Page:Headlong Hall - Peacock (1816).djvu/62

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
54
HEADLONG HALL.

think ye wou'd hae a little mair predileection for deefamation.

Mr. Escot.

I have no predilection, Sir, for defamation. I make a point of speaking the truth on all occasions; and it seldom happens that the truth can be spoken, without some stricken deer pronouncing it a libel.

Mr. Nightshade.

You are perhaps, Sir, an enemy to literature in general.

Mr. Escot.

If I were, Sir, I should be a better friend to periodical critics.

Mr. Treacle.

May I simply take the liberty to inquire into the basis of your objection?

Mr. Escot.

I conceive that periodical criticism dissemi-