What good things could be written about the withering
influence of Homer upon the intellectual life of Rome!"
The bishop asked:
"You think the Bible has done the same for us?"
"I think it accounts for some Byzantine traits in your national
character and for the formlessness and hesitancy which I, at least,
seem to detect in the demeanour of many individual Anglo-Saxons. They
realize that their traditional upbringing is opposed to truth. It gives
them a sense of insecurity. It makes them shy and awkward. Poise! That
is what they need, and what this unbalanced Eastern stuff will never
give them."
"The withering influences of Homer: surely that is a bad sign?" asked
the American.
"And that of the Bible?" added Mr. Heard.
"How shall a plant survive, save by withering now and then? If the
ancients had not exhausted themselves with Homer, the soil might not
have been ready for our Renaissance. A bad sign? Who can tell! Good and
bad--I question whether these are respectable words to use.
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