University of Virginia Library

Merope.

O earth-wrong'd goodness!

Ibid.

This inimitable description of Newgate is taken (with very little alteration) from the Brothers.

Merope. A very majestic description of murder; but rather too much on the sublime for common capacities.—In compassion to the benighted understandings of my countrymen in general, I could wish the publisher of the sublime tragedy of Merope would, in his next edition of that wonderful production, annex a glossary, that the beauties of that piece might be more universally understood, and comprehended by those, who have not had the good fortune of an academical education. Dr. Humbug.

In the 18th century, the inhabitants of Great Britain were very much addicted to drinking a liquid, call'd Geneva; or, according to its usual abbreviation, gin, which was a slow, but sure poison. They swallow'd it, as the Turks do opium, meerly for the sake of intoxication. The consumption of this liquid was so great, that some thousands of poisoners general, distinguish'd by the modest appellation of distillers, got their livelihood; nay, some of them amass'd immense fortunes by the composition of this inebriating spirit. So great was the skill of these chymical poisoners, that they could extract this intoxicating liquor from molosses, juniper-berries, turpentine; nay, I believe, had they set about it, from the upper leathers of old shoes; but the chief, and most beneficial principles, from which they could possibly draw this fatal juice, were wheat, barley, or other grain. In the years 1757 and 1758, on account of the real, or artificial scarcity of grain in England, these gentry were prohibited the use of it, which so affected the distillery, that, happily for the nation, several of its professors were obliged to leave off their pernicious trades, and launch into less destructive callings. During such prohibition it was remark'd, that human excrement, both a priori and a posteriori bore an advanced price, which might probably arise from the use of these fragrant materials in distillery. This conjecture is not at all unnatural, as bread and porter, after they have undergone the internal operations, must still retain some remaining part of their wheaten and malten qualities. For my part, I am almost confirm'd in this opinion, from the near analogy of flavour between gin, and that more solid species of excrement, on which the honour of knighthood hath been time immemorial conferr'd. After so long a note, it will be almost unnecessary to prove the truth and propriety of our author's stiling gin, the bliss and bane of human life; especially as drunkenness seems to be the primary happiness of the present age.

This note I have written partly for the present, and partly for the future tense.

Dr. Humbug.

This seems to have been drawn from the following beautiful lines:

Mithridates.

The napping of the gods is very frequently intimated by tragic authors. Dr. Humbug.

Sagely-form'd, and death-shrunk reign: two dramatic flourishes of the author of Merope.

Cato.

Merope. Here are two technical terms, viz. line and sound, which it behoves me to explain—The line in the text is a lead or deep sea line, a species of cordage, about three quarters of an inch in circumference; to which is fix'd a quantity of lead to make it gravitate, or sink to the bottom more expeditiously, when thrown into the sea to find the depth of water; which is called sounding. This, by the by, is a kind of proof that Mr. Hill imagin'd the will of heaven to lie below, and not, as commonly suppos'd, above. If Mr. Hill, in this remarkable image, had written length instead of depth, it would have been much more clear and intelligible; but as obscure phrases are generally more poetical than common ones, Mr. Hill was undoubtedly in the right to give the word, as it now stands in the text.