1773-1850
[Sidenote: Geo. Ticknor’s _Life_.]
“You are to imagine then, before you, a short, stout little gentleman,
about five and a half feet high, with a very red face, black hair
and black eyes. You are to suppose him to possess a very gay and
animated countenance, and you are to see in him all the restlessness
of a will-o’-wisp, and all that fitful irregularity in his movements
which you have heretofore appropriated to the pasteboard Merry Andrews
whose limbs are jerked about with a wire. These you are to interpret
as the natural indications of the impetuous and impatient character
which a farther acquaintance developes. He enters the room with a
countenance so satisfied and a step so light and almost fantastic,
that all your previous impressions of the dignity and severity of
the _Edinburgh Review_ are immediately put to flight, and, passing
at once to the opposite extreme, you might, perhaps, imagine him
to be frivolous, vain, and supercilious. He accosts you too, with
a freedom and familiarity which may, perhaps, put you at your ease
and render conversation unceremonious; but which, as I observed in
several instances, were not very tolerable to those who had always been
accustomed to the delicacy and decorum of refined society.”--1814.
[Sidenote: Lockhart’s _Peter’s Letters_.]
“I had not been long in the room, however, when I heard Mr. J----
announced, and as I had not seen him for some time, resolved to stay,
and if possible, enjoy a little of his conversation in some corner....
I have seldom seen a man more nice in his exterior than Mr. J---- now
seemed to be. His little person looked very neat in the way he had now
adorned it. He had a very well-cut blue coat,--evidently not after
the design of any Edinburgh artist,--light kerseymere breeches and
ribbed silk stockings, a pair of elegant buckles, white kid gloves,
and a tricolour watch-ribbon. He held his hat under his arm in a very
_dégagée_ manner--and altogether he was certainly one of the last men
in the assembly, whom a stranger would have guessed to be either a
great lawyer or a great reviewer. In short, he was more of a dandy
than any great author I ever saw--always excepting Tom Moore and David
Williams.”
[Sidenote: _New Monthly Magazine_, 1831.]
“He is of low stature, but his figure is elegant and well proportioned.
The face is rather elongated, the chin deficient, the mouth well
formed, with a mingled expression of determination, sentiment, and arch
mockery; the nose is slightly curved; the eye is the most peculiar
feature of the countenance; it is large and sparkling. He has two
tones in his voice--the one harsh and grating, the other rich and
clear.”--1831.