MY DEAR SON,

THE Augustan age of literature has been truly said to have revived during the days of Addison, Swift, Steele, and Pope, and existed in the book-trade during the triumvirate of Bernard Lintot, Jacob Tonson, Andrew Millar, &c.; for the Biographical Anecdotes, Literary Notices, and Sketches of whom, during the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth centuries, the world are indebted to the late John Nichols, F.S.A. He has, indeed, snatched many interesting objects from the wings of Time, in their flight to oblivion, and pursued his undeviating course till a late period of our own

times.

Of ANDREW MILLAR, he says-" He was not extravagant." Dr. Johnson said of him, that "He was the patron of literature." No doubt can remain on the truth of both of these remarks. Of the former I shall relate an incident, as connected with my early associations and recollections.

When I first visited the City of Dublin, as a London bookseller, in 1794, in an interview at old Marchbanks's, (the fac simile of Dr. Johnson in appearance, and who was then preparing his edition of Johnson's Dictionary, with additions, in two quarto volumes) the conversation turned to Andrew Millar, when Millikin (a great dealer in Irish editions of English law books, and father of the late Mr. Millikin of that city,)

exclaimed,

"Ah! that MILLAR was a strange fellow! I often visited him; he was partial to my lively manner, which, I suppose, partook a little of the Irish character. However, he never asked me to dine with him, until one day I met him in Fleet Street, when he thus addressed me :'Well, Millikin, you are a pleasant fellow; will you dine with me to-day?' With all my heart,' said I. Well,' said he, time is precious.' He took me into a pastrycook's shop, and we dined heartily off pigeon pies! and joked and laughed as heartily as though we had partaken of three courses of the greatest delicacies!"

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Now for the more extended character of Millar, as faithfully pourtrayed by Mr. Nichols, who truly says, that—

"Andrew Millar was literally the artificer of his own fortune. By consummate industry and a happy train of successive patronage and connexion, he became one of the most eminent booksellers of the eighteenth century. He had little pretensions to learning; but had a thorough knowledge of mankind, and a nice discrimination in selecting his literary councillors,* amongst whom it may be sufficient to mention the late eminent schoolmaster and critic Dr. William Rose, of Chiswick, and the late William Strahan, Esq., the early friend and associate of Mr. Millar in private life, and

*"Millar," says Mr. Boswell, "though himself no great judge of literature, had good sense enough to have for his friends very able men to give him their opinion and advice in the purchase of copyright, the consequence of which was his acquiring a very large fortune, with great liberality." Johnson said of him, spect Millar, sir; he has raised the price of literature."

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koucke, the eminent bookseller at Paris. Mr. The same praise may be justly given to PancStrahan's liberality, judgment, and success are well known. Mr. Millar took the principal charge of conducting the publication of Johnson's Dictionary; and, as the patience of the proprietors was repeatedly tried, and almost exhausted, by expecting the work would be completed within the time which Johnson had sanguinely supposed, the learned author was often goaded to dispatch, more especially as he had received all the copy-money, by different drafts, a considerable time before he had finished his task. When the messenger who carried the last sheet to Millar returned, Johnson asked him, “Well, what did he say?” "Sir, (answered the messenger,) he said, 'Thank God, I have done with him."" “I am glad (replied Johnson, with a smile,) that he thanks God for any thing."

It is remarkable that those with whom Johnson chiefly contracted for his literary labours were Scotchmen, Mr. Miller and Mr. Strahan.— Life of Johnson.

his partner in many capital adventures in business.

"Mr. Millar had three children, but they all died in their infancy. He was not extravagant ; but contented himself with an occasional regale of humble port at an opposite tavern ;* so that his wealth accumulated rapidly. He was fortunate also in his assistants in trade. One of these was Mr. Thomas Becket, who afterwards colonized into another part of the Strand, in partnership with Mr. P. De Hondt, and thence transplanted himself, first to the corner of the Adelphi, and afterwards to Pall Mall, where he resided for many years."

success.

Mr. Becket was for many years the publisher of the "Monthly Review;" in fact, during the greater period of its unrivalled He has been dead many years, and was succeeded in business by Mr. Porter. There are few persons who knew Mr. Becket but will retain a recollection of his eccentric manner of adjusting his wig, drawing up his inexpressibles, and antique costume, as well as his plain, unassuming, honest and upright conduct.

Mr. Millar's next assistant was Mr. Robin Lawless,† a name familiar to every biblio

*It is not improbable but he and Millikin retired thither after their pigeon-pie dinner.Ed.

"This diligent and honest servant, who, for considerably more than half a century, had been so well known to and much distinguished by the notice and regard of many of the most eminent literary characters of his time, as one of the principal assistants to Mr. Andrew Millar, afterwards to Mr. Alderman Cadell, and finally to Messrs. Cadell and Davies, the conductors of that extensive business, died at his apartments in Dean Street, Soho, June 21, 1806, at the advanced age of 82. He was a native of Dublin, and related, not very distantly, to the respectable and recently ennobled family of that name, as well as to the Barnewalls and Aylmers. He was a Roman Catholic, and strictly observant of the duties and obligations of his religion. In his character were united the soundest integrity of mind, with a simplicity of manners rarely equalled. His reading had been extensive; his judgment was remarkably correct; his memory uncommonly strong; and the anecdotes with which it was stored often afforded gratification to his friends, who delighted to draw him into conversation. Humble as was his walk in life, few men had stronger claims to affectionate regard. A purer spirit never inhabited the human bosom. One remarkable instance of his singleness of heart we can add on the most indisputable authority. Not very long before Mr. Cadell obtained the scarlet gown, on taking stock at the end of the year, honest Robin very

maniac and every bookseller who recollect the latter half of the eighteenth century.

seriously applied to his master to ask a favour of him. Mr. Cadell, of course, expected that it was somewhat that might be beneficial to the applicant. But great indeed was his surprize to find that the purport of the request was, that his annual salary might be lowered, as the year's account was not so good as the preceding one, and Lawless really feared his master could not afford to pay him such very high wages. retiring from business, the benevolent master had a picture of the faithful servant painted by Sir William Beechey, which he always shewed to his friends as one of the principal ornaments of his drawing-room."

On

In addition to this very interesting account of ROBIN LAWLESS, by Mr. Nichols, I must beg to remark, that he was connected with my earliest associations in the book trade. When I first visited Mr. Cadell's shop to procure Mr. Lawless exclaimed, "I know you, although books at the commencement of the year 1785, I never saw you before." This to me was paradoxical, till he explained he knew me from my voice resembling that of my brother's, who conducted business for Evans in 1780! The good old man observed, that he hoped we should have a fine Sunday, that we boys were anxious for fine Sundays; and he really was, for I often met him trotting with his large silk umbrella in the midst of sunshine. He further remarked to me, that in addition to having lived so many years with Mr. Andrew Millar, and Mr. Thomas Cadell, he had previously lived seventeen years with Mary Cooper, bookseller, at the sign of the Globe, in Paternoster Row. Millar died in 1768, and Lawless remained in the establishment till 1820, (upwards of half a century,) and, including his initiation with Mrs. Cooper, he spent nearly seventy years as a bookseller's assistant; yet there are few persons now in the trade who recollect Robin Lawless, daily uncovering his dinner at the rear of the far counter, (a custom he insisted on,) with his humble pint of porter, whilst his honest prototype, old John Mitchell, strictly kept guard of the front 'till Robin would trot up to answer a customer or the bookseller's collector, to whom he was a kind of almanack, an index, and parent.

This reminds me of a similar instance of long services and longevity in two old friends of mine, who now reside within a few yards of the Aldine Magazine Printing Office. These are Mr. Benjamin Dobbins and his wife. He is eight-four and his wife ninety-four years of age. She, in her first husband's time, was extensively engaged in two classes of book-binding, the very style of which, as well as three eminent booksellers, of the well-known establishment commenced by the celebrated John Newbery, (of Tom Thumb folio notoriety, and as the first patron of Oliver Goldsmith,) about seventy

rating literary talent with a liberality proportionate to its merit, distinguished himself as much as the patron of men of letters of that

LETTER XIV.

MUS HODSON, &c.

Aldine Chambers, Paternoster Row, London, April 22, 1839.

MY DEAR SON,

THIS amiable and highly respected individual has already been introduced, or rather slightly noticed, under the article of Andrew Millar, at page 249; but his faithful biographer and friend, Mr. John Nichols, who knew him throughout his deservedly fortunate career, has thus very correctly delineated his character :

"Mr. Thomas Cadell-a striking instance of the effects of a strong understanding when united to unremitting industry, was born in Wine Street, Bristol,* and served an apprenticeship to that eminent bookseller Andrew Millar, the steady patron of Thompson, Fielding, and many other eminent authors, who, by remune

* Mr. Thomas Cadell, uncle to the subject of the above memoir, was an eminent bookseller in Wine Street, Bristol, a century ago; he died from the effects of a polypus in the nose, and was succeeded in business by an unfortunate person of the name of Chew,—an old correspondent of Evans's. He was so addicted to drinking large portions of the Bristol strong ale of that day as to destroy his prospects in trade. I recollect his coming so intoxicated to Evans's, in Paternoster Row, in 1785, that the younger Evans, by way of restoring him to his senses, took him into the yard, lifted him up, and precipitated the unfortunate man into a cistern, where I was alarmed at perceiving the poor creature smiling up to his chin in water.Joseph Lloyd, a clever bookseller, succeeded Chew in Wine Street, and had good prospects; but he unfortunately became deranged, and died in a private madhouse.

The following letter of the elder Cadell to Mr. Cave, proprietor of the Gentleman's Magazine, is worth preserving, as a curious document relative to the purchase of a play written by the unfortunate Savage, the poet, who died in Bristol.

Bristol, March 17, 1749. "Mr. Cave, According to your request, I have purchased Savage's play, and have here sent it you, with a receipt inclosed. The person of whom I purchased the play is a particular friend of mine: he assures me the play is perfect, and never was copied. I hope you will find it to your satisfaction. Please to give my account credit for the five guineas.

I am, sir, your humble servant,
THOMAS CADELL.

the arts. Mr. Cadell, in 1767, succeeded to the business; and at an early period of life, was at the head of his profession. Introduced by Mr. Millar to writers of the first rank in literature, who had found in him their best Mæcenas-to Johnson, Hume, Warburton, Hurd, &c., he pursued the same commendable track; and, acting upon the liberal principle of his predecessor in respect to authors, enlarged upon in honour to his spirit, was well suited to the more an extent, which, at the same time that it did enlightened period in which he carried on business. In conjunction with the late William Strahan, Esq. M.P. for Wotton Bassett, and, after his death, with his son Andrew Strahan, Esq., M.P. for Catherlogh, munificent remunerations were held out to writers of the most eminent talents; and it is owing to the spirit and generosity of these gentlemen, that the world has been enriched by the masterly labours of Robertson, Blackstone, Gibbon, Hume, Henry, Burn, and numberless others of the ablest writers of the age.

In 1793, Mr. Cadell retired from trade, in the full possession of his health and faculties, and with an ample fortune, the sole and satisfactory fruits of unremitted diligence, spirit, and integrity; leaving the business which he had established as the first in Great Britian, and perhaps in Europe, to Thomas, his only son, conjointly with Mr. Davies, who following the Alderman's example, preserved the high reputation acquired from the liberality, honour, and integrity of their predecessors. Accustomed, however, from early days to business, and conscious that an idle life was a disgrace to a man of clear intellects, sound judgment, and an active mind, he, with a laudable ambition, sought, and most honourably obtained, a seat in the magistracy of the City of London, being unanimously elected, March 30, 1798, to succeed his friend Mr. Gill, as Alderman of Walbrook ward. At Midsummer, 1800, a period when party spirit ran high, he was elected by a very honourable majority on a poll with his friend, Mr. Alderman Perring, to the shrievalty of London and Middlesex, an office, which, it may be said, without disparagement to any other gentleman, was never more honourably or more splendidly discharged. To a conscientious attendance on the severe duties of that important station (for he was never absent a single Sunday from the chapel of one of the prisons) he owed the foundation of that asthmatic complaint which so fatally terminated at a period when the citizens of London, who justly revered him as an independent, humane, and intelligent magistrate, anticipated the speedy approach to the attainment of the highest civic honours. He had dined out on Sunday, and returned in the evening to his own house, apparently in as good health as usual. In the morning, a little

before one, he rang his bell, and told his servant that he thought he was dying. A person was immediately dispatched for medical assistance; but before it arrived, the worthy Alderman had expired. He had for some months been subject to severe fits of coughing, by the effects of one of which fits it is supposed his death was occasioned. To the Asylum, where he had long been a valuable treasurer, the Foundling Hospital, and various other public charities, of which he was an active governor, and where his presence gave animation to their proceedings, while his purse liberally aided their funds, his loss was great: to a very extensive circle of friends (and there are several, as well as the writer of this article, who had unbent their inmost souls with him for more than forty years) it was incalculable.

"He was eminently characterized by the rectitude of his judgment, the goodness of his heart, the benevolence of his disposition, and the urbanity of his manners; and whether considered in his magisterial character, or in the more retired walks of social and domestic life, few men could be named so well deserving of private veneration or public esteem. One of the latest public acts of his life was the presenting the Company of Stationers, of which he had been thirty-seven years liveryman, a handsome painted window for the embellishment of

their hall.

"By an affectionate wife, who died in January 1786, he had one son and one daughter, both of whom he lived to see united in marriage,

to his entire satisfaction. He died at his house in Bloomsbury Square, in his sixtieth year. The Alderman's great success in life is one of the many proofs that this metropolis has for years afforded, that application and industry, when unforseen misfortune and ill-health do not intervene, seldom fail to meet with their due reward; and, more especially, where those necessary qualifications for business are accompanied with a spirit of enterprise unalloyed by rashness or want of caution. Mr. Andrew Millar, the predecessor of Alderman Cadell, was in possession of very humble means when he commenced business, and lived some years facing St. Clement's Church. He died rich, and very deservedly, as he was a liberal patron of authors. Previous to his time, Lintot and the Tonsons were at the head of the bookselling trade."

I was constantly in the habit of going to Mr. Cadell's for books from the year 1785 to 1788, at which period his principal warehouses were in the Savoy, in the Strand, where many hundred waggon loads of unbound books were deposited. I have already noticed my first reception from his old assistant Robin Lawless, for I was then a collector of books to an extensive wholesale establishment (Evans's), which at that

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period was a laborious occupation. having to call at every old book shop in Holborn, Oxford Street, Bond Street, Piccadilly, Westminster, the Strand, the second-hand books alone frequently produced more than a porter's load, which was sent for at some given point. On one occasion the following conversation occurred between Robin Lawless and me: " Well, my lad," said he, you do right to wear your oiled-skin hat, and to bring your oiled-skin bags (one for the shoulder, and the other under the arm); but that load is too heavy for you. I will send part with the books ordered by you from our house." "No, sir," replied I; "that won't do; orders waiting for the books." "Ah! but," said he, " Crowder, when he lived with Sir James Hodges, at the Looking Glass on London Bridge, ordered things much better: their collection of books round the town was so great that they always had two porters with sacks to call at certain stations and carry home the books collected.”

your uncle

I have often been ready to shed tears in hastening over the greasy flags of the Strand and Fleet Street, and panted with a load on my shoulder and another under my arm when ascending Ludgate Hill, and perhaps rewarded on reaching home with a volley of imprecations.

Such was the state of a wholesale bookseller's apprentice and collector half a century ago. Now, calling at less than onehalf of the number of old book-shops,—and all popular works being kept within a certain focus-a simple blue bag, of a moderate size, suffices to answer all the purposes of a modern book-collector.

At the time I have alluded to, Mr. Davies was Mr. Cadell's most able, talented, and valuable assistant; my brother and Mr. Freeborn (Mr. Robert Dodsley's assistant) were his earliest companions. Davies's friendship and kindness to me I shall have much to say when I arrive at the firm of Cadell and Davies.

Of Mr.

In taking leave of Alderman Cadell, I cannot avoid acknowledging his indulgence and kindness to me on his retiring from trade, and in his recommending his successors to be equally kind. I often witnessed his animated and gentlemanly deportment when collecting funds at the Asylum, which place, about forty years ago, was attended and supported by the principal nobility and gentry of the metropolis.