There have been those,--and they have not been bad judges of literature,--who have told me that they have best liked these vague narratives.

The mind of the man has been clearly exhibited in them.

In them he has spoken out his thoughts, and given the world to know his convictions, as well as could have been done in the carrying out any well-conducted plot.

And though the narratives be vague, the characters are alive.

In _The Virginians_, the two young men and their mother, and the other ladies with whom they have to deal, and especially their aunt, the Baroness Bernstein, are all alive.