“The papers would solemnly say that it deals with subjects that are better veiled.”
“Indeed it is remarkable. John Bull is indeed the perfect ostrich.”
“Oh those men who write like that don’t want them veiled from themselves .”
“I will tell you more than that. The Paris pornographia lives on its English patrons.”
“Oh no; I’m sure it doesn’t.”
“On the contrary I assure you this is a fact. Any French bookseller will tell you. I see that this distresses you. It is not perhaps in every case so base as would appear. There is always even in quite deliberate French obscenity a certain esprit . These subjects lend themselves.”
“Oh they don’t care about the esprit. It’s because they think they are being improper. They like to be what they call men of the world, in possession of a fund of things they think can’t be talked about; you can see their silly thoughts by the way they glance at each other; it’s all about nothing. What is obscenity? And the other half of them is ladies , who shout things by always carefully avoiding them; or, if they are ‘racey,’ flatter men’s topics by laughing in a pretended hilarious embarrassment, hitting them as it were, and rushing on to something else, very animated by a becoming blush. I never realised that before. But that’s the secret. What is obscenity?”
“You have touched a most interesting problem of psychology.”
“Besides Paris is full of Americans.”
“It is the same proposition. They are the cousins of the English.”