HALLAM BASIL HALL--CRABBE--HOPE--HORACE AND JAMES SMITH
In 1817 Mr. Murray published for Mr. Hallam his "View of the State of
Europe during the Middle Ages." The acquaintance thus formed led to a
close friendship, which lasted unbroken till Mr. Murray's death.
Mr. Murray published at this time a variety of books of travel. Some of
these were sent to the Marquess of Abercorn--amongst them Mr.
(afterwards Sir) Henry Ellis's "Proceedings of Lord Amherst's Embassy to
China," [Footnote: "Journal of the Proceedings of the late Embassy to
China, comprising a Correct Narrative of the Public Transactions of the
Embassy, of the Voyage to and from China, and of the Journey from the
Mouth of the Peiho to the Return to Canton." By Henry Ellis, Esq.,
Secretary of the Embassy, and Third Commissioner.] about which the
Marchioness, at her husband's request, wrote to the publisher as
follows:
_Marchioness of Abercorn to John Murray_,
_December_ 4, 1817.
"He returns Walpole, as he says since the age of fifteen he has read so
much Grecian history and antiquity that he has these last ten years been
sick of the subject. He does not like Ellis's account of 'The Embassy to
China,' [Footnote: Ellis seems to have been made very uncomfortable by
the publication of his book. It was severely reviewed in the _Times_,
where it was said that the account (then in the press) by Clark Abel,
M.D., Principal Medical Officer and Naturalist to the Embassy, would be
greatly superior. On this Ellis wrote to Murray (October 19, 1817): "An
individual has seldom committed an act so detrimental to his interests
as I have done in this unfortunate publication; and I shall be too happy
when the lapse of time will allow of my utterly forgetting the
occurrence. I am already indifferent to literary criticism, and had
almost forgotten Abel's approaching competition." The work went through
two editions.] but is pleased with Macleod's [Footnote: "Narrative of a
Voyage in His Majesty's late ship _Alceste_ to the Yellow Sea, along the
Coast of Corea, and through its numerous hitherto undiscovered Islands
to the Island of Lewchew, with an Account of her Shipwreck in the
Straits of Gaspar." By John MacLeod, surgeon of the _Alceste_.]
narrative. He bids me tell you to say the best and what is least
obnoxious of the [former] book. The composition and the narrative are so
thoroughly wretched that he should be ashamed to let it stand in his
library. He will be obliged to you to send him Leyden's 'Africa.' Leyden
was a friend of his, and desired leave to dedicate to him while he
lived."
Mr. Murray, in his reply, deprecated the severity of the Marquess of
Abercorn's criticism on the work of Sir H. Ellis, who had done the best
that he could on a subject of exceeding interest.
_John Murray to Lady Abercorn_.
"I am now printing Captain Hall's account (he commanded the _Lyra_), and
I will venture to assure your Ladyship that it is one of the most
delightful books I ever read, and it is calculated to heal the wound
inflicted by poor Ellis. I believe I desired my people to send you
Godwin's novel, which is execrably bad. But in most cases book readers
must balance novelty against disappointment.
And in reply to a request for more books to replace those condemned or
dull, he asks dryly:
"Shall I withhold 'Rob Roy' and 'Childe Harold' from your ladyship until
their merits have been ascertained? Even if an indifferent book, it is
something to be amongst the first to _say_ that it is bad. You will be
alarmed, I fear, at having provoked so many reasons for sending you dull
publications.... I am printing two short but very clever novels by poor
Miss Austen, the author of 'Pride and Prejudice.' I send Leyden's
'Africa' for Lord Abercorn, who will be glad to hear that the 'Life and
Posthumous Writings' will be ready soon."
The Marchioness, in her answer to the above letter, thanked Mr. Murray
for his entertaining answer to her letter, and said:
_Marchioness of Abercorn to John Murray_.
"Lord Abercorn says he thinks your conduct with respect to sending books
back that he does not like is particularly liberal. He bids me tell you
how very much he likes Mr. Macleod's book; we had seen some of it in
manuscript before it was published. We are very anxious for Hall's
account, and I trust you will send it to us the moment you can get a
copy finished.
"No, indeed! you must not (though desirous you may be to punish us for
the severity of the criticism on poor Ellis) keep back for a moment 'Rob
Roy' or the fourth canto of 'Childe Harold.' I have heard a good deal
from Scotland that makes me continue _surmising_ who is the author of
these novels. Our friend Walter paid a visit last summer to a gentleman
on the banks of Loch Lomond--the scene of Rob Roy's exploits--and was at
great pains to learn all the traditions of the country regarding him
from the clergyman and old people of the neighbourhood, of which he got
a considerable stock. I am very glad to hear of a 'Life of Leyden.' He
was a very surprising young man, and his death is a great loss to the
world. Pray send us Miss Austen's novels the moment you can. Lord
Abercorn thinks them next to W. Scott's (if they are by W. Scott); it is
a great pity that we shall have no more of hers. Who are the _Quarterly
Reviewers_? I hear that Lady Morgan suspects Mr. Croker of having
reviewed her 'France,' and intends to be revenged, etc.
"Believe me to be yours, with great regard,
"A.J. ABERCORN."
From many communications addressed to Mr. Murray about the beginning of
1818, it appears that he had proposed to start a _Monthly Register_,
[Footnote: The announcement ran thus: "On the third Saturday in January,
1818, will be published the first number of a NEW PERIODICAL JOURNAL,
the object of which will be to convey to the public a great variety of
new, original, and interesting matter; and by a methodical arrangement
of all Inventions in the Arts, Discoveries in the Sciences, and
Novelties in Literature, to enable the reader to keep pace with human
knowledge. To be printed uniformly with the QUARTERLY REVIEW. The price
by the year will be £2 2s."] and he set up in print a specimen copy.
Many of his correspondents offered to assist him, amongst others Mr. J.
Macculloch, Lord Sheffield, Dr. Polidori, then settled at St. Peter's,
Norwich, Mr. Bulmer of the British Museum, and many other contributors.
He sent copies of the specimen number to Mr. Croker and received the
following candid reply:
_Mr. Croker to John Murray_.
_January_ 11, 1818.
MY DEAR MURRAY,
Our friend Sepping [Footnote: A naval surveyor.] says, "Nothing is
stronger than its weakest part," and this is as true in book-making as
in shipbuilding. I am sorry to say your _Register_ has, in my opinion, a
great many weak parts. It is for nobody's use; it is too popular and
trivial for the learned, and too abstruse and plodding for the
multitude. The preface is not English, nor yet Scotch or Irish. It must
have been written by Lady Morgan. In the body of the volume, there is
not _one_ new nor curious article, unless it be Lady Hood's "Tiger
Hunt." In your Mechanics there is a miserable want of information, and
in your Statistics there is a sad superabundance of American hyperbole
and dulness mixed together, like the mud and gunpowder which, when a
boy, I used to mix together to make a fizz. Your Poetry is so bad that I
look upon it as your personal kindness to me that you did not put my
lines under that head. Your criticism on Painting begins by calling
West's very pale horse "an extraordinary effort of human _genius_." Your
criticism on Sculpture begins by applauding _beforehand_ Mr. Wyatt's
_impudent_ cenotaph. Your criticism on the Theatre begins by
_denouncing_ the best production of its kind, 'The Beggar's Opera.' Your
article on Engraving puts under the head of Italy a stone drawing made
in Paris. Your own engraving of the Polar Regions is confused and dirty;
and your article on the Polar Seas sets out with the assertion of a fact
of which I was profoundly ignorant, namely, that the Physical
Constitution of the Globe is subject to _constant changes_ and
revolution. Of _constant changes_ I never heard, except in one of
Congreve's plays, in which the fair sex is accused of _constant
inconstancy_; but suppose that for _constant_ you read _frequent_. I
should wish you, for my own particular information, to add in a note a
few instances of the Physical Changes in the Constitution of the Globe,
which have occurred since the year 1781, in which I happened to be born.
I know of none, and I should be sorry to go out of the world ignorant of
what has passed in my own time. You send me your proof "for my boldest
criticism." I have hurried over rather than read through the pages, and
I give you honestly, and as plainly as an infamous pen (the same, I
presume, which drew your polar chart) will permit, my hasty impression.
If you will call here to-morrow between twelve and one, I will talk with
you on the subject.
Yours,
J.W.C.
The project was eventually abandoned. Murray entered into the
arrangement, already described, with Blackwood, of the _Edinburgh
Magazine_. The article on the "Polar Ice" was inserted in the
_Quarterly_.
Towards the end of 1818, Mr. Crabbe called upon Mr. Murray and offered
to publish through him his "Tales of the Hall," consisting of about
twelve thousand lines. He also proposed to transfer to him from Mr.
Colburn his other poems, so that the whole might be printed uniformly.
Mr. Crabbe, who up to this period had received very little for his
writings, was surprised when Mr. Murray offered him no less than £3,000
for the copyright of his poems. It seemed to him a mine of wealth
compared to all that he had yet received. The following morning
(December 6) he breakfasted with Mr. Rogers, and Tom Moore was present.
Crabbe told them of his good fortune, and of the magnificent offer he
had received. Rogers thought it was not enough, and that Crabbe should
have received £3,000 for the "Tales of the Hall" alone, and that he
would try if the Longmans would not give more. He went to Paternoster
Row accordingly, and tried the Longmans; but they would not give more
than £1,000 for the new work and the copyright of the old poems--that
is, only one-third of what Murray had offered. [Footnote: "Memoirs,
Journals, Correspondence, of Thomas Moore," by Lord John Russell, ii.
237.]
When Crabbe was informed of this, he was in a state of great
consternation. As Rogers had been bargaining with another publisher for
better terms, the matter seemed still to be considered open; and in the
meantime, if Murray were informed of the event, he might feel umbrage
and withdraw his offer. Crabbe wrote to Murray on the subject, but
received no answer. He had within his reach a prize far beyond his most
sanguine hopes, and now, by the over-officiousness of his friends, he
was in danger of losing it. In this crisis Rogers and Moore called upon
Murray, and made enquiries on the subject of Crabbe's poems. "Oh, yes,"
he said, "I have heard from Mr. Crabbe, and look upon the matter as
settled." Crabbe was thus released from all his fears. When he received
the bills for £3,000, he insisted on taking them with him to Trowbridge
to show them to his son John.
It proved after all that the Longmans were right in their offer to
Rogers; Murray was far too liberal. Moore, in his Diary (iii. 332),
says, "Even if the whole of the edition (3,000) were sold, Murray would
still be £1,900 minus." Crabbe had some difficulty in getting his old
poems out of the hands of his former publisher, who wrote to him in a
strain of the wildest indignation, and even threatened him with legal
proceedings, but eventually the unsold stock, consisting of 2,426
copies, was handed over by Hatchard & Colburn to Mr. Murray, and nothing
more was heard of this controversy between them and the poet.
"Anastasius, or Memoirs of a Modern Greek, written at the Close of the
18th Century," was published anonymously, and was confidently asserted
to be the work of Lord Byron, as the only person capable of having
produced it. When the author was announced to be Mr. Thomas Hope, of
Deepdene, some incredulity was expressed by the _literati_.
The Countess of Blessington, in her "Conversations with Lord Byron,"
says: "Byron spoke to-day in terms of high commendation of Hope's
'Anastasius'; said he had wept bitterly over many pages of it, and for
two reasons--first, that he had not written it; and, secondly, that Hope
had; for that it was necessary to like a man excessively to pardon his
writing such a book--a book, he said, excelling all recent productions
as much in wit and talent as in true pathos. He added that he would have
given his two most approved poems to have been the author of
'Anastasius.'" The work was greatly read at the time, and went through
many large editions.
The refusal of the "Rejected Addresses," by Horace and James Smith, was
one of Mr. Murray's few mistakes. Horace was a stockbroker, and James a
solicitor. They were not generally known as authors, though they
contributed anonymously to the _New Monthly Magazine_, which was
conducted by Campbell the poet. In 1812 they produced a collection
purporting to be "Rejected Addresses, presented for competition at the
opening of Drury Lane Theatre." They offered the collection to Mr.
Murray for £20, but he declined to purchase the copyright. The Smiths
were connected with Cadell the publisher, and Murray, thinking that the
MS. had been offered to and rejected by him, declined to look into it.
The "Rejected Addresses" were eventually published by John Miller, and
excited a great deal of curiosity. They were considered to be the best
imitations of living poets ever made. Byron was delighted with them. He
wrote to Mr. Murray that he thought them "by far the best thing of the
kind since the 'Rolliad.'" Crabbe said of the verses in imitation of
himself, "In their versification they have done me admirably." When he
afterwards met Horace Smith, he seized both hands of the satirist, and
said, with a good-humoured laugh, "Ah! my old enemy, how do you do?"
Jeffrey said of the collection, "I take them, indeed, to be the very
best imitations (and often of difficult originals) that ever were made,
and, considering their extent and variety, to indicate a talent to which
I do not know where to look for a parallel." Murray had no sooner read
the volume than he spared no pains to become the publisher, but it was
not until after the appearance of the sixteenth edition that he was able
to purchase the copyright for £131.
Towards the end of 1819, Mr. Murray was threatened with an action on
account of certain articles which had appeared in Nos. 37 and 38 of the
_Quarterly_ relative to the campaign in Italy against Murat, King of
Naples. The first was written by Dr. Reginald (afterwards Bishop) Heber,
under the title of "Military and Political Power of Russia, by Sir
Robert Wilson"; the second was entitled "Sir Robert Wilson's Reply."
Colonel Macirone occupied a very unimportant place in both articles. He
had been in the service of Murat while King of Naples, and acted as his
aide-de-camp, which post he retained after Murat became engaged in
hostilities with Austria, then in alliance with England. Macirone was
furnished with a passport for _himself_ as envoy of the Allied Powers,
and provided with another passport for Murat, under the name of Count
Lipona, to be used by him in case he abandoned his claim to the throne
of Naples. Murat indignantly declined the proposal, and took refuge in
Corsica. Yet Macirone delivered to Murat the passport. Not only so, but
he deliberately misled Captain Bastard, the commander of a small English
squadron which had been stationed at Bastia to intercept Murat in the
event of his embarking for the purpose of regaining his throne at
Naples. Murat embarked, landed in Italy without interruption, and was
soon after defeated and taken prisoner. He thereupon endeavoured to use
the passport which Macirone had given him, to secure his release, but it
was too late; he was tried and shot at Pizzo. The reviewer spoke of
Colonel Macirone in no very measured terms. "For Murat," he said, "we
cannot feel respect, but we feel very considerable pity. Of Mr. Macirone
we are tempted to predict that he has little reason to apprehend the
honourable mode of death which was inflicted on his master. _His_
vocation seems to be another kind of exit."
Macirone gave notice of an action for damages, and claimed no less than
£10,000. Serjeant Copley (afterwards Lord Lyndhurst), then
Solicitor-General, and Mr. Gurney, were retained for Mr. Murray by his
legal adviser Mr. Sharon Turner.
The case came on, and on the Bench were seated the Duke of Wellington,
Lord Liverpool, and other leading statesmen, who had been subpoenaed as
witnesses for the defence. One of the Ridgways, publishers, had also
been subpoenaed with an accredited copy of Macirone's book; but it was
not necessary to produce him as a witness, as Mr. Ball, the counsel for
Macirone, _quoted_ passages from it, and thus made the entire book
available as evidence for the defendant, a proceeding of which Serjeant
Copley availed himself with telling effect. He substantiated the facts
stated in the _Quarterly_ article by passages quoted from Colonel
Macirone's own "Memoirs." Before he had concluded his speech, it became
obvious that the Jury had arrived at the conclusion to which he wished
to lead them; but he went on to drive the conclusion home by a splendid
peroration. [Footnote: Given in Sir Theodore Martin's "Life of Lord
Lyudhurst," p. 170.] The Jury intimated that they were all agreed; but
the Judge, as a matter of precaution, proceeded to charge them on the
evidence placed before them; and as soon as he had concluded, the Jury,
without retiring from the box, at once returned their verdict for the
defendant.
Although Mr. Murray had now a house in the country, he was almost
invariably to be found at Albemarle Street. We find, in one of his
letters to Blackwood, dated Wimbledon, May 22, 1819, the following: "I
have been unwell with bile and rheumatism, and have come to a little
place here, which I have bought lately, for a few days to recruit."
The following description of a reception at Mr. Murray's is taken from
the "Autobiography" of Mrs. Bray, the novelist. She relates that in the
autumn of 1819 she made a visit to Mr. Murray, with her first husband,
Charles Stothard, son of the well-known artist, for the purpose of
showing him the illustrations of his "Letters from Normandy and
Brittany."
"We did not know," she says, "that Mr. Murray held daily from about
three to five o'clock a literary levée at his house. In this way he
gathered round him many of the most eminent men of the time. On calling,
we sent up our cards, and finding he was engaged, proposed to retreat,
when Mr. Murray himself appeared and insisted on our coming up. I was
introduced to him by my husband, and welcomed by him with all the
cordiality of an old acquaintance. He said Sir Walter Scott was there,
and he thought that we should like to see him, and to be introduced to
him. 'You will know him at once,' added Mr. Murray, 'he is sitting on
the sofa near the fire-place.' We found Sir Walter talking to Mr.
Gifford, then the Editor of the _Quarterly Review_. The room was filled
with men and women, and among them several of the principal authors and
authoresses of the day; but my attention was so fixed on Sir Walter and
Mr. Gifford that I took little notice of the rest. Many of those present
were engaged in looking at and making remarks upon a drawing, which
represented a Venetian Countess (Guiccioli), the favourite, but not very
respectable friend of Lord Byron. Mr. Murray made his way through the
throng in order to lead us up to Sir Walter. We were introduced. Mr.
Murray, anxious to remove the awkwardness of a first introduction,
wished to say something which would engage a conversation between
ourselves and Sir Walter Scott, and asked Charles if he happened to have
about him his drawing of the Bayeux tapestry to show to Sir Walter.
Charles smiled and said 'No'; but the saying answered the desired end;
something had been said that led to conversation, and Sir Walter,
Gifford, Mr. Murray, and Charles chatted on, and I listened.
"Gifford looked very aged, his face much wrinkled, and he seemed to be
in declining health; his dress was careless, and his cravat and
waistcoat covered with snuff. There was an antique, philosophic cast
about his head and countenance, better adapted to exact a feeling of
curiosity in a stranger than the head of Sir Walter Scott; the latter
seemed more a man of this world's mould. Such, too, was his character;
for, with all his fine genius, Sir Walter would never have been so
successful an author, had he not possessed so large a share of common
sense, united to a business-like method of conducting his affairs, even
those which perhaps I might venture to call the affairs of imagination.
We took our leave; and before we got further than the first landing, we
met Mr. Murray conducting Sir Walter downstairs; they were going to have
a private chat before the departure of the latter." [Footnote: "Mrs.
Bray's Autobiography," pp. 145-7.]