The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 03 (of 12)Hazlitt, William
General
The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 03 (of 12)
Hazlitt, William
English essays -- 19th century
’Tis the editor of _The Times_, (poor man, his virtuous indignation must
cost him a great deal of pains and trouble!) as hard at it as ever,
about liberty and independence without respect of persons; in a most
_woundy_ passion, we warrant now, at finding legitimacy at some of its
old tricks, caught _flagranti delicto_, so that the poor gentleman could
not hush the matter up, if he would, and would not, if he could, he is a
man of such a nice morality, and such high notions of honour;—thrown
into daily and hourly cold sweats and convulsions at the mention of
daily and hourly acts of tyranny and base submission to it; flying into
the same heats and hysterics as ever, for he has all the reason now,
that he used to say he had; laying it on, thick and threefold, upon the
magnanimous deliverers of Europe; still in the old King Cambyses’ vein,
‘horrors on horror’s head accumulating’; heaping up epithets and
compound epithets of abuse against his new friends, as he used to do
against his old ones, till Mr. Koenig’s new press groans under the
weight of both together; ordering in a new set of types with a new set
of unheard-of nicknames to be applied everlastingly to the present
candidates for newspaper fame, as the worn-out, feeble, and now
insignificant ones of Monster, Tyrant, Fiend, Upstart, Usurper, Rebel,
Regicide, Traitor, Wretch, Villain, Knave, Fool, Madman, Coward,
Impostor, Unnatural Monster, Bloody Tyrant, Hellish Fiend, Corsican
Upstart, Military Usurper, Wicked Rebel, Impious Regicide, Perfidious
Traitor, Vile Wretch, Base Villain, Low-born Knave, Rank Fool, Egregious
Madman, Notorious Coward, Detestable Impostor, were applied to the old;
swearing as he picks his way to court along the streets, (so that the
people ask who the honest, angry gentleman is) that Ferdinand alone has
done more acts of baseness, treachery, cruelty, oppression, infamy, and
ingratitude, in one year, than Napoleon did in his whole reign; teaching
a parrot to call jade and rogue to all legitimate princes and princesses
that deserve it, as he used himself to rail at all the illegitimate
ones, whether they deserved it or not; repeating over and over, till he
is black in the face, Dr. Slop’s curse upon the Allies and their
proceedings; cursing them in Spain, cursing them in Italy, cursing them
in Genoa, cursing them in Saxony, cursing them in Norway, cursing them
in Finland, cursing them in Poland, cursing them in France, cursing them
every where as they deserve, and as the people every where curse them;
sending the Pope and the Inquisition to the Devil; swooning at the
extinction of Spanish liberty under the beloved Ferdinand; going into a
shivering fit at the roasting of Protestants under Louis the Desired;
biting his lips at Lord Castlereagh’s Letter to _Mon Prince_;
horror-struck at the transfer of so many thousand souls, like so many
head of horned cattle, from one legitimate proprietor of the species to
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