in these twenty or five and twenty years
that something like a norm of ordinariness was first reached, hardly
admits of any question. Still, very much question may arise, and must be
faced, on the point whether this novel of ordinary life has not
redeveloped a _non_-ordinary subdivision, or many such, in the "problem"
novel, the novel of analysis, of abnormal individualism, of theory,
naturalist and other, etc. To this we must turn; for at least part of
this new question is a very important one, though it may require
something of a digression to deal with it properly.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Discussion on a point of general novel criticism.]

I have in these volumes, rather sedulously--some readers no doubt may
think too sedulously--avoided "fighting prizes" on general points of the
criticism or novel-theory. Not that I have the slightest objection to
fighting "for my own hand" or to seeing or reading about a good fight
between others--very much the contrary. I never thought it the worst
compliment paid to Englishmen--the Indian opinion of us, as reported by
the late M. Darmesteter--that we cared for nothing but fighting, sport,
and making love. But the question now to be discussed is so germane to
our subject, both general and special; and the discussion of it once for
all (with _renvois_ thereto elsewhere) will save so much space, trouble,
and inconvenience, that it may as well be handled at full length.

There was hinted--in a review[343] of the first volume of this work
otherwise so complimentary that it must have satisfied the Archbishop of
Granada himself--a doubt whether I had given sufficient weight to
something which I shall let the reviewer express in his own words;[344]
and whether my admission of Rabelais (of which admission, except on
principle, he was himself very glad); my relegation of Laclos to the
Condemned Corps; and my comparative toleration of Pigault-Lebrun, did
not indicate heresy. Now I feel pretty certain that such a well-wisher
would hardly suspect me of doing any of these things by inadvertence;
and as I must have gone, and shall still go, much further from what is
the right line in his (and no doubt others') opinion, I may as well
state my point of view here. It should supply a sort of justificatory
comment not merely on the chapters and passages just referred to, and
others in the last volume, but on a much larger number in this--in fact,
after a fashion, to