Introduction
_ "Our day is but a finger: bring large cups." ALCAEUS.
DEDICATED TO
CHARLES PRESTWICH SCOTT.
INTRODUCTION[1]
"THE book is not a novel" is a phrase often in the mouth of critics, who on second thoughts might, perhaps, add with less emphasis, "It does not conform to the common type of novel." Fortified, however, with that sense of rectitude that dictates conformity to our neighbours and a safe acquiescence in the mysterious movements of public taste, the critics have exclaimed with touching unanimity--"What a pity Jefferies tried to write novels! Why didn‘t he stick to essays in natural history!"
What a pity Jefferies should have given us "Amaryllis at the Fair," and "After London"!--this opinion has been propagated with such fervency that it seems almost a pity to disturb it by inquiring into the nature of these his achievements. Certainly the critics, and their critical echoes, are united. "He wrote some later novels of indifferent merit," says a critic i

......
全部内容，请购买此书。