Jttt CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE WORDSWORTH COLLECTION FOUNDED BY CYNTHIA MORGAN ST. JOHN THE GIFT OF VICTOR EMANUEL OF THE CLASS OF 1915 DE QUINCEY'S EDITORSHIP '^hz Sitestmorlanb (^nzttU. DE QUINCEY'S EDITORSHIP C|e ^£stmi3rlaitb §mtik, SELECTIONS FROM HIS WORK ON THAT JOURNAL, yf/Z^p; /S/S', TO NOVEMBEU, iSig. T. KENDAL : Atkinson and Pollitt. LONDON : SiMPKiN, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. 1) i8qo. Do Vy l&l/lir, Ciy'd-^l^^ A(p3^lOj CONTENTS. / Page Introduction ... 3 Memorabilia ... 9 SiwNF.TS BY Wordsworth ... 25 Political ■•■ 33 Literary, Philosophical, and Economic .. ... 49 DE QUINCEY AND D R. Alexander W. Japp (Mr. " H. A. Page ") in his " Life and Writings of Thomas De Quincey," expressed the opinion that the EngUsh Opium Eater was " not born for a successful newspaper Editor." He established this literary heresy as " an accepted truth," by printing a few rather curious than characteristic specimens of De Quincey's Editorial work, as a whole, on the Westmorland Gazette^ and all subsequent biographers and critics, knowing nothing of the true hterary and political charm and value of his contributions to the columns of that newspaper, have been content to re-echo Dr. Japp's opinion. It is true that Professor Masson, in his charming monograph (" Eng- lish Men of Letters " Series) admits that " after all De Quincey seems to have done not badly in his Editorship, even by the standard of the Tory gentlemen of Westmorland ;" and he adds, "one thing the Editorship had done for De Quincey himself: it had given him a liking for the sight of printers' proofs; accordingly, his Editorship of the Westmoriand Gazette having come to an end some time in 1820, or been converted, by an understanding with the proprietors, into a mere contributorship thenceforward, he was on the out-look for other literary employment." The precise date of De Quincey's termination of his engagement on the Westmorland Gazette -wa.?, Nov. 5, 18 19, as shown by the minute book of the Proprietors, now in my possession. Professor Masson is, therefore, wrong about the year in which De Quincey gave up the Editorship of the Westmorland Gazette. The minute book contains this entry under date August 19, 1818 : "That Mr. De Quincey be paid ^9 for the three first weeks that he was engaged, and one guinea for each of the three last weeks," The 4 DE quincey's editorship of " guinea a week " was for De Quincey's leaders and articles written for the Gazette, the rest of the original salary went to a sub- editor, who it had been found necessary to employ to do the com- pilation of the paper. This carries his engagement back to July II, 1818, and his strong handed style appears in the leader of the succeeding issue on July 18. From that date onward there are evidences in the minute book of the Gazette of recurring mis- understandings, if not irritating " bickerings," between the Editor and the Proprietors. The crisis came in the autumn of 181 9. Unfortunately, De Quincey's letters, remonstrances, or explanations, if he wrote or made any, were not entered on the minutes, other- wise more light might have been thrown on the precise causes that led to the rupture. An examination of files of the paper indicate as one of the reasons, " incompatability of mind and purpose '' in the conduct of the paper. I remember many years ago having read a letter from De Quincey to the Proprietors, in which he laid the cause of his absence from the office on a critical occasion to the fact that he had to journey in winter time seventeen miles from Grasmere to Kendal in a chaise through snow above a foot deep, and the difficulty of travelling under such circum- stances had prevented him reaching the office in time. De Quincey at that time occupied Dove Cottage (so called from having for- merly been an inn with the sign of a dove and an olive branch), Grasmere. This cottage, " with two yew trees breaking the glare of its white walls," formerly had been occupied by Wordsworth, and De Quincey minutely describes the cottage as he saw it on his visit to Wordsworth in 1807, in his "Recollections of the Lakes and the Lake Poets." A minute under date, June 29th, 1819, says: — "That an intima- tion be made to the Editor expressing their (the Proprietors') sentiments of the great importance of a regular communication between the Editor and the Proprietors of the Westmorland Gazette by want of which it appears that great inconvenience has fre- quently arisen from the exclusion of the latest London news ; and the Committee trust that the Editor will take effectual measures in future to prevent a recurrence of that inconvenience which they conceive has arisen from his residing at so great a distance from the office. They also beg to suggest to the Editor the propriety of abstaining from direct remarks on any productions or observations which may appear in the Kendal Chronicle, THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE.' 5 " Resolved : That a copy of the preceding resolutions be sent to the Editor by the Secretary. " That the Committee hold their next meeting as soon as the Secretary receives a communication from the Editor." This resolution brought matters to a crisis, for I find that the next minute is dated " King's Arms, Kendal, 5th November, 181 9," where a special meeting of the Proprietors was summoned in consequence of the resignation of Mr. De Quincey. As those who attended that meeting were representatives of the Tory Party in Kendal at that day I append their names : — Rev. Jno. Hudson,* Vicar; Christr. Wilson, Esq. (in the chair), Mr. John Gandy? Alderman W. Wilson, Alderman T. Harrison, J. F. Swainson, Jos. Swainson, jun., Daniel Harrison, Jas, Johnson, Isaac Hadwen, Wm. Braithwaite, Thos. Holme Maude, Esq. These gentlemen resolved "That Mr. De Quincey be respectfully informed that his resignation is accepted." This is the last time De Quincey's name appears in the minutes of the Westmorland Gazette. An examination of the files of the Westmo7iand Gazette during De Quincey's Editorship certainly confirms the opinion that the work was irksome, uncongenial, and frequently distasteful. But, " if nothing succeeds like success," there is equal proof that he possessed some of the very highest qualities of an Editor. If he occasionally soared considerably " over the heads of his readers," he certainly raised the literary character of the paper. He also worked laboriously under most irritating circumstances, and fought the battle of Toryism with quite chivalric enthusiasm. That, be it remembered, was at a time when party spirit ran high and political warfare was conducted in the most approved Billings- gate style. If De Quincey sometimes graced his most ardent attacks and retorts with classic allusions and apt literary illustra- tions clothed in nervous English, it must be admitted that he too frequently took up weapons of a rough and ready sort. To Editorial work of this kind he was certainly provoked by the weekly assaults of the Kendal Chronicle and its Radical corre- spondents. These appear to have been of the most offensive personal character, but it must be admitted that they were liberally paid back in kind. In the extracts which follow, no attempt will be made to revive the details of these controversies. * One of Dawson's pupils and Senior Wrangler in 1797, afterwards Fellow and Tutor of Trinity, and subsequently Vicar of Kendal, 1815-43. 6 DE quincey's editorship of Without consulting the files of the defunct Chronicle * it would be impossible to form even approximately a correct judgment on their merits, and even when found it would hardly be worth while to "take a note of." I shall content myself with briefly explaining the circumstances under which De Quincey became Editor of the Westtnorland Gazette, and reproduce only such specimens of his Editorial work that possess a permanent value as throwing additional light on the literary labours of one of the most illustrious men of letters of the age. When De Quincey became Editor of the Gazette, in 1818, the hard fight was just over between Lord Lowther and his brother Colonel Lowther, on behalf of the Tories, and Mr. Henry Brougham, who, in conjunction with the Blues of the county, had undertaken the contest to try and break the Lowther monopoly of the representation of Westmorland, which they had then held unopposed for thirty years. In this the future Lord Chancellor was unsuccessful, as he was in his two subsequent tussels with the Lowthers. The close of the poll on Friday, July loth, 18 18, showed bhe votes to have been, for Lord Lowther 1,211, Hon. Colonel Lowther 1,158, and Mr. Brougham 889. Mr. Brougham's Kendal and Appleby Committees announced on the following morning that " at the close of the poll yesterday the contest for the county was given up." Both sides had worked hard with voice and pen. Wordsworth, under the nom de plume of " Philadelphus, " wrote a long letter to the Westmorland Gazette in which he vigorously attacked Mr. Clarkson, the Abolitionist, and Mr. Brougham, in whose favour Clarkson had written. Thus, by hard canvassing and letter writing, the interest of the electors throughout the quiet Westmorland dales and hillsides had been kept up at fever heat in speculating how the election would go, after the county had been blessed by so long a truce from political turmoil. Brougham threw himself into the contest with all the energy of his nature. He spared himself in nothing, but Conservatism was too strong a growth in Westmorland to be beaten even by his fiery onslaught. All the help that the then * The Kendal Chronicle was published for the last time on April 26th, 1834. In a note to correspondents the Proprietor says — "We understand that the paper that is to take our place is to be called the Kendal Mercury, and that the name of the Chronicle is to be dropped. No doubt the new paper will advocate the same political principles as we have. May it achieve the miracle of pleasing every Reformer. " The first number of the Kendal Mercury was published on May 17th, 1834. The " WESTMORLAND GAZETTE. 7 hereditary Sheriff of the county, the Earl of Thanet, could bring to bear was ungrudgingly put forth in Brougham's favour. Yet on the second day it was evident that the Blues were fighting a hopeless battle. At the close Mr. Brougham declared that " the Lowthers would have to meet him there at every election while he lived. If he died they would not be secure of their prey, for a flame would break forth from his ashes which would utterly con- sume their oppressors." Mr. Brougham threw up the sponge on Friday and the poll was closed. In publishing the above returns the Editor of the Gazette says — " In addition to these Lists, 44 Freeholders tendered their votes on Saturday morning for Lord and Colonel Lowther ; and Freeholders in their interest were pouring into Appleby on all sides. Had the whole been polled, the majority would at least be increased 200 beyond its present number." It was in the midst of this excitement, during which all the old fighting instincts of the Border men were aroused, that De Quincey entered upon his novel duties of Editor of the Westmorland Gazette. A few words only are here necessary to explain the circum- stances under which Thomas De Quincey became the Editor of the Westmorlatid Gazette so far as these relate to his personal career, and the early years of his long residence in the Lake District. After leaving Oxford in 1808, De Quincey determined to return and settle at Grasmere, or as near as possible to the residence of Wordsworth ; but before doing so, he did his illustrious friend a signal service by editing, adding an appendix to, and correcting the proofs of the once famous pamphlet on " The Convention of Cintra." The merits of that controversy have long since been settled, and it is at this date not easy to appreciate adequately the fierceness of spirit with which it was carried on. At that time the only two men who thoroughly understood it, and all its necessities and consequences — Welling- ton and Napoleon — approved of it, and posterity has endorsed that view. The incident derives its interest to us, and in relation to the life of De Quincey, that the work he did, and did so admirably, for Wordsworth, was the means of more closely and firmly cementing the friendship between them. As all readers familiar with the literature of the Lake Poets know, the duty of arranging for De Quincey's occupation of Dove Cottage at Gras- mere, from where the Wordsworths removed to Rydal Mount, 8 DE QUINCEY'S editorship of the " WESTMORLAND GAZETTE. fell upon the immortal Dorothy, "thoughtful, careful, discreet Dorothy," as Dr. Japp justly calls her. The correspondence of. De Quincey beautifully justify the praise, and the recent publica- tion of Professor Knight's " Life of Wordsworth," amply shows that the Poet's sister was something more than a mere thoughtful careful, discreet woman : — a woman gifted with the spirit of divine poetry herself " And so," writes Dr. Japp, in his admirable "Life of De Quincey," "he entered upon the occupation of the little cottage, which henceforth for a quarter of a century, was to be closely identified with his name, after having been hallowed to my mind, by the seven years occupation of that illustrious tenant (Wordsworth) during perhaps the happiest period of his life ;■ — the early years of his marriage and of the first acquaintance with parental affection." It was here De Quincey married Miss Simpson, the daughter of a Grasmere yeoman, and " settled down " to literary work, with occasional flying visits to London, Somerset, Edinburgh, and elsewhere. De Quincey's contributions to the columns of the Westmorland Gazette were necessarily of a very miscellaneous character, and strictly scientific or homogeneous classification is impossible. Nevertheless, it has been deemed advisable to group the extracts under three "heads." The first — Memorabilia — relate to De Quincey's personal appeals to his readers, answers to corre- spondents, &c. These reveal individual traits of character, if not essential to a correct judgment of De Quincey the man, as distinguished from De Quincey the philosopher, will aid some- what in that direction. The second group of extracts will be strictly Political, and the third Literary, Philosophical, and Economic. Charles PoLLirr. Thorny Hills, Kendal, July, 1890. MEMORABILIA. As has already been explained, De Quincey entered upon his Editorial duties at a period of great political excitement, and in his first direct personal address to his readers we recognize the form, the features, and spirit of those memorable apologies, explanations, magnificent promises, and remonstrances in which he indulged during his term of office. Brougham had just been defeated, and delivered himself at Kendal of one of his most famous, or shall I say infamous, attacks on the Lowther family. It is necessary to refer to this incident for the clearer under- standing of De Quincey's first Editorial announcement. In his speech Brougham said : — " As soon as Parliament is dissolved they (the Lowthers) will have to meet me here at every election while I live ; even in my death they vvill not be secure of their prey ; for such a spirit will be created that a flame will burst from my ashes which will utterly consume their oppressors." " Perhaps," asks a contemporary, " the Westmorlanders will make a drum of his skin, like a second Zisca, and beat the row- de-dow of confusion upon, to. corruption in all ages." De Quincey at once seized upon Brougham's frenzied harangue and declared that " the snake is scotched, not killed ; the spirit of error is not dead, but sleeping ; and sleeping only in respect to the ultimate object proposed, but active and alive for purposes of immediate annoyance." He then proceeds with his Editorial Proniinciemento in the following strain : — " This spirit must be met by adequate counteraction ; and as one mode of conducting it, and in contribution to more powerful efforts from the resident gentry, this Paper will henceforth call the attention of the public, from time to time, to a dispassionate examination of all those questions in politics and legislation to which the errors above-mentioned chiefly point. In the prosecu- tion of this plan, it is not designed to keep awake the angry spirit, 10 t)E quincey's editorship of or to revive the local personalities, to which the heat of contest has given birth : that would be forborne, if it were only to obtaui a hearing from those of the opposite party. The purpose is, to present to the consideration of the Yeomanry of Westmorland and the Artizans of this town, in a series of short essays, as much as possible abstracted from what is specific and personal to the present case and parties, a clear exposition, and if it is possible a satisfactory solution, of the leading political questions which concern our time and nation. An early notice will be given of the substance and order of the essays ; and when this is done it it is hoped that, in consideration of the end proposed, assistance will be given as their opportunities of leisure allow, by some of the many intelligent and powerful minded men, for whom this town is so highly reputed ; and who, no doubt, in smaller bodies, are spread over the face of the county. The Editor trusts that this assistance will be given, in future more and more readily, in proportion as it comes to be felt from his tone and manner — be his deficiencies ever so conspicuous as to skill and ability, and however lamentably he may fall short of the success which he would willingly obtain — that he has written with deliberation, and with an earnest desire to enlighten the uneducated, and according to the measure of his knowledge, and in perfect fidelity to the suggestions of his conscience.'' De Quincey had entered upon a thorny path, and he did not smooth the way by employing towards his enemies the soft answer that turneth away wrath. He was assailed by the Kendal Chronicle as a " venal scribbler," an " old Jacobm," and a " degraded character," all of which sounds quite ludicrous in the true light we now possess of Thomas De Quincey. The reply showed our Editor in " good form " as a strong and vituperative contro- versialist ; in fact, his vocabulary of abuse was notoriously copious, richly varied, always incisive, and garnished with the graces of scholarly illustration and allusion. In this respect few Editors of modern time could rival Thomas De Quincey, and the late James Hannay, for some years Editor of the defunct Tory Daily Courant of Edinburgh, alone could surpass him. De Quincey, after un- burdening his soul, proceeds to make another avowal and ex- planation of his intentions as Editor. It is couched in the follow- ing passages : — " Accordingly he has noticed the attack in question solely THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE" — MEMORABILIA. 11 because it presented a fit occasion for explaining by what law he designs to guide himself in respect to such attacks for the future. He designs never to waste one word upon mere personal controversy, unaccompanied by attempts at argument : he designs this chiefly out of respect to the Public, and to the Proprietors of this Paper ; and in some degree also out of self-respect. He has no time to spare for disputes concerning any subject so unimport- ant as himself ; nor is there much space that can be spared for such purposes in the columns of this Paper. The late Canvass and Election, as managed by the supporters of Mr. Brougham, have left for all patriotic men much to do, and more to undo : and to this service he for one, with a total neglect of what concerns his own name individually, is preparing to address himself as energetically as he can. At the same time he is anxious to receive advise and admonition from all quarters ; and will not allow any angry or unjust expressions, levelled at himself personally, to stand in the way of the profit which he may reap from communications that may be in other points worthy of respect. Having said this, he need not add, that to friendly advice in a friendly spirit be will lend a tenfold attention : he is conscious that indignation, even where properly directed as to its object, may in its expression pass the limits of temperance and seasonable policy ; and, wherever this is pointed out to him, he will heartily express his sorrow, and will acknowledge his error practically by reforming it. • — For, though he cannot alter his opinion materially as to the tendencies of the late struggle, he is aware that the time and the occasion should always suggest tem- peraments and restraints to any feeling; and he would take great blame to himself if, by any irritating words of his, he should, in any man's mind, injure that just cause which, in one mode of supporting it, the Proprietors of this Paper have done him the honor to confide to his discretion.'' In the Gazette for August i, 1818, we have the first indication of one of the great changes De Quincey made in the general "get up" of the paper. It contains no editorial matter and hardly any general and local news. As a set off there are pretty full reports of the Yorkshire, Hertford, Salisbury, Wilts, and Winchester Assizes. During the whole of his connection with the paper, assize news formed, not only a prominent, but fre- quently an all-absorbing portion of available space. The author's 12 DE QUINCEY's EDITORSHIP OF fascination for the grim and ghastly incidents of life, so artistically shown in one of his very first essays in Blackwood's Magazine after he left the Gazette, viz., " Murder considered as one of the Fine Arts," is shown, not only in the detailed publication of trials all over the country, but in the careful selection of peculiarly mysterious and revolting cases. This state of things necessitated frequent apologies for the non-insertion of important news and communications, of which the following in the issue of the date mentioned is a fair specimen : — '"R. W.' and ' T. X.' are informed, that in order to adjust their communications to the space left by the heavy pressure of Assize news, it was necessary to take a greater liberty of com- pression and omission than under other circumstances would have been done. To ' R. W.' in particular the Editor has further to apologize for having altered and supplied a word or two for the purpose of restoring the connexion, which had in two instances been disturbed by the abridgments here accounted for." Again on August 8th he publishes over the column where Editorial matter ought to have appeared, but was "crowded out," the following : — " ' A Briton,' ' Philadelphus Alter,' and ' A Father to HIS Son,' are informed that it has not been found possible to insert their communications entire in this number, the columns being so much loaded with Assize news. It has even been found necessary to defer until next week part of that very Assize news ; in particular, the very interesting trial of Hussey, the evidence on whose trial had been collated, abstracted, and re-arranged pur- posely for this Paper." " This week it will be observed that our columns are occupied almost exclusively with Assize Reports. We have thought it right to allow them precedency of all other news, whether domestic or foreign, for the three following reasons : — First, Because to all ranks alike they possess a powerful and commanding interest ; Secondly, Because to the more uneducated classes they yield a singular benefit, by teaching them their social duties in the most impressive shape ; that is to say, not in a state of abstraction from all that may explain, illustrate, and enforce them (as in the naked terms of the Statute) ; but exemplified (and, as the logicians say, concreted,) in the actual circumstances of an inter. THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE" — MEMORABILIA. 1 3 esting case, and in connection with the penalties that accompany their neglect or their violation ; Thirdly, Because they present the best indications of the moral condition of society : taken for twenty-five years together, there is no doubt that from these Reports, better than from any other source, may the statesman and the moralist appraise the true state of this country ; and determine the problem which, in respect to its vital interests, is of leading concern — whether, in what relates to morals and respect for the written law, it be in a progressive state, (or, as some allege), in a state of declension." The same issue of the paper contains an account of the execution of Hussey for the murder of Mr. Bird and his housekeeper, at Greenwich, on the 7th of February, 18 18, but the evidence given at his trial does not appear until August 15th, when it is printed in full. As far as the readers of the Gazette were concerned, this was a case of " Jeddart Justice," — first hang a man, then try him. De Quincey's explanation of this feat is contained in the following notice to his readers : — " The Editor has printed in this week's Paper the Trial of Hussey, which, though prepared for publication, was of necessity excluded from last week's Paper in behalf of the greater general interest connected with the account of his Execution. It is now given for the following reasons: — First, because an implicit promise was made that it should be given ; secondly, because the Trial presents a remarkably interesting case of proof even to conviction elaborated from a series of circumstances and indirect evidences when placed in their due relations to each other ; and thirdly, because it exhibits a specimen of the mode according to which this Paper will in future state and arrange those cases in the civil or criminal jurisprudence of the country, where the evidence is intricate, or perplexed with details, and where the bearings and results consequently are not palpable to those who have little leisure to command." Clearly about this period, De Quincey was labouring under the influence of Assizes on the brain, and the ghastly and gory nature of the news must have been appalling to sensitive and nervous readers. On August 22nd we find him, for example, again com- pelled to print, among others, the following apology : — " The Editor owes an explanation to the gentleman who ad- dresssd a letter to him in his official character last week, from 14 DE quincey's editorship of Underbarrow ; immediately on its receipt, that letter was, in the technical language of the press, composed ; but was afterwards unavoidably excluded from that Number of the Gazette, in common with many other interesting articles, to make room for the last part of the Assize Report from Appleby — which did not reach the Gazette Office till nearly midnight on Friday. The Editor is too deeply sensible of the obligations to just and equal dealing imposed on him by his office, to have hesitated for one moment in allowing anyone an opportunity for temperately defending himself; especially when answering a statement which had been introduced into this Paper under sanction of his own impritnatur. In the present case it is true that the author of the answer was the original assailant ; and the article, which he answered, no more than a rejoinder to one of his own ; but the original attack not having appeared in this Paper, it is also true that, as in respect to the Editor and quoad ha?ic vicem, the rejoinder was to be held the original step ; and accordingly the answer to it from Underbarrow would, as a matter of right, have appeared in this week's Paper, unless the author had himself thought fit to withdraw it from the Gazette Office. " ' Philadelphus Atler,' and ' Juvenis,' are received, but, from their length, could not be inserted in this week's Paper ; an accumulation of other matter having obliged the Editor to postpone even the trial of the Godalming murderers, the evidence on which had been digested purposely for this Paper, with great care and labour, into a short but comprehensive abstract." The first hint of the development of the Westmorland Gazette into a cultured philosophical journal of the finest type, in fact of a type never dreamt of before by practical Editor or visionary savant, is to be found in a note in answer to a correspondent in the issue of September 12th. The writer in question appears to have been either a bit of a wag, or a simpleton, and it is not quite clear whether in the following notice De Quincey is fooling him to the top of his bent or trying to lure into the sacred Editorial arena a sage of Kirkby Thore : — " The Editor cannot conclude without expressing his admira- tion of the facetiousness of the Kirkby Thore writer, when he assigns as a reason for re-printing in the Chronicle the article of the Gazette upon which he proposes to comment — that in that way only can the object of his strictures gain the publicity which THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE" — MEMORABILIA. 1 5 is necessary for his purpose. The Editor in return begs to assure that writer — i. That the audience, to which the Gazette speaks, is already a numerous one, and in the best sense a respectable audience : — That it has increased and is increasing, though the Kirkby Thore writer may choose to add " and ought to be diminished ; and that too since the Election, (which is possibly more than the Chronicle can assert;) — ^3. That the Editor has means within his reach which will enable him still further to increase it ; — and 4. That among other persons whom he designs to add to his audience, is that constant reader of the Chronicle who dates from Kirkby Thore. He does not altogether despair of adding him to the number of his Correspondents ; but that he will have him among his Readers, the Editor is resolved : he grounds his determination in this point upon the fact (obvious to all who have read his preliminary letter in the Chronicle) that this constant reader is at any rate a person of education, and therefore cannot be supposed capable of resisting those spells of attraction lurking in the forthcoming Plan for improving and exalting the Paper into a philosophical Journal, by which the Editor will conjure him into the circle of his Readers. The development of this Plan has been hitherto of necessity delayed by the heavy pressure of Assize Reports. But the Assizes are drawing to a close : the promised Plan will soon be presented and thence- forwards the Gazette will have a constant reader at Kirkby Thore no less than the Chronicle.'" The inconvenience of De Quincey residing at Dove Cottage and editing the Gazette in Kendal very soon begun to tell adversely to the interests of the paper and the convenience and mental comfort of the author. For instance I find in the issue of October 3rd, 18 18, the following notice : — " The Editor of the Westmorland Gazette had designed to notice the plan for the conduct of the war against the Lowthers pro- claimed in the Chro7iicle of last week; and had accordingly drawn up an article on the subject. But on reaching Kendal he found that the columns of the Gazette were almost entirely pre-occupied by other matter which he had previously sent, &c." It will thus be seen that De Quincey did not possess, at least, one of the qualities of a good newspaper Editor ; he had but an imperfect idea of the relative value of different kinds of news, and was constantly engaged in the task of getting the quart measure into the pint 1 6 DE quincey's editorship of mug. We get a sad glimpse of one of De Quincey's recurring attacks of illness at this period in the following note on November 2ist : — NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. " The Editor of the Westmorland Gazette has to lament that a painful indisposition for some weeks past, which has made the act of composition very distressing to him, has prevented him from fulfilling many engagements heretofore contracted to the Public generally, or to particular correspondents. In other respects (especially in the selection and preparation of the articles) he has not allowed any personal considerations to interfere with the laborious discharge of his duty to the Public." Another glimpse of our author, ill and confined to Dove Cottage, appears in a review of certain observations made by London papers on the political relationship between England and Prussia. The merits of the dispute is of no consequence here, but the following characteristic note is : — " Writing in a situation of deep seclusion, and at a distance of eighteen miles from any town, we are obliged to discuss the question of date by a collation of probabilities for want of the requisite books which would have determined it in an instant : we may observe, however, that the London Papers in the midst of their redundant facilities for deciding the question in that way, have not argued it even on the probabilities nor on any more tenable ground than that of conjecture. With regard to the question of style, — we speak to that from a familiar knowledge of the language in which the letter was originally written ; to which knowledge the London Papers, by the vileness of their trans- lations occasionally given from the German Papers, have appar- ently as slender pretensions as they have to any other knowledge becoming a gentleman — a scholar — or a philosopher." Here is a curious Editorial note on that vile compound known as "Potato-Brandy": — POTATO-BRANDY. " 'An experimental philosopher' (quaere, an Exciseman.?), sign- ing \\m\'at\i Davus in last week's Kendal Chronicle has by insinua- tion taxed the Editor of the Gazette with two errors in a short article relating to Potato Brandy formerly inserted in the Gazette. The errors are these: first, that he has misstated the specific oravity of Potato-Brandy; secondly, that he may have mistaken the THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE." — MEMORABILIA. 1 7 specific gravity for an expression of the strength of that spirit. The Editor of the Gazette has only a single moment left for saying that the article in question was not (as Davus chooses to suppose) written by himself, but adapted from the Literary Gazette — as many articles must be at times — without previous examination. On this explanation the Editor stands acquitted of any mistake real or pretended. Nevertheless, the Editor thinks it beneath him to lay claim to any knowledge which he has not ; and, with respect to the real mistake, he frankly acknowledges, therefore, that he does not know what is the specific gravity of Potato-Brandy ; valeat quantum valere potest ! With respect to the second mistake, how- ever, he must take the liberty of saying to Davus — that he shews a little iniquity, becoming the name he has assumed, in pretending to think that any part of the article implied such a mistake. If it had, the Editor repeats that he was not responsible for it. To his verbal criticisms Davus is not to expect any answer but this — Ne Sutor ultra crepidajn ; let the exciseman confine himself to Potato-Brandy." In a prodigiously long article, in reply to what appears to have been a series of savage attacks in the Chronicle, De Quincey, in the issue of December 26th, unsheathes his sword, throws away the scabbard, and descends into the controversial arena with the following preliminary flourish : — " A newspaper is not like a book in its duration. Books are immortal ; for some of them last for ten or even fifteen years : but newspapers must content themselves with an existence almost literally ephemeral : a week is the term of their natural lives : and, of a newspaper exceeds that term, it may be said to have ' descended to posterity :' the readers of the second week are the posterity of a newspaper : after which they are not much heard of except by antiquarian trunk-makers and chandlers of eminent research. — On this consideration, the Editor of a newspaper must never stop hair-splitting in defence of his logic — or apologizing for his grammar and spelling. If he spells amiss one week, he must consult his spelling book and spell better the next. If the Chro?iicle knocks the Gazette down one week, the Gazette must get up and knock the Chronicle down the next. Motion and change of scene are the life of newspaper politics : there is no unpardonable crime but tediousness : and no sin, past benefit of clergy, but dulness : that Editor may be looked upon as a suspicious person who ever 1 8 DE quincey's editorship of gets as far in his divisions as ' fifthly ; ' indeed to divide at all may be accounted in him a misdemeanour; and to subdivide should not be held a bailable offence. " On this view of things, the Editor has forborne to attack many of his enemies. Some he may be supposed to have re- garded as a lion reposing at his ease in a forest regards an ape making faces at him from the branch of a tree, whom he slights no less as beneath his prowess than as inaccesible to his attack : others again he may have regarded as a lion regards a tiger whom out of policy he avoids to combat so long as he can avoid it. One Kirkby-Thore indeed there was with whom he broke a lance ; and occasionally he has skirmished a little with the Editor [or Editors — singular, dual, or plural] of the Chronicle. But in general, for the reasons he has assigned, he has shewn little of a fighting pro- pensity. His instincts have been rather constructive than de- structive ; his aims rather to build up than to demoHsh. And even, when he has maintained a dispute, he has declined to pursue it further than was necessary to his immediate purpose : accord- ingly with the above Kirkby-Thore he did not think it incumbent upon him in a political dispute to pursue him into his metaphysical blunders (as in the use of the word ^ ideal ^^ &c.) ; not even though the said Bore (we would say, Thore) had unjustly grounded upon that very error of his own a charge of nonsense against the Editor. Latterly however the Editor has become sensible that he has been too merciful : mercy may be carried too far : and he has for some time seen clearly that he must make an example of some one or more of these Chrojiicle culprits. Accordingly he had at last determined that there should be immediately proclaimed a general gaol-delivery of all the felons, literary or pohtical, that have yet appeared in the Chronicle; and a Session of Oyer and Terminer forthwith held for the trial of their several delinquencies. With this intention he had even drawn up the Calendar (containing the names of Moderatus Ccerulus Davus — and many others for whom justice gapes) when lo ! in last Saturday's Chronicle forth step two great villains, greater than all the rest, of murderous aspects and incomprehensible wickedness. Moderatus, Davus, &c., are so many saints compared with these : they are accordingly all allowed to traverse to the next assizes: for the Editor is resolved straightway and before he gets his breakfast to go to trial upon Q in a THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE." — MEMORABILIA. 19 corner and P. (2-— to find them both guilty — and to cut off both their heads with the same broad sword." In another lengthy article he replies to the irritating Corre- spondent " Q in a Corner," whose contributions in the Kendal Chronicle appear to have acted upon De Quincey as the red flag infuriates the bull. " Q in a Corner," and another Correspondent " P. Q.," appear to have bantered De Quincey 'probably very savagely about his literary, scholastic, and " good breeding " pre- tentions, and dubbed him a " scurvy pedant," which was not polite, to say the least of it. Now, if there is one thing more characteristic of De Quincey's style than another it is its purity, its undefiledness, its perspicuity, vigour, and absolutely correct use of words in their true meaning. He labours to point out to his adversaries what he meant by " good breeding.'' In one of the attacks De Quincey is told in plain Saxon that he is " a low- bred mercenary adventurer, without previous education, without manners, and apparently, without conscience or moral principle :" all of which reads quite refreshing in the light of our knowledge of De Quincey's true, simple, and generous character, and his rare and scholarly accomplishments. The retort occupied nearly three long closely printed columns, but we have only space for the following passages. Taking the words quoted above as his text, he proceeds : — " Now what is there in these words that has any reference either to the birth or to the rank of Editors } and yet P. Q. thinks it necessary to inform the Editor of the Gazette that a ' man's reputation does not depend on his parentage ; ' and both he and Q. ring changes upon the words aristocratical — patrician — arrogance, &c., &c., in a way which shews that both either do or affect to understand the word low-bred, as if it were synonymous with low-born. Was there ever ignorance equal to this in persons offering themselves to public notice as verbal critics ? Q. and P. Q. are informed that whatever the word ' ^z^/-bred ' may be taken to signify in their clubs, it means at present (among people of education) coarse-matmered. In the 17th century the word breeding was always used as equivalent to the word bringing up (or education in the most comprehensive sense, i.e., culture not merely of the intellectual but of the moral faculties and the manners : ' Such a man,' for example, it was said, ' had his breeding at Oxford,' Throughout the iSth century [it 20 DE QUINCEY'S EDITORSHIP OF had in general a more confined acceptation : it was used to denote manners, though still in a qualified way to denote them as the result of intercourse with polished society, and not as the result of native courtesy : thus, for example, when the Duke of Ormond is said by Dr. King (in his Anecdote lately published) to be the highest bred man in the Kingdom, — who but Q. and P- Q. understands anything else by that expression than that he was a man of the most refined manners of any in his day ? By Low-bred therefore the Editor meant wanting in that sort of self-restraint which results from habitual communication with people of refined manners ; that in this sense of the word many of the Public Journalists are low-bred, is a matter of notoriety ; and in no instance has it been more illustrated than in their treatment of her late Majesty. But a still more important want is their want of education ; and this want it was and not the want of rank and still less of high birth, upon which the Editor insisted as affecting their public relations injuriously. The fact, if it be one, is to the last degree important ; and being so, it must be open to any man — more especially to a man himself deficient in no point of regular education — to fix the public attention upon it ; and accordingly it is the design of the Editor to unfold this great national evil more fully and through the channel of a National Address. In the meantime, to protect his true meaning against that septuagint of misinterpreters who are always at work on his words in the pages of the Chronicle, the Editor begs to connect this general denunciation of the public journahsts with its proper restrictions and qualifications. First, he does not mean to extend his charge to the London Press (especially the daily press) generally: some of the London weekly journalists are men of no education ; but the proprietors of the daily papers (some of them in time of war have derived a clear income of ;^i5,ooo a year from the profits of a single paper) if not always themselves men of education, can easily obtain the assistance of Editors who are : and at any rate, when they are not men of regular education, the Editors of the daily papers are men of talent — and chosen on that account. Moreover, the daily papers of the Capital are enriched by frequent contributions from men of ability and various know- ledgeinall partsof the Empire. Together with much ignorance, there- fore much error, and much base sentiment, the London papers dis- perse much important knowledge and many profitable suggestions." THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE. '—MEMORABILIA. H The concluding passages are as follows : — " Thus much in vindication of his charge against the public journaUsts generally, by way of freeing it from the misrepresenta- tions sent abroad in the Chronicle with respect to himself as one of that body, the same explanation, which restores to its true shape what he said of others, restores to its just interpretation his temper in saying it — and rescues him from the charges of arro- grance, &c., brought against him by Q. and P. Q. To justify him for remarking any want in others it is enough that he is not him- self wanting in that point ; the deficiencies remarked were in education ; and Q. will not probably assert that he is deficient in any part of an English gentleman's education. — Let it however be observed that he said nothing directly of his own education : but if he had, what vanity could there be in proclaiming an advantage which he shares with so many thousand Englishmen both pro- fessional and non-professional ? Or, even if the advantage had been a much rarer one, surely a good education is a subject for gratitude in that emphatical degree which makes it impossible for any but a thoughtless mind to regard it as a subject for pride. Besides that to have received the most expensive and elaborate education simply implies that opportunites for gaining knowledge have been had ; but not that the opportunities have been improved, or the knowledge gained. Or, if credit were taken not merely for the means but for the result — not merely for the education but for the knowledge, even in that case what feelings does the fact sug- gest to any mind not of inherent levity but (as he said before) gratitude for the past and responsibility for the future ? Looking backward, it expresses a burthen of blessings received ; looking forward, a burthen of duties contracted. But if in neglect of all that is here said, the Editor had proclaimed in the most ostenta- tious manner his own advantages in point of education, in what way has Q. met and repelled his supposed arrogrance ? A rational man would suppose, by denying that he had enjoyed the advan- tages claimed. But instead of this Q. gives us a disparaging account of the Editor's station in society : to say that the journal- ists have not had the benefits of education, and thus by implication to say of himself that he has, is (says Q.) 'ridiculous vanity in so humble ' — a what ? ' in so humble a scholar^ one might have expected in vulgar logic ; but, to our surprise the sentence ends— ' in so humble a retainer of the aristocracy,^ This is about as 22 DE QUINCEY's EDITORSHIP OF rational as if in answer to a boast of exquisite skill in Greek a man should reply — ' Pretty arrogance this m a man who is no more than a half-pay Lieutenant of marines ! ' Nevertheless, — however irrational Q.'s statement of the Editor's rank is in it's position and as related to any thing either in Q.'s own paper or the one he was answering, — he would yet have forbore to notice it, if it had not contained (whether intentionally or not, is for the conscience of Q.) a gross violation of truth in a point of importance to the reputation of an obscure man, who is not yet sufficiently known in Westmorland to confide in his own character for the refutation of calumnious statements." De Quincey could be as magnanimous as he was vigorous and uncompromising as a partizan. In the Gazette for January i6th, for instance, he makes the following curious and peculiarly gentlemanly apology : — TO " Q. IN A CORNER." " The Editor had drawn up a letter of apology to this writer for an unjust and intemperate expression which escaped him in reference to a passage relating to her Majesty, which it now appears that he had misinterpreted. But being too indistinctly written to be eligible at the press, it is of necessity delayed until next week. ' Q.' has himself taken no slight licence of sneer and even of misrepresentation : but that did not reconcile the Editor to an expression of anger and discourtesy which, if he had had time to read over his paper 07ice before he sent it to press, he would certainly have cancelled as inconsiderate and unjust." The year 1819 appears to have dawned in Kendal in a perfect whirlwind of political mud-slinging, and into the fray De Quincey plunged with all the ardour of his nature. On January i6th he thus, in prominent type, proclaims AN ACT OF OBLIVION. " The Editor of the Chronicle has opened the new year with a proposal likely to be generally welcome to the County, by this time surfeited with electioneering politics, as it is suitable in temper and spirit to the season and the festival which is then commemorated. He proposes that an act of amnesty should be proclaimed by reciprocal consent of the parties in respect to all THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE.*' — MEMORABILIA. 2^ past offences. The Editor of the Gazette will not hesitate on his part to meet these advances of the Chronicle in the same frank spirit of conciliation, and with the same sincerity which he trusts have suggested them to the opposite party ; and will contribute whatever a newspaper can contribute to the promotion and support of the amicable measure proposed. For the credit, however, of his own sincerity, and that he may not on the one hand bring that into question by appearing to pledge himself to more than he does actually consider himself pledged to do by this act, nor on the other hand fetter himself needlessly by renouncing any just licence of discussion or even of retrospection to past discussions beyond what is strictly impUed in an act of amnesty, — he will take an early opportunity of marking with as much rigour of logic as may be the limits which to his judgment divides the privileges which he reserves from those which he renounces. — Meantime, as it would scarcely be fair suddenly and without previous notice to proclaim peace, and to deny all opportunity of turning out for another round, to those who may have supposed insults and grievances to retaliate, and considering that many men are of such temper that they will keep the peace more cordially and with more fidelity to their engagements if they are allowed full swing and license to their hostile feelings for one parting salute, he purposes to keep the Gazette open for three weeks to all combatants ; during which time (to use a nautical phrase) they may ' blaze away ' at their enemies as hotly as they choose." Again, at the end of another prodigiously lengthy article, in which he rolls " Q.," " Q. in a Corner," and the Kendal Chronicle under his controversial harrow, he thus delivers himself: — " This was not just in ' Q.' : and other instances of equal mis- representation the Editor might cite : but he forbears : and he forgives them all. And in return he hopes that Q. will consider him as now making the amende honorable for the angry expression applied to himself. Q. called the Editor arrogant — pedantic — silly — and half a hundred other names : the Editor said something like calling Q. a scoundrel. '■ De gustibtis 7ion est disputandum : ^ but on the whole the Editor will willingly exchange titles with Q. — This is a fair exchange ; what Q. loses in weight he gains in tale. In the meantime, joking apart, the Editor formally retracts the word scoundrelism ; wishes it unsaid ; and he begs of Q. to use 24 E>E QUINCEY*S EDITORSHIP OF the weight which he must naturally have with the Chronicle for getting it included in the meditated act of amnesty." There is a glimpse into the domestic circle of Dove Cottage, under peculiar circumstances. In the Gazette for January 30th De Quincey writes : — " On Thursday night, January 28th, an accident occurred at the house of Mr. De Quincey in Grasmere, which providentially terminated without injury to any of the family. Between one and two o'clock Mr. De Quincey was sitting up and writing : m a single moment a volume of smoke passed between him and his paper so suddenly as to darken it in one instant as much as if the candles had been extinguished. On looking round to the fire, nothing was at first seen ; but in half a minute a great fork of flames, extending to a place about four feet distant, sprung out from a crevice in one side of the grate. The rest of the family, who were then asleep, were called up ; and though only women, shewed so much presence of mind, that in half-an-hour (water being at hand) the fire was extinguished. On tearing down the mantel- piece and unfixing the grate, it was found that^ — the back-plate of the grate having in a course of ten years receded from the side parts — space had been allowed for the contents of the grate to fall into a cavity beneath the ' hobs : ' these droppings had probably accumulated for a long time in an ignited state : for the timbers about the fireplace, which were very old, were discovered to be eaten into with fire, and glowing brightly to a depth of two- and-a-half feet within the Avail. — The family were thankful that one of iheir number was sitting up, for within half an inch of the place whence the first flames sprang out, and separated only by the side of a bookcase, stood a collection of books, and the room being strewed on that evening with newspapers and the timbers of the house all old, there was Uttle doubt that in ten minutes the fire would have been inextinguishable in a place so remote from fire engines : and in that case it would have been very difficult for part of the family to escape, the windows being cottage windows and allowing no egress.— It is remarkable that, about nine hours before the accident, one of the family said she thought she saw a light in the crevice between the grate and the book- case ; but, upon examining, this was over-ruled and pronounced to be a reflection from the fire upon a bright mantelpiece ; and it was not afterwards remembered until the fire broke out." THE "WESTMORLAND GA2ETTE." — MEMORABILIA. 25 For a month De Quincey busied himself with a series of most elaborate articles on " The resumption of cash payments by the Bank of England," but these will be dealt with as shortly as possible in another part of this pamphlet. On February 6th, 18 19, Wordsworth addresses the following valuable communication to De Quincey, and it is now given as an interesting link between the two distinguished men and their connection with the Westmor- land Gazette, in the columns of which several of Wordsworth's poems originally appe"ared : — • To the Editor of the WestmorlaJid Gazette. Sir, — Having observed three original Sonnets of mine an- nounced as making part of the contents of the last number of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, you will oblige me by re- printing them in your journal from my own M.S. in which they have undergone some alteration since they were presented by me to Mr. Westall, with liberty to make what use of them he thought proper. I am, sir, respectfully yours, William Wordsworth. Rydal Mount, Feb. 3rd, 1819. SONNETS SUGGESTED BY MR. W. WESTALL'S VIEWS OF THE CAVES, ETC., IN YORKSHIRE. Pure element of waters ! wheresoe'er Thou dost forsake thy subterranean haunts, Green herbs, bright flowers, and berry-bearing plants — Rise into life and in thy train appear : And, through the sunny portion of the year Swift insects shine, thy hovering pursuivants : And, if thy bounty fail, the forest pants ; And hart and hind and hunter with his spear Languish and droop together. Nor unfelt In man's perturbed soul thy sway benign : And, haply, for within the marble belt Of central earth, where tortured spirits pine For grace and goodness lost, thy murmers melt Their anguish — and they blend sweet songs with thine.* * Waters (as Mr. Westall informs us in the letterpress prefixed to his admirable views) are invariably found to flow through these caverns. 26 DE QUINCEy's EDItORSHtP OF GORDALE. At early dawn — or rather when the air Glimmers with fading light, and shadowy eve Is busiest to confer and to bereave, — Then, pensive Votary, let thy feet repair To Gordale-chasm, terrific as the lair Where the young Hons couch ; — for so, by leave Of the propitious hour, thou mayst perceive The local Deity, with oozy hair And mineral crown, beside his jagged urn Recumbent : — Him thou mayst behold, who hides His lineaments by day, and there presides, Teaching the docile waters how to turn Or, if need be, impediments to spurn And force their passage to the salt sea tides. MALHAM COVE. Was the aim frustrated by force or guile When giants scoop'd from out the rocky ground — Tier under tier — this semicirque profound ? (Giants — the same who built in Erin's Isle That causeway with incomparable toil !) O had this vast theatric structure wound With finished sweep into a perfect round, No mightier work had gained the plausive smile Of all beholding Phoebus ! But alas ! Vain earth, false world ! — Foundations must be laid In heav'n ; for mid the wreck of IS and WAS, Things incomplete and purposes betrayed Make sadder transits o'er truths mystic glass Than noblest objects utterly decayed. THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE. — MEMORABILIA. 2'J The following, Mr Editor, suggested during one of the most awful of the late storms, is at your service, as a small acknowledg- ment for your civility, should you think proper to insert the fore- going. SONNET. One, who was suffering tumult in his soul, Yet failed to seek the sure relief of prayer. Went forth — his course surrendering to the care Of the fierce wind, while mid-day lightnings prowl Insiduously, — untimely thunders growl, — While trees dim-seen in frenzied numbers tear The lingering remnant of their yellow hair, — And shivering wolves, surpris'd with darkness, howl As if the sun were not ; — he lifted high His head — and in a moment did appear Large space, mid dreadful clouds, of purest sky, An azure orb — shield of tranquility, Invisible unlook'd for Minister Of providential goodness ever nigh ! During the month of February there raged a perfect tea-pot storm between the two local Editors over the circulation of the respective papers. The following forms part of a lengthy retort on the part of De Quince)', which is at least curious and cha- racteristic of the man. "... Without further inquiry we may be assured that neither paper has a large circulation in the county — nor can have. Out of the county it might be possible indeed, with certain means at its disposal, for any paper to command almost any circulation : what these means are we shall have occasion to say on a future occasion. — For the present we shall content ourselves with saying that the Editor's personal friends, in the three chief Universities of Great Britain and in that of Dublin, as well as in many other great cities, will always give him the means (if he had no better means) of obtaining a very considerable circulation for the IVes^- morland Gazette if he should think it fit to call upon his friends 28 DE QUINCEy's EDITORSHIP OF for that testimony of friendship. In the meantime we are assured that all those who have any gentlemanly feelings among the opposite party will disapprove of so brutal an expression of vulgar insolence as this everlasting triumph of the Chronicle (without any proof alleged) in a supposed superiority to the Gazette in extent of circulation. If the Chronicle insinuates that a larger circulation is a proof of greater merit, then at least it should be left for others to say. If it is not the demerits but the misfortune of the Gazette to be (as it alleged) below the Chronicle in circulation — then it proves nothing : and it is pretty much like the ignoble triumph of uneducated persons in a full purse. But this subject we have said more about than it deserved. As to the rest of the Chronicle's cox- combry — we are well content that an article of ours should be thought dull by a writer whose censure confers honour. We are content even occasionally to be thought dull by better judges. For after all dulness is a crime, which though of great magnitude does occasionally beset us all : if not by our own fault, at any rate by the fault of our subject. " Hanc veniam petumisqite damusque vicissim." On April 17th I)e Quincey makes this Editorial announce- ment : — " Next week the Editor of the Gazette will make a communica- tion to the public which, to the higher class of readers, cannot fail to be interesting." This great manifesto, however, did not appear on the 24th, but in its stead an announcement that the Editor was engaged com- posing it, and a promise of publication on May ist. It did not appear even on that day, but on May 8th, and here it is in all its grandiosity and pomp of promise : — COMMUNICATION TO THE READERS OF THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE." [N.B.— This communication was delayed for one week after it was promised by want of room, and for a second week by an accidental failure of catching the post at a distance of four miles.] " The Editor of the Westmorland Gazette purposes to substitute for the extracts hitherto made from a literary Journal of the Metropolis, a class of articles which will give to the Gazette an THE " WESTMORLAND GAZETTE." — MEMORABILIA. 29 interest and a character of originality scarcely claimed by any English Journal even exclusively devoted to literature. Hitherto, upon an average, perhaps, t-A^o and three columns alternately out of twenty (or five every fortnight) have been occupied by miscellane- ous articles extracted from the Literary Gazette. Without making any charge for the present in the proportions of the paper (which he does not feel disposed to do without express warrant from the Proprietors), — and assuming therefore that two columns and a half are disposable in every week for the business of a literary and philosophical journal, — he designs to fill that space with four classes of articles, viz. I. With Statistical Tables — British and Continental. — II. With Original Essays. — III. With a Horilegium collected from the most unfrequented parts of European Literature (especially English). — IV. And chiefly with translations from the best parts of German Literature, and more rarely from the German Philosophy. I. The Editor believes that in London a journal, occupied exclusively with statistics, would have very great success. The tables for this country will be printed from the Reports of the House of Commons — from those of the Agricultural Society, &c. Those for the Continent will be extracted from works of analogous authority in the French language (for France), and in the German language (for the rest of Europe). II. The subjects of the essays are likely to attract notice from their novelty; and a list of about nine or ten will be published next week. III. This class will admit none but such articles as appear to come under these two conditions ; first, that they shall be of extra- ordinary interest ; secondly, that they shall from their situation appear to be of little notoriety. The second condition will not be thought realized, unless the article proposed for admission shall stand either first in a book of very ancient date, or secondly in a modern book of unusually high price, or thirdly, in a book of vast extent (such as the various collections of State papers — National Archives and Monuments, Antiquarian, Dip- lomatic, &c. — the old Chronicles of the different European nations — or generally any extensive Corpus of materials whatso- ever, such as the Byzantine History — the Greek and Latin Fathers — the Acta Sanctorum — the collections of Muratori — the English State Trials — the French Collection of Memoirs, 30 DE quincey's editorship of &c., &c.) ; or fourthly, in a book which from its general subject appears to have been very little read — or which appears, from having never reached a second edition (whether otherwise fitted or not for popularity), to have been in fact but little read. IV. Upon this class it is that the Editor peremptorily challenges for the literary journal which he now announces an originality and a depth of interest superior to that which any English Journal whatsoever can claim. The German literature is in certain classes the most opulent in Europe. It is a perfect Potosi : and the English nation have as yet imported nothing but the coarsest part of the ore. In Poetry and the finer and more spiritual parts of literature, the merit of the Germans is generally overrated, certainly very much overrated, by themselves. Goethe for instance, is that one among their own poets whom they most idolize. His closest English representative is perhaps Walter Savage Landor — a man of transcendant genius. And most unquestionably, in a degree of power, the German poet is immeasurably below the English ; though in kind, as we have said, more frequently than any other English writer reflecting the characteristics of Goethe. Again, try the pretensions of the German poetry in the persons of Schiller, Wieland, or Burger ; and it must be admitted that on comparison with some English writers of modern times, even they all appear utterly contemptible, even Schiller's fine drama of Wallenstein, as it appears in its English dress, is indebted for all its splendours to the admirable genius of its translator, Coleridge ; It is very fit that Madame de Stael's friend Schlegel, who thinks Ossian a great poet, should think his own countrymen also great poets (and himself probably among the number) an Englishman, who has formed his jud'^ment in that matter from the mighty writers of England, must have leave to differ with Mr. Schlegel. It is fit also that the same Mr. Schlegel, who was incapable of reading any philosophic work, should take upon him to criticise the great author of the modern German philosophy. But an Englishman, who knows the in- firmity of his own literature, must acknowledge that in all branches of philosophy, not England only, but all Europe, ought to yield the precedency to the Germans. It is in this department of intellec- tual power, in various branches of science, in historical documents and archives, and universally in all inquiries which demand very THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE." — MEMORABILIA. 3I patient and elaborate research that Germany is eminent — and eminent above all competition from either ancient or modern times. It is from these departments of German literature that the Editor will draw his materials. The reader need not however fear that he will be oppressed by German metaphysics : reverence for the illustrious founder of the great modern metaphysical system — would of itself prevent him from bringing forward in a fugitive work any exposition of that vast creation of human in- tellect. In the philosophical department he does not design to go beyond the shorter essays in which popular applications are attempted of philosophical principles to questions of politics — legislation — ethics — conduct of the understanding — education, &c., &c. In general it will be his object to give something of unity to the four different departments of his journal by directing them all into a common service ministerial to the purposes of a wise and enlightened patriotism. Very rarely he designs to introduce essays upon the sublimer parts of Physics ; as for ex- ample, the Universal Theory and Natural History of the Heavens by Immanuel Kant. But for the most part he will confine himself to those parts of the German literature which have a moral interest. A further notice will be given next week. " The "further notice" promised on May 8th for "next week" really never appeared, and the brief Editorial announcements made from time to time until De Quincey terminated his con- nection with the Gazette reveal a growing spirit of friction between him and his employers, and a great irritation of temper which show how his troubles as Editor became greatly aggravated as weeks and months rolled on. On May 29th he publishes the following programme : but of course it never was adhered to : — " Notice. — The Editor will open the Journal of which he formerly gave notice on Saturday, June 12th : the first number will contain the following articles: — i. Immanuel Kant of England, or a letter to a friend on the study of Transcendental Philosophy ; with some account of the English Expounders — The Edinburgh Review, Mr. Coleridge, and others. — 2. Mode of valuing Money in the Continental Mints. The second number will contain : — Hints towards a history of gold and silver. 2. The Planet Uranus. — 3. Memorabilia from the Pocket Book of a Scholar. 32 DE QUINCEY's EDITORSHIP OF THE "WESTMORLAND GAZETTE." The third number will contain : — i. An analysis of Two Essays by Wolf and Kant on the introduction of mathematical con- ceptions into philosophy. 2. Earthquake. In the issue for July 31st occurs the following curious announcement : — "The Editor has received a letter dated July 14 — from a Pro- prietor of the Westmorland Gazette. To this letter he would willingly have paid the attention which is due to the character and station of the writer and his relation to the Paper, in the number immediately succeeding : but circumstances which are of no public interest have put it out of his power for some weeks back to attend with sufficient zeal and exertion to his public duties. Next week, however, he purposes to notice it fully." Of course no such answer appeared, and up to the end of November, when De Quincey finally ceased to be Editor he appears to have done very little regular work for the paper. This is the last " Editorial Note " we find from De Quincey in the columns of the Westmorland Gazette for November 27, 1819: " If ' Serena ' had lived in the days of Sternhold and Hopkins he (we believe the author is of masculine gender) might probably have acquired the name of a Poet : but his total neglect both of number and harmony renders his effusions altogether unfit for admission into the Gazetted POLITICAL. The political circumstances under which De Quincey became Editor of the Westmorland Gazette have already been explained, and in reproducing some specimens of his controversial methods and style it will only be necessary to make few and short ex- planatory observations. The first article, dated June 20, 181 8, deals with Brougham's " public entry into Kendal" on June loth and the speech he delivered on that occasion. The article /