Victim,  not  vanquisher,  of  I«ove.    And  he?
Once  more  an  exile  over  land  and  main:

Ah  !  Life  is  sad,  and  scarcely  worth  the  pain  I  *

Yesterdays  with  Authors,   by  James
*     T.    Fields.    With    the    exception   of
Miss    Mitford's    letters  and    some    para-
graphs of  other  matters,  the  contents  of


5IO


SYNOPSES  OP  NOTED  BOOKS


this  book  iirst  appeared  in  the  Atlantic
Monthly,  during  the  year  1871,  in  a
series  of  papers  called  <Our  Whispering
Gallery.  >  The  <  Yesterdays  >  are  spent
with  Pope,  Thackeray,  Hawthorne,  Dick-
ens, Wordsworth,  and  Miss  Mitford.
With  all  but  the  first  of  these  Mr.  Fields
had  a  personal  acquaintance;  with  Haw-
thorne, Thackeray,  and  Dickens,  a  warm
friendship  which  lasted  until  their  deaths.
The  relation  between  publisher  and
author  is  of  a  delicate  nature,  having
in  it  elements  of  mutual  interest  and
enforced  intimacy;  when  to  this  is  added
the  tie  of  kindred  minds  and  personal
predilection,  the  record  of  it  is  note-
worthy. The  title  is  particularly  appli-
cable to  the  subject-matter.  The  re-
membrance of  the  day  before  is  so
potent  in  the  present;  yesterday  and
to-day  are  so  allied  in  sentiment,  that
in  reading  these  charming  recollections,
conversations,  letters,  anecdotes  of  work
and  play,  one  feels  that  the  veil  has
been  withdrawn,  and  those  to  whom  we
owe  so  much  entertainment  and  instruc-
tion are  still  with  us,  not  merely  por-
traits in  a  picture  gallery  revivified  by
the  touch  of  the  artist  The  author's
recollections  of  Dickens  are  exceptionally
interesting.  To  him  is  accorded  a  major
portion  of  the  book,  as  in  life  was
accorded  a  greater  share  of  time  and
affection.
