was filled with those who desired to welcome Mr. Irving back to his own
theatre, and we were all delighted at his re-appearance among us. I hope
that some time will elapse before he and Miss Terry cross again that
disappointing Atlantic Ocean.




TWO NEW NOVELS


(Pall Mall Gazette, May 15, 1885.)

The clever authoress of In the Golden Days has chosen for the scene of
her story the England of two centuries ago, as a relief, she tells us in
her preface, 'from perpetual nineteenth-centuryism.' Upon the other
hand, she makes a pathetic appeal to her readers not to regard her book
as an 'historical novel,' on the ground that such a title strikes terror
into the public. This seems to us rather a curious position to take up.
Esmond and Notre Dame are historical novels, both of them, and both of
them popular successes. John Inglesant and Romola have gone through many
editions, and even Salammbo has its enthusiasts. We think that the
public is very fond of historical novels, and as for perpetual
'nineteenth-centuryism'--a vile phrase, by the way--we only wish that
more of our English novelists studied our age and its society than do so
at present. However, In the Golden Days must not be judged by its
foolish preface. It is really a very charming book, and though Dryden,
Betterton, and Wills's Coffee-House are dragged in rather a propos de
bottes, still the picture of the time is well painted. Joyce, the little
Puritan maiden, is an exquisite creation, and Hugo Wharncliffe, her