. 'Christopher North', a memoir of John Wilson ... : compiled from family papers and other sources . dship, and for whom, in its ownpages and elsewhere, he professed, as he sincerely felt, the highestesteem. But when it is well understood that he was never in anysense the editor, and that in these early days of the Magazine theruling principle seemed to be that every man fought for his own * T?ie Craniad, or Spurzheirn Illwtrated. A Poem in Two Parts. 12mo. , 1S17. The Craniad is the worst poem we have now in Scotland. The author hasit in his power at once to decide the grea
. 'Christopher North', a memoir of John Wilson ... : compiled from family papers and other sources . dship, and for whom, in its ownpages and elsewhere, he professed, as he sincerely felt, the highestesteem. But when it is well understood that he was never in anysense the editor, and that in these early days of the Magazine theruling principle seemed to be that every man fought for his own * T?ie Craniad, or Spurzheirn Illwtrated. A Poem in Two Parts. 12mo. , 1S17. The Craniad is the worst poem we have now in Scotland. The author hasit in his power at once to decide the great craniological controversy. Let him snbmit his skullto general inspection, and if it exhibit a single intellectual organ. Spurzheims theory is over-thrown. The original of this characteristic bit of criticism occurs in a MS. book, described byMr. Gillies as an enormous ledger, which, he says, was taken possession of by my father, andfilled with skeletons of proposed articles. Of these sketches, however, the much mutilatedvolume contains none, the. existing contents being almost entirely Mr. Lockhart, aUaa The Scorpion. LITERATCEK. BLACKWOOD^ MAGAZINE. 171 hand, and was surrounded with a cloud of secrecy even from Irisfellows, it will appear that he had simply the alternative of ceasingto contribute further to the Magazine, or of continuing to do sounder the disadvantage of seeming to approve what he really con-demned.* That he adopted the latter course is, I think, no stigmaon his character; and in after days, when his influence in theMagazine had become paramount, he made noble amends for itsformer sins. The staff of contributors whom Mr. Blackwood had contrived torally round his standard contained many distinguished men. TheGreat Unknown, and the venerable Man of Feeling, were en-listed on his side, and gave some occasional help. Dr. MCrie, thebiographer of Knox, and Dr. Andrew Thomson, were solemnlyand at much length reproved by an orthodox pamphleteer, stylinghims
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