s impossible, however, to examine
the numerous etchings of this draughtsman, without coming to the
conclusion that he is always seen at his best when not called on to
exercise his purely comic powers. Take by way of example, _The Venice
Glass_, in Ainsworth's romance of "Crichton"; you will need no reference
to the letterpress to understand it, for the artist tells his story far
better than the novelist. Observe Crichton as he raises the goblet, and
the poisoned wine bubbles and boils, and finally shivers the chalice
into a thousand fragments; regard the agitation of Marguerite de Valois;
the keen attention of Henri and his attendants. Where shall we find a
finer illustration than the one in this book in which Esclairmonde is
presented to Henri? The meeting of Mr. Tigg and Martin Chuzzlewit at the
pawnbroker's shop is full of pathos. Look at the poor, wasted but still
handsome mother waiting her turn whilst the gin-drinking laundress pawns
her flat-irons to gratify her passion for the deadly drink; note the
_insouciance_ of the thoughtless musician as he twangs the guitar which
he is about to pledge, though probably dependent on it for bread. Notice
the pictures above,--the Bacchante pressing grapes into a wine cup,--the
bailiff distraining for rent. Hablot Knight Browne has no powers which
would enable us to compare him with Hogarth, and yet the grim reality of
this picture Hogarth himself might almost admire.

Regard again that wondrous tailpiece at page 96 of "The Old Curiosity
Shop," where Quilp, the odious dwarf, sits up all night smoking and
drinking, his countenance every now and then "expanding with a grin of
delight" as his patient, long-suffering wife makes some involuntary
movement of restlessness or fatigue. Look at poor, wasted, shoeless
Nell, as she reclines on the settee of the public-house, surrounded by
sympathisers,--the kind-hearted motherly landlady administering mental
and bodily solace to the motherless child,--the poor, foolish, gambling
grandfather gazing into her face with wistful anxiety. Lastly, look at
the ghastly corpse of old Quilp as he lies dead amid the mud and slime
of the river, which, after playing with the ugly, malicious, ill-shapen
thing until it was bereft of life, flung it contemptuously high and dry
upon the swamps at low tide.

"DOMBEY AND SON."

"Dombey and Son" called for comparatively little exercise of Browne's
_comic_ power, and consequently we shall find in this boo