Page:The New Monthly Magazine - Volume 100.djvu/17

Rh wit which have since identified him with Punch;—Captain, who published his "The Phantom ShipPhantom Ship" in the New Monthly; the rival dramatists,  and ; Mr. , alias "," and Miss. In 1833, came the Right Hon., learned, lucid, and instructive; , the Danubian traveller; , and Miss. The example set by and, was followed, in 1839, by the broad comedy of Mrs. , and amongst those who became contributors that year were the Rev. , , the naval novelist, that lusus naturæ, Sir , Miss , and holding worthy place among the essayists of the day, Mr. . Without the displacement or withdrawal of any of those who had now for some years been prominently contributing, others continued to swell the list, including , the dramatist, , and , who made "Nimrod in France" a feature of interest in the New Monthly.

The legitimate succession to the editorial sceptre fell, in 1842, to poor, who had previously associated himself with the Magazine by his "War with China." He commenced in characteristic vein, and marked the period of his control by the more whimsical and mirth-provoking peculiarities of his style. Under his banners were enlisted, Captain , —whose pseudonym was ","—Mr. , whose "Recreations in Natural History" were so pleasant,—, the dramatist—the original and lamented ","—"," who only plumed his wings for one solitary flight preparatory to soaring alone in his own atmosphere,—Miss, that agreeable traveller Mrs. , and the singularly-endowed.

It is in the very nature of periodical literature that there should be a constant succession of writers to impart the novelty which renders a carefully-conducted magazine a true reflex of the literary opinions and impressions of the hour; and it belongs, for the most part, to those authors who have first essayed their strength in periodical writing, to seek, after a time, an independent existence elsewhere. Hence the changes which take place in the muster-roll of names in a magazine.

The New Monthly, however, had the singular good fortune, scarcely shared, we believe, by any of its contemporaries, to retain some of its earliest and best contributors after the lapse of not less than a quarter of a century, while fresh vitality was given to it by the constant accession of new talent as it continued to manifest itself in the world of letters.

An era in the history of the New Monthly was particularly marked by an event which took place in 1845. This was the absorption of the proprietorship and editorship of the Magazine in the same person, thus establishing one interest, one will, and one undivided purpose. How much more naturally this combination was likely to effect its object than a system in which there must often be disagreement and sometimes opposition, is too self-evident a fact to require that it should be insisted on.

It was then, under these favourable auspices, with the honourable prestige of the Past and the hopeful aspect of the Future, that the present Editor undertook the responsible duties of his position; and it may be permitted him to say, after an experience of nearly nine years, that if the success of a periodical is to be estimated by the extent of its