1720-1756
[Sidenote: _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1781.]
“Collins I was intimately acquainted with from the time that he came
to reside at Oxford. In London I met him often.... He was of moderate
stature, of a light and clear complexion, with gray eyes so very weak
at times as hardly to bear a candle in the room, and often raising
within him apprehensions of blindness. He was passionately fond of
music, good-natured and affable, warm in his friendships and visionary
in his pursuits, and, as long as I knew him, temperate in his eating
and drinking.”
[Sidenote: Johnson’s _Life of Collins_.]
“About this time I fell into his company. His appearance was decent
and manly; his knowledge considerable, his views extensive, his
conversation elegant, and his disposition cheerful.”--1744.
[Sidenote: J. Langhorne’s _Memoirs of William Collins_.]
“Mr. Collins was, in stature, somewhat above the middle size; of a
brown complexion, keen expressive eyes, and a fixed sedate aspect,
which, from intense thinking, had contracted an habitual frown. His
proficiency in letters was greater than could have been expected from
his years. He was skilled in the learned languages, and acquainted with
the Italian, French, and Spanish.”