sufficing in its artistic simplicity,--thoughts true for all time
were presented afresh with an admirable point and delicacy that
made them seem new and singularly imperative,--and the story
which, like a silken thread, held all the choice jewels of
language together in even and brilliant order, was pure and
idyllic,--warm with a penetrating romance, yet most sincerely
human. When this extraordinary piece of work was published, it
slipped from the press in quite a modest way without much
preliminary announcement, and for two or three weeks after its
appearance nobody knew anything about it. The publishers
themselves were evidently in doubt as to its reception, and
signified their caution by economy in the way of advertisement--it
was not placarded in the newspaper columns as "A Book of the
Century" or "A New Literary Event." It simply glided into the
crowd of books without noise or the notice of reviewers--just one
of a pushing, scrambling, shouting multitude,--and quite suddenly
found itself the centre of the throng with all eyes upon it, and
all tongues questioning the how, when and where of its author. No
one could say how it first began to be thus busily talked about,--
the critics had bestowed upon it nothing of either their praise or
blame,--yet somehow the ball had been set rolling, and it gathered
size and force as it rolled, till at last the publishers woke up
to the fact that they had, by merest chance, hit upon a "paying
concern." They at once assisted in the general chorus of delight
and admiration, taking wider space in the advertisement columns of
the press for the "work of genius" which had inadvertently fallen
into their hands--but when it came to answering the questions put
to them respecting its writer they had very little to say, being
themselves more or less in the dark.