Sin,—Without the slightest desire to detract from the renown "of
one of our most distinguished statesmen," or to lower the lofty pinnacle upon which posterity has placed him, I would ask your kind leave to point out (on the authority of the editors of "The Works of John Hookham Frere") that much of the merit of the Anti-Jacobin—deservedly extolled in the Spectator of March 11th—and of the success which it achieved was due to the literary ability and sparkling wit of the collaborateurs with whom Mr. Canning was associated. In Sir Bartle Frere's memoir of his uncle it is stated that the "inscription for Mrs. Brownrigg's cell in Newgate" was "the joint production of Canning and Frere," who (it seems) were also joint authors of "The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder." Byron attributed to Frere the authorship of " half the Needy Knife-grinder." Of the poetical contribu- tions, " many " (it is said) "were written in concert by Canning, Ellis, and Frere, so that it was difficult for the authors themselves in later years to assign to each his exact original share in the composition." The room in which they wrote is described as having been " the common property of the three who aided Gifford in his labours as editor, and from the anecdotes Mr. Frere used to tell of concurrent authorship, they seem to have suggested, here a line, there a phrase, to one another; very much as they might have done when schoolboys at Eton."—I am, Sir, &c., E. T. FEERE.
The Wigwam, Wortham, Dies.
Previous page
