sor." The success it met with while under way
in the pages of the magazine may be seen from a letter written by Lewes on
December 18. "Marian lives entirely in the fifteenth century, and is much
cheered every now and then by hearing indirectly how her book is
appreciated by the higher class of minds, and some of the highest, though
it is not, and cannot be, popular. In Florence we hear they are wild with
delight and surprise at such a work being executed by a foreigner, as if an
Italian had ever done anything of the kind." _Romola_ was illustrated in
the _Cornhill Magazine_, and on its completion was reprinted by Smith,
Elder & Co., the publishers of that periodical.

The success of _Romola_ was such as to lead George Eliot to begin on
another historical subject, though she was probably induced to do this much
more by its fitness to her purposes than by the public reception of the
novel. This time she gave her work a poetical and dramatic form. _The
Spanish Gypsy_ was written in the winter of 1864-5, but was laid aside for
more thorough study of the subject and for careful revision. She had
previously, in 1863, written a short story in verse, founded on the pages
of Bocaccio, entitled "How Lisa Loved the King." Probably other poems had
also been written, but poetry had not occupied much of her attention. As a
school-girl, and even after she had gone to London, she had written verses.
Among these earlier attempts, it may not be unsafe to conjecture, may have
been the undated poems which she has published in connection with _The
Legend of Jubal_. These are "Self and Life," "Sweet Evenings come and go,
Love," and "The Death of Moses."

After laying aside _The Spanish Gypsy_ she began on another novel of
English life, and _Felix Holt: the Radical_ was printed in three volumes by
Blackwood, in June, 1866. Shortly after, she printed in _Blackwood's
Magazine_--an "Address to workmen, by Felix Holt," in which she gave some
wholesome and admirable advice to the operative classes who had been
enfranchised by the Reform Bill. In the same magazine, "How Lisa Loved the
King" was printed in May, 1869. This was the last of her contributions to
its pages. Its publisher gave her many encouragements in her literary
career, and was devoted to her interests. After his death she gave
expression to her appreciation of his valuable aid in reaching the public,
through a letter addressed to his successor.

I feel that his death was an irre