Scribbleomania Or, The Printer's Devil's Polichronicon. A Sublime Poem. Edited by Anser Pen-drag-on [i.e. S. W. H. Ireland] |
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Pamphleteers.
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Pamphleteers.
Turpe est aliud loqui, aliud sentire; quanto turpius aliud scribere, aliud sentire. Seneca.
It is disgraceful to advance one thing and to think another; yet it is far more base to commit that to paper which is diametrically opposite to a man's real sentiments.
Of renown'd pamphleteers did I name all the band,
The list I might ad infinitum expand;
Gale Jones and a Thelwall wou'd each claim his place,
Erst toiling to blazon of freedom the grace;
While of date far more recent, our princes all jarring,
Such scribes as Tom Hague must call forth to be sparring.
That Dearest of Darlings, acute Mother Clarke,
Who acted for high Ducal Hero as Proxy,
A Jilt most consummate, and impudent Doxie:
From Hogan to Bridge-Street's late book-vending Don.
Next view we that epoch, renown'd in rotation,
When Perceval's Delicate Investigation
By Brougham and Whitbread was blaz'd far and near,
That guilt when unmask'd might the innocent clear.
'Twas then Britain's Press teem'd with Pamphlets a train,
Disgorg'd to prove Douglas' Charges were vain;
A Mitford with Ladyship's paragraphs trips,
Enlisting the columns of Editor Phipps;
Perform'd in Pall Mall, oft alarm'd Catherine Street
With dastard attacks from true sycophant flowing,
A mere dunghill-bird that gave cackling for crowing:
Who with Rancour's loud yells dar'd the suff'rer pursue,
Ten thousand the odds were oppos'd to each one.
'Twas the triumph of Truth 'gainst the Hydra of Malice,
And the Monster at length drain'd its own poison'd chalice.
Messrs. Jones and Thelwall, at the early period of the French Revolution, supported with ardour the cause of the freedom of the people, not only by holding forth, as orators, the Divine Rights of men in public assemblies, but also furthering the cause through the medium of the press; of these gentlemen little now is known but their names. Mr. Thomas Hague, who was once honoured with the confidence of one of the R—l Brothers, in opposition to another branch of the same exalted Stock, has produced both poetry and prose; the former being made the vehicle of notes in a pamphlet, entitled Transubstantiation; while the latter, though in many instances replete with matter of fact, is not famous either for the correctness of its style, or a due attention to the principles of composition and the rules of grammar.
As for Mary Ann Clarke, now suffering imprisonment for a libel, she may be esteemed the Pandora of pamphleteers; and such is her predilection for the pen, that I much doubt whether even the present state of durance will tend to check that virus which seems to have taken full possession of her mental qualifications.
The pamphlet which passed under the name of Major Hogan was written by Peter Finnerty, who has lately been liberated from Lincoln Jail, for a libel.
Some years back, a statement of facts was ushered into the world by one Major Hogan, the purport of which was to vilify certain proceedings of the Commander in Chief, who then was, as the major wished to infer, under the influence of some chere amie. Of Sir Richard Phillips's pamphlet I have before spoken, and shall therefore pass on to The Delicate Investigation, a volume which, perhaps, excited more curiosity, and, when published, gave rise to speculations as manifold as ever yet followed the appearance of a new work. Of Lady Perceval's ebullitions, and the fracas between that dame and Messrs. Mitford and Phipps, it would be superfluous to speak, the subject having been so recently before the public in all the diurnal prints, and also made the topic of legal investigation. As pamphlets are so very frequently rendered the vehicles of abuse and libel, I shall terminate this note by relating an anecdote, which, as a novel method of giving publicity to slander, may not prove altogether uninteresting to the reader of this volume.
A blind man of Paris, retiring in the dusk to his hovel, after the day had been spent in begging with little success, was accosted by a person, who told him, that if he would go home with him he should find his account in it. The blind man joyfully consented to be conducted to his new friend's house, and was thus addressed by him: “I am not rich, and yet wish to show charity to the poor, which I have no other possibility of doing, unless by giving them parcels of tales and novels, which I compose, to sell at a very moderate price for their own benefit. Here, my friend, is a good parcel of them, which you shall dispose of at the rate of twopence each, although they are intrinsically worth thrice the money.” The poor fellow, after expressing his gratitude, groped his way home exulting, and sallied out early the next morn, to enjoy the profits of his benefactor's productions. He cried his pamphlets by the title of A New Novel, as he had been directed, and for some time had no custom; but one of his books having been purchased and examined, the rest met with a most rapid sale, and the blind man returned homewards with his pockets well loaded. His pleasant ideas were, however, soon checked, by his finding himself in the custody of an officer of the police, who told him that the book which he had sold was a most virulent and impudent satire against a person of rank. The poor blind man protested his innocence and told his tale, which, luckily for him, was believed; but he could give no information which could lead to the contriver of this very ingenious and new way of spreading abroad scandal with impunity.
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