Henry Fielding never saw a Presidential campaign, but in Chapter IX of Tom Jones he reflects on Romney spokesman Rick Gorka’s choice of language:
It may likewise seem surprizing that in the many thousand kind invitations of this sort, which every one who hath conversed with country gentlemen must have heard, no one, I believe, hath ever seen a single instance where the desire hath been complied with;—a great instance of their want of politeness; for in town nothing can be more common than for the finest gentlemen to perform this ceremony every day to their superiors, without having that favour once requested of them.
Fabulous! I don’t know why Tom Jones is so undervalued by scholars and writers. There is a strong case to be made for TJ as the best novel in the language.
Thank god we hath no need to write like this any more.