In one of those Notices, no less friendly than they are able and spirited, which this new Edition of my Poetical Works has called forth from a leading political journal, I find, in reference to the numerous satirical pieces, the following suggestion†:"It is now more than a quarter of a century since this bundle of political pasquinades set the British public in a roar; and though the events to which they allude may be well known to every reader,

"Cujus octavum trepidavit ætas Claudere lustrum,"

there are many persons, now forming a part of the literary public, who have come into existence since they happened, and who cannot be expected, even if they had the leisure and opportunity to rummage the files of our old newspapers for a history of the perishable facts on which Mr. Moore has so often rested the flying artillery of his wit. Many of those facts will be considered beneath the notice of the grave historian; and it is, therefore, incumbent on Mr. Moore - if he wishes his political squibs, imbued as they are with a wit and humour quite Aristophanic, to be relished, as they deserve to be relished, by our great-grandchildren-to preface them with a rapid summary of the events which gave them birth.”

Without pausing here to say how gratifying it is to me to find my long course of AntiTory warfare thus tolerantly, and even generously spoken of, and by so distinguished an organ of public opinion, I shall as briefly as I can, advert to the writer's friendly suggestion, and then mention some of those reasons which have induced me to adopt it. That I was disposed, at first, to annex some such commentary to this series of squibs, may have been collected from the concluding sentences of my last Pre

[The edition of 1841, 1842.] + The Times, Jan. 9, 1841.

face; but a little further consideration has led me to abandon this intention.

To that kind of satire which deals only with the lighter follies of social life, with the passing modes, whims, and scandal of the day, such illustrative comments become, after a short time, necessary. But the true preserving salt of political satire is its applicability to future times and generations, as well as to those which had first called it forth; its power of transmitting the scourge of ridicule through succeeding periods, with a lash still fresh for the back of the bigot and the oppressor, under whatever new shape they may present themselves. I can hardly flatter myself with the persuasion that any one of the satirical pieces is likely to possess this principle of vitality; but I feel quite certain that, without it, not all the notes and illustrations in which even the industry of Dutch commentatorship could embalm them would insure to these trifles a life much beyond the present hour.

Already, to many of them, that sort of relish by far the least worthy source of their success which the names of living victims lend to such sallies, has become, in the course of time, wanting. But, as far as their appositeness to the passing political events of the day has yet been tried. and the dates of these satires range over a period of nearly thirty years - their ridicule, thanks to the undying nature of human absurdity, appears to have lost, as yet, but little of the original freshness of its first application. Nor is this owing to any peculiar felicity of aim, in the satire itself, but to the sameness, throughout that period, of all its original objects; -the unchangeable nature of that spirit of Monopoly by which, under all its various impersonations, commercial, religious, and political, these satires had been first provoked. To refer but to one instance, the

TT

Corn question,-assuredly, the entire appositeness, at this very moment, of such versicles as the following, redounds far less to the credit of poesy than to the disgrace of legislation,- |

How can you, my Lord, thus delight to torment all
The Peers of the realm about cheap'ning their corn,
When you know if one hasn't a very high rental,
'Tis hardly worth while to be very high-born.

my

That, being by nature so little prone to spleen or bitterness, I should yet have frequented so much the thorny paths of satire, has always, to myself and those best acquainted with me, been a matter of surprise. By supposing the imagination, however, to be, in such cases, the sole or chief prompter of the satire—which, in own instance, I must say, it has generally been —an easy solution is found for the difficulty. The same readiness of fancy which, with but little help from reality, can deck out "the Cynthia of the minute" with all possible attractions, will likewise be able, when in the vein, to shower ridicule on a political adversary, without allowing a single feeling of real bitterness to mix itself with the operation. Even that sternest of all satirists, Dante, who, not content with the penal fire of the pen, kept an Inferno ever ready to receive the victims of his wrath,-even Dante, on becoming acquainted with some of the persons whom he had thus doomed, not only revoked their awful sentence, but even honoured them with warm praise*; and probably, on a little further acquaintance, would have admitted them into his Paradiso. When thus loosely and shallowly even the sublime satire of Dante could strike its roots in his own heart and memory, it is easy to conceive how light and passing may be the feeling of hostility with which a partisan in the field of satire plies his laughing warfare; and how often it may happen that even the pride of hitting his mark outlives but a short time the flight of the shaft.

without venturing to add that I have now to connect with them one mournful recollectionone loss from among the circle of those I have longest looked up to with affection and admiration—which I little thought, when I began! this series of prefatory sketches, I should have to mourn before their close. I need hardly add, that, in thus alluding to a great light of the social and political world recently gone out, I

mean the late Lord Holland.

It may be recollected, perhaps, that, in mentioning some particulars respecting an early squib of mine, -the Parody on the Prince Regent's Letter, I spoke of a dinner at which I was present on the very day of the first pub lication of that Parody, when it was the subject of much conversation at table, and none of the party, except our host, had any suspicion that

was the author of it. This host was Lord Holland; and as such a name could not but lend value to any anecdote connected with literature, I only forbore the pleasure of adding such an ornament to my page, from knowing that Lord Holland had long viewed with disapprobation and regret much of that conduct of the Whig party towards the Regent in 1812-13, of the history of which this squib, and the welcome reception it met with, formas an humble episode.

Lord Holland himself, in addition to his higher intellectual accomplishments, possessed in no ordinary degree the talent of writing easy and playful vers de société; and, among the instances I could give of the lightness of his hand at such trifles, there is one no less characteristic of his good-nature than his wit as it accompanied a copy of the octavo edition of Baylet, which, on hearing me rejoice one day that so agreeable an author had been at last made portable, he kindly ordered for me from Paris.

So late, indeed, as only a month or two

cal trifles,

"This swarm of themes that settled on my pen, Which I, like summer-flies, shake off again,"

In his Convito he praises very warmly some persons whom he had before abused. See Foscolo, Discorso sul Testo di Dante.

himself, with all his usual cheerful eagerness, in translating some verses of Metastasio; and occasionally consulted both Mr. Rogers and myself as to different readings of some of the

+ In sixteen volumes, published at Paris by Descer.

lines. In one of the letters which I received from him while thus occupied, I find the following postscript:

""Tis thus I turn th' Italian's song,
Nor deem I read his meaning wrong.
But with rough English to combine
The sweetness that's in every line,

Asks for your Muse, and not for mine.
Sense only will not quit the score:
We must have that, and little More.

He then adds, "I send you, too, a melancholy Epigram of mine, of which I have seen many, alas, witness the truth: :

"A minister's answer is always so kind!'

I starve, and he tells me he'll keep me in mind.

Half his promise, God knows, would my spirits restore: Let him keep me and, faith, I will ask for no more."

THE INSURRECTION OF THE PAPERS.

A DREAM.

"It would be impossible for his Royal Highness to disengage his person from the accumulating pile of papers that encompassed it." -Lord CASTLEREAGH's Speech upon Colonel M’Mahon's Appointment, April 14, 1812.

LAST night I toss'd and turn'd in bed,
But could not sleep-at length I said,
"I'll think of Viscount C-stl-r-gh,
"And of his speeches-that's the way."
And so it was, for instantly

I slept as sound as sound could be.

And then I dreamt - so dread a dream!
Fuseli has no such theme;
Lewis never wrote or borrow'd
Any horror, half so horrid!

Methought the Pre, in whisker'd state, Before me at his breakfast sate; On one side lay unread petitions. On t'other, Hints from five Physicians; Here tradesmen's bills, official papers, Notes from my Lady, drams for vapours There plans of saddles, tea and toast, Death-warrants and the Morning Post.

When lo! the Papers, one and all,
As if at some magician's call,
Began to flutter of themselves

From desk and table, floor and shelves,
And, cutting each some different capers,
Advanc'd, oh jacobinic papers!

As though they said, "Our sole design is
"To suffocate his Royal Highness!"
The Leader of this vile sedition
Was a huge Catholic Petition,
With grievances so fuil and heavy,
It threaten'd worst of all the bevy.
Then Common-Hall Addresses came
In swaggering sheets, and took their aim
Right at the R-g-t's well-dress'd head,
As if determin'd to be read.

Next Tradesmen's Bills began to fly.

And Tradesmen's Bills, we know, mount high; Nay, ev'n Death-warrants thought they'd best Be lively too, and join the rest.

And it pleas'd me to find, at the House, where, you There's such good mutton cutlets, and strong curaçoa,

That the Marchioness call'd me a duteous old boy, And my Y-rm-th's red whiskers grew redder for joy.

You know, my dear Freddy, how oft, if I would, By the law of last Sessions I might have done good. I might have withheld these political noodles From knocking their heads against hot Yankee Doodles;

I might have told Ireland I pitied her lot,
Might have sooth'd her with hope · but you know

I did not.

"Tis enough quite to turn my illustrious brains.
It is true we are bankrupts in commerce and riches,
But think how we find our Allies in new breeches!
We've lost the warm hearts of the Irish, 'tis granted,
But then we've got Java, an island much wanted,
To put the last lingering few who remain,
Of the Walcheren warriors, out of their pain.
Then how Wellington fights! and how squabbles
his brother!

For Papists the one, and with Papists the other;
One crushing Napoleon by taking a City,
While t'other lays waste a whole Catholic Com-
mittee.

Oh deeds of renown!-shall I boggle or flinch,
With such prospects before me? by Jove, not an inch.
No-let England's affairs go to rack, if they will,
We'll look after th' affairs of the Continent still;
And, with nothing at home but starvation and riot,
Find Lisbon in bread, and keep Sicily quiet.

Should not, on recovering, have cause to be jealous,

1 "I think it hardly necessary to call your recollection to the recent circumstances under which I assumed the authority delegated to me by Parliament."-Prince's Letter.

2 My sense of duty to our Royal father solely decided that choice."-Ibid.

The antique shield of Martinus Scriblerus, which, upon scouring, turned out to be only an old sconce.

4 - I waved any personal gratification, in order that his Majesty might resume, on his restoration to health, every power and prerogative," &c.- Prince's Letter.

5 "And I have the satisfaction of knowing that such was the opinion of persons for whose judgment," &c. &c.—Ibid.

6 The letter-writer's favourite luncheon.

7 "I certainly am the last person in the kingdom to whom it can be permitted to despair of our royal father's recovery."— Ibid. "A new era is now arrived, and I cannot but reflect with satisfaction," &c.-Ibid.

9"I have no predilections to indulge, no resentments to gratify."-Ibid.