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

Being A Monk, He Became An Athlete.

He Was A Man Of Gigantic Physical Power, And Went From Place To Place,

Gaining His Living In England, As Elsewhere, As A Posture-Master, And By

Exhibiting At Shows His Great Feats Of Strength. He Made Enough By This

Work To Enable Him To Visit Egypt, Where He Erected Hydraulic Machines

For The Pasha, And, Through The Influence Of Mr. Salt, The British

Consul, Was Employed To Remove From Thebes, And Ship For England, The

Colossal Bust Commonly Called The Young Memnon. His Knowledge Of

Mechanics Enabled Him To Accomplish This With Great Dexterity, And The

Head, Now In The British Museum, Is One Of The Finest Specimens Of

Egyptian Sculpture.

 

 

 

Belzoni, After Performing This Task, Made Further Investigations Among

The Egyptian Tombs And Temples. He Was The First To Open The Great

Temple Of Ipsambul, Cut In The Side Of A Mountain, And At That Time Shut

In By An Accumulation Of Sand. Encouraged By These Successes, He, In

1817, Made A Second Journey To Upper Egypt And Nubia, And Brought To

Light At Carnac Several Colossal Heads Of Granite, Now In The British

Museum. After Some Further Explorations Among The Tombs And Temples, For

Which He Was Liberally Paid By Mr. Salt, Belzoni Returned To England

With Numerous Drawings, Casts, And Many Important Works Of Egyptian Art.

He Called Upon Mr. Murray, With The View Of Publishing The Results Of

His Investigations, Which In Due Course Were Issued Under The Title Of

"Narrative Of The Operations And Recent Discoveries Within The Pyramids,

Chapter 21 (Memoirs Of Lady Hervey And Horace Walpole--Belzoni--Milman--Southey --Mrs. Rundell, Etc.) Pg 36

Temples, Tombs, And Excavations In Egypt And Nubia."

 

 

 

It Was A Very Expensive Book To Arrange And Publish, But Nothing Daunted

Mr. Murray When A New And Original Work Was Brought Under His Notice.

Although Only 1,000 Copies Were Printed, The Payments To Belzoni And His

Translators, As Well As For Plates And Engravings, Amounted To Over

L2,163. The Preparation Of The Work Gave Rise To No Little Difficulty,

For Belzoni Declined All Help Beyond That Of The Individual Who Was

Employed To Copy Out Or Translate His Manuscript And Correct The Press.

"As I Make My Discoveries Alone," He Said, "I Have Been Anxious To Write

My Book By Myself, Though In So Doing The Reader Will Consider Me, With

Great Propriety, Guilty Of Temerity; But The Public Will, Perhaps, Gain

In The Fidelity Of My Narration What It Loses In Elegance." Lord Byron,

To Whom Mr. Murray Sent A Copy Of His Work, Said: "Belzoni _Is_ A Grand

Traveller, And His English Is Very Prettily Broken."

 

 

 

Belzoni Was A Very Interesting Character, And A Man Of Great Natural

Refinement. After The Publication Of His Work, He Became One Of The

Fashionable Lions Of London, But Was Very Sensitive About His Early

Career, And Very Sedulous To Sink The Posture-Master In The Traveller.

He Was Often Present At Mr. Murray's Receptions; And On One Particular

Occasion He Was Invited To Join The Family Circle In Albemarle Street On

The Last Evening Of 1822, To See The Old Year Out And The New Year In.

All Mr. Murray's Young People Were Present, As Well As The Entire

D'israeli Family And Crofton Croker. After A Merry Game Of Pope Joan,

Mr. Murray Presented Each Of The Company With A Pocket-Book As A New

Year's Gift. A Special Bowl Of Punch Was Brewed For The Occasion, And,

While It Was Being Prepared, Mr. Isaac D'israeli Took Up Crofton

Croker's Pocket-Book, And With His Pencil Wrote The Following Impromptu

Words:

 

 

 

"Gigantic Belzoni At Pope Joan And Tea.

What A Group Of Mere Puppets We Seem Beside Thee;

Which, Our Kind Host Perceiving, With Infinite Zest,

Gives Us Punch At Our Supper, To Keep Up The Jest."

 

 

 

The Lines Were Pronounced To Be Excellent, And Belzoni, Wishing To Share

In The Enjoyment, Desired To See The Words. He Read The Last Line Twice

Over, And Then, His Eyes Flashing Fire, He Exclaimed, "I Am Betrayed!"

And Suddenly Left The Room. Crofton Croker Called Upon Belzoni To

Ascertain The Reason For His Abrupt Departure From Mr. Murray's, And Was

Informed That He Considered The Lines To Be An Insulting Allusion To His

Early Career As A Showman. Croker Assured Him That Neither Murray Nor

D'israeli Knew Anything Of His Former Life; Finally He Prevailed Upon

Belzoni To Accompany Him To Mr. Murray's, Who For The First Time Learnt

That The Celebrated Egyptian Explorer Had Many Years Before Been An

Chapter 21 (Memoirs Of Lady Hervey And Horace Walpole--Belzoni--Milman--Southey --Mrs. Rundell, Etc.) Pg 37

Itinerant Exhibitor In England.

 

 

 

In 1823 Belzoni Set Out For Morocco, Intending To Penetrate Thence To

Eastern Africa; He Wrote To Mr. Murray From Gibraltar, Thanking Him For

Many Acts Of Kindness, And Again From Tangier.

 

 

 

 

_M.G. Belzoni To John Murray_.

 

 

 

_April_ 10, 1823.

 

 

 

"I Have Just Received Permission From H.M. The Emperor Of Morocco To Go

To Fez, And Am In Hopes To Obtain His Approbation To Enter The Desert

Along With The Caravan To Soudan. The Letter Of Introduction From Mr.

Wilmot To Mr. Douglas Has Been Of Much Importance To Me; This Gentleman

Fortunately Finds Pleasure In Affording Me All The Assistance In His

Power To Promote My Wishes, A Circumstance Which I Have Not Been

Accustomed To Meet In Some Other Parts Of Africa. I Shall Do Myself The

Pleasure To Acquaint You Of My Further Progress At Fez, If Not From Some

Other Part Of Morocco."

 

 

 

 

Belzoni Would Appear To Have Changed His Intention, And Endeavoured To

Penetrate To Timbuctoo From Benin, Where, However, He Was Attacked By

Dysentery, And Died A Short Time After The Above Letter Was Written.

 

 

 

Like Many Other Men Of Herculean Power, He Was Not Eager To Exhibit His

Strength; But On One Occasion He Gave Proof Of It In The Following

Circumstances. Mr. Murray Had Asked Him To Accompany Him To The

Coronation Of George Iv. They Had Tickets Of Admittance To Westminster

Hall, But On Arriving There They Found That The Sudden Advent Of Queen

Caroline, Attended By A Mob Claiming Admission To The Abbey, Had Alarmed

The Authorities, Who Caused All The Doors To Be Shut. That By Which They

Should Have Entered Was Held Close And Guarded By Several Stalwart

Janitors. Belzoni Thereupon Advanced To The Door, And, In Spite Of The

Efforts Of These Guardians, Including Tom Crib And Others Of The

Pugilistic Corps Who Had Been Engaged As Constables, Opened It With

Ease, And Admitted Himself And Mr. Murray.

 

 

 

In 1820 Mr. Murray Was Invited To Publish "The Fall Of Jerusalem, A

Chapter 21 (Memoirs Of Lady Hervey And Horace Walpole--Belzoni--Milman--Southey --Mrs. Rundell, Etc.) Pg 38

Sacred Tragedy," By The Rev. H.H. Milman, Afterwards Dean Of St. Paul's.

As Usual, He Consulted Mr. Gifford, Whose Opinion Was Most Favourable.

"I Have Been More And More Struck," He Said, "With The Innumerable

Beauties In Milman's 'Fall Of Jerusalem.'"

 

 

 

Mr. Murray Requested The Author To State His Own Price For The

Copyright, And Mr. Milman Wrote:

 

 

 

"I Am Totally At A Loss To Fix One. I Think I Might Decide Whether An

Offer Were Exceedingly High Or Exceedingly Low, Whether A Byron Or Scott

Price, Or Such As Is Given To The First Essay Of A New Author. Though

The 'Fall Of Jerusalem' Might Demand An Israelitish Bargain, Yet I Shall

Not Be A Jew Further Than My Poetry. Make A Liberal Offer, Such As The

Prospect Will Warrant, And I Will At Once Reply, But I Am Neither Able

Nor Inclined To Name A Price.... As I Am At Present Not Very Far

Advanced In Life, I May Hereafter Have Further Dealings With The Press,

And, Of Course, Where I Meet With Liberality Shall Hope To Make A Return

In The Same Way. It Has Been Rather A Favourite Scheme Of Mine, Though

This Drama Cannot Appear On The Boards, To Show It Before It Is

Published To My Friend Mrs. Siddons, Who Perhaps Might Like To Read It,

Either At Home Or Abroad. I Have Not Even Hinted At Such A Thing To Her,

So That This Is Mere Uncertainty, And, Before It Is Printed, It Would Be

In Vain To Think Of It, As The Old Lady's Eyes And Ms. Could Never Agree

Together.

 

 

 

"P.S.--I Ought To Have Said That I Am Very Glad Of Aristarchus'

[Grifford's] Approval. And, By The Way, I Think, If I Help You In

Redeeming Your Character From 'Don Juan,' The 'Hetaerse' In The

_Quarterly_, [Footnote: Mitchell's Article On "Female Society In

Greece," _Q.R._ No. 43.] Etc., You Ought To Estimate That Very Highly."

 

 

 

Mr. Murray Offered Mr. Milman Five Hundred Guineas For The Copyright,

To Which The Author Replied: "Your Offer Appears To Me Very Fair, And I

Shall Have No Scruple In Acceding To It."

 

 

 

Milman, In Addition To Numerous Plays And Poems, Became A Contributor To

The _Quarterly_, And One Of Murray's Historians. He Wrote The "History

Of The Jews" And The "History Of Christianity"; He Edited Gibbon And

Horace, And Continued During His Lifetime To Be One Of Mr. Murray's Most

Intimate And Attached Friends.

 

 

 

In 1820 We Find The First Mention Of A Name Afterwards To Become As

Chapter 21 (Memoirs Of Lady Hervey And Horace Walpole--Belzoni--Milman--Southey --Mrs. Rundell, Etc.) Pg 39

Celebrated As Any Of Those With Which Mr. Murray Was Associated. Owing

To The Warm Friendship Which Existed Between The Murrays And The

D'israelis, The Younger Members Of Both Families Were Constantly Brought

Together On The Most Intimate Terms. Mr. Murray Was Among The First To

Mark The Abilities Of The Boy, Benjamin Disraeli, And, As Would Appear

From The Subjoined Letter, His Confidence In His Abilities Was So Firm

That He Consulted Him As To The Merits Of A