It is with regret that we do not allot a larger space to this important
sketch, for it is clearly an original study (like an artist's drawing)
of the unfinished romance which was published in 1883 under the title
of "Doctor Grimshawe's Secret." Long lost sight of in the mass of
Hawthorne's manuscripts, this last of his posthumous works was reviewed
by the critics with some incredulity, and Lathrop had the hardihood to
publicly assert that no such romance by Hawthorne's pen existed, thereby
casting a gratuitous slander on his own brother-in-law. We may have our
doubts in regard to the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, for we have
no absolute standard by which to judge of Shakespeare's style, but the
"style, the matter, and the drift" of "Doctor Grimshawe's Secret" are
so essentially Hawthornish that a person experienced in judging of such
matters should not hesitate long in deciding that it belongs in the same
category with "Fanshawe" and "The Dolliver Romance." It is even possible
to determine, from certain peculiarities in its style, the exact period
at which it was written; which must have been shortly after Hawthorne's
return from Europe. In addition to this, if further evidence were
required, its close relationship to the aforementioned sketch is a fact
which no sophistry can reason away. [Footnote: This sketch was published
in the _Century_, January, 1883.]