In 1854 she published _The Essence of Christianity_, a translation from Feuerbach, a philosopher to whom she had been introduced by Charles Bray. During 1855 she translated Spinoza's _Ethics_, wrote articles for the _Leader_, the _Westminster Review_, and the _Saturday Review_--then a new thing. It was not until the following year that she attempted the writing of fiction, and produced _The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton_--the first of the _Scenes of Clerical Life_. These, published in _Blackwood's Magazine_, were issued in two volumes in 1858. The press in general extended a languid welcome to this work, and although the author received much encouragement from private sources, notably from Charles Dickens, the critics were mostly non-committal, and it was not until the publication of _Adam Bede_ in 1859 that enthusiasm was attracted to the quality of the earlier production. _Adam Bede_, in the judgment of many George Eliot's masterpiece, met with a success (in her own words) "triumphantly beyond anything she had dreamed of." In 1860 appeared _The Mill on the Floss_. After the sensational good fortune of _Adam Bede_, the criticism applied to the new novel seems to have been disappointing. We find Miss Evans telling her publisher that "she does not wish to see any newspaper articles." But the book made its way, and prepared an ever-growing army of readers for _Silas Marner_ (1861), _Romola_ (1862-1863), and _Felix Holt_ (1866). _Silas Marner_ shows a reversion to her early manner--the manner of _Scenes of Clerical Life_. _Romola_, which is what is called an historical novel, owes its vitality not to the portraits of Savonarola or of the heroine, or to its vigorous pictures of Florentine life in the 15th century, but to its superb presentment of the treacherous, handsome Tito Melema, who belongs not to any one period but to every generation. _Felix Holt_, a novel dealing with political questions, is strained by a painfulness too severe for any reader's pleasure. Where other eminent authors have produced mechanical books, or books which were mere repetitions of their most popular effort, she erred only on the side of the ponderous and the distressing. _Felix Holt_ is both, and it is the only one of her novels which lacks an unforgettable human note. _The Spanish Gypsy_ (1868), a drama in blank verse, received more public response than most compositions of the kind executed by those connected with the drama or with poetry only; and she published in 1874 another volume of verses, _The Legend of Jubal and other Poems_.