A 'Prospectus' on the title-page enquires into the identity of the 'Black
Dwarf' that constitutes the editorial persona of the journal. Proceeds to state
his objectives: 'Secure from his invisibility, and dangerous from his power of
division, (for like the polypus he can divide and redivide himself, and each
division remain a perfect animal) he will be engaged at the same instant, in
listening for evil at the portals of the temple, under the canopy of the
throne, and in the gallery of the lower house; in weighing the patriotism of
our patriots, in comparing the disinterested independence of our journalists;
besides the stranger occupation of seeking for honesty in the mazes of the law,
and humility on the bench of bishops'.
Politics, Natural Law, Medical Treatment, Government,
Radicalism
The first Lord Camden (i.e.
Charles Pratt (1st Earl
Camden)Pratt, Charles, 1st Earl Camden
(1714–94)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>), is quoted as claiming that the constitution is 'founded on
the eternal and immutable law of nature; a constitution whose foundation and
centre is liberty', in which taxation and representation are 'inseparably
joined'. The quotation ends, however, with the regretful wish that 'men's minds
were cool enough to enter upon the task' of reform. The second (and
present) Lord Camden (i.e.
John J Pratt (1st Marquess
Camden)Pratt, Sir John Jeffreys, 2nd Earl and 1st
Marquess of Camden
(1759–1840)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>), 'was born a lord, and is not vulgar enough to be
useful in defence of popular rights', 'Yet he has his merits too'. He saw that
minds were not cool enough still: 'The body politic had surfeited on roast
beef, plumb [sic] pudding, and strong beer, until it became affected with a
delirious fever. The state physicians were called in, and they prescribed
leeches in abundance, to reduce the habit, and soften the inflammatory
symptoms'. With diligent leeches, the 'mass of the population' have now been
rendered 'quite cool'. The leeches continue to be applied to 'prevent
the return of inflammatory symptoms' so that reform 'may proceed as steadily as
hunger and depressed spirits will allow'. (3) However, the nation may yet be
grateful to the younger Camden 'for bringing it, even in beggary to its senses;
and uniting every honest man against the noble and illustrious
hirelings of a system, as mischievous in its consequences to public freedom, as
it is destructive to private property in its operation' (4).
'This class of animals has lately become conspicuous among the political
naturalists of the day, for a quality hitherto unobserved among the species.
Every body knows that this genus has always been deemed gregarious, and
so fond of herding in flocks, as to be proverbial for the propensity.'
Now, however, they have 'taken a dislike to such assemblies, and call them
unconstitutional, and dangerous'. (5) 'Some situations incapacitiate [sic] a
man from judging correctly. [... G]ive him a microscope, and it will make a
mole-hill appear a mountain. [...] These Country Magistrates seem to judge as
falsely [...] with a ministerial microscope in their hands, they magnify the
ebullition of hunger into the excesses of anarchy and rebellion. They must be
reduced to a proper level, and furnished with better optics' (5–6).
Theology of Nature, Natural Law, Class, Radicalism
States that this 'is the only motto worthy of the enlightened politician'.
'The power that bade the sinew of the peasant be as important in the general
chain of creation, as the powers of sage; that power—"Which sees with
equal eye, as God of all, / A hero perish, or a sparrow fall;" HE has stamped
his fiat upon the law of nature; that all created beings are equal in his
sight'.
Begins by observing: 'A similarity of tastes, and particularly of those
tastes which may for distinction sake be called instinctive, because the mode
in which they are acquired is not very apparent, indicates a similarity of
genus, and often supplies the naturalist with a better system of
classification, than an outward similarity of appearances'.
Gives the state of trade in various political 'commodities'. Observes that
there is no honour available 'in the market'. 'It has been also recently
discovered, by the analysis of the head of a very great officer, that bravery
may exist without any particle of honour. This is considered as a most
fortunate discovery'. (15)
Claims that the suspension of the act is designed to visit the 'sins of a
designing administration [...] upon the head of an unoffending multitude, whose
only crime has consisted in yielding to the suggestions of nature, and asking
for an alteration of the system, which denies them the bread for which they
intreat permission only to toil in quiet' (26).
Reports that the play 'Oroonoko' contains so much about 'liberty, and
the right even of blacks to be free' that the reporter is 'afraid the
Managers will get sent to prison'. Relates the 'force of reality' given to the
play by the actors. Reports that when one actor addressed the slave, 'who
cursed himself and his masters, for having been some years in bondage', his
question '"And do you only curse?" went like electricity through every
bosom'.
Reports that the
Committee of
SecrecyCommittee of Secrecy
CloseView the register entry >> has been alarmed by reports that 'in some of the supposed
disaffected societies the question had been debated "whether a loyalist or a
jacobin were the most useful man to society?" [...] But if these gentleman had
heard the debate on such an occasion, they would have found out that by this
loyalist was meant to be designated one of those leeches of the state
who are fixed firmly on the abuses of the system, and only wish to be at rest,
that they may suck their unhallowed meal of blood in quiet' (68).
Observes that
Emperor Napoleon
INapoleon I, Emperor of France
(1769–1821)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> 'was conquered alone by the uncontrollable laws of nature, against
which no human prudence, or foresight could avail. The arm of heaven only could
arrest his progress. He fell the Victim of the Highest'. (87)
Politics, Epidemiology, Medical Treatment, Quackery, Menageries,
Natural History
Considers the present administration to form 'a political plague,
which extinguishes all patriotism, all virtue; and the contagion of their
pestilential influence penetrates into every recess'. Asserts that, if they are
'permitted still to prescribe for our maladies, there is no alternative but
death. Like impudent quacks they will proceed until the tomb shall have
silenced their patients. Under their guidance, we can have no resource, but to
dig "ourselves dishonourable graves"'. (98) Observes that the nation despises
them, but it should be 'upon its guard to prevent them from doing mischief'.
Continues: 'We may laugh at the idol [sic] pranks of monkies, in the
open forest; but we chain them, when we introduce them into scenes,
where their antics would be dangerous to what is of more value than
themselves'. (99) Speculates that the ministers may soon claim that 'they are a
part of the constitution, and that to petition for their removal is to overturn
the constitution'. Observes: 'it is said, some learned L. L. D. and A. S. S. is
already at work to prove that caterpillars that eat up the leaves of the
gooseberry bushes, are an essential part of the
constitution of such gooseberry bushes'. (101)
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 103–08.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. Consolation for Englishmen
Observing that some of the readers look 'mighty cadaverous and lean',
ironically urges them: 'you had better get into flesh, or the semblance of
flesh; and for the latter purpose, you will find red ochre is cheaper
than roast beef' (108).
Writes that, had the nation been in 'vigour', it would have 'risen at once'
to protest against the behaviour of the ministry in response to its petitions:
'But we are fast verging on dissolution, and can only exhibit the fitful
convulsion of an exhausting fever' (114).
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 126–28.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf, in London, to the
Yellow Bonze at Japan. Cashman and
CastlereaghStewart, Robert, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry
(formerly styled 'Viscount Castlereagh')
(1769–1822)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
Relates that British seamen are 'always the first to turn out, as
they call it, whether to fight, to drink, to dance, or to kick up a row'
(126). Explains that the last of these, while not praiseworthy, is 'essential
to a free state'. 'No one loves to walk in a tempest; but at the same
time, it purifies the atmosphere, and scatters the contagion that would
otherwise introduce a general pestilence, and hazard general destruction'.
(127)
Observes: 'Man is surely degenerated. An alteration in his nature seems to
have taken place. A million of animals, strong, vigorous, and six feet high,
tremble before the arbitrary edicts of a set of responsible ministers'
(137).
While criticizing William Cobbett's flight to America, the writer defends
the 'abstract right of emigration'. The 'principles of government
that pretend to a life-hold slavery in every man [...] are adverse to every law
of nature: those laws have made MAN the HEIR OF CREATION; and his will is the
only guide as to where he will choose to enjoy has lawful patrimony' (166).
Remarks of Cobbett: 'He must not be considered as the thermometer of English
feeling, or we shall have some little family of Indians embarking in an open
boat to conquer us.' Britons may slumber in the sunshine, but they act in the
storm: 'The rolling thunder is the music which precedes our march to battle,
our banner is the streaming lightning, and our gage [sic] the blood of all who
perish'. (170)
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 171–74.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf in London to the Yellow
Bonze at Japan. Direct and Indirect Taxation
Feels increasingly in danger in Britain, and is considering moving to Spain.
He sometimes sees fearful happenings in his dreams: 'I see the poor
forbidden to marry, lest their offspring should become clamorous to the
rich for food. I see
Mr. MalthusMalthus, Thomas Robert
(1766–1834)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
elected into a divinity, and the great and noble ones of the earth dancing
round his altar, on which the comforts of the indigent are the only acceptable
sacrifice' (183).
Class, Plenitude, Radicalism, Reading, Exploration, Medical
Practitioners, Commerce, Light, Instruments
Explains that by the term 'people' is meant 'all that mass of the labouring,
and industrious, and ingenious mechanics, merchants, agriculturalists, and
traders, whose toils are the wealth, and whose sinews are the strength of a
nation [....] It means all that is valuable, all that is important in the scale
of being' (199). Writing of lawyers, observes: 'No man in the whole course of a
long life, did he do nothing but read, could get through half the laws which he
is expected to obey. They rise like the Alps over each other. Volumes are piled
on volumes; octavos refer you to quartos, which consign you for information to
folios, and folios send you back again to abridgements in duodecimo'
(200–01). Considers that the 'Church and the Law' provide a number of the
'people's betters', and that 'the remaining liberal profession of physic
furnishes a trifling quota'. Observes that 'this class is declining in public
estimation. Whether those who have no money to buy bread, deem it useless to
apply to medicine, to continue the life they cannot support with necessaries;
or having nothing wherewith to repay the doctor for keeping them sick, he
abandons them to nature for a cure, it is not for me to say. Certain it is that
the profession is not now so profitable'. Promises a subsequent account of
'those of the people's betters, who fill up the higher departments of the
state'. These are so enveloped in a 'cloud of glory' that the narrator must
first 'buy a pair of spectacles, an instrument ingeniously contrived to assist
the organs of vision'. (203)
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 204–05.
English Liberty of Discussion in the Nineteenth Century
Reports that 'the officers of the
Academical
SocietyAcademical Society, Chancery Lane CloseView the register entry >>, held in Chancery Lane [London]', had appeared at the
Middlesex quarter session the preceding Friday 'to solicit the license
of the magistrates to hold their usual meetings'. The society, open only to
members of universities or inns of court, made petition for a license 'for the
investigation and discussion of philosophical, literary, historical, and
political subjects'. The society had previously received a license 'under the
prior bill for regulating public assemblies'. However, one of the aldermen
objected to the word 'political' that it was too general and would 'open a door
to debates of the most unlimited discussion'. (204) The writer reports the
discussions among the bench, the unwillingness of the petitioners to submit to
'furnish a magistrate with the questions intended for discussion for his
approval', and the final refusal of the petition. Notes that 'the gentlemen of
this society applied for an exemption from the provisions of the act,
while before the legislature; but they were referred to the Session, and
believing themselves sure of their own license, they were not interested
in the opposition of a measure'. Draws the moral that it is the 'safest
policy, as well as the highest duty, to resist every incipient
design of tyranny'. (205)
Reports that five thousand people from the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton
had petitioned
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >> requesting that they should
be transported if no labour could be found for them. Observes that this
situation has resulted from the petitioners' own 'credulity and ignorance';
'Some of those who pray for transportation as a blessing [...] may probably
recollect that the learned, just, and patriotic
PriestlyPriestley, Joseph
(1733–1804)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
[sic], was driven from that part of the country by a church and king
mob' (210). Observes: 'The strength, the sinews of the
nation, are in a state of unnatural relaxation that threatens immediate
dissolution; and although some of the excrescences of the state seem to
flourished [sic] like fungus upon a rotten tree, yet it is evident that all
must ultimately sink into the vortex of misery' (211). Paraphrases government
opinion as being that 'the poor, in a natural healthy state of society,
bear all the burthens of the state' (213). Observes, on this premise,
that 'when the labouring poor are destitute of the means of subsistence, there
is a canker-worm eating into the Constitution, which will, if not extracted,
find its way into the hear[t] of society, and unhinge the present frame'
(213–14).
A footnote highlights the paradoxical nature of
Robert
Southey'sSouthey, Robert
(1774–1843)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> declaration that 'to gag, bind, and fetter the British
press is the surest way to secure its freedom by preventing it from
breaking out into acts of extravagance'. It is not disimilar to a physician
deciding to 'bleed, blister, purge and sweat a man in perfect health, lest at
some future time he might contract a disorder that would confine him to bed'.
(232)
Criticizes the speculation of the 'monied tyrants of the
Stock
ExchangeStock Exchange
CloseView the register entry >>' in the government stocks, and views the government as
being merely their '(willing) puppets' (247). Contrasts the British government
stocks with those in the United States and France.
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 251–52.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. To the Yellow Bonze at Japan
Relates that, on arriving in London, he 'deemed all the caution of [... his]
past life unnecessary', having been led to expect 'a race of free and rational
beings'. Writes: 'I thought there was an elasticity in the air, that gave my
lungs a more invigorating motion'. (252)
'The soldier is the infallible nostrum for all state diseases; and we have
at least the satisfaction of knowing that the remedy will either kill or cure'
(259).
The poem considers the sad state of the nation. The last stanza asks: 'What
adverse fate destroys our life? / Are nature's laws with man at strife? / Or is
it man's delirious sway, / Destroys our wealth, and wastes our lives
away?'.
Advertises that Peter Puff 'has a variety of new inventions, admirably
calculated to promote the happiness of Society in every department'. 'First, he
begs leave to recommend his new mode of hatching chickens in corner cupboards;
a plan for growing cucumbers behind the kitchen fire; a system of churning from
cold water; and an amazingly economical family receipt, for going without four
meals a day, without the least inconvenience. Also his newly-invented salve for
the times, which enables a purchaser to live without any meat at all; and he
may thus carry a twelve months' provisions bottled up in a two-ounce phial. An
universal remedy for all disorders that arise from repletion, which would have
been tried with more success, and its celebrity better appreciated, had not the
scarcity of provisions proved an impediment'. The particulars are available
from 'the
State
DoctorJenkinson, Robert Banks, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
(1770–1828)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> at D—— [i.e. Downing] street'.
Attacks at length the adherence of government ministers to 'the "Pitt
system," of ruined commerce, despoiled agriculture, and stagnant
manufactures' (291).
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 299–302.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. Notice of Trial—Lament Over Strange
Disappointments. From the Black Dwarf in the King's Bench, to the Yellow Bonze
at Japan
Menageries, Wonder, Reason, Government, Cruelty, Medical Practioners,
Animal Behaviour, Naturalists
Observes that by being incarcerated, he (that is, Wooler, who was arrested
for seditious libel in early May 1817) loses 'a great variety of amusements,
and much opportunity of information' (299). Regrets that he cannot see the
'sapient professor of the most astonishing philosophy' who is currently in the
metropolis, and whom all those who 'have not been committed for telling truth'
are 'running to see' (299–300). If his powers are as described, he should
be 'employed by the Government to discover the philosopher's stone'. It
transpires that the philosopher 'is A PIG! A LEARNED
PIG! and all the town are daily assembling to hear him grunt problems,
solve state policy, and divine the thoughts of those who never had any'.
Various matters of government policy are attributed to the pig. Reports: 'A
committee, consisting of all those who have consulted him, is now framing a
bill for the better protection of four-legged brutes; and a general association
for the peculiar protection of asses is in a state of much forwardness.' (300)
Speculates about the preferential treatment under law of four-legged over
two-legged animals. 'A Grand Council will shortly determine how wise a
pig must be, or how much philosophy he must understand, before he is
exempt from the hands of the butcher. The president of this assembly will be
the R——t [i.e. the
RegentGeorge IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover
(1762–1830)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>], whose
accurate definition and knowledge of philosophy was so excellent, before it was
"so frittered away, that he could make nothing of it"'. Records that there has
been a 'royal birth of twins' and observes: 'If thou art desirous of
being remembered to them, thou must address thyself to the Grand Chamberlain of
Exeter ChangeExeter Exchange—Royal Menagerie
CloseView the register entry >>, where
the royal father, the royal mother, and the royal twins, are to be seen all
alive, in the shape of royal lions, that old and legitimate race of the
monarchs of the wood'. (301) In a political allegory, refers to the current
fashion for 'ass-driving': 'Politician, divine, lawyer, and physician all
mounted their asses [...]. Some are very cruelly used. [...] Some naturalists
have been recently asserting, however, that ill-usage continued too long, will
change even the temper of an ass; and that he will not bear beyond a certain
limit of endurance' (302).
Reports on the revolution in Brazil. Contrasts the situation with that in
Europe, observing: 'Let it be said no more that climates and
temperatures are hostile to human welfare, when the untutored inhabitant
of the torrid zone braves the almost insufferable heat of his residence' to
follow the image of liberty (303).
Wishes that the Prime Minister,
Robert B Jenkinson
(2nd Earl of Liverpool)Jenkinson, Robert Banks, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
(1770–1828)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, were more conscious of posterity: 'The man
who is convinced that his name will be remembered, and that his character will
be scrutinized by after years, yet is not solicitous to preserve them
unblemished, is destitute of those feelings which establish the dignity of
human nature and confirm its superiority over the brutal creation'. Observes:
'When a man emerges from the gloom of obscurity, and by a rapid and eccentric
progress attains the zenith of notoriety, the eye of the philosopher delights
in contemplating the track of his glory, and the path of his declination'.
Continues the astronomical imagery: 'the sattellite [sic] of ——
attracted no notice, when
Mr. PittPitt, William
(1759–1806)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> shone in
the meridian of his glory'. (319)
Reviewing the different forms of tyranny, observes that some 'standing
armies have overawed popular opinion, and chastised into silence the murmurs,
"not loud, but deep," that would have risen in appeal to the God of nature,
against the oppressors of mankind' (323).
Suggests that, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, tyranny was not destroyed,
but considered 'the most valuable part of the spoil' for which the victorious
nations all made claims (339). England made a claim for 'all the plagues that
had heretofore desolated the rest of Europe' and 'we are now in unmolested
possession of a greater collection of plagues than ever before were united in a
bond of holy brotherhood for the pious purpose of counteracting the intentions
of Providence, and destroying all the blessings intended by nature to
contribute to the happiness of man' (340).
The poet celebrates the genii of freedom found in the Andes. Invokes the
spirit of
Columbus, Christopher
(1451–1506)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>'Colon' (i.e.
Christopher
ColumbusColumbus, Christopher
(1451–1506)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>), and hears the revolutionary portents of South America
coming to rouse the English in finding freedom. In a state of 'philosophic
gloom' wanders forth 'to seek the sacred tomb, / Binding
ArchimedesArchimedes
(c. 287–212 BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> in chains
of stone'. (359) Addresses him: 'thou hast smiled amid alarms / Dauntless, once
braved the Roman arms, / And swift destruction hurled:— / Give me, thou
cried'st, another sphere, / On which my engines vast to rear, / And I will move
the world'. At length this thought has been brought to life: 'The force
resistless of th' omniscient Press, / Mankind to move, to meliorate, and bless,
/ Now moves the world,—though fettered by the laws, / From branding vice,
or pleading virtue's cause; / Yet shall this Saviour, burst his legal bands
[...] Soon shall his blessings prove, how great his might, / Soon shall his
power erect the reign of right, / And human misery sink in endless night'.
(360)
Includes the following: 'The ambassador appointed to represent the British
Court at Madrid is we understand---Toby the sapient pig. Signor Jacki the
celebrated monkey from Paris—has been appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber'
(362).
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 362–64.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf OUT of
the King's Bench, to the Yellow Bonze at Japan
Describes his feelings on being released from prison. 'In resuming my active
avocations, I have met with some little interruption. The fields have tempted
me to wander among their freshness, and in listening to the lark, I have forgot
the jar of politics [...]. I have gathered wild flowers and honeysuckles,
instead of the briars of the political harvest, and the stinging-nettles of
literary criticism'. Considers that he must awake and return to the 'customary
haunts of men'; 'I must now visit the learned pig, and pay my respects to the
legitimates at
Exeter ChangeExeter Exchange—Royal Menagerie
CloseView the register entry >>'. The
shows have closed, but 'Never mind! There is yet left us Signor Jacko, the
celebrated monkey; and Bond Street is not quite deserted of its brethren'.
(364)
The administration has used spies to detect treason everywhere. Believes
that 'if the civilization of brutes had kept pace with the wishes of the
Ministers, that every ass and every goose in the creation would join in the
universal chorus: and be made spies, or pensioners at least
[...]. But we cannot urge on the course of nature beyond the customary celerity
of its unceasing wheels; and the geese must continue to hiss even Princes as
they pass, and the ass to bray rudely his grievances even in the ears of the
Ministers' (375). Observes that 'England must not expect to escape the
consequences of having raised to power men who can only continue there by the
degradation of the nation over which they preside. Suppose, Toby, the sapient
pig, had been born the hereditary monarch of this land, should we not have
expected that his privy counsellors, and his prime ministers, and his
secretaries of state, and his bishops, and his archbishops, and his deacons,
would have been congenial swine! [...] Pigs, in such a case, would have
been objects of peculiar veneration. [...] Or suppose the ancestors of Signor
Jacki, the monkey rope-dancer, had been seated on a throne? What a fortunate
event for the young sprigs of nobility who render Bond-street the retreat of
apes more fantastical than the inhabitants of Borneo! Every one of them would
have been hereditary privy counsellors; and an ourang outang [...] would have
been instantly elected Lord Chief Justice' (376–77). Ironically considers
that, given that 'like loves like', it is astonishing that the present
administration has found servants in disreputable spies (377).
Expresses a wish to live in Britain, 'where every species of merit is
rewarded. Where even a pig of talent receives the honours due to a philosopher,
and a tractable ass may become a minister of state. Where [...] an elephant
that will graciously walk a few steps across a stage after a basket of food,
draws many millions of spectators' (397).
Reviews the several classes of fools imposed upon by such newspapers as the
CourierCourier
(1792–1842)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>.
Considers the number of impudent fools to be small; such folly is based on 'the
most profound ignorance' (410). Observes: 'If the race should ever
become extinct, it might be supplied by the powers of the steam engine; and a
race of automata set in motion that would parade the streets, and fill up the
public places without blushing before, or giving way to, any body' (411).
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 415.
The Plot. A Letter to My Brother Robert in the Country
Reviews all the supposed rebellions of recent months. Observes of the
'Manchester Blankets' (protest hunger marchers who set out from Manchester to
London in March 1817) that 'Old women were hired, with the wicked design, /
These blankets together with stitches to join, / And over the Barracks at
Knightsbridge, 'tis said, / The blankets at midnight were all to be spread! /
Some sulphur popp'd under, they'd manage with ease, / The soldiers would die
just like grandmother's bees'.
Includes the following: 'The three per cents. are confidently expected to
rise—on the stomachs of the guests, and operate like poison. Government
talk of paying off the four and five per cents. by—the discovery of the
philosophers stone'.
'The following IMPROMPTU was produced on the
Question, If any comparison could be drawn between the person alluded to, and
any heavenly body. As in a borrow'd light the moon we see; / So
shines the wretch in borrow'd infamy; /
CASTLE'sCastle, Mr (government spy)
(fl. 1817)
BD1/1/26/4 CloseView the register entry >>
[a government spy] his hellish-sun .. his orb of day, / Reflects
his rays, and is a—Castle-rayStewart, Robert, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry
(formerly styled 'Viscount Castlereagh')
(1769–1822)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>'.
Publishing, Religion, Politics, Scientific Practitioners, History of
Science, Astronomy, Popularization
Observes: 'Prosecutions for constructive libels, and prohibitions against
the publication of speculative opinions, have been the characteristics of a
barbarous age, or the resort of jealous tyrants; and such measures and their
authors have been generally loaded with the execrations of succeeding ages
[...]. The inquisitors who imprisoned
GalileoGalilei, Galileo
(1564–1642)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> for
making public his astronomical discoveries, were wise enough to perceive that
the universal diffusion of knowledge must be fatal to them; and that the same
reasoning which led to the discovery of errors in the prevailing system of
astronomy, would lead to the discovery of errors in the prevailing systems of
Government, and consequently to the overthrow of their dominion. The event has
proved that they were right in their conjectures.' (428)
Politics, Magic, Medical Practitioners, Crime, Medical
Treatment
Imagines the new breed of government spy and agents provocateurs as
latter-day knights-errant. Describes the 'installation' of one such spy at a
black magic ceremony, with 'the chief magician / A
side-mouthAddington, Henry, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
(1757–1844)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>-looking state physician, /
Who every nostrum, but relief, / Applies to cure a nation's grief' (431). He
advised the spy: 'Plots we must have for our security / We must have blood to
prove their surety: / you must excite those plots, and urge, / Our victims to
prepare a purge / For church and state; which we'll call poison, / As rank as
e'er we clapt our eyes on: / Our antidote, a rope, produce, / And teach 'em all
its instant use' (432).
Natural History, Politics, Ancient Authorities, Medical Practitioners,
Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals
Relates that
Robert Stewart (Viscount
Castlereagh) Stewart, Robert, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry
(formerly styled 'Viscount Castlereagh')
(1769–1822)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> has been bitten by his dog, and considers it a form of
canine revolt. Observes: 'Why it is the act of a cannibal! If they are not the
very same species, yet the bare resemblance should sanctify the two races from
such savage proceedings to each other. Some people indeed will have recourse to
conjecture in all cases, and they say that the doctrine of
PythagorasPythagoras of Samos
(c. 560–c. 480
BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> must be true', and that the dog
must be a reincarnated Irishman wreaking vengeance on Castlereagh (439).
Ridicules the recommendation of the 'physician from town' that
Castlereagh should go to bed because his finger was inflamed. Anyone might have
prescribed this, although 'the ill-natured conspirator of a puppy might have
snarled out, almost as wisely and intelligibly—"Go to the d—!"'
(440). Suggests that the 'proper cataplasm' for the treatment of the bite
'ought to have been salt and gunpowder', an 'antidote to flesh
wounds having been tried in Ireland with such astonishing effect, as to have
rendered a reliance on its virtues perfectly safe' (440). Making lewd allusions
to Castlereagh being 'put to bed', the writer fears that the
'unfortunate confinement of the noble lord' may result in the conception
and delivery of new plans of administration involving further encroachments
upon liberty. Considers the 'horrid thought' that the dog may have had
hydrophobia: 'A dog that is mad must be hanged. A minister that is mad, must
be—cured—if possible'. (441)
Announces: 'TO BE SEEN ALIVE, at the Lyceum, during the summer season,
SEVERAL REAL TREES'. The manager being anxious to please the 'natives of
London' with 'novelties' has transplanted 'from the distant country of Hackney,
a collection of very fine trees, most of them six or seven feet high'. They
have been received with 'rapturous applause', despite being in a bad condition.
The manager 'is not botanist sufficient himself to tell the names of the
different species; but a gardener from Scotland attends to point them out to
the company'. Following complaints, the leaves are 'carefully stitched on' and
painted. They are going to be decorated with wooden apples and 'all the small
summer fruits [...] cast in lead to last the winter'.
Begins with a stanza on John Cartwright, including the lines: 'In age as
ardent as in youth he moves, / And with a heart as warm his country loves; /
True to her weal, as magnets to the pole, / With constant temper, and unshaken
soul' (449).
The poem finds analogies between the languor of nature during the Dog Days
and contemporary human affairs. During the Dog Days, the heat 'gathers all /
Within its vortex, whether sanient breeze / Or renovating moisture; stopping
thus / The vegetative veins, and killing life'. But 'potent Eurus [the east
wind]' brings thunderstorms 'To rout the verminating blight, the germ / and
spring of dearth portended, or disease'. (464) This inspires a rallying cry for
England to arise from its torpor and reclaim its freedom.
Political Economy, Disease, Epidemiology, Agriculture, Class
The problem of starvation among the poor is described as analogous to a
plague: 'the poor remain nearly in the same state, and the distress gangrening
into misery, threatens a national plague, that must carry off the
infection, or the infected' (466). Goes on to relate
Robert Owen'sOwen, Robert
(1771–1858)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
proposal for his 'SpenceSpence, Thomas
(1750–1814)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>an Plan' to combat starvation by creating
pauper-barracks where the poor are 'to maintain themselves, by working
in the agricultural department principally' (469).
In regard to
John
Cartwright'sCartwright, John
(1740–1824)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> proposal that petitions should be presented
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >> by groups of twenty people,
observes: 'The thing only requires a propitiouscommencement to
make it spread like celestial electricity through the body of the nation, to
rouse every one to a trial of the only legal shock still left for the salvation
of suspended freedom, before she be dead and gone for ever from her once
favoured abode—the British Isles' (479).
Disease, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Treatment, Radicalism, Political
Economy
Observes: 'The falling off of the taxes, my friend, may be called the
consumption of the ministry; and consumptions in this country are
particularly fatal. There is no plant indigenous to the climate that can
relieve the afflicted. They groan through wasting life without the hope of
succour. The only remedy is to send the patients abroad; and if the
ministry should be disposed to try this remedy, perhaps the air of
Botany Bay would be the only antidote to final dissolution' (484). Discusses at
length the government's handling of the national economy, particularly in
regard to the introduction of the gold sovereign.
Medical Treatment, Medical Practioners Radicalism, Dissection, Botany,
Population, Death
Hopes that the zeal shown by the
Royal Humane
SocietyRoyal Humane Society
CloseView the register entry >> in restoring 'the suspended animation in some
thousands of physical bodies' will 'yet be resuscitated among
numerous corps of freemen, to restore the expiring moral soul of
English liberty, by some operations, as simple but equally
efficacious with those by which medical skill continues daily to
raise the dead' (488). Observes of the recently established royalist
society at Norwich, styled the
'Knights of
Brunswick'Knights of Brunswick, Norwich CloseView the register entry >>, that, had they been 'blessed with an Esculapius
at their head, instead of a starving Apothecary with which that
association was cursed at its birth, the staff of life would have been
their emblem of returning health and renovation, without that venemous
[sic] reptile, who prescribes poison under the gilded pill, in
order to keep the prominent snake in the grass alive as long as
possible' (488–89). Refers to the British constitution as
'Lazarus'—not dead, but sleeping. Observes: 'How long the body may
yet continue in the tomb of such legal despotism, is a question
which the resurrection men enlightened by the long habit of selling
and buying condemned carcases [sic] are best qualified to answer, though,
persons, who are not inspired prophets, predict its revival on the great
day of national judgment [sic]' (489). Recommends its revival by
petitioning. Should the 'boroughmongers' then choose, Sampson-like, 'to bury
themselves and foes amidst the ruins of the polluted temples of liberty', the
blood would not be on the hands of the petitioners, 'whose hearts could not
imagine the preposterous plan of hanging a poor patient to save
his life, or mend his broken constitution, as the sapient doctors
of the Crown have lately done' (492–93). Notes that, despite the
persecution of
William
CobbettCobbett, William
(1763–1835)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, 'his
registerCobbett's Annual Register
(1802–03)
Cobbett's Weekly Political Register (or Cobbett's
Political Register)
(1804–36)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >> from
abroad, is still a horrible thorny opuntium and eye sore among the Court
lillies, evergreens, and Cabinet roses [...]; whence the tribe of reformers
will naturally encrease with a geometrical celerity, that population does not
surpass in any part of the globe' (493). Footnotes give botanical descriptions
of the opuntium (prickly pear), and the other plants.
Compares the current political climate favourably with the 'the tyranny of
Mr PittPitt, William
(1759–1806)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>' in 1792.
Refers to members of the government who can still 'imagine the science
of governing to consist only in the lash, the gibbet,
and the sword' (497–98)
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 507–11.
New Mode of Adapting Mr Owen's Plan to the Exigencies of the Times
Human Species, Feeling, Radicalism, Alchemy, Adulteration, Quackery,
Vaccination, Temperance
A response to the outline of
Robert Owen'sOwen, Robert
(1771–1858)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
proposal for his 'SpenceanSpence, Thomas
(1750–1814)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> Plan' which appeared in an earlier
issue (Thomas J Wooler, 'Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf, to the Yellow Bonze, at
Japan. Mr Owen's Plan for the Growth of Paupers.', Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 465–76). Proposes that 'Every work
written expressly to promote the happiness of the human race [...] should be
received with gratitude, and treated in the most candid, if not gentle manner;
because the writer, if wrong, only demonstrates, what is physically true, that
the heart is inferior to the head and there are many sapient
animals, which in the moral acceptation of the term, want the lower
organ altogether, and feel consequently no more for their fellow-creatures
than a stone' (507–08). States: 'Were the power of nations
honestly concentrated in one or more focuses to augment its
effects beneficially for the whole community; a spring and
its streams would prove the most appropriate comparison; on the contents
of which the Alchymist might exert his talents, without the smallest
danger, whereas at present, to purify living waters, flowing from an
impure outlet of filth and corruption is a hopeless, if not a
most deletereous [sic] experiment. Precipitation, fermentation, filtration and
other processes certainly can purify the element in question, but why so much
toil and trouble, if every person could drink it at once unadulterated at the
common well, and therefore be under no necessity of searching for a wholesome
draft at some huge artificial reservoir' (510). Concludes by stating that 'Mr
Owen's meetings conjured up various nostrums, and, among the rest, an
ample supply from
Dr. Walker'sWalker, John
(1759–1830)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
laboratory, who is one of the respectable sect, termed among themselves
friendsSociety of Friends
CloseView the register entry >>, but of the whole, I
prefer the good doctor's admirable advice, viz. temperence in eating and
drinking for every afflicted patient' (511). Provides a brief
description of Walker's views on abstinence.
Mathematics, Class, Political Economy, Zoology, Animal
Behaviour
In ridiculing the recommendation that the poor attempt to save money for
their future well-being, suggests that as '[t]he science of geometry owes much
to the sublime discovery of a Scottish peer' (i.e.
John NapierNapier, John
(1550–1617)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>), so the
'nobler cause of freedom will yet be equally indebted to an
English commoner's judicious application of certain political logarithms
in behalf of reform' (525). Later, when calling for petitions against the
inevitable prospect of a property tax, likens the taxation system and the legal
system to pilot fish following a shark. A footnote points out that pilot fish
are incorrectly named by sailors due to 'a mistaken notion that the finny imps
point out his prey, while in fact they suck the sea-tiger's own blood'.
(528)
Develops a comparison between the 'tyrants of the forest' (560) and the
aristocracy. Asserts: 'Nature never made a slave. [...] What has
never been made by nature, can have no natural existence.
[...] The lion rules over the forest: and degrees of natural
superiority are observed throughout various genera of creation. From this
it is argued that similar degrees of inferiority exist amongst men' (559).
Observes, however, that while lions may be kings of the forest, they are not
'kings over the lions' and they 'neither govern lions, nor
plunder lions, nor eat up lions' (560). Argues that as 'Nature
never made a slave' the obvious conclusion must be that 'one of the same
species was never BORN to serve another. [...] This is the first
link in the great chain of society' (560–61). Asserts that to argue
otherwise would be to imply that 'the kings formed man' (561). Continues
to argue against the divine right of kings and any supposedly natural need for
their existence in society on the grounds that all men are born equal. Suggests
that, while equality can be seen to exist in the 'savage state',
usurpation accompanies the rise of civilization, usurpation having
'counteracted all the advancement of science, and combated the arts as
its most deadly foes' (563). Argues that the members of the aristocracy are not
created superior since, 'If heaven had intended to make hereditary kings
or lords, it is probable from the amazing design evidenced in every particle of
the creation, that kings and lords would have been as well adapted to
their several situations, as spiders are to catch flies, even had they been
designed to live by slaughter' (566–67). Discusses arguments against the
divine right of kings. Considers that the 'CORRUPTING FACTION of
BOROUGHMONGERS' has arisen in the place of an absolute monarch and powerful
aristocracy to wrest power from the people. Concludes that 'having defeated the
lion, and tied up the wolf, we are at last cheated by the monkey'
(569–70).
In discussing the continued election of cohorts of 'witless' alderman in the
Corporation
of LondonCorporation of London
CloseView the register entry >>, states that 'occasionally amid the ignorance of the
host, a spark of feeling, or ray of genius, has been witnessed, brilliant as a
meteor in surrounding gloom. But these fortunate accidents have not "redeemed
the race"' (593).
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 597–99.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf, to the Yellow Bonze, at
Japan.
Mental Illness, Medical Treatment, Hospitals, Commerce
Relates that the Lord Chief Justice of England (Edward Law (1st Baron Ellenborough)Law, Edward, 1st Baron Ellenborough
(1750–1818)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>) 'is now at
Paris, and has visited all the mad houses and lunatic asylums, to
observe the modes of treatment in practice, in order to carry home such
ideas as may tend to improve that class of unfortunates in England!' (597).
Questions whether Ellenborough is interested in asylum provision because he has
'contemplated the design of undertaking the care of the mad-men whose
intellects have been impaired by the LAW' or if he has 'more
enlarged views' and wishes to 'include all the bench, and the
bar, as well as the victims and their clients, in one
great asylum of lunatics, under his especial care'. Suggests that, in the
latter eventuality, 'the courts of the LAW [might] be purified
from the abuses that have made so many distracted by their
prosperity, and so many more mad in their ruin'. Ridicules mutual
accusations of madness from 'Prince, ministers, and people'. Suggests that the
nation should be grateful if someone were to 'endeavour to put us in strait
waistcoats, and proper cells before we do each other a more serious mischief
than railing at each other, or venting our madness on paper'. (598)
Animal Behaviour, Political Economy, Vulcanology, Epidemiology,
Disease, Medical Treatment, Politics
Laments the proposed introduction of stock debentures, likening them to
'decoy ducks for the loyal boobies who have not yet deposited
their nest eggs in the state rookery' (599). Refers to 'people of
the
MalthusMalthus, Thomas Robert
(1766–1834)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>
school, who conceive that if poor men will perversely console themselves with
the beggars benison, their brats may safely be hanged, drowned, burned, shot,
or starved, pro bono publico' (600). Refers to the Terror as an evil '[w]hich
NapoleonNapoleon I, Emperor of France
(1769–1821)
CBD CloseView the register entry >>
terminated by a remedy almost as bad as the disease his
nostrum having been adroitly converted into a confirmed lues, now
spreading this French pest over the whole of Europe' (601). States that
if 'the nearest heir to the expelled Stuarts were now palmed on us, [...] the
supposed conflict would commence a scene of horrors, to which all former
revolutionary volcanos would be only as the spurting of a gas
lamp to the eruptions of mount Atna' (605).
Replies to an article in the
PamphleteerPamphleteer
(1813–28)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >> by
John S Cocks (2nd Baron
Somers)Cocks, John Sommers, 1st Earl Som[m]ers and 2nd Baron
Som[m]ers
(1760–1841)
Cokayne 1910–59 CloseView the register entry >> defending taxation and the borough system. Starts by
describing Somers as a 'worthy' illustration that 'patriotism is not more
hereditary, than talent' (623). A footnote includes a table comparing the value
of agricultural wages between 1760 and 1817 expressed in terms of loaves of
bread, which was originally published by
George GloverGlover, George
(1778–1862)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> in
an article entitled 'Observations on Pauperism' in the same issue of the
Pamphleteer (624). States of Somers: 'how short-sighted he must be!
Well, then, the people must furnish him with a pair of practical
spectacles; and shew him what his defective borough-manufactured optics cannot
discover' (627).
Human Species, Prehistory, Mental Illness, Radicalism, Crime,
Disease
Discusses the improper imprisonment of men without charge due to the recent
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act and the potential therein for their murder
in solitary confinement. Asserts that the passions leading to such crimes 'are
yet alive in the human composition, as thirsty for blood, and as eager for
revenge, as when the human savage prowled in relentless ferocity over pathless
desart [sic], or through the deepening wood'. Urges Lord Sidmouth that 'the
distraction of a long confinement may produce in the minds of your victims the
despair that may lead to suicide'. (642) Further observes of secretly
imprisoned men: 'Should the wretched being fall a victim to disease, will not
his disease be attributed to the unmerited severity of his imprisonment? Is he
a prey to any malady, will not the fatal termination of such a malady be
assigned to the undeserved accumulation of his sufferings? Do you imagine that
the public are not aware that there are modes of treatment as efficacious in
procuring death as private assassination, or open murder' (343). Discusses the
imprisonment of
Thomas EvansEvans, Thomas
(1763–1831)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> on
spurious charges of high treason.
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 644–50.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf, to the Yellow Bonze, at
Japan.
Political Economy, Agriculture, Population, Class, Government,
Radicalism
Writes that England is a country '[w]here famine mocks the labour that would
earn its food—the land untilled and abandoned, presents a desert in the
midst of civilization and refinement. Can there [...] be a stronger mark of
some inherent defect in the government of a country, than to see
millions of acres out of cultivation, and yet a great
proportion of the populace clamouring in vain for
food?' A footnote relates a report from
The TimesThe Times
(1777–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>of a
man 'Found dead, STARVED TO DEATH'. Observes: 'MalthusMalthus, Thomas Robert
(1766–1834)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>, some
years past alarmed the nation about the possibility of a want of food;
and advised the people as a remedy not to marry, and procreate families,
which certainly must be starved themselves [...]. The effect threatened has
been realised; but not from the cause which was announced. Cultivation
has not yet reached its height. [...] Nay much highly cultivated land is
lying waste [...] the demands of the state render is an absolute loss
for the farmer to cultivate his ground'. (645) Describes the taxes, poor
rates, and tythes which contribute to the lack of cultivation of land and the
excessive government spending that leads to such taxes.
Reports on the recent trials in Derby of a 'rebel army', in which a
verdict of high treason was reached. Whilst arguing that the defendants were
'madmen', suggests that '[t]he cells of
New
BethlemBethlehem Royal Hospital
CloseView the register entry >> will next be searched by the spies [... and] should
any poor lunatic be found wielding a sceptre of straw, or wearing a crown of
paper, he will be arrested forthwith as "levying war against his majesty in his
realm"'. Asserts: 'A jury of mad prime ministers picked out of the other cells
would think such conduct proof of a most horrible treason; and if an insane
judge could be found, he might pronounce sentence of hanging drawing and
quartering upon the lunatic' (655).
Recounts a fictional tale of trying to track down 'Dr Slop'. A clerk is said
to have reported that '[h]e had heard of a man called Doctor Slop in the Old
Times; who escaped from
Old
BethlemBethlehem Royal Hospital
CloseView the register entry >>, and for some time raved about the streets, frightening
everyone, and was thought to be incurably insane. The Clerk added, that the
erection of the New Bethlem, had alarmed him a little for fear of being shut up
again, and he had not been noticed much in the Day' (666). The allusion is to
John
StoddartStoddart, Sir John
(1773–1856)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, for whom 'Dr Slop' became a scurrilous sobriquet. Formally
leader writer for The
TimesThe Times
(1777–1900+)
Waterloo
Directory CloseView the register entry >>, Stoddart left in February 1817 and started a rival
daily entitled the New
TimesNew Times
(1817)
Day and New Times
(1817)
New Times
(1818–28)
Morning Journal
(1828–30)
Waterloo Directory
CloseView the register entry >>, which soon amalgamated with another newspaper, the
DayDay
(1809–17)
Waterloo Directory CloseView the register entry >>, to become the
Day and New Times.
Writes of
Robert Southey
Southey, Robert
(1774–1843)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>: 'he is enlightened enough to civilise the ourang-outang, or to
preside at the assemblies of those mimics of the human race, called apes and
monkies [sic], in the forest of Siam'. Warns the Black Dwarf to be careful in
his political activities: a 'statesman may tread thee into atoms in the street,
and plead accident for the adventure'. (681)
Light, Climatology, Ether, Electricity, Natural Law
Poem on the nature of freedom begins: 'Sweet freedom heard th' Appeal, from
her sojourn, / Where far beyond the stretch of mortal ken, / Blissful, she
breathes pure Ether, highest far / Than giant Andes, or the top most Peak / Of
sea-encircled Teneriffe, or where / Aurora teems with bright electric fire, /
Bourne through the flashing concave, leading out / The boreal blast, o'er
realms of arctic ice' (685).
Obstetrics, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners
In an article discussing the recent post-partum death of
Princess
CharlotteCharlotte Augusta, Princess of Great Britain
and Ireland
(1766–1828)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, a footnote states: 'There is much of uncertainty and
contradiction in the various accounts of the decease of the Princess'.
Initially 'it was said she died of spasmodic affection: which frequently
occurs, and is easily removed.' Discusses a contradictory account, based on the
report 'published by those who opened the body', which stated: '"It appears
that in the interior conformation of her Royal Highness, there was a want of
muscular energy, which unhappily subjects her to pangs beyond what
nature could endure; and from the same cause, the animation of the
infant was suspended, very shortly before it should have seen the
light." We very strongly suspect this is medical nonsense—but what
shall we say of the following sentence—"The organs were all
perfect, except in one or two particulars, not immediately connected
with her situation." The account of the physicians retiring to bed is
contradicted; but it is said that
Dr. CroftCroft, Sir Richard, 6th Baronet
(1762–1818)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> was
engaged in attempting to restore animation to the child, when the
princess was attacked,
Dr. SimsSims, John
(1749–1831)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> was only
consulted. He did not attend the princess' (694n–95n).
Human Species, Ethnography, Natural Law, Immorality, Crime, Class,
Radicalism, Government
Writes that 'it cannot be contended that there is in man any absolute
tendency to vice alone. Man will frequently follow his passions into
guilt [...] but this is not general. Such a principle carried to any extent
would destroy natural society, and root out the human race. [... M]an is a kind
and beneficent animal, in the savage state'. Observes: 'the London journals of
one month frequently record more atrocities than would be heard among all the
savage tribes of America in twelve'. (719) Argues that '[t]his is not a
natural disposition. The disposition of man is to associate for mutual
benefit, on a larger or a smaller scale of protection. The savage attacks none
but his avowed enemies'. Observes that 'Ireland is an example of the
horrid consequences of barbarising mankind, which results from the hand
of oppression bearing unevenly upon the mass of the population'. (720)
Discusses at length the role of excessive taxation of the poor and
mis-government in forcing the masses into criminal activities.
Satirically lists five reasons which a government could use to argue the
case for going to war. Then asks: 'One doubt arises, May not this social system
bring the country to ruin? Answ. Not if the people of England are asserted to
be in a state of madness, and their constitutional rights put under the tender
guardianship of the administration'.
Astronomy, Botany, Human Species, Climatology, Christianity,
Radicalism, Surgery, Invention
The correspondent laments the recantation by
Charles Grey (2nd Earl Grey)Grey, Charles, 1st Baron Grey, 1st Viscount Howick,
and 2nd Earl Grey
(1764–1845)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> of his
more reformist opinions, stating: 'However melancholy is the disappearance of
that bright constellation which has shone on the annals of British history and
sanctified the cause of the PEOPLE, I am not desponding'. Continues by pointing
to the rejection by the late
Charles Lennox (3rd Duke
of Richmond)Lennox, Charles, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 3rd Duke of
Lennox, Duke of Aubigny
(1735–1806)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> of the French Revolution as another example of 'a
mournful instance of the weakness of our nature when exposed to the poisonous
atmosphere of the Upas Tree' (746). Later questions the game laws, suggesting
that they will achieve 'the preservation of wild animals and the extinction of
the human species' (747). Observes: 'The
Royal SocietyRoyal Society of London
CloseView the register entry >> have told
us much of a change of seasons, but there is yet more extraordinary
change being effected by the Holy alliance. We are approaching that millennium,
when all the nations of the globe will be one family, and the citizens of the
world will intermingle in patriarchal fellowship. With the change of climates
we have become unfitted for those countries in which God has placed us. Like
swallows we are to migrate' (748). When discussing growing recognition of a
right to representation, states: 'Many an imprudent act is committed before
experience is bought, and because the first practitioners in surgery committed
fatal errors, were we therefore to relinquish the science?' (749). In reference
to the errors made after the French Revolution, quotes: '"Surely," says
Lord BaconBacon, Francis, 1st Viscount St Alban
(1561–1626)
DSB
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
"Every medicine is an innovation, and he that will not apply new remedies, must
expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator; and if time of course
alter things to be worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to be
better, what shall be the end?"' (749).
Discussing the impoverished state of former seamen of the
Royal NavyRoyal Navy
CloseView the register entry >> during
peacetime, states that they 'are now the pity of those foreign enemies, who
have so often shrunk in terror from the vigor of arms now palsied with famine
and disease; and from the lightening of those eyes in which then sparkled the
national vengeance, but which now scarcely emit the lambent flame that fortels
approaching dissolution'. Comments on
Frederick, Duke of York'sFrederick, Duke of York and Albany
(1763–1827)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
attempted resignation as Commander-in-Chief of the
ArmyArmy
CloseView the register entry >> that 'His own sense of
propriety which induced him to tender resignation, is a much safer guide for
his conduct, than the opinions of men who may even now begin to offer incense
to the star which it is possible may follow in ascension the present sun'.
(754)
Black Dwarf, 1 (1817), 755–57.
Letters of the Black Dwarf. From the Black Dwarf, to the Yellow Bonze, at
Japan.
In discussing the food provided in prison, states: 'They would bestow it in
moderate proportion, but temperance promotes health, and they are too
careful of my health to suffer me to eat too abundantly; but as water is a most
excellent digestive, I may compensate for a necessary deficiency of food and
drink to my souls content of the pure stream and health bestowing fountain'
(756–57).
Political Economy, Population, Government, Radicalism, Disease,
Medical Treatment, Surgery, Vulcanology
Begins: 'There is an anomaly in our present situation, so totally opposed to
all sound principles—so paradoxical in its nature, so ruinous in its
effects, rivalling
Mr.
Malthus'sMalthus, Thomas Robert
(1766–1834)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> geometrical progressive ratio, which cannot subsist
without beggaring the great mass of the population, and finally ruining itself'
(759). Discusses at length the government's handling of the national economy,
especially with regard to funded property and national debt. Comments of the
national constitution that 'Scrofula is the prevalent disease in our
constitution, for which hitherto there has been found no specific' (761). Later
draws an analogy between the national economy and cancer, stating: 'I fear we
are already past all hope of recovery—backwards or forwards death stares
us in the face. We have a cancer penetrating every corner of our bodies; to
permit it to enlarge is certain dissolution; to extract it by the knife
requires too much strength and firmness in the patient, and too bold and
skillful an operator, to be reasonably expected'. Observes: 'Our future history
will resemble that of the little Italian village of Toro del Greco [...] on the
edge of Vesuvius [...] as no earthquake or eruption had happened in their
day, they lived in stupid security. [...] Every now and then, a slight jet
of lava frightened them, but the symptoms abating, "suspicion is again lulled
asleep" and they relapse into their former infatuated security. 'Till after a
few years the volcano, as if it had repressed its passion to a state of almost
suffocation, suddenly bursts forth with the most impetuous fury, and
buries in unexpected and total destruction their lives and property'. (763)
The correspondent relates the argument from a pamphlet debating parlimentary
reform which appeals to '[y]e, whose duty it is to apply at least the
palliative, if not the caustic, to the sores which threaten death to the body
politic' (780).