Saturday, September 25, 2021

A Very Curious And Ingenious Transformation Of Letters

 


SOME CENTURIES OLD PLAY ON WORDS!



The 1821 Farmer's Almanack




POTENTATES         TWO TEA POTS


AMENDMENT       TEN MAD MEN


GALLANTRIES       ALL GREAT SIN


ENCYCLOPEDIA       A NICE COLD PYE


BREAKFAST       FAT BAKERS


TELEGRAPHS       GREAT HELPS


ASTRONOMERS       MOON STARERS


LAWYERS       SLY WARE


PENITENTIARY       NAY I REPENT IT


DEMOCRATICAL       COMICAL TRADE


REVOLUTION       TO LOVE RUIN


SOVEREIGNTY       'TIS YE GOVERN


PUNISHMENT       NINE THUMPS


OLD ENGLAND       GOLDEN LAND


ORATOR HENRY HUNT       NO ONE TRUTH HARRY


JOHN GALE JONES       SEE JOHN IN GOAL


WILLIAM COBBETT       I'LL BE AT ITS MOB WC


RADICAL REFORM       RARE MAD FROLIC



Background Check:

Who were Henry, John, and William?


Watercolor of
Henry "Orator" Hunt"
(1810)
Adam Buck
(1759-1833)


Henry "Orator" Hunt (1773-1835) was a firebrand speaker and agitator in the
British  parliament best known for leading the charge of working-class radicalism.

He was an important influence in the Chartist Movement for political
reform in Britain, that existed between 1838-1857. He also fought for the
repeal of the Corn Laws in his nation, which were a series of tariffs
and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced 
 in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. 

The word, "corn" in Britain referred to all cereal grains,
 including wheat, oats, and barley.


John Gale Jones
Photograph courtesy/British Museum


John Gale Jones (1769-1838) was a radical English orator. He was also a
member in good standing in the London Corresponding Society, a federation
of local reading and debating clubs organized in the decade after the
French Revolution,  whose goals were to establish democratic 
 reform within the British Parliament. 


 The Society appealed largely to the every day working class
population in Great Britain at that time-artisans, tradesmen, 
and shopkeepers.  Jones was imprisoned at least several times
 for his participation in speaking out against the government.



William Cobbett
(1831)
George Cooke
(1781-1834)
National Portrait Gallery UK


William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a farm boy from Farnham, Surrey, a soldier, 
and a member of the British Parliament.  He distributed his political views
in unbound and inexpensive booklets which could be widely distributed
 among Britain's increasing working class population.

Cobbett sought political reform to better the lives of the common
laborer, especially in his fight to abolish "rotten boroughs" or
 corrupt, unrepresented influence within the House of Commons.

 During his time in Parliament, he fought for lower taxes, saving,
 reversing common enclosures, and resisting the 1821 gold standard.

While living in America, Cobbett opened a bookstore in Philadelphia
in July, 1796.  To express his loyalty to his nation and the British crown,
he placed a large portrait of King George III in his shop window. 

This open display of pro-British sentiment obviously attracted
curious stares, as well as much consternation within many a
passersby, and is said to have created quite a stir of notoriety
 for Cobbett within our fledgling nation at the time.

However, unlike other radical reformers of his day William Cobbett
did not consider himself, "a citizen of the world" nor did he endorse
the idea of a Republican Britain.  Cobbett was considered a
conservative thinker and a loyalist to the United Kingdom.

"It quite enough for me to think about what is best for
England, Scotland, and Ireland," he once said.


Th list of anagrams above were featured in my copy
of a reprinted facsimile of  The Farmer's Almanack
"Calculated On A New And Improved Plan
For The Year Of Our Lord
1821"
By Robert B. Thomas
(1766-1846)
American journalist
Founder and Editor of
The Old Farmer's Almanack





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