“Here was a man who could not spell, and did not care to read — who had the habits and the cunning of a boor: whose aim in life was pettifogging: who never had a taste, or emotion, or enjoyment, but was sordid and soil; and yet he had rank, and honors, and power, somehow: and was dignitary of the land, and a pillar of the state.”

Vol. I, ch. 9.
Vanity Fair (1847–1848)

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William Makepeace Thackeray 69
novelist 1811–1863

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