The impudent Comedian and Others. By Frankfort Moore. (C. Arthur
Pearson.)—Mr. Frankfort Moore does not want for courage. Most people would think twice, even thrice, before venturing to introduce Samuel Johnson except as a persona meta. Not so Mr. Moore. Here we have him talking in a style which is probably intended to reproduce what Boswell has made familiar. Here is a specimen : "'Tis as red as blood," says some one. The Doctor replies, " That were an indefinite statement ; its accuracy is wholly dependent on the disposition of the person from whom the blood is drawn. Now yours, I take it, madam, is of a rich and generous hue ; but Davy's, I doubt not, is a pale and meagre fluid somewhat resembling the wine which he endeavoured to sell, with, let us hope for the sake of the health of the people, indifferent success for some years." Did Johnson talk in this fashion ? He was rude, but was he rude in this way? Was he ever so clumsy in constructing his sentences? It is not comedians only that can be impudent.
Previous page
