Such was the London which calls
itself literary and political! A spectacle to encourage cynicism! Rumour
had a wonderful time. It was stated that not only the libraries but the
booksellers also would decline to handle "The New Machiavelli." The
reasons for this prophesied ostracism were perhaps vague, but they were
understood to be broad-based upon the unprecedented audacity of the
novel. And really in this exciting year, with Sir Percy Bunting in charge
of the national sense of decency, and Mr. W.T. Stead still gloating after
twenty-five years over his success in keeping Sir Charles Dilke out of
office--you never can tell what may happen!
* * * * *
However, it is all over now. "The New Machiavelli" has been received with
the respect and with the enthusiasm which its tremendous qualities
deserve. It is a great success. And the reviews have on the whole been
generous. It was perhaps not to be expected that certain Radical dailies
should swallow the entire violent dose of the book without kicking up a
fuss; but, indeed, Mr. Scott-James, in the _Daily News_, ought to know
better than to go running about after autobiography in fiction. The human
nose was not designed by an all-merciful providence for this purpose.
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