He heard me out, as usual when
displeased, and then opened fire on me with red-hot shot. To
belittle a noble story was easy; it was not literature, it was not
art, it was not morality; there was no sustenance in such a form of
jesting, there was (in his favourite phrase) 'no nitrogenous food'
in such literature. And then he proceeded to show what a fine
fellow David was; and what a hard knot he was in about Bathsheba,
so that (the initial wrong committed) honour might well hesitate in
the choice of conduct; and what owls those people were who
marvelled because an Eastern tyrant had killed Uriah, instead of
marvelling that he had not killed the prophet also. 'Now if
Voltaire had helped me to feel that,' said he, 'I could have seen
some fun in it.' He loved the comedy which shows a hero human, and
yet leaves him a hero, and the laughter which does not lessen love.
It was this taste for what is fine in human-kind, that ruled his
choice in books. These should all strike a high note, whether
brave or tender, and smack of the open air. The noble and simple
presentation of things noble and simple, that was the 'nitrogenous
food' of which he spoke so much, which he sought so eagerly,
enjoyed so royally.
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