368 MEMOIK OF JOHN WILSON. 



character as a man of business, which you never made. I am, 

 therefore, in the dark, and require to be instructed, instead of being 

 privileged to counsel. With every kind sentiment, I am, my dear 

 sir, yours most sincerely, John Wilson." 



In a long letter to Mr. Grieve, my father is at great pains to clear 

 up the matter, and effect the much-desired reconciliation on terms 

 honorable to both parties. He says : — 



" If Mr. Hogg puts his return as a writer to ' Maga,' on the 

 ground that ' Maga' suffers greatly from his absence from her pages, 

 and that Mr. B. must be very desirous of his re-assistance, that will 

 at once be a stumbling-block in the way of settlement ; for Mr. B., 

 whether rightly or wrongly, will not make the admission. No 

 doubt Mr. H.'s articles were often excellent, and no doubt the 

 ' Noctes ' were very popular, but the Magazine, however much 

 many readers must have missed Mr. Hogg and the ' Noctes,' has 

 been gradually increasing in sale, and therefore Mr. B. will never 

 give in to that view of the subject. 



" Mr. Hogg, in his letter to me, and in a long conversation I had 

 with him in my own house yesterday after dinner, sticks to his 

 proposal of having £100 settled on him, on condition of writing, 

 and of becoming again the hero of the ' Noctes,' as before. I see 

 many, inany difficulties in the way of such an arrangement, and I 

 know that Mr. Blackwood will never agree to it in that shape ; for 

 it might eventually prove degrading and disgraceful to both par- 

 ties, appearing to the public to be a bribe given and taken dishon- 

 orably. 



" But nothing can be more reasonable than for Mr. Hogg to make 

 £100 or more by 'Maga,' and by the Agricultural Journal. If he 

 writes again for both, Mr. B. is bound to pay him handsomely and 

 generously, as an old friend and man of genius ; and no doubt he 

 will do so, so that if Mr. Hogg exert himself to a degree you and 

 I think reasonable, there can be no doubt that he will get £100 or 

 more from Mr. Blackwood, without any positive bargain of the 

 kind above mentioned, which might injure Mr. Hogg's reputation, 

 and appear to the public in a degrading light. 



" To insure this, none of Mr. Hogg's articles should ever again 

 be returned. If now and then any of them are inadmissible they 



