creed, and leaves it doubtful whether she
was Hindoo, Mahommedan, or infidel. But notwithstanding these
eccentricities, it is a conscientious notice, very unlike that in the
_Mirror_, for instance, which seemed the result of a feeble sort of
spite, whereas this is the critic's real opinion: some of the ethical
and theological notions are not according to his system, and he
disapproves of them.

'I am glad to hear that Mr. Lewes's new work is soon to appear, and
pleased also to learn that Messrs. Smith & Elder are the publishers.
Mr. Lewes mentioned in the last note I received from him that he had
just finished writing his new novel, and I have been on the look out
for the advertisement of its appearance ever since. I shall long to
read it, if it were only to get a further insight into the author's
character. I read _Ranthorpe_ with lively interest--there was much
true talent in its pages. Two thirds of it I thought excellent, the
latter part seemed more hastily and sketchily written.

'I trust Miss Kavanagh's work will meet with the success that, from
your account, I am certain she and it deserve. I think I have met
with an outline of the facts on which her tale is founded in some
periodical, _Chambers' Journal_ I believe. No critic, however rigid,
will find fault with "the tendency" of her work, I should think.

'I will tell you why you cannot fully sympathise with the French, or
feel any firm confidence in their future movements: because too few
of them are Lamartines, too many Ledru Rollins. That, at least, is
my reason for watching their proceedings with more dread than hope.
With the Germans it is different: to their rational and justifiable
efforts for liberty one can heartily wish well.

'It seems, as you say, as if change drew near England too. She is
divided by the sea from the lands where it is making thrones rock,
but earthquakes roll lower than the ocean, and we know neither the
day nor the hour when the tremor and heat, passing beneath our
island, may unsettle and dissolve its foundations. Meantime, one
thing is certain, all will in the end work together for good.

'You mention Thackeray and the last number of _Vanity Fair_. The
more I read Thackeray's works the more certain I am that he stands
alone--alone in his sagacity, alone in his truth, alone in his