E-text prepared by Les Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset,
and revised by Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.
HTML version prepared by Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.
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Editorial Note: Mary Barton, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's first novel, was first published anonymously in 1848 by Chapman and Hall. |
MARY BARTON:
A TALE OF MANCHESTER LIFE.
by
ELIZABETH GASKELL
"'How knowest thou,' may the distressed Novel-wright exclaim, 'that I, here where I sit, am the Foolishest of existing mortals; that this my Long-ear of a fictitious Biography shall not find one and the other, into whose still longer ears it may be the means, under Providence, of instilling somewhat?' We answer, 'None knows, none can certainly know: therefore, write on, worthy Brother, even as thou canst, even as it is given thee.'"
CARLYLE.
"'How knowest thou,' may the distressed Novel-wright exclaim, 'that I, here where I sit, am the Foolishest of existing mortals; that this my Long-ear of a fictitious Biography shall not find one and the other, into whose still longer ears it may be the means, under Providence, of instilling somewhat?' We answer, 'None knows, none can certainly know: therefore, write on, worthy Brother, even as thou canst, even as it is given thee.'"
CARLYLE.