MISCELLANEOUS. 



693 



by a history of the different spe- 

 cies of misanthropy, as illustrated 

 from the characters of Hamlet, 

 Jaques, and Timan of Athens;. 



Nine piipers in the Lounger, 

 Nos. 3, 10, 14, 23, 30,47, 74,'^81, 

 and 92, owe their existence to 

 Mr. Abercromby. Of these, No. 

 14 adds some strokes to the pic- 

 ture of colonel Caustic, which had 

 been commenced by Mr. Mac- 

 kenzie ; and No. 30, is a letter 

 from a member of the Mirror- 

 ■club, relating some particulars of 

 that society. This epistle, of 

 which one object was, to induce 

 the public to suppose that the 

 Mirror and the Lounger were un- 

 connected, and that the authors 

 of the two worijs were not the 

 same, relates some curious par- 

 ticulars relative to the Mirror, 

 and to the reception of this spe- 

 cies of periodical composition in 

 Scotland. Addressing the sup- 

 posed author of the Lounger, as 

 one on whom the whole labour of 

 the work, single and alone, rest- 

 ed ; he observes, " You, sir, 

 started with many advantages 

 ■which we did not possess. The 

 public are now taught to know, 

 that it is possible to carry on a 

 periodical work of this kind in 

 Edinburgh; and that if tolerably 

 executed, it will be read, and 

 •will hold its place with other 

 works of the same kind. But 

 when we boldly gave the Mirror 

 to the world, a very different no- 

 tion prevailed. It was supposed 

 that no such work could be con- 

 ducted with any propriety on this 

 side of the Tweed. Accordingly, 

 the Mirror was received with the 

 most perfect indifference in our 

 own country ; and during the 

 publication, it was indebted for 



any little reputation it received in 

 Scotland, to the notice that hap- 

 pened to be taken of it by some 

 persons of rank and of taste in 

 England. Nay, sir, strange as you 

 may think it, it is certainly true, 

 that, narrow as Edinburgh is, 

 there were men who consider 

 themselves as men of letters, 

 who never read a number of it 

 while it was going on. — The su- 

 percilious, who despised the paper 

 because they did not know by 

 whom it was written, talked of 

 it as a catch-penny performance, 

 carried on by a set of needy and 

 obscure scribblers. Those who 

 entertained a more favourable 

 opinion of it were apt to fall into 

 an opposite mistake; and to sup- 

 pose that ihe Mirror was the pro- 

 duction of all the men of letters 

 in Scotland, This last opinion is 

 not yet entirely exploded, and 

 perhaps has rather gained ground 

 from the favourable reception of 

 the Mirror since its publication 

 in volumes. The last time I was in 

 London, I happened to step into 

 Mr. Cadell's shop, and while I 

 was amusing myself in turning 

 over the prints in Cook's last 



voyage, lord B came in, and 



taking up a volume of the Mirror, 

 asked Mr. Cadell who were the 

 authors of it. Cadell, who did 

 not suspect that T knew anj' more 

 of the matter than the Great 

 Mogul, answered, • That he could 

 not really mention particular 

 names ; but he believed that all 

 the literati of Scotland were con- 

 cerned in it.' Lord B walk- 

 ed off, satisfied that this was truly 

 the case ; and about a week after 



I heard him say at lord M 's 



levee, that he was well assured 

 the Mirror was the joint produc- 



