ys. Even in that anonymous generation he could not long
contribute to any periodical without attracting attention. Readers were
aroused by his bold paradox and by the tonic quality of his style. Editors
appealed to him for "dashing articles," for something "brilliant or
striking" on any subject. Authors looked forward to a favorable notice
from Hazlitt, and Keats even declared that it would be a compensation for
being damned if Hazlitt were to do the damning.

In his essays the features of Hazlitt's personality may be plainly
recognized, and these reveal a triple ancestry. He claims descent from
Montaigne by virtue of his original observation of humanity with its
entire accumulation of custom and prejudice; he is akin to Rousseau in a
high-strung susceptibility to emotions, sentiments, and ideas; and he is
tinged with a cynicism to which there is no closer parallel than in the
maxims of La Rochefoucauld. The union of the philosopher, the enthusiast,
and the man of the world is fairly unusual in literature, but in Hazlitt's
case the union was not productive of any sharp contradictions. His common
sense served as a ballast to his buoyant emotions; the natural strength of
his feelings loosened the bonds which attached him to his favorite
theories; his cynicism, by sharpening his perception of the frailty of
human nature, prevented his philanthropic dreams from imposing themselves
on him for reality.

The analytical gift manifested itself in Hazlitt precociously in the study
of human nature. He characterized some of his schoolmates disdainfully as
"fit only for fighting like stupid dogs and cats," and at the age of
twelve, while on a visit, he communicated to his father a caustic sketch
of some English ladies who "require an Horace or a Shakespeare to describe
them," and whose "ceremonial unsociality" made him wish he were back in
America. His metaphysical studies determined the direction which his
observation of life should take. He became a remarkable anatomist of the
constitution of human nature in the abstract, viewing the motives of men's
actions from a speculative plane. He excels in sharp etchings which bring
the outline of a character into bold prominence. He is happy in defining
isolated traits and in throwing a new light on much used words.
"Cleverness," he writes, "is a certain _knack_ or aptitude at doing
certain things, which depend more on a particular adroitness and off-hand
readiness than on force or perseve