"to blame? The fault is in his having 66 purchased, at the instance of his great friends, during the last year, so many ex pensive Voyages and Travels*, which all "his influence with 'The Quarterly' can"not persuade people to buy, cannot puff "into popularity. The Cookery-book 66 '(which he has got a law-suit about) has "been for a long time his sheet-anchor; "but they say he will have to re-fund"the worst of funds. Mr. Murray is ten"der of my fame! How kind in him! He " is afraid of my writing too fast. Why? "because he has a tenderer regard for his 66 own pocket, and does not like the look "of any new acquaintance, in the shape * "Death to his publisher-to him 'tis sport." Don Juan, Canto V. Stanza 52. "of a book of mine, till he has seen his 66 old friends in a variety of new faces; id est, disposed of a vast many editions of "the former works. I don't know what "would become of me without Douglas 66 Kinnaird, who has always been my best "and kindest friend. It is not easy to "deal with Mr. Murray. Murray offered me, of his own accord, "1000l. a Canto for Don Juan,' and af"terwards reduced it to 500l. on the plea "of piracy; and complained of my divid'ing one Canto into two, because I hap pened to say something at the end of "the Third about having done so. It is "true enough that 'Don Juan' has been 66 pirated; but whom has he to thank but "himself? In the first place, he put too "high a price on the copies of the two "first Cantos that came out, only printing "a quarto edition, at, I think, a guinea "and a half. There was a great demand "for it, and this induced the knavish "booksellers to buccaneer. If he had put "John Murray on the title-page, like a man, instead of smuggling the brat into "the world, and getting Davison, who is 66 a printer and not a publisher, to father "it, who would have ventured to question "his paternal rights? or who would have attempted to deprive him of them? 66 The thing was plainly this: he dis"owned and refused to acknowledge the bantling; the natural consequence was, "that others should come forward to adopt it. Mr. John Murray is the most nervous of God's booksellers. When "Don Juan' first came out, he was so "frightened that he made a precipitate "retreat into the country, shut himself 66 up, and would not open his letters. The "fact is, he prints for too many Bishops. "He is always boring me with pirati"cal edition after edition, to prove the "amount of his own losses, and furnish "proof of the extent of his own folly. "Here is one at two-and-sixpence that 66 came only yesterday. I do not pity him. "Because I gave him one of my poems, "he wanted to make me believe that I "had made him a present of two others, " and hinted at some lines in 'English "Bards' that were certainly to the point. But I have altered my mind considera 66 bly upon that subject: as I once hinted "to him, I see no reason why a man "should not profit by the sweat of his "brain, as well as that of his brow, &c.; "besides, I was poor at that time, and “ have no idea of aggrandizing booksellers. "I was in Switzerland when he made this "modest request, and he always enter"tained a spite against Shelley for making "the agreement, and fixing the price, "which I believe was not dear, for the "Third Canto of Childe Harold,' 'Man 66 fred, and 'The Prisoner of Chillon,' &c. "I I got 24007. Depend on it, he did "not lose money-he was not ruined by "that speculation. "Murray has long prevented The Quarterly' from abusing me. Some of "its bullies have had their fingers itching "to be at me; but they would get the 66 worst of it in a set-to." (Here he put himself in a boxing attitude.) 66 I per "ceive, however, that we shall have some |