You excel, I think, peculiarly in avoiding what is commonly called _fine-writing_,--a sort of writing which I detest; which calls the attention away from the _thing_ to the _manner_, from the feeling to the language; which sacrifices every thing to the sound, to the mere rounding of a period; which mistakes _stage effect_ for nature. All who are at all used to writing know and detect the _trick of the trade_ immediately; and, speaking for myself, I _know_ that the writing which has least the appearance of literary _manufacture_, almost always pleases me the best. It has more originality; in narration of fictitious events, it most surely succeeds in giving the idea of reality, and in making the biographer, for the time, pass for nothing. But there are few who can, in this manner, bear the _mortification_ of staying behind the scenes. They peep out eager for appearance, and destroy the illusion by crying, _I_ said it, _I_ wrote it, _I_ invented it all! Call me on the stage and crown me directly! MARIA EDGEWORTH: _Letter to Mrs. Inchbald_, quoted in ‘A Study of Maria Edgeworth.’ * * * * * [Sidenote: Effect of the ‘Moral Tales.’] Miss Edgeworth has done more good both to the higher and lower world than any writer since the days of Addison. She shoots at “folly as it flies,” with the strong bolt of ridicule, and seldom misses her aim. Much as I admire the polished satire and nice discrimination of character in the ‘Tales of Fashionable Life,’ I prefer the homely pathos and plain morality of her ‘Popular Tales.’ The story of Rosanna is particularly delightful to me; and that of ‘To-morrow,’ made so deep an impression on my mind, that, if it were possible for any earthly power to reform a procrastinator, I really think that tale would have cured me of my evil habits.... I delight in her works for the same reason that you admire them--her exquisite distinction of character; whereas I am convinced that at least nine-tenths of her readers are caught solely by the humor of her dialogue and the liveliness of her illustrations. MARY RUSSELL MITFORD: _Letter to Sir William Elford_, in the former’s ‘Life,’ by L’Estrange. * * * * * [Sidenote: Too didactic.]