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speculation. It is the old story of the death of Miss McCrea that the admiration we feel for his abilities is greatly induring the revolution- the characters are unmarked-intro- creased and strengthened. duced unskilfully, and from the inversion of words, and the A parallel has sometimes been drawn between Mr. Dick. German fog that mystifies the whole matter, we presume it ens, and Mr. Neal, of Philadelphia, the author of Charcoal
than the utter desolation—the unparalleled sufferings of the unhappy Smike ; and the pretended fondness of her self- indulgent husband is equally characteristic, as the under-current of honest, hearty, and genuine manliness, that flows beneath the frosted surface of the broken-down Newman Noggs . And then besides his accurate perception of nature, his nice discrimination of individual traits in character, and his general powers of analysis, Boz possesses and displays in Nicholas Nickelby so fertile an imagination in the invention of incidents, and so life-like a power of representing them,
and strict propriety, the introductory passages ofhis tchesSketchthemas the ske es. They are models of composition, selves are models of humorous description, and accurate por traiture. And yet with these qualities universally acknow ledged as belonging to him, Mr. Neal is so diffident of himself that neophyte he shrinks authorshi with the timidity of an untried . from We wishit werep otherwise. We wishhe could be persuaded to make another effort, for wefeel confident that he would secure to himself higher honours, and produce for the public more sources ofgratification.
