Hale: Madame D' Arhlay 



9 



in Evelina may easily be shown. The following passage occurs in the 

 Preface : 



To avoid what is common, without adopting what is unnatural, must 

 Hmit the ambition of the.vulgar herd of authors: however zealous, therefore, 

 my veneration of the great writers I have mentioned, however I may feel 

 myself enlightened by the knowledge of Johnson, le charmed with the elo- 

 quence of Rousseau, softened by the pathetic powers of Richardson, and ex- 

 hilarated by the wit of Fielding, and humour of Smollet ; I yet presume not 

 to attempt pursuing the same ground which they have tracked; whence, 

 though they may have cleared the weeds, they have also culled the flowers, 

 and though they have rendered the path plain, they have left it barren, 



We see at once the pompous diction, the verbose form of expression, 

 and the balanced style. A comparison of these characteristics with 

 the illustrations from the later works will show that in kind, at least, 

 these are identical with the Johnsonian qualities there exhibited. 

 These characteristics, however, are not confined to the Preface of 

 Evelina, but instances of the same kind occur thruout the book. The 

 Reverend Mr. Villars frequently speaks in this Johnsonese: 



"Yes, my child, thy happiness is engraved, in golden characters, upon 

 the tablets of my heart! And their impression is indelible, for should the 

 rude and deep searching hand of misfortune attempt to pluck them from their 

 repository, the fleeting fabric of life would give way, and in tearing from my 

 vitals the nourishment by which they are supported, she would but grasp 

 at a shadow insensible to her touch."i8 



Even the unsophisticated Evelina does not always refrain from this 

 high-flown language. In comparing the immaculate Lord Orville with 

 his less glorious sister, she indulges in this reflection: 



How can that young lady see her brother so universally admired for his 

 manners and deportment, and yet be so universally opposite in her' si but 

 while his mind, enlarged and noble, rises superior to the little prejudices of 

 rank, her's, feeble and unsteady, sinks beneath their influence. 



These extracts show conclusively that Johnson's influence upon 

 Madame D'Arblay had already begun when she wrote Evelina. It 

 is true that the Johnsonian characteristics first obtrude themselves 

 upon our attention in Cecilia, but a careful examination of the pre- 

 vious novel shows that these qualities, tho undeveloped, were in- 

 herent in her style from the beginning. If, therefore, her deterioration 

 was due to Dr. Johnson, it began with the first pages of her first novel, 



16 Note tliis reference to Johnson, which is very significant in connection with the 

 question under discussion. 



17 Cf. also the Dedication to Evelina. 

 IS Evelina, II, 274-75; cf. also II, 147. 

 19 Ibid., II, 119. 



