Sentence:  This work may, indeed, be considered as a great creation of our own; and for a little <WSD>reptile</WSD> of a critic to presume to find fault with any of its parts, without knowing the manner in which the whole is connected, and before he comes to the final catastrophe, is a most presumptuous absurdity. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A mean or grovelling person.