the infancy of the best dandled Periodical, proclaimed the coming of a first No. as the "establishment" of the serial-if this naive and warm-hearted friend was more remarkable for the excess of his enthusiasm than the accuracy of his judgment, still we may consider that the advent of a fourth volume announces health and strength, an abundance of vitality, and the prospect of a green old age.

Whether any Magazine now-a-days is likely to attain to the venerable antiquity of the "The Gentleman's," or any Editor at all in the way of wearing the honours of "Sylvanus Urban, Esq.," of silver-haired memory, is a problem the solution of which we dare not attempt; nor does it much matter.

"THE ROSE, THE THISTLE, AND THE SHAMROCK"-we bow to the Garter King-of-Arms, and give Auld Scotia her lawful place

“Νο. ΧΙΧ.

"THE ROSE, THE THISTLE, AND THE SHAMROCK."

"VOL. IV."

NOVEMBER."

Behold it in print, dear Reader, and take note, as our good old housekeeper maintains very solemnly, and spectacles on nose, "What's in print must be true, and cannot be denied."

VOLUME THE FOURTH:

very gratifying; and, no doubt, it is with an unquestionably pleasant feeling that "the Conductor"-that's the word-"the Conductor" of a Monthly, whether sporting a shooting-jacket or steering a crinoline-whether seen in the awful majesty of a Crimean beard or Dundreary whiskers, lighting a "dudeen" or "cutty-pipe" with a scrap of Bell's Life in London, or "igniting" a Cabana with a fusee, foppishly poised in a hand, on the fourth finger of which glitters a gem of the first water; OR-this "or" is portentous-simply revealing

"Ribbons and lace,

And a sweet, pretty face;"

(the rhyme, sung to us once by a wicked gipsy, would float into our brain, and drop down from the nib of our goose-quill), it is, we opine, with an unquestionably pleasant, nay felicitous, feeling of relief, of joy, of pride and triumph that an Editor, whether of the

masculine or feminine gender, lays down the pen, leans back in the fauteuil, folds the hands, and complacently looks up to the ceiling, to reflect on the great fact of three volumes accomplished :—three goodly volumes, each successive instalment of which more than realized the promise of the first.

Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute: how very true this oft repeated proverb of our cherished neighbours, the French. And the first step is taken-paid for; all difficulty got over; the course clear, the pace good, the winning-post in view: the plaudits loud.

To drop simile: in the office of the "R., S., AND T.," and in the sanctum of the Editress, all works à merveille, from the active intelligence that creates and guides, down to the dead matter, the thing of brass and iron, of wheels and cylinders, that obeys the împulse imparted to it, and produces the wonderful results of which machinery is capable in the hands of man-we beg pardon, The Caledonian Press in question-of woman—from the Editress and her fair, brilliant, and chivalrous Staff, down to the merry-faced, ruddycheeked little lassie that, in quainter and ruder hives of literature, would be represented by a grim-visaged imp in paper-cap and corduroys, yclept a "Printer's d-1"

This is a happy state of things, dear Reader, and the triumph of the petted little darling of nineteen months old, may justify some innocent exultation on the part of the relatives, parrains, marraines, etc., and plead excuse for "a bit of gossip" on what has been, and shall yet be done, to make "The Rose, The Shamrock, and The Thistle" a still greater indispensable to "our Public."

To begin: a more intimate acquaintance with the features necessary to render a Monthly acceptable to the Readers of our time and country has led to the adoption of every recognized improvement of which the management was susceptible; and if yet falling short of that entire efficiency and completeness which, it is hoped, will ultimately characterize it, the Editress ventures to believe that progress is written upon every page. The Magazine is not an attempted or a servile imitation of existing periodicals: originality is aimed at; and to each writer is left the sign-manual of his style, and the shape and shade of his opinion upon all subjects open to discussion, and on which wise men and good may differ. The familiar pens continue to pleasantly salute the

reader; the old and honoured names to dignify the roll of contributors; while the co-operation of fresh and sparkling talent has been secured, and helps to sustain the high reputation which the periodical has acquired.

In what is technically expressed by the "getting up" of the Magazine, the desire to merit well is manifest: type, paper, composition, and press-work leave little, if aught, to desiderate; and the approval of Experts in the wondrous and world-enlightening art, the hearty praise bestowed upon the typography of "The Rose, The Shamrock, and The Thistle," by brethren of the craft, is the best proof that the women-printers have, right well, won their laurels.

Palmam qui meruit ferat: it is but due to the female Compositors and Printers of The Caledonian Press to state, that they have not taken up their work in a dull spirit of drudgery for bread only, but that each has applied herself with a generous ambition to render the Magazine worthy of approbation, creditable to the National Institution, and demonstrative of the skilfulness of women in a trade hitherto exercised only by men.

To instruct females in the art of printing: to furnish regular employment for the protégées of The Caledonian Press; and on behalf of women, otherwise exposed to live by sin or die by starvation, to advocate their right to subsist by honest industry, were the objects for which, honoured by the patronage of Royalty, the Institution was founded, and the Periodical put forth,

These objects have been adhered to; and so long as either the Press or Periodical exists, they will be maintained.

That good will result from experiments which, having ceased to be singular, are not indebted for favour to the ephemeral excitement of novelty, is confidently believed. Since the establishment in Edinburgh of a woman-printed "Monthly," a second, stamped with the same feature, has been brought out in London; and the practical good sense, ability, and high principle of MISS EMILY FAITHFULL, promise well for a Magazine issued from the Victoria Press on the first anniversary of "The Rose, The Shamrock, and The Thistle."

This kindred action in a common cause, and that one worthy of all encouragement, is a hopeful sign; and, as such, we hail it,

1

If, after everything has been done, but little be achieved, less than the friends of the movement may foresee, and far less than the stern and increasing necessity demands, still, we must be thankful and look forward in hope. Prejudice may retard the progress, but cannot arrest it; the impulse is given the first step made in the right direction, and if but one trade, the glorious and time-honoured one of Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde, be added to the few and miserable resources of women striving to earn bread for themselves, and too often for their husbands and children, it will be a noble work accomplished, and a kingly recompense for the many risks encountered, the many sacrifices made, and the many sarcasms endured by the promoters and advocates of a reform so vitally needed.

per

As a trade speculation; an investment of so much capital, time, thought, and manual labour, reckoned upon to return so much" cent." for individual benefit, this Magazine, "printed by women," was not set on foot. The chances of success were too slender to warrant a supposition that failure was impossible; and too many periodicals, supported by the highest literary talent of the day, in possession of the field and of the public favour to absolve the attempt from a certain character of rashness when commercially considered. That it has won golden opinions-that it fulfils its end, and is a source of profitable employment to those engaged in it, cannot alter the fact that, in the face of recognized difficulties and discouragements, it was planned and undertaken for a purely unselfish purpose; and to whatever credit this may entitle her, MISS MARY ANNE THOMSON may justly lay claim.

The contents of the three volumes, will show that variety of subject, and fulness of treatment, have been happily combined; while the cause, most dear to the Editress and her co-adjutors, "the employment of women" is especially cared for; and the necessity of opening new and extensive fields of industry to the self-dependent of the sex, clearly demonstrated in the series of papers entitled, "Our Six-Hundred-Thousand." But the list of contributors alone is sufficient to establish the fact that high and ripened talent has lent its aid to "The Rose, The Shamrock, and The Thistle;" and that genius and intellect have given of their fruits to its pages. Some momentary misapprehension may have arisen from the second clause of

its title, "a Journal for the Fair Daughters," etc.; but, as we have seen, the "R., S., AND T." is not made up of syllabubs; not merely fit for the sea-side sojourn, or "the days when we go gipsying;" nor is it what is cynically held by the "creatures" in broad cloth, to be "a Lady's Magazine." On behalf of the female compositors and printers, it addressed itself to "the sympathizing and womanly of the sex," and to "the chivalrous of their brethren;" in plainest prose, men as well as women were invited to read and subscribe to "The Rose, The Shamrock, and The Thistle;" and men as well as women have responded to the call.

The bearded and unsentimental sex,-the educated and the intellectual were to be interested in the work, and apart from a benevolent motive, led to purchase it; else its existence had been, as kindly predicted, " ephemeral ;" for bienveillance “pure et simple" is sometimes apt to pall. Writers of celebrity were engaged; and others who, to become popular, had but to publish, made their debut in the new periodical.

us.

The programme issued with the first number has been fulfilled. "It aint."

"Eh! who spoke ?"

"Me. IT AINT."

We are startled-we gaze round; a fat and fiery face confronts

We bow.

"Really, dear madam, the impeachment fills us with confusion; we blush to the very roots of our hair."

"Stuff!"

Nay, gentle dame, not for ourselves; we are not of the Privy Council, nor of le Pouvoir Executif; the sin lies not upon our burly shoulders but on the fair ones of the Editress."

"Don't tell me!"

Alas! and alackaday; dear reader, it is too true! Anna Jemima's mamma, the portly matron in the magnitudinous crinoline, who cuts short our flourish, and looks wrathfully in our face, is right, and Mrs. Triple-Genteel on her left, not wrong.

The programme has not been carried out to the letter, and the salient feature of a Ladies' Magazine is-nowhere.

Where are the fashion prints, the patterns, the crochet designs?