It knows bread well
enough by name in England, and frequently bread in England only by
its name, but the truth is, that the mighty WE, with all its
pretension, is in general a very sorry creature, who, instead of
saying nous disons, should rather say nous dis: Porny in his
"Guerre des Dieux," very profanely makes the three in one say, Je
faisons; now, Lavengro, who is anything but profane, would suggest
that critics, especially magazine and Sunday newspaper critics,
should commence with nous dis, as the first word would be
significant of the conceit and assumption of the critic, and the
second of the extent of the critic's information. The WE says its
say, but when fawning sycophancy or vulgar abuse are taken from
that say, what remains? Why a blank, a void like Ginnungagap.
As the writer, of his own accord, has exposed some of the blemishes
of his book--a task, which a competent critic ought to have done--
he will now point out two or three of its merits, which any critic,
not altogether blinded with ignorance might have done, or not
replete with gall and envy would have been glad to do. The book
has the merit of communicating a fact connected with physiology,
which in all the pages of the multitude of books was never
previously mentioned--the mysterious practice of touching objects
to baffle the evil chance.
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