In these circumstances, he felt the need of fresh
capital, and applied to his friend Mr. William Kerr, Surveyor of the
General Post Office for Scotland, for a loan. Mr. Kerr responded in a
kindly letter. Though he could not lend much at the time, he sent Mr.
Murray L150, "lest he might be prejudiced for want of it," and added a
letter of kind and homely advice.
In order to extend his business to better advantage, Mr. Murray
endeavoured to form connections with booksellers in Scotland and
Ireland. In the first of these countries, as the sequel will show, the
firm established permanent and important alliances. To push the trade in
Ireland he employed Thomas Cumming, a Quaker mentioned in Boswell's
"Life of Johnson," who had been one of his advisers as to the purchase
of Mr. Sandby's business.
_Mr. T. Gumming to John Murray_.
"On receipt of thine I constantly applied to Alderman Faulkener, and
showed him the first Fable of Florian, but he told me that he would not
give a shilling for any original copy whatever, as there is no law or
even custom to secure any property in books in this kingdom [Ireland].
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