Charles Knight: a Sketch. By his grand-daughter, Alice A.
Clowes. (Bentley.)—This volume has no doubt been written with the best intentions; but good intentions do not make a good book, and there is very little information contained in this sketch which the reader may not find elsewhere. The work consists very largely of quotations from familiar sources, and almost every page we open is marked with inverted commas. That the monograph displays an appreciative and kindly spirit need not be said for Knight was one of the fortunate men who had many friends and no enemies, Douglas Jerrold called him "good Knight," and every one will admit the justice of the epithet. Few won in our time have lived a busier, a happier, or a more useful life, and it is natural that his grand-daughter should wish to honour his memory. If she has failed, it is owing chiefly to lack of material. Charles Knight has told his own story so well that there is little left to be related of his honourable career as a" working man," and Miss Clowos has been "gravelled for lack of matter." The few letters inserted which are not reprints, are, with two or three exceptions, singularly barren of interest.
Previous page
