THEANTI-JACOBINAS AN AID TO GOVERNMENT.
[ConsideringThe Anti-Jacobinfrom a national as well as a literary point of view, we cannot do better than use a portion of an Essay on English Political Satires by the lateJas. Hannay, in theQuarterly Review, April, 1857.]
“... In the case ofThe Anti-Jacobin, what are we to say? A hundred opinions may be adopted respecting the French Revolution. Some hate it with unmitigated hatred. Some regret it, but accept its consequences as beneficial to mankind on the whole. Some cherish its memory as a new political revelation of which they hope to see still further results. But a candid man of any of these persuasions must remember that the aim ofThe Anti-Jacobinwas to keepBritainfrom revolution during 1797–8. It was therefore necessary to fight as our soldiers afterwards did in Spain—to wage such aliterarywar as suited the agitated spirit of Europe. While we blameCanning, therefore, for speaking as he did ofMadame Roland, we must not forget the indecorum of her Memoirs, or that it was from persons of her party that vile aspersions were cast upon the character ofMarie Antoinette. There were men quite ready to begin the same work over here that had been done in France, and that in a spirit of vulgar imitation, and under quite different circumstances. They had to be shot down like mad dogs; for a cur, though contemptible in ordinary cases, becomes tragic when he has hydrophobia.
“ForThe Anti-Jacobinmust be claimed an honour which can be claimed for scarce one of the works we have passed under review. Let us waive the question how much we may have owed it for helping to inspire that unity and stout insular self-confidence which carried us through the great war,—whole within and impervious without. Let us consider it only in a literary point of view, and we shall find it enjoying the rare distinction that its best Satires live in real popular remembrance. TheKnife-Grinder, with his
“‘Story! God bless you, I have none to tell, sir,’
“‘Story! God bless you, I have none to tell, sir,’
“‘Story! God bless you, I have none to tell, sir,’
“‘Story! God bless you, I have none to tell, sir,’
is almost as widely known as our nursery rhymes.
“But ifThe Anti-Jacobinexcels all similar works in popularity, and in the eminence of its contributors, it also excels them in another important particular. It contains on the whole a greater number of really good things than any one of them. TheLoves of the Triangles, in which,
“‘Th’ obedient Pulley strong Mechanics ply,And wanton Optics roll the melting eye!’
“‘Th’ obedient Pulley strong Mechanics ply,And wanton Optics roll the melting eye!’
“‘Th’ obedient Pulley strong Mechanics ply,And wanton Optics roll the melting eye!’
“‘Th’ obedient Pulley strong Mechanics ply,
And wanton Optics roll the melting eye!’
is an irresistible parody, and likely to keep the original of Darwin [Loves of the Plants] in remembrance. Gray’s Odes have survived the burlesques of Colman; and theCountry and City Mouseof Prior and Montague is neglected by nine-tenths of those who read with admiration theHind and the Panther. But Darwin’s case is peculiar. Other poems live in spite of ridicule; and hisLoves of the Plantsin consequence of it. The Attic salt of his enemies has preserved his reputation.
“There is always a purpose inThe Anti-Jacobin’sview something more important than the mere persiflage that teases individuals. Like the blade of Damascus, which has a verse of the Koran engraved on it, its fine wit glitters terribly in the cause of sacred tradition.”