No. CCCCXXXVII. MARCH, 1852. Vol. LXXI.
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EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
No. CCCCXXXVII. MARCH, 1852. Vol. LXXI.
No one can have glanced at OurVillage, or any of the charmingsketches of Miss Mitford, withouthaving been struck by the peculiarelegance, the raciness, the simplicityof her style. It is as free in all itsmovements as that pet of hers, theItalian greyhound she has made sofamiliar to us all—as free and asgraceful. A beautiful style is nosingularity in our days, and there aremany orders of such beauty; nevertheless,Miss Mitford has a dialectof her own. It is a style gatheredfrom familiarity with the classic, andespecially the dramatic poets, andwith whatever is most terse and elegantamongst our prose writers, andyet applied with perfect ease to thesimplest details of life, to the realtransaction and the daily scene beforeher. You would think every onewas talking in the same manner; itis only Miss Mitford who spea