THE LAKE OF THE FAIRIES. 149 



" Do books so impress you ? " 



" Yes. Some of Sir Walter's scenes, and some 

 of his persons, are more real on my mind than 

 many actual realities." 



"Ah! he is exceptional," said Ward; "and I 

 could sketch his scenes from memory. " 



" I can quite fancy you might, but there are 

 many besides Scott have this gift ; others, again, 

 seem to want it completely. James, who has 

 written nice tales of chivalrous men and devoted 

 women, wants this faculty, as his characters leave 

 no prints on the memory. So with Bulwer Lytton 

 and other good writers ; and even Thackeray, 

 deemed so realistic, saving in his immortal Becky, 

 and some few more, such as Mr. Pendennis and 

 Colonel Newcombe." 



" Then you must enjoy the elaborate cha- 

 racterizing of George Eliot and Charlotte 

 Bronte ? " 



"Surely not, as realities: to me they are the 

 least real of all ; people one never met, nor should 

 care to meet." 



"How?" 



"Because they are so confoundedly sensitive and 

 self-absorbed. I confess my bad taste in not liking 



