The Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart
Chapter 4: 1815-17
John Gibson Lockhart to Jonathan Christie, 18 October 1816
“Burnbank, Oct. 18, 1816.
“My dear Christie,—I
have been tossed about the country a good deal these six weeks past, which is
the only excuse I can think of, at this present, for not writing to you sooner.
I wrote to Hamilton, however, touching
the business of your last letter, so that I think myself, in some sort and
manner as it were, almost out of your debt. I have more need to make an apology
to Traill, which I beg you will do for
me in the meantime, and say I mean to do so shortly myself. Last week I spent
in Edinburgh, not that I am a member of the Caledonian Hunt, which then
assembled there—nor that I am a knowing one on the turf, though the
Musselburgh races were held—nor a lover of dancing, though there were
balls every night—but I went in to officiate at the funeral of an aged
female single cousin, on which occasion I had the
satisfaction of witnessing a facsimile of Mrs. Bertram
of Singleside her obsequies, the parallel holding good even as
to the legacies.1 Kean was in Edinburgh, however, and that part of the gaieties I
much enjoyed. Of four characters in which I saw him, Othello was my favourite, but neither Macbeth nor Richard were of
the number. Murray, the manager, with
whom I am a little acquainted, is a very gentlemanlike person; and in truth
well entitled to be so
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| 112 | LIFE OF J. G. LOCKHART. | |
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by his birth, as he is grandson to Murray of Broughton, the Chevalier’s secretary in
’45.1 He wished to show
Kean every attention in his power, but was given to
understand that Mr. Kean accepted of no invitation wherein
‘his friends’ were not included—meaning two of the most
despicable of Murray’s own candle-snuffers, with
whom Kean got drunk every night during his stay. Were I in
your shoes I would fain see Kean off the stage, and I
daresay you might easily manage it. Hamilton has been ill
of a quinzey, and is looking as ghastly as a spectre.
“In about three weeks I shall be in Edinburgh for
good, and I intend passing advocate the first week of the term, Q. F. F. Q. S.
You have thrown out two literary hints this summer, neither of which has been
neglected by me—one concerning reviewing, and the other touching a
periodical paper. The latter is a project whereon I have long loved to
dwell—even since the days of our meditated Western
Star, &c., Bristol Mustard Pot,
&c. &c. I think there are among my acquaintances several individuals
who could contribute richly to such a thing, but it is necessary to have a
stock-in-hand before we begin. Let me hear what your notions are at more
length. I have a friend in this neighbourhood, by name
Hodgson, an extremely accomplished man, and a great
dabbler in writing
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some years ago, though now the quiet
minister of a very small parish, who was applied to by Murray (Albemarle Street) not long ago, with a
view to an undertaking of this sort—who, though he declined at the time,
has been thinking a good deal of it ever since, and is anxious to see such a
thing set afoot. The worthy baronet might contribute a
few Greekified things—Taffy a few
Cambrian sketches. You might be ‘the young fellow in town’ of the
club—and I myself might depict Scottish men of this day. Oxford is a rich
field common to us all and untouched.—Yours ever,
J. G. L.
“Direct your next to me at Glasgow—40
Charlotte Street.”
Jonathan Henry Christie (1793-1876)
Educated at Marischal College, Baliol College, Oxford, and Lincoln's Inn; after slaying
John Scott in the famous duel at Chalk Farm he was acquitted of murder and afterwards
practiced law as a conveyancer in London. He was the lifelong friend of John Gibson
Lockhart and an acquaintance of John Keats.
Edmund Kean (1787-1833)
English tragic actor famous for his Shakespearean roles.
John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854)
Editor of the
Quarterly Review (1825-1853); son-in-law of Walter
Scott and author of the
Life of Scott 5 vols (1838).
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
William Henry Murray (1790-1852)
Actor and theater manager, the illegitimate son of the playwright Charles Murray; he
performed in Ediburgh adaptations of Walter Scott's novels.
James Traill (1794-1873)
Of Hobbister, Orkney; educated at Balliol College (Snell Exhibitioner) and the Middle
Temple, he was a police magistrate in London. Traill was John Christie's second in the duel
with John Scott.
John Williams (1792-1858)
Classical scholar educated at Balliol College, Oxford; he was a classmate of John Gibson
Lockhart and friend of Sir Walter Scott, whose son he tutored, and rector of the Edinburgh
Academy (1824-27, 1829-47).
