For Harriet while he stuffs them through the slit.
Evoe.
OUR LITERARY ADVICE DEPARTMENT.
Candid advice given to the literary aspirant on easy terms by an old journalist. His fame is world-wide, but he prefers to be known as The Old Nib. Anyone sending him threatening letters will be prosecuted.
Frankly, Lancelot, your Passionate Pangs; or, Heart Throbs of a Retired Government Clerk, will never bring you in a large income. You say friends have praised them highly, and you point out that Tennyson had to wait years for recognition. Well, you must do the same. You could not have a better precedent.
You have a strong grasp of a situation, Benjamin, and the scene where Uncle Henry slips on the butter slide is quite thrilling. But you must compress a little and avoid certain faults of style. "She hove a sigh" is wrong; and I do not like "'Pshaw,' he shouted"; I do not think it could be done. I tried myself in my bath and swallowed a lot of soapy water. Pray be more careful.
I certainly like to hear from such an enthusiastic reader as Wigwam. His idea, of going to a fancy-dress ball dressed in a number of old copies of Wopple's Weekly is excellent and, if they let him in, ought to be a great success. I hope he wins the hair comb. As to his verses I have often seen worse. With a rhyming dictionary (for rhyming) and an ordinary one (for spelling) Wigwam should go far.
Angelina's poem shows a nice domestic feeling which I appreciate. In these days of Suffragettes it is not every authoress who will say—