EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
043
Water; and Dr. John Ifartyn. Their signa- Uues are Buvhu and Maviut, To the Memoin of the Soeiehf of Grub-Hreet the literary world is greatly inciebted; for, in fact, to this publica- tion we owe the GentUmau'i Magazine. The Memoin "meeting with encouragement," says sir John Hawkins, " Care projected an improve- ment thereon in a pamphlet of his own; and in the following year gave to the world the first nnmber of the GentUnum'i Magazine, with a notification, that the same would be continued monthly; incurring thereby a charge of plagiar- ism, wmch, as he is said to have confessed it, we may suppose he did not look upon as criminal."
1730, July 3. The Speeulatist, No. I. By Mr. Concanen.* This paper procured its author no reputation, and not much pecuniary profit. The expenses of printing were oefirayed by sub- scription; but the snbwribers had reason to complain that it was little more than a republi- cation of the Britiih and London Joumalt. In these papers, and the Speculatitt, he was, to adopt the language of the annotator on Pope, " the author of several dull and dead scurrilities," and, by abusing the poet and his friend Boling- broke, obtained an introduction into the Jhrndad.
1730, Dec. 22. WhibcorthU Mandutter Ga- zette, printrd and published by H. Whitworth. In 1737 the name was changed to the Manchet- ter Magazine, and continued above twenty years.
1730, Feb. 21-24. CEtUpui, or Poettnan re- motmted.
1730, April 19. The Weekly Reguter, No. 1.
1730, Dec. 16. The Hyp Doctor, by sir Isaac Ratcliffe, of Elbow-lane, No. 1. This was the production of John Henley, in support of the administration of sir Robert Walpole.
1731, Jan. The GentUmanU Magazine. This periodical miscellany was commenced by Edward Cave, printer, St. John's-gate, Clerkenwell, who, as the mscription beneath his portrait states, was
" The fitst Inventor of the monthly nugazines j The invention all admired; and euh liow he To he the inventor mined.'*
One of the reasons assigned for beginning it was, to form a collection or magazine of the escays, intelligence, &c., which appeared in the " two hundred half sheets per month," which the London press was then calculated to throw off, besides " written accounts," and about as many more half sheets printed " elsewhere in the three kingdoms." When Cave formed the project of his magazine, he was far &om expecting the success which he found; and others had so little prospect of its consequence, that though he had for several years talked of his plan among printers and booksellers, none of them thought it worth
• Matthew Concanen wa« a native of Ireland, and bred to the law, but not sncceedlng in tills line, he turned his attention to poUUcs, enlisting himself under the banners of the administration in the BritM and Londm Joumalt. By the interest of the duke of Newcastle, he was aimointed attorney-general of the island of Jamaica, a post which he fliled for seventeen years with unblemished integrity, and universal esteem of the inhabitants. He returned to liOndon in December, 1748, with an ample fortune honour- ably acquired, and died January S3, 17i9- His poems, and his play of Wat/ori Wellt, have merit.— i>r<iA[c.
the trial. That they were not restrained by their virtue irom the execution of another man's de- sign, was safficiently apparent as soon as that d^ign began to be gainful; for in a few years a multitude of magazines arose, and perished: only the London Magazine, supported by a powerful association of booksellen, and circu- lated with all the art, and all the cnnning of trade, exempted itself from the general fate of Cave's invaders, and obtained, though not an equal, yet a considerable sale. " The invention of this new species of publication," says Dr. Kippis, " may be considered as sometlung of an epocba in the literary historr of this country. The periodical publications before that time were almost wholly confined to political transactions, and to foreign and domestic occunences; but the magazines have opened a way for every kind of enquiry and information. The inteUigence and discussion contained in them are very extensive and various; and they have been the means of diffusing a general habit of reading through the nation; which, in a certain degree, hath enurged the public understanding. Many young authors, who have afterwards risen to future eminence in the literary world, have here made their first attempts in composition. Here, too, are pre- served a multitude of curious and useful hmts, observations, and facts, which otherwise mu;ht have never appeared; or, if they had appeared in a more evanescent form, woiUd have incurred the danger of being lost. If it were not an in- vidious task, the history of them would be no incurious or unentertainingsubjecL The maga- zines that unite utility with entertainment are undoubtedly preferable to those (if there have been any such) which have only a view to idle and frivolous amusement." With the pros^- rity of his magazine, Mr. Cave began to aspire to popularity; and, being a greater lover of poetry than any other art, he sometimes offered subjects for poems, and proposed prizes for the best performances. The first prize was £60, for which, being but newly acquainted with wealth, and thinking the influence of jC60 extremely great, he expected the first authors of the king- dom to appear as competitors; and offered the allotment of the prize to the universities.* But, when the time came, no name was seen among the writers that had been ever seen before; the universities and several private men rejected the province of assigning the prize.f At all this Mr. Cave wondered tor a while; but his natural judgment, and a wider acquaintance with the world, soon cured him of his astonishment, as of many other prejudices and errors. Nor have
- On the Invitaiiom of the EpigrammatUtt made bg Mr.
Cme,theprtMtero/th»aentlenuui,'iMagaiciiu, 1731.
The psalmist to a Cow for refhge Aed,
And vagrants followed him for want of bread )
Ye happy bards I would yon with identy dwell.
Fly to that best of Cma in ClerkemceU.
t The determination was left to Dr. Cromwell Mortimer and Dr. Birch; and by the latter tho award was made, which may be seen iii the magazine for the year 1736, vol. vi. p. S9.
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