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The Aesthetics of The Federalist

The Aesthetics of The Federalist Joseph Fichtelberg Hofstra University For Jeff Richards On February 16, 1788, the Federalist Pennsylvania Mercury published a diatribe by a writer calling himself "Centinel." The writer was not the celebrated polemicist Samuel Bryan, whose work had been circulating throughout the nation for months. This Centinel was an ironist, a highly self-conscious writer who spoofed his namesake's earnest objections even as he voiced them. "Rouse then, my countrymen," he demanded: Rouse, ye Shayites, Dayites, and Shattuckites!--Ye insurgents, rioters, and deserters! . . . Be not such a parcel of stupid, dunder-headed, blunder-headed, muddle-headed, puddle-headed, blockheads--Such a tribe of snivelling, drivelling, sneaking, slinking, moping, poking, mumping, pitiful, pimping, pettifogging, poltrons,--such a set of nincumpoops, ninyhammers, mushrooms, jackasses, . . . shitepokes, and p--ssab--ds.1 The Federalists would not only savage liberty, Centinel warned, but also plague the body politic--"purge you and bleed you, glister you and blister you, drench you and vomit you . . . draw your teeth, tear your hair . . . punch you in the guts, and kick you in the breech" (DHRC 16: 135). The Constitution threatened more than tyranny, Centinel insisted. It promised an old-fashioned horse whipping. The real force of the diatribe, however, involves http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Early American Literature University of North Carolina Press

The Aesthetics of The Federalist

Fichtelberg, Joseph.
Early American Literature , Volume 49 (1) – Mar 9, 2014
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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 The University of North Carolina Press.
ISSN
1534-147X
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Abstract

Joseph Fichtelberg Hofstra University For Jeff Richards On February 16, 1788, the Federalist Pennsylvania Mercury published a diatribe by a writer calling himself "Centinel." The writer was not the celebrated polemicist Samuel Bryan, whose work had been circulating throughout the nation for months. This Centinel was an ironist, a highly self-conscious writer who spoofed his namesake's earnest objections even as he voiced them. "Rouse then, my countrymen," he demanded: Rouse, ye Shayites, Dayites, and Shattuckites!--Ye insurgents, rioters, and deserters! . . . Be not such a parcel of stupid, dunder-headed, blunder-headed, muddle-headed, puddle-headed, blockheads--Such a tribe of snivelling, drivelling, sneaking, slinking, moping, poking, mumping, pitiful, pimping, pettifogging, poltrons,--such a set of nincumpoops, ninyhammers, mushrooms, jackasses, . . . shitepokes, and p--ssab--ds.1 The Federalists would not only savage liberty, Centinel warned, but also plague the body politic--"purge you and bleed you, glister you and blister you, drench you and vomit you . . . draw your teeth, tear your hair . . . punch you in the guts, and kick you in the breech" (DHRC 16: 135). The Constitution threatened more than tyranny, Centinel insisted. It promised an old-fashioned horse whipping. The real force of the diatribe, however, involves

Journal

Early American Literature – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Mar 9, 2014

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