A prevalent feature in these compositions was a nursed and petted melancholy; another was a wasteful and opulent gush of "fine language"; another was a tendency to lug in by the ears particularly prized words and phrases until they were worn entirely out; and a peculiarity that conspicuously marked and marred them was the inveterate and intolerable sermon that wagged its crippled tail at the end of each and every one of them.
Tret preponderant d'aquestes composicions era una malenconia atesa i afalagada; n'era un altre el doll opulent i malversador de bell llenguatge; n'era un altre una tendencia a encabir a les orelles paraules i frases especialment preades, fins que esdevenien gastades del tot; i una peculiaritat que les caracteritzava i les malmetia assenyaladament era l'inveterat i intolerable sermó, que remenava la cua estropellada a la fi de totes i cada una d'elles.