第85章

No,sir,the time for those things is also gone by;German,at present,is a drug;and,between ourselves,nobody has contributed to make it so more than my good friend and correspondent;-but,sir,I see you are a young gentleman of infinite merit,and Ialways wish to encourage merit.Don't you think you could write a series of evangelical tales?'

'Evangelical tales,sir?'

'Yes,sir,evangelical novels.'

'Something in the style of Herder?'

'Herder is a drug,sir;nobody cares for Herder-thanks to my good friend.Sir,I have in yon drawer a hundred pages about Herder,which I dare not insert in my periodical;it would sink it,sir.

No,sir,something in the style of the DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER.'

'I never heard of the work till the present moment.'

'Then,sir,procure it by all means.Sir,I could afford as much as ten pounds for a well-written tale in the style of the DAIRYMAN'S DAUGHTER;that is the kind of literature,sir,that sells at the present day!It is not the Miller of the Black Valley-no,sir,nor Herder either,that will suit the present taste;the evangelical body is becoming very strong,sir;the canting scoundrels-'

'But,sir,surely you would not pander to a scoundrelly taste?'

'Then,sir,I must give up business altogether.Sir,I have a great respect for the goddess Reason-an infinite respect,sir;indeed,in my time,I have made a great many sacrifices for her;but,sir,I cannot altogether ruin myself for the goddess Reason.

Sir,I am a friend to Liberty,as is well known;but I must also be a friend to my own family.It is with the view of providing for a son of mine that I am about to start the Review of which I was speaking.He has taken into his head to marry,sir,and I must do something for him,for he can do but little for himself.Well,sir,I am a friend to Liberty,as I said before,and likewise a friend to Reason;but I tell you frankly that the Review which Iintend to get up under the rose,and present him with when it is established,will be conducted on Oxford principles.'

'Orthodox principles,I suppose you mean,sir?'

'I do,sir;I am no linguist,but I believe the words are synonymous.'

Much more conversation passed between us,and it was agreed that Ishould become a contributor to the Oxford Review.I stipulated,however,that,as I knew little of politics,and cared less,no other articles should be required from me than such as were connected with belles-lettres and philology;to this the big man readily assented.'Nothing will be required from you,'said he,'but what you mention;and now and then,perhaps,a paper on metaphysics.You understand German,and perhaps it would be desirable that you should review Kant;and in a review of Kant,sir,you could introduce to advantage your peculiar notions about EX NIHILO.'He then reverted to the subject of the DAIRYMAN'SDAUGHTER,which I promised to take into consideration.As I was going away,he invited me to dine with him on the ensuing Sunday.

'That's a strange man!'said I to myself,after I had left the house;'he is evidently very clever;but I cannot say that I like him much,with his Oxford Reviews and Dairyman's Daughters.But what can I do?I am almost without a friend in the world.I wish I could find some one who would publish my ballads,or my songs of Ab Gwilym.In spite of what the big man says,I am convinced that,once published,they would bring me much fame and profit.But how is this?-what a beautiful sun!-the porter was right in saying that the day would clear up-I will now go to my dingy lodging,lock up my manus,and then take a stroll about the big city.'