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Unit 14: Hazlitt-On Genius And Common Sense-Introduction

Meanwhile, however, Hazlitt’s reputation in literary circles had become tarnished, apparently by Notes
retaliatory rumours spread by such as Wordsworth and Coleridge, whom he had continued to
criticise openly for their personal failings in contrast to their earlier actual or potential
accomplishments. And the worst was yet to come.
But Hazlitt soon found a new source of satisfaction, along with escape from his financial woes, in
a return to the lecture hall. In early 1818 he delivered a series of talks on “the English Poets”, from
Chaucer to his own time. His presentation was uneven in quality, but ultimately the lectures were
judged a success. In making the arrangements for the lectures, he also met Peter George Patmore,
Secretary of the Surrey Institution, where the lectures were presented, and soon to become a friend
and confidant of Hazlitt’s in the most troubled period of the latter’s life.
The Surrey Institution lectures were printed in book form, followed by a collection of his drama
criticism, A View of the English Stage, and the second edition of Characters of Shakespear’s Plays. [81]
Hazlitt’s career as a lecturer gained some momentum, and his growing popularity allowed him to
get a collection of his political writings published as well, Political Essays, with Sketches of Public
Characters. Lectures on “the English Comic Writers” soon followed, and these as well were published
in book form. After them came lectures on dramatists who were Shakespeare’s contemporaries,
published as Lectures on the Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth. The latter did not go over so
well as lectures, but were reviewed enthusiastically after they were published.
More trouble was brewing, however. Hazlitt was attacked brutally in The Quarterly Review and
Blackwood’s Magazine, both Tory publications. One Blackwood’s article mocked him as “pimpled
Hazlitt”, accused him of ignorance, dishonesty, and obscenity, and incorporated vague physical
threats. Though Hazlitt was rattled by these attacks, he sought legal advice and sued. The lawsuit
against Blackwood’s was finally settled out of court in his favour. Yet the attacks did not entirely

cease. The Quarterly Review issued a review of Hazlitt’s published lectures in which he was
condemned as ignorant and his writing as unintelligible. Such partisan onslaughts brought spirited
responses. One, unlike an earlier response to the Blackwood’s attack that never saw the light of day,
was published, as A Letter to William Gifford, Esq. (1819; Gifford was the editor of the Quarterly).
(Among other things, this pamphlet was notable for Hazlitt’s use of the term “ultracrepidarian”,
which he might have coined; see Ultracrepidarianism.) In this pamphlet Hazlitt presented what
amounted to an apologia for his life and work thus far and showed he was well able to defend
himself. Yet Hazlitt’s attackers had done their damage. Not only was he personally shaken, he
found it more difficult to have his works published, and once more he had to struggle for a living.

14.3 Solitude and Infatuation

His lecturing in particular had drawn to Hazlitt a small group of admirers. Best known today is
the poet John Keats,but there were others, such as the diarist and chronicler Henry Crabb Robinson

and the novelist Mary Russell Mitford. But the rumours that had been spread demonising him,

along with the vilifications of the Tory press, not only hurt his pride but seriously obstructed his
ability to earn a living. Income from his lectures had also proved insufficient to keep him afloat.
His thoughts drifted to gloom and misanthropy. His mood was not improved by the fact that by
now there was no pretence of keeping up appearances: his marriage had failed. Years earlier he
had grown resigned to the lack of love between him and Sarah. He had been visiting prostitutes
and displayed more idealised amorous inclinations toward a number of women whose names are
lost to history. Now in 1819, he was unable to pay the rent on their rooms at 19 York Street and his
family were evicted. That was the last straw for Sarah, who moved into rooms with their son and
broke with Hazlitt for good, forcing him to find his own accommodation. He would sometimes see
his son and even his wife, with whom he remained on speaking terms, but they were effectively
separated.

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