AUSTIN DOBSON, one of the most pleasing writers of English vers de société, has given the world essays as charming as his poems. In prose he is at his best in his studies of Swift, Addison, and the worthies of Queen Anne’s reign. He was born at Plymouth, England, January 18th, 1840, and educated for a civil engineer, but the prosaic work of his life has been done chiefly in a position under the Board of Trade. His “Vignettes in Rhyme,” “Proverbs in Porcelain,” and “Old World Idyls,” are admirable examples of his delicate treatment of subjects which belong to the lighter moods of poetry. His rhymes are always perfect, and he has written nothing but what will help to make the world better than he found it.