Excerpt from The Works of Mrs. Gaskell, Vol. 6 of 8: With Introductions; Sylvia's Lovers, Etc In speaking of one of the most fascinating of Mrs. Gaskell's stories, I venture once more to deprecate what, for want of a better phrase, I may call the impolicy of preferences. Some years ago, I remember, when it fell to my lot to have to perform the agreeable task of opening a free library in one of the suburban districts of Manchester, I was, in the middle of the solemnity, somewhat suddenly, as it seemed to me, called upon to "take out the first book." This request imposed on me the necessity of choosing a favourite without further ado; and I flatter myself that I was not wholly unequal to the occasion when I at once named "The Heart of Midlothian." Man is, however, so constituted that, no sooner were the words out of my mouth, than I began to think of this and that objection which might be urged against the claims of Sir Walter Scott's true and touching story to be considered his master-piece in prose fiction. And I went home congratulating myself on the fact that it is no part of the real functions of a critic to try to arrange the several works of an eminent writer, or even the names of eminent men of letters and science themselves, in those tables or ladders of comparative merit in which Lord Byron and the late Professor Tait took so much private delight. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.