' , f /A. 3Ust of tlj* WILLIAM HAZLITT AND LEIGH HUNT- CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED; WITH NOTES, DESCRIPTIVE, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY ; AND A SELECTION OF OPINIONS REGARDING THEIR GENIUS AND CHARACTERISTICS, BY DISTINGUISHED CONTEMPORARIES AND FRIENDS, AS WELL AS BY SUBSEQUENT CRITICS^ Preceded by , " A REVIEW OF, AND EXTRACTS FROM, BARRY CORNWALL'S M'EMCVRIA^S |OF CHARLES LAMB;" WITH A FEW WORDS ON WILLIAM HAZLITT AND HIS WRITINGS, AND A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE WORKS OF QDftailcs Hamfc. BY ALEXANDER IRELAND. LONDON: H\ RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE 1868. TWO HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED. CHARLES COWDEN n.ARKK, THE INTIMATE COMPANION OF KEATS, ONE OF THE FEW SURVIVING FRIENDS OF LAMB, HAZLITT, AND HUNT ; A DISCRIMINATING AND GENIAL CRITIC OF OUR GREAT POETS, DRAMATISTS, AND PROSE-WRITERS, (ESPECIALLY OF CHAUCER AND SHAKESPERE) ; AS WELL AS AN ABLE EXPOSITOR OF THE GENIUS OF MOLIERE I AND WHO, IN HIS HALE AND CHEERFUL OLD AGE, PRESERVES ALL THE FRESHNESS, ENTHUSIASM, AND GENEROUS SYMPATHIES OF YOUTH I AND TO HIS WIFE, MARY COW DK N CLARKE, WHOSE ADMIRABLE AND INDISPENSABLE "CONCORDANCE TO SHAKESPERE" (THE RESULT OF SIXTEEN YEARS' LABOUR OF LOVE), WILL EVER HOLD AN HONOURABLE PLACE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, AS A MONUMENT OF UNEXAMPLED INDUSTRY AND FAITHFUL ACCURACY, LUIS VOL r MI-: is DEDICATED BY THEIR OLD AND ATTACHED FRIEND, THE COMPILER. 4rrt ^ CONTENTS. PAGE. INTRODUCTION vii BRIEF TRIBUTES TO THE GENIUS, CHARACTER, AND ME- MORY OF WILLIAM HAZLITT AND LEIGH HUNT xiv SONNETS ON WILLIAM HAZLITT AND LEIGH HUNT, BY MRS. BRYAN AND MRS. CHARLES COWDEN CLARKE xxiv RECOLLECTIONS OF CHARLES LAMB REVIEW OF AND EXTRACTS FROM BARRY CORNWALL'S " MEMOIR OF CHARLES LAMB ;" WITH A FEW WORDS ON WILLIAM HAZLITT AND HIS WAITINGS 3 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES LAMB 25 To "ELIA," AND "THE SISTER OF ELLA." BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR 26 OPINIONS REGARDING WlLLIAM HAZLITT's CHARACTER, GENIUS, AND WRITINGS 27 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE WRITINGS OF WILLIAM HAZLITT j WITH NOTES, DESCRIPTIVE, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY 47 * PAGE. SPECIMENS OF CRITICISMS ON WILLIAM HAZLITT'S WRIT- " INGS ; FROM THE EARLY VOLUMES OF THE QUAR- TERLY REVIEW" AND "BLACK-WOOD'S MAGAZINE" 77 OPINIONS REGARDING LEIGH HUNT'S CHARACTER, GENIUS, AND WRITINGS 79 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE WRITINGS OF LEIGH HUNT; WITH NOTES, DESCRIPTIVE, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY 106 THOMAS CARLYLE ON LEIGH HUNT 224 SPECIMENS OF CRITICISMS ON LEIGH HUNT AND HIS WRITINGS; FROM THE EARLY VOLUMES OF "THE " QUARTERLY REVIEW" AND BLACKWOOD'S MAGA- ZINE" 227 INTRODUCTION. WHEN I first became acquainted with the writings of William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt now above thirty years ago I was at once forcibly struck with the tone of their criticism on to their merits as theatrical books and authors \ not speak of and art-critics, and essayists on life and manners. Their lite- rary criticism appeared to me to be more appreciative, more original and suggestive and to show more insight into, and sympathy with, the spirit of the writers reviewed, than any that I had previously read. It was distinguished from that of the recognised authorities in this department of literature by its greater warmth, geniality, and acuteness, and by a discrimina- tion and heartiness of treatment not to be found in the pages of previous critics. It had also an additional charm for me, in the personal recollections and associations with which it was often interwoven. I could not be blind to the faults of temper and offences against good taste which occasionally these critics but their mar the beauties of two ; cordiality, or " what may be called ^^/-recognition," as distinguished from mere intellectual or "//^^/-appreciation," of the beauties of our great writers, amply atoned for any blemishes and defects. The perusal and re-perusal of their volumes brought benefits for which I have never ceased to be grateful. It stimulated in me an ardent desire to become acquainted with the authors about whose works they discoursed with so much sympathy and loving enthusiasm Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespere, and the Elizabethan dramatists the writers \ great prose who succeeded them ; the poets, wits, and play-writers of the latter half of the seven- teenth the century ; essayists and novelists of the days of Anne and the first two Georges; and the new school of poetry and thought which followed upon the first French Revolution. The leisure at my command in those days was but scanty, and did not enable me to profit so much as I could have wished by the valuable guidance afforded me in the works of these critics. But spare hours were economised and made the most of. Nulla dies sine lined. In this way, new and unex- pected sources of enjoyment were opened to me as, year by year, I became more intimate with the authors criticised. I also read with avidity everything which was published relating to the genius and characteristics of these two writers and their works. Gradually I became possessor of all the writings of Hazlitt and Hunt, and was in the habit of lending them to friends with tastes similar to my own. As their entire works comprise more than eighty volumes (Hazlitt's numbering be- tween thirty and forty, and Hunt's above fifty) some of them long out of print, and difficult to be met with it often occurred to me to make a chronological list of them, indicating the con- tents of each, with the view of printing it for my own use and that of my friends. The appearance, last year, of Mr. Procter's (Barry Cornwall) " " pleasing Memoir of Charles Lamb again brought before the public the names of William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt, as two " of the intimate friends and companions of Elia." My long- list their works was revived cherished desire to print a of ; but now it included not merely the contents of each work, but also a selection of contemporary opinions regarding their authors. In thinking of the numerous sources from which these opinions might be gathered, I recalled many beautiful tributes to their memory and genius by distinguished contemporaries and friends. Some of these were so remarkable for their just ap- preciation, acuteness, and generous feeling, that I considered it would be doing a service to exhume them from the news- ix [ ] papers and magazines in which most of them lay buried. There were also scattered about through scores of volumes, scarcely ever opened by the most adventurous reader, many special contemporary notices of the various works themselves, which were worthy of being rescued from oblivion. In bring- ing these materials together, I found them to be more abundant than I expected. When I made known my project to one or two literary friends, they were pleased to say, that to readers and admirers of Hazlitt and Hunt, my proposed list of their works might be found very useful. I was advised not to limit my design to a few copies struck off for private circulation, but to print a small edition which might at least be procurable by those who wished to possess it. This suggestion has been acted upon. The writings of William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt deserve to be much better known than they are by the present genera- tion. Many readers are entirely ignorant of their existence; or, if they have perchance heard of the names of these authors, they imagine them to have been merely ephemeral litterateurs, whose works did not possess sufficient merit to preserve them from oblivion. Had Hazlitt and Hunt been literary critics and essayists only, and not also political writers with earnest convictions, there can be little doubt that their merits would have long since been widely recognised and acknowledged, and their position in the field of letters much more established and conspicuous than it now is. Owing to their strenuous advocacy of political views totally opposed to those of the dominant party of the day their resolute independence, and uncompromising out-spokenness they were assailed by the two leading organs of the Tory press with a ferocity and un- scrupulous malignity almost incredible to the present genera- " tion. As they had wilfully placed themselves in collision from the first with all the interests that were in the sunshine of this world, and with all the persons that were then powerful in England," the intrinsic merits of their literary productions were entirely ignored or, rather, the appearance of these productions furnished occasion to the editors of the organs in question to pour out upon their authors the vilest abuse, and to hold up them and their works to public odium and " disgust. The object and effect of this literary ruffianism" were undoubtedly to disparage these writers, and prevent the public from reading their works, and judging for itself. The critical verdicts of the periodicals referred to had great weight in those days, and were accepted by the great majority of the reading public as infallible. These unworthy and shameless attacks limited the circulation of the works against which they were directed to a comparatively small circle, and are quite sufficient to account for the tardy recognition of their merits by the public. Such were the lengths to which party feeling was allowed to go in those days (1815 to 1830), and such the degradation to which men of culture and ability could stoop in order to carry out the objects of political animosity ! In order to bear me out in what has been said on this subject, and to justify the strong expressions used, a few pages have been devoted to a selection of passages from these malignant attacks, so that the reader can judge for himself whether, in my characterization of them, I am chargeable with exaggera- tion.