A Publisher And His Friends (Fiscle Part-4) by Samuel Smiles (essential books to read .txt) 📕

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 56

 

It Had For Some Time Been Evident, As Has Been Shown In A Previous

Chapter, That Gifford Was Becoming Physically Incapable Of Carrying On

The Editorship Of The _Quarterly Review_, But An Occasional Respite From

The Pressure Of Sickness, As Well As His Own Unwillingness To Abandon

His Connection With A Work Which He Regarded With Paternal Affection,

And Murray's Difficulty In Finding A Worthy Successor, Combined To

Induce Him To Remain At His Post.

 

 

 

He Accordingly Undertook To Carry On His Editorial Duties Till The

Publication Of The 60th Number, Aided And Supported By The Active Energy

Of Barrow And Croker, Who, In Conjunction With The Publisher, Did Most

Of The Necessary Drudgery.

 

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 57

 

 

In December 1823 Canning Had Written To Say That He Was In Bed With The

Gout; To This Gifford Replied:

 

 

 

 

My Dear Canning,

 

 

 

I Wish You Had A Pleasanter Bedfellow; But Here Am I On The Sofa With A

Cough, And A Very Disagreeable Associate I Find It. Old Moore, I Think,

Died All But His Voice, And My Voice Is Nearly Dead Before Me; In Other

Respects, I Am Much As I Was When You Saw Me, And This Weather Is In My

Favour.... I Have Promised Murray To Try To Carry On The _Review_ To The

60th Number; The 58th Is Now Nearly Finished. This Seems A Desperate

Promise, And Beyond It I Will Not, Cannot Go; For, At Best, As The Old

Philosopher Said, I Am Dying At My Ease, As My Complaint Has Taken A

Consumptive Turn. The Vultures Already Scent The Carcase, And Three Or

Four _Quarterly Reviews_ Are About To Start. One Is To Be Set Up By

Haygarth, Whom I Think I Once Mentioned To You As Talked Of To Succeed

Me, But He Is Now In Open Hostility To Murray; Another Is To Be Called

The _Westminster Quarterly Review_, And Will, If I May Judge From The

Professions Of Impartiality, Be A Decided Opposition Journal. They Will

All Have Their Little Day, Perhaps, And Then Drop Into The Grave Of

Their Predecessors. The Worst Is That We Cannot Yet Light Upon A Fit And

Promising Successor.

 

 

 

Ever, My Dear Canning,

 

 

 

Faithfully And Affectionately Yours,

 

 

 

William Gifford.

 

 

 

This State Of Matters Could Not Be Allowed To Go On Much Longer;

Sometimes A Quarter Passed Without A Number Appearing; In 1824 Only Two

_Quarterlies_ Appeared--No. 60, Due In January, But Only Published In

August; And No. 61, Due In April, But Published In December. An

Expostulation Came From Croker To Murray (January 23, 1824):

 

 

 

"Have You Made Up _Your Mind_ About An Editor? Southey Has Written To Me

On The Subject, As If You Had, And As If He Knew Your Choice; I Do Not

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 58

Like To Answer Him Before I Know What I Am To Say. Will You Dine At

Kensington On Sunday At 6?"

 

 

 

Southey Had Long Been Meditating About The Editorship. It Never Appears

To Have Been Actually Offered To Him, But His Name, As We Have Already

Seen, Was Often Mentioned In Connection With It. He Preferred, However,

Going On With His Own Works And Remaining A Contributor Only. Politics,

Too, May Have Influenced Him, For We Find Him Writing To Mr. Murray On

December 15, 1824: "The Time Cannot Be Far Distant When The _Q.R._ Must

Take Its Part Upon A Most Momentous Subject, And Choose Between Mr.

Canning And The Church. I Have Always Considered It As One Of The

Greatest Errors In The Management Of The _Review_ That It Should Have

Been Silent Upon That Subject So Long." So Far As Regarded His Position

As A Contributor, Southey Expressed His Opinion To Murray Explicitly:

 

 

 

_Mr. Southey To John Murray_.

 

 

 

_October 25, 1824_.

 

 

 

"No Future Editor, Be He Who He May, Must Expect To Exercise The Same

Discretion Over My Papers Which Mr. Gifford Has Done. I Will At Any Time

Curtail What May Be Deemed Too Long, And Consider Any Objections That

May Be Made, With A Disposition To Defer To Them When It Can Be Done

Without Sacrificing My Own Judgment Upon Points Which May Seem To Me

Important. But My Age And (I May Add Without Arrogance) The Rank Which I

Hold In Literature Entitle Me To Say That I Will Never Again Write Under

The Correction Of Any One."

 

 

 

Gifford's Resignation Is Announced In The Following Letter To Canning

(September 8, 1824):

 

 

 

_Mr. W. Gifford To The Rt. Hon. G. Canning_.

 

 

 

_September 8, 1824_.

 

 

 

My Dear Canning,

 

 

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 59

 

I Have Laid Aside My Regalia, And King Gifford, First Of The Name, Is

Now No More, As Sir Andrew Aguecheek Says, "Than An Ordinary Mortal Or A

Christian." It Is Necessary To Tell You This, For, With The Exception Of

A Dark Cloud Which Has Come Over Murray's Brow, No Prodigies In Earth Or

Air, As Far As I Have Heard, Have Announced It.

 

 

 

It Is Now Exactly Sixteen Years Ago Since Your Letter Invited Or

Encouraged Me To Take The Throne. I Did Not Mount It Without A Trembling

Fit; But I Was Promised Support, And I Have Been Nobly Supported. As Far

As Regards Myself, I Have Borne My Faculties Soberly, If Not Meekly. I

Have Resisted, With Undeviating Firmness, Every Attempt To Encroach Upon

Me, Every Solicitation Of Publisher, Author, Friend, Or Friend's Friend,

And Turned Not A Jot Aside For Power Or Delight. In Consequence Of This

Integrity Of Purpose, The Review Has Long Possessed A Degree Of

Influence, Not Only In This, But In Other Countries Hitherto Unknown;

And I Have The Satisfaction, At This Late Hour, Of Seeing It In Its Most

Palmy State. No Number Has Sold Better Than The Sixtieth.

 

 

 

But There Is A Sad Tale To Tell. For The Last Three Years I Have

Perceived The Mastery Which Disease And Age Were Acquiring Over A

Constitution Battered And Torn At The Best, And Have Been Perpetually

Urging Murray To Look About For A Successor, While I Begged Coplestone,

Blomfield, And Others To Assist The Search. All Has Been Ineffectual.

Murray, Indeed, Has Been Foolishly Flattering Himself That I Might Be

Cajoled On From Number To Number, And Has Not, Therefore, Exerted

Himself As He Ought To Have Done; But The Rest Have Been In Earnest. Do

You Know Any One? I Once Thought Of Robert Grant; But He Proved Timid,

And Indeed His Saintly Propensities Would Render Him Suspected. Reginald

Heber, Whom I Should Have Preferred To Any One, Was Snatched From Me For

A Far Higher Object.

 

 

 

I Have Been Offered A Doctor's Degree, And When I Declined It, On

Account Of My Inability To Appear In Public, My Own College (Exeter)

Most Kindly Offered To Confer It On Me In Private; That Is, At The

Rector's Lodgings. This, Too, I Declined, And Begged The Dean Of

Westminster, Who Has A Living In The Neighbourhood, To Excuse Me As

Handsomely As He Could. It Might, For Aught I Know, Be A Hard Race

Between A Shroud And A Gown Which Shall Get Me First; At Any Rate, It

Was Too Late For Honours.

 

 

 

Faithfully And Affectionately Yours,

 

 

 

William Gifford.

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 60

 

 

 

Mr. J.T. Coleridge Had Long Been Regarded As The Most Eligible

Successor To Mr. Gifford, And On Him The Choice Now Fell. Mr. Murray

Forwarded The Reply Of Mr. Coleridge Which Contained His Acceptance Of

The Editorship To Mr. Gifford, Accompanied By The Following Note:

 

 

 

_John Murray To Mr. Gifford_.

 

 

 

Whitehall Place,

 

 

 

_December 11, 1824_.

 

 

 

My Dear Sir,

 

 

 

I Shall Not Attempt To Express The Feelings With Which I Communicate The

Enclosed Answer To The Proposal Which I Suspect It Would Have Been

Thought Contemptible In Me Any Longer To Have Delayed, And All That I

Can Find To Console Myself With Is The Hope That I May Be Able To Evince

My Gratitude To You During Life, And To Your Memory, If It So Please The

Almighty That I Am To Be The Survivor.

 

 

 

I Am Your Obliged And Faithful Servant,

 

 

 

John Murray.

 

 

 

Mr. Murray Lost No Time In Informing His Friends Of The New Arrangement.

 

 

 

Gifford Lived For About Two Years More, And Continued To Entertain Many

Kind Thoughts Of His Friends And Fellow-Contributors: His Intercourse

With His Publisher Was As Close And Intimate As Ever To The End.

 

 

 

The Last Month Of Gifford's Life Was But A Slow Dying. He Was Sleepless,