The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-10 00:00:00

► " stony-hearted" streets of London ! Bless-
ing 3 on the shade of Little Dorrit, whe-
ther she live or die and ou the large
and gentle heart of the great writer whose
wizard pen is now conjuring up her small sweet
shape so deftly, daintily, magically into existence 1
What a picture it is that wondrous picture of the
Landon streets at night with the stray drunkards
reeling home, and the woman still more astray,
who, besides being neither ugly nor wicked-look 7
in', was yet young—" Far too young to be there,
Heaven knows !"—and the gas lamps shining in
the silent highways and byeways of that vast
and awful city, and over all—God's holy
starlight far away ! A wonderful picture—and
this, remember, in the self-same number of Little
Dorrit which introduces us to Plornish the Plas-
terer, and to Patriarchal Christopher Casby, and
to the little snorting Tug Pancks, and to poor
silly, red-faced Flora, and, best of all, to that pre-
posterous little old woman, Mr. F.'s Aunt, with
her wig askew, and her irrelevant proclamations !
And which, besides being peopled with these
more prominent characters, makes us casually
acquainted—with , a laugh in our sleeves or one
fairly roared. outright—with minor personages of a
subordinate kind incidentally " touched in" with a
few master-touches in the back-ground, such for
example as the gentleman up the stable-yard yon-
I der, the "gentleman with tight drab legs, a rather
old hat, a little hooked stick, and a blue necker-
chief "—one Captain Maroon, of Gloucestershire.
Or again, that nameless old fellow in the crowd, a
little later on, who stood "shaking his head, inviting
conversation," and having found listeners at
last, folded his arms and declaimed to his
heart's relief and indignation against " them
Mails I" This latter incident occurring, be
it observed, in the course of the episode which
brings Arthur Clennam suddenly upon poor John
Baptist Cavaletto, run over by a coach and borne
away, bleeding, upon a litter to one of_the great
London Hospitals. There we leave him under the
care of a clever, good-natured house-surgeon
(who manipulates the case to admiration
upon its first arrival) ; there, we repeat, we leave
the poor fellow befriended by Arthur Clennam,
and no longer, let us hope, shaking his forefinger
with a back-handed shake in the air, and a despair-
ing "Ah ! Altro, Altro !" As for Arthur
Clennam himself—the hero of the story—though we
can't, even yet, quite catch the distinguishing fea-
tures of his good, noble, manly face, we take him
into our heart, together with the small, child-like
form of Little Dorrit, and love him, and love them
both—thoroughly !

The AA Journal for March is rich :like its pre-
decessor in pictorial illustrations and high-class
contributions towards the progress of art. _Chief
among the former are an engraving of Hensel's
picture of " Miriam," by Bourne. Another of
Cuyps " Troopers," by Hackett, both pictures in
the Royal Collection, together with an engraving
from .Schwanthaler's groupe, known as " The
Woodman." Among the latter may be noted
" Studies from Life," by W. Mulready, R.A., and
" Suggestions of Subject to the Student in Art,"
by an Old Traveller. " The British Artist," illus-
trated by Charles Robert Leslie, R.A., whose
genius supplies the subjects of several pleasing en-
gravings on a minor scale.

The Merchant's Magazine contains, among a
variety of matter calculated to be of service to the
important class to which it is addressed, a judicious
and well-timed article on " The Changes in the
Laws of Partnership."