CHAPTER III.

The Author, no friend to egotism.-Not inclined, however, to run into a contrary extreme, in order to avoid the imputation of it.-An old exem.. plar sets me the example of writing one's own Memoirs in the first person. — Other instances, or circumstances, in which, this individual may be considered in the light of my prototype.-Some important matters, in which we differ. Certain matters, in which, the Sexagenarian conceived, that he might be useful to his brethren of mankind, in the way, or exercise, of his profession.-Varied circumstances under which he was enabled to do so.-Sundry respectable authorities quoted.-Old established adage.— Lord Bacon.-Pope's Man of Ross.-More important facts submitted.First Printing Press in East Lothian, when, and by whom it was set up.-Great illuminating process, or the Book Trade, when, and by whom first established in Dunbar.-Anecdote illustrative of the indolence and igno. rance of some of the natives, in those days.- Our Author's first circulating Library. Great increase in a short time.-Early commencement of his, since long protracted, series of auctions.-A few instances of his early efforts, and successful attempts, in the publication, or canvassing line.— Melancholy thoughts suggested by the sight of one of his earliest subscription lists.-East Lothian distinguished by her early facilities and means of obtaining information.-Lamp of Lothian again lighted up.-More extensive attempts of the Sexagenarian to be useful in the way and exercise of his profession.-His cheap Tracts.-Cheap Magazine.-Monthly Monitor, or Philanthropic Museum.-Affecting History of Tom Bragwell.-Popular Philosophy.-Anticipated answer to a series of queries.— The Labourer's Repast, responsive to the Labourer's Welcome.-Great extent and diversified utility of the literary perambulations of the Sexagenarian.

I AM no friend to egotism, but I should wish to know how, in a matter where one is engaged in writing his own history, or any particular part of his own history, a copious use of the pronoun I can well be avoided, without the danger of running into a contrary extreme, and so affording a display of affectation and prudery, which, even at the risk of the sneers of some of those little witlings, who do not take time or pains to consider, that it is not all egotism which they may have been taught to deem so, I am not inclined to do. And why should I, seeing that my highly respectable and worthy predecessor in the annals of bookselling Autobiography, the late Mr Hutton of Birmingham, whose example I once fol

lowed before, upon a certain occasion, when viewing, at an early period of my life, the curiosities of London, has again set me the example; with the remark, as he enters upon the task of writing a narrative of the circumstances of his, upon the whole, smoothly flowing, but, in some cases, eventful life, in allusion to the practice of those writers, who, "in speaking of themselves," are accustomed, as he styles it, to appear in the third person-" I can see no reason why a man may not speak in the first, and use the simple letter I;" justly observing, "A raree showman may be allowed to speak through a puppet, but it is needless in an author."

I said this gentleman has again set me the example; but, in attending a little to his history, I see that, in more respects than either the one or the other of these alluded-to instances, this good man-and I am proud of having such an exemplar to refer to may be considered in the light of my pattern or prototype. I only wish that I could have carried the comparison farther, and been enabled to say so, in regard to others.

Among the things in which, without any forced construc tion, we may be said to have agreed, I may mention, that Mr Hutton followed the profession of a bookseller in a provincial, or country town; and so, it may be remarked, did I.— Mr Hutton, in getting acquainted with the various branches of his profession, and establishing himself in trade, had some pretty serious and formidable obstacles to encounter; and so had I.-One particular branch, that of the binding, Mr Hutton seems to have acquired, by the sheer exercise of his natural talents, joined to a persevering attention to the operations of others, without serving, as the common phrase is, a moment of apprenticeship to it; and, in regard to one other branch, that of the printing, so did I.—Mr Hutton, at last, by a proper use of his talents, and continued perseverance in industrious habits, arrived at the possession of a well established and very respectable business; and, looking back to a period, at a no very great distance from the present, in the VISTA OF TIME, may it not be said, with equal truth; and so did I.—Mr Hutton has given ample demonstration to the world of his literary propensities, by the number and variety of his writings; and so, have not I?-Among the number

of his works which he has published, is there not " A Journey to London," written at an early period of his life? and, among the number of mine that have not been published, is there not, I may ask myself, A Voyage, undertaken at a very early period of mine, to the same place? And, lastly, did not Mr Hutton, at last, set about writing his own Memoirs, in the work above alluded to; and, can it be denied, while these pages are before my readers, that I have been engaged, of late, in a similar undertaking?

Did I follow up the comparison farther, I might be able to point out, perhaps, a dozen or so more of particulars, in which, the analogy might appear equally striking, but these must suffice for the present, and I only wish that, in the few instances I am about to state, the similitude could have been still kept up; but here, alas! the resemblance drops ;-for, if the latter years of this worthy individual must have passed with comparative serenity, in consequence of the unclouded state, and general prosperity of his affairs, such surely cannot be said of mine, or these Latter Struggles would not have seen the light.--If it may be said of him, that he must have enjoyed a pretty robust and green old age at the years of three score, or he could not, on surviving the frosts of so many winters, afterwards have written down, on the eighty-ninth anniversary of his birth, "This day, (October 11th,) is my birth-day. I enter upon my ninetieth year, and have walked ten miles !" such, certainly, cannot be said of the writer of this, who had long, and often, been reminded, before he had arrived at the first-mentioned period, that the odds lay much against him, that he should never see the latter; —and if, at the conclusion of His drama, and winding up of the variegated tale of this finally prosperous and highly respected individual, it may have been truly said, that his latter end was better than the beginning; such, surely, as yet, cannot be said of me, or my present, or late appeal, would not have come before the public; nor should I, at such a late hour of my day, as will by and by appear, have been obliged to begin the world again, and to toil once more at the oar of life, at a time, and under circumstances, when it would have been so highly desirable otherwise to have retired from its

labours and pursuits. But, although wishing, in these respects, must be vain, and hopes, as I have often found them, may turn out deceitful, I cannot forbear, before parting with this worthy brother of the profession, from joining cordially in the wish and hope, expressed by the Reviewer of "The Life of William Hutton," in the supplementary number to the forty-second volume of the Monthly Magazine, in the short notice prefixed to that review, viz., "for our parts, we have accompanied our old friend, in this narrative of his peaceful journey of life, with heartfelt pleasure; and our deliberate feeling is, a fervent wish that our latter days may be like his, and that, when our race against time is ended, we may possess equal claims to the respect of posterity."

In order to avoid giving offence, as much as possible, to critics of the description above alluded to, at the time I lately published my somewhat lengthy prospectus, I adopted, in accordance with the plan so usually had recourse to by others, as a model of my style, that of my old school-companion of the Commentaries, and addressed my readers in that prospectus, almost from beginning to end, in the third person.

To that plan, it may here be seen, I do not now mean much to adhere, although I may occasionally, and as it suits my purpose, recur to it, as in the present chapter, I shall be found to deviate from both methods; and, in a great degree, in preference to either, have recourse to what may rather be called the interrogatory way of going to work; which, if it has nothing else, will have, at least, the charm of variety to recommend it.

To return, therefore, from this digression, and take up the thread of my subject where I left it, towards the conclusion of my last chapter, with the remark that there were certain matters, in which, from certain circumstances, it occurred to me, I might be useful to my brethren of mankind, in the way of prosecuting my other duties, and in the exercise of my profession, to which I meant again to recur in the present; I shall now proceed to do so, and show, agreeably to the manner and method above alluded to, how, consistently with the interests of my business otherwise, or rather, in the way of forwarding these interests, I contrived to do good to others

and to myself, at the same time; and, particularly, to promote the moral and mental amelioration of my species, to a certain extent, while my own individual interests, in the fair exercise of my profession, were not neglected nor forgotten.

If there is any truth in the adage, then, that " He who makes a tree to grow, or a blade of grass to spring up, where never tree grew, nor blade of grass sprung up before," ought to be considered among the benefactors of his kind ;—If there was any solidity in the reasoning of Lord Bacon, when he says, "If a man perform that which hath not been attempted before, or attempted and given over, or hath been achieved, but not with as good circumstance, he shall purchase more honour than by affecting a matter of greater difficulty, or virtue, wherein he is but a follower;"*-If there was any well grounded foundation for the grateful plaudits, in which each lisping babe had been taught by Pope, to respond to the praises of the "Man of Ross," for the amelioration and improvements, which that worthy and meritorious individual (whose praises are sung more largely in the October number for 1814, of the Cheap Magazine,) had so largely contributed to, out of his limited income ;-If there is much truth, indeed, in the maxim, that "it is better to prevent crimes than to punish them,”—that it is a more laudable and praiseworthy employment to endeavour, as much as in us lies, to remove the films of ignorance, of prejudice, and of error, from the human mind, than, from any motive whatever, to lend our aid to rivet them more closely, and flatter and encourage men in their delusions ;-In short, if it may be accounted a far more noble, and rational, and enduring ambition, to seek for glory, honour, and immortality, in a continued and persevering course of welldoing, and a long protracted series of acts of utility and kindness to our brethren of mankind, according to the means and abilities with which Providence has entrusted us, than, to seek for preferment, and a short-lived renown, by a contrary conduct; to be imbittered for the present, it may be, by reflections of a no very pleasing description, and most assuredly to

* See Bacon's Essay on Honour and Reputation.