Account of 

 iJr bniith. 



136 HISTORT of the S0CIE7T. 



clufions that we admire in his writings ; and he generally con- 

 tented himfelf with a bold and mafterly fketch of the object, 

 from the firft point of view in which his temper, or his fancy, 

 prefented it. Something of the fame kind might be remarked, 

 when he attempted, in the flow of his fpirits, to de.ineate thofe 

 characters which, from long intimacy, he might have been fup- 

 pofed to underftand thoroughly. The picture was always lively, 

 and expremve ; and commonly bore a ftrong and amufing re- 

 femblance to the original, when viewed under one particular 

 afpect ; but feldom, perhaps, conveyed a juft and complete con- 

 ception of it in all its dimenfions and proportions. — In a word, 

 it was the fault of his unpremeditated judgments, to be too 

 fyftematical, and too much in extremes. 



But, in whatever way thefe trifling peculiarities in his man- 

 ners may be explained, there can be no doubt, that they were 

 intimately connected with the genuine artlefTnefs of his mind. 

 In this amiable quality, he often recalled to his friends, the ac- 

 counts that are given of good La Fontaine ; a quality which 

 in him derived a peculiar grace from the fmgularity of its 

 combination with thofe powers of reafon and of eloquence 

 which, in his political and moral writings, have long engaged 

 the admiration of Europe. 



In his external form and appearance, there was nothing un- 

 common. When perfectly at eafe, and when warmed with 

 converfation, his geftures were animated, and not ungraceful 5 

 and, in the fociety of thofe he loved, his features were often 

 brightened with a fmile of inexpremble benignity. In the 

 company of ftrangers, his tendency to abfence, and perhaps ftill 

 more his confcioufnefs of this tendency, rendered his manner 

 fomewhat embarrafled ; — an effect which was probably not a. 

 little heightened by thofe fpeculative ideas of propriety, which 

 his reclufe habits tended at once to perfect in his conception, 

 and to diminish his power of realizing. He never fat for his 

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