It consists largely of hard blows, _a-propos_
knockdowns, and practical jokes. More than any novelist, he illustrates
the coarseness of his time. His pages are filled with cruelties and
blackguardism. Many of his principal characters are dissolute without
enjoyment, and brutal without good nature. Modern taste is shocked by
the succession of repulsive scenes and degrading representations of
vice which are often intended to amuse, and always to entertain. But it
is because life in the eighteenth century had so many repulsive
features, that the novels of the time often repel the modern reader,
There is nothing strained or uncommon in the experiences of Miss
Williams while in prison:
There I saw nothing but rage, anguish, and impiety; and heard
nothing but groans, curses, and blasphemy. In the midst of this
hellish crew, I was subjected in the tyranny of a barbarian, who
imposed upon me tasks that I could not possibly perform, and then
punished my incapacity with the utmost rigor and inhumanity. I was
often whipped into a swoon, and lashed out of it, during which
miserable intervals I was robbed by my fellow-prisoners of every
thing about me, even to my cap, shoes, and stockings; I was not
only destitute of necessaries, but even of food, so that my
wretchedness was extreme.
Pages:
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287