Life of Sir William Davenant, with Specimens of his Poetry

Yes and No

191

Lord Holland and the Duke of Wellington

Subjects for Dissection

The Drawing-room and the Duchess of St Albans

May-day and Shakspeare's Birth-day

Celebration of May-day at Holly Lodge

Marriages Royal and of Doubtful Propriety

Letter of Madame Pasta

Love at the Plough

A Kiss in Reason

Progress of Liberal Opinion, and what becomes the highest ambi-

tion accordingly

Specimens of British Poetesses

257

Mr Huskisson and the Duke of Wellington

Pasta in Desdemona

Redi's Bacchus in Tuscany

A Walk from Dulwich to Brockham

The Fencing-master's Choice

The Pantofles (from the Italian)

A Battle of Ants. Desirableness of drawing a distinction be-

tween powers common to other Animals and those peculiar

to Man

-

-

401

Adam's Foresight of the Evils of the Married System as now

prevailing

ADDRESS TO OLD AND NEW READERS.

THE most agreeable privilege of an author, next to that good to society, is the power he possesses of being in a mul places at once. The ring of Gyges was nothing to it. T to come invisibly upon one's friends might be very tem occasion; but there is something unhandsome in it, v honest fellow would be cautious how he used. We unfair sex, should take, we fear, the same ill advantages the possessor did of old. But to be openly, and face to f sent at one and the same time to all the breakfast-tables o friends and acquaintance, as we trust we are this mor shall be in the course of a week or two, as far as they muffin at the same hour, this indeed is a privilege which honourable may envy us, and which the fancies of all prope eaters will enjoy. Let the reader imagine his face to be hundreds of places all at once,-in Westminster, in May Marybone, in the City, in Southwark, and Somers T Richmond, Highgate; Kensington, and Old Bow; in Alb Austin Friars; in great houses and small; tavern, te and chop-house; book-room, and bed-room;

"Up stairs, down stairs, and in my lady's chamber;" and he has a lively picture of the presence of a periodical his day of appearance. Let him imagine himself arrived fro voyage, or suddenly enriched, or titled for some gallant a grown brown and handsome again after a convalescence in t try, or under any other circumstances in which the desire ing and being pleased is redoubled, or rather let him ima he has a great many votes to get for some election, and looks upon himself as welcome enough to secure them a old friends and connexions, provided he can but see them and then let him fancy the pleasure an author has in com all the breakfast-tables he is acquainted with, and heari say, for old love's sake, "Ah! here is H. again!"

How many letters are there in the alphabet,-initials names, which we could not mention as being sure to greeting! We fill up down to G. in a moment. H.'s, K.'s,

mean to breakfast three thousand miles off, grappling with his hearty nature, as we instinctively did at first sight; and while we look to no ill reception from one lordly H., for the acquaintance we boast of sharing with his friend Ariosto, the graver eyes of Chaucer and Boccaccio shall look something in our behalf with another, not the less lordly in his deprecation of lords. He will look unutterable things of doubt and dismay as we come in, uttering much internal oath with his muscles; but next minute he shall throw himself back in his chair laughing, and invite us to take a chop and a piece of Congreve with him in the Hut which he shall immortalize. How can we omit more than one R., musical, theatrical, humane lovers of puns! Another of the same manly consonant,-gymnastical? And O. too;-we shall hear his initial crying out upon us, if we doubt the generous punishment he will give our long absence, in one of his most cordial shakes.

There is

In all this, the reader will observe, that we take the liberty of waiving an introduction to him, even if he be a new one. We look to new friends through our companionship with old ones. so much more sociality in us than anything else, that if we do not succeed with him on the mere strength of it, he will not care for knowing us. If he is for being of our parties, we promise him that he shall become acquainted with better men than ourselves; and our walks in town and country shall give him no inelegant appetite for his cutlet. We will invite the memories of Steele and Dryden to dinner: Pope shall squeeze a bit of his satire over his veal for him; Farquhar and Hoadly shall come in with the champagne ; and as we rise in our altitudes, the heaven of the old poets shall open upon us; and we shall hear the songs of the Graces, and partake of those only cups of Hebe,-imagination and love, which keep the ear young for ever.

But these are for our loftier moments. Let the reader be good enough to understand, that our great object in this Paper is to furnish him with a companion who shall walk and talk with him like any other friend, discussing the topics of the day, politics least of any; not because we shall altogether omit politics, but because they are the least talked of in all places except the newspapers. Nay, even there, how small a part of the huge mass of type and incident is occupied with this subject, to which, nevertheless, the editors pay almost ex

clusive attention. As to those who fancy that statesmen themselves
talk of nothing else, they are as wide of the mark, as if they fancied
they eat and drank nothing else. The lover in the play may
tell his servant to reach him "his Violante," meaning "his hat,"
and the servant being in love like his master, may take a pair of
birds down to the cook, and say "Roast me these Florellas." But
even Ministers are not in love enough with politics to forget their
coronets and their dinner. My Lord L., when he calls for his hat
does not say
"Reach me my Bow street officer;" nor would B.,
notwithstanding his zeal for Catholic emancipation, say (however
fat they were) "Roast me those Archbishops." Absence of mind,
even in Mr Peel, does not imply the presence of the scarlet lady.

7

Whatever falls within the circle of companionable talk, falls within
ours. Perhaps a briefer and better idea cannot be given of our paper,
than by stating, that its leading pages will be occupied by the consi-
deration of any matters, great or small, that arrest the attention of
observers in the gross, and form the subject of conversation in general
society. Politics; Public Works; Exhibitions; the Talk (whatever
it be) of the Day, provided it be such as gentlemen can discuss; a
New Actress or Actor; a New Play or a New Book; a Remarkable
Trial; or even an Accident; or a Curious Advertisement ;-nothing
will be thought too high or too low for discussion, which can interest
or amuse a liberal humanity.

- With what sort of spirit, in point of ability, this will be performed,
the reader, agreeably to the venerable English maxim that "the
proof of the pudding is in the eating," will best decide for himself.
But we may venture to press on his attention, that the plan of increas-
ing the stock of public remark, and making it the business of an
editor to comment upon any subject of general interest, is new, in
whatever mode: it be performed. The daily papers, rich in their
shoals of occurrences, and never better conducted than they are at
present, can afford to dispense with going out of their way. They
can ride at will on their high seas, filling up their leisure as it suits
them, and refreshing their resources even with that Scotch mist of
the newspapers, the Debates. But we, of the hebdomadal press,
pinched in size and in stock, are obliged to fish in more curious
waters; and the more there are of us, the sharper the look out, and
the better for the public. We propose to be very merry on board,
and to run those who like to accompany us, into all sorts of pleasant
places. In short, to drop this marine metaphor, we propose to make
a Companion of the reader, if he has no objection to us; and to think,
talk, and act, in the best spirit of that title; neither foregoing the

responsible for what they utter. We shall fancy ourselves, now out-
of-doors with our reader, and now at his fire-side; now cracking
walnuts and a bottle with him, now going to an exhibition, now
settling with him in a snug seat at the theatre, poking over our
play-bill, and anticipating our Vestris. And it shall go hard, if in
summer-time we do not go into the country with him, and get a great
quantity of health and spirits.

At all events, being true.men, we do not despair, if upon that
account only, of being considered as something new; and by way
of proof that we can at least be original in what we omit, we defy
the reader to say that we have begun this paper with "Cicero has
observed," or "It is a very frequent observation," or "It is an
observation that cannot be too often repeated" (an opinion, by the
by, we extremely differ with), or " It is an observation no less trite
than true," or Among the various vicissitudes of the human race,”
or "Philosophers have remarked," or "In an age like the present,"
or In the present enlightened age," or "At a period of society
when," or "At a time when every press teems with new publica-
tions," or "It may justly be thought extraordinary," or "No remark
is juster," or "There are few remarks better founded," or " In laying
our plan before the public," or " In entering upon the arduous task
before us,'
or "In all ages of the world," or " The human mind,"
or Man," or "The man who-." Let anybody catch us who can
at "The man who." If we are too sentimental to be ambitious of
rivalling the indiscriminate jollities of Charles Surface, we are both
sincere and jovial enough to have a great horror of the hypocrisy of
Joseph; and on this account alone we should look for the encourage-
ment of the fairest of all readers, the ladies.

-

LONDON:

Published by HUNT and CLARKE, York street, Covent garden; and sold by all
Booksellers and Newsvenders in town and country.-Price 3d.

The first Number will appear on Wednesday, Jan. 9th, 1828.

PRINTED BY C. H. REYNELL, BROAD STREET, GOLDEN SQUARE.