Note 112 — Chapter VIII

Prefacing the edition of Jonson’s works of 1816; also in the elegant re-issue of the same—under editorship of Colonel Cunningham in 1875. Gifford seems to have spent his force (of a biographic sort) in picking up from various contemporary authors whatever contained a sneer at Jonson, and exploding it, after blowing it up to its fullest possible dimensions;—reminding one of those noise-loving boys who blow up discarded and badly soiled paper-bags, only to burst them on their knees.