My contemporaries chime in with them and the youngsters follow, and every minute they strike me in the face with their smooth words.

Still there are in "Sophy" a force of style, a maturity of mind, an energy of declamation, and, here and there, an appreciation of Shakspeareshewn in a generous though hopeless rivalry of his manner which account for the reception it at first met with, and seem to have excited in Denham's contemporaries expectations which were never fulfilled.