JET. 24.] THET^EDINBURGH REVIEW/ 249 



various measures have been tried, at least, against 

 the earliness of our intended day of publication ; and 

 hints have been given of a delay, that I am quite 

 afraid would prove fatal. Something is done, how- 

 ever ; and a good deal, I hope, is doing. Smith has 

 gone through more than half his task. So has Hamil- 

 ton. Allen has made some progress : and Murray 

 and myself, I believe, have studied our parts, and 

 tuned our instruments, and are almost ready to begin. 

 On the other hand, Thomson is sick : Brown has 

 engaged for nothing but Miss Baillie's plays; and 

 Timothy has engaged for nothing, but professed it to 

 be his opinion, the other day, that he would never put 

 pen to paper in our cause. Brougham must have a 

 sentence to himself; and I am afraid you will not 

 think it a pleasant one. You remember how cheer- 

 fully he approved of our plan at first, and agreed to 

 give us an article or two without hesitation. Three 

 or four days ago, I proposed two or three books that 

 I thought would suit him : he answered with perfect 

 good -humour that he had changed his view of our 

 plan a little, and rather thought that he should 

 decline to have any connection with it. 



Very faithfully yours, F. JEFFREY/' 



Now, my reason at that time for declining to be of 

 the connection was, that no security was given me 

 for the sole and undivided management being in 

 Jeffrey's hands. It was not made clear to me, in the 



