Although of rural origin, he became a thorough London cockney, and his
hatred of Scotchmen and dissenters is at once pitiful and ludicrous. His
manners and gestures were uncouth and disagreeable. He devoured rather
than eat his food, and was a remarkable tea-drinker; on one occasion,
perhaps for bravado, taking twenty-five cups at a sitting.
Massive in figure, seamed with scrofulous scars and marks, seeing with but
one eye, he had convulsive motions and twitches, and his slovenly dress
added to the uncouthness and oddity of his appearance. In all respects he
was an original, and even his defects and peculiarities seemed to conduce
to make him famous.
Considered the first among the critics of his own day, later judgments
have reversed his decisions; many of those whom he praised have sunk into
obscurity, and those whom he failed to appreciate have been elevated to
the highest pedestals in the literary House of Fame.
STYLE.--His style is full-sounding and antithetic, his periods are
carefully balanced, his manner eminently respectable and good; but his
words, very many of them of Latin derivation, constitute what the later
critics have named _Johnsonese_, which is certainly capable of translation
into plainer Saxon English, with good results.
Pages:
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548