'To the great public,--that gigantic soul Which lends the nation's body life and light, And makes the blood within its veins grow bright With gushing glory,--we this muster-roll Of all the deeds that pass 'neath its controul Do dedicate,--the page of simple news Is here adorned and filled with pictured life, Coloured with thousand tints--the rainbow strife Of all the world's emotions--all the hues Of war--peace--commerce;--agriculture rife With budding plenty that doth life infuse And fair domestic joy--all--all are here To gild the _new_, and from the bygone year Present a gift to take--to cherish and to use.' The second volume began with several improvements. A 'Romance of Real Life,' by Henry Cockton, illustrated by Kenny Meadows, was the first attempt to infuse a new interest into newspaper literature by the introduction of fiction. Stories by Thomas Miller and others followed. This feature of the paper was continued for some time until _fiction_ was crowded out by _fact_. The popular portraits were done on a larger scale and were of a more ambitious character. In No. 40 there is one of Lord John Russell, which is reprinted here as an example of the improved portraiture of the period. [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL. FROM THE 'ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,' 1843.] In the following year was commenced a series of 'Parliamentary Portraits,' one of which I have selected to accompany the portrait of Lord John Russell. It is that of Mr. Disraeli, and it will perhaps interest the reader to compare the present estimate of Lord Beaconsfield with what was said of Mr. Disraeli in 1844. The following is a portion of the article which accompanies the portrait:--'The most remarkable speeches in the recent debates have been those of Mr. Disraeli, the Member for Shrewsbury. He has lately made himself more prominent in the sphere of literature and politics as the expounder of the views and opinions of that section of the Conservative party which has received the name of "Young England." His opinions however are too peculiar, have too much individuality ever to become those of a party. We scarcely think "Young England" capable of holding as points of belief the startling paradoxes to which Mr. Disraeli occasionally gives utterance. His speeches abound with happily turned sentences, in which a clever sarcasm is thrown into the antithetical form; they also contain a large amount of historical information, on which he draws almost as often as Macaulay himself. He rarely announces a positively new principle, but he often places old ones in a strange and startling light, and states the most extraordinary inconsistencies with an air of such perfect earnestness and conviction that his auditors are sometimes puzzled whether to admire or laugh at him. But he is not one of those men who can be laughed at; we have seen him turn the laugh most sorely