[‘Pick-Lock to a Place’; Repeal of the Test Acts]

First published Edinburgh Saturday Post, 1 March 1828, p. 340. Never reprinted. The subject-matter is English, and the lines from Cowper’s Task would not likely be familiar to anyone at the Post except De Quincey. For previous references to William Cowper, see above, pp. 4 and 19. The leader of 22 March recalls the present leader, in the words, ‘As to the sacramental test in particular, we have already expressed our opinion’ (see below, p. 304). Both leaders (the present one and the one for 22 March) refer to the sacramental test of the Church of England as a ‘sublime and mysterious rite’ (see below, p. 304). Supporting evidence includes rhetorical questions, sentences that start with ‘And’ or ‘But’, and the short sentence ‘And where are the Scotch petitions?’