In explanation of the last line, it may be, perhaps, necessary to apprise our readers, that this accomplished orator, although the elegance of his diction, and smoothness of his manner, partake rather of the properties of oil, is in his commercial capacity, a dealer in vinegar. The speaker alluded to, under the name of Sir Richard, is probably the same whom our author, upon the former occasion, stiled—
Sleep-giving poet of a sleepless night.
The limits of our plan will not allow us to enlarge upon the various beauties with which this part of the work abounds; we cannot, however, omit the pathetic description of the SPEAKER’s situation, nor the admirable comparison of Lord MAHON preying on his patience, to the vulture devouring the liver of Prometheus. The necessity of the Speaker’s continuing in the chair while the House sits, naturally reminds our author of his favourite Virgil:
———sedet æternumque sedebit
Infelix Theseus.
There CORNEWELL sits, and, oh unhappy fate!
Must sit for ever through the long debate;
Save, when compell’d by Nature’s sovereign will,
Sometimes to empty, and sometimes to fill.
Painful pre-eminence! he hears, ’tis true,
FOX, NORTH, and BURKE, but hears SIR JOSEPH too.
Then follows the simile—
Like sad PROMETHEUS, fasten’d to his rock,
In vain he looks for pity to the clock;
In vain the’ effects of strengthening porter tries,
And nods to BELLAMY for fresh supplies;
While vulture-like, the dire MAHON appears,
And, far more savage, rends his suff’ring ears.
* * * * *
NUMBER X.
Amongst the various pretensions to critical approbation, which are to be found in the excellent and never-sufficiently to be admired production, which is the object of these comments, there is one that will strike the classical observer as peculiarly prominent and praise-worthy:—namely, the uncommon ability shown by the author, in the selection of his heroes. The personæ that are introduced in the course of this poem, are characters that speak for themselves. The very mention of their names is a summons to approbation; and the relation of their history, if given in detail, would prove nothing more than a lengthened panegyric. Who that has heard of the names of a Jenkinson, a Robinson, or a Dundas, has not in the same breath heard also what they are? This is the secret of our author’s science and excellence. It is this that enables him to omit the dull detail of introductory explanation, and to fasten upon his business, if one may use the expression, slap-dash and at once.