Messrs. BLACKWOOD have got as far as _Felix Holt_ in the re-publication
in popular form of the works of GEORGE ELIOT. It would be interesting to
know how the venture has fared with the popular fancy for which it was
designed. It is said young men and maidens of the present date cannot
read the CHARLES DICKENS whose books enthralled their fathers and
mothers. How does GEORGE ELIOT, who in her day held a position with the
novel-reading public second only to CHARLES DICKENS, withstand the
changes of fancy and fashion? My Baronite has been trying the experiment
on himself by reading again, after the lapse of many years, _The Mill on
the Floss_. He reports that he finds the first volume flag a little, by
reason of the minute record of childhood's troubles and schoolday tasks.
But in the second volume, where the tragedy of love is worked out with
surpassing power and infinite skill, the old spell is woven again. _The
Mill on the Floss_ is certainly one of the best of GEORGE ELIOT'S
novels, being completed before the malign influence of schoolmaster
GEORGE HENRY LEWES made itself felt. To this extent, it is not a fair
test of the problem suggested. But the collection as a whole is rich in
value. In "the Standard edition" Messrs. BLACKWOOD present it in
daintiest form, and at a marvellously cheap price.
[Illustration]
_The Shoulder of Shasta_ is not a new joint from an entirely new animal,
as those who are tired of "the Shoulder of Mutton" may be sorry to hear;
but, it is a charming romance, in one volume, written by BRAM STOKER at
his best. The heroine's name is "_Esse_"; and the whole interest of the
story lies in the question, "_Esse_ or _non Esse_"--"to be or not to be"
the wife of "_Mr. Dick_." For there is a "_Mr. Dick_"--not in any way
related to DICKENS'S "_Mr. Dick_,"--who is a kind of Buffalo Bill among
the Indians. There is a _Miss Gimp_, a governess, whose peculiarities
certainly do recall those of _Mrs. Nickleby_. Mr. BRAM STOKER'S plot is
a _boîte à surprise_, and yet a most simple and natural story. Go to
your butcher's and order _The Shoulder of Shasta_, to be served up "_à
la_ STOKER." N.B.--For "butcher's" read "bookseller's"; 'tis published
by "A Constable" who "knows what subjects to take up," says the
thoughtful