Chapter 54

The End.

1. On the subject of the respective authorship of the contributions toThe Anti-Jacobin, seeThe Works of John Hookham Frere, in verse and prose, with Prefatory Memoir. Edited by his Nephews, H. and Sir Bartle Frere, andThe Edinburgh Reviewfor April, 1872, p. 476.

2. It will be remembered that these eminent persons were chosen by Lord Malmesbury to accompany him on his mission to Lille and were associated with him in the abortive negotiations for peace.

3. It is surprising that the satirist’s attention was not attracted to the scene inStella, in which one of the heroines describes the rapid growth of her passion to its object: “I know not if you observed that you had enchained my interest from the first moment of our first meeting. I at least soon became aware that your eyes sought mine. Ah, Fernando, then my uncle brought the music, you took your violin, and, as you played, my eyes rested upon you free from care. I studied every feature of your face; and, during an unexpected pause, you fixed your eyes upon—upon me! They met mine! How I blushed, how I looked away! You observed it, Fernando; for from that moment I felt that you looked oftener over your music-book, often played out of tune, to the disturbance of my uncle. Every false note, Fernando, went to my heart. It was the sweetest confusion I ever felt in my life.”

4. The whole of thisjeu d’esprithas been claimed forFrere, but on unsatisfactory evidence. It is much more inCanning’sway as a student of oratory, whichFrerewas not.

5. [See pages32,34.—Ed.]

6. [A very eminent Mathematician and Physicist, and the inventor of descriptive geometry; born in 1746. In 1792 he was appointed Minister of Marine; and afterwards took an active part in the equipment of the Army. After founding theÉcole Polytechnique, he was sent into Italy to receive the pictures and statues seized by Buonaparte. He then joined the expedition to Egypt, and rendered great service both in the war operations and in the labours of theEgyptian Institute, the results of which were published by command of Napoleon in that magnificent and extensive work theDescription de l’Égypte. He died in 1818.—Ed.]

7. [Parodied from Payne Knight’s poem, “The Progress of Civil Society,” which is admirably ridiculed in No. XV.post.—Ed.]

8. [BySouthey.—Ed.]

9. [The original poem, by Southey, is here subjoined:—THE WIDOW.SAPPHICS.Cold was the night wind; drifting fast the snows fell;Wide were the downs, and shelterless and naked;When a poor wand’rer struggled on her journey,Weary and way-sore.Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflections;Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom:She had no home, the world was all before her,She had no shelter.Fast o’er the heath a chariot rattled by her:“Pity me!” feebly cried the poor night wanderer.“Pity me, strangers! lest with cold and hungerHere I should perish.“Once I had friends—but they have all forsook me!Once I had parents—they are now in heaven!I had a home once—I had once a husband—Pity me, strangers!“I had a home once—I had once a husband—I am a widow, poor and broken-hearted!”Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining;On drove the chariot.Then on the snow she laid her down to rest her;She heard a horseman: “Pity me!” she groaned out.Loud was the wind, unheard was her complaining;On went the horseman.Worn out with anguish, toil, and cold and hunger,Down sunk the wanderer; sleep had seized her senses:There did the traveller find her in the morning—God had released her.]1796.

9. [The original poem, by Southey, is here subjoined:—

THE WIDOW.SAPPHICS.

THE WIDOW.

SAPPHICS.

Cold was the night wind; drifting fast the snows fell;Wide were the downs, and shelterless and naked;When a poor wand’rer struggled on her journey,Weary and way-sore.Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflections;Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom:She had no home, the world was all before her,She had no shelter.Fast o’er the heath a chariot rattled by her:“Pity me!” feebly cried the poor night wanderer.“Pity me, strangers! lest with cold and hungerHere I should perish.“Once I had friends—but they have all forsook me!Once I had parents—they are now in heaven!I had a home once—I had once a husband—Pity me, strangers!“I had a home once—I had once a husband—I am a widow, poor and broken-hearted!”Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining;On drove the chariot.Then on the snow she laid her down to rest her;She heard a horseman: “Pity me!” she groaned out.Loud was the wind, unheard was her complaining;On went the horseman.Worn out with anguish, toil, and cold and hunger,Down sunk the wanderer; sleep had seized her senses:There did the traveller find her in the morning—God had released her.]

Cold was the night wind; drifting fast the snows fell;Wide were the downs, and shelterless and naked;When a poor wand’rer struggled on her journey,Weary and way-sore.

Cold was the night wind; drifting fast the snows fell;

Wide were the downs, and shelterless and naked;

When a poor wand’rer struggled on her journey,

Weary and way-sore.

Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflections;Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom:She had no home, the world was all before her,She had no shelter.

Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflections;

Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom:

She had no home, the world was all before her,

She had no shelter.

Fast o’er the heath a chariot rattled by her:“Pity me!” feebly cried the poor night wanderer.“Pity me, strangers! lest with cold and hungerHere I should perish.

Fast o’er the heath a chariot rattled by her:

“Pity me!” feebly cried the poor night wanderer.

“Pity me, strangers! lest with cold and hunger

Here I should perish.

“Once I had friends—but they have all forsook me!Once I had parents—they are now in heaven!I had a home once—I had once a husband—Pity me, strangers!

“Once I had friends—but they have all forsook me!

Once I had parents—they are now in heaven!

I had a home once—I had once a husband—

Pity me, strangers!

“I had a home once—I had once a husband—I am a widow, poor and broken-hearted!”Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining;On drove the chariot.

“I had a home once—I had once a husband—

I am a widow, poor and broken-hearted!”

Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining;

On drove the chariot.

Then on the snow she laid her down to rest her;She heard a horseman: “Pity me!” she groaned out.Loud was the wind, unheard was her complaining;On went the horseman.

Then on the snow she laid her down to rest her;

She heard a horseman: “Pity me!” she groaned out.

Loud was the wind, unheard was her complaining;

On went the horseman.

Worn out with anguish, toil, and cold and hunger,Down sunk the wanderer; sleep had seized her senses:There did the traveller find her in the morning—God had released her.]

Worn out with anguish, toil, and cold and hunger,

Down sunk the wanderer; sleep had seized her senses:

There did the traveller find her in the morning—

God had released her.]

1796.

10. [George Tierney, M.P. for Southwark, who in early times was among the more forward of the Reformers. “He was,” says Lord Brougham, “an assiduous member of theSociety of Friends of the People, and drew up the much and justly celebrated Petition in which that useful body laid before the House of Commons all the more striking particulars of its defective title to the office of representing the people, which that House then, as now, but with far less reason, assumed.” Notwithstanding the above severe verses, Tierney served under Canning as Master of the Mint, during the latter’s short administration in 1827.—Ed.]

11. [In Feb., 1797, about 1400 Frenchmen landed at Pembroke, but surrendered without resistance to the country people, whom LordCawdor(who had been elevated to the Peerage in the preceding year) had armed with scythes and pitchforks. He was succeeded by his elder son, who was created Earl Cawdor in 1827, and died 1860.—Ed.]

12. [This account will be found on p.32,et seq.—Ed.]

13. See proclamation of the Directory.

14. The “too long calumniatedauthor of theRights of Man”.—See a Sir Something Burdett’s speech at the Shakspeare, as referred to in theCourierof Nov. 30.

15. The Guillotine at Arras was, as is well known to every Jacobin, painted “Couleur de Rose”.

16. SeeWeekly Examiner, No. 11. Extract from theCourier.

17.La petite Fenétre, andla Razoire Nationale, fondling expressions applied to the Guillotine by the Jacobins in France, and their pupils here.

18. [The original poem is here subjoined:—THE SOLDIER’S WIFE.DACTYLICS.Weary way-wanderer, languid and sick at heart,Travelling painfully over the rugged road;Wild-visaged wanderer! Ah! for thy heavy chance.Sorely thy little ones drag by thee barefooted,Cold is the baby that hangs at thy bending back—Meagre and livid, and screaming its wretchedness.Woe-begone mother, half anger, half agony,As over thy shoulder thou lookest to hush the babe,Bleakly the blinding snow beats in thy haggard face.Thy husband will never return from the war again;Cold is thy hopeless heart, even as charity—Cold are thy famished babes—God help thee, widowed one!]1795.

18. [The original poem is here subjoined:—

THE SOLDIER’S WIFE.DACTYLICS.

THE SOLDIER’S WIFE.

DACTYLICS.

Weary way-wanderer, languid and sick at heart,Travelling painfully over the rugged road;Wild-visaged wanderer! Ah! for thy heavy chance.Sorely thy little ones drag by thee barefooted,Cold is the baby that hangs at thy bending back—Meagre and livid, and screaming its wretchedness.Woe-begone mother, half anger, half agony,As over thy shoulder thou lookest to hush the babe,Bleakly the blinding snow beats in thy haggard face.Thy husband will never return from the war again;Cold is thy hopeless heart, even as charity—Cold are thy famished babes—God help thee, widowed one!]

Weary way-wanderer, languid and sick at heart,Travelling painfully over the rugged road;Wild-visaged wanderer! Ah! for thy heavy chance.

Weary way-wanderer, languid and sick at heart,

Travelling painfully over the rugged road;

Wild-visaged wanderer! Ah! for thy heavy chance.

Sorely thy little ones drag by thee barefooted,Cold is the baby that hangs at thy bending back—Meagre and livid, and screaming its wretchedness.

Sorely thy little ones drag by thee barefooted,

Cold is the baby that hangs at thy bending back—

Meagre and livid, and screaming its wretchedness.

Woe-begone mother, half anger, half agony,As over thy shoulder thou lookest to hush the babe,Bleakly the blinding snow beats in thy haggard face.

Woe-begone mother, half anger, half agony,

As over thy shoulder thou lookest to hush the babe,

Bleakly the blinding snow beats in thy haggard face.

Thy husband will never return from the war again;Cold is thy hopeless heart, even as charity—Cold are thy famished babes—God help thee, widowed one!]

Thy husband will never return from the war again;

Cold is thy hopeless heart, even as charity—

Cold are thy famished babes—God help thee, widowed one!]

1795.

19. [“Walked to the Old Bailey to seeDavid Isaac Eatonin the pillory. The mob was decidedly friendly to him. His having publishedPaine’sAge of Reasonwas not an intelligible offence to them.”—Crabb Robinson’s Diary, i. 386.The Proclamation againstSeditious Writings, however, was supported by some influential Whigs. “Pitthad previously sent copies of it to several members of the Opposition in both Houses, requesting their advice,” says Lord Malmesbury. WhetherPittdesired it or not, no measure could have been more effectual for dividing the Whig party.—Ed.]

The Proclamation againstSeditious Writings, however, was supported by some influential Whigs. “Pitthad previously sent copies of it to several members of the Opposition in both Houses, requesting their advice,” says Lord Malmesbury. WhetherPittdesired it or not, no measure could have been more effectual for dividing the Whig party.—Ed.]

20. [See p.38.—Ed.]

21. My worthy friend the bellman had promised to supply an additional stanza; but the business of assisting the lamplighter, chimney-sweeper, &c., with complimentary verses for their worthy masters and mistresses, pressing on him at this season, he was obliged to decline it. [A quiz at the third stanza, which was contributed byColeridge.—Ed.]

22. [Thomas Dyche was a clergyman, and kept a school at Stratford-le-Bow. He was the author of an English dictionary, a spelling-book, a Latin vocabulary, &c. He died about 1750. Thomas Dilworth, whose educational works were long popular, was for some time his assistant, and then set up a school for himself at Wapping. He died in 1781.—Ed.]

23. [andshould have been omitted.—Ed.]

24. [The Latin Verses, much admired at the time, were written by the MarquisWellesleyat Walmer Castle, in 1797, at the desire ofPitt, and were published after the author’s departure for India, in theAnti-Jacobin. The beautiful translation of them was by LordMorpeth, afterwards sixth Earl ofCarlisle, whose mother was the daughter ofGranville Leveson Gower, first Marquis ofStafford. He died in 1848.]

25. The original poem as translated, or rather paraphrased, by Prof. J. D. Carlyle, is here subjoined:—THE CHOICE.Sabla! thou saw’st th’ exulting foeIn fancied triumphs crown’d:Thou heard’st their frantic females throwThese galling taunts around:“Make nowYOUR CHOICE—the terms we give,Desponding victims, hear!These fetters on yourhandsreceive,Or in yourheartsthe spear.”“And is the conflict o’er,” we cried,And lie we at your feet,“And dare you vauntingly decideThe fortune we must meet?“A brighter day we soon shall see,Tho’ now the prospect lowers,And Conquest, Peace, and LibertyShall gild our future hours.”The foe advanc’d—in firm arrayWe rush’d o’erSabla’ssands,And the red sabre mark’d our wayAmidst their yielding bands.Then as they writh’d in death’s cold grasp,We cried, “Our choiceis made!Thesehandsthe sabre’s hilt shall clasp,Yourheartsshall have the blade!”As Carlyle’s version is although a spirited not a faithful one, the Editor is induced to present a literal translation, fromTranslations of Ancient Arabian Poetry, by C. J. Lyall, 1885, 8vo., p. 10. The contest was not a battle but one of the frequent skirmishes between neighbouring clans.Sablais Carlyle’s rendering ofSahbal a Wady, in Arabia, overlooked by twin peaks.

25. The original poem as translated, or rather paraphrased, by Prof. J. D. Carlyle, is here subjoined:—

THE CHOICE.

Sabla! thou saw’st th’ exulting foeIn fancied triumphs crown’d:Thou heard’st their frantic females throwThese galling taunts around:“Make nowYOUR CHOICE—the terms we give,Desponding victims, hear!These fetters on yourhandsreceive,Or in yourheartsthe spear.”“And is the conflict o’er,” we cried,And lie we at your feet,“And dare you vauntingly decideThe fortune we must meet?“A brighter day we soon shall see,Tho’ now the prospect lowers,And Conquest, Peace, and LibertyShall gild our future hours.”The foe advanc’d—in firm arrayWe rush’d o’erSabla’ssands,And the red sabre mark’d our wayAmidst their yielding bands.Then as they writh’d in death’s cold grasp,We cried, “Our choiceis made!Thesehandsthe sabre’s hilt shall clasp,Yourheartsshall have the blade!”

Sabla! thou saw’st th’ exulting foeIn fancied triumphs crown’d:Thou heard’st their frantic females throwThese galling taunts around:

Sabla! thou saw’st th’ exulting foe

In fancied triumphs crown’d:

Thou heard’st their frantic females throw

These galling taunts around:

“Make nowYOUR CHOICE—the terms we give,Desponding victims, hear!These fetters on yourhandsreceive,Or in yourheartsthe spear.”

“Make nowYOUR CHOICE—the terms we give,

Desponding victims, hear!

These fetters on yourhandsreceive,

Or in yourheartsthe spear.”

“And is the conflict o’er,” we cried,And lie we at your feet,“And dare you vauntingly decideThe fortune we must meet?

“And is the conflict o’er,” we cried,

And lie we at your feet,

“And dare you vauntingly decide

The fortune we must meet?

“A brighter day we soon shall see,Tho’ now the prospect lowers,And Conquest, Peace, and LibertyShall gild our future hours.”

“A brighter day we soon shall see,

Tho’ now the prospect lowers,

And Conquest, Peace, and Liberty

Shall gild our future hours.”

The foe advanc’d—in firm arrayWe rush’d o’erSabla’ssands,And the red sabre mark’d our wayAmidst their yielding bands.

The foe advanc’d—in firm array

We rush’d o’erSabla’ssands,

And the red sabre mark’d our way

Amidst their yielding bands.

Then as they writh’d in death’s cold grasp,We cried, “Our choiceis made!Thesehandsthe sabre’s hilt shall clasp,Yourheartsshall have the blade!”

Then as they writh’d in death’s cold grasp,

We cried, “Our choiceis made!

Thesehandsthe sabre’s hilt shall clasp,

Yourheartsshall have the blade!”

As Carlyle’s version is although a spirited not a faithful one, the Editor is induced to present a literal translation, fromTranslations of Ancient Arabian Poetry, by C. J. Lyall, 1885, 8vo., p. 10. The contest was not a battle but one of the frequent skirmishes between neighbouring clans.Sablais Carlyle’s rendering ofSahbal a Wady, in Arabia, overlooked by twin peaks.

26. [W. H. Ireland, the Shakespeare forger.—Ed.]

27. [The above ballad refers to an attempt byFrancis, fifthDuke of Bedford, to escape the payment of the Assessed Taxes upon twenty-five of his servants, on the plea that as the Helpers did not wear a Livery, and were engaged by the week, they were not liable to the duty. This defence was, however, unsuccessful.—Ed.]

28.Twaie coneynge Clerks.—Coneyngeis the participle of the verb tokenorknow. It by no means imports what we now denominate aknowing one: on the contrary,twaie coneynge clerksmeanstwo intelligent and disinterested clergymen.

29.Seelyis evidently the original of the modern wordsilly. Aseely wight, however, by no means imports what is now called asilly fellow, but means a man of simplicity of character, devoid of allvanity, and of any strange, ill-conducted ambition, which, if successful, would immediately be fatal to the man who indulged it.

30.Good advisamentmeans—cool consideration.

31. [Francis, fifthDuke of Bedford, died after a severe surgical operation, March 2, 1802, at the early age of thirty-six. “The Duke of Bedford’s energetic and capacious mind,” says Lord Ossory, “his enlarged way of thinking, and elevated sentiments, together with the habits and pursuits of his life, peculiarly qualified him for his high station and princely fortune. He was superior to bad education and disadvantages for forming his character, and turned out certainly a first-rate man, though not free from imperfections. His uprightness and truth were unequalled; his magnanimity, fortitude and consideration, in his last moments, taken so unprepared as he was, were astonishing.”On the 16th March, C. J. Fox, in moving for a new writ for the borough of Tavistock, vacated by Lord John Russell, who had succeeded to the titles and estates of his deceased brother, took occasion to pronounce a beautiful and glowing eulogium on his departed friend and firm supporter.—Ed.]

On the 16th March, C. J. Fox, in moving for a new writ for the borough of Tavistock, vacated by Lord John Russell, who had succeeded to the titles and estates of his deceased brother, took occasion to pronounce a beautiful and glowing eulogium on his departed friend and firm supporter.—Ed.]

32. [TheAnti-Jacobin(in No. 8) thus speaks of the threatened invasion of this country, for which “they have publicly formed, and (as they term it)organizedtheirArmy of England. Its Advanced Guard is to be formed from a chosen Corps of Banditti, the most distinguished for Massacre and Plunder. It is to be preceded, as it naturally ought, bythe Genius of French Revolutionary Liberty, and it will bewelcomed, as they tell us, ‘on theensanguinedshores of Britain, by the generous friends of Parliamentary Reform’. In the interval, however, till these golden dreams are realized, it is necessary that this ‘Army of England,’ while it yet remains in France, should be fed, paid, and clothed. For this purpose a new and separate fund is provided (in the same spirit with the rest of their measures), and is to be termed ‘The Loan of England,’ to be raised by anticipation on the security and mortgage of all the Lands and Property of this Country. Thisgasconade, which sounds too extravagant for reality, is nevertheless seriously announced by a message from the Executive Directory; and we are told that the Merchants of Paris are eagerly offering to advance, on such a security, the money which is to defray the expenses of the Expedition against this country.”—Ed.]

33. [The above verses refer to the memorable events of the 18th Fructidor, Sept. 4, 1797 (the model of Prince Louis Napoléon’scoup d’état, Dec. 2, 1851), when Rewbell, Barras, and Laréveillère-Lepaux, on the plea that the Republic was in danger, got rid of their fellow-directors, Carnot (grandfather to the present President of the French Republic) and Barthélemy, who were replaced by Merlin and François de Neufchateau, dispersed by military force the members of the Five Hundred and the Ancients, fifty-three of whom were condemned to transportation—banished the editors, &c., of forty-two newspapers—annulled the elections of forty-eight departments—and effected other arbitrary measures without opposition. The springs of the movement were throughout directed by Buonaparte, seconded by Hoche and Augereau. This event was the true era of the commencement of military despotism in France. ButThiersconsiders “the Directory by these means prevented civil war, and substituted an arbitrary but necessary act of power, carried out with energy, but with all the mildness and moderation that revolutionary times would allow”.—Ed.]

34. [Alluding to the National Thanksgiving for the three great naval victories achieved by Lords Howe, St. Vincent, and Duncan. On this occasion the King and Queen, with their family, the Houses of Lords and Commons, &c., went in procession to St. Paul’s, where Divine Service was performed. The Government Papers attributed to the Opposition Press a desire to throw discredit on this proceeding. “The consequence of the Procession to St. Paul’s” (says theMorning Post, of Dec. 25) “was, thatoneman returned thanks to the Almighty, andonewoman waskickedTO DEATH.”—Ed.]

35. [Mary Frampton, in her journal (Dec. 20, 1797), gives a lively account of the King’s attendance at St. Paul’s for Duncan’s Victory on the 11th Oct. “The King,” she says, “stopped under the dome, and conversed for some time with Lord Duncan and the sailors; and, to the great scandal of good church-goers, did not hold his tongue for any considerable time together during the service.... Pitt was attacked at Temple Bar by three ruffians, who rushed from the mob and seized upon the door of his carriage undoubtedly with an intent to drag him out, but three of the Light Horse Volunteers rode up, and backing their horses against them, sent them head over heels to the place from whence they came, rather faster than they ventured out.” Page99.—Ed.]

36. [Prince Talleyrand.—Ed.]

37.General Danican, in his Memoirs, tells us, that while he was in command, a felon, who had assumed the name of Brutus, chief of a revolutionary tribunal at Rennes, said to his colleagues, on Good Friday, “Brothers, we must put to death this day, at the same hour the counter-revolutionist Christ died, that young devotee who was lately arrested”: and this young lady was guillotined accordingly, and her corpse treated withevery possible species of indecent insult, to the infinite amusement of a vast multitude of spectators.

38. The reader will find in the works ofPeter Porcupine[W. Cobbett] (a spirited and instructive writer) an ample and satisfactory commentary on this and the following stanza. The French themselves inform us, that by the several modes of destruction here alluded to, upwards of 30,000 persons were butchered at Lyons, and this once magnificent city almost levelled to the ground, by the command of a wretched actor (Collot d’Herbois), whom they had formerly hissed from the stage. From the same authorities we learn, that at Nantz 27,000 persons, of both sexes, were murdered; chiefly by drowning them in plugged boats. The waters of the Loire became putrid, and were forbidden to be drunk, by the savages who conducted the massacre:—that at Paris 150,000, and in La Vendée 300,000 persons were destroyed.—Upon the whole, the French themselves acknowledge, thatTWO MILLIONSof human beings (exclusive of the military) have been sacrificed to the principles ofEqualityand theRights of Man: 250,000 of these are stated to beWOMEN, and 30,000CHILDREN. In this last number, however, they do not include the unborn; nor those who started from the bodies of their agonizing parents, and were stuck upon the bayonets of those very men who are now to compose the “Army of England,” amidst the most savage acclamations.[At the beginning of the revolution, some companies of children, calledBonsbons, were dressed and drilled as National Guards, as a compliment to the Dauphin, who to please the Parisians sometimes donned that uniform. Similar companies were afterwards formed in Brittany, and employed to shoot those poor wretches whom the two guillotines could not dispatch in sufficient numbers!—Biog. Univ., art.St. André.—Ed.]

[At the beginning of the revolution, some companies of children, calledBonsbons, were dressed and drilled as National Guards, as a compliment to the Dauphin, who to please the Parisians sometimes donned that uniform. Similar companies were afterwards formed in Brittany, and employed to shoot those poor wretches whom the two guillotines could not dispatch in sufficient numbers!—Biog. Univ., art.St. André.—Ed.]

39. At Lyons,Jabogues, thesecondmurderer (the Actor being thefirst), in his speech to the Democratic Society, used these words—“Down with the edifices raised for the profit or the pleasure of the rich; down with themALL.CommerceandARTSare useless to a warlike people, and are the destruction of thatsublime Equalitywhich France is determined to spread over the globe.” Such are the consequences ofRadical Reform! Let any merchant, farmer, or landlord; let any husband or father consider this, and then say, “Shall we or shall we not contribute a moderate sum,IN PROPORTION TO OUR ANNUAL EXPENDITURE,for the purpose of preserving ourselves from the fate of Lyons, La Vendée, and Nantz?”Styptic.

Styptic.

40. [Probably written by the Rt. Hon. John Courtnay.]

41. Line 10.—[One of the distinguishing features of the“Anti-Jacobin”was their articles devoted to an exposure of the “Lies, Misrepresentations, and Mistakes” of the Opposition Press.—Ed.]

42. Line 23.—[George Hammond, at this time Canning’s colleague as Under-Secretary of State; the latter being succeeded by John Hookham Frere.—Ed.]

43. Line 30.—[Lord Morpeth, son of the (fifth) Earl of Carlisle who was satirized by Byron in “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers”.—Ed.]

44. Line 32.—[George Granville Leveson Gower, eldest son of the first Marquis of Stafford, born in 1758, became second Marquis in 1803, and created Duke of Sutherland in 1833. He was one of Canning’s intimate college companions.—Ed.]

45. Line 41.—[James Harris, first Earl of Malmesbury, one of the most distinguished of English diplomatists. His “Diaries and Correspondence,” published by his grandson, the third Earl, throw much light on the transactions of the eventful period to which they refer.—Ed.]

46. Line 42.—[George Ellis, the accomplished editor of the “Specimens of the Early English Poets, and of Early English Metrical Romances,” &c. In early life he contributed to theRolliad, being the author of Nos. 1 and 2, in Part I., and Nos. 1 and 2, in Part II. Of thePolitical Eclogueshe wrote the one entitled “Charles Jenkinson”. In theProbationary Odes, he wrote No. II. “Ode on the New Year, by Lord Mulgrave,” and No. XX. “Irregular Ode for the King’s Birth Day, by Sir G. Howard”. Afterwards, however, he became much attached to Pitt, and acted as Secretary to Lord Malmesbury during his unsuccessful negotiations with the French for peace, at Lisle, 1797. Horace Walpole thus alludes to him, in a letter of 24th June, 1783: “English people are in fashion at Versailles. A Mr. Ellis, who wrote some pretty verses at Bath two or three years ago, is a favourite there.” Sir Walter Scott addressed to him Canto V. of “Marmion”. He died in 1815, aged 70.—Ed.]

47. Line 71.—[The Rt. Hon. Henry Dundas (afterwards created Viscount Melville), in the Commons, and Lord Grenville in the Lords, were Pitt’s most efficient supporters.—Ed.]

48. Line 16.—[Brookes’s Club was the grand rendezvous of the Whigs.—Ed.]

49. Line 17.—[Jas. Harewas M.P. for Knaresborough, and one of the most brilliant wits of the Whig Party. At Eton his verses were hung up as specimens of excellence. Great expectations were raised as to his eloquence in the House of Commons. But his timidity was so great that he broke down in his first speech, and this failure, joined with delicate health, prevented a second attempt. Horace Walpole speaks of his “brilliancy and fire,” and of his own inferiority to him. Hisbons motswere innumerable. He died in 1804. The following is Lord Ossory’s opinion of the social talents of some of the best talkers of his day:—“Horace Walpole was an agreeable, lively man, very affected, always aiming at wit, in which he fell very short of his old friend,George Selwyn, who possessed it in the most genuine but indescribable degree.Hare’sconversation abounded with wit, and perhaps of a more lively kind; so didBurke’s, though with much alloy of bad taste; but, upon the whole, my brother the General [Fitzpatrick] was the most agreeable man in society of any of them.”—MS., R. Vernon Smith.—Ed.]

50. Line 19.—[GeneralFitzpatrickwas one of Fox’s most attached friends and political supporters.Boswell, speaking of a dinner atBeauclerk’s, 24th April, 1779, says, on a celebrated wit being mentioned (believed to be Fitzpatrick), “Johnsonreplied, ‘I have been several times in company with him, but never perceived any strong power of wit. He produces a general effect by various means; he has a cheerful countenance and a gay voice. Besides his trade is wit. It would be as wild in him to come into company without merriment, as for a highwayman to take the road without his pistols.’”Walpole(in hisJournal of the Reign of George III., i. 167, and ii. 560) describes him as “an agreeable young man of parts,” and mentions his “genteel irony and badinage”. He was Lord Shelburne’s brother-in-law, at whose house Johnson might have met him, as well as in Fox’s company. Rogers (Table Talk, p. 104) said that Fitzpatrick was at one time nearly as famous for his wit as Hare. He possessed no mean poetic talents, particularly for compositions of wit, fancy, and satire. To theRolliadhe contributed “Extract from the Dedication”; Nos. v., ix. and xii., in Part I.; and No. v. in Part II. In thePolitical Eclogues, he wrote “The Liars”; and “Pindaric Ode” (No. xv.)—also, “Incantation for raising a Phantom, imitated from Macbeth,” in thePolitical Miscellanies.GENERAL RICHARD FITZPATRICK’S EPITAPH ON HIMSELF.“My own Epitaph.“Whose turn is next? This monitory StoneReplies, vain Passenger, perhaps thy own.If, idly curious, thou wilt seek to knowWhose relics mingle with the dust below,Enough to tell thee, that his destin’d spanOn Earth he dwelt,—and, like thyself, a Man.Nor distant far th’ inevitable dayWhen thou, poor mortal, shalt like him be clay.Through life he walk’d unemulous of fame,Nor wish’d beyond it to preserve a name.Content, if Friendship, o’er his humble bier,Drop but the heartfelt tribute of a tear;Though countless ages should unconscious glide,Nor learn that ever he had liv’d, or died.“R. F.”Such is the epitaph placed on a stone sarcophagus in the usual form, in the churchyard at Sunninghill, close to the house where Gen. Fitzpatrick’s friend, G. Ellis, died.—Nichols,Lit. Illustr., vol. vii., pp. 633–4.—Ed.]

GENERAL RICHARD FITZPATRICK’S EPITAPH ON HIMSELF.

“My own Epitaph.“Whose turn is next? This monitory StoneReplies, vain Passenger, perhaps thy own.If, idly curious, thou wilt seek to knowWhose relics mingle with the dust below,Enough to tell thee, that his destin’d spanOn Earth he dwelt,—and, like thyself, a Man.Nor distant far th’ inevitable dayWhen thou, poor mortal, shalt like him be clay.Through life he walk’d unemulous of fame,Nor wish’d beyond it to preserve a name.Content, if Friendship, o’er his humble bier,Drop but the heartfelt tribute of a tear;Though countless ages should unconscious glide,Nor learn that ever he had liv’d, or died.“R. F.”

“My own Epitaph.

“Whose turn is next? This monitory StoneReplies, vain Passenger, perhaps thy own.If, idly curious, thou wilt seek to knowWhose relics mingle with the dust below,Enough to tell thee, that his destin’d spanOn Earth he dwelt,—and, like thyself, a Man.Nor distant far th’ inevitable dayWhen thou, poor mortal, shalt like him be clay.Through life he walk’d unemulous of fame,Nor wish’d beyond it to preserve a name.Content, if Friendship, o’er his humble bier,Drop but the heartfelt tribute of a tear;Though countless ages should unconscious glide,Nor learn that ever he had liv’d, or died.“R. F.”

“Whose turn is next? This monitory Stone

Replies, vain Passenger, perhaps thy own.

If, idly curious, thou wilt seek to know

Whose relics mingle with the dust below,

Enough to tell thee, that his destin’d span

On Earth he dwelt,—and, like thyself, a Man.

Nor distant far th’ inevitable day

When thou, poor mortal, shalt like him be clay.

Through life he walk’d unemulous of fame,

Nor wish’d beyond it to preserve a name.

Content, if Friendship, o’er his humble bier,

Drop but the heartfelt tribute of a tear;

Though countless ages should unconscious glide,

Nor learn that ever he had liv’d, or died.

“R. F.”

Such is the epitaph placed on a stone sarcophagus in the usual form, in the churchyard at Sunninghill, close to the house where Gen. Fitzpatrick’s friend, G. Ellis, died.—Nichols,Lit. Illustr., vol. vii., pp. 633–4.—Ed.]

51. Line 19.—[LordJohn Townshend, the second son of the first Marquis Townshend. He represented Cambridge till ousted byPittat the general election in 1784. In 1788 he became the colleague ofFoxfor Westminster. He afterwards represented Knaresborough for twenty-five years: his colleague in 1797 wasHare. He had great powers of wit and satire. In thePolitical Eclogues(subjoined toThe Rolliad), he wrote the one entitled “Jekyll”. To theProbationary Odes for the Laureatshiphe contributed No. xii., in ridicule of Warren Hastings’s agent, Major John Scott, M.P. Also, the “Dialogue between a certain personage and his Minister,” in imitation of the Ninth Ode of Horace, Book III.—Ed.]

52. Line 20.—[SirFrancis Burdett, then M.P. for Boroughbridge.—Ed.]

53. Line 23.—[John Richardson, M.P. for Newport, Cornwall, and one of the proprietors of Drury Lane Theatre. In theRolliadhe was the author, in Part I., of Nos. iv., x., and xi.; and in Part II. of Nos. iii. and iv. He wrote No. iv. ofProbationary Odes, in ridicule of Sir R. Hill, Bart.; No. xix. on Viscount Mountmorres, and the concluding prose portion. To thePolitical Miscellanieshe contributed, “This is the House that George Built,” and in conjunction with Tickell, the “Epigrams by Sir Cecil Wray,” “Pretymaniana,” and “Foreign Epigrams”. In the latter Dr. Laurence assisted them. Also “A Tale: At Brookes’s once it so fell out”. “Theatrical Intelligence Extraordinary.” “Epigram: Who shall Expect the Country’s Friend?” “A new Ballad: Billy Eden,” in conjunction with Tickell. “Proclamation.” He died in 1803.—Ed.]

54. Line 25.—[The Rev.Samuel Parr, LL.D., was not only a great scholar, but an uncompromising Whig, and one of Fox’s most enthusiastic supporters. His conversational powers were great, and his arguments were enforced by boldness, dogmatism, and arrogance, which qualities, however, did not always exempt him from stinging retorts even from the fair sex. The following, among other attacks, appears in Crabb Robinson’s interestingDiary, ii. 457:—A RECIPE.To half ofBusby’sskill in mood and tenseAddBentley’spleasantry, without his sense:OfWarburtontake all the spleen you find,And leave his genius and his wit behind.SqueezeChurchill’srancour from the verse it flows in,And knead it stiff withJohnson’sheavy prosing.Add all the piety ofSt. Voltaire,Mix the gross compound—FiatDr. Parr.His person, in full canonicals, with capacious wig, unfailing tobacco pipe and tankard, is, with the effigies of many other noted politicians of the period, introduced into a spirited bacchanalian scene by Gillray, published in 1801, entitledThe Union Club.]

A RECIPE.

To half ofBusby’sskill in mood and tenseAddBentley’spleasantry, without his sense:OfWarburtontake all the spleen you find,And leave his genius and his wit behind.SqueezeChurchill’srancour from the verse it flows in,And knead it stiff withJohnson’sheavy prosing.Add all the piety ofSt. Voltaire,Mix the gross compound—FiatDr. Parr.

To half ofBusby’sskill in mood and tense

AddBentley’spleasantry, without his sense:

OfWarburtontake all the spleen you find,

And leave his genius and his wit behind.

SqueezeChurchill’srancour from the verse it flows in,

And knead it stiff withJohnson’sheavy prosing.

Add all the piety ofSt. Voltaire,

Mix the gross compound—FiatDr. Parr.

His person, in full canonicals, with capacious wig, unfailing tobacco pipe and tankard, is, with the effigies of many other noted politicians of the period, introduced into a spirited bacchanalian scene by Gillray, published in 1801, entitledThe Union Club.]

55.Buzz Prose.—The learned reader will perceive that this is an elegantmetonymy, by which the quality belonging to the outside of the head is transferred to the inside.Buzzis an epithet usually applied to a large wig. It is here used for swelling, burly, bombastic writing.There is a picture ofHogarth’s(the Election Ball, we believe), in which there are a number of Hats thrown together in one corner of the room; and it is remarked as a peculiar excellence that there is not a Hat among them of which you cannot to a certainty point out the owner among the figures dancing, or otherwise distributed through the picture.We remember to have seen an experiment of this kind tried at one of the Universities with thewigandwritingshere alluded to. A page taken from the most happy and elaborate part of the writings was laid upon a table in a barber’s shop, round which a number of wigs of different descriptions and dimensions were suspended, and among them that of the Author in question. It was required of a young student, after reading a few sentences in the page, to point out among the wigs that which must of necessity belong to the Head in which such sentences had been engendered. The experiment succeeded to a miracle. The learned reader will now see all the beauty and propriety of themetonymy.

There is a picture ofHogarth’s(the Election Ball, we believe), in which there are a number of Hats thrown together in one corner of the room; and it is remarked as a peculiar excellence that there is not a Hat among them of which you cannot to a certainty point out the owner among the figures dancing, or otherwise distributed through the picture.

We remember to have seen an experiment of this kind tried at one of the Universities with thewigandwritingshere alluded to. A page taken from the most happy and elaborate part of the writings was laid upon a table in a barber’s shop, round which a number of wigs of different descriptions and dimensions were suspended, and among them that of the Author in question. It was required of a young student, after reading a few sentences in the page, to point out among the wigs that which must of necessity belong to the Head in which such sentences had been engendered. The experiment succeeded to a miracle. The learned reader will now see all the beauty and propriety of themetonymy.

56. Line 25.—[John Courtenaywas for many years one of the men of mark in the House of Commons for his ability, independent spirit, erudition, and coarse sarcastic wit. He was born at Carlingford, Ireland, in 1738. Having obtained the patronage of George, Viscount Townshend, Lord-Lieutenant (1767–72), he became the principal writer in the “Batchelor,” a government paper, distinguished by genuine wit and humour, conducted by Simcox, a clergyman; Richard Marlay, afterwards Bishop of Waterford and Lismore; Robert Jephson, a dramatic poet of note; the Rev. Mr. Boroughs, and others. The chief task of these advocates of the Castle was to counteract the “Baratarian Letters,” an Irish imitation ofJunius, which, attacking the Lord-Lieutenant’s government, received contributions from Flood, and first published Grattan’s character of Chatham. At the “Coalition,” 1783, he was appointed Surveyor-general of the Ordnance, and henceforward attached himself toFox. He wrote, among other works,A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., 1786;The Rape of Pomona, an Elegiac Epistle from the Waiter at Hockrel to the Hon. Mr. Lyttelton, 1773;Philosophical Reflections on the late Revolution in France; and aBiographical Sketch of his own Life. In hisEpistles in Rhymehe thus ridicules Horace Walpole’sStrawberry Verseson the two Misses Berry:—“Who to love tunes his note, with the fire of old age,And chirps the trim lay in a trim Gothic cage.”Walpole, however (Correspondence, ix. 434–5), good-naturedly laughed at them, saying that these verses on himself were really some of the best in the whole set. Courtenay was a member ofThe Literary Club, founded by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and figures in several of Gillray’s caricatures. He it was who, referring to Gay’sBeggars’ Opera, designated the author theOrpheus of Highwaymen. He died 24th March, 1816.—Ed.]

“Who to love tunes his note, with the fire of old age,And chirps the trim lay in a trim Gothic cage.”

“Who to love tunes his note, with the fire of old age,

And chirps the trim lay in a trim Gothic cage.”

Walpole, however (Correspondence, ix. 434–5), good-naturedly laughed at them, saying that these verses on himself were really some of the best in the whole set. Courtenay was a member ofThe Literary Club, founded by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and figures in several of Gillray’s caricatures. He it was who, referring to Gay’sBeggars’ Opera, designated the author theOrpheus of Highwaymen. He died 24th March, 1816.—Ed.]

57.Kidnapp’d Rhymes.—Kidnapp’d implies something more thanstolen. It is, according to an expression of Mr. Sheridan’s (in the “Critic”),using other people’s “thoughts as gipsies do stolen children—disfiguring them, to make them pass for their own”.This is a serious charge against an author, and ought to be well supported. To the proof then!In an Ode of the lateLord Nugent’sare the following spirited lines:“ThoughCatoliv’d—thoughTullyspoke—[58]ThoughBrutusdealt the godlike stroke,Yet perish’d fatedRome!”The author above mentioned saw these lines, and liked them—as well he might; and as he had a mind to write about Rome himself, he did not scruple to enlist them into his service; but he thought it right to make a small alteration in their appearance, which he managed thus. Speaking of Rome, he says it is the place“WhereCatoliv’d”:—A sober truth! which gets rid at once of all the poetry and spirit of the original, and reduces the sentiment from an example of manners, virtue, patriotism, from thevitæ exemplar deditofLord Nugent, to a mere question of inhabitancy.Ubi habitavit Cato—where he was an inhabitant-householder, paying scot and lot, and had a house on the right-hand side of the way, as you go downEsquilineHill, just opposite to the poulterer’s. But to proceed—“WhereCatoliv’d; whereTullyspoke,WhereBrutusdealt the godlike stroke——By which his glory rose!!!”The last line isnotborrowed.We question whether the history of modern literature can produce an instance of a theft so shameless, and turned to so little advantage.]

This is a serious charge against an author, and ought to be well supported. To the proof then!

In an Ode of the lateLord Nugent’sare the following spirited lines:

“ThoughCatoliv’d—thoughTullyspoke—[58]ThoughBrutusdealt the godlike stroke,Yet perish’d fatedRome!”

“ThoughCatoliv’d—thoughTullyspoke—[58]

ThoughBrutusdealt the godlike stroke,

Yet perish’d fatedRome!”

The author above mentioned saw these lines, and liked them—as well he might; and as he had a mind to write about Rome himself, he did not scruple to enlist them into his service; but he thought it right to make a small alteration in their appearance, which he managed thus. Speaking of Rome, he says it is the place

“WhereCatoliv’d”:—

A sober truth! which gets rid at once of all the poetry and spirit of the original, and reduces the sentiment from an example of manners, virtue, patriotism, from thevitæ exemplar deditofLord Nugent, to a mere question of inhabitancy.Ubi habitavit Cato—where he was an inhabitant-householder, paying scot and lot, and had a house on the right-hand side of the way, as you go downEsquilineHill, just opposite to the poulterer’s. But to proceed—

“WhereCatoliv’d; whereTullyspoke,WhereBrutusdealt the godlike stroke——By which his glory rose!!!”

“WhereCatoliv’d; whereTullyspoke,

WhereBrutusdealt the godlike stroke—

—By which his glory rose!!!”

The last line isnotborrowed.

We question whether the history of modern literature can produce an instance of a theft so shameless, and turned to so little advantage.]

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