The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 12 (of 12)

These two papers, now republished for the first time, were omitted for some reason by Hazlitt when he brought out Mr. Northcote’s Conversations. See vol. VI. note to p. 420. T. is Hazlitt, J., Northcote. This first Conversation would have followed after Conversation the Twentieth. See for Hogarth, vol. VIII. (English Comic Writers) 133 et seq., and Lamb’s essay ‘On the Genius and Character of Hogarth’ (Works, ed. E. V. Lucas, I. 70).

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364.

That old Mother W. It is not clear to what figure Northcote refers. The procuress in The Harlot’s Progress (Plate I.) was the notorious Mother Needham who died in 1731.

 

Fielding has tried, etc. Tom Jones, Book IV. chap. ii.

 

That remark of his. Cf. ante, p. 268, and vol. VIII. p. 442.

 

‘With her pie-dish,’ etc. Hazlitt’s phrase. See vol. VIII. p. 137.

367.

The ‘Possessed Boy.’ A fresco in the chapel of San Nilo, Grotta Ferrata. The drawing from this fresco was presumably by John Bryant Lane (1788–1868), who spent ten years in Rome (1817–1827).

 

The late Edinburgh murders. See ante, p. 353 and note.

 

The group at Ambrose’s. See Wilson’s Noctes Ambrosianæ.

368.

One of his tales. Crabbe’s tale ‘The Confidant,’ upon which Lamb founded The Wife’s Trial; or, the Intruding Widow, published in Blackwood, 1828.

 

Tam O’Shanter. Statues of Tam O’Shanter and Souter Johnny, by Thoms, were exhibited in London in 1829.

 

Ducrow. Andrew Ducrow (1793–1842), the equestrian performer.

CONVERSATIONS AS GOOD AS REAL (2)

369.

G. Godwin, probably.

370.

A classical education. Cf. vol. I. (The Round Table), p. 5 and note.

TRIFLES LIGHT AS AIR

Republished by Mr. W. C. Hazlitt in his edition of The Round Table (Bohn, 1871). Nos. I.–X. appeared in The Atlas on Sept. 27, 1829; Nos. XI.–XVII. on Oct. 4, 1829. The following additional ‘Trifle’ (XVIII.) appeared in Bohn’s Library, though not in the Magazine: ‘The French Revolutionists in the “Reign of Terror,” with Robespierre at their head, made one grand mistake. They really thought that by getting rid of the patrons and abettors of the ancient régime they should put an end to the breed of tyrants and slaves; whereas in order to do this it would be necessary to put an end to the whole human race.’

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372.

It was merely a fashion, etc. See Byron’s letter to Murray on Bowles and Pope (Letters, etc., ed. Prothero, V. 553 and note).

 

‘Procrastination,’ etc. Young, Night Thoughts, I. 393.

375.

‘Ears polite.’ Pope, Moral Essays, IV. 150.

 

‘Inconstant moon.’ Romeo and Juliet, II. 2.

Now republished for the first time.

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377.

‘Its price,’ etc. Cf. Job xxviii. 18.

 

‘Fairly worth the seven.’ Pope, Moral Essays, IV. 44.

 

‘Comes home,’ etc. Bacon, Essays, Dedication.

378.

‘Fear,’ etc. Cowper, The Task, II. 325.

 

Commodore Trunnion, etc. See Peregrine Pickle, Chap. viii.

379.

‘They have,’ etc. Cf. Julius Cæsar, Act II. Sc. 1.

380.

‘Crack,’ etc. ‘The father cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye.’ Burns, Cotter’s Saturday Night, St. VIII.

 

Phlegmatic C——. Hazlitt probably refers to Cobbett. Cf. a passage in Table-Talk (vol. VI. p. 102).

THE SPIRIT OF CONTROVERSY

Now republished for the first time.

381.

‘Envy,’ etc. Cf. ‘From envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness.’ The Litany.

383.

‘Root of the matter.’ Job xix. 28.

 

‘Their hearts,’ etc. Cf. S. Luke xxiv. 32.

 

‘A coil and pudder.’ See ante, notes to pp. 309 and 335.

 

Mr. Taylor’s discourses. Robert Taylor (1784–1844), the notorious deistical clergyman, who, early in 1828, had been sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for a blasphemous discourse.

 

The Duke of Newcastle. The fourth Duke (1785–1851), a violent opponent of Catholic Emancipation passed by Wellington’s ministry in 1829.

 

‘Strange,’ etc. Byrom, On the Feuds between Handel and Bononcini.

384.

‘Like a thick scarf,’ etc. See ante, note to p. 82.

 

‘Whose edge,’ etc. Cymbeline, Act III. Sc. 4.

 

‘Of whatsoe’er descent,’ etc. Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, I. 100–3.

ENVY

Republished in Sketches and Essays.

387.

‘Jealous leer malign.’ Paradise Lost, IV. 503.

388.

‘Phœnix,’ etc. Ibid. v. 272.

 

‘Though wondering senates,’ etc. Pope, Moral Essays, I. 184–7.

390.

‘Like to a gate,’ etc. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, Act III. Sc. 3.

391.

‘The learned pate,’ etc. Timon of Athens, Act IV. Sc. 3.

ON PREJUDICE

This and the two following essays were published together in Sketches and Essays.

392.

‘God’s image,’ etc. Fuller, The Holy State, II. 20, ‘The Good Sea-Captain.’

 

Mr. Murray no longer libels men of colour. In Sketches and Essays these words were changed to ‘men of colour are no longer to be libelled.’

393.

‘That one,’ etc. Cf. Othello, Act V. Sc. 2.

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395.

‘Most ignorant,’ etc. Cf. Measure for Measure, Act II. Sc. 2.

 

‘Cherish,’ etc. Reflections on the Revolution in France (Select Works, ed. Payne, II. 102).

 

‘Rings the earth,’ etc. Cf. Cowper, The Task, III. 129–30.

396.

‘Murder to dissect.’ Wordsworth, The Tables Turned, l. 28.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED

This essay, which does not seem to have been published in The Atlas, is printed from Sketches and Essays.

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396.

‘Reason,’ etc. Cf. 1 Peter iii. 15.

398.

‘There is nothing,’ etc. Cf. vol. VIII. (English Comic Writers) p. 124 and note.

400.

‘Thus shall we,’ etc. Cf. 1 John iv. I.

 

‘Comes home,’ etc. Bacon, Essays, Dedication.

 

‘Still, small voice.’ 1 Kings xix. 12.

ON PARTY SPIRIT

Published in Winterslow.

402.

‘The salt of the earth.’ S. Matthew v. 13.

 

‘Cuts,’ etc. Cf. Cowper, The Task, III. 208–9.

 

‘The sentiment,’ etc. Cf. ante, p. 218 and note.

PROJECT FOR A NEW THEORY, ETC.

This essay was published in Literary Remains, and again, more fully, in Winterslow, where it is dated 1828. It may possibly have been printed in The Atlas for 1829, a complete file of which the Editors have not been able to find. The essay is here printed from Winterslow. See Mr. W. C. Hazlitt’s Memoirs (1867), I. 24 et seq.

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405.

Mr. Currie. This should apparently be Corrie. See Memoirs, I. 25.

 

The Test and Corporation Acts. Repealed in 1828.

409.

‘I am monarch,’ etc. Cowper, Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk.

 

‘Founded as the rock.’ Macbeth, Act III. Sc. 4.

410.

Mr. Burke talks, etc. Hazlitt seems to refer to Burke’s Essay, On the Sublime and Beautiful, Part IV. §25.

411.

‘There’s no divinity,’ etc. Cf. Hamlet, Act IV. Sc. 5.

412.

Essay on Wages. An Essay on the Circumstances which determine the Rate of Wages, etc. (1826).

 

‘Throw your bread,’ etc. Cf. Ecclesiastes xi. 1.

413.

‘While this machine,’ etc. Hamlet, Act II. Sc. 2.

419.

‘Like the wild goose,’ etc. As You Like It, Act II. Sc. 7.

Published in Literary Remains, from which it is here reprinted. See Mr. W. C. Hazlitt’s Memoirs (1867), I. 16, where the date of the essay is fixed as 1822, when Hazlitt’s son was ten years old.

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425.

‘The salt of the earth.’ S. Matthew v. 13.

 

‘According to your own dignity,’ etc. Cf. Hamlet, Act II. Sc. 2.

428.

‘How shall we part,’ etc. Cf. Paradise Lost, XI. 282–5.

 

‘The study of the Classics,’ etc. See vol. I. (The Round Table) p. 4 and notes.

431.

‘Practique,’ etc. Henry V., Act I. Sc. 1.

435.

‘We hunt the wind,’ etc. See Don Quixote, Part I. Book II. chap. xiii.

 

‘Quit, quit,’ etc. Cf. Suckling’s Song, ‘Why so pale and wan, fond lover?’

436.

‘When on the yellow,’ etc. Coleridge, Love, St. 16.

437.

‘Nods and winks,’ etc. Cf. L’Allegro, 28.

439.

‘Paled,’ etc. Cf. Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 5.

BELIEF, WHETHER VOLUNTARY?

Published in Literary Remains (from which it is here printed) and in Winterslow.

 

‘Thy wish,’ etc. 2 Henry IV., Act IV. Sc. 5.

 

Note. Cf. ante, p. 317.

441.

‘Blown about,’ etc. Cf. Ephesians iv. 14.

 

‘Infinite agitation of wit.’ Bacon, The Advancement of Learning, Book I. iv. 5.

 

Sir Isaac Newton, etc. Newton published Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John (1733), and Napier of Merchiston A Plaine Discovery of the whole Revelation of St. John (1594).

442.

‘Masterless passion,’ etc. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, Act IV. Sc. 1.

 

‘Fear,’ etc. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V. Sc. 1.

443.

January and May. See Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, ‘The Merchant’s Tale.’

444.

A good remark in ‘Vivian Grey.’ See Book IV. chap. V.

DEFINITION OF WIT

Published in Literary Remains from which it is here reprinted. Cf. the essay ‘On Wit and Humour’ in vol. VIII. (English Comic Writers) pp. 5–30.

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445.

‘Wherein,’ etc. See vol. VIII. pp. 18–19.

 

‘The squandering glances,’ etc. As You Like it, Act II. Sc. 7.

446.

‘Revive,’ etc. Quoted elsewhere from Scott.

448.

‘Foregone conclusion.’ Othello, Act III. Sc. 3.

 

‘Skin,’ etc. Cf. Hamlet, Act III. Sc. 4.

449.

‘In cut and dye,’ etc. Hudibras, I. I. 243–4.

 

‘The house,’ etc. Misquoted from Swift’s Vanbrugh’s House.

450.

‘Turned from black to red.’ Hudibras, II. II. 32.

 

‘Like jewels,’ etc. Collins, Ode, The Manners, 55.

451.

‘Pray lend me,’ etc. Farquhar, The Beaux Stratagem, Act V. Sc. 4.

453.

‘A forked radish,’ 2 Henry IV., Act III. Sc. 2.

Published in Literary Remains, where the author’s son says that it was ‘written during my father’s last illness, immediately after the French Revolution of 1830.’ The essay, which must have been written after the ‘Three Days’ (see post, p. 461, note) is here reprinted from Literary Remains.

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456.

‘Ay, every inch a King!’ King Lear, Act IV. Sc. 6.

 

‘Cooped,’ etc. Cf. Macbeth, Act III. Sc. 4.

 

‘Himself again.’ Richard III. (Cibber’s version), Act V. Sc. 3.

458.

‘Solely,’ etc. Macbeth, Act I. Sc. 5.

 

‘Shall be in him,’ etc. Cf. Othello, Act III. Sc. 3.

459.

‘Smile,’ etc. Cf. Hamlet, Act I. Sc. 5.

 

‘Ever strong,’ etc. King John, Act III. Sc. 1.

460.

The late King. George IV. died on June 26, 1830.

461.

Let him go where he chooses. Charles X. arrived in England on Aug. 17, 1830.

 

Note. The Revolution of the Three Days. This began on July 27, 1830.

EMANCIPATION OF THE JEWS

This paper was printed in Leigh Hunt’s The Tatler for March, 1831 (vol. II.), and also, separately, in pamphlet form. Mr. Bertram Dobell kindly showed to the Editors a copy of this pamphlet in his possession which bore the following (anonymous) marginal note: ‘Written by Hazlitt, and a little altered by Mr. Basil Montagu—Mr. Isaac Goldsmid caused this little tract to be written, and defrayed all the expenses of authorship, printing, etc. It was the last production, I think, of Hazlitt’s pen.’ From a proof in the Editors’ possession it is clear that the essay was sent by Hazlitt’s son to The Daily News and set up in type in 1849, but it seems never to have been published by that journal. The essay is here reprinted from the pamphlet. The Tatler and The Daily News proof show only trifling typographical variations. It will be remembered that Macaulay’s maiden speech (April 5, 1830) was in favour of a bill for the removal of Jewish disabilities. The emancipation of the Jews was not effected till 1858.

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461.

‘We have reformed,’ etc. Cf. Hamlet, Act III. Sc. 2.

463.

‘My kingdom,’ etc. S. John xviii. 36.

464.

‘And pure religion,’ etc. Wordsworth, Sonnet, Written in London, September 1802.

ON THE PUNISHMENT OF DEATH

Fraser’s Magazine for January 1831 contains an article on Capital Punishment in which the author introduces an extract from an essay by Hazlitt on the same subject. The extract is thus introduced: ‘It forms part of an essay which was written a few years ago by the late W. Hazlitt, at the request of a society then existing in London for obtaining a repeal of that formidable law, and seems to contain pretty much the sum of what might be brought forward against that punishment by a philosophical reasoner. It has never yet been published.’ Hazlitt’s essay has not been discovered, and this rather obscure fragment is reprinted from Fraser’s Magazine.

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466.

Beccaria. Cesare, Marchese de Beccaria (1735?–1794), whose famous work, On Crimes and Punishments, appeared in 1764.

 

‘It is not the intensity,’ etc. Cf. Beccaria, chap. xxviii.

 

‘Crimes are more effectually prevented,’ etc. Ibid. chap, xxvii.

470.

In Mr. Bentham’s phrase. See (e.g) Theory of Legislation, Part III. chap. vi.

 

Note. For Burgh’s book see vol. IV. (Reply to Malthus), p. 85 et seq. and notes.