Volume 1 - Electric Scotland

396 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD.
firm of Bacon & Bungay in ' Pendennis.' Maginn's
first meeting with this potentate is described as
follows :
—
Dr Maginn to W, Blackwood.
June 25, '23.
I saw Colburn. He attended on me at his shop—spoke of
the weather—the news—the newspapers—the periodicals—the
' New Monthly'—
' Blackwood's Mag.'—Blackwood himself (very
kindly)—his being in town—at the Somerset : was not I at the
Somerset ? I knew Blackwood ?—his contributors ? his Irish
contributors ?—and in the end, after about an hour's conversation,
he took me into his sanctum under pretence of showing
me some old books, and making me a low bow, said he was
happy to see Mr O'Doherty in person. I laughed at him—said
it was fudge—that he was bammed by somebody, &c. But he
stuck to it. Complained of my ill treatment of him, particu-
larly in accusing him of employing old Dictionary Watkins to
draw up a life of Lord Byron—that he did no such thing, but
bought the book honestly, without knowing anything about it.
By Jupiter ! this is odd, for it was I who wrote the article, out
of Alaric's notes. I of course denied everything plump. Never
wrote anything for anybody. Would be sorry to abuse so
respectable a person as Mr C, or so valuable a book as the
' New M.' But I was talking to an incredulous auditor. He
asked me to dine with him for to-morrow, which I declined
he shook hands at parting, quite cordial, and he whispered to
me as I went away, " Thirty guineas a sheet." I laughed at
him, and drove off. I have not time to give you the particulars
more minutely, but I will draw up a minute of everything he
said, for I have picked up some strange information about
Hazlitt, Patmore, B. Cornwall, C. Bedding, &c. Observe, how-
ever, that not a word goes into print, for that would be treachery
with a vengeance.
We add various criticisms, &c., from the same un-
scrupulous but generally entertaining hand :
The faults of 'Maga'—I am entitled to speak of them for
various reasons—are, first, too much locality of allusion: I
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