"Thorndale," however, is primarily didactic, and the
philosophical dialogues (interesting as these are to the
metaphysician) hardly atone to the general reader for an almost
entire absence of plot. The above is, doubtless, an altogether
extreme instance, but the exclusion of several other works from the
category of Romance seems to follow on something like the same
grounds. Becker's "Charicles" and "Gallus" are little more than
school textbooks, while, turning to a less scholarly quarter,
Ainsworth's "Preston Fight," and even his better-known "Guy
Fawkes," may be cited as illustrating what Mr. Shorthouse means
when he speaks of novels "in which a small amount of fiction has
been introduced simply for the purpose of relating History." In
all such cases the average novel-reader feels that he has been
allured on false pretences. I am well aware that not a few of the
books included in my List might be considered to fall under the
same ban, but I think it will be found that in most of them there
is at least a fair attempt to arouse narrative interest.
Coming to the List itself, it will be noticed that I have been
somewhat sparing in the books given under the "Pre-Christian"
heading.
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