original overture and entr'ace. At the Literary Fund banquet, London, in June 1878, Mr. Taylor said that, while serving literature as his mistress, he had served the state as his master-a jealous like the law, if not so jealous-and while contributing largely to literature grave and gay, by help of the invaluable three hours before breakfast, he had given the daily labour of twenty-two of his best years to the duties of a public office.' In 1850 Mr. Taylor was appointed Assistant-secretary to the Board of Health; and in 1854, on the reconstruction of that Board, he was made Secretary of the local Government Act Office, a department of the Home Office connected with the administration of the Sanitary Act of 1866. From this public employment he retired in 1872. Besides his dramatic pieces Mr. Taylor has been a steady contributor to 'Punch,' and on the death of Shirley Brooks became editor of that journal. He has added to our literature the Autobiography of B. R. Haydon,' 1853, compiled and edited from the journals of that unfortunate artist; also the Autobiography and Correspondence of the late C. R. Leslie, R.A.,' 1859; and the Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds,' 1865-the last having been commenced by Leslie shortly before his death, and left in a very incomplete state. Mr. Taylor is a native of Sunderland, born in 1817; he studied at Glasgow University, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he was elected a Fellow. He held for two years the Professorship of English Literature at University College, London; was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in 1845, and went the northern circuit until

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his appointment to the Board of Health in 1850. A rare combination of taste and talent, industry and private worth, has insured Mr. Taylor a happy and prosperous life, with the esteem and regard of all his literary and artistic contemporaries.

WESTLAND MARSTON, ETC.

There are numerous other dramatists: MR. WESTLAND MARSTON (born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 1820) produced The Patrician's Daughter,' 1841; 'The Heart and the World,' 1847; 'Strathmore,' a tragedy, 1849; &c.-MR. ROBERT B. BROUGH (born in London in 1828) has produced several burlesque and other dramatic pieces. In the list of modern dramatists are MR. PLANCHE, MR. BUCKSTONE, MR. OXENFORD, MR. LEMAN REDE, MR. SULLIVAN, MR. STIRLING COYNE, MR. EDWARD FITZBALL, MR. DION BOUCICAULT, MR. W. S. GILBERT, &c. The play-goers of the metropolis welcome these Cynthias of the minute,' and are ever calling for new pieces, but few modern dramas can be said to have taken a permanent place in our literature.

NOVELISTS.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.

This distinguished American novelist (1789-1851) has obtained great celebrity in England and over all Europe for his pictures of the sea, sea-life, and wild Indian scenery and manners. His imagination is essentially poetical. He invests the ship with all the interest of a living being, and makes his readers follow its progress, and trace the operations of those on board, with intense and never-flagging anxiety. Of humour he has scarcely any perception; and in delineating character and familiar incidents, he often betrays a great want of taste and knowledge of the world. 'When he attempts to catch the ease of fashion,' it has been truly said, he is singularly unsuccessful.' He belongs, like Mrs. Radcliffe, to the romantic school of novelistsespecially to the sea, the heath, and the primeval forest. Mr. Cooper was born at Burlington, New Jersey, son of Judge William Cooper. After studying at Yale College, he entered the navy as a midshipman; and though he continued only six years a sailor, his nautical experience gave a character and colour to his after-life, and produced impressias of which the world has reaped the rich result. On his marrig, in 1811, to a lady in the state of New York, Mr. Cooper left the navy. His first novel, Precaution,' was published anonymously

in 1819, and attracted little attention; but in 1821 appeared his story of The Spy,' founded upon incidents connected with the American Revolution. This is a powerful and interesting romance, and it was .bighly successful.

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The author's fame was still more increased by his novels of 'The Pioneers' and 'The Pilot,' published in 1823; and these were suc ceeded by a long train of fictions-Lionel Lincoln,' 1825; The Last of the Mohicans,' 1826; The Red Rover' and 'The Prairie,' 1827; Travelling Bachelor,' 1828; Wept of Wish-ton Wish,' 1829; The Water Witch,' 1830; Bravo,' 1831; 'Heidenmauer,' 1832; 'Headsman,' 1833; Monikins,' 1835; Homeward Bound' and 'Home as Found,' 1838; The Pathfinder' and Mercedes of Castile, 1840; The Deerslayer,' 1841; The Two Admirals' and Wing and Wing,' 1842; Ned Myers' and 'Wyandotte,' 1843; Afloat and Ashore' and 'Miles Wallingford,' 1844; The Chainbearer' and 'Satanstoe,' 1845; The Redskins,' 1-46; Le Crater,' 1847; Jack Tier' and 'Oak Openings,' 1848; The Sea Lions,' 1849; and 'The Ways of the Hour,' 1850, Of this numerous family of creations, the best are-The Spy,' 'The Pilot,' The Prairie,' The Last of the Mohicans,' and The Red Rover.' In these his characteristic excellences-his noble marine painting and delineation of American scenery and character-are all combined. Besides his novels, Cooper wrote ten volumes of sketches of European travels, a 'History of the Navy of the United States,' and various treatises on the institutions of America, in which a strong democratic spirit was manifested. In these he does not appear to advantage. He seems to have cherished some of the worst prejudices of the Americans, and, in his zeal for republican institutions, to have forgotten the candour and temper becoming an enlightened citizen of the world. In the department of fiction, however, Cooper has few superiors, and his countrymen may well glory in his name. He emphatically belongs to the American nation,' as Washington Irving has said, while his painting of nature under new and striking aspects, has given him a European fame that can never wholly die.

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A Virgin Wilderness-Lake Otsego,

On all sides, wherever the eye turned, nothing met it but the mirror-like surface of the lake, the placid view of heaven, and the dense setting of woods. So rich and fleecy were the outlines of the forest, that scarce an opening could be seen; the whole visible earth, from the rounded mountain-top to the water's edge, presenting one unvaried line of unbroken verdure. As if vegetation were not satisfied with a triumph so complete, the trees overhung the lake itse f, shooting out towards the light; and there were miles along its eastern shore where a boat might have pulled beneath the branches of dark Rembrandt-looking hemlocks, quivering aspens, and melancholy pines. In a word, the hand of man had never yet defaced or deformed any part of this native scene, which lay bathed in the sunlight, a glorious picture of effluent forest grandeur, softened by the balminess of June, and relieved by the beautiful variety afforded by the presence of so broad au expanse of water.

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