ABSTRACT
First published in The Examiner, IV, 24 November 1811, pp. 747–9. Part a review of Hunt’s attitudes towards newspaper writing (see headnote above, p. 35) and part a preview of the attack on the Regent that would bring Hunt’s imprisonment (see The Examiner, V, 22 March 1812, pp. 177–80 and below, pp. 215–21), this essay expresses Hunt’s contempt for ministerial papers such as The Morning Post and The Courier, his concern about the toadying of even radical writers such as Cobbett who continued to hope the Regent would change the government, and his dreams of a truly independent press as a check on government authority. It also reflects his growing disillusionment with the Regency (see also, The Reflector, II, March to December 1811 (issued 25 October 1811), pp. 1–13, and above, pp. 183–94), as he notes that the Prince is slipping back into his lavish habits and perpetuating government corruption, for example in the form of sinecures (see The Examiner, IV, 15 September 1811, pp. 587–8).
