The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-04 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONEON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBFR 4, lEEE .

MARKETS—This Day.

MARK-LANE.

There was rather more activity in the wheat trade in
the country markets held on Saturday. The demand,
however, was chiefly confined to good and fine dry sam-
ples, which in some instances changed hands at rather
more money. The barley trade was very dull, and the
quotations had a drooping tendency. Oats, beans, and
peas ruled firm. In flour a fair business was transacted, at
late rates.

Advices from New York report increased shipments of
wheat and flour from that port to Great Britain ; never-
theless, the leading transactions were at reduced rates. On
the Continent the corn trade generally is steady.
Fresh up to our markets to-day the arrivals of English
wheat weio moderate, but the condition of the produce
was bad. The few dry samples on offer changed hands
at fully last; Monday's currency, but damp parcels. were
very difficult of disposal. In their value, however, as com-
pared with Monday last, no quotable change took place•
At the close of business, a total clearance of the supply
had not been effected.

There was a moderato supply of continental wheat on
the stands ; but with American produce the market was
scantily supplied. The amount of business transacted was
somewhat restricted ; nevertheless, prices generally ruled
firm.

Floating cargoes of grain were in fair demand, at full
currencies.

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASIME.

Wheat—Essex and Kent, red, new, per qr. 39s to 46s
Do., old 46s 51s
Do., white, old s4s 59s
Do., new
Norfolk and Lincoln, red, old. —s —s
Do., new
Talavera, new Ns 60s
26s 28s
•
Barley—Grinding
..._ ...

Rye-

Malting 335
Malt—Suffolk and Norfolk
Brown
Kingstown and Ware
Chevalier 66s
Oats—Yorkshire and Lincolnsh., Feeding 20s
Potato
Youghal and Cork, black l9s
Cork, white 2ls
Scotch, Feeding 2os
Beans—Tick

Pigeons
Peas—Grey, new

Maple
White
Boilers
Flour—Town-made, per 2801 b 43s
Suffolk 32s
Stockton and Norfolk
American, per barrel 26s

METROPOLITAN CATTLE.

The supply of foreign beasts on offer here to-day was
only moderate—of foreign sheep tolerably good. Some of
the stock came to hand in prime condition, but most of it
was of inferior quality. For the most part sales progressed
slowly, at about stationary prices.

Tho arrivals of English beasts fresh up this morning
were moderate, and iu improved condition. From Ireland
and Scotland the receipts were about average ones for the
time of year. Nearly all breeds moved off slowly, never-
theless the prices current on Monday last were supported.
The best Scots and crosses sold at 5s to 5s 2d per 81bs.
There were a few good beasts on show from Norfolk
being the first of the season, which has commenced some-
what earlier than usual.

From Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire
we received about 2,000 short horn; &c., from Norfolk 200
Scots, from other parts of England 700 various breeds,
from Scotland 271 Scots and crosses, and from Ireland 300
oxen, cows, and heifers.

With home-fed sheep we were again but moderately sup-
plied, but there was an increased number of prime breeds
in the pens. Most qualities of mutton moved of slowly,
nevertheless the quotations were tolerably firm. The best
Downs realised 6s 4d to 6s 8d per 81bs.
Calves were in short supply and steady request, on
rather higher terms. The quotations ranged from 4s to 5s
per 81bs. _ __

- Prime small pigs were in fair request, at full prices, but
large hogs were very dull.

The Great Christmas Market will be held on Monday
next, the 11th inst.

Per 81b to sink the offal.

s ds d s ds d
Crse. & inf. beasts... 3 2 3 6 Pme crs-wool sheep 5 8 6 2
Second quality do ..3 8 4 4 Prime s'thdown u 0.6 4 6 8
Prime large oxen ..4 6 4 10 Large coarse calves.} 0 4 6
Prime Scuts, &c.... 5 0 5 2 Prime small d0......4 8 5 0
Crse. and inf. sbeep.4 0 4 8 Large hogs ....4 4 6
Second quality do ..4 10 5 6 Small porkers 4 8 5 2
Lamb....os Od to Os Od.

Suckling calves, 2)s to 23s ; and quarter-old store pigs, 30s
to 335 each.

Head of stock on sale.
- - Foreign supply.
Beasts ....... 5,310 Beasts 2 l6O
Cows. — Cows.
sheep
Calves 3ll Ua ves 3OO
Pigs 5lO Pigs
The total imports of foreign stock into London, last week,
amounted to 15,837 head. In the corresponding week in
1864, we received 12,148 ; in 1863, 9,752; in 1862,
5,033 ; in 1861, 4,951 ; in 1860, 6,103 ; and in 1859,
4,311 head.

Total supply.

IMPORTS INTO LONDON LAST WEEK.
Beasts. Sheep. Lambs. Calves. Pigs.

_
Aalborg - ... ... ...
Amsterdam — ... ... ... ...
Antwerp - ... 1799 ... ... 2 ...
Boulogne 42 ... 277 ... ... ... 438
Dordt.
Bremen 193 ... 340 ...
Calais.. — ... 47 ...

8 ...

--- --- -
Dunkirk. 23 ... —-- ...... ... ... 167
Hamburg 153 ... 2603 ... ~. ...
Harlingen 205 ... 1976 ... ... 1 ... 97
Medemblik 4l ... 2013 ... ... ...
Nieu Diep....
... _
...
...
... _
Ostend 2 ... 165 ... ... 43 ...
Rotterdam ... 735 ... 2581 ... ... 507 ... 324
Tonning
... _
...
...
...
Vigo 100 ... 13 ... ... •••

-
Total 1757 ...12,401 577 ...1102
The yearly comparison of weekly imports is as follows :
Beasts. Sheep. Lambs. Calves. Pigs.
1864 2368 ... 8,398 ... 503 874
1863 2186 ... 6,960 440 166
1862
A statement and comparison of the supplies and prices of
fat stock exhibited and sold in the Great Metropolitan
Cattle Market on Monday, Dec. 5, 1864, and this day,
Monday, Doc. 4, 1865.
Per 81bs. to sink the offal.
Dec. 5,
1864.

Dec. 4,
1865.

sd s d
Coarse and inferior beasts 3 6to 4 2
Second quality do. 4 4 410
Prime large oxen 5 0 5 2
Prime Scots, &c.
Coarse and inferior sheep
Second quality do.
Prime coarse-woolled do.
Prime Southdown do 5 8 510
Lambs

8 d s d.
3 2to 3 6
38 4 4
4 6 410
50 5 2
40 4 8
410 5 6
58 6 2
64 6 8
00 0 0

Large coarse calves 4 4
Prime small do.
_ _

4 10
5 4

4 0
4 8

4 6
5 0

... ___
Large hogs
Neat small porkers 4 6 410 4 8 5 2
Beasts 4,270 5,310
Sheep - 17,630 24,680
Calves
Pigs
SUPPLIES ON SALE, Dec. 7, 1863.—Beasts, 4,860—
sheep, 16,790—calves, 123—pigs, 440.
Dec. 8, 1862—Beasts, 4,B3o—sheep, 19,190—calves, 159
—pigs, 330.

t han on Monday last. The quotation for P.Y.O: is 49s per
cwt. on the spot. Rough fat has fallen to 2s sid per 81bs.
Town tallow, 49s per cwt. net cash.

Particulars. 1862. 1863. 1864. 1865.
Stock this day 56,909 70,764 62,184 30,257
Price of Y.C. f4ss 6d to 41s Od 40s 9d 49a Od to
1 —s Od —0 Od —s Od —s Od
Delivery last week 2,023 1,690 1,994 2,320
Ditto from June 1 43,563 35,852 45,090 59,472
Arrival last week
Pitto from June 1 62,160 68,769 62,253 77,246
Dries of Town

MONTHLY PERIODICALS,

BLACKWOOD.—" Memoirs of the Confederate
War for Independence" are continued, and afford
as before a very minute account of that memorable
struggle. All details that are furnished by an eye-
witness are immeasurably superior to any other
species of information, and thus the reader may be
glad to embrace this opportunity of improving his
knowledge of these eventful scenes here recorded.
In this portion we meet with an amusing and in-
teresting description of an expedition undertaken
by the writer to the camp of General Jackson.
Among other objects for his journey he had to pre-
sent " to old Stonewall, as a slight token of Stuart's
high regard, a new and stunning uniform coat,
which had just arrived from Richmond." Stone-
wall Jackson at first demurred to the gift, as too
grand and gorgeous for his use ; but upon being
persuaded he donned it, and great was the delight
it caused to the army. The rumour of the change
from the old weather-stained coat, from which the
hands of patriotic ladies had slipped the buttons to
the grand new attire, ran like electricity through the
camp, " and the first wearing of a guest robe by
Louis the Fourteenth, at whose morning toilet all
the world was accustomed to assemble, never
created half the sensation at Versailles that was
made in the woods of Virginia by the investment of
Jackson in this new-regulated uniform." "Miss
Marjoribanks" is continued at some length, and is very
interesting in its descriptions. Lucilla has now
passed the period to which she looked forward in
bygone days, and has actually spent ten years at
home as she said she would. In this instalment the
clever leader of society in Carlingford gets into a
difficulty, from which she extricates herself in her
usual dashing and daring wanner. The reader will
look forward with interest to the finale of the en-
counter between Mr. Cavendihy and Mr. Ashburton,
once Lucilla's quondam admirer and the expected
successor to the representation of the town, and
the other the new man concerning whom Miss
Marjoribanks had experienced such a spirit of divi-
nation, and who was resolved to go in for the re-
presentation of Carlingford, audto fight a l'outrance.
" The Handy Horse-Book" is a readable sketch on
this attractive subject, and it is well said that "ef
the things on which all people imagine they can
talk, and yet of which the number who really know
anything is very small, the horse is most conspicu-
ous." Some useful remarks are here met with, and
many a self-sufficient individual may find his con-
ceit evaporate as he attentively peruses the details
here presented to his notice. Valuable information
is also imparted concerning divers matters con-
nected with horses, the text of the article being fur-
nished by a work recently published on the
subject by a cavalry officer. " Sir Brook Foss-
brooke" is continued, and that erratic individual
proceeds in his usual manner, and makes friends
and enemies at every turn. Mrs.f Sewell is, like her
husband, a most dangerous character, and Lucy is
likely to get into trouble through their agencies. A
very interesting article is that entitled " Educators,"
which brings before us some considerations on a
subject worthy of all attention, and in these days
prominently before the public. We here meet with
some of the great errors which are made, and have
been made, by those who seek to be too precise and
are so didactic that they forget the great effect of
influence when they frame their stern rules. Miss
Edgeworth and her father were at great pains to
draw up a code, but their model child would have
been quite unfit for the duties of life, and would
have lost some of its best lessons. In concluding
this excellent article the writer puts before us in
plain terms the dangers and difficulties which menace
those who are led away by their own theories
instead of putting their precepts into practice that
may benefit their charges. " Does the tutor
modestly call himself a teacher, or does he adopt
the ambitious tone of a former and master? The
two views were once defined in a few words by
Professor Wilson, as, after listening with a
growing impatience to a lecture on education
by Dr. Whately, he took a friend's arm as
he hurried away, and muttered in his ear,
" I always thought God Almighty made man, but he
says it was the sjhoolinaster. ' " Cornelius O'Dowd"
furnishes us with another series of reflections, among
which we this month meet with some remarks on
Lord Palmerston, which are distinguished for dis-
crimination. " Brace of Travellers" transports
the reader to the distant climes so well depicted by
these able pioneers, and cannot fail to attract.
" Our Invisible Capital" contains some striking re-
marks, which some wedded to old prejudices would
do well to read and wisely consider.
DUBLIN.—"Not 'Wisely, but too Well" is con-
tinued, and Kate's character is being more and more
developed. Her frank nature and straightforward
bearing exhibit themselves in striking contrast be-
side the triviality and littleness of her cousins, who
figure prominently upon the scene in this instal-
ment. In Kate we find the elements of a kind dis-
position, and qualities that might have made their
owner great and good had she been happily trained
in early life and subjected to better influences.
" The Discipline of Valerie Gore" is completed, and
although very melancholy in some respects, the tale
is interesting, and furnishes a striking warning to
those who give way Ito pride and vain-
glory. Poor Valerie had much to go through
before she put down her besetting sin.
It has been truly said that, like iron, some tempers
can only be moulded by fire. A new tale is com-
menced, called "Number Five, Brooke Street,"
which promies well, so far as we can judge from the
beginning. We meet with some brilliant descrip-
tions of society and some smart sketches of charac-
ter, such as can readily and effectively be delivered
in the details of a large party in a country house.
" The Relations of England with America" form
the subject of an article which is well written, but
in which the writer inclines too much to the side of
the Americans. It is really quite out of character
for such expressions as this to be used—" If a per-
manent good understanding between England and
America be possible and desirable, by what means
shall it be brought about ? An improved tone re-
garding America in our own Press ought surely to
be expected ; there is no cause to produce irrita-
tion." It may certainly be suggested that the re-
verse of the picture is the correct one, and that it is
the tone of the Press across the Atlantic that
needs modification. Nothing can be more mis-
taken than the notion which prevails in
some quarters that all freedom of speech
and writing in this country is to be checked, in
order that foreign nations may not be offended or
excited. It is just the way to bring down the
dreaded evil, and we have had quite enough of tame
subserviency to those who pay no respect to our
opinions. " Beatrice," a verse-drama, is continued,
and is exciting in its descriptions. " Vestiges of the
Picts and Gael" contain much interesting information
concerning that early race who, in their rude sty le
and uncultivated ways, displayed bravery and en-
durance that have made their names famous through
all time. Another interesting article is given on
" Glastonbury Abbey, Past and Present. The Rise
and Influence of English Monachism." It is well
worthy of perusal, and presents us with a detailed
account of the chief incidents that occurred during
the eventful period referred to. " Early Celtic
Stories" are peculiar, but may suit the taste of an-
tiquarians ; and also we meet with a continuation of
" Scenes in the Transition Age, from Caesar to
Christ." " Sir Thomas Wyse's Journal of Greek
Travel" suggests some appropriate remarks on the
subject, and there is truth in the tribute paid to him,
that he was a man who served his country and his
kind with earnestness and judgment.
FRASER.—Fraser opens with an essay upon the
" Politics and Prospects of Spain," which at the
present crisis is especially worth attention. The
grave and stately Spaniard seldom enough comes
under the notice of his more active, quicker-witted,
and more energetic European neighbours, his
Government is currently believed to be passing
through a perpetual crisis, his finance to have
realised a hopeless dead-lock. Yet, to the amoazen-
ment of both hemispheres, he has suddeniyslw
,1
Go-
that he possesses energy enough for
raisscshiefion, and
vernment enough to organise an
aggression,
to
resources enough to make himself
more solvent people. Thee before us takes a
brief and graphic survey of e
political situation of
Spain since the accession of Isabella the Second in
1833, passing through the troubled years of the
Regency down to the very latest aspect of
It is remarked that
the political horizon.
" a Spanish Cabinet may be compared to
a Chili house, constructed on a calculation that
an earthquake will occur within the year ; and
although other countries may have undergone some-
what similar trials for a period, a crisis lasting more
than a quarter of a century without producing an
actual revolution, is, we believe, unparalleled in the
annals of constitutional government." The readers
of Fraser will rejoice to see the welcome initials
A. K. H. B." appended to an essay beginning
with the familiar word " Concerning," and this
time the pleasantly discursive essayist takes for his
subject the topic of Roadside Stations, " with some
thoughts," we need scarcely be told, " on the termi-
nus ad quern." " Days of Derry" is a well-written
tale of the dismal days of a siege many a long gene-
ration since. " Fiction and its Uses is a pleasant
essay, by no means without its moral, for in these
busy, overworked, hurrying days, the value of rest
and recreation is too often overlooked. Of mere
excitement, in one form or another, we have more
than enough; of pleasure-seeking and new work
put on the overdriven brain and nerves, under a
specious title, for of real healthy rest and diversion
of the mind, something that takes us away from the
weary every-day round into a fresh scene, and amid
new actors, we have far too little. " Innocent en-

joyment," exclaims the writer, " how good a thing
it is ! It keeps the temper sweet, and when it is
mixed with love and thankfulness and sunny days,
brings us some of that spirit of pure, gentle,
peaceable wisdom which we might aptly name after
Izaak Walton." The clever and interesting story
of " Gilbert Rugge" is continued. The author of
this tale and its predecessors abjures that sensa-
tional style which is the mischievous fashion of our
own day, and although after, a novelists' indisput-
able custom, he brings the great catastrophes of life
to figure on his scene, they make their appearance
after the good old manner, and the interest of the
narrative rests mainly on its characters, not on their
crimes and disasters. The story of " The Beau-
clercs" is also continued, and there is a lengthened
and appreciative, though somewhat severe, criticism
on Mr, Carlyle.
COLBURN'S NEW MONTHLY.—It is :110t very diffi-
cult for the readers of the New Monthly to guess the
subject of the first article, " The Electric Girdle
Round the Earth." It is remarked at the outset
that when we consider the progress made in tele-
graphy during the last fifty years what may we
not expect of the next quarter of a century? " The
creation of the electric wire in England only dates
twenty-years ago, and the short line from Baltimore
to Washington does not date back half a century.
Yet the system has already assumed a colossal ex-
tension. Europe is intersected by a network of wires.
In North America, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
are brought together at points, and will soon be so
in directions still more important to British
interests, as from Newfoundland to British
Columbia, and from Halifax to Victoria. In
Europe and in Asia the electric telegraph extends
from Gibraltar to Kiachta, on the frontiers of
China ; and from Edinburgh to Constantinople ;
and, again, from Constantinople to Rangun, in the
kingdom of Pegu. India, the colonies of the Cape,
Australia, and North Africa have adopted the
system, and it is almost daily extending itself in
South America." The submarine line to the great
Continent of the West is the branch of the subject
chiefly dwelt upon, and the merits of the various
routes proposed are examined. Francis Jacox con-
siders " Toil as a Boon to Sorrow," and he does not
find it difficult to collect passages in prose and verse
to substantiate his case. It has been well and
truly said; that labour was God's gift to Adam in
his first great grief and desolation, and that the ex-
perience of all successive ages has found no better
remedy. Cyrus Redding always deserves respectful
attention, from his venerable rank as a contributor
to the New Monthly, but he might really have found
some more gracious subject than the demolition of
Gray's beautiful old Elegy. After the fashion of
Shakspere's would-be improvers, he examines it line
by line, touching it up and making alterations and
emendations of various kinds. But the fact is, that
its faults, if faults it has, are dear to all lovers of
poetry, and whether or no Mr. Redding is to be
included in such, it is certain that he is disposed
very greatly to curtail the poet's privileges, and to
keep him to the rigid matter of fact. The critic
takes everything an pied de la lettre. He objects to
a " living" lyre, to a yew tree with a shade, and
an el: without it ; he is equally indignant
with a pure ray being called " serene," because it
must necessarily be so, and with a heart being
" pregnant with fire," because it cannot possibly
be so ! As an improvement on the line—

Some frail memorial still erected nigh,"
our critic would have us believe that " still erect"
was intended, a conclusion enough to bring metri-
cally correct and melodious Gray up from the grave !
We must do Mr. Redding the justice to add that
he expresses the warmest admiration of Gray and
his poems, the faulty elegy included, which makes
it more surprising that he should examine them like
the stop-watch critic at the theatre, who measured
the declamation of genius by the number of minutes
it took, or like the editors of our " improving" school
reading book, who arrest you in the middle of the
finest passages IN ith a question about the case of a
substantive or the relation of verb and pronoun.
" Idalia" is continued, and the story approaches a
crisis. " Lilian's Inheritance," a romance of Anglo-
Mexican life, promises interest.

THE UNITED SERVICE.—This number commences
with a sensible paper on " Promotion by Choice,"
a subject of the utmost importance not only to the
army, but to the country which depends on that
army for its independence, perhaps its very safety.
The author says that he proposes to examine the
question in a spirit of impartiality, for, though him-
self an officer, his days of service belong to the past,
so that he has nothing to hope or fear in the way
of promotion, nor, indeed, to complain of. His
testimony may, therefore, be taken as honest, and
his opinion, if not altogether just or correct, is at
least perfectly patriotic. The question of promo-
tion .
has long been a vexed one. It affects the sol-
dier the ranks, but more especially the officer,
who is seldom contented with his lot, for, however
high his position, there is still an Alp above him,
and his ambition is ever looking up. This is natu-
ral, but so too is one's forgetfulness of his own com-
petency, for it is one thing to be a fine swell on
parade, but quite another to excel on the field of
battle, or in the more trying difficulty of a retreat
which tests a man's capacity to the very depths, for
on his generalship may depend not only the safety
of the army, but the ultimate safety of everything
depending on that, so that promotion by choice
may be good or bad, just as it " turns up." The
" long stagers" on the forlorn hope of promotion,
where the heart sickens but wears on, cannot look
with complacency on the young upstart placed over
their heads, not once or twice, but ever and anon,
and that, ioo, often irrespective of qualification or
ability. " Money makes the mare to go," or favour
covers a multitude of sins, on the abrupt and rugged
road to promotion. Sometimes it is luck, but luck
generally favours the brave. Our author thinks
routine—that is the ordinary service or time—may
be confined to a certain rank, say a captaincy, and
after that choice may select the proper man founded
on a just discrimination. In fact, he is fortified in
this opinion by the authority of Lord Stanley, who
is as much the true friend of the soldier as he is the
patriot statesman. The recent American war, like
the war of the revolution in France, has served
greatly to bring forth impromptu men of talent,
whose original quality is daily improved by expe-
rience, to justify promotion by choice, while the old
system of favour has been the ruin of nations, by
giving the command to incompetency. This has
been exemplified by Austria, who gives to princely
incapacity what ought to be conferred on merit.
In the late war of 1859 the French said, very cha-
racteristically, of that system, that while the Aus-
trians " make princes and counts generals, we make
good generals dukes." In the majority of instances
it takes a long time before it can be made out what
a man is fit for, and this is the root of all the evils
appertaining to promotion by seniority—which
would seem to justify that by choice when
merit becomes conspicuous by accident or by
some brilliant achievement. We commend
this article to those in the proper quarter as the
phrase runs, who should remember the line written
by Johnson from his own experience.—
" Slow rises worth by poverty depressed."
" Tristram's Overhaul of Prince de Joinville s
French and American Navies" is now concluded,
and a pretty severe dressing the naval prince and
critic has got, and that very deservedly. " On ,
Re-
treats" is an interesting subject, well handled. S,o,
is the article on the " organisation of cavalry."
The new gunpowder invented by Ca
Captain Edward
Schultze, of the Royal Prussian Artillery, is a vast
improvement on the present " villanous saltpetre, '
and promises soon to become a general favourite
both for its efficacy and economy, being four times
more powerful than that in use, and better in every
respect for cleanness. " Sailors' Homes" and " Pro-
-1 visions for Troops on Board Ships," with several
other topics, are well discussed.
MACMILLAN.--Miss Yonge's interesting story of
"The Dove in the Eagle's Nest," comes to a con-1
elusion with the last month of the year, a fact which
its readers will regret, even while they feel that the
record of Christina's work is fitly completed. Her
husband returns from his long captivity to die at
peace in his old home, amid the wonderful changes
which his little bride has wrought. One of her
twins passes early to his rest, but the other lives to
carry out her teaching, and become honoured and
respected by a far wider circle than the grim Adler-
steins once ruled over. The story shows an inti-
mate acquaintance with German history of those
troubled earlier centuries, and is interesting from
the picture of that quaint social life, as well as from
the life-like delineation of character, which is always
Miss Yonge's forte. An additional " Letter from
Egypt," by Lady Duff Gordon will be read with
interest and pleasure by all who have already seen
her attractive book. Those who have not will be
tempted to turn to the volume where such animated
descriptions and kindly sketches initiate the cold
and reserved Englishman into the innermost circles
of Arab domestic life. The next article is one that
deserves attentive study by all our sanitary re-
formers. It narrates the wonderful story of the
Broad-street visitation of cholera in 1854, when
it was almost indisputably proved that the
famous Broad-street pump was the origin of an
attack which occasioned 700 deaths, in Broad-street
alone, first decimating a population of less than
900. The gentleman who writes this account, the
Rev. Mr. Whitehead, was a curate in the parish at
the time, and was actively engaged in visiting the
sick and dying patients. He afterwards formed one
of the Committee of Inquiry, which was appointed
by the vestry of St. James's to inquire into the pos-
sible origin of the catastrophe, and the information
he gives respecting it may well startle the indiffe-
rent, and urge on committees and inspectors to re-
newed efforts in these days when we are threatened

by a return of the dire epidemic. The wild and
strangely told story of Cradock Mowett proceeds
Vividly and chronicles many wonderful events.
Among the best of the remaining articles is a brief
tribute to the memory of Mrs. Gaskell, of whom it
is truly said, that " she wrote as the birds sing,
because she liked to write and ceased writing when
the fancy left her ; and the result of this was that
all her works have in their way a degree of per-
fection rare in these days." It is a singular fact that
Mrs. Gaskell began her literary career late in life.
" She was a mother with many children, a wife
approaching middle age, when she became an
authoress." It is a touching statement that she
wrote her most popular work, " Mary Barton," to
endeavour to divert her mind after a great sorrow,
the loss of her only son. In concluding his estimate
of Mrs. 'Gaskell's position as authoress, the critic
justly says, " Other novelists have written books as
clever, and many have written books as innocent ;
but there are few, indeed, who have written works
which grown-up men read with delight and children
might read without injury."