第105章

’Ifhehas，’saidI，’hehasdoneitunwittingly；Ineverheardbeforethathewasafavourerofthepopishdelusion。’

’Onlyintheory，’saidthemaninblack。’TrustanyoftheclanMac-Sycophantforinterferingopenlyandboldlyinfavourofanycauseonwhichthesundoesnotshinebenignantly。Poperyisatpresent，asyousay，suingforgraceintheseregionsINFORMA

PAUPERIS；butletroyaltyoncetakeitup，letoldgoutyGeorgeoncepatroniseit，andIwouldconsenttodrinkpuddle-waterif，theverynexttimethecannyScotwasadmittedtotheroyalsymposium，hedidnotsay，“Bymyfaith，yereMajesty，Ihavealwaysthought，atthebottomofmyheart，thatpopery，asill-

scrapittonguesca’it，wasaverygrandreligion；IshallbeproudtofollowyourMajesty’sexampleinadoptingit。“’

’Idoubtnot，’saidI，’thatbothgoutyGeorgeandhisdevotedservantwillbemoulderingintheirtombslongbeforeRoyaltyinEnglandthinksaboutadoptingpopery。’

’Wecanwait，’saidthemaninblack；’inthesedaysoframpantgentility，therewillbenowantofkingsnorofScotsaboutthem。’

’ButnotWalters，’saidI。

’Ourworkhasbeenalreadytolerablywelldonebyone，’saidthemaninblack；’butifwewantedliterature，weshouldneverlackintheseregionshostsofliterarymenofsomekindorothertoeulogiseus，providedourreligionwereinthefashion，andourpopishnobleschose-andtheyalwaysdoourbidding-toadmitthecanailletotheirtables-theirkitchentables。Asforliteratureingeneral，’saidhe，’theSantaSedeisnotparticularlypartialtoit，itmaybeemployedbothways。InItaly，inparticular，ithasdiscoveredthatliterarymenarenotalwaysdisposedtobelickspittles。’

’Forexample，Dante，’saidI。

’Yes，’saidthemaninblack，’adangerouspersonage；thatpoemofhiscutsbothways；andthentherewasPulci，thatMORGANTEofhiscutsbothways，orratheroneway，andthatsheeragainstus；andthentherewasAretino，whodealtsohardwiththePOVERIFRATI；

allwriters，atleastItalianones，arenotlickspittles。AndtheninSpain，-’tistrue，LopedeVegaandCalderonweremostinordinatelickspittles；thePRINCIPECONSTANTEofthelastisacuriosityinitsway；andthentheMARYSTUARTofLope；IthinkI

shallrecommendtheperusalofthatworktotheBirminghamironmonger’sdaughter-shehasbeenlatelythinkingofadding“aslightknowledgeofthemagneeficentlanguageofthePeninsula“totherestofheraccomplishments，he!he!he!ButthentherewasCervantes，starving，butstraight；hedealsussomehardknocksinthatsecondpartofhisQUIXOTE。Thenthereweresomeofthewritersofthepicaresquenovels。No，allliterarymenarenotlickspittles，whetherinItalyorSpain，or，indeed，upontheContinent；itisonlyinEnglandthatall-’

’Come，’saidI，’MindwhatyouareabouttosayofEnglishliterarymen。’

’WhyshouldImind？’saidthemaninblack，’therearenoliterarymenhere。Ihaveheardofliterarymenlivingingarrets，butnotindingles，whateverphilologistsmaydo；Imay，therefore，speakoutfreely。ItisonlyinEnglandthatliterarymenareinvariablylickspittles；onwhichaccount，perhaps，theyaresodespised，evenbythosewhobenefitbytheirdirtyservices。Lookatyourfashionablenovel-writers，he!he!-and，aboveall，atyournewspapereditors，ho!ho!’

’Youwill，ofcourse，excepttheeditorsofthe-fromyourcensureofthelastclass？’saidI。

’Them!’saidthemaninblack；’why，theymightserveasmodelsinthedirtytradetoalltherestwhopractiseit。Seehowtheybepraisetheirpatrons，thegrandWhignobility，whohope，byraisingthecryofliberalismandbyputtingthemselvesattheheadofthepopulace，tocomeintopowershortly。Idon’twishtobehard，atpresent，uponthoseWhigs，’hecontinued，’fortheyareplayingourgame；butatimewillcomewhen，notwantingthem，wewillkickthemtoaconsiderabledistance：andthen，whentoleration