Recollections of Strathtyrum and its visitors have led us far ahead, and we must now take a look backwards in order to trace the connection of Charles Lever with the House, with which his first correspondence began in the early “sixties.” His introduction to the Blackwoods led to one of those fresh developments which are not at all unusual in the writings of authors who have distinguished themselves in one special line, and which mark a new stage in their career. Lord Lytton (Bulwer) gave an example of this, his later novels being hardly recognisable as the work of the same hand, and George Eliot, as we shall show, was also a notable instance of this versatility. Those who associate the name of Charles Lever entirely with the racy dare-devil adventures of his early heroes will have a surprise in store for them in the perusal of his later works. Perhaps ‘Jack Hinton,’ ‘Charles O'Malley,’ and the inimitable ‘Harry Lorrequer,’ will always rank first with the public, who are loth to see their favourite win fresh laurels in any field save the accustomed one. There must still, however, be a balance in favour of the witty and eloquent utterances of “Cornelius O'Dowd,” and the calmer and more probable, if less exciting, later novels, which gained in value by the knowledge of life and the experience of maturer years.