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

Murray And Constable. On The Eve Of The Failure Of The Constables, The

Head Of The Firm, Mr. Archibald Constable (October 1825), Was Paying A

Visit At Wimbledon, When Mr. Murray Addressed His Host--Mr. Wright,

Whose Name Has Already Occurred In The _Representative_

Correspondence--As Follows:

My Dear Wright,

Although I Intend To Do Myself The Pleasure Of Calling Upon Mr.

Constable At Your House Tomorrow Immediately After Church (For It Is Our

Charity Sermon At Wimbledon, And I Must Attend), Yet I Should Be Most

Happy, If It Were Agreeable To You And To Him, To Favour Us With Your

Company At Dinner At, I Will Say, Five Tomorrow. Mr. Constable Is

Godfather To My Son, Who Will Be At Home, And I Am Anxious To Introduce

Him To Mr. C., Who May Not Be Long In Town.

Mr. Constable And His Friend Accordingly Dined With Murray, And That The

Meeting Was Very Pleasant May Be Inferred From Mr. Constable's Letter Of

A Few Days Later, In Which He Wrote To Murray, "It Made My Heart Glad To

Be Once More Happy Together As We Were The Other Evening." The Rest Of

Mr. Constable's Letter Referred To Hume's Philosophical Writings, Which

Were Tendered To Murray, But Which He Declined To Publish.

Constable Died Two Years Later, John Ballantyne, Scott's Partner, A Few

Years Earlier; And Scott Entered In His Diary, "It Is Written That

Nothing Shall Flourish Under My Shadow."

Owing To The Intimate Relations Which Were Now Established Between

Murray And Lockhart, The Correspondence Is Full Of References To Sir

Walter Scott And To The Last Phases Of His Illustrious Career.

Lockhart Had Often Occasion To Be At Abbotsford To See Sir Walter Scott,

Who Was Then Carrying On, Single-Handed, That Terrible Struggle With

Adversity, Which Has Never Been Equalled In The Annals Of Literature.

His Son-In-Law Went Down In February 1827 To See Him About Further

Articles, But Wrote To Murray: "I Fear We Must Not Now Expect Sir W.

S.'S Assistance Ere 'Napoleon' Be Out Of Hand." In The Following Month

Of June Lockhart Wrote From Portobello: "Sir W. Scott Has Got 'Napoleon'

Out Of His Hands, And I Have Made Arrangements For Three Or Four

Articles; And I Think We May Count For A Paper Of His Every Quarter."

Articles Accordingly Appeared From Sir Walter Scott On Diverse Subjects,

One In No. 71, June 1827, On The "Works Of John Home "; Another In No.

72, October 1827, On "Planting Waste Lands "; A Third In No. 74, March

1828, On "Plantation And Landscape Gardening "; And A Fourth In No. 76,

October 1828, On Sir H. Davy's "Salmonia, Or Days Of Fly-Fishing." The

Last Article Was Cordial And Generous, Like Everything Proceeding From

Sir Walter's Pen. Lady Davy Was Greatly Pleased With It. "It Must Always

Be A Proud And Gratifying Distinction," She Said, "To Have The Name Of

Sir Walter Scott Associated With That Of My Husband In The Review Of

'Salmonia.' I Am Sure Sir Humphry Will Like His Bairn The Better For The

Public Opinion Given Of It By One Whose Immortality Renders Praise As

Durable As It Seems Truly Felt."

With Respect To "Salmonia" The Following Anecdote May Be Mentioned, As

Related To Mr. Murray By Dr. Gooch, A Valued Contributor To The

_Quarterly_.

"At Page 6 Of Salmonia," Said Dr. Gooch, "It Is Stated That 'Nelson Was

A Good Fly-Fisher, And Continued The Pursuit Even With His Left Hand.' I

Can Add That One Of His Reasons For Regretting The Loss Of His Right Arm

Was That It Deprived Him Of The Power Of Pursuing This Amusement

Efficiently, As Is Shown By The Following Incident, Which Is, I Think,

Worth Preserving In That Part Of His History Which Relates To His

Talents As A Fly-Fisher. I Was At The Naval Hospital At Yarmouth On The

Morning When Nelson, After The Battle Of Copenhagen (Having Sent The

Wounded Before Him), Arrived In The Roads And Landed On The Jetty. The

Populace Soon Surrounded Him, And The Military Were Drawn Up In The

Marketplace Ready To Receive Him; But Making His Way Through The Crowd,

And The Dust And The Clamour, He Went Straight To The Hospital. I Went

Round The Wards With Him, And Was Much Interested In Observing His

Demeanour To The Sailors. He Stopped At Every Bed, And To Every Man He

Had Something Kind And Cheering To Say. At Length He Stopped Opposite A

Bed In Which A Sailor Was Lying Who Had Lost His Right Arm Close To The

Shoulder Joint, And The Following Short Dialogue Passed Between Them.

_Nelson_: 'Well, Jack, What's The Matter With You?' _Sailor_: 'Lost My

Right Arm, Your Honour.' Nelson Paused, Looked Down At His Own Empty

Sleeve, Then At The Sailor, And Then Said Playfully, 'Well, Jack, Then

You And I Are Spoiled For Fishermen; But Cheer Up, My Brave Fellow.' He

Then Passed Quickly On To The Next Bed, But These Few Words Had A

Magical Effect Upon The Poor Fellow, For I Saw His Eyes Sparkle With

Delight As Nelson Turned Away And Pursued His Course Through The Wards.

This Was The Only Occasion On Which I Ever Saw Lord Nelson."

In The Summer Of 1828 Mr. Lockhart Went Down To Brighton, Accompanied By

Sir Walter Scott, Miss Scott, Mrs. Lockhart And Her Son John--The

Littlejohn To Whom Scott's Charming "Tales Of A Grandfather," Which

Were At That Time In Course Of Publication, Had Been Addressed. It Was

On The Boy's Account The Party Went To Brighton; He Was Very Ill And

Gradually Sinking.

While At Brighton, Lockhart Had An Interview With The Duke Of

Wellington, And Wrote To Murray On The Subject.

_Mr. Lockhart To John Murray_. _May_ 18, 1828.

"I Have A Message From The D. Of W. To Say That He, On The Whole, Highly

Approves The Paper On Foreign Politics, But Has Some Criticisms To

Offer On Particular Points, And Will Send For Me Some Day Soon To Hear

Them. I Have Of Course Signified My Readiness To Attend Him Any Time He

Is Pleased To Appoint, And Expect It Will Be Next Week."

That The Duke Maintained His Interest In The _Quarterly_ Is Shown By A

Subsequent Extract:

_Mr. Lockhart To John Murray_.

Auchenraith, _January_ 19, 1829.

"Sir Walter Met Me Here Yesterday, And He Considered The Duke's Epistle

As An Effort Of The Deepest Moment To The _Quarterly_ And All Concerned.

He Is Sure No Minister Ever Gave A More Distinguished Proof Of His

Feeling Than By This Readiness To Second The Efforts Of A Literary

Organ. Therefore, No Matter About A Week Sooner Or Later, Let Us Do The

Thing Justice."

Before His Departure For Brighton, Mr. Lockhart Had Been Commissioned By

Murray To Offer Sir Walter Scott L1,250 For The Copyright Of His

"History Of Scotland," A Transaction Concerning Which Some Informal

Communications Had Already Passed.

_Mr. Lockhart To John Murray_.

My Dear _Sir_,

Sir W. Scott Has Already Agreed To Furnish Dr. Lardner's "Cyclopaedia"

With One Vol.--"History Of Scotland"--For L1,000, And He Is Now At This

Work. This Is Grievous, But You Must Not Blame Me, For He Has Acted In

The Full Knowledge Of My Connection With And Anxiety About The Family

Library. I Answered Him, Expressing My Great Regret And Reminding Him Of

Peterborough. I Suppose, As I Never Mentioned, Nor Well Could, _Money_,

That Dr. Lardner's Matter Appeared More A Piece Of Business. Perhaps You

May Think Of Something To Be Done. It Is A Great Loss To Us And Gain To

Them.

Yours Truly,

J.G.L.

After The Failure Of Ballantyne And Constable, Cadell, Who Had In Former

Years Been A Partner In Constable's House, Became Scott's Publisher, And

At The Close Of 1827 The Principal Copyrights Of Scott's Works,

Including The Novels From "Waverley" To "Quentin Durward," And Most Of

The Poems, Were Put Up To Auction, And Purchased By Cadell And Scott

Jointly For L8,500. At This Time The "Tales Of A Grandfather" Were

Appearing By Instalments, And Murray Wrote To The Author, Begging To Be

Allowed To Become The London Publisher Of This Work. Scott Replied:

_Sir W. Scott To John Murray._

6, Shandwick Place, Edinburgh,

_November _26, 1828.

My Dear Sir,

I Was Favoured With Your Note Some Time Since, But Could Not Answer It

At The Moment Till I Knew Whether I Was Like To Publish At Edinburgh Or

Not. The Motives For Doing So Are Very Strong, For I Need Not Tell You

That In Literary Affairs A Frequent And Ready Communication With The

Bookseller Is A Very Necessary Thing.

As We Have Settled, With Advice Of Those Who Have Given Me Their

Assistance In Extricating My Affairs, To Publish In Edinburgh, I Do Not

Feel Myself At Liberty To Dictate To Cadell Any Particular Selection Of

A London Publisher. If I Did So, I Should Be Certainly Involved In Any

Discussions Or Differences Which Might Occur Between My London And

Edinburgh Friends, Which Would Be Adding An Additional Degree Of

Perplexity To My Affairs. I Feel And Know The Value Of Your Name As A

Publisher, But If We Should At Any Time Have The Pleasure Of Being

Connected With You In That Way, It Must Be When It Is Entirely On Your

Own Account. The Little History Designed For Johnnie Lockhart Was Long

Since Promised To Cadell.

I Do Not, In My Conscience, Think That I Deprive You Of Anything Of

Consequence In Not Being At Present Connected With You In Literary

Business. My Reputation With The World Is Something Like A High-Pressure

Engine,