Quarterly Review
VOLUME 16 , NUMBER 31 (October 1816)

NOTES

• This Number was published 11 Feb. 1817 [Courier advertisement, 7 Feb. 1817; Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816; Grierson IV 363n]
  
  
• The Number sold out completely—7587 copies—on the first day of sale. That total is additional to subscription copies.  [Murray MS., WG to John Taylor Coleridge, 13 Feb. 1817]
  
  
• Gifford was paid his usual amount for editing the Number, £150 [Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816]
  
  
• On page 279 of this Number is an editor's note correcting an anecdote recorded in Number 30, #398 page 562. The emendation was made at the instigation of David Hume, nephew of the historian
  
  
• Murray MS., WG to JM, 26 Dec. 1816, Thursday night: 'As your man is waiting I can only say that I am neither hurt nor angry. I certainly have made several observations of late, which have given me cause to think—but I shall consult others before I speak—meanwhile I will proceed conscientiously with the No.'
  
  
• An article consisting of 29 pages destined for this Number was cancelled [Murray MS., Cash Day Book 1817-1819, p. 47, dated 18 January 1817]
  
  
• Items for 1817 from Jack Lynch's literary resources page, slightly modified and with additions:
  
  
  • Continuing industrial depression and unrest in England. Riots occur at the opening of Parliament; a working-class insurrection is put down in Derbyshire; seven members of the Society of Luddites are hanged under the Frame-breaking Bill; the "Manchester Blanketers" march on London; Hampden Clubs petition Parliament for reform; May-June, Oliver the Spy, a government agent provocateur, urges a general rising; in June Jeremiah Brandreth leads an abortive rebellion at Pentridge, Derbyshire. 
    
  • Political unrest in England leads in March to passing of the so-called Coercion Acts, including the suspension of Habeus Corpus and the suppression of radical and democratic societies.
    
  • A bill for the relief of Roman Catholics from civil and religious disabilities was defeated in 1817, but Roman Catholics are admitted to the Army and Navy; additional legislation passed to enforce duty to maintain curates (57 Geo. III. c.99, cl. xlviii ff.); in May 1817, Thomas Chalmers is a sensation in London.
    
  • Black Dwarf, a radical magazine, is founded by William Hone. Hone is put on trial by the government over his publishing of Political Litany.
    
  • Oct. 1817 Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine is founded with John Murray having a part-interest in the journal; Byron publishes Beppo: A Venetian Story and Manfred: A Dramatic Poem; Coleridge publishes Biographia Literaria and Sibylline Leaves, the first volume of his collected poems. The edition contains "Dejection, an Ode" and a revision of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"; Keats publishes Poems (see QR #473); in May Mary Shelley finishes Frankenstein (see QR #458); Jane Austen dies.
    
  • David Ricardo publishes Principles of Political Economy and Taxation; James Mill publishes his History of India
    

• Important or otherwise interesting articles in this number include: #399, #404, #407, #408, #409
  
  
• Number of definite attributions for this issue: 8
  
  
• Number of probable or possible attributions for this issue: 3

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CONTENTS, IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRIBUTORS, AND HISTORICAL NOTES

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399 Article 1. Legh, Narrative of a Journey in Egypt and the Country beyond the Cataracts, 1-27. Author: John Barrow.

Running Title: Legh's Narrative of a Journey in Egypt and Nubia.

Notes: In attributing the article to Barrow, Shine cites only JM III's Register. 

The following evidence and discussion is published here for the first time. Murray MS., Book Loans Register: the book reviewed was sent to 'John Barrow' on 9 Nov. 1816. The article is referred to in #472, which is also by Barrow. In his QR articles, it was Barrow's signature practice to refer to his own works. The author was paid £17.11 for the article (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816). John Murray published the book under review.

The possible influence of this article (and the critical authority of the QR in general) in the development of Shelley's 'Ozymandias' (1818) has been overlooked. As is well known, Shelley and his circle loathed and feared the QR for its politics and the supposed tyranny of its criticism, so much so that Hunt and Hazlitt, who by the time Shelley wrote his poem had been the object of critical stings (Hunt #374, Hazlitt #425), issued prose invectives against the QR's editor. Shelley, against all logic and reason, some years later blamed Keats's death on the QR's 1818 review of Endymion (#473, an article by Croker, although Shelley and others blamed Gifford for it). With the imagery and themes of Shelley's famous poem in mind, it is reasonable to speculate that in 'Ozymandias' Shelley may have subliminally or even self-consciously figured-forth his hatred of Gifford.* The 'sneer of cold command' can be seen as a comment on the QR's critical despotism. The poem is often read as a meditation on the impermanence of power; why not, then, a meditation on the fleeting nature of the critic's invective and the ultimate triumph of the poet's art. Contemplating the QR as rhetorical occasion—Barrow's article as a crucible of imagery and the real source of some of Shelley's famous lines—could be a fruitful line of inquiry. See especially pages 9-11 of the article: '... that one single measurement of the remnant of a statue of red granite, lying among the ruins of the Memnonium, "whose dimensions across the shoulders were twenty-five feet," ... surrounded as they were by whole colonnades of gigantic columns, some of them seventy feet high ... and by fragments of colossal statues, whose dimensions almost exceed belief. ... Among the ruins of Luxor, Pococke measured a statue of one single stone sixty feet high; but he found no traces of the statue of Osymandyas, whose foot (said to be 10 1/2 feet long) bore this inscription:—"I am the king of kings, Osymandyas—if any one would know how great I am, and where I lie, let him exceed the works I have done.' ... many illustrious travellers of antiquity, who had come thither to hear the sounds emitted by the statue when struck by the first rays of the sun ....'

*(Shelley and his friends thought the review against them were by WG; really John Wilson Croker and John Taylor Coleridge were the reviewers of Shelley and his circle.)

The subject of this article was reviewed in ER #782, Dec. 1816, possibly by E. D. Clarke.

[Bookseller's note: 'Legh travelled in Egypt during 1812-1813 with Rev. Charles Smelt, whose journal Legh used in this narrative. Exploring above Aswan, they reached as far as Nubia, where they were among the first modern explorers to examine the temples.' (Blackmer auction 776)]

JM II's marked QR: 'Barrow'. 

JM III's Register: attribution to Barrow, but without evidence.

400 Article 2. Phillips, The Emerald Isle, a Poem. Dedicated by Permission to the Prince Regent. Embellished with a full length Portrait of Brian Borhoime, King of Ireland; The Speech of Mr. Phillips delivered in the Court of Common Pleas in Dublin, in the Case of Guthrie versus Sterne; Speeches of Mr. Phillips on the Catholic Question; Authentic Report of the Speech of the celebrated and eloquent Irish Barrister, Mr. Phillips, delivered at Roscommon Assizes; The Speech of Counsellor Phillips on the State of England and Ireland, and on a Reform of Parliament; delivered at Liverpool, Oct. 31, 1816, 27-37. Author: John Wilson Croker.

Running Title: Counsellor Phillips's Poems and Speeches.

Notes: In attributing the article to Croker, Shine cites JM III's Register and Brightfield 454. (Brightfield depends on the same source as JM III.) 

The following evidence is published here for the first time. Claimed by Croker in five of his Clements Library MS. lists and included in the Cambridge University bound volumes of Croker's articles. The author was paid £6.11.6 for the article (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816). On page 289 of QR XVII, Number 33 is a Note respecting the globe mentioned on p.165 of this article. The Note reprints a letter from J. Phillips dated 5 Mar. 1817. 

The subject of this article was reviewed in ER #809, Nov. 1817, possibly by Henry Brougham.

JM III's Register, attribution to Croker, but without evidence.

401 Article 3. Sumner, A Treatise on the Records of Creation, and on the Moral Attributes of the Creator, with particular Reference to the Jewish History, and to the Consistency of the Principles of Population with the Wisdom and Goodness of the Deity, 37-69. Author: John Weyland, probably.

Running Title: Sumner's Prize Essay.

Notes: In attributing the article to George D'Oyly, Shine cites only JM III's Register. In suggesting John Weyland as an alternative, queried, attribution Shine quotes from David Ricardo Letters VII 247, Ricardo to Hutches Tower, 26 Jan. 1818, in regard to this article: 'Report says that Mr [John] Weyland was the reviewer.' 

The following information is published here for the first time. The author is anti-Malthusian (p.50). The DNB says of Weyland: '... he deprecated too much education for the poor, and affirmed that a certain degree of hardship was a necessary incentive to industry.' (See the article p.52 for parallel sentiments.) Weyland's Principles of Population and Production was reviewed in #385, by Southey. The author was paid £21 for the article. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816) 

JM III's Register: attribution to D'Oyly, but without evidence.

402 Article 4. Campbell, A Voyage Round the World, from 1806 to 1812; in which Japan, Kamschatka, the Aleutian Islands, and the Sandwich Islands were visited, &c., 69-85. Author: John Barrow, probably.

Running Title: Campbell's Shipwreck and Voyage.

Notes: In attributing the article to Barrow, Shine cites only JM III's Register. 

The following evidence and information is published here for the first time. Internal evidence suggests that the article is almost certainly by Barrow, but no objective evidence to secure the attribution to Barrow has been discovered. The author introduces topics that Barrow frequently treats in other reviews and expresses opinons that are consistent with Barrow's views elsewhere. On p.82 the author illustrates his idea that Christianity elevates women's morals, using the example of Robert Adams of Pitcairn Island of Bounty mutiny fame. The identical sentiment and illustration of it appears in #347 (p.380), an article by Barrow. The author denies cannibalism (p.80), and dwells on female form (p.79), both of which are preoccupations of Barrow's in a number of his articles. The author is more negative toward missionaries here than Barrow is elsewhere: 'Little as we are disposed to attach value to the missionary labours, in general, for their progress in converting savages to the Christian religion, and least of all to those of the Evangelical or Methodist missionaries,—whose ignorance and absurd conduct and conversation make them, in fact, a laughing-stock even to the savages ....' but nevertheless calls for 'the  Church of England to be sent. ... ' The author, as Barrow is elsewhere, is sympathetic to the equality of women: 'If Christianity had no other advantage than that of placing women on a level with the other sex, the dissemination of it is well worth our best exertions.'  The author was paid £10.4.4 for the article. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816)

JM III's Register: attribution to Barrow, but without evidence.

403 Article 5. Beckett, Shakespeare's Himself Again! or the Language of the Poet asserted; being a full and dispassionate Examen of the Readings and Interpretations of the several Editors. Comprised in a Series of Notes, Sixteen Hundred in Number, illustrative of the most difficult Passages in his Plays—to the various editions of which the present Volumes form a complete and necessary Supplement, 85-89. Author: William Gifford, probably.

Running Title: Shakespeare's Himself Again!

Notes: In attributing the article to Gifford, Shine cites only JM III's Register. 

The following evidence and information is published here for the first time. Murray MS., Book Loans Register: the book reviewed was sent to 'W. Gifford' on 20 Jan. 1816. The brevity and caustic tone suggest Gifford; editing Elizabethan texts was Gifford's forte. The author was paid £2.12.8 for the article. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816)

JM II's marked QR: 'Gifford'. 

JM III's Register: attribution to Gifford, but without evidence.

404 Article 6. Duncan, An Essay on the Nature and Advantages of Parish Banks for the Savings of the Industrious, &c. with Remarks on the Propriety of uniting these Institutions with Friendly Societies; A short Account of the Edinburgh Savings Bank; Report of the Committee of the Highland Society, on the Nature of Savings Banks; Taylor, A Summary Account of the London Savings Bank; Third Report of the Edinburgh Society for the Suppression of Beggars, for the Relief of occasional Distress, and for the Encouragement of Industry among the Poor, &c. to 1st Nov. 1815; First Year's Report of the Bath Provident Institution, established Jan. 1815; Rose, Observations on Banks for Savings; A Bill for the Protection and Encouragement of Provident Institutions, or Banks for Savings, Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 15th May, 1816, 89-116. Author: Robert Lundie.

Running Title: Tracts on Savings Banks.

Notes: In attributing the article to William Sydney Walker, Shine cites only JM III's Register. Shine queries the Register's attribution, however. In suggesting Robert Lundie as a queried alternative, Shine summarizes Murray MS. Robert Lundie to JM, 15 July 1816:  'Lundie is sending Murray an article on Savings Banks, which he hopes will be printed in the next QR. He thinks the article contains a great deal of curious and little-known information. It was prepared at considerable expense of time and money. Gifford has not yet told him where to send it. Notation on letter suggests: QR, no. 31, Art 6.' 

The following discussion is published here for the first time. There is no reason to qualify the attribution to Lundie. See also George Duncan, Memoir of the Rev. Henry Duncan (1848) p. 95. The author was paid £17.18 for the article (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816). 

The subject of friendly societies was the occasion for QR #317, an article by George Canning. Friendly societies was also the subject of an article in ER, #727, June 1815, written by an unidentified author. 

JM III's Register: 'Rev.—Walker (Cambridge),' but without evidence.

405 Article 7. Poems, by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. in Three Volumes, Vol. III, containing his Posthumous Poetry, and a Sketch of his Life. By his Kinsman, John Cowper, L.L.D. Rector of Faxham with Welborne, Norfolk; Memoir of the Early Life of William Cowper, Esq. Written by Himself, and never before published. With an Appendix containing some of Cowper's Religious Letters, and other interesting Documents, Illustrative of the Memoir; Memoirs of the most Remarkable and Interesting Parts of the Life of William Cowper, Esq. of the Inner Temple. Detailing particularly the Exercises of his Mind in regard to Religion. Written by Himself, and never before published. To which are appended, an Original and Singular Poem, and a Fragment, 116-29. Author: William Sidney Walker.

Running Title: Cowper's Poems and Life.

Notes: In attributing the article to Walker, Shine cites only JM III's Register. 

The following evidence and information is published here for the first time. Claimed for Walker in William Sydney Walker, The Poetical Remains of W. S. W. ... Edited, with a Memoir, ... by J[ohn]. Moultrie (1852). The author was paid £27.18 for the article. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816)

JM III's Register: 'Rev.—Walker (Cambridge),' but without evidence.

406 Article 8. Lord Selkirk, A Sketch of the British Fur Trade in North America; with Observations Relative to the North-west Company of Montreal; Maldonado, Voyage de la Mer Atlantique à l'Océan Pacifique par le Nord-ouest dans la Mer Glaciale; par le Capitaine Laurent Ferrer Maldonado, l'an 1588. Nouvellement traduit d'un Manuscrit Espagnol, et suivi d'un Discours qui en démontre l'Autenticité et la Véracité, par Charles Amoretti, 129-72. Author: John Barrow.

Running Title: Lord Selkirk, and the North-west Company.

Notes: In attributing the article to Barrow, Shine cites JM III's Register and Gentleman's Magazine XXI 140. 

The following evidence and information is published here for the first time. The article is referred to in #474, 585, and 625 as part of a series by the same author. Barrow is the author of these other articles. Article #406 is specifically referred to in #667, an article by Barrow. The author was paid £28.14.4 for the article. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816)

JM II's marked QR: 'Barrow'. 

JM III's Register: attribution to Barrow, but without evidence.

407 Article 9. Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto III; The Prisoner of Chillon, a Dream; and other Poems, 172-208. Author: Walter Scott.  

Running Title: Childe Harold, Canto III.—and other Poems.

Notes: In attributing the article to Scott, Shine cites JM III's Register; Grierson IV 296, 296n, IV 363, 363n; Byron II 41; Seymour 173; Russell I 191; Douglas I 356, 379n, 413, 413n, 422n; Gentleman's Magazine XXI 140; Ball 162-64; Graham 41; and CBEL III 192, 196. Shines says to see also Smiles I 374-75; Douglas I 371n; Grierson IV 149 (cf. QR XVI 191-96, on Waterloo, Napoleon, and Byron), 409, XII 426, 426n; Jennings I 86; and Lambert in HLQ II 341.  Shine quotes from Iowa MS., JM to John  Wilson Croker, 18 Aug. 1816: '... we have already four articles printed—one I have this day been favoured with from Mr B others from Southey & Scott ...'. 

The following information is published here for the first time. The author was paid £52.10 for the article (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816). John Murray was the publisher of the works under review.

JM II's marked QR: 'Sir W Scott'.

JM III's Register: attribution to Scott, but without evidence.

408 Article 10. Warden, Letters written on Board His Majesty's Ship the Northumberland, and at Saint Helena; in which the Conduct and Conversations of Napoleon Buonaparte, and his Suite, during the Voyage, and the first Months of his Residence in that Island, are faithfully described and related. Author: John Wilson Croker.

Running Title: Warden's Conversations with Buonaparte.

Notes: In attributing the article to Croker, Shine cites only JM III's Register; Brightfield 545; and Gentlemen's Magazine  XXI 140. But Brightfield employs essentially the same source as the Register, and the Gentlemen's Magazine article is often unreliable. 

The following evidence and information is published here for the first time. Murray MS., John Wilson Croker to JM, 18 Sept. 1816: indicates that the article is Croker's. Claimed by Croker in four of his Clements Library MS. lists and included in the Cambridge University bound volumes of Croker's articles. In a note on page 209, the reviewer refers back to #281, #321, and #355, all of which are by Croker. In the first paragraph of article #661, the reviewer (Croker)  indicates that his article is one in a series. The other articles he alludes to are #408, #418, and #439, each of which is by Croker. The author was paid £10.13.4 for the article. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816) 

JM II's marked QR: 'Croker'. 

JM III's Register: attribution to Croker, but without evidence.

409 Article 11. Dawson, An Inquiry into the Causes of the General Poverty and Dependence of Mankind; including a full Investigation of the Corn Laws; A Plan for the Reform of Parliament, on Constitutional Principles. Pamphleteer. No. 14; Tatham, Observations on the Scarcity of Money, and its Effects upon the Public; Sinclair, On the State of the Country, in December, 1816; Christian Policy, the Salvation of the Empire. Being a clear and concise Examination into the Causes that have produced the impending, unavoidable National Bankruptcy; and the Effects that must ensue, unless averted by the Adoption of this only real and desirable Remedy, which would elevate these Realms to a pitch of Greatness hitherto unattained by any Nation that ever existed. By Thomas Evans, Librarian to the Society of Spencean Philanthropists. Second Edition; The Monthly Magazine; Cobbett, Political Register, 225-78. Author: Robert Southey, with William Gifford.

Running Title: Parliamentary Reform.

Notes: In attributing the article to Southey, Shine cites JM III's Register; Cottle 242-43; Southey 250, 577; Southey Essays I 327; Smiles I 306n, II 40-41; Warter III 62; Gentlemen's Magazine XXI 140; and Graham 12. Shine says to see also Southey 345 and Warter III 51-52, 56-57, 69. 

The following evidence and information is published here for the first time. The article appears in Southey's definitive MS. list of his QR articles. Curry II 318. Reprinted as 'On the State of Public Opinion, and the Political Reformers' in Southey's Essays, Moral and Political, I 327-422. Southey complained (as usual) about Gifford's edits. The essay was brutally attacked by Hazlitt in Political Essays, with Sketches of Public Characters (1819). Southey was paid his usual amount for the article, £100. (Murray MS. Cash Day Book 1814-1816)

JM III's Register: attribution to Southey, but without evidence.