nugatory all attacks upon you of the nature of the present. Let me hear that Thelma's herself again.
"Yours sincerely,
"George Bentley."
"May 4th, 1892.
"The attacks do not daunt me, and it seems to me that three out of the four are by one hand."
"Upton, Slough, "May 17th, 1892.
"Dear Thelma,—
"I am right glad at the news in your letter. I am sure you will now see that the late attacks on 'Lilith' will derive their importance only when you notice them. Even from those who do not like highly imaginative literature, I have heard the remark that the reviews in question were entirely one-sided, and left one to suppose that the English public was cracked in running after a writer without a solitary merit.
"Put together the talents of all your critics, and ask them to paint the city of Al-Kyris. That came out of a finely sustained vision, your intense interest in your subject keeping it at a white heat. I reckon two-thirds of 'Ardath' as one of the finest contributions to imaginative literature which this country possesses.
"Never write a line if the humor is not in you. It is that impulsion to write because you can't help it, which carries you away, and, for that reason, carries away your reader."
