I have to say SOMETHING, so, I'd say omit the word "this" from the first sentence. He's trying to be brief, and that's slightly wordy. Even though 19thC prose tended to be verbose, stylistically a good way to mimic it is to leave out all of the small words you can while retaining meaning.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-03 05:47 am (UTC)