[Mr. Huskisson’s Character]

First published Edinburgh Saturday Post, 16 February 1828, p. 324. Reprinted Tave, pp. 312–15 (with attribution, p. 315). As its first sentence implies, this leading article continues the discussion of Huskisson from the previous week. Like most leaders in the Post, this one was probably written in haste, between six and seven on Saturday night, while the typesetter waited. The link with the previous week’s leader, and internal evidence such as the sentences beginning with ‘But’ and ‘True it is’, the short sentence ‘And why?’, and the rhetorical device of question-and-answer, support the implication of the opening sentence, that this is De Quincey’s.