up his mind to serve
The country all at large.

"'Huzza!' the serjeant cried, and put
The money in his hand,
And with a shilling cut him off
From his paternal land.

"For when his regiment went to fight
At Saragossa town,
A Frenchman thought he look'd too tall,
And so he cut him down."

Barham's humour, as seen in his "Ingoldsby Legends," is of a lower
character, but shows that the author possessed a great natural facility.
He had keen observation, but his taste did not prevent his employing it
on what was coarse and puerile. Common slang abounds, as in "The Vulgar
Little Boy;" he talks of "the devil's cow's tail," and is little afraid
of extravagances. His metre often assists him, and we have often comic
rhyming as where "Mephistopheles" answers to "Coffee lees," and he
says:--

"To gain your sweet smiles, were I Sardanapalus,
I'd descend from my throne, and be boots at an alehouse,"

But in raising a laugh and affording a pleasant distraction by fantastic
humour on common subjects, the "Ingoldsby Legends" have been highly
successful, and they are recommended by an occasional historical
allusion, especially at the expense of the old monks. Being written by a
man of knowledge and cultivation, they rise considerably above the
standard of the contributions to lower class comic papers, which in some
respects they resemble.

CHAPTER XVI.

Douglas Jerrold--Liberal Politics--Advantages of Ugliness--Button
Conspiracy--Advocacy of Dirt--The "Genteel Pigeons."

There is an earnestness and a political complexion in the humour of
Douglas Jerrold, such as might be expected from a man who had been
educated in the school of adversity. He was born in a garret at
Sheerness, where his father was manager of the theatre; and as he grew
up in the seaport among ships, sailors and naval preparations, his
ambition was fired, and he entered the service as a midshipman. On his
return, after a short period, he found his father immersed in
difficulties, due probably to the inactivity at the seaport in time of
peace. Many a man has owed his success in life partly to his following
his father's profession, and here fortune favoured Jerrold, as his
maritime experiences assisted him as a writer for the stage. We can
easily understand how "Black-eyed Susan" would move the hearts of
sailors returning after a long voyage. Meanwhile the inner power and
energy of the man developed itself in many dire