Jerrold, Tennyson And Macaulay, With Other Critical Essays BY JAMES HUTCHISON STIRLING, PREFATORY NOTE. UP these Critical Essays, tlio tllrec first allpenred in illclioiv, tlie Suci rl Scieiicc l nrlcrly Eeview, respecti. cly ill . l ril 1 S 3, 0ctul cr 1 S5 D, a i d l 1SGO. Tlic 1 ll c. r 011 ne Qnillccy nlid Colcrillgc appearet1 in t 1 F . u rf iy7 1 1 Rwic117 f ix October l,, lllfl that oil 1 1, c liezcr illic tt in tllc S l p l l i l o t l o l t t l LC llr , l l CA c , stc . la 1 1 1 l1 la f ur t11c sllortc-t cl iy of tlic -cm 1 S SO. A d. ni t lgc ll as l eeil t ilicn US illc ul, port ulitp aflb dccl by rcpublication fur tlic il icrtion o f ccrt liu ndclitioi s uicl correctioi s. 1 1-11 11 5a r a d chr ere nllrl there Gern an. J. II. STIRLIXC. DOUGLAS JERROLD. TIIE Life of Douglas , Jerrold, by his son, is an cxcellcllt perforn ance. Gmccfully affectionate, gracefully filial, it is at the same tilllc candid, moclcst, and trathf l. If one feels always that it is a rerercilt m l d ov ing son that speaks, one feels also that it is a sincere and loyal man. In both respects, incltted, tllcre is that iin the book that endears tllc writer to the render. Its spirit throughout is gentle mlcl ingenuous and the whole series of pictures it presents seems, ss it were, to lic pleasantly, peacefully tlisti lct in t1lw clear, 111ilcl light of m anliable and kindly nature. Well-nrmnged and orderly, all is lightly, skilfiill y touclled tllerc is grace in what is said, and tlrerc is grace in what is not said In short, the little book is right acceptable, right welcome. One feels pleascd and satisfied that tllc mm1 finds such a biogmpllcr one fecls pleased and satisfied that the fatller owned such a son. A 3 DOUGLAS JERROLD. Besides that knowledge of him acquired from his writings, it is our fortune to have possessed, in respect to Jerrold, just sufficient personal acquaintance to render this life peculiarly attractive to us. It effects for us the rouliding of the picture what was known lends a charm to what was unknown and the latter points the former. The solemn thought, too, sighs round us like n nllost, that he of whom we read, he whom we 6 knew, has-in the prime of life, when the harvest waved before him, ripe for the gathering-passed from among us, and will no more speak to .. moi-tals And so memories of the past mingle with the pictures of the present, as if to the music of far off, melancholy bells, while feelings rise within us of indefinable regret, of indefinable sadness. It is these feelings that have prompted-as we hope they will accompany and guide-the following notice. The parents of Douglas Jerrold were but strolling players, for, even as managers of the theatre at Sl ee, rnesst, hey could hardly arrogate a higher title. That he was born in London and the date is January 3, 1803 was probably a contingency due to the precarious profession of the family for it is a fact, as well that the south of England DOUGLAS JERROLD. 3 was its usual habitat as that the infant Jerrold was carried thither in his swaddling-clothes. The first four years of his life, indeed, were spent at Cranbrook, in Kent, where Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Jei old, patronized and protected by Sir IValter r and Lady Jarnes, the great people of Angley, had thankfully set up their modest theatre under the rude rafters of a thatch-covered barn... The earliest impressions, then, of the future wit must have been those of green fresh pastures and tawdry theatrical properties, of fragrant wild-flower and unfragrant tallow, of the simple music of the sheep-bell and the squeak of fife and fiddle... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.