Page:Thoughts from Montaigne.djvu/11



has, nowadays, become a fashion in publishing to introduce the greater and some of the lesser men of the past to the present world through the medium of a sort of gentleman-usher or literary groom-of-the-chamber, who shall inform the reader of their exact title to consideration. In the case of the lesser men, the small fry of letters, the office is useful. Nay, the reading public will often put up with the society of a comparatively dull fellow for the sake of the attributes of an elegant and witty attendant. Again, it may be a pretty courtesy enough in the case of a shy daughter of the moorlands, such as Charlotte Bronté, or of a modest, unassertive maiden lady, such as Jane Austen; but the giants, one would think, might well be left to pursue their way unaided. It seems, however, as if even so familiar a genius as a Scott, a Thackeray, or a Dickens cannot make a friendly call in a new coat but he must be b