Miss SHERIDAN, in the Preface to her Comic Offering, states,
tint "of the three Comic Annuals which started at the same time, the Comic Offering alone remains." This announcement surprised us; and in the midst of her shower of puns, we could only think what had be- come of our Hood. Has he ceased to rain? Shall we never mow hail his appearance? Are we to have no more Hood-winks? Caste have given his readers the cut direct ? His wit, though always block. aided, never ceased to flow; and we fondly thought that, like the Pro- pontic, it knew no ebb. What can betide him? We cannot forget that it was he who by means of the press made puns, the small coin of wit, pass current, in the present day ; for since the days of Swift the!' circulation was slow, until his brain bank came into operation. Can if have closed already ? All its issues were capital, 'tis true; but surely in so short a time he cannot have sold out all his stock. If so, we are in-consol-able ; for our long annuities of fun are reduced, and we our- selves are below par at the news. But let us not slight Miss SHERIDAN'S Cotnic Offering on this account : we should rather prize it the more. Here is a book of 3a0. pages crammed as full of puns as a Scotch bun with currants ; andbeing compiled by a lady for the ladies, it has no single ingredient that would offend the most fastidious taste. There are some sixty odd cuts,—gra- phic puns a-la-Hood; but executed in a more finished style. Among the best, are the dance ofjig-oh sleeves ; the Dandy-lion—a capital idea; "Just set-up in business"—a boy perched on the top of a stilt-legged stool at a desk as high as the ceiling; "Fox's Martyrs"—a flock.cf geese within reach of Reynard'sjaws ; "Lively Turtles dressed for din- ner—a personification of civic gourmands ; "The Pursuit of Know- ledge under Difficulties," exemplified by a sweep-boy reading on the summit of a chimney-pot; "A Fiddle D.D."—a parson playing on the violin.
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