[149]: Il avait eu le malheur de mettre auparavant dans son dictionnaire la définition suivante du mot pension:
"An allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country."
Le lecteur voit d'ici les sarcasmes des adversaires.
[150]: I think him (Rousseau) one of the worst of men; a rascal who ought to be hunted out of society, as he has been.... I would sooner sign a sentence for his transportation, than that of any felon who has gone from the Old Bailey these many years. Yes I would like to have him work in the plantations.... It is difficult to settle the proportion of iniquity between them (Rousseau and Voltaire).
[151]: I'll come no more behind your scenes, David, for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities.
[152]: Voici une phrase célèbre qui donnera quelque idée de ce style, assez semblable à celui de Thomas:
We were now treading that illustrious island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion. To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impossible if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish if it were possible. Far from me and my friends be such rigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. The man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force on the plains of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.
[153]: Rambler, 108, 109, 110, 111.
[154]: Voir sa biographie par Boswell, 4 vol.
[155]: When a character is strongly marked in the living face, it may be considered as an index to the mind, to express which with any degree of justness in painting requires the utmost efforts of a great master. (Analysis of Beauty.)