The Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart
Chapter 12: 1821-25
William Wright to John Gibson Lockhart, 3 October 1825
“I saw Murray
soon after my return from Edinburgh. We conversed on the subject of the Quarterly
Review. He disapproved of his Editor, and I recommended, and he approved of you, and I was
desired to write on the subject; but afterwards I was desired to suspend for a
while my communication. For the newspaper business I did not recommend you as fit; but on being
asked as to your fitness and inclinations, I stated my belief in your fitness,
accompanied with strong observations as to its unsuitableness to your rank and
feelings, and I believe Mr. Canning, on
being spoken to by Mr. Ellice, said
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you could come as Editor of the
Quarterly, but not as
editor of a newspaper, or at least as known and reputed editor. I told
Disraeli before he left he had a
very delicate mission, and that though my rank in life was different to your
own, having no relations whose feelings could be wounded by my accepting any
honest employment, I should not receive an offer of the editorship of a
newspaper as a compliment to my feelings as a barrister and a gentleman,
however complimentary it might be as to my talents. In short, I enter entirely
into your feelings on this head, and we think alike, for, whatever our friend
Disraeli may say or flourish on this subject, your
accepting of the editorship of a newspaper would be infra dig., and a losing of caste; but not so, as I
think, the accepting of the editorship of the Quarterly Review. . . .
Murray will in his letter, I presume, offer you the
Quarterly, but as to
bargaining, and making your contract certain and available, when you have
agreed on general principles, you may, I think, trust that to me; and though I
should like you for a neighbour, weigh all things well, and let not haste cause
you to overrun your discretion and so bar judgment. An editor of a Review like
the Quarterly is the office of
a scholar and a gentleman; but that of a newspaper is not, for a newspaper is
merely stock-in-trade, to be used as it can be turned to most profit. And there
is something in it (when ![]()
| 368 | LIFE OF J. G. LOCKHART. | |
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Disraeli has gilded and adorned it with his new notions as
much as he can) that is repugnant to the feelings of a gentleman. . . . If you
think of accepting Murray’s proposals in any shape,
leave all particulars to discussion and arrangement after you come to London,
and let us talk the matter over first for a few hours ourselves.1
“Disraeli, who
is with you, I have not seen much of, but I believe he is a sensible, clever
young fellow. His judgment, however, wants settling down. He has never had to
struggle with a single difficulty, nor been called on to act in any affairs in
which his mind has been necessarily forced to decide and choose in difficult
situations. At present his chief exertions as to matters of decision have been
with regard to the selection of his food, his enjoyment, and his clothing, and
though he is honest, and, I take it, wiser than his father, he is inexperienced
and untried in the world, and of course though you may, I believe, safely trust
to his integrity, you cannot prudently trust much to his judgment.
“Sir Walter was so
good as to promise me a little dog. Has he such a thing for me? If so, our
friend Constable promised to take care
of it for me. I believe you were thought of for the newspaper from what had
passed as to the Review, and the conversations about you were between
Ellice
1 The lines omitted contain a criticism of
Mr. Murray, conjectural, and
probably baseless. |
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and Canning, and, I think, not between Murray and Canning
directly.—I am, dear Lockhart,
yours most truly,
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
Sir John Taylor Coleridge (1790-1876)
Barrister, nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and writer for the
Quarterly Review, of which he was briefly editor in 1824, succeeding William
Gifford.
Archibald Constable (1774-1827)
Edinburgh bookseller who published the
Edinburgh Review and works
of Sir Walter Scott; he went bankrupt in 1826.
John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854)
Editor of the
Quarterly Review (1825-1853); son-in-law of Walter
Scott and author of the
Life of Scott 5 vols (1838).
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 Wright (1787-1856)
London solicitor called to the bar in 1825; he was appointed Master of the Rolls in
1853.
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.
The Representative. (1826). A failed daily paper backed by John Murray issued from 25 January to 29 July 1826.
