m, except from curiosity, or "in the way of business." The
type of this class is Richardson; and one cannot, I say, help asking
whether he will hereafter have Sterne as a companion of his dusty
solitude. Are _Tristram Shandy_ and the _Sentimental Journey_ destined
to descend from the second class into the third--from the region of
partial into that of total neglect, and to have their portion with
_Clarissa Harlowe_ and _Sir Charles Grandison?_ The unbounded vogue
which they enjoyed in their time will not save them; for sane and
sober critics compared Richardson in his day to Shakspeare, and
Diderot broke forth into prophetic rhapsodies upon the immortality of
his works which to us in these days have become absolutely pathetic
in their felicity of falsified prediction. Seeing, too, that a good
three-fourths of the attractions which won Sterne his contemporary
popularity are now so much dead weight of dead matter, and that the
vital residuum is in amount so small, the fate of Richardson might
seem to be but too close behind him. Yet it is difficult to believe
that this fate will ever quite overtake him. His sentiment may have
mostly ceased--it probably has ceased--to stir any emotion at all in
these days; but there is an imperishable element in his humour. And
though the circle of his readers may have no tendency to increase, one
can hardly suppose that a charm, which those who still feel it feel so
keenly, will ever entirely cease to captivate; or that time can have
any power over a perfume which so wonderfully retains the pungent
freshness of its fragrance after the lapse of a hundred years.

THE END.

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