Poverty, obscurity, general ill-health,
and blindness are but unpromising qualifications for making an agreeable
volume of letters. If a shopkeeper at Portsmouth were to write his life,
the extracts of what relates to the two days of the Imperial and Royal
visit of 1814 would be amusing, though all the rest of the half century
of his life would be intolerably tedious. I therefore counsel you not to
buy the pig in Miss Hamilton's bag (though she is a most respectable
lady), but ask to see the whole collection before you bid."
The whole collection was obtained, and, with some corrections and
elucidations, the volume of letters was given to the world by Mr. Murray
in 1821.
In May 1820 Mr. Murray requested Mr. Croker to edit Horace Walpole's
"Reminiscences." Mr. Croker replied, saying: "I should certainly like
the task very well if I felt a little better satisfied of my ability to
perform it. Something towards such a work I would certainly contribute,
for I have always loved that kind of tea-table history." Not being able
to undertake the work himself, Mr. Croker recommended Mr. Murray to
apply to Miss Berry, the editor of Lady Russell's letters.
Pages:
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458