The first drawings of "The Rising Generation," in which are portrayed the premature affections and the amusing affectations of the manners and sayings of their elders that, according to Leech, distinguished the _jeunesse doré_ of England, appeared in 1846, and have been so admirably described by Dickens elsewhere as to leave me only the task of placing some of the drawings before the reader, carefully avoiding those the great writer has noticed so felicitously. The young gentleman in the drawing introduced here would like to catch the pretty creature talking to the fascinating young man under the mistletoe, no doubt! We know his wicked intentions; but how would he carry them out? He is not tall enough to reach the lady's elbow; but love in such passionate natures laughs at difficulties, and he will find a way; and he calls a man old enough to be his father _young_ Fipps! Delightful little dog! and no less delightful is his friend Charley, who smiles encouragement, and would do likewise. These works of Leech possess what it is not too much to call an historical interest, as they chronicle truly the dresses of the time. In the object of our young friend's admiration, I fancy I see the approach of crinoline, while her ringlets afford a striking contrast to the fringes of the present day. An old lady would now create a sensation indeed if she appeared in a turban like that which bedecks the sitting figure. [Illustration: JUVENILE: "Uncle!" UNCLE: "Now, then, what is it? This is the fourth time you've woke me up, sir." JUVENILE: "Oh! just put a few coals on the fire and pass the wine, that's a good old chap!"] Again the irrepressible juvenile, under different conditions. Behold him practising upon a very testy old gentleman, who has been so rude, in the estimation of his young nephew, as to go to sleep after dinner. [Illustration: "THE RISING GENERATION." JUVENILE: "Ah, it's all very well! Love may do for boys and gals; but we, as men of the world, know 'ow 'ollow it is."] In his notices of the freaks of the rising generation Leech did not confine himself to juveniles of the higher and middle ranks, but occasionally he shows us the young snob, of whom he makes--with modifications--the same mannish and amusingly vain creature as his confrères, the little swells. As an illustration, I present my reader with a scene in a coffee-house, in which two friends are refreshing themselves, and exchanging philosophical reflections on the vanities of human life. These lads look like shop-boys, but--in their own estimation--with souls far above their positions in life. The spokesman has found the truth of the poet's description of the course of true love in the conduct of some barmaid who has jilted him, hence his bitterness.