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                              BLACKWOOD'S
                          EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

               NO. CCCCXXI. NOVEMBER, 1850. VOL. LXVIII.




CONTENTS.


MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. PART III.                   499

THE RISE, POWER, AND POLITICS OF PRUSSIA,                            516

HOURS IN SPAIN,                                                      534

MODERN STATE TRIALS. PART II.                                        545

ANNA HAMMER,                                                         573

ALTON LOCKE, TAILOR AND POET: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY,                      592

THE RENEWAL OF THE INCOME-TAX,                                       611

                              EDINBURGH:
              WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET;
                    AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

      _To whom all communications (post-paid) must be addressed._

          SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

           PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.

                              BLACKWOOD'S
                          EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

         NO. CCCCXXI.       NOVEMBER, 1850.      VOL. LXVIII.




MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE.

BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON.


BOOK II--INITIAL CHAPTER:--INFORMING THE READER HOW THIS WORK CAME TO
HAVE INITIAL CHAPTERS.

"There can't be a doubt," said my father, "that to each of the main
divisions of your work--whether you call them Books or Parts--you
should prefix an Initial or Introductory Chapter."

PISISTRATUS.--"Can't be a doubt, sir! Why so?"

MR CAXTON.--"Fielding lays it down as an indispensable rule, which he
supports by his example; and Fielding was an artistical writer, and
knew what he was about."

PISISTRATUS.--"Do you remember any of his reasons, sir?"

MR CAXTON.--"Why, indeed, Fielding says very justly that he is not
bound to assign any reason; but he does assign a good many, here and
there--to find which, I refer you to _Tom Jones_. I will only observe,
that one of his reasons, which is unanswerable, runs to the effect that
thus, in every Part or Book, the reader has the advantage of beginning
at the fourth or fifth page instead of the first--'a matter by no means
of trivial consequence,' saith Fielding, 'to persons who read books
with no other view than to say they have read them--a more general
motive to reading than is commonly imagined; and from which not only
law books and good books, but the pages of Homer and Virgil, of Swift
and Cervantes have been often turned over.' There," cried my father
triumphantly, "I will lay a shilling to twopence that I have quoted the
very words."

MRS CAXTON.--"Dear me, that only means skipping: I don't see any great
advantage in writing a chapter, merely for people to skip it."

PISISTRATUS.--"Neither do I!"

MR CAXTON, dogmatically.--"It is the repose in the picture--Fielding
calls it 'contrast '--(still more dogmatically) I say there can't
be a doubt about it. Besides, (added my father after a pause,)
besides, this usage gives you opportunities to explain what has gone
before, or to prepare for what's coming; or, since Fielding contends
with great truth, that some learning is necessary for this kind of
historical composition, it allows you, naturally and easily, the
introduction of light and pleasant ornaments of that nature. At each
flight in the terrace, you may give the eye the relief of an urn or a
statue. Moreover, when so inclined, you create proper pausing places
for reflection; and complete, by a separate yet harmonious ethical
department, the design of a work, which is but a mere Mother Goose's
tale if it does not embrace a general view of the thoughts and actions
of mankind."

PISISTRATUS.--"But then, in these initial chapters, the author thrusts
himself forward