The Autobiography of William Jerdan
William Taylor to William Jerdan, [February 1817]
“I have seen your answer to my note to Mr. Carstairs, and I still say that I do not
believe a syllable you say or write, Your treatment of
me is revolting to the feelings of everybody who hears of it, but your own
wretched sycophants, who can be bribed to your cause by the play-house
freedoms, which you find so useful. You told me, before
Mr. Owen, that Mr. Canning ‘despised me for attempting
to lessen your credit with him,’ and you told Mr.
Owen that you had had a kind and friendly letter from
Mr. Canning. I shall endeavour to ascertain both of
these points, though I believe neither. When I told you that I should advise
Mr. Freeling to return the
manuscript which you took from Bellingham, and which ought to have been surrendered to the
law, or to the widow, you said, ‘Mr. Freeling would
laugh at me.’* If so, I shall certainly put him into a jocular mood, but I believe that he will not
* The annexed note on the subject will dispose of
this foolery. “G. P. O., Thursday. “My dear
Sir, “Nothing but overwhelming business
could have prevented my thanking you expressly for the
kindness which induced you to put the Bellingham Manuscript into my
possession—I have never been insensible of your constant
and unwearied regard to my gratification, of which your
note of this morning affords another proof. “I can have no other objection
than that which arises unaffectedly from the time and
labour which it must cost you to add anything so valuable
to what you have already so kindly bestowed. “Believe me, with the sincerest
regards,
“Yours always, |
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think that he has reason to rejoice in having sacrificed
a friend whom he had known nearly thirty years, for a person with whom he
casually became acquainted, because that person dedicated a sneaking, fawning
address to him in a work to which he singly put his name as translator, though
he was assisted by two others. I have made a minute of everything relating to
your conduct, since you came to this place, and have most, if not all, of
everything you have written to me. All shall in due time be promulged, and then
it will be seen if you are a proper object for government protection. You know what I mean. I shall certainly file a bill in
chancery against you, to require a knowledge of all you have received, if you
have received anything, on account of the paper. I have made you several
liberal proposals, which I have been told I was mad in offering, and you more
mad in declining. You have never proposed a modification of your accidentally
obtained and ill-exercised power, and your proposals to quit the concern have
been so extravagant as to excite laughter. I once more ask you what sum you
will take to abandon your connection with the paper? I expect your answer on
Monday. But you must not regulate it by your estimate of ‘the patronage
of the paper,’ which you have sometimes rated at three
thousand, and sometimes at five thousand, pounds. This estimate will
be a strong point in my account of your proceedings. You have often accused me
of attempting to undermine your character—your
character!!! I have stated nothing but facts, which can be proved by others,
and God forbid that I should resort to needless and wanton exaggerations.
Remember, I shall on Monday resort to you to know what sum you require to
relinquish all connection with a property which you have nearly ruined.
John Bellingham (1770-1812)
The bankrupt tradesman who assassinated the prime minister Spencer Perceval in the House
of Commons 11 May 1812; unrepentant, he was tried and executed within a week. Byron
witnessed his execution.
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
J. B. Carstairs (1817 fl.)
The publisher of
The Sun newspaper. An death notice for a J. B.
Carstairs appears in the
Gentleman's Magazine for November
1845.
Sir Francis Freeling, first baronet (1764-1836)
Postal reformer and member of the Roxburghe Club; he was secretary to the General Post
Office. He was a friend of William Jerdan and Sir Walter Scott.
William Jerdan (1782-1869)
Scottish journalist who for decades edited the
Literary Gazette;
he was author of
Autobiography (1853) and
Men I
have Known (1866).
Robert Owen (1771-1858)
English reformer who operated the cotton mill at New Lanark in Scotland and in 1825
founded the utopian community of New Harmony in Indiana.
John Taylor (1757-1832)
Poet and Tory journalist; editor of the
Morning Post (1787),
purchased the
True Briton, editor and proprietor of
The Sun (1813-25); author of
Records of my
Life (1832).
