"Mean and singular in his dress, he presented himself in a very awkward manner; a stranger to the received usages of society, or careless of conforming to them, he seemed to be occupied with nothing but himself; his philosophic volubility of tongue was unceasing till be found himself alone; and, even then I have seen him, after broaching a subject with some person who was called away, go on and finish it as if he had been speaking all the while to an attentive hearer. Add to this that flashes of self-love, and expressions of the high idea he entertained of his own merit..."