Volume 1 - Electric Scotland

56 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD.
begs him when he thinks of anything of the kind to
be sure always to mention it.
In the meantime, while Byron and his proceedings
occupied all the foreground in London, the great hope
which had irradiated the Edinburgh publisher's horizon
began to take form. The transaction that followed
has been curiously misrepresented, though probably
not with any unkind meaning. Lockhart distinctly
assures us that, both Ballantyne and Blackwood being
dead at the time he wrote, and Murray having no
personal knowledge of the facts and evidently no
desire to dwell upon them, he had no accurate infor-
mation on the subject. The transaction is dismissed
accordingly with a hot and hasty note from Scott
and the impression left by the incident altogether is
disagreeable, disrespectful to Mr Blackwood, and harsh
and unfriendly to all concerned. The letters which
passed day by day, however, and which are now
before us, convey no such impression, nor did Scott's
resentment in respect to criticism, or any other similar
sentiment, occasion any breach between author and
publisher. We are glad to be able to set this inci-
dent, which was one of great importance in Black-
wood's early life, in its proper light. It may be
premised that Scott at this time had not definitely
connected himself with any one publisher. It had
been Constable who brought out ' Waverley,' while
' Guy Mannering ' was given to Longman. Whether
the negotiations with Blackwood were intended as
a third experiment before the matter was finally
settled, or whether their design was to stimulate
Constable to stronger efibrts to secure such a valuable
;