Note xxviii — THE ART of POLITICKS, In Imitation of HORACE's ART of POETRY.

P. 18, line 4. William Shippen (1673-1743) was an extreme Tory, noted for his outspoken attacks on the Walpole ministry, one of which landed him in the Tower. Sir William Yonge (c. 1693-1755) was notorious, at least among the opposition, for voluble but empty speeches in support of Walpole, "melodious nothings" as one satirist put it. See also Hervey, p. 36, and TE, 4, 394. The attack on The Art of Politicks quoted above complains that Shippen and Yonge should be mentioned in the same breath, but Bramston's point obviously is that the young MP cares nothing for either side.