William Hazlitt had vivid memories of William Mudford, his old journalist colleague and rival at the Morning Chronicle . In his essay in Table-Talk (1821), "Coffee-House Politicians," he recalled how his friend, Roger Kirkpatrick, would impersonate Mudford. "Oh! it was a rich treat to see him describe M--df--rd, him of the Courier, the Contemplative Man, who wrote an answer to Coelebs, coming into a room, folding up his great coat, taking out a little pocket volume, laying it down to think, rubbing the calf of his leg with grave self-complacency, and starting out of his reverie when spoken to with an inimitable vapid exclamation of 'Eh!'" Summarizing, Hazlitt declared, "M--df--rd is like a man made of fleecy hosiery ... fat, pert, and dull as it was possible to be."

For Hazlitt, Mudford embodied the sort of hack journalist and government tool that Hazlitt despised, and he rarely missed an opportunity...