The National Register.
London, England, 1817-02-24 00:00:00

tt 0

No. 472.—V0t. X.

POLITICAL DISQUISITION.

THE imummrEs.

efh! sure such a pair."

Host thou not suspect my place ? Dost thou not suspect
my years? 0 that he were here to write me down an ass!
But, masters, remember that I am an ass, although it be
not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass. No,
thou %Main, thonch art full of piety, as shall be proved
upon thee, by Good witness : I am a wise fellow, and which
h which is more, an householder ;
und whirl* is more, as Pretty a piece or •Is any in Mes-
aim*, and one that knows the law: go to, and a lien ?dhow
enough ; go to, and a fellow that hatli hail losses, and one
that hatli two gust's.. and every thing handsome about
Bring bins away. 0 that I had Leen writ down an ass!"
Dogberry, in Nholempeare's Play of Much Ado about Nothing..
" Write down, that they hope they serve Heaven; and write
Heaven first ; for Heaven defend, but Heaven shall go be-
fore such villainy.—Masters, it is proved already that you
are Fade better than falseknaves, and it will go near to be
thought so, shortly ; bow answer you for yourselves ?"
Town Clerk, is Shakespeare's Huy of Much Ado about Nothing.'

The two prominent characters in the broad farce of
the present day are those paragons of virtuous principle,
those disciples of consistency, those sworn friends, and
boon companions Mwtsrs. Hunt and Cobbett.
The one, drives his tandem, makes tremendous long
speeches, abuses indiscriminately, and valiantly offers
to box with his landlord.

The other, after having shifted to every point of the
compass, turns master hawker, snugly pockets the pence,
accompanies his friend to the boxing school, and there,
with laughable solemnity, boldly asserts he would be
unworthy the high political character he sustains if he
did condescend to enter the pugilistic list with honest
Boniface.

Neither these Rcfnrming Quixotes, nor their absurdi-
ties, not to give their follies a harsher name, would
be deserving the least public notice, were it not, that,
by contriving to mix up their extravaganza's with its
progress, they have a tendency to injure an excellent
cause, and finally to bring it into contempt.

There is indeed every reason to doubt the sincerity
of these redoubtable champions ; at all events no one will
be hardy enough to question their unfitness for the busi.
mess they have undertaken, as well as their total want
of proper diguity, to procure the object of their pursuit,
the one, has professedly written on the other side of
the question, with all the vituperative acrimony of
which he is master, and surely no honest man could
wish► his bitterest enemy should be subjected to snore ;
take some of his titles, for example; .‘ the Bloody Buoy,"
"A Bone for the Democrats" &c. &c. this line he
pursued as long as he found it his interest so to do, that
is somewhat longer than his works would fetch any
profit ; these may now be had at a very considerable
reduction under the original costs : being completely
despised by one side, and of no kind of use to the other,
except to insult the►a, the other, by his coume vulgarity,
by bis obstreperous abuse of men who have devoted
their whole lives to the furtherance of their country's
weal, brings a certain degree of odium upon the cause
he advocates, and thus lays prostrate with the dust the
bantling he would fain persuade us he is willing to rear
into an athletic state of manhood. It is more than pro-
bable had not the sterling good sense of the country
• .emdetlthe discretion of these two furious Demagogues
scenes of horror would have unfhlded themselves in the
s.mtemplution of which, the most determined reformer
must have trembled.

Mr. Hunt, is a very facetious kind of Gentleman,
alike remarkable for the coarseness of his joke, the stale-
ness of its idea, the meanness of its conception and its
complete want of point ; he seems indeed in the true
spirit of vandalism to derive a degree of self-complacency
to constitute a kind of false glory in being an illiterate
knave : with great gravity of manner, and a pomposity
peculiarly his own, he assures his hearers he does not
speak either Algebra, Greek, or Latin : nevarthe-
'less, it is his misfortune, poor man, sometimes to
travel out of the record, to venture upon such
phrases as Magna (liana, which besides its scouted
lattinity is we fear topic to him equally incomprehensi-
ble : although he so heartily disclaims the learned lan-
ruai;e, we do not question but he Las hard with sonic
pleasure, tile term used by his companions, amongst
the moon-rakers perhaps, coupled with observations
wkich, although :!empletely dissonant, hi: happy state