~351~~Parliament, and mad wags of every country who had any established
claim to the kindred feelings of genius. Such were the frequenters
of the Finish. Here, poor Tom Sheridan, with a comic gravity that set
discretion at defiance, would let fly some of his brilliant drolleries
at the _improvisatore_, Theodore Hook; who, lacking nothing of his
opponent's wit, would quickly return his tire with the sharp encounter
of a satiric epigram or a brace of puns, planted with the most happy
effect upon the weak side of his adversary's merriment. There too
might be seen the wayward and the talented George Cook, gentlemanly
in conduct, and full of anecdote when sober, but ever captious and
uproarious in his cups. Then might be heard a strange encounter of
expressions between the queen of Covent Garden and the voluptuary, Lord
Barrymore,{8} seconded by his brother, the pious Augustus. In one corner
might be seen poor Dermody, the poet, shivering with wretchedness,
and Mother Butler pleading his cause with a generous feeling that does
honour to her heart, collecting for him a temporary supply which, alas!
his imprudence generally dissipated with the morrow. Here, George Sutton
Manners,{9} and Peter Finnerty,{10} and James Brownly,{11} inspired by
frequent potations of the real
8 Designated Cripplegate and Newgate.
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