Why should _Don Quixote_, for instance, tyrannise over
us? He has had a good innings, in the course of which, it is only fair
to acknowledge, he has been enormously helped by his henchman, _Sancho
Panza_, a fellow of infinite wit, no doubt. There are however readers
who set up these two as idols and would compel us to kneel to them,
especially when _Sancho_ receives the appointment of Governor of
Barataria. I acknowledge I am a constant devotee of _Don Quixote_ and
his _Sancho_, but it is conceivable that there are people who have
no liking for them. Let such, if they are old enough, proclaim it, as
JAMES PAYN did his opinion about RABELAIS' fun.
I should like to bring certain long poems of universal renown within
the scope of my principle. What about _Paradise Lost_? Did any woman,
except perhaps GEORGE ELIOT, ever read it throughout unless under
scholastic compulsion? I doubt it; her sense of humour would not allow
her to. Take, for instance, the following lines, describing the simple
amusements of our first parents:--
"About them frisking played
All beasts of the earth since wild, and of all chase
In wood or wilderness, forest or den.
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