We regret to notice the death of Mr. Shirley Brooks,
for some years past the Editor of Punch. He is a man who will probably be forgotten speedily, for the English world remembers no journalist; and his three novels, "Aspen Court," "The Gordian Knot," and "The Silver Cord," never obtained much critical acceptance. Mr. Brooks's editorship was nevertheless suc- cessful, Punch retaining under his care its special tone of kindliness, and though losing much of its Radicalism, losing also the last trace of its original vulgarity. Mr. Brooks himself contributed a quite original feature to the paper, the " Essence of Parliament," a synopsis of Parliamentary business, in which he constantly managed to say, and say well, just what nobody else could. The novels, too, though they will be unread- able to the next generation, are perfect mines of witty dialogue and clever situations, out of which comedies of the Robertson kind could be coined by the score. In private life, Mr. Brooks was the most genial of men, with a rare capacity for making friends, and in literature he only, as we believe, missed a great name by accident. His true genius was for serio-comic drama, and had he continued to write plays, he might have risen to the place and retained the reputation of a modern Sheridan. As it is, the very best thing a playwright in want of a subject can do is to buy "Aspen Court" or "The Gordian Knot," and steal dia- logue and situations ruthlessly. He will be a scamp, but a successful one.
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