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The Ethical Tendency of the English Novel by Helen M. Harney, 1897

The Ethical Tendency of the English Novel by Helen M. Harney, 1897, Page 6

unities. It is only since the popularity and influence of prose fiction that critics have given serious attention; however, it was then too late to lay down rules, or form schools for prose fiction. He may write for a purpose, or for no purpose, he may be a politician, a satirist, or a mere teller of stories; he may be a realist or an idealist; he is sure to be criticized and judged on the ground which he had spontaneously assumed He will be estimated for what he had done and for his manner of doing it and he is not likely to receive criticism because he had not done something which he never proposed nor desired to accomplish. 
One result of all this is that the novelist is now our most influential writer. If he be a man of genius, his power over the community he addresses is far beyond that of any other author. [Macanlay's?] influence over the average English mind was narrow compared with that of Dickens; even

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unities. It is only since the popularity and influence of prose fiction that critics have given serious attention; however, it was then too late to lay down rules, or form schools for prose fiction. He may write for a purpose, or for no purpose, he may be a politician, a satirist, or a mere teller of stories; he may be a realist or an idealist; he is sure to be criticized and judged on the ground which he had spontaneously assumed He will be estimated for what he had done and for his manner of doing it and he is not likely to receive criticism because he had not done something which he never proposed nor desired to accomplish. One result of all this is that the novelist is now our most influential writer. If he be a man of genius, his power over the community he addresses is far beyond that of any other author. [Macanlay's?] influence over the average English mind was narrow compared with that of Dickens; even