IN some of his Irish sketches, William Carleton illustrates admirably the class of essays which depend on incident or description, and are really intermediate between the essay proper and the tale. In writing these he had the authority and the example of Steele and Addison, but he succeeded so well on his own account that his “Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry” was an immediate success. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1794, and gained from his father and mother, both peasants, his love for native Irish stories and music which gave him his bent and his success. He published several meritorious and successful novels, but his reputation depends chiefly on his “Traits and Stories.” He died in Dublin, January 30th, 1869.