PARALLEL PASSAGES IN VARIOUS POETS
No. XXVIII. of the Round Table series, and signed ‘W.’ The long passages from Voltaire, etc. have been indicated by the first and last line.
[282]. Zaire. 1732. [283]. ‘Soft you,’ etc. Othello, Act V. Sc. 2. ‘Vanished [melted] into thin air.’ The Tempest, Act IV. Sc. 1. Ducis. Jean François Ducis (1733–1816), who adapted some of Shakespeare’s plays for the stage.
THE DUKE D’ENGHIEN
In addition to the essays reprinted in the text from The Examiner of 1815 there are four letters signed ‘Peter Pickthank’ on the Duke D’Enghien, to which reference should be made. These appeared on September 24, October 8, November 19, and December 10, and were written in reply to a correspondent signing himself ‘Fair Play.’ The controversy arose out of an article (September 3) entitled ‘Chateaubriand, The Quack,’ which contained a casual reference to the Duke D’Enghien, ‘whom Buonaparte is accused of having murdered because he was not willing that he, the said Royal Duke, should assassinate him.’ ‘Fair Play’ seized on this passage and protested (September 10) against the implied defence of the Duke D’Enghien’s execution. ‘Peter Pickthank’ replied (September 24), and the correspondence was kept up till near the end of the year, ‘Fair Play’ contributing letters on October 1, October 29, and November 26. ‘Peter Pickthank’s’ letters contain many of Hazlitt’s stock quotations and personal allusions (to Dr. Stoddart, for example); they embody exactly his political opinions, and altogether the internal evidence of their having been written by him is very strong. Inasmuch, however, as there is not absolute certainty in the matter, and a considerable part of the letters would have been unintelligible without including ‘Fair Play’s’ letters as well, the editors have felt justified in omitting the whole correspondence. An editorial note at the end of ‘Peter Pickthank’s’ third letter (November 19) states that ‘this article has been delayed in order to soften some of the asperities.’