ABSTRACT
One of Laurence Sterne's most singular thefts, considering the tenor of the passage stolen, is his declamation against literary depredators of his own class. If one considers Sterne's reputation as chiefly founded on Tristram Shandy, he must be regarded as liable to two severe charges;—those, namely, of indecency, and of affectation. The greatest admirers of Sterne must own, that his style is affected, eminently, and in a degree which even his wit and pathos are inadequate to support. He assumed the manner of his master, only as a mode of attracting attention, and of making the public stare; and, therefore, his extravagances, like those of a feigned madman, are cold and forced, even in the midst of his most irregular flights. He had no particular object of ridicule; his business was only to create a person, to whom he could attach the great quantity of extraordinary reading, and antiquated learning, which he had collected.
