Letter from William Archer, London, to W. E. Henley, 1890 January 22 : autograph manuscript signed.

Referring to the anonymous letter he wrote to the Pall Mall Gazette discussed in the his letter to Henley dated January 18, 1890 (see MA 1617.3); saying "Your letter makes me doubly regret my hasty ebullition. Of course to say of any paper that it has its raison d'être in insolence is manifestly absurd. It is one of those exaggerations which cannot be taken literally, and which therefore, I think are fair figures of speech in certain cases, though I don't say this was one. I don't say that I always read the "S.O." from cover to cover, but I think I can truly say that I read more in it than in any other weekly paper, simply because I find more in it that, to me, is readable. And from that reading I certainly have received the impression that whether as regards politics literature or art your writers are apt to adopt an attitude of contempt towards all opponents which is entertaining enough to the mischievous side of one's nature, but is not to be seriously approved! Your remark as to the "P.M.G." suggests an illustration of my position. You will find plenty of unfair hitting in the P.M.G., but of insolence, in the sense I mean, little or none. 'They're not clever enough' you may perhaps say 'they lack the power, not the will'. Well, that may be; and of course they may have far worse sins to answer for (malice towards individuals among the rest) but the particular sin of habitual contempt I don't think can be laid to their charge. However, I'm not going to repeat my offence. We are all of us apt to think our own taste (like our own sense of humour) infallible & to believe in our instinctive faculty for 'drawing the line'. My own performance in this instance shows how illusive is this self-confidence."