A Publisher And His Friends (Fiscle Part-4), Samuel Smiles [good beach reads txt] 📗

Chevalier Is Sir Walter

Scott; M. Is Mr. Lockhart; X. Is Mr. Canning; O. Is The Political Puck

(Could This Be Himself?); And Chronometer Is Mr. Barrow.

 

 

 

On Reaching Edinburgh, Mr. Disraeli Wrote To Mr. Murray The Following

Account Of His First Journey Across The Border:

 

 

 

_Mr. B. Disraeli To John Murray_.

 

 

 

Royal Hotel, Edinburgh. _September_ 21, 1825.

 

 

 

My Dear Sir,

 

 

 

I Arrived In Edinburgh Yesterday Night At 11 O'clock. I Slept At

Stamford, York, And Newcastle, And By So Doing Felt Quite Fresh At The

End Of My Journey. I Never Preconceived A Place Better Than Edinburgh.

It Is Exactly What I Fancied It, And Certainly Is The Most Beautiful

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 70

Town In The World. You Can Scarcely Call It A City; At Least, It Has

Little Of The Roar Of Millions, And At This Time Is Of Course Very

Empty. I Could Not Enter Scotland By The Route You Pointed Out, And

Therefore Was Unable To Ascertain The Fact Of The Chevalier Being At His

Castellum. I Should In That Case Have Gone By Carlisle. I Called On The

Gentleman To Whom Wright [Footnote: A Solicitor In London, And Friend Of

Both Parties, Who Had Been Consulted In The Negotiations.] Gave Me A

Letter This Morning. He Is At His Country House; He Will Get A Letter

From Me This Morning. You See, Therefore, That I Have Lost Little Time.

 

 

 

I Called At Oliver & Boyd's This Morning, Thinking That You Might Have

Written. You Had Not, However. When You Write To Me, Enclose To Them, As

They Will Forward, Wherever I May Be, And My Stay At An Hotel Is Always

Uncertain. Mr. Boyd Was Most Particularly Civil. Their Establishment Is

One Of The Completest I Have Ever Seen. They Are Booksellers,

Bookbinders, And Printers, All Under The Same Roof; Everything But

Making Paper. I Intend To Examine The Whole Minutely Before I Leave, As

It May Be Useful. I Never Thought Of Binding. Suppose You Were To Sew,

Etc., Your Own Publications?

 

 

 

I Arrived At York In The Midst Of The Grand [Musical] Festival. It Was

Late At Night When I Arrived, But The Streets Were Crowded, And

Continued So For Hours. I Never Witnessed A City In Such An Extreme

Bustle, And So Delightfully Gay. It Was A Perfect Carnival. I Postponed

My Journey From Five In The Morning To Eleven, And By So Doing Got An

Hour For The Minster, Where I Witnessed A Scene Which Must Have Far

Surpassed, By All Accounts, The Celebrated Commemoration In Westminster

Abbey. York Minster Baffles All Conception. Westminster Abbey Is A Toy

To It. I Think It Is Impossible To Conceive Of What Gothic Architecture

Is Susceptible Until You See York. I Speak With Cathedrals Of The

Netherlands And The Rhine Fresh In My Memory. I Witnessed In York

Another Splendid Sight--The Pouring In Of All The Nobility And Gentry Of

The Neighbourhood And The Neighbouring Counties. The Four-In-Hands Of

The Yorkshire Squires, The Splendid Rivalry In Liveries And Outriders,

And The Immense Quantity Of Gorgeous Equipages--Numbers With Four

Horses--Formed A Scene Which You Can Only Witness In The Mighty And

Aristocratic County Of York. It Beat A Drawing Room Hollow, As Much As

An Oratorio In York Minster Does A Concert In The Opera House. This

Delightful Stay At York Quite Refreshed Me, And I Am Not The Least

Fatigued By My Journey.

 

 

 

As I Have Only Been In Edinburgh A Few Hours, Of Course I Have Little To

Say. I Shall Write Immediately That Anything Occurs. Kindest

Remembrances To Mrs. Murray And All.

 

 

 

Ever Yours,

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 71

 

 

B.D.

 

 

 

I Find Froissart A Most Entertaining Companion, Just The Fellow For A

Traveller's Evening; And Just The Work Too, For It Needs Neither Books

Of Reference Nor Accumulations Of Ms.

 

 

 

 

Royal Hotel, Edinburgh, _Sunday_.

 

 

 

_September_ 22, 1825.

 

 

 

My Dear Sir,

 

 

 

I Sent A Despatch By Saturday Night's Post, Directed To Mr. Barrow. You

Have Doubtless Received It Safe. As I Consider You Are Anxious To Hear

Minutely Of The State Of My Operations, I Again Send You A Few Lines. I

Received This Morning A Very Polite Letter From L[Ockhart]. He Had Just

Received That Morning (Saturday) Wright's Letter. I Enclose You A Copy

Of L.'S Letter, As It Will Be Interesting To You To See Or Judge What

Effect Was Produced On His Mind By Its Perusal. I Have Written To-Day To

Say That I Will Call At Chiefswood [Footnote: Chiefswood, Where Lockhart

Then Lived, Is About Two Miles Distant From Abbotsford. Sir Walter Scott

Describes It As "A Nice Little Cottage, In A Glen Belonging To This

Property, With A Rivulet In Front, And A Grove Of Trees On The East Side

To Keep Away The Cold Wind."] On Tuesday. I Intend To Go To Melrose

Tomorrow, But As I Will Not Take The Chance Of Meeting Him The Least

Tired, I Shall Sleep At Melrose And Call On The Following Morning. I

Shall, Of Course, Accept His Offer Of Staying There. I Shall Call Again

At B[Oyd]'S Before My Departure To-Morrow, To See If There Is Any

Despatch From You.... I Shall Continue To Give You Advice Of All My

Movements. You Will Agree With Me That I Have At Least Not Lost Any

Time, But That All Things Have Gone Very Well As Yet. There Is Of Course

No Danger In Our Communications Of Anything Unfairly Transpiring; But

From The Very Delicate Nature Of Names Interested, It Will Be Expedient

To Adopt Some Cloak.

 

 

 

_The Chevalier_ Will Speak For Itself.

 

 

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 72

 

M., From Melrose, For Mr. L.

 

 

 

X. For A Certain Personage On Whom We Called One Day, Who Lives A Slight

Distance From Town, And Who Was Then Unwell.

 

 

 

O. For The Political Puck.

 

 

 

Mr. Chronometer Will Speak For Itself, At Least To All Those Who Give

African Dinners.

 

 

 

I Think This Necessary, And Try To Remember It. I Am Quite Delighted

With Edinburgh, Its Beauties Become Every Moment More Apparent. The View

From The Calton Hill Finds Me A Frequent Votary. In The Present State Of

Affairs, I Suppose It Will Not Be Expedient To Leave The Letter For Mrs.

Bruce. It Will Seem Odd; P.P.C. At The Same Moment I Bring A Letter Of

Introduction. If I Return To Edinburgh, I Can Avail Myself Of It. If The

Letter Contains Anything Which Would Otherwise Make Mrs. Murray Wish It

To Be Left, Let Me Know. I Revel In The Various Beauties Of A Scotch

Breakfast. Cold Grouse And Marmalade Find Me, However, Constant.

 

 

 

Ever Yours,

 

 

 

B.D.

 

 

 

 

The Letter Of Mr. Lockhart, To Which Mr. Disraeli Refers, Ran As

Follows:

 

 

 

_Mr. J.G. Lockhart To Mr. B. Disraeli_.

 

 

 

"The Business To Which The Letter [Of Mr. Wright] Refers Entitles It To

Much Consideration. As Yet I Have Had No Leisure Nor Means To Form Even

An Approximation Towards Any Opinion As To The Proposal Mr. W. Mentions,

Far Less To Commit My Friend. In A Word, I Am Perfectly In The Dark As

To Everything Else, Except That I Am Sure It Will Give Mrs. Lockhart And

Chapter 23 (Gifford's Retirement From The Editorship Of The "Quarterly"--And Death.) Pg 73

Myself Very Great Pleasure To See Mr. Disraeli Under This Roof.... If

You Had No Other Object In View, I Flatter Myself That This

Neighbourhood Has, In Melrose And Abbotsford, Some Attractions Not

Unworthy Of Your Notice."

 

 

 

Mr. Disraeli Paid His Promised Visit To Chiefswood. It Appeared That Mr.

Lockhart Expected To Receive Mr. Isaac D'israeli, The Well-Known Author

Of "The Curiosities Of Literature"; Instead Of Which, The Person Who

Appeared Before Him Was Mr. D'israeli's Then Unknown Son Benjamin.

 

 

 

 

_Mr. B, Disraeli To John Murray_.

 

 

 

Chiefswood, _September_ 25, 1825.

 

 

 

My Dear Sir,

 

 

 

I Arrived At Chiefswood Yesterday. M. [Lockhart] Had Conceived That It

Was My Father Who Was Coming. He Was Led To Believe This Through

Wright's Letter. In Addition, Therefore, To His Natural Reserve, There

Was, Of Course, An Evident Disappointment At Seeing Me. Everything

Looked As Black As Possible. I Shall Not Detain You Now By Informing You

Of Fresh Particulars. I Leave Them For When We Meet. Suffice It To Say

That In A Few Hours We Completely Understood Each Other, And Were Upon

The Most Intimate Terms. M. Enters Into Our Views With A Facility And

Readiness Which Were Capital. He Thinks That Nothing Can Be More

Magnificent Or Excellent; But Two Points Immediately Occurred: First,

The Difficulty Of His Leaving Edinburgh Without Any Ostensible Purpose;

And, Secondly, The Losing Caste In Society By So Doing. He Is Fully

Aware That He May End By Making His Situation As Important As Any In The

Empire, But The Primary Difficulty Is Insurmountable.

 

 

 

As Regards His Interest, I Mentioned That He Should Be Guaranteed, For

Three Years, L1,000 Per Annum, And Should Take An Eighth Of Every Paper

Which Was Established, Without Risk, His Income Ceasing On His So Doing.

These Are Much Better Terms Than We Had Imagined We Could Have Made. The

Agreement Is Thought Extremely Handsome, Both By Him And The Chevalier;

But The Income Is Not Imagined To Be Too Large. However, I Dropped That

Point, As It Should Be Arranged With You When We All Meet.