Melincourt : $b or, Sir Oran Haut-TonPeacock, Thomas Love
General
Melincourt : $b or, Sir Oran Haut-Ton
Peacock, Thomas Love
English fiction -- 19th century; Orangutans -- Fiction; Satire
_Quarterly Review_, No. xxxi. p. 249. It is curious, that in the
fourth article of the same number from which I have borrowed so many
exquisite passages, the reviewers are very angry that certain
‘scandalous and immoral practices’ in the island of Wahoo are not
reformed: but certainly, according to the logic of these reviewers,
the Government of Wahoo is entitled to look upon _them_ in the light
of ‘ruffians, scoundrels, incendiaries, firebrands, madmen, and
villains’; since all these hard names belong of primary right to those
who propose the reformation of ‘scandalous and immoral practices’! The
people of Wahoo, it appears, are very much addicted to drunkenness and
debauchery; and the reviewers, in the plenitude of their wisdom,
recommend that a few clergymen should be sent out to them, by way of
mending their morals. It does not appear, whether King Tamaahmaah is a
king by _divine right_; but we must take it for granted that he is
not; as, otherwise, the _Quarterly Reviewers_ would either not admit
that there were any ‘scandalous and immoral practices’ under his
government, or, if they did admit them, they would not be such
‘incendiaries, madmen, and villains,’ as to advocate their
reformation. There are some circumstances, however, which are
conclusive against the _legitimacy_ of King Tamaahmaah, which are
these: that he is a man of great ‘feeling, energy, and steadiness of
conduct’; that he ‘goes about among his people to learn their wants’;
and that he has ‘prevented the recurrence of those horrid murders’
which disgraced the reigns of his predecessors: from which it is
obvious that he has neither put to death brave and generous men, who
surrendered themselves under the faith of treaties, nor re-established
a fallen Inquisition, nor sent those to whom he owed his crown to the
dungeon and the galleys.
In the tenth article of the same number the reviewers pour forth the
bitterness of their gall against Mr. Warden of the Northumberland, who
has detected them in promulgating much gross and foolish falsehood
concerning the captive Napoleon. They labour most assiduously to
_impeach his veracity_ and to _discredit his judgment_. On the first
point, it is sufficient evidence of the truth of his statements, that
the _Quarterly Reviewers_ contradict them: but on the second, they
accuse him, among other misdemeanours, of having called their _Review_
‘_a respectable work_‘! which certainly _discredits his judgment_
completely.
Footnote 113:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account