This is the first of Mr MacCarthy's new fortnightly series of special talks on modern literary classics. George Meredith is, by general acknowledgment, one of the greatest of modern English writers. Unfortunately, he is also by general acknowledgment one of the most difficult to read, unless the reader comes to his books with a certain knowledge of what to expect, and a sufficiently stimulated interest to aid him in getting used to a style admittedly involved and even mannered. This knowledge and interest readers who are familiar with Mr MacCarthy's weekly literary notes will be quite confident of achieving.