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Indiana University Studies 



motion this episode produced among the straight-laced dames 

 of Edinburgh testifies to the warm reception the new period- 

 ical had received. An unknown sheet could never have raised 

 such a nest of hornets. Their buzzing and stinging soon made 

 Hogg perfectly aware of the error he had committed against 

 propriety. The exercise of a little tact, a courteous with- 

 drawal, and a promise for the future cleanliness that Mr. 

 Wesley had rated so highly — and all might still have been 

 well. But the editor was stubborn. He decided that he was 

 the best judge of what should go into his weekly quarto. In 

 any case, he reasoned, the story was not so very objectionable. 

 So he persisted. It was not till the subscription dwindled 

 lamentably that Hogg dropped the objectionable tone and 

 purged his publication. It was too late. Ruin had been al- 

 ready wrought. From this point, so early in its career, the 

 fate of The Spy was sealed. Hogg realized that it had become 

 a mere question of how long he could keep himself afloat. The 

 struggle against adversity nerved him to some of his finest 

 lyric poetry, as well as short tales in prose. We find the first 

 draft of A Peasant's Funeral and The Dreadful Story of 

 McPherson; such lyrics as The Fall of the Leaf, Poor Little 

 Jessie, Fair Was Thy Blossom, etc., etc. ; as well as a series of 

 articles that deserve special mention. 



Mr. Shuffieton's Allegorical Survey of the Scottish Poets of 

 the Present Day was also offensive, but from a very different 

 reason than that which halved the circulation. Mr. Shuffleton 

 was a show-master who brought puppets upon the stage to 

 dance for the public. These puppets were meant to represent 

 the editor's fellow-poets. The man who could write that 

 wonderful literary forgery. The Poetic Mirror, must have been 

 a keen observer of style even if not a sane critic. It was the 

 accuracy of the burlesque puppets that gave such widespread 

 offense. Here is Hogg's description of himself : 



The music now changed to a strain a great deal more simple [the 

 preceding puppet represented Campbell] but perfectly regular, and still 

 very sweet. As soon as I heard it I formed to myself an idea of what 

 kind of a figure was next to be presented to our notice. We were not 

 kept long in suspense. A country looking girl soon entered, whose 

 countenance exhibited a good deal of sweetness and animation; and 

 she was dressed in what she supposed would pass for the most elegant 

 simplicity. Had her dress been equally elegant, and her ornaments 

 rightly arranged, she might have passed for a beauty in her degree; 

 but unfortunately this was not the case. The great circle of spectators 



