Mr. Trollope's _Thackeray_ was perhaps an
exception--a black spot on the otherwise immaculate whiteness. In a
different way the general effect would have been still more seriously
impaired if Mr. Ruskin's co-operation had been invited. The
outcroppings of a vulgar egotism might indicate a substratum necessary
to be taken into account, but it would have been a clear loss of labor
to follow the leadings of any eccentric vein. One might wonder at the
absence of Mr. Matthew Arnold, the high priest of culture; but we have
to remember that Mr. Arnold is solicitous to stand apart, that he holds
up ideals which he is careful to inform us are not those of his time,
and that he is fastidious in selecting a point of view where he cannot
be jostled, with perspectives to which no vision but his own can
accommodate itself. His culture may represent that of the future, but
certainly does not typify that of the present.
Mr. Leslie Stephen, on the contrary, might very well stand as a type of
his class both in its positive and negative qualities. He, more than
any of his confreres, is a product of culture. Unlike the greater
number of them, he has no special talent, or pet object of enthusiasm,
or erratic tendencies.
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