text:  "How astonishing is it again that the passions directly opposite to these laughter and spleen are no less at his command? that he is not more a master of the _great_ than the _ridiculous_ in human nature; of our noblest tendernesses than of our vainest foibles; of our strongest emotions than of our idlest sensations! "Nor does he only excel in the passions; in the coolness of reflection and reasoning he is full as admirable