Read it through once

The foregoing remarks were written during the early career of this story, when a spirited public and private criticism of its points was still fresh to the feelings. The pages are allowed to stand for what they are worth, as something once said; but probably they would not have been written now. Even in the first short time which has elapsed since the book was first published, some of the critics who have provoked the reply have “gone down into silence,” as if to remind one of the infinite unimportance of both their say and mine.