It has been said that Cruikshank could not draw a pretty woman. At any rate, he neglected his opportunity in "Oliver Twist," for he fails in so depicting Rose Maylie, while his portrayal of Nancy is particularly ugly and repelling, whereas she certainly possessed physical charms not unfrequently found in women of her class. Although the artist has imparted too venerable an appearance to the Artful Dodger, he has seized in a wonderful manner the characteristics of criminal types in his rendering of Fagin and Bill Sikes. In many of Cruikshank's etchings the accessories are very _àpropos_, and sometimes not without a touch of quiet humour. For example, in the plate representing Oliver recovering from the fever, there is seen over the chimney-piece a picture of the Good Samaritan, in allusion to Mr. Brownlow's benevolent intentions with respect to the invalid orphan; while in that depicting Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney taking tea, may be noticed the significant figure of Paul Pry on the mantelshelf. Some of the designs are marked by slight incongruities, which, however, do not detract from their interest. In the etching "Oliver Plucks up a Spirit," it will be observed that the small round table which the persecuted lad overthrows during his desperate attack upon Noah Claypole could not possibly assume, by such accidental means, the inverted position as here shown. In the plate entitled "The Evidence Destroyed," the lantern (according to the text) should have been lowered into the dark well, but doubtless the error was intentional on the part of the artist, in order to secure effect; in "Mr. Fagin and his Pupil Recovering Nancy," the girl is represented as being exceedingly robust, whereas she was really "so reduced with watching and privation as hardly to be recognised as the same Nancy." Again, in the illustration depicting Sikes attempting to destroy his dog, we see in the distance the dome of St. Paul's, while, as a matter of fact, the desperate ruffian had not reached a point so near the metropolis when he thought of drowning the faithful animal.[2] In "The Last Chance," where the robber contemplates dropping from the roof of Fagin's house to escape his pursuers, the rope (described in the letterpress as being thirty-four feet long) is barely half that length, and could never have extended to the ground; while the dog, who lay concealed until his master had tumbled off the parapet, must have been distinctly visible to all observers if he stood so prominently on the ridge-tiles as here indicated. The latter etching is one of the most fascinating of the series, for here Cruikshank has realised every feature of the dramatic scene,--the harassed expression on the evil face of the hunted criminal, the squalid tenements half shrouded by approaching darkness, the excitement of the people crowding the windows of the opposite houses; indeed, the tragic and repulsive element in the picture constitutes a remarkable effort on the part of the artist.