THE AUTHOR of “John Halifax, Gentleman,” wrote few essays, and there were few written by any one else in her lifetime worthy to rank with her admirable disquisition on “The Oddities of Odd People.” In spite of its humor there is an undercurrent of pathos in it, and before concluding it the reader may come almost to the opinion that deep down under everything else it has an inspiration of personal resentment.

  Dinah Maria Mulock was born at Stoke-upon-Trent, England, in 1826. At the age of twenty-three she published her first novel, “The Ogilvies.” “The Head of the Family” appeared in 1851 and “Agatha’s Husband” in 1852. “John Halifax, Gentleman,” published in 1857, left no doubt of her genius. Among her later works were “Two Marriages,” “A Brave Lady,” and “A Noble Life.” Her marriage to Mr. George L. Craik, Jr., occurred in 1865; her death in October, 1887.