﻿10 



Indiana University Studies 



One thing strikes us as very odd in De Morgan's procedure. 

 Frequently he has made the tone of his announcements entirely 

 out of harmony with the contents of the chapters; for instance, 

 "And how old Vance got very drunk. Eheu!" 36 and "Of Fen- 

 wick's surprise-bath in the British Channel". 37 Both of these 

 refer to very serious circumstances, little as it appears. Evidently 

 he seeks humor in this way, but what humor he produces is very 

 much out of place. In A Likely Story these forewords assume 

 unwieldy lengths that are out of all proportion to the chapters 

 that follow. 38 



De Morgan has none of the long descriptions that are charac- 

 teristic of Dickens. He never gives us all at once on out-and-out 

 description of a person or place, nor in describing his people does 

 he enumerate their traits immediately. This portrait of Mr. 

 Bob Sawyer illustrates Dickens' usual method of accompanying 

 the introduction of a new character with an invoice of all his 

 external equipment: 



Mr. Bob Sawyer, who was habited in a coarse blue coat, which, without 

 being either a great-coat or a surtout, partook of the nature and qualities 

 of both, had about him that sort of slovenly smartness, and swaggering gait, 

 which is peculiar to young gentlemen who smoke in the streets by day, 

 shout and scream in the same by night, call waiters by their Christian names, 

 and do various other deeds and acts of an equally facetious description. 

 He wore a pair of plaid trousers, and a large rough double-breasted waist- 

 coat; out of doors, he carried a thick stick with a big top. He eschewed 

 gloves, and looked, upon the whole, something like a dissipated Robinson 

 Crusoe. 39 



De Morgan does not use this logical method, but treats his 

 characters in a suggestive manner, giving the details gradually 

 and casually. He follows the same in regard to their dispositions 

 and peculiarities. We come to know his people gradually, just 

 as in life. Herein lies the secret of the vivid impression that they 

 make upon us. We become acquainted with them, as it were, 

 instead of being told about them. His treatment of scenes and 

 places is generally suggestive, also, tho rarely he describes a place 

 after the manner of Dickens; for example, the description of St. 

 Sennans-on-Sea in Somehow Good. iC) In the same volume he 

 gives a picture of a London fog which reminds us of Dickens at 

 the beginning of Bleak House. 41 Usually he gives only the 



36 Joseph Vance, chap. xxx. 



37 Somehow Good, chap. xlv. 



38 Cf. A Likely Story, chaps, iii and vi. 



39 Pickwick Papers, chap. xxx. 



40 Chap. xxvii. 



4iChap. xxiii. 



