CXVI ACCOUNT OF THE I. IFF. AND

afforded materials for a decifion, equally compre-henfive and juft. But, in the society of his friends,he had no disposition to form those qualified con-clufions that we admire in his writings ; and hegenerally contented himfelf with ahold and mafter-ly Letch of the obje£f, from the fir ft point of viewin which his temper, or his fancy, presented it.Something of the fame kind might he remarked,when he attempted, in the flow of his spirits, todelineate thofe charafters which, from long inti-macy, he might have been supposed to underhandthoroughly. The pifture was always lively, andexpreffive; and commonly bore a ftrong and amu-sing resemblance to the original, when viewed un-der one particular afpe£f ; but seldom, perhaps,conveyed a juft and complete conception of it inall its dimensions and proportions.— In a word,it was the fault of his unpremeditated judgments,to be too systematical, and too much in extremes.

But, in whatever way these trifling peculiaritiesin his manners may be explained, there can be nodoubt, that they were intimately connected withthe genuine artleffnefs of his mind. In this amiablequality, he often recalled to his friends, the ac-counts that are given of good La Fontaine; aquality which in him derived a peculiar grace fromthe singularity of its combination with thofe powersof reason and of eloquence which, in his political