aracters
about which she was to write. Some knowledge of her early home and the
influences amidst which her mind was formed, help largely to an
appreciation of her books and the views of life which she presents in them.

The Midland region of England she has pictured with something of that
accuracy with which Scott described the Border. It is a country of historic
memories. Near by her childhood home was the forest of Arden and Astly
Castle, the home of Sir John Grey, whose widow, Elizabeth Woodville, became
the queen of Edward IV. This was also one of the homes of Henry Grey, Duke
of Suffolk, who was found in a hollow tree near by after his rebellion; and
the home, likewise, of his daughter, Lady Jane Grey. In another direction
was Bosworth Field; and within twenty miles was Stratford-upon-Avon. The
ancient city of Coventry was not far distant. It was not these historic
regions which attracted her, however, so much as the pleasant country, the
common people, the quiet villages. With observant eyes she saw the world
about her as it was and she entered into the heart of its life, and has
painted it for us in a most sympathetic, appreciative spirit. The simple,
homely, unromantic life of middle England she has made immortal with her
wit, her satire, her fine description, and her keen love of all that is
human. She herself recognized the importance of her early surroundings. In
one of her letters she used these words:

It is interesting, I think, to know whether a writer was born in a
central or border district--a condition which always has a strongly
determining influence. I was born in Warwickshire, but certain family
traditions connected with more northerly districts made these districts
a region of poetry to me in my early childhood. I was brought up in the
Church of England, and have never joined any other religious society,
but I have had close acquaintance with many Dissenters of various
sects, from Calvinistic Anabaptists to Unitarians.

The influence of the surroundings of childhood upon character she has more
than once touched upon in her books. In the second chapter of _Theophrastus
Such_, she says,--

I cherish my childish loves--the memory of that warm little nest where
my affections were fledged.

In the same essay she says,--

Our Midland plains have never lost their familiar expression and
conservative spirit for me.

In _Daniel Deronda_ she most tender