The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 24, 1868.

711 E LATE MR. EFFINGHAM WILSON.

(From the City Press.)
Our columns recently recorded the death of Mr.
Effingham Wilson. In the belief that many may
like to know something of the life of one who, i❑ his
time, held a prominent position, both as a publisher
and a politician, the following particulars have been
compiled.
Mr. Wilson was born about 1783, in the parish
of Kirby-Ravensworth, near Richmond, in the
North Riding of Yorkshire. He was a member of
an old Yorkshire family, and the fact of some of his
relations having farmed under the Earl of Effing-
ham, induced his parents to give him the distinctive
Christian name that he subsequently made so well
and widely known. His earliest years were passed
in the neighbourhood of the place of his birth, '
and when still a b)y he was removed to Knares-
borough, in the same county, where he went
to reside with his uncle, 1)r. Hutchinson, for
the purpose of being educated and trained
to the medical profession, for which, at that
time, he was destined. Dr. Hutchinson was a
celebrated man in his district, and possessed an ex-
celent museum. It was this same Dr. Hutchinson
who went out to Knaresborough Moor, in the dead
of the night, and cut down the body of Eugene
Aram, which was grimly hanging there in chains,
for the purpose of possessing himself of the skull, he
being an ardent phreuologi3t. This skull he
secreted for years, and when it eventually came to
light, and he admitted that he was the culprit, it
was, owing to its peculiarities of formation, the
subject of much discussion and controversy amongst
phrenologists. Mr. Wilson knew Houseman's
widow, the man Ilouseman who is supposed by
many to have been the real murderer of Daniel
Clarke, and who turned king's evidence. Mr.
Wilson, from these early associations, took a deep
interest in all concerning the life and fate of
Eugene Aram, and possessed an extensive collec-
tion of all the works and pamphlets that were, from
time to time, issued and published upon that sub-
ject. The skull, which he much coveted, and
which was at one time promised to him, still re-
, mains in the family, and is now in the possession of
Miss Walton, of Mahon, in Yorkshire.
Mr. Wilson subsequently determined, from some
unexplained cause, to abandon the profession of
medicine ; and it is believed that when he left Dr.
Hutchinson, he for some time went to reside with
a relation named Fall, at Rood Hall, in Yorkshire,
on an estate called the Theakston Estate, since pur-
chased by the Duke of Leeds. He left Mr. Fall,
after a considerable sojourn, and resolved, when
still a youth, to come to London, and seek his for-
tunes in the great city.
Mr. Wilson appears to have selected the publish-
ing business immediately after his arrival in Lon-
don. He first went to Mr. Aspern's, in Cornhill,
whose place was known by the sign of " The Bible,
Crown, and Constitution." From Mr. Aspern's he
went to Mr. Thomas Hurst (the firm being Hurst
and Robinson), the Longmans joining the house
while Mr. Wilson was there, although Mr. Hurst
afterwards separated from the now great house of
Longman and Co., with which house Mr. Wilson
remained for some years. He formed for Mr. Hurst,
from this early time, a warm and enduring friends
ship, which lasted until the death of that gentle-
man, a few years since. Marty long years after
the early time to which we have referred, when
Mr. Hurst's fortunes had unhappily changed, Mr.
IVilson was chiefly instrumental in securing him a
haven in "The Charter House," at which place he
died.

After leaving Messrs. Longman's house, and com-
mencing business, Mr. Wilson was for a few years
in Paternoster-row, but removed, on the 30th of
June, 1812, to the south-east corner of the Royal
Exchange, which place he never afterwards quitted,
except during the rebuilding, after the fire of
January 10th, 1838, returning as soon as it was
again ready to the same spot, which still bears his
name. Although, with his wonted prudence, he
had taken out and held several fire policies for
years, yet, by some unaccountable oversight, the
last premiums had not been duly paid ; and when
the great fire came, he learnt too late, greatly to his
own perplexity, that he was entirely uninsured. On
the occasion of the opening of the new Exchange in
1844, he was most generously congratulated, ou his
re-establishment, by the public press.
Mr. Wilson was for upwards of GO years a busy
worker in "the City, making his corner position cele-
brated as the birthplace of many useful and instruc-
tive commercial and important political and lite-
rary works. He had the longest career, and, we
believe, the most independent, public-spirited, and
fearless career, of any publisher of his time. Ile
was associated with much brave politic d work that
has been well, truly, and laboriously done. lle was
a link between the past and present generations,
and he had consequently seen extraordinary changes.
lie took at one time an active and dangerous part
in politics, on the extreme Liberal side, and was the
producer of works for which it was difficult to find
a publisher, containing as they did daring onslaughts
on the established wrongs of the day.
We extract the following remarks, in support
of what we have said, from the Money Market Re-
view :

Effingham Wilson was a man of strong im-
pulses, great moral courage, and unswerving deter-
mination, of all which his conflict with the leading
journal many years ago was a memorable example.
The journal in question punished him for years by
sedulously ignoring both him and his publications;
but he never condescended to complain. At alater
period, when the hatchet was buried between them,
Mr. Wilson's publications were noticed with the
same impartiality as those of other publishers. A
feature of the late Mr. Wilson's character was a
generous inclination to help those who ncedod help
either in politics, in literature, or in business ; and
there may be many now living who can testify to
the value of the services ho has rendered to them.
“11,3 was the publisher of some of the earlier
works of Jeremy Bentham. He was the publisher
also of IVade's celebrated Black Book, in which the
pensions and jobberies of the Court and aristocracy
of that day were ruthlessly exposed to the indigna-
tion of the country. The book, though costly, had
an enormous sale, and created an immense sensa-
tion, and there is no doubt it contributed much to
arouse that spirit which ultimately carried the Re-
form Bill of 1832. flow are times changed since
then John Wade, the author of that book, is
now in the receipt of a pension from the Crown,
and the instrument in procuring that pension for
him was the son of his old publisher. It may also
be mentioned that Mr. Wilson vas the first pub-
lisher of Alfred Tennyson (1830) aril of the works
of Thomas Campbell in a complete form."

Many of the works published by Mr. Wilson
have gone through numerous editions, and some
have existed for years, and have become accepted
standard Commercial Works. Mr. Wilson also
published at different times a considerable num-
ber of Educational Works, amongst them the works
of M. Merlet and M. Le Page, and some by the
well-known Mr. Pinnock. One of the earliest
cheap periodicals, 1830-31, entitled ?he Parterre,
was his, and had for some time considerable suc-
cess. Ile also started in the very earliest days of
the railway system The Railway Journal, but this
paper was, at the period of its first production, be-
fore its time. lie sold it to Mr. Ilerapath, who at-
tached his name to the paper, and it became after-
wards a great property. lie published for many
years, and his house still publishes, a larger num-
ber of pamphlets than any other firm in the trade,
and his was the house that has acted for a long
time past for most of the great City magnates.
Within the last few years he has published for the
Right Hon. G. J. Goschen, for Mr. R. Wigram
Crawford, M.P., and for Mr. Thomson Ilankey,
M.P. tle published for the Administrative Re-
form Association the speech of. Mr. Charles
Dickens, delivered at Drury-lane Theatre ; and,
for the Liberal Registration Association, a speech
of Earl hussell, delivered at Guildhall, on the occa-
sion of a contested election. It was his invariable
custom to print upon the title page of his books a
grasshopper, that being the test of Sir Thomas
Gre.iliatn, and the sign of the grasshopper having
always been placed upon the tower of the Royal
Exchange, immediately above his place of business.

A friend of Mr. Wilson's, a Mr. Maurice, built
the Brunswick Theatre, in Wellelose-square, in
1828, which house, a few days after it was opened
to the public, fell down during a rehearsal, crush-
ing the proprietor, and eleven others, in its ruins.
Mr. Wilson, after a long search, found the bo:ly
of
Mr. Maurice in the pit, in a painfully mutilated
condition; a friend of Mr. Maurice's who lia,lbeeti
with him in the proscenium box during the accident,
and who, when the roof began to fall, had strongly
urged him to. stay where he was,•remaining unin-
jured. Mr. Wilson hal the mournful duty of
breaking to the family of his friend the sad intelli-
gence of his terrible death. Ile used to tell, with
great unction, the story of how a narrow-minded
parson thereabout, who, by way of "improving the
occasion," had taken upon himself to denounce the
theatre as a godless house, and had presumed to de-
tect the hand of Providenc,:, in its destruction, and

At a time when a testimonial was presented to had the steeple of his own church toppled down by
Mr. Wilson, on account of the service he had ren- lightning during the ensuing summer—an impar-
dered to the Reform cause of 1832 was put forward tiality of dispensation that must have been obfus-
by his friends. It showed that, among many other catingly startling to so self-satisfied an interpreter
things, he, in 1806, published A Plain Letter to of infinite wisdom. One can well imagine such a
H.R.H. the Prance of IVales, on his Plain Duties man, glasses on nose, gazing with blank =azimut,
to his Wife, his Child, and his Country. Was in twenty times at least, at the empty space where his
consequence served with an ex-officio information steeple once had been, before he could gradually
by the then Attorney-General (Sir Vicary Gibbs), bring his stunned intelligence into a condition to
which caused the whole trade to discontinue the believe it possible.
sale of it except himself. 1812. Published Ma- The following is a very characteristic anecdote,
terials for Thinking, by William Burdon, Esq. A and is an example of the sort of personal encounter
threat of prosecution caused many booksellers to to which Mr. Wilson's publications at one time ren-
abandon the sale of this work. 1821. The Art of dered him liable:—Col. Stephenson, aide-de-camp
Packing as applied to Special Juries inCases of Libel to the Duke of York, one day called at the Royal
Law, by Jeremy Bentham. This work lay in the Exchange and inquired for Effingham Wilson.
hands of the printers for ten years, wanting a pub- Stepping forward, Mr. Wilson said, " That is my
lisber. 1830-2. The Black Book, usually known as name." The colonel then asked if he was the pub-
the Reformers' Bible, a work which, during the agita- fisher of " a scandalous pamphlet reflect'ng on
tion of the Reform Bill, both the London and ceuntry H.R.H. the Duke of York." Mr. Wilson replied,
newspapers quoted and extracted from to an un- ; "NJ, I never issue scandalous publications. I have
precedented extent, greatly to the advancement of lately published a pamphlet, in which his Royal
the cause. The sale of this work was impaled by the Highness's conduct is truthfully described." Then,
prosecution of several country vendors, but no pro- , said the colonel, " I have come from the duke with
secution was attempted against Mr. Wilson in Lon- the intention of horse-whipping you," at the same
don. 1835. Published The Times Extraordinary. time producing, from under his coat, a formi-
This completely stirred up the venom of that jour- dable whip. Mr. Wilson, nothing daunted by
nal, which took occasion to designate him as the the appearance of his military visitor, or the
" Radical Bookseller of the Royal Exchange," and sight of the weapon, but standing bolt upright,
requested the colonel to fulfil his commission, but
recommended the partisans of its newly-adopted
creed to punish such men by the adoption of " ex- he added, " the moment you lay hands on me
elusive dealing" with persons of their own political you will find it necessary to make your appear-
faith. The Livery of the Clothworkers' Company ante before the Lord Mayor." The colonel, acting
was withheld from him for 25 years (until the Re- upon the principle that "discretion is the better
part of valour," decided not to execute his form Bill conferred it upon hills) on account of his
commis-
publishing books " inimical to the State," as he sion, but departed, threatening all sorts of yen-
was repeatedly told by the dominant Tory faction geance, of which, however, nothing more was
of that day, who then ruled the affairs of the Corn- ever heard. Those who knew Effingham Wilson
pany. He became the relater in the cause of the will feel pretty certain that had the Colonel but
" Lute Charity," left in trust to the Clothworkers, raised his arm to strike, something would have
by which means nearly £7OO per annum was appro- occurred prior to his appearance at the Mansion
priated to the poor, which had for almost two House.
centuries been applied to the " uses" of the Com-
.In public life he earnestly desired, to use his fa-
pany. vourite expression, manfully to do his all to " leave
Mr. Wilson was at one time a frequent attendant the world better than he found it ;" his oft-repeated
in the lobby of the House of Commons, when any
idea of the end of all good government was, to use
the words of Bentham, " the greatest happiness of
house, being well known to many of the members.
the greatest number ;" he cherished tenaciously our
He took a great interest in Queen Caroline, and
question of national importance was before the
hardly-conquered "right of private judgment ;"
he spoke ever of the great "fourth estate," a free
formed one of the deputation who waited upon her
with the late Mr. Alderman Matthew Wood. He press, thus:—" It is like the air we breathe : if we
have it not, we die ;" he frequently made pecuni-
was a volunteer at the time when Napoleon &lona-
ary sacrifices for causes that he loved, and many a
parte threatened England with invasion, and was
justly proud of having been so. He had a great time were his private interests rendered subser-
veneration for the memory of Jeremy Bentham, and
vient to the public good ; he was a staunch Pro-
took his children and his friends to the house of testant, and a hater of priestly rule and do-
Dr. Southwood Smith, to see the body of Jeremy urination, but an advocate for religious as
Bentham, which was kept there embalmed, and well as civil liberty; and he believed it to be the
' Bl
ackstones patriotic injunction,
dressed in the clothes in which he died. bounden duty of every good citizen to regard sted-
The great General, the Marquess de Lafayette, fastly" The
on the occasion of Mr. Wilson publishing a transla_ protection of the liberty of Britain is a duty we owe
tion of one of his works, sent him a cordial auto-
to ourselves, who enjoy it; to our ancestry, who
graph letter, and a bust of himself. transmitted it down ; and to our posterity, who will
The novel in the list of works published by Alclaim it at our hands as the beat birthright and
i.. -
noblest inheritance of mankind."
Wilson, entitled Arthur Coningsby, was written by
In private life he was full of amenity, kindliness,
John Sterling, who was associated, if we are not
and cheerfulness. He enjoyed excellent health
mistaken, with the Times newspaper, and of whom
throughout his long life, and used often to remark
Thomas Carlyle has written a biography.
that he had lived sixty years in London without
Mr. Wilson purchased of Thomas Campbell the
a headache. He was fond of athletic exercises,
copyright of his life of Mrs. Siddons. Campbell
and was a first-rate horseman and swimmer. He
was the literary executor of the great tragic actress,
was devotedly loved by his family, and had many
and she left to him her diary. This diary Mr.
cordial friends and admirers amongst all parties
'Wilson endeavoured to persuade the poet to print,
in the State. He was touchingly remarkable
but in vain. The publisher contended that the
for one trait—his beautiful tenderness to
public or histrionic life of Mrs. Siddons was well
little
children. His attachment to his native
known, and thoroughly appreciated, and that it was
county was singularly strong, and in his later years
these very peeps behind the scenes, given in the there was no theme of which he so much loved to
pages of a private diary, in which the public would talk as of the dear old Yorkshire days. He was
naturally take the deepest interest. Campbell,
twice married. He married very young, and had
nevertheless, we think wrongly, was immovable
a very large family, as many as fifteen children.
upon this point, and decided to destroy it, or at any
Some of his daughters lived to nearly the age of
rate the greater portion of it. sixty, and yet died some years before Mr. Wilson
When Teunyson forwarded to Mr. Wilson the himself. Besides those children of his own who
manuscript of his first poems, from Cambridge, it survive him, he has left some five-and-twenty
grandchildren. He at length passed quietly and
was accompanied by the manuscript of some poems
by Mr. Arthur H. Hallam, the intention .at that
time being,,that the poems of the two college friends
peacefully away, not one of those sorrowing relatives
should appear in the same volume. Mr. Hallam's who surrounded his bed knowing exactly the
moment at which he breathed his last. Like a true
MS., however, owing we presume to the advice of
and trusty soldier, he had fought the long battle of
critical friends, was eventually withdrawn. It was life
this same r. Hallam in whose honour the Poet ,with high and with courage.
M All
honour to his manful memory. enduring
Laureate afterwards raised that 'marvellous mental
monument to human friendship, his In Memoriam.
It will be seen by the two preceding anecdotes
that Mr. Wilson published for two Poets-Laureate,
Campbell and Tennyson. Mr. Robert Browning
was in the Bank of England, in 1836, at the time
Mr. Wilson published his Poracelsus for him. It
was Mr. Browning's first poetical production.
Mr. Wilson visited his friend Hone, in Newgate,
the night before his celebrated trial began, in 1817,
in order to aid him in the preparation of his defence.
However much he may have thought Hone's con-
duct questionable, and however widely he may have
differed from him, both as a matter of taste and
feeling, he considered the criminal prosecution to
which
wholly unjustifiable,
ndi ,
h c i
fsuccessful,
o n e a vaa subjecteds
pernicious
precedent ; and un-
der such circumstances he concluded that it would,
and,
l
ill the hour of peril, be an act of moral cowardice
to desert his friend. He was fully borne out in his
opinion of the prosecution by the unanimous ac-
quittal of Hone by three special juries, and this in
spite of Lord Elleuborough, who, more in the spirit
of an advocate than a judge, pleaded hard for a
conviction. Tile public endorsed these verdicts by
a subscription of £3,000.
Mr. Wilson was a personal friend of Dr. Birk-
beck, and took a warm and active interest in the
establishment of Mechanics' Institutions, and the
spread 'of popular education. He contended, in
the matter of sound instruction, to use his own
phraseology, that every child should "have that
given to it which nobody can take away from it."
As an apt illustration of how appreciatively alive
he was to the continuity of progress and improve-
ment, scientific as well as political, it may be worth
while to mention, that he was the first man in his
own district to cause his place of business to be
lighted with gas, and that greatly to the terror of
his timid neighbours, and iu spite of of their pro-
phetic remonstrances.
He used to ride in the steam carriage that at one
time ran on the common highway ; and he went the
first experimental trip, with the directors, on the
Greenwich Railway ; and as a contrast in one life,
he had known the time when it took him four days
to go to Margate in a boy, and a week to go to
Edinburgh on a coach.
In 1827, years before the " Anti-Corn Law
League" was organised (in 1838) he published
General Perronet Thompson's famous Catechism of
the Corn Laws. Many thousands of this work were
sold and circulated, year after year, with persistent
industry, until it could be found, with its familiar
ark alustratien, in every nook and corner of Eng-
land. It may be said to have prepared the ground,
and sown the seed, for the coining political harvest.
In point of argument, this work has been pro-
nounced convincing and exhaustive, although the
subject received, of course, vast and continuous
subsequent illustration. After the long Anti-Corn
Law campaign was over and the victory was WOO,
Mr. Cobden, with rare and graceful political gene-
rosity, speaking of General Thompson, said, "
He
was our master ; A e have all been but pupils in his
school." General Thompson has been styled " the
earliest and ablest asserter of the principles of Free
Trade."

The foregoing is a statement of facts, little
mingled with that deeper feeling of bereavement,
inseparable from the death of those for whom
grief is the.most lasting, and the strongest. Those
who are ni2arest and dearest to him must long
feel th it his place is empty. Ile ever struggled,
guided by the broadest principles, after that which
he believed to be the pursuit of truth. All that
could promote the gold of society, freedom, know-
ledv, science, and humanity, were dear to him.
Around such a nature affection must necessarily
have grappled, and lung and lovingly will recollec-
tion cling to his remembrance. He was full of
energetic consistency, and he shrank instinctively
from compromise. The spirit and power of such a
man must in some degree remain, though the life
itself may have passed away. lie was of a pure, di-
rect, and healthful nature, ever controlled by whole-
some and ennobling influences, and some of those

whorndie has left behind will doubtless feel their
lives herieeforth impoverished by that which must
he to them indeed an irreparable loss.