- mistic spirit which prevailed with little opposition—except
from James Thompson and Matthew Arnold—from Byron to Hardy.
The Honorable Mr. Listless finds the volumes of modern literature "very consolatory and congenial" to his feelings:[1]
"There is, as it were, a delightful north-east wind, an intellectual
blight breathing through them; a delicious misanthropy
and discontent, that demonstrates the nullity of virtue and energy,
and puts me in good humour with myself and sofa."
Pelham perceives—[2]
"* * * an unaccountable prepossession among all persons,
to imagine that whatever seems gloomy must be profound,
and whatever is cheerful must be shallow. They have put poor
Philosophy into deep mourning, and given her a coffin for a writing
desk, and a skull for an inkstand."
Ganymede anticipates that Apollo's new poem will be
very popular, for "it is all about moonlight and the misery
of existence."[3]
It is in Meredith that we find the greatest point and depth in literary criticism, as in most other things. Under cover of apology for his own method of psychological analysis, he manages to convey his impression of those who tell and who love the story for the story's sake. He cannot avoid, he explains, the slow start and detailed exposition in which he unfolds the situation, and adds:[4]
"This it is not necessary to do when you are set astride the
enchanted horse of the Tale, which leaves the man's mind at
home while he performs the deeds befitting him: he can indeed
