Essays on Life 



Christians " ; there were few to praise her, 

 and of those few still fewer could bring 

 themselves to like her; indeed, Wordsworth 

 himself seems to have been the only person 

 who thought much about her one way or the 

 other. In like manner, I believe I was the 

 only reader who thought much one way or 

 the other about Frost's "Lives of Eminent 

 Christians," but this in itself was one of the 

 attractions of the book ; and as for the grief 

 we respectively felt and feel, I believe my 

 own to be as deep as Wordsworth's, if not 

 more so. 



I said above, "as Wordsworth is generally 

 supposed to have felt " ; for any one imbued 

 with the spirit of modern science will read 

 Wordsworth's poem with different eyes from 

 those of a mere literary critic. He will note 

 that Wordsworth is most careful not to 

 explain the nature of the difference which 

 the death of Lucy will occasion to him. He 

 tells us that there will be a difference ; but 

 there the matter ends. The superficial reader 

 takes it that he was very sorry she was dead ; 

 it is, of course, possible that he may have 



