What to read after Adam Bede?

With a single drop of ink for a mirror, the Egyptian sorcerer undertakes to reveal to any chancecomer far-reaching visions of the past. This is what I undertake to do for you, reader. With this dropof ink at the end of my pen, I will show you the roomy workshop of Mr. Jonathan Burge, carpenterand builder, in the village of Hayslope, as it appeared on the eighteenth of June, in the year of ourLord 1799.The afternoon sun was warm on the five workmen there, busy upon doors and window-framesand wainscoting. A scent of pine-wood from a tentlike pile of planks outside the open door mingleditself with the scent of the elder-bushes which were spreading their summer snow close to the openwindow opposite; the slanting sunbeams shone through the transparent shavings that flew beforethe steady plane, and lit up the fine grain of the oak panelling which stood propped against the wall.On a heap of those soft shavings a rough, grey shepherd dog had made himself a pleasant bed, andwas lying with his nose between his fore-paws, occasionally wrinkling his brows to cast a glance atthe tallest of the five workmen, who was carving a shield in the centre of a wooden mantelpiece. Itwas to this workman that the strong barytone belonged which was heard above the sound of planeand hammer singing-Awake, my soul, and with the sunThy daily stage of duty run;Shake off dull sloth...Here some measurement was to be taken which required more concentrated attention, and thesonorous voice subsided into a low whistle; but it presently broke out again with renewed vigour-Let all thy converse be sincere, Thy conscience as the noonday clear.Such a voice could only come from a broad chest, and the broad chest belonged to a large-boned, muscular man nearly six feet high, with a back so flat and a head so well poised that when he drewhimself up to take a more distant survey of his work, he had the air of a soldier standing at ease. Thesleeve rolled up above the elbow showed an arm that was likely to win the prize for feats of strength;yet the long supple hand, with its broad finger-tips, looked ready for works of skill. In his tallstalwartness Adam Bede was a Saxon, and justified his name; but the jet-black hair, made the morenoticeable by its contrast with the light paper cap, and the keen glance of the dark eyes that shonefrom under strongly marked, prominent and mobile eyebrows, indicated a mixture of Celtic blood.The face was large and roughly hewn, and when in repose had no other beauty than such as belongsto an expression of good-humoured honest intelligence.It is clear at a glance that the next workman is Adam's brother. He is nearly as tall; he has thesame type of features, the same hue of hair and complexion; but the strength of the family likenessseems only to render more conspicuous the remarkable difference of expression both in form andface. Seth's broad shoulders have a slight stoop; his eyes are grey; his eyebrows have less prominenceand more repose than his brother's; and his glance, instead of being keen, is confiding and benig