LITERARY AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 



289 



the Nodes in particular, where the character of the composition 

 allowed most freedom of expression, he took his full swing, and 

 laid about him in true Donnybrook style. Whether the "sore 

 rubs" anticipated by Lockhart occurred, I have no means of 

 knowing ; probably they did. That he sometimes caused consider- 

 able annoyance to the judicious editor will appear from the follow- 

 ing brief note to Wilson about this very time. The reference in 

 the conclusion is to Mr. Blackwood's candidature for the office of 

 Lord Provost, in which he was unsuccessful. 



"Edinburgh, August 22, 1823 

 "My dear Sir:— I received your packet in time, and I hope 

 you will find the whole correctly printed, though I was obliged to 

 put to press in a great hurry. I only got Maginn's Song on Satur- 

 day night, after I had put the sheets to press. 



" On Thursday I received from him some more of the Nodes, 

 but I did not like them, as he attacked Moore again with great 

 bitterness for his squibs upon the King, and charged the Marquis 

 of Hastings as a hoary courtier, who had provoked Moore with his 

 libels upon the King. I have written him that it really will not do 

 to run a-muck in this kind of way. I hope you will, on the whole, 



" ' That requires consideration,' said Mr. Blackwood ; ' and I must first be satisfied that—' 



" ' Your correspondent resides in Cork, doesn't he ? You need not make any mystery about 



that.' 



« ' I decline at present,' said Mr. B., 'giving any information on that head, before I know more 

 of this business — of your purpose— and who you are.' 



'"You are very shv, sir,' said the stranger; 'I thought you corresponded with Mr. Scott, of 

 Cork,' mentioning the assumed name under which the Doctor had hitherto communicated with 

 the Magazine. 



•"I beg to decline giving any information on that subject,' was the response of Mr. Llaekwood. 



"'If you don't know him, then,' sputtered out the stranger, 'perhaps, perhaps you could know 

 your own handwriting,' at the same moment producing a packet of letters from his side-pocket. 

 'You need not deny vour correspondence with that gentleman; I am that gentleman.' 



"Such was the whimsical introduction of Dr. Maginn to Mr. Blackwood; and after a cordial 

 shake of the hand and a hearty laugh, the pair were in a few minutes up to the elbows in 



friendship." T , m . 



From this time, 1S20, till 1828, he continued his contributions more or less frequently. In 182^ 

 about the time Mr. Lockhart writes of him, he was appointed foreign correspondent of TJu Rep- 

 resentative; but as this newspaper was not long-lived, he was again thrown upon his resources, 

 and he earned a scanty livelihood by writing for the periodicals. He assisted, as Mr. Lockhart 

 says Theodore Hook, in the John Bull, and obtained so much reputation as a political writer, that 

 on the establishment of the Standard, he was appointed joint editor of the latter. He was ul- 

 timately connected with the foundation of Fraser's Magaafau, in 1S30, and along with Fattier 

 Mahony Mr. Hugh Fraser, and others, gave that periodical his heartiest Bnpport He was then 

 in the zenith of his tame, and his society courted; but in 1884 he was again corresponding with 

 Mr. Blackwood, dating his contributions from a garret in Wych street, Strand, and from this time 

 till his death Ms condition was one of wretchedness. 



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