THOMAS CAMPBELL--JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE--J.W. CROKER-JAMES HOGG, ETC.
Thomas Campbell appeared like a meteor as early as 1799, when, in his
twenty-second year, he published his "Pleasures of Hope." The world was
taken by surprise at the vigour of thought and richness of fancy
displayed in the poem. Shortly after its publication, Campbell went to
Germany, and saw, from the Benedictine monastery of Scottish monks at
Ratisbon, a battle which was not, as has often been said, the Battle of
Hohenlinden. What he saw, however, made a deep impression on his mind,
and on his return to Scotland he published the beautiful lines
beginning, "On Linden when the sun was low." In 1801 he composed "The
Exile of Erin" and "Ye Mariners of England." The "Battle of the Baltic"
and "Lochiel's Warning" followed; and in 1803 he published an edition of
his poems. To have composed such noble lyrics was almost unprecedented
in so young a man; for he was only twenty-six years of age when his
collected edition appeared. He was treated as a lion, and became
acquainted with Walter Scott and the leading men in Edinburgh. In
December 1805 we find Constable writing to Murray, that Longman & Co.
had offered the young poet £700 for a new volume of his poems.
One of the earliest results of the association of Campbell with Murray
was a proposal to start a new magazine, which Murray had long
contemplated. This, it will be observed, was some years before the
communications took place between Walter Scott and Murray with respect
to the starting of the _Quarterly_.
The projected magazine, however, dropped out of sight, and Campbell
reverted to his proposed "Lives of the British Poets, with Selections
from their Writings." Toward the close of the year he addressed the
following letter to Mr. Scott:
_Mr. T. Campbell to Mr. Scott_.
_November 5_, 1806.
My Dear Scott,
A very excellent and gentlemanlike man--albeit a bookseller--Murray, of
Fleet Street, is willing to give for our joint "Lives of the Poets," on
the plan we proposed to the trade a twelvemonth ago, a thousand pounds.
For my part, I think the engagement very desirable, and have no
uneasiness on the subject, except my fear that you may be too much
engaged to have to do with it, as five hundred pounds may not be to you
the temptation that it appears to a poor devil like myself. Murray is
the only gentleman, except Constable, in the trade;--I may also,
perhaps, except Hood. I have seldom seen a pleasanter man to deal with.
.... Our names are what Murray principally wants--_yours_ in
particular.... I will not wish, even in confidence, to say anything ill
of the London booksellers _beyond their deserts_; but I assure you that,
to compare this offer of Murray's with their usual offers, it is
magnanimous indeed.... The fallen prices of literature-which is getting
worse by the horrible complexion of the times-make me often rather
gloomy at the life I am likely to lead.
Scott entered into Campbell's agreement with kindness and promptitude,
and it was arranged, under certain stipulations, that the plan should
have his zealous cooperation; but as the number and importance of his
literary engagements increased, he declined to take an active part
either in the magazine or the other undertaking. "I saw Campbell two
days ago," writes Murray to Constable, "and he told me that Mr. Scott
had declined, and modestly asked if it would do by _himself_ alone; but
this I declined in a way that did not leave us the less friends."
At length, after many communications and much personal intercourse,
Murray agreed with Campbell to bring out his work, without the
commanding name of Walter Scott, and with the name of Thomas Campbell
alone as Editor of the "Selections from the British Poets." The
arrangement seems to have been made towards the end of 1808. In January
1809 Campbell writes of his intention "to devote a year exclusively to
the work," but the labour it involved was perhaps greater than he had
anticipated. It was his first important prose work; and prose requires
continuous labour. It cannot, like a piece of poetry, be thrown off at a
heat while the fit is on. Campbell stopped occasionally in the midst of
his work to write poems, among others, his "Gertrude of Wyoming," which
confirmed his poetical reputation. Murray sent a copy of the volume to
Walter Scott, and requested a review for the _Quarterly_, which was then
in its first year. What Campbell thought of the review will appear from
the following letter:
_Mr. T. Campbell to John Murray_.
_June 2_, 1809.
My Dear Murray,
I received the review, for which I thank you, and beg leave through you
to express my best acknowledgments to the unknown reviewer. I do not by
this mean to say that I think every one of his censures just. On the
contrary, if I had an opportunity of personal conference with so candid
and sensible a man, I think I could in some degree acquit myself of a
part of the faults he has found. But altogether I am pleased with his
manner, and very proud of his approbation. He reviews like a gentleman,
a Christian, and a scholar.
Although the "Lives of the Poets" had been promised within a year from
January 1809, four years passed, and the work was still far from
completion.
In the meantime Campbell undertook to give a course of eleven Lectures
on Poetry at the Royal Institution, for which he received a hundred
guineas. He enriched his Lectures with the Remarks and Selections
collected for the "Specimens," for which the publisher had agreed to pay
a handsome sum. The result was a momentary hesitation on the part of Mr.
Murray to risk the publication of the work. On this, says Campbell's
biographer, a correspondence ensued between the poet and the publisher,
which ended to the satisfaction of both. Mr. Murray only requested that
Mr. Campbell should proceed with greater alacrity in finishing the long
projected work.
At length, about the beginning of 1819, fourteen years after the project
had been mentioned to Walter Scott, and about ten years after the book
should have appeared, according to Campbell's original promise, the
"Essays and Selections of English Poetry" were published by Mr. Murray.
The work was well received. The poet was duly paid for it, and Dr.
Beattie, Campbell's biographer, says he "found himself in the novel
position of a man who has money to lay out at interest." This statement
must be received with considerable deduction, for, as the correspondence
shows, Campbell's pecuniary difficulties were by no means at an end.
It appears that besides the £1,000, which was double the sum originally
proposed to be paid to Campbell for the "Selections," Mr. Murray, in
October 1819, paid him £200 "for books," doubtless for those he had
purchased for the "Collections," and which he desired to retain.
We cannot conclude this account of Campbell's dealing with Murray
without referring to an often-quoted story which has for many years
sailed under false colours. It was Thomas Campbell who wrote "Now
Barabbas was a publisher," whether in a Bible or otherwise is not
authentically recorded, and forwarded it to a friend; but Mr. Murray was
not the publisher to whom it referred, nor was Lord Byron, as has been
so frequently stated, the author of the joke.
The great burden of the correspondence entailed by the _Quarterly
Review_ now fell on Mr. Murray, for Gifford had become physically
incapable of bearing it. Like the creaking gate that hangs long on its
hinges, Gifford continued to live, though painfully. He became gradually
better, and in October 1816 Mr. Murray presented him with a chariot, by
means of which he might drive about and take exercise in the open air.
Gifford answered:
"I have a thousand thanks to give you for the pains you have taken about
the carriage, without which I should only have talked about it, and died
of a cold. It came home yesterday, and I went to Fulham in it. It is
everything that I could wish, neat, easy, and exceedingly comfortable."
Among the other works published by Mr. Murray in 1816 may be mentioned,
"The Last Reign of Napoleon," by Mr. John Cam Hobhouse, afterwards Lord
Broughton. Of this work the author wrote to Mr. Murray:
_January_, 1816.
"I must have the liberty of cancelling what sheets I please, for a
reason that I now tell you in the strictest confidence: the letters are
to go to Paris previously to publication, and are to be read carefully
through by a most intimate friend of mine, who was entirely in the
secrets of the late Imperial Ministry, and who will point out any
statements as to facts, in which he could from his _knowledge_ make any
necessary change."
The first edition, published without the author's name, was rapidly
exhausted, and Hobhouse offered a second to Murray, proposing at the
same time to insert his name as author on the title-page.
"If I do," he said, "I shall present the book to Lord Byron in due form,
not for his talents as a poet, but for his qualities as a companion and
a friend. I should not write 'My dear Byron,' _à la Hunt_." [Footnote:
Leigh Hunt had dedicated his "Rimini" to the noble poet, addressing him
as "My dear Byron."]
Mr. D'Israeli also was busy with his "Inquiry into the Literary and
Political Character of James the First." He wrote to his publisher as
follows: "I am sorry to say every one, to whom I have mentioned the
subject, revolts from it as a thing quite untenable, and cares nothing
about 'James.' This does not stop me from finishing."
Mr. Croker, in the midst of his work at the Admiralty, his articles for
the _Quarterly_, and his other literary labours, found time to write his
"Stories for Children from the History of England." In sending the later
stories Mr. Croker wrote to Mr. Murray:
_The Rt. Hon. J.W. Croker to John Murray_.
"I send you seven stories, which, with eleven you had before, brings us
down to Richard III., and as I do not intend to come down beyond the
Revolution, there remain nine stories still. I think you told me that
you gave the first stories to your little boy to read. Perhaps you or
Mrs. Murray would be so kind as to make a mark over against such words
as he may not have understood, and to favour me with any criticism the
child may have made, for on this occasion I should prefer a critic of 6
years old to one of 60."
Thus John Murray's son, John Murray the Third, was early initiated into
the career of reading for the press. When the book came out it achieved
a great success, and set the model for Walter Scott in his charming
"Tales of a Grandfather."
It may be mentioned that "Croker's Stories for Children" were published
on the system of division of profits. Long after, when Mr. Murray was in
correspondence with an author who wished him to pay a sum of money down
before he had even seen the manuscript, the publisher recommended the
author to publish his book on a division of profits, in like manner as
Hallam, Milman, Mahon, Croker, and others had done. "Under this system,"
he said, "I have been very successful. For Mr. Croker's 'Stories from
the History of England,' selling for 2_s_. _6d_., if I had offered the
small sum of twenty guineas, he would have thought it liberal. However,
I printed it to divide profits, and he has already received from me the
moiety of £1,400. You will perhaps be startled at my assertion; for
woeful experience convinces me that not more than one publication in
fifty has a sale sufficient to defray its expenses."
The success of Scott's, and still more of Byron's Poems, called into
existence about this time a vast array of would-be poets, male and
female, and from all ranks and professions. Some wrote for fame, some
for money; but all were agreed on one point--namely, that if Mr. Murray
would undertake the publication of the poems, the authors' fame was
secured.
When in doubt about any manuscript, he usually conferred with Croker,
Campbell, or Gifford, who always displayed the utmost kindness in
helping him with their opinions. Croker was usually short and pithy. Of
one poem he said: "Trash--the dullest stuff I ever read." This was
enough to ensure the condemnation of the manuscript. Campbell was more
guarded, as when reporting on a poem entitled "Woman," he wrote, "In my
opinion, though there are many excellent lines in it, the poem is not
such as will warrant a great sum being speculated upon it. But, as it is
short, I think the public, not the author or publisher, will be in fault
if it does not sell one edition."
Of a poem sent for his opinion, Gifford wrote:
"Honestly, the MS. is totally unfit for the press. Do not deceive
yourself: this MS. is not the production of a male. A man may write as
great nonsense as a woman, and even greater; but a girl may pass through
those execrable abodes of ignorance, called boarding schools, without
learning whether the sun sets in the East or in the West, whereas a boy
can hardly do this, even at Parson's Green."
James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, was another of Murray's
correspondents.
The publication of "The Queen's Wake" in 1813 immediately brought Hogg
into connection with the leading authors and publishers of the day, Hogg
sent a copy of the volume to Lord Byron, his "brother poet," whose
influence he desired to enlist on behalf of a work which Hogg wished
Murray to publish.
The poem which the Ettrick Shepherd referred to was "The Pilgrims of the
Sun," and the result of Lord Byron's conversation with Mr. Murray was,
that the latter undertook to publish Hogg's works. The first letter from
him to Murray, December 26, 1814, begins:
"What the deuce have you made of my excellent poem that you are never
publishing it, while I am starving for want of money, and cannot even
afford a Christmas goose to my friends?"
To this and many similar enquiries Mr. Murray replied on April 10, 1815:
My Dear Friend,
I entreat you not to ascribe to inattention the delay which has occurred
in my answer to your kind and interesting letter. Much more, I beg you
not for a moment to entertain a doubt about the interest which I take in
your writings, or the exertions which I shall ever make to promote their
sale and popularity.... They are selling every day.
I have forgotten to tell you that Gifford tells me that he would
receive, with every disposition to favour it, any critique which you
like to send of new Scottish works. If I had been aware of it in time I
certainly would have invited your remarks on "Mannering." Our article is
not good and our praise is by no means adequate, I allow, but I suspect
you very greatly overrate the novel. "Meg Merrilies" is worthy of
Shakespeare, but all the rest of the novel might have been written by
Scott's brother or any other body.
The next letter from the Shepherd thanks Murray for some "timeous" aid,
and asks a novel favour.
_May_ 7, 1815.
I leave Edinburgh on Thursday for my little farm on Yarrow. I will have
a confused summer, for I have as yet no home that I can dwell in; but I
hope by-and-by to have some fine fun there with you, fishing in Saint
Mary's Loch and the Yarrow, eating bull-trout, singing songs, and
drinking whisky. This little possession is what I stood much in need
of--a habitation among my native hills was what of all the world I
desired; and if I had a little more money at command, I would just be as
happy a man as I know of; but that is an article of which I am ever in
want. I wish you or Mrs. Murray would speer me out a good wife with a
few thousands. I dare say there is many a romantic girl about London who
would think it a fine ploy to become a Yarrow Shepherdess! Believe me,
dear Murray,
Very sincerely yours, JAMES HOGG.
Here, for the present, we come to an end of the Shepherd's letters; but
we shall find him turning up again, and Mr. Murray still continuing his
devoted friend and adviser.