Note 4 — Chapter I

Fuseli ever considered Richardson a man of great genius, and one who had a key to the human heart, and was very indignant, in the latter period of his life, with a gentleman who spoke contemptuously of Clarissa Harlowe. This person said in his presence, "No one now reads the works of Richardson." "Do they not?" said Fuseli, "then by G—d they ought. If people are now tired of old novels, I should be glad to know your criterion of books. If Richardson is old, Homer is obsolete. Clarissa, to me, is pathetic—is exquisite; I never read it without crying like a child."