EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

746

■uumers, and so fond of oonTersation, that he ilmost literally talked himtelf to death. He was toned in the church-yard of Southhill, in Bed- brdshire, with the following epitaph inscribed in his glare stone :

Near this place lies Interred

The body of Bdwasd Dillt,

late citizen and bookseller, of London.

He was born in this puisb,

JalySS, 1731)

and died M«r 11, 1779.

The business was carried on by his younger trother Charles Dilly, who had been some time lis partner, and thus became the sole proprietor if a Terr valuable trading concern, which he ontinued to cultivate with that industry and ppUcation, which in the g^eat commercial me- ropolis of England almost invariably leads to ipulence, till 1807, under which year see a notice.

1779, July 20. Died, Douoal Gbabam, the byming chronicler of the rebellion of 1745, nd who for some time carried on the business of . printer at Glasgow ; and it has been affirmed, bat, like Buchan, the chronicler of Peterhead, le used to compose and set up his works without !ver committing them to writing. Unfortu- lately, no account of the parentage or early life f this eccentric individiud has Wn preserved, t has been said that he was engaged in the re- ellion of 1745 and 1746, but without sufficient uthority. He had, to use his own words, "been .n eve-witness to most of the movements of the muet, from the rebels first crossing the ford of rew, to their final defeat at Cullcden ;" but it iovii seem from this expression, as well as from he recollections of some of his acquaintances, bat it was only in the capacity of a follower, rho supplied the troops with small wares. But )ougal's aspiring mind aimed at a higher and obler employment, — the cultivation of the luse; and no sooner was the rebellion termi- lated by the battle of Cullodcn, than he deter- oined to write a history of it " in vulgar rhyme." iccordingly, the G/(ui/otrCouFan< of September 9, 1746, contains the following advertisement: That there is to be sold by James Duncan, 'rinter in Glasgow, in the Salt-Mercat, the econd shop below Gibson's Wynd, a book utitled, Afvll, particular, and true account of \e late rebellion in the year$ 1745 and 1746, egirming with the Pretender't embarking for icotland, and then an account of every battle, lege, and tkirmiih that has happened in either 'colland or England : to which u added, several ddressa and epistles to the pope, pagans, poets, nd pretender, all in metre, price fourpence. But any booksellers or packmen may have them Etsier from the said James Duncan, or the uthor, D. Graham. The like," the advertise- lent concludes, " has not been done in Scot- ind since the days of sir David Lindsay!" As le book beecame known, Dougal issued editions gpreatly enlarged and improved." That of 771, while it contains many additions, is said I want much of the curious matter in the editio rinceps. In 1752, Graham styles himself ' mer-

chant in Glasgow,' but it would appear that his wealth had not increased with his fame ; about this time he became a printer. The exact date at which he became bellman is not known, but it most have been after 1770. At this time the situation was one of some dignity and import- ance: the posting of handbills and the publishing of advertisements were not quite so common ; and whether a child had "wandered," — ^"sal- mon, herring, cod, or ling" had arrived at the Broomielaw, — or the grocers had received a new supply of " cheap butter, barley, cheese, and veal," the matter could only be proclaimed by the mouth of the public crier. After severtQ years of, it may be supposed, extensive useful- ness in this capacity, Dougal was gathered to his fathers. Besides the before-named history, Graham wrote many other poems and songs, some of which, though little Known, are highly graphic. They would form a pretty large volume, but it is hardly probable that in this fastidious age any attempt will be made to col- lect them.— Chambers's Eminent Scotsmen.

1779, iVo». 12. Died, Jobs Beecroft, a con- siderable wholesale bookseller in Paternoster-row, many years agent to the university of Cam- bridge, and master of the company of stationers in 1773. He died at Walthamstow.

1779, iVini.24. Henby Sampson WoonFALL, printer of the General Advertiser, sentenced in the court of king's bench to pay a fine of six shillings and eight pence, and to be confined in Newgate twelve months, for publishing a Land- bill expressive of joy at the acquittal of admiral Keppel.*

1779. Dr. Johnson published his long-ex- pected work, the Lives of the English Poets, and fixed the price at two hundred guineas, at which Malone observes, " The booksellers, in the course of twenQr-five years have probably cleared five thousand. Johnson has dignified the booksellers as the " patrons of literature." In the case of the above work, which drew forth that encomium, he had bargained for two hundred guineas; and the bookseUers spontaneously added a third hun- dred. On this occasion the great moralist ob- served to a friend, "Sir, I have always saii the bookseUers were a generous set of men. Nor in the present instance have I reason to complain. The fact is, not that they have paid me too little, but that I have written too much." The lives were soon publiEhed in a separate edition ; when for a few corrections, the doctor was presented with another hundred guineas. This work was first suggested by a literary club of booksellers,

• Aag:n8tns, visconnt Keppel, was the second son of the

earl of Albemarle. He accompanied commodore Anson in his voyage round the world, and in 1778 commanded the channel fleet, which, July IS, in that year, fell in with the Ftench under coaat d'OrvilUers off Vahant. A partial ac- tion ensued, which the English admiral thooght to hare renewed in the morning, bat the enemy had retired. This aflhir gave great dissatisfaction to the nation, which was aggravated by sir Hugh PalHser, second in command, pre- ferring a chargeagainst admiral Keppel, who was honour- ably acquitted by a cooit-martial at Portsmontfa. Sir Hugh was then tried and censured. In 178S,admiral Kep- pel was raised to the peerage ; he was also at two sepa- rate periods first lord of the admiralty. HediedOct. z, I7«8.

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