ABSTRACT
Mrs. Ann Radcliffe's genius was more advantageously displayed in the Sicilian Romance which appeared in 1790, and which, as people themselves well recollect, attracted in a considerable degree the attention of the public. She has a title to be considered as the first poetess of romantic fiction, that is, if actual rhythm shall not be deemed essential to poetry. Her powers, both of language and description, have been justly estimated very highly. The landscapes of her are far from equal in accuracy and truth to those of her contemporary, Mrs. Charlotte Smith, whose sketches are so very graphical, that an artist would find little difficulty in actually painting from them. Those of Mrs. Radcliffe, on the contrary, while they would supply the most noble and vigorous ideas, for producing a general effect, would leave the task of tracing a distinct and accurate outline to the imagination of the painter.
