The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-30 00:00:00

MRS. LIRRIPER'S LEGACY.

A sequel hardly ever comes up to the antecedent
narrative of which it is a continuation. Here, how-
ever, is not only an exception to this all but inva-
riable rule, but a very signal exception, indeed—in
other words, precisely one of those exceptions
proverbially spoken of as proving it. " Mrs
Lirriper's Lodgings " is memorable as the great
success among all the Christmas numbers of
Charles Dickens's cheap periodical meaning
thereby not merely All the Year Bound, but
(together with that) the original weekly, still incor-
porated with it, Household Words, Among all the
Christmas numbers of both those popular serials,
" Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings" hears away the palm
triumphantly. It surpasses even the very best things
in " The Holly Tree Inn"—even, that is to say, the
Introduction to the Holly Tree Inn and the delect-
able story about Master Walmers junior, related by
that cousin-german of Sam 'Weller, The Boots !
Well, and, here, in "Mrs Lirriper's Legacy," we
have to the full as good as ever we had even in
" Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings." It is a sequel
worthy of its name as such for, it is,
in intrinsic excellence as well as in actual narrative
a distinct continuation. Mr Dickens takes up the
thread of his discourse unbroken. At starting, he
evidently finds himself to be thoroughly in the vein.
And, it is not so much the great Realistic Humorist
who is talking to us, here, ventriloquially, through
one of the whimsicalist and happiest of Lis seasonable
disguises as a story teller. It is, rather than that,
after its fashion—a very case of literary metempsy-
chosis ! It is, in other words, that dear old LodgM
ing House Keeper of number Eighty-one, Norfolk.
street, Strand, London, in the county of Middle-
sex (as Jemmy Jackman has it, iu his ceremo-
nious introduction of her to the Assessed Taxes) in
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
—it is Mrs Emma Lirriper herself, in person, with
her own original scheme of punctuation, with her
own distinctive system of orthography, when she
finds her language or her ideas soaring to any
unusual " heighth"—it is that dear old soul and no
other (not even her creator, Mr Dickens)—who talks
tons here as she only can talk to us. Mrs. Lirriper (as
they say in the French Chambers) a la parole! In
the Introduction that is, and in the Concluding
Chapter—she has it ! Remembering which—re-
membering what" Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings' turned
out to be in its Introduction and its Conclusion—
the best Reader-outaloud in (we wonder how many
home circles this season !) may certainly exclaim
quite cheerily with Young Sparkles himself while
preparing to read out Mrs Lirriper's Legacy—" Now
then ! I'm going to read, Once, twice, three, and
away. Open your mouth and shut your eyes and
see what Fortune sends you. All in to begin !" and
the like! For—so long as Charles Dickens wields
the pen therein—Mrs Lirriper is again at her best !
And Jemmy Jackman ! And the incomparable boy,
J. J. L.,— who is still " a boy" remember ! only
appearing now for a while, as he does, when home
once more on his holidays. Setting out
out upon her gossipping soliloquy, dear old Mrs
Lirriper gives us, even upon starting, a taste of her
quality—in her reference to the builder's "putting
the chimney-pots on by guess-work like hats at a
party." Referring afterwards to " these hotels
calling themselves Limited, but called Unlimited
by Major Jackman," she says, "rising up every.
where, and—rising up into flagstaffs when they
can't go any higher !" The first home•
news of any importance that she gives us,
however, from Number Eighty one is her ac-
count of the United Grand Junction Lirriper and
Jackman Great Norfolk Parlour Line (" injuring
the passengers almost equal to the' originals")—" a
whole mouthful of name" as Jemmy says—with
Gran as the Public—shares taken at ninepence,
Preference at one-and-six, Rolling Stock, Perma-
nent way, and all the rest of it. Afterwards (as
the next home news) —" Mentioning" says Mrs L.
" my poor Lirrip, r [which she hadn't:at the moment
in the least !] brings into my head his youngest
brother the doctor "—and thereupon we learn all
about an entirely new character—Joshua Lirriper,
the scaprgrace and ne'er.,do-well among the Lirri'
pers. We hear of him, for example, as not only
pursued by ,the bailiffs, as one may say within an
inch of his life, but as " once taken in the passage
of this very house with an umbrella up and the
major's hat on giving his name with the door-mat
round him as Sir Johnson Jones, K C B , in
spectacles residing at the Horse Guards P' This
being the very occasion when he has politely
offered Mrs. Lirriper the choice " between
thirty shillings in hand and his brains on the
premises "—" a threat that gave me," she says,
"such a dreadful turn, to think ef the brains
of my poor dear Lirriper's own flesh and blood flying
about the new oilcloth!" The upshot of this incident
however being—not the scattering of the brains of
Joshua Lirriper, but his capture, as already
mentioned, according to his sister-in-law, by
" two gentlemen that I should have judged
to be in the
feather-bed trade if they had not an-
nounced ',the law." The Major (as his good old
" a very passionate man
fforirenhdisteslilzseu,s) Bios cnoomt ictoallbye
taken in by Joshua's
appeals for sympathy or rather for assistance—but
Mrs. Lirriper, on the contrary, is moved almost
to tears by the vagabond's allusions to his vile dun-
geon and his mouldy straw,picturing him as "dressed
almost entirely in padlocks like Baron 7renck."
Next, we hear from Mrs. Lirriper all about the
Assessed Taxes, meaning the local collector of
them, Mr. Buffl?, whose business manners aro not
to say agreeable. " Over taxing,"
gossip justly remarks, "you have no control, but
suspecting is voluntary." The
maaisoro,surwdealrinighthtfil
" not relishing being spoke to with a pen in
the mouth "—coupled with his strong objections
to a low-crowned hat with a broad brim
being kept on in doors—lead to a delightfully ridia
culous scene, in which Jemmy
Jackman unhats Mr
Buie in his (the Major's) capacity as selfsappointed
collector of the two quarters Gallantry TaxEs
then due ! The scene ending with the Major,
in a rampant state, exclaiming, in allusion
to the pep, "Take your bit out, Sir ! Or,
by the whole infernal system of Taxation in
this country and every individual figure in
the National Debt, I'll get upon your back
and ride you like a horse !" " Which," says
Mrs. Lirriper, " it's my belief he would have done
spring." The defiant attitude assumed after this
—even actually jerking his neat little legs for a
fashion, by Major Jackman, towards that local im-
personation of the Assessed Taxes, Mr. Buffle,
extends even, it should be said, beyond the pecu-
liar occasion referred to—being renewed upon Mr.
Burte's next round, when the effect, as we hear
from Mrs. Lirriper, of the Major's threatening
aspect, when spruced up and humming a tune,
up and down the street
"with one eye almost ob-
literated by his hat—there are not expressions in
Johnson's Dictionary to stater Good is brought
even out of Mr &ffia, even out of the whole race of
Buffies, by Mrs Lirriper's way
of viewing them
through their domestic calamity of a fire.
A calamity signalled to the Lirriper housz,-•
hold one night by the Major himself so very
characteristically ! " Dress yourselves Fire !
Don't be frightened !—Fire ! Collect your pre-
sence of Mind !—Fire I There's nothing to be
alarmed at—Fire I You're quite composed and
comfortable, ain't you ?—Fire, Fire, Fire !" From
the "scampering by, bejoyful and ready to split," of
an unfeeling young monkey—to " the crackling of
flames and spatting of water and banging of
engines and breaking of glass,' we have the whole
scene brought vividly, almost, one might fancy,
within range of one's sight and hearing by a few
wonderful touches of Mr. Dickens's pen, or
rather, we should say, by a few wonderful
tones of Mrs. Lirriper's voice, until there is " car■
ried in a chair similar to Guy Fawkes—Mr.
Buffie in a blanket !" After him Mrs. Bid&
similarly enveloped—after her Miss Buffle—after
"Mr. Buffle's articled young gentle-
man,her la
ine r lover,
anot" e r
blanket—him a holding round the
necks of two men carrying him by the
legs, similar to the picter of the disgraceful
ereetur who had lost the fght-a-hitt /icor haring

the appearance of newly played upon." The rescuer
of these unfortunates being, an it turns out, Major
Jackman—the Major in that capacity having, Mrs
Lirriper informs us, " stood at the foot of the Fire
Escape and claimed them as they came down—the
young gentleman head foremost which accounts !"
There is a charming incident related immediately
afterwards, through which we come to learn
how Mrs Lirriper, dear old soul, goes to the
aid of her especial rival in the lodging line,
Miss Wozenham, " lower down on the other side of
the atreet." To this incident we can here, how-
ever, no more than very briefly allude—worthy
of especial examination though it is throughout,
from the first meeting of the two ladies in the
presence of " a not unfeeling elderly person that
might have been better shaved in a cotton night-
cap with a het over it offering a polite apology
for the mumps having worked themselves into
his constitution"—down to the incidental men-
thin of Miss Wozenham keeping " a brother
that had had the misfortune to soften his brain
against the hard mathematics as neat as a new
pin in the three-pair-back represented to lodgers as
a lumberaroom and consuming a whole shoulder of
mutton whenever provided !" Before the two ladies
part, Mrs. Lirriper tells us "We got as merry as
grigs—whatever they are if you happen to know my
dear—l don't." But—all this said and done—
there is still ;left to be mentioned The
Legacy ! Mrs Lirriper's Legacy ! The announce•
ment coming to her all the way from Sens, "made
out upon grocery paper stamped all over with
eagles !" Thereby, indeed, hangs a tale ! It is a
Legacy, as the reader soon begins to suspect—long
before Mrs Lirriper does, who is telling him—a
Legacy in the shape of a gold watch and a few
small goods and chattels from poor young Jemmy's
father, then and there lying dying at Sens. Thither
—to find out what the mystery may mean,
at the same time that the excursion gives
an object to their projected holidays—thither go
Mrs. Lirriper, the Major, and Jemmy—that is, to
Sens via Paris. The Major, at the mere prospect
of the journey, being "like the wild man of the
woods after meeting with an advertisement in the
papers telling him of something to his advantage I"
Their very passage across the Channel enlarges
Mrs. Lirriper's knowledge, realising to her, as it
does, that "the foreigners insides appear to be con-
structed hollower than the English, leading to
much more tremenjous noises when bad sailors.'
Can anything be better again than Mrs.
Lirriper's definition of the difference discernible
between the Major's proficiency in French and
Jemmy's? " The only thing wanting in Jemmy's
French," she says, " though he fires away at 'em
lovely is as it appeared to me that he hardly ever
understood a word of what they said to him,
which made it scarcely of the use it might
have been though in other respects a perfect
Native." "Regarding the Major's fluency,"
on the other hand, she says, "I should
have been of the opinion judging French
by English that there might have been a greater
choice of words in the language !" Her description,
moreover, of Paris, as it appears to a stranger for
the first time, is admirable—the old lady summing
it all up to the Young Rogue by saying, in answer
to his inquiry what she thinks of this lovely
lovely Paris—" Jemmy, I feel as if it was beuuqul
fire works being let off in my head." So too is
her description, for that matter, of France
Provincial, when they have left Paris for
Sens, the place of their destination —with all the
lumbering:old:vehicles, having "mud for paint and
rope for harness—every new friend dressed in blue
like a butcher—every new horse standing on his hind
legs wanting to devour and consume every other
horse—every man who had a whip to crack, crack-
crack-crack•crack-cracking it, as if it were a school.
boy with his first I.' But Sens—and the deathbed
scene there—and Jemmy standing unconsiously by
his father—the boy's cheek pressed against the poor
creature's forehead as he dies—Read that, the
heart, the core of this little mystery of " Mrs.
Lirriper's Legacy," not here second-hand as by
momentary and tantalising glimpses, but in the
o-iginal words of the great novelist, and read
those words, if you can, without tears! That por•
tion of it all, to our mind, is simply exquisite.
And so—turning from the deathbed to the more
cheery parts of the Introduction, as Jemmy himself
sly s in one part of it—" Vive the Military English !
Vive the Lady Lirriper ! Vive the Jemmy Jack•
man Ditto! Vac the Legacy !"

ROYAL GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.—Mr. and
Mrs. German Reed, after being absent for some
considerable timo from the metropolis, commence another
season of their agreeable " Illustrations of Character" on
Monday next at eight o'clock. They will be joined, as of
yore, by Mr John Parry. They offer no novelty at present,
but commence with the popular pieces of " The Rival Com-
posers" and " The Bard and his Birthday,'' Mr John
Parry winds up the entertainment with " Mrs Roseleaf out
of Town."

THE REV. E. A. HILLYARD AND BROTHER ICI,
NATIUS.—The Rev. E. A. Hitlyard has received
from the Poor-law Board their decision as to the inquiry
into his conduct recently hald at Norwich by Sir J.Walsham,
one of the inspectors of the board. It is to the effect that
the board will not interfere as regards Mr Hillyard's prac-
tices in the parish church of St. Lawrence, Norwich, as they
consider his proceedings there not to come within their
jurisdiction; but they consider the allegation as to neglect
of duty to be proved, inasmuch as he neglected to catechise
the children in the boys' and girls' " Homes" on the occa-
sion of his visits to those establishments, as prescribed by
the general orders or the board. The board, therefore, re-
quest Mr. Hillyard to resign his appointment as chaplain
ot the Norwich Workhouse. By the same post a copy of
the letter was sent to the chairman ot the Noruich Board
of Guardians.

THE VISITORS' BOOK AT SCHWALBACH.—Ac-
cording to the custom of all watering places, there
is published a list of the visitors, or as it is here termed, a
Sur•liste, from which everybody who is curious can see
who everybody else is. A few items from the number now
before me are worth extracting. The empresses were de-
fined by their travelling titles simply as follows :—Frau
Grafin Borodinsky nebst drei Kindern, aus St. Petersburg ;
Comtesse de Pierrefonds, aus Paris. The following blun-
ders are amusing (I have altered most of the Englisb names):
—Dr. Doe, Cambridge Collegue, England ; Madame
Madame Wilieminoff, with Pr incesse Lydie Wirimsky, son
neveu ; Colonel Helene Rostiker ; Mrs Styles nod Mr
Nukes, mit Sohnchen, aus England ; Miss Charles Roe,
sue Miss Wiesbanen ; Marcheisse of Angleka, aus Eng-
land. The continental nations have an odd love for titles,
as for example : —Frau Doctor von Biltering, aus Curland ;
Fran Geneialin Bosse, aus Wiesbaden ; Frau Buchbinder
Atinger, aus Stuttgart. And then there are some curious
names, as Mad. and Fraulein Brautigam, Fraulein Schuh,
Fraulein Sauerwein, Fraulein Graf nebst, Fraulein Bauer,
Frau Schafer and Frau Fischer, Fraulein Teufel, aus
Berlin. But in opposition to this we have Herr Rosanoff,
Psalmist, aus Stutgart, and the Rev. Hon. St. John.
Lastly we commend the names of the following distin-
guished personages as studies in pronunciation :—Furstin
Lwoff, Baronin Csekonicshissthay, Mad. Argyropoulenee
de Creezoulesco, likpezoba, Kpomkabo C. Remepsypea.
Floirzoba Cypsyseoba Ca Nemepndyyre.—Macmtllait's
Magazine.

A MUSEUM AND SCHOOL OF ART FOR NORTH-
EAST LONDON.—A vigorous movement has commenced
in north-east London for the purpose of establishing a
museum and educational classes connected therewith. The
great distance of South Kensington from the hives of in-
dustry in the opposite quarters of the metropolis, and the
consequent inconvenience and loss of time incurred by
workmen who desire to profit by its advantages, have given
rise to a very wide-spread feeling on their part for an art
museum in their own locaiiiy. The first public meeting
will be held on Friday next, in the Holy Trinity School-
rooms, Hoxton, and it is proposed to hold meetings through-
out the whole district.

HORSE BREEDING IN RUSSIA.—Since the ex-
portation of horses from Russia has been authorised
that trade has attained considerable proportions. In 1863
more than 1,000 were embarked at the port of Odessa for
Constantinople alone, and 300 were sent overland to Con-
stantinople, thence to be forwarded, it was said, to Italy,
for the service of the army. The province of the Don con-
tains, according to official returns, 372,629 horses, 961,766
head of horned cattle, 2,431,566 sheep, and 2,000 camels.
There are 385 breeders in the country.

GARIBALDI'S ACCEPTANCE OF THE YACHT.—
The following letter has been received by the com-
mittee :—" Caprera, Nov. 18, 1801.—Ladies and Gentle-
men,—The yacht which you have presented me is indeed a
precious gift, and immensely more precious is the generous
benevolence with which you have honoured me. I shall
all my life be justly proud of having—not merited, because
it was merited by others rather than myself—but, by good
fortune, gained your sympathy. Benefactors to me, a
humble individual, this is a gift on behalf of the sacred
cause of my country—the cause of every oppressed people.
With every grateful feeling of my heart, I am yours,
GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI,—To the generous 811b6cribers of
the Xacht,",

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTERS EXPRESS.)

AMERICA.

LIVERPOOL, Nov. 29 (Evening).

The North American arrived in the river at 10 30
p.m. While entering the Mersey the North Arne.
rican ran into and sunk the brig Mercator, Capt.
D'Olsen, from Odessa for Liverpool. Crew saved.
The Kew York Herald of the 17th says :—The
rebels have of late been engaged in the construction
of a dam across a small creek which empties into
the Appomatox river near Petersburg, with the
design, after a sufficient quantity of water should be
secured, of breaking it and flooding the Union lines,
thus driving back our army and regaining some of
the ground which has been so gallantly wrested
from them by Grant's soldiers. Works to counter-
act this arrangement have been constructed on the
Union side. General Eagan, who has had the su-
perintendence of these, was wounded in the arm on
Sunday night by a rebel picket while making an
examination of them. A sharp fight, apparently
without any important result, occurred between the
pickets in front of a portion of the army of the Po-
tomac on last Monday night. An attack by the
enemy in considerable force is daily looked for.

No information of the exact whereabouts of Gen.
Sherman has yet been made public. A Nashville
despatch states that the rebel General Hood's army
is still in the neighbourhood of Florence, Alabama,
one corps of it being on the north side of the Ten-
nessee river. The bad condition of the roads, it is
said, prevents Hood making any active demonstra.
tion. Over 2,000 Union soldiers left Indianapolis,
on Tuesday, for active service in the field, and
5,000 still remain there.
The Richmond TVhig contains rumours that Hood
took Decatur, Alabama, and captured the garrison
of 8,000 troops, half of whom were coloured, on the
28th ult. A rebel attack on Huntsville, Alabama,
is also reported.

The Montgomery Mail of the 7ch inst. is expect•
ing an early advance upon Aagusta or Macon by
Sherman.

The _Richmond Examiner ridicules the idea of
any such movement,

The latest rebel newspapers have an amusing
despatch in reference to the cavalry fighting in the
Shenandoah Valley on Saturday last, of which our
correspondents have furnished the particulars, and
in which the rebels suffered severely, one portion
of them being driven through Front Royal by Gen.
Powell, who captured from them two cannons,
150 prisoners, and considerable ammunition. The
rebel despatch says that Sheridan's men were driven
back with heavy loes, including 200 prisoners cap-
tured, while E irly's loss was slight. Brigadier
General Tyler has forwarded to the War Depart-
meat in Washington a black flag captured from
Early's command in August last. The efficiency
and activity of General Sheridan's cavalry is shown
in the fact that the first division of it, under Merritt,
has captured during the present campaign 29 pieces
of artillery, 2,000 prisoners, 18 caissons, 100 wag-
gons and ambulances, and 14 battle-flags.
General Pope, commanding the department of the
North-west, in his report of affairs in his district for
the past year, says that he proposes to do away
entirely with the usual style of Indian treaties. He
will use the army, which, he says, is amply suffi.
cient for the purpose, to enforce good behavour on
the part of the Red Men, and to prevent imposition
and unfair dealing with them on the part of the
whites.
A vessel which has arrived at Halifax from Ber-
muda brings the news that the rebel privateer
Chickamauga was at Five Fathoms Hole on the 7th
inst. She had captured a barque and two schooners
in addition to those before reported.

The bombardment of Charleston (S.C.) and Fort
Sumter is reported as being still continued with
steadiness and severity, Ten Union war vessels
and 75 transports ar© reported at Hilton Head.
The following is the official Confederate account
of Gen. Forrest's attack on Johnsonville

PARIS (TENN.), OCT. 31.

Lieut.. General R. Taylor,—My batteries on the
Tennessee river have engaged the enemy all day
with great success. Two gunboats and two trans-
ports were destroyed in attempting to pass. One
gunboat and two transports are now in my pcsses-
sion, ready for use, unhurt. The other gunboat
and a transport floated down the river in a disabled
condition, and both will be either destroyed or cap•
tured, as my troops are still in pursuit,
(Signed) N. B. FORREST, Major-General.

Opposite Johnsonville (Tenn.), Nov. 5.
MRjor-Oeneral Forrest, on the 4th inst., achieved
another great victory.
He placed a battery above Johnsonville, moved
up his artillery from below, and caught at Johnson-
ville three gunboats, two transports and about 20
barges. He planted his batteries at night and
opened with eight pieces, and after a❑ engagement
of 10 minutes the gunboats were set on fire and
consumed.

The batteries opened on the transports and barges,
all of which were set on fire and destroyed. The
engagement was terrible. The enemy opened with
40 howitzers from their fort and gunboats, but not
a man quailed under the storm of shell. The can•
noniers had their rammers shot in two and their
clothes and boots shot off. Since last Sunday
Gen. Forrest has captured and destroyed 14 trans-
ports, 4 gunboats, 20 barges, 32 pieces of artillery,
over 20,000 tons of freight, and over 3 million
dollars worth of stores. Oar loss has been only 10
men wounded. Johnsonville is still burning. The
immense amount of freight on shore covering several
acres will all be consumed, as it is now burning and
the enemy cannot extinguish it, as our batteries
command the banks.

(Signed) M. C. GALLAWAY.
Tuseumbia, Alabama, Nov. 8,

General Forrest reports that on the sth inst. he
was then engaged fighting the enemy at Johnson
yille, having already destroyed 4 gunboats of 8 guns
each, 14 steamers, and 20 barges, with a large
quantity of quartermaster and commissary stores
on the landing and in warehouses, estimated at
between 75,000 to 10,000 tons. Six gunboats were
then approaching, which he hoped to capture or
dee troy.

(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD.
The Washington correspondent of the New York
Herald says :
" The necessity for the adoption of some fixed
policy in reference to the proposed return of the
Seceded States, is being vigorously pressed upon
the Administration. General Banks, and other
distinguished gentlemen now here, represent that
the assistance, countenance, and protection of the
Government to the Union men in the Southern
States—such ai Louisiano, Arkansas, and Georgia
—in changing the system of labour heretofore
existing in those States, will secure not only their
return but their permanent adherence to the Federal
Union. These people are now at a loss to know
what status they are to occupy in returning to the
Union. All they want is a certainty of Govern-
ment protection and aid. Without this assurance,
and adoption and promulgation of a fixed policy
on the subject, no peace propositions need be ex,

peoted, and7no return to allegiance will hereafter
be made, but even in the States whioh have alreaebr
declared in favour of coming back, social as well a°
civil war will be inaugurated.
The Secretary of the Treasury finally determined
tc-day to carry out his purpose of anticipating PP
ment of Treasury interest on phi interest bonds,
and the necessary orders were that afternoon Eent
to the Assistant• Treasurer at New York.