pwards of ten thousand applicants scattered over various
parts of the kingdom, but all linked together by a common sentiment.
The last report is (we quote the newspapers) that Grace is nearly bald;
that lock after lock has gone, each finding its way into ring, brooch,
or locket, until

'The Darling of life's crew'

discovers, like Caesar, that a laurel crown may be worn for use as well
as ornament--may hide as well as adorn. Really, a lock at a time is an
extravagance--a hair should suffice; for if ever it could be said that

'Beauty draws us by a single hair,'

it may be said of the moral beauty of Grace Darling.

"It is impossible to guard ourselves against the tendencies to
enthusiastic devotion for the living life preserver, because the very
name is a provocative. Were two such words ever before combined to
form a name?--the one expressing the natural quality of the bearer of
it, and the other defining what her deeds have made her in the regard
of others."

Not only was Grace Darling herself likely to be made bald by the
request of her loving admirers, but those who belonged to her shared
the same inconvenience. One of her younger brothers was away at sea,
and did not know of his sister's fame until he came into the Thames.
No sooner, however, was his name heard than he had to answer a number
of questions. Did he know anything of the Longstone lighthouse? Had
he a sister? Was the great Grace Darling any relation to him? As soon
as it was known that he really belonged to the same family, he was
himself exalted into a hero of the second class, and people thronged
round to look at, admire, and cross-question him. The young fellow
bore it all very good-humouredly--in fact, he rather liked it. But
after a time his numerous and newly-found friends conceived the idea of
possessing a lock of the Darling hair, and the young man could not well
refuse so flattering a request. So one helped herself, and told her
friend, who told his friend, and so it went on; and the end was, that
young Darling, who possessed a curly head of hair, became completely,
and rather irregularly shorn.

We give two other extracts from papers that appeared at the time, or
soon after. The following is from the "Spectator:"--

"It is not often that heroines of real life possess the adventitious
attractions of a pretty name, or a charming person; but Grace Darling
has both. She would unquestionably have been loved and admired as