detected with a woman's tact, and told with a woman's vivacity."
Edward Lorraine.—"Yes, they are amusing to a degree; but her pen is like a pair of skates—it glides over the surface; you seek in vain for any deep insight into human thought or human feeling. Pride and Prejudice is her best work; but I cannot forgive Elizabeth for her independence, which, in a woman, is impertinence; and Mr. Darcie is just a stiff family portrait, come down from its frame to be condescending.*[1] What you said of Miss Edgeworth appears to me to be the great characteristic of the writers of that time—an utter want of imagination, and of that deep feeling born of it and nursed by it. Various and entertaining personages passed over the stage; but none of them wore that window in their hearts it is the part of a philosopher or poet to discover."
Mr. Morland.—"Who was it that used to thank the gods—first, that he was born a man—and secondly, either a Grecian or a Roman—I have forgotten which—and no great matter either. Now, I am thankful that I am born in
- ↑ * I had not read Persuasion when the above was written. Persuasion, in my very humble opinion, is one of the most touching and beautiful tales in our language.
