Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Walter Scott to J. B. S. Morritt of Rokeby, 14 January 1809
“Edinburgh, 14th January, 1809.
My dear Sir,
For a long while I thought my summons to
* Mr
Southey—who finally undertook the task proposed to him. |
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| 232 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. | |
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London would have been immediate, and that I should have
had the pleasure to wait upon you at Rokeby Park in my way to town. But, after
due consideration, the commissioners on our Scottish reform of judicial
proceedings resolved to begin their sittings at Edinburgh, and have been in
full activity ever since last St Andrew’s day. You are not ignorant that
in business of this nature, very much of the detail and of preparing the
materials for the various meetings, necessarily devolves upon the clerk, and I
cannot say but that my time has been fully occupied.
“Mean while, however, I have been concocting, at the
instigation of various loyal and well disposed persons, a grand scheme of
opposition to the proud critics of Edinburgh. It is now matured in all its
branches, and consists of the following divisions. A new review in London, to
be called the Quarterly, William Gifford to be the editor; George Ellis, Rose, Mr Canning if
possible, Frere, and all the ancient
Anti-Jacobins to be concerned. The first number is now in hand, and the allies,
I hope and trust, securely united to each other. I have promised to get them
such assistance as I can, and most happy should I be to prevail upon you to put
your hand to the ark. You can so easily run off an article either of learning
or of fun, that it would be inexcusable not to afford us your assistance. Then
sir, to turn the flank of Messrs Constable and Co. and to avenge myself of certain impertinences
which, in the vehemence of their Whiggery, they have dared to indulge in
towards me, I have prepared to start against them at Whitsunday first the
celebrated printer, Ballantyne (who had
the honour of meeting you at Ashestiel), in the shape of an Edinburgh
publisher, with a long purse and a sound political creed, not to mention an
alliance offensive and defensive with young John
Murray of Fleet ![]()
| LETTER TO MR MORRITT—JAN. 1809. | 233 |
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Street, the most enlightened and
active of the London trade. By this means I hope to counterbalance the
predominating influence of Constable and Co., who at
present have it in their power and inclination to forward or suppress any book
as they approve or dislike its political tendency. Lastly, I have caused the
said Ballantyne to venture upon an Edinburgh Annual Register, of which I send you a
prospectus. I intend to help him myself as far as time will admit, and hope to
procure him many respectable coadjutors.
“My own motions southwards remain undetermined, but
I conceive I may get to town about the beginning of March, when I expect to
find you en famille in Portland
Place. Our Heber will then most likely
be in town, and altogether I am much better pleased that the journey is put off
till the lively season of gaiety.
“I am busy with my edition of Swift, and treasure your kind hints
for my direction as I advance. In summer I think of going to Ireland to pick up
any thing that may be yet recoverable of the Dean of St
Patrick’s. Mrs Scott
joins me in kindest and best respects to Mrs
Morritt. I am, with great regard, dear sir, your faithful humble
servant,
James Ballantyne (1772-1833)
Edinburgh printer in partnership with his younger brother John; the company failed in the
financial collapse of 1826.
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
Archibald Constable (1774-1827)
Edinburgh bookseller who published the
Edinburgh Review and works
of Sir Walter Scott; he went bankrupt in 1826.
George Ellis (1753-1815)
English antiquary and critic, editor of
Specimens of Early English
Poets (1790), friend of Walter Scott.
John Hookham Frere (1769-1846)
English diplomat and poet; educated at Eton and Cambridge, he was envoy to Lisbon
(1800-02) and Madrid (1802-04, 1808-09); with Canning conducted the
The
Anti-Jacobin (1797-98); author of
Prospectus and Specimen of an
intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft (1817, 1818).
William Gifford (1756-1826)
Poet, scholar, and editor who began as a shoemaker's apprentice; after Oxford he
published
The Baviad (1794),
The Maeviad
(1795), and
The Satires of Juvenal translated (1802) before becoming
the founding editor of the
Quarterly Review (1809-24).
Richard Heber (1774-1833)
English book collector, he was the elder half-brother of the poet Reginald Heber and the
friend of Walter Scott: member of the Roxburghe Club and MP for Oxford 1821-1826.
Katherine Morritt [née Stanley] (d. 1815)
The daughter of the Reverend Thomas Stanley, rector of Winwick in Lancashire; in 1803 she
married John Morritt of Rokeby.
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
William Stewart Rose (1775-1843)
Second son of George Rose, treasurer of the navy (1744-1818); he introduced Byron to
Frere's
Whistlecraft poems and translated Casti's
Animale parlante (1819).
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
The Quarterly Review. (1809-1967). Published by John Murray, the
Quarterly was instigated by Walter
Scott as a Tory rival to the
Edinburgh Review. It was edited by
William Gifford to 1824, and by John Gibson Lockhart from 1826 to 1853.
