think that this is carried too far, when a notorious
Scotch poisoning
case is introduced into the plot of the story, under a very shallow dis- guise of names. But on the whole, this element is managed with skill
and good-taste, and certainly contributes a powerful effect to the book.
It is, indeed, its chief merit. Such a portrait, for instance, as Betty Doall, once housekeeper to a Scotch minister, and afterwards the in- dispensable person of her native town, goes a long way towards giving
character to the book. Equally true, though less pleasing, are the two English parsons, the Canon and his brother-in-law, whom Miss Smith, no favourer, we may guess, of Prelacy, chooses to hold up for our enter- tainment. It would not be easy to find such olergymen outside the pages of Miss Austen, and what kind of folk Miss Austen's clergymen are everybody knows, or ought to know. The construction of the novel is of a very inartistic kind. The author does not seem to under- stand that every chapter ought to have soma reference to the working of the plot, and that it is really an impertinence, to use that word in its strict sense, to introduce descriptions of travel and scenery, however lively and accurate, which might be dispensed with, without at all in- terfering with the plot.
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