ABSTRACT
First published in The Examiner, VI, 15 August 1813, pp. 513–14. Henry James Pye, Poet Laureate from 1790–1813, died on 11 August 1813. With debate immediately stirring about a successor, Hunt questions the basic validity of the laureateship as a cultural institution financed by the government. For his ongoing commentary on this topic and the underlying relationship between art and politics, see his 1813 Political Examiners for 29 August, pp. 513–14; and 26 September, pp. 609–11, and below, pp. 296–300. See also headnote above, pp. 269–70. For Hunt’s previous reactions against Pye, see above, pp. 123–7.
