第46章

complimentinghimuponhisstyle，acknowledgingthegeneralsoundnessofhisviews，andonlydifferingwithhimintheaffairoftheappleandpear。

Ididnotlikereviewingatall-itwasnottomytaste；itwasnotinmyway；Ilikeditfarlessthantranslatingthepublisher’sphilosophy，forthatwassomethinginthelineofonewhomacompetentjudgehadsurnamedLavengro。Inevercouldunderstandwhyreviewswereinstituted；worksofmeritdonotrequiretobereviewed，theycanspeakforthemselves，andrequirenopraising；

worksofnomeritatallwilldieofthemselves，theyrequirenokilling。TheReviewtowhichIwasattachedwas，ashasbeenalreadyintimated，establishedonanentirelynewplan；itprofessedtoreviewallnewpublications，whichcertainlynoReviewhadeverprofessedtodobefore，otherReviewsneverpretendingtoreviewmorethanone-tenthofthecurrentliteratureoftheday。

WhenIsayitprofessedtoreviewallnewpublications，Ishouldadd，whichshouldbesenttoit；for，ofcourse，theReviewwouldnotacknowledgetheexistenceofpublications，theauthorsofwhichdidnotacknowledgetheexistenceoftheReview。Idon’tthink，however，thattheReviewhadmuchcausetocomplainofbeingneglected；Ihavereasontobelievethatatleastnine-tenthsofthepublicationsofthedayweresenttotheReview，andinduetimereviewed。Ihadgoodopportunityofjudging-IwasconnectedwithseveraldepartmentsoftheReview，thoughmoreparticularlywiththepoeticalandphilosophicones。AnEnglishtranslationofKant’sphilosophymadeitsappearanceonmytablethedaybeforeitspublication。InmynoticeofthisworkIsaidthattheEnglishshortlyhopedtogivetheGermansaQUIDPROQUO。Ibelieveatthattimeauthorsweremuchinthehabitofpublishingattheirownexpense。AllthepoetrywhichIreviewedappearedtobepublishedattheexpenseoftheauthors。IfIamaskedhowIcomportedmyself，underallcircumstances，asareviewer-Ianswer，-IdidnotforgetthatIwasconnectedwithaReviewestablishedonOxfordprinciples，theeditorofwhichhadtranslatedQuintilian。AllthepublicationswhichfellundermynoticeItreatedinagentlemanlyandOxford-likemanner，nopersonalities-novituperation-noshabbyinsinuations；decorum，decorumwastheorderoftheday。

Occasionallyawordofadmonition，butgentlyexpressed，asanOxfordundergraduatemighthaveexpressedit，ormasterofarts。

HowtheauthorswhosepublicationswereconsignedtomycolleaguesweretreatedbythemIknownot；IsupposetheyweretreatedinanurbaneandOxford-likemanner，butIcannotsay；Ididnotreadthereviewalsofmycolleagues，Ididnotreadmyownaftertheywereprinted。Ididnotlikereviewing。

OfallmyoccupationsatthisperiodIamfreetoconfessIlikedthatofcompilingtheNEWGATELIVESANDTRIALSthebest；thatis，afterIhadsurmountedakindofprejudicewhichIoriginallyentertained。Thetrialswereentertainingenough；butthelives-

howfullweretheyofwildandracyadventures，andinwhatracy，genuinelanguageweretheytold!Whatstruckmemostwithrespecttotheseliveswastheartwhichthewriters，whoevertheywere，possessedoftellingaplainstory。Itisnoeasythingtotellastoryplainlyanddistinctlybymouth；buttotelloneonpaperisdifficultindeed，somanysnareslieintheway。Peopleareafraidtoputdownwhatiscommononpaper，theyseektoembellishtheirnarratives，astheythink，byphilosophicspeculationsandreflections；theyareanxioustoshine，andpeoplewhoareanxioustoshinecannevertellaplainstory。’SoIwentwiththemtoamusicbooth，wheretheymademealmostdrunkwithgin，an