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

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_.

 

 

Chapter 20 (Hallam Basil Hall--Crabbe--Hope--Horace And James Smith-) Pg 24

 

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 L20, 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 L131.

 

 

 

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

Chapter 20 (Hallam Basil Hall--Crabbe--Hope--Horace And James Smith-) Pg 25

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

L10,000. 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."

 

 

 

Chapter 20 (Hallam Basil Hall--Crabbe--Hope--Horace And James Smith-) Pg 26

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 Levee 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.]

 

 

Chapter 21 (Memoirs Of Lady Hervey And Horace Walpole--Belzoni--Milman--Southey --Mrs. Rundell, Etc.) Pg 27

 

About The Beginning Of 1819