The Story of the House of Cassell
include Dr. John Clifford, Dr. R. F. Horton, Sir Rider Haggard, Gertrude Page, H. A. Vachell, Baroness Orczy, David Lyall, Mrs. Baillie Reynolds, Annie S. Swan, E. F. Benson, Harold Begbie, etc.
One by one the great magazines contemporaneous with the Quiver have ceased publication, or entirely altered their character, and observers of the times have sometimes wondered at the fact that this publication should have held its own without undergoing radical modification. The fact is that, without ceasing to be a religious magazine, it has known how to advance and keep in touch with the times. In quality of authorship, art, and general production it can claim to be the equal of any of the monthlies. More than once its Christmas number—always a great feature of the year—has been distinctly superior to those of some of the most successful secular magazines of the day, at least in its illustrations. The result of this sustained but progressive policy has been that the Quiver has been able to hold its ground during the changes that have come over the religious world. "I shall leave the public a legacy in the Quiver, was among the last sayings of John Cassell; and nearly sixty years after his death the public are still in the enjoyment of the bequest.
To many "grown-ups" of the present generation the title of Little Folks awakens memories of long ago—a cosy fireside on a winter evening, a shady bank on a summer day, a nursery filled with eager voices all wanting to look at the new number at once.
For the christening of this new fledgling thanks are due to Bonavia Hunt, who, in spite of his many and various duties as magazine editor in those days, gave a kindly thought to the children. Until it had attained its thirtieth number he nursed it with diligent care and solicitude. It was then passed on to the no less capable control of Miss Clara Matéaux, who had written the leading story in the first number, entitled "Nellie: A
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