“The Best of the Monthlies.”—We always have had a partiality for Graham. Years agone, before we ever dreamed of inditing a line for the printer, many and many are the pleasant hours we have spent, beguiled from all surrounding things, by the captivating articles with which Graham, by an art known only to himself, has for years past kept his Magazine—filled. In the days of our juvenility, too, not a few thoughts have we spent, wondering what manner of man he was, who could thus monthly gather together such an amount of valuable and interesting reading matter—to say nothing of the choice embellishments that accompanied it. And, in after times, when we had the pleasure of forming his acquaintance, we found that the pictures of the imagination had scarcely done justice, fairly drawn as they were, to the original—for, than George R. Graham, there is not a more whole-souled, liberal, generous, or enterprising man in the Union. With a kindness that has no ebb, he is ever ready to appreciate merit in the young, and by his means, and through his encouragement, have some of the best authors that America can now boast of been induced to launch their barks—which since have made such successful voyages—upon the sea of public opinion. His liberality, too, keeps pace with his kindness—and instead of endeavoring to underrate the value of brain-labor—he always stretches his figures to the utmost limits of prudence—and whilst he advises like a friend, he pays like a prince. Success, then, say we, to Graham, and his Magazine! They both deserve it! And with a people so prompt to perceive, and so ready to reward merit, as are the inhabitants of the Southern States, to be encouraged, it is only necessary to deserve encouragement. “Graham’s great rival now is Harper’s Magazine. But the palm by rights, and all odds, belongs to the former. For whilst his January number now lying before us, is equal to Harper’s in the amount and quality of its literary contents, it far exceeds it in beauty of illustration—and in the fact that its contributors are all honestly paid for their labors.”—_Illustrated Family Friend, Columbia, S. C._ * * * * * Graham’s Magazine.—The January number of Graham is incomparably the most magnificent periodical ever issued from the American press. _Gazette, Bellefontaine, Ohio._ CUT OFF, AND SHUT OUT. [Illustration: A silouette of a man wearing a tophat, looking upward while standing in front of a door, and holding the severed end of a bell-rope in his hand.]