e words "Belloc's Fables"), constituted
nothing short of a violent personal attack. To understand how such an
attack came to be made it is sufficient to possess an acquaintance with
the methods of Carmelite House or a knowledge of the personality of Lord
Northcliffe--a subject on which we could enlarge. It will better suit
the present purpose, however, to give Mr. Belloc's own explanation of
the reason why this attack was made upon him. In his "Reply to
Criticism," before proceeding to the part which has been quoted in the
foregoing chapter, he says:

It has been the constant policy of this paper to avoid controversy
of any kind, both because the matters it deals with are best
examined as intellectual propositions and because the increasing
gravity of the time is ill-suited for domestic quarrel. I none the
less owe it to my readers to take some notice of the very violent
personal attack delivered by the Harmsworth Press some ten days ago
upon my work in this journal. I owe it to them because I should
otherwise appear to admit unanswered the depreciation of my work in
this paper, but, still more, because the incident would give the
general public a very false impression unless its cause were
exposed. I will deal with the matter as briefly as I can. It is not
a pleasant one, and I doubt whether the principal offender will
compel me to return to it. I must first explain to my readers the
occasion of so extraordinary an outburst on the part of the
proprietor of the _Daily Mail_. I have become, with many others,
convinced that a great combination of newspapers pretending to
speak with many voices, but really serving the private interests of
one man, is dangerous to the nation. It was breeding dissension
between various social classes at a moment when unity was more
necessary than ever; pretending to make and unmake Ministers;
weakening authority by calculated confusion, but, above all,
undermining public confidence and spreading panic in a methodical
way which has already made the opinion of London an extraordinary
contrast to that of the Armies, and gravely disturbing our Allies.
They could not understand the privilege accorded to this one
person. I, therefore to the best of my power, determined to attack
that privilege, and did so. I shall continue to do so. But such
action has nothing