to the general public. Much as a fireplace poker stirs a fire to flame up, The Poker was to "stir up" the militia question.

David Hume could well find the company of The Poker a relief from a skeptical depression - "Most fortunately it happens that since reason is incapable of dispelling these clouds, nature herself suffices to that purpose ... I dine, I play a game of backgammon, I converse, and am merry with my friends;