A more delightful work than this, a work more rich and racy, more
brilliant in style or more graphic in delineation, it has rarely been our
good fortune to meet with. Every page bears the stamp of a master-mind,
every sentence the impress of genius.
What a flow of ideas! What an outpouring of eloquence! What a knowledge
of the human heart with all its nicer intricacies! What an intimacy with
the springs of human action! What a mastery over the human passions! Ay,
this is indeed the triumph of genius.
The author of this exquisite production writes with the pen of a Junius,
and thinks with the intellect of a Bacon or a Locke. His language
is forcible and epigrammatic, his reasoning clear and profound; yet
can nothing be more racy than his pleasantry when he condescends to
be playful--nothing more delicately cutting than his irony when he
chooses to be satirical--nothing more striking or impressive than his
ratiocination when he prefers being philosophical.
We confidently predict a wide and lasting popularity for this
extraordinary production. Indeed, if we are not greatly mistaken, it will
create quite a sensation in the literary circles of Europe.