the fact of its happening. But the
admirers of _Three Men in a Boat_ see only trousers and butter,
trousers and butter; and they find nothing offensive in the manner in
which this incongruity has been thrust upon their sight. Their
complacent minds receive this funny visual impression because they do
not perceive the glaring artifice which for another banishes the
humour.

V. Morality among the Anglo-Saxon races is a popular theme. It can
cover a multitude of artistic sins. Religion is popular in all
countries, and is not always associated with good morals; but in
England and the United States good religion and good morals fall under
the same hierarchy. Both have their corresponding sensations and
emotions. We may see them violently operative at revival meetings,
distracting agents which are sometimes indeed so powerful as to lead
to extraordinary reactions. It is difficult to attain the same
violence with the written as with the spoken word, but if any living
novelist has succeeded in attaining the effect of pandemonium through
the use of religious and moral subjects, it is Miss Marie Corelli. As
_proxime accessit_ I might name Mr. Hall Caine. By the same methods
Mr. Guy Thorne (_alias_ Ranger Gull) attained, with the pulpit
assistance of the Bishop of London, a sensational popular success in
_When it was Dark_. There have also been many fine writers who did
not aim at spurious effects, but received praise by reason of their
"moral tone" in circles where they would never have received it on the
grounds of literary excellence. If George Eliot had not been a
moralist she would not have been so popular in England. If Ruskin had
not been primarily a preacher he could never have wielded his vast
influence. Tennyson was beloved as much for his moralism as for his
sweetness; and to-day so admirable a writer as Mr. John Galsworthy is,
even in "serious" circles, regarded as a serious novelist mainly
because he is a critic of morals. Mr. John Masefield wrote many novels
and plays in which he showed singular fineness of feeling and beauty
of style. But when he wrote a poem called _The Everlasting Mercy_--a
story of thrilling incident with an admirable moral--lo! his popular
reputation was made! People could understand a story of sensational
incident. They could understand the moral. They flattered themselves
that they were enjoying poetry!

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If anyone should reproach me with adopting t