There now arose an absurd contest between us, each defending the very point he had vehemently disputed a few days ago, and trying to depreciate his former opinion as much as possible.
"The Dead Lake and Other Tales"
Paul Heyse
Lafcadio Hearn, by the way, condemned the tendency to depreciate Longfellow.
"The Literature of Ecstasy"
Albert Mordell
He was one of those statesmen whom modern critics, on the watch for the partially obsolete and with the complexity of present problems always before them, tend to depreciate.
"Lady-John-Russell"
MacCarthy, Desmond