IIIDramatis Personae

25Ibid., V. i, p. 9

26Ibid., V. i, p. 16

27Ibid., V. i, p. 17

28Ibid., V. i, p. 25

29Ibid., V. i, p. 35

30Ibid., V. i, p. 38

31Ibid., V. i, p. 30

32Ibid., V. i, p. 32

33Ibid., V. i, p. 39

34Ibid., V. i, p. 22

35Ibid., V. i, p. 43

In another department of the contents, entitled “Select Extracts”, there are two articles: an “Account of Colonel Beaufoy’s Journey to the Summit of Mount Blanc”36and the “Account of the Remarkable Case of Margaret Lyall, Who continued in a State of Sleep nearly Six Weeks”37, both very readable, whichis a good deal when all is said. The Antiquarian Reportory contained six articles as antiquated as one could wish, all the way from a “Grant of the Lands of Kyrkenes by Macbeth, son of Finlach”38to a “Mock Poem upon the Expedition of the Highland Host”39. The Original Poetry department contained three poems, none of them startling. The third one, the shortest, is by far the best, bearing the title “Verses”40. They were written in honor of the entry of the Allies into Paris, 1814; and bear the unmistakable brand and seal of James Hogg, with his ardent song for “Auld Scotland!—land o’ hearts the wale!” ...

“Land hae I bragged o’ thine an’ thee,Even when thy back was at the wa’;An’ thou my proudest sang sall be,As lang as I hae breath to draw.”

36Ibid., V. i, p. 59

37Ibid., V. i, p. 61

38Ibid., V. i, p. 65

39Ibid., V. i, p. 69

40Ibid., V. i, p. 72

Next comes the “Review of New Publications”, devoting three pages to Dr. Thomas Chalmers’ “Discourses on the Christian Revelation”41, concluding with the words: “If a few great and original minds, like that of Dr. Chalmers, should arise to advocate the cause of Christianity, it would no longer be the fashion to exalt the triumphs of reason and of science.”42The other reviews were of “Harold, the Dauntless; a Poem. By the Author of ‘The Bridal of Triermain’”43, of “Armota, a Fragment”44, and “Stories for Children, selected from the History of England”45. Of what came under the heading, PeriodicalWorks, we have already spoken. Then followed “Literary and Scientific Intelligence”46, notices of works preparing for publication in Edinburgh and London, and the monthly list of new publications in the same two cities. There is a page of French books, published since January 1817. After that the Monthly Register of foreign intelligence, proceedings of Parliament, the British Chronicle, commercial and agricultural reports for the month, a meteorological table, and two pages of births, marriages and deaths, complete the number for April 1817.

41Ibid., V. i, p. 73

42Ibid., V. i, p. 75

43Ibid., V. i, p. 76

44Ibid., V. i, p. 78

45Ibid., V. i, p. 79

46Ibid., V. i, P. 85

Mr. Lang was right when he called it “blameless”; and it is not surprising that Blackwood made some suggestions in regard to the second number. We know that his suggestions were not cordially received by Messrs. Pringle and Cleghorn, and it appears equally probable that they were not acted upon. The second issue, May 1817, is no more resilient and has gained no more momentum than its predecessor. The contents are cast in the same mould: an “Account of Mr. Ruthven’s Printing Press”47, another on the “Method of Engraving on Stone”48, and “Anecdotes of Antiquaries”49, and the like.

47Ibid., V. i, p. 125

48Ibid., V. i, p. 128

49Ibid., V. i, p. 136

If Blackwood was disappointed over the first number, he was irritated at the second; but when a third of no more vital aspect appeared, his patience gave way, and Pringle and Cleghorn had to go! It is easy to imagine that the manwho did not hesitate to criticise the “Black Dwarf” would not be overawed by the two mild gentlemen in charge of his pet scheme. William Blackwood’s ideal had indeed been to startle the world with a periodical which in modern terms we would call a “live wire”. And now with the magazine actually under way, it is not likely that a man of his stamp would sit by unperturbed, and watch one insignificant number after another greet an unresponsive public. After the appearance of the third number, he gave three months’ notice to Messrs. Pringle and Cleghorn, which somewhat excited those gentlemen, but was none the less final. They had done all they could to evade Blackwood’s “interest in the literary part of his business”, and intended to keep the publisher “in his place”. William Blackwood was not made that way, however.

He himself illuminates the situation in a letter to his London agents, Baldwin, Craddock and Company, dated July 23, 181750.

50Mrs. Oliphant:Annals of a Publishing House, V. i, p. 104

“I am sorry to inform you that I have been obliged to resolve upon stopping the Magazine with No. 6. I have been much disappointed in my editors, who have done little in the way of writing or procuring contributions. Ever since the work began I have had myself almost the whole burden of procuring contributions, which by great exertions I got from my own friends, while at the same time I had it not in my power to pay for them,as by our agreement the editors were to furnish me with the whole of the material, for which and their editorial labors they were to receive half of the profits of the work. I found this would never do, and that the work would soon sink, as I could not permit my friends (who have in fact made the work what it is) to go on in this way for any length of time.... I gave a notice, according to our agreement, that the work would close at the period specified in it—three months. Instead, however, of Pringle acting in the friendly way he professed, he joined Cleghorn, and without giving any explanation, they concluded a bargain with Constable and Company, by which I understand they take charge of their (Constable’s) ‘Scot’s Magazine’ as soon as mine stops.”

“It is not of the least consequence to me losing them, as they were quite unfit for what they undertook.... I have, however, made an arrangement with a gentleman of first-rate talents by which I will begin a new work of very superior kind. I mention this to you, however, in the strictest confidence, as I am not at liberty yet to say anything more particularly about it.... My editors have very dishonestly made it known to a number of people that we stop at the sixth number. This will interfere a little with our sale here, but I hope not with you.”

The editors wrangled at great length, but Blackwood’s mind was made up, and as we see by the foregoing letter,already launching new plans and busy with them. A letter to Pringle and Cleghorn, gives us the first hint of John Wilson’s connection with the magazine (other than mere contributor), and shows the tone of finality with which Blackwood could treat what was to him a settled subject:

“As you have now an interest directly opposite to mine, I hope you will not think it unreasonable that I should be made acquainted with the materials which you intend for this number. It occurs to me it would save all unpleasant discussion if you were inclined to send the different articles to Mr. John Wilson, who has all along taken so deep an interest in the magazine. I do not wish to offer my opinion with regard to the fitness or unfitness of any article, but I should expect that you would be inclined to listen to anything which Mr. Wilson might suggest. He had promised me the following articles: Account of Marlowe’s Edward II, Argument in the Case of the Dumb Woman lately before the Court, Vindication of Wordsworth, Reviews of Lament of Tasso, Poetical Epistles and Spencer’s Tour. His furnishing these or even other articles will, however, depend upon the articles you have got and intend to insert.”

“I beg to assure you that it is my most anxious wish to have the whole business settled speedily and as amicably as possible.”51

51Ibid., V. i, p. 106

Here exit the prologue; and the real show begins withBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazinefor October 1817. To attract attention was Blackwood’s first aim; interest once aroused, he did not worry over maintaining it. Of that he felt assured. Respectability, mediocrity were taboo! By respectability is inferred that prudent, cautious, dead-alive respectability whose backbone (such as it has) is fear of public censure!

One of Blackwood’s aims in life was to make 17 Princes Street a literary rendez-vous; and indeed the background and atmosphere of “Maga”, and the men who gathered round it, are perhaps as fascinating and absorbing as the magazine itself!

Blackwood’s shop is described by Lockhart as “the only great lounging shop in the new Town of Edinburgh”52. A glimpse of the soil and lights and shades which nourished “Maga” cannot help but bring a warmer, more familiar comprehension of its character and the words it spake. Just as Park Street and the Shaw Memorial and the grave portraits of its departed builders color our ownAtlantic Monthly, just so did 17 Princes Street tinge and permeate the magazine which grew up in its precincts. “The length of vista presented to one on entering the shop”, says Lockhart, “has a very imposing effect; for it is carried back, room after room, through various gradations of light and shadow, till the eye cannot trace distinctly the outline of any object in the furthest distance. First, there is as usual, a spacious place set apart for retail-business, and a numerous detachment of young clerks and apprentices, to whose management that important department of the concern is intrusted.Then you have an elegant oval saloon, lighted from the roof, where various groupes of loungers and literary dilettanti are engaged in looking at, or criticising among themselves, the publications just arrived by that day’s coach from town. In such critical colloquies the voice of the bookseller himself may ever and anon be heard mingling the broad and unadulterated notes of its Auld Reekie music; for unless occupied in the recesses of the premises with some other business, it is here that he has his station.”53

52J. G. Lockhart:Peter’s Letters, V. ii, p. 186

53Ibid., V. ii, p. 187

From this it is evident Blackwood’s ideal shop was realized, and that there did gather in his presence both those who wielded the pen and those who wished to, those who were critics and those who aspired to be. At these assemblies might often be found two young men, who, says Mrs. Oliphant, “would have been remarkable anywhere if only for their appearance and talk, had nothing more remarkable ever been developed in them”.54These two, of course, were John Wilson and John Gibson Lockhart. She continues: “Both of them were only too keen to see the ludicrous aspect of everything, and the age gave them an extraordinary licence in exposing it.”55This is an important note, the “extraordinary licence” of the age,—a straw eagerly grasped at!—corroborated, too, by Lord Cockburn56who testifies:“There was a natural demand for libel at this period.” It explains much that we would fain explain in the subsequent literary pranks of these same two youths. They were ready for anything; and more,—enthusiastically ready for anything. John Wilson was a giant, intellectually and physically, “a genial giant but not a mild one”57. Lockhart had already made some small reputation for himself as a caricaturist. Perhaps it was insight into their capacities which strengthened Blackwood’s disgust with the two mild gents in charge of his to-be-epoch-making organ! At any rate, it was to these two, Wilson especially, that he turned for the resuscitation of his dream.

54Mrs. Oliphant:Annals of a Publishing House, V. i, p. 101

55Ibid., V. i, p. 103

56Henry Thomas Cockburn, a Scottish judge

57Mrs. Oliphant:Annals of a Publishing House, V. i, p. 101

John Wilson is the one name most commonly associated withBlackwood’s, and with the exception of William Blackwood himself, perhaps the most important figure in its reconstruction. The name Christopher North was used in the earlier years by various contributors, but was soon appropriated by Wilson and is now almost exclusively associated with him. In the latter part of 1817 he became Blackwood’s right hand man. He has often been considered editor of “Maga”, but strictly speaking, no one but Blackwood ever was. After the experience with Pringle and Cleghorn, William Blackwood would naturally be wary of ever again entrusting full authority to anyone. He himself was always the guiding and ruling spirit, though never admittedly, or technically, editor.

It was “Maga” that gave John Wilson his first real literary opportunity. His gifts were critical rather than creative, and his most famous work is the collected “Noctes Ambrosianae” which began to run in the March number (1822) ofBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine. He was one of the very first to praise Wordsworth; and though in general, far too superlative both in praise and blame to be considered dependable, a very great deal of his criticism holds good to the present hour. Along in the first days of Wordsworth’s career, Wilson proclaimed him, with Scott and Byron, “one of the three great master spirits of our day in the poetical world”. Lockhart, long his close friend and associate, writes thus: “He is a very warm, enthusiastic man, with most charming conversational talents, full of fiery imaginations, irresistible in eloquence, exquisite in humor when he talks ...; he is a most fascinating fellow, and a most kind-hearted, generous friend; but his fault is a sad one, a total inconsistency in his opinions concerning both men and things.... I ... believe him incapable of doing anything dishonorable either in literature or in any other way.”58

58A. Lang:Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart, V. i, p. 93

It was the pen of John Gibson Lockhart, however, almost as wholly as Wilson’s which insured the success of the magazine; and Blackwood was as eager to enlist Lockhart into his services as Wilson. Like Wilson, too, “Maga” was Lockhart’s opportunity! He had given early promise as a future critic.Elton says he wrote “sprightly verse and foaming prose”. From 1817 to 1830 he was not only one of the invaluable supporters of “Maga”, but one of its rarelights! In announcing the marriage of his daughter to Lockhart, Sir Walter Scott said: “To a young man of uncommon talents, indeed of as promising a character as I know”.59His gift for caricature colored his writings. His was a mind and eye and genius for the comic. His satire was that keen and bitter piercing satire which all are ready to recognize as talent, but few are ready to forgive if once subjected to it. But there was little malice behind it ever. Much of what he wrote has been condemned for its bitter, and often personal, import. But Lockhart was only twenty-three at the time of his first connection with the magazine—and what is more, “constitutionally a mocker”. All is well with his serious work, but according to Mr. Lang, the “Imp of the Perverse” was his ruling genius! Others say, “as a practitioner in the gentle art of making enemies, Lockhart excelled”,60and that he possessed the “native gift of insolence”61. They are strong words, not wholly without cause, and illustrate the attitude of many minds towards his work; yet perhaps they only go to prove that he began to write responsible articles too young, and was allowed entirely too free a swing.

59Ibid., V. i, p. 230

60J. H. Millar:A Literary History of Scotland, p. 517

61Same

The story of James Hogg is by far the most fascinating of those connected withBlackwood’s; and in a later series of articles in that magazine on these first three stars, thewriter says: “Hogg was undoubtedly the most remarkable. For his was an untaught and self-educated genius, which shone with rare though fitful lustre in spite of all disadvantages, and surmounted obstacles that were seemingly insuperable.”62It is difficult to ascertain his exact relations with the magazine. One thing at least is certain,—he contributed much. Wilson and Lockhart found great joy in “drawing” him, and Hogg was kept wavering between vexation and pride “at occupying so much space in the most popular periodical of the day”.63As Saintsbury puts it, he was at once the “inspiration, model, and butt ofBlackwood’s Magazine”64. But indeed the shepherd drawn so cleverly in the Noctes “was not”, his daughter testifies, “the Shepherd of Ettrick, or the man James Hogg”. And in all justice to him, there can be no doubt that he is totally misrepresented therein.

62Memorials of James Hogg, p. 11

63J. H. Millar:A Literary History of Scotland, p. 530

64Saintsbury:Essays in English Literature, 1780-1860, p. 37

His poetry is his only claim upon the world. It was the one thing dearest to his own heart, and the one thing for which he claimed or craved distinction or recognition of any kind. The heart warms to this youth with his dreams and aspirations, brain teeming with poems years before he learned to write. As might be expected from a man whose own grandfather had conversed with fairies, in Hogg’s poetry the supernatural is close to the natural world. He is reported once to have said to his friend Sir Walter Scott: “Dear Sir Walter! Ye can never supposethat I belang to your School o’ Chivalry! Ye are the king o’ that school, but I’m the king o’ the Mountain and Fairy School, which is a far higher ane nor yours.”65This “sublime egotism” is not displeasing in one whose heart and soul was wrapt up in an earnest belief in and reverence for his art. It is the egotism of a deep nature which scorns to hide its talents in the earth. James Hogg spoke to the heart of Scotland, and was proud and content in so doing.

65Memorials of James Hogg, p. x

To all appearances Blackwood was now the centre of a group after his own heart! With these three as a nucleus, others of considerable talent joined the circle. Talent, wit, keen and zealous minds were theirs, with enough fervor and intrepidity of spirit to guarantee that “Maga” would never again pass unnoticed. Henceforth there was sensation enough to satisfy even the heart of a William Blackwood! Whatever accusations were afterwards levelled at “Maga” (and they were many) no one could again accuse it of being either dull or uninteresting—the one unpardonable sin of book or magazine! The last thing that “Maga” wished to be was neutral! Better to offend than be only “inoffensive”; better to raise a rumpus than grow respectable! And from October 1817 on, “respectable” is the last word anyone thought of applying toBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine!

With its new grip on life in October 1817, the editorial notice of Blackwood’s omitted any profession of a new prospectus. It reads: “In place of a formal Prospectus, we now lay before our Readers the titles of some of the articles which we have either already received, or which are in preparation by our numerous correspondents.” Follows some two pages or more of titles alluring and otherwise, whereupon the notice continues: “The Public will observe, from the above list of articles, that we intend our Magazine to be a Depository of Miscellaneous Information and Discussion. We shall admit every Communication of Merit, whatever may be the opinion of the writer, on Literature, Poetry, Philosophy, Statistics, Politics, Manners, and Human Life.... We invite all intelligent persons ... to lay their ideas before the world in our Publication; and we only reserve to ourselves the right of commenting upon what we do not approve.”66That right was always reserved, and there was never any hesitancy on the part of any of them in acting thereon, as the magazine itself testifies.

66Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, V. ii, p. 2

A short paragraph of “Notices to Correspondents”67following the editorial notice, is of more than casual interest.Its flavor is shown by the following:—

“The communication of Lupus is not admissible. D. B.’s Archaeological Notices are rather heavy. We are obliged to our worthy Correspondent M. for his History of ‘Bowed David’, but all the anecdotes of that personage are incredibly stupid, so let his bones rest in peace.... We have received an interesting Note enclosing a beautiful little Poem, from Mr. Hector Macneil ... and need not say how highly we value his communication.... Duck-lane, a Town Eclogue, by Leigh Hunt—and the Innocent Incest by the same gentleman, are under consideration; their gross indecency must however be washed out. If we have been imposed upon by some wit, these compositions will not be inserted. Mr. James Thomson, private secretary for the charities of the Dukes of York and Kent, is, we are afraid, a very bad Poet, nor can the Critical Opinions of the Princes of the Blood Royal be allowed to influence ours.... Reason has been given for our declining to notice various other communications.” Many of the contributors, probably most of them, received personal letters; in fact, this paragraph does not appear in every number.

67Same

This number,Thenumber ofBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, the startling and blood-curdling number of October 1817, contained among other sensations, the Chaldee Manuscript, supposedly from the “Bibliotheque Royale” (Salle 2, No. 53, B. A. M. M.)—in reality a clever and scathing piece of satirecouched in Biblical language, which spared no one of note in the whole town of Edinburgh, and written by heaven knows whom! Its interest was strictly local, dealing with Edinburgh and Edinburgh personalities, written with the Edinburgh public in view; but its fame spread like wild fire! Like Byron,Blackwood’s Magazinewoke up one morning to find itself grown famous over night! As Mrs. Oliphant puts it: “Edinburgh woke up with a roar of laughter, with a shout of delight, with convulsions of rage and offense”. Its fame involved, however, not only the clamor of Edinburgh, but instant recognition throughout the kingdom. Result? Libel actions, challenges to duels, lawsuits, and—the suppression of the Chaldee Manuscript. Its fame has come down to the present day, but one peep at it involves carfare to the British Museum!

This amazing piece of literature seems innocent enough at first glance; and in truth it was what people readintoit rather than what they readinit that made all the trouble. Quoting from it:

“I looked, and behold a man clothed in plain apparel stood in the door of his house: and I saw his name ... and his name was as it had been the color of ebony, and his number was as the number of a maiden—(17 Princes Street, of course)....

“And I turned my eyes, and behold two beasts came from the lands of the borders of the South; and when I saw them I wondered with great admiration.... And they cameunto the man ... and they said unto him, Give us of thy wealth, that we may eat and live ... and they proffered him a Book; and they said unto him, Take Thou this and give us a sum of money, ... and we will put words into the Book that will astonish the children of thy people.... And the man hearkened unto their voice, and he took the Book and gave them a piece of money, and they went away rejoicing in their hearts.... But after many days they put no words in the Book; and the man was astonished and waxed wroth, and he said unto them, What is this that ye have done unto me, and how shall I answer those to whom I am engaged? And they said, what is that to us? See thou to that.”68

68Mrs. Oliphant:Annals of a Publishing House, V. i, p. 119-20

All this seems innocent tomfoolery enough—pure parody on our friend Ebony, and the two beasts Pringle and Cleghorn who “put no words in the Book”. But that was not all, Constable and theEdinburgh Reviewfigured prominently; and Sir Walter Scott who, we are told, “almost choked with laughter”, and Wilson and Lockhart and Hogg.

“There lived also a man that wascraftyin council ... and he had a notable horn in his forehead with which he ruled the nations. And I saw the horn that it had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and it magnified itself ... andit cast down the truth to the ground and it practised and prospered.”69

69Ibid., V. i, p. 121

Constable never outlived this name of the Crafty and the reputation of theEdinburgh Reviewfor “magnifying itself” lives to the present day. “The beautiful leopard from the valley of the palm-trees” (meaning Wilson) “called from a far country the Scorpion which delighted to sting the faces of men”, (Lockhart, of course) “that he might sting sorely the countenance of the man that is crafty, and of the two beasts.

“And he brought down the great wild boar from the forest of Lebanon and he roused up his spirits and I saw him whittling his dreadful tusks for the battle.”70This last is James Hogg. There were others. Walter Scott was the “great Magician which has his dwelling in the old fastness hard by the river Jordan, which is by the Border”71to whom Constable, the Crafty, appealed for advice. Francis Jeffrey was “a familiar spirit unto whom he (the Crafty) had sold himself”.72The attack on the Rev. Prof. Playfair, later so sincerely deplored inPeter’s Letters, reads in part thus: “He also is of the seed of the prophets, and ministered in the temple while he was yet young; but he went out and became one of the scoffers”73—in other words, one of the Edinburgh Reviewers! The spirit of prophecyseems indeed to have been upon the writer of the Chaldee, for it ends—appropriately, thus: “I fled into an inner chamber to hide myself, and I heard a great tumult, but I wist not what it was.”74The great tumult was heard, to be sure, and the authors fled to be safe.

70Ibid., V. i, p. 123

71Ibid., V. i, p. 122

72A. Lang:Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart, V. i, p. 161

73Same

74Same

Just who wrote the Chaldee will never be known; but all indications are that the idea and first draft were James Hogg’s, and that it was touched up and completed by Wilson and Lockhart, with the aid, or rather with the suggestions and approval of William Blackwood.

The number for August 1821 contains the first of a series of “Familiar Epistles to Christopher North, From an Old Friend with a New Face.”75Letter I deals with Hogg’s Memoirs. This is anticipating a bit, anticipating some four years, in fact, but is nevertheless apropos of our discussion of the Chaldee. Just who the Old Friend with a New Face was would be hard to judge. Mr. Lang has surmised him to be either Lockhart or De Quincey. It is a lively bit of work, worthy the wit of either, but the sentences do not feel like Lockhart’s. That both these men were friends of Hogg, encourages one to hope that the biting sarcasm of the thing was its own excuse for being, and came not from the heart. Such was ever the tone of “Maga”, however; and none can deny that once begun the articlemustbe read! Excerpts follow: “Of all speculations in the wayof printed paper, I should have thought the most hopeless to have been ‘a Life of James Hogg, by himself’. Pray who wishes to know anything about his life? ...

“It is no doubt undeniable that the political state of Europe is not so interesting as it was some years ago. But still I maintain that there was no demand for the Life of James Hogg.... At all events, it ought not to have appeared before the Life of Buonaparte.”76

75Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, V. x, p. 43

76Same

But to come again to our Chaldee Manuscript, the correspondent says concerning Hogg’s claim to its authorship: “There is a bouncer!—The Chaldee Manuscript!—Why, no more did he write the Chaldee Manuscript than the five books of Moses.... I presume that Mr. Hogg is also the author of Waverley.—He may say so if he chooses.... It must be a delightful thing to have such fancies as these in one’s noodle;—but on the subject of the Chaldee Manuscript, let me now speak the truth. You yourself, Kit ... and myself, Blackwood and a reverend gentleman of this city alone know the perpetrator. It was the same person who murdered Begbie!”—Begbie, by the way, was a bank porter, whose murder was one of the never solved mysteries of Edinburgh. “It was a disease with him to excite 'public emotion’. With respect to his murdering Begbie ... all at once it entered his brain, that, by putting him to death ina sharp and clever and mysterious manner ... the city of Edinburgh would be thrown into a ferment of consternation, and there would be no end of ‘public emotion’.... The scheme succeeded to a miracle.... Mr. —— wrote the Chaldee Manuscript precisely on the same principle.... It was the last work of the kind of which I have been speaking, that he lived to finish. He confessed it and the murder the day before he died, to the gentleman specified, and was sufficiently penitent....

“After this plain statement, Hogg must look extremely foolish. We shall next have him claiming the murder, likewise, I suppose; but he is totally incapable of either.”77

77Ibid., V. x, p. 49-50

It is altogether probable that Hogg’s frank avowal dismayed the men who had studied to keep its authorship secret for so many years, fearing lest the confession implicate his colleagues. At any rate, such vehement protestations as the above are to be eyed askance in the light of saner evidences. “Maga” was prone to go off on excursions of this kind; and William Blackwood had at last realized his dreamed-of Sensation! No doubt he knew the risk he took in publishing the Chaldee; but in the tumult which followed, he stood equal to every occasion. Hogg was not then in Edinburgh, and Wilson and Lockhart too thought it wise to leave town. The letters of the two latter to Blackwood during the days of the libel suits remind one ofthe tragic notes of boys of twelve a la penny dreadful! But Blackwood was firm and undisturbed through it all, disclaiming all responsibility himself, never disclosing a single name. The secret was safe and the success of “Maga” sure. In the November number, however, he saw fit to insert such statements as the following: “The Publisher is aware that every effort has been used to represent the admission into his Magazine of an article entitled “A Translation of a Chaldee Manuscript” as an offence worthy of being visited with a punishment that would involve in it his ruin as a Bookseller and Publisher. He is confident, however, that his conduct will not be thought by the Public to merit such a punishment, and to them he accordingly appeals.”78—And again, on a page by itself in the same November number appears the following statement: “The Editor has learned with regret that an Article in the First Edition of last Number, which was intended merely as ajeu d’esprit, has been construed so as to give offence to Individuals justly entitled to respect and regard; he has on that account withdrawn it in the Second Edition, and can only add, that if what has happened could have been anticipated, the Article in question certainly never would have appeared.”79

Back to Index Next