r
other peccadilloes; for no robin-redbreast will piously cover them with
leaves, but that which is done in the ear shall be proclaimed upon the
house-tops, nor can they tell from what quarter the trumpet shall sound.
The unkempt boy, the sullen girl in the chimney-corner, may be the
Narcissus or nymph in whose orisons all their sins shall be remembered.

"You that executors be made,
And overseers eke
Of children that be fatherless,
And infants mild and meek,
Take you example by this thing,
And yield to each his right,
Lest God with such like misery
Your wicked minds requite."

In view of which benefits, and others "too numerous to mention," we
humbly beg pardon for the petulance which disfigures the commencement of
our paper, and desire to use all our influence to induce all persons of
distinction meekly and humanely to lay open to the dear, curious world
their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor.

But, however beneficial and delightful it is for a friend to impale a
friend before the public gaze, we do not think that even Job himself
would have desired that his adversary should write a book about him. In
the motives that prompted, in the grace of the doing, in the good that
will result, we can forgive the deed when friend portrays friend; but we
cannot be lenient when a hostile hand exposes the life to which we have
no right. We would fain borrow the type and the energy of Reginald
Bazalgette to enforce our opinion that it is "ABBOMMANNABEL," and the
innocence of Pet Marjorie to declare it "the most Devilish thing." Yet
in a loyal, respectable, religious newspaper we lately saw a biography
of Mr. Vallandigham which puts to the blush all previous achievements in
the line of contemporary history. It is not so much that we are let into
the family-secrets, but the family-secrets are spread out before us, as
the fruits of that species of domestic taxation known as "the presents"
are spread out on the piano at certain wedding-festivals. We are led
back to first principles, to the early married life of the parent
Vallandighams. The mother is portrayed with a vigorous feminine pencil,
and certainly looks extremely well on canvas. Clement's relations to her
are shown to be exemplary. There is excuse for this in the attacks which
have been made upon him in the relation of son. But upon what grounds
are Clement's sisters' homes invaded? Because a man is disloyal and
craven,