Marryat, F: Newton Forster, or the Merchant Service (Classic

Excerpt from Newton Forster, or the Merchant Service

AT the time when Captain Marryat wrote Newton For ster he was in the midst of literary and journalistic engage ments in London. From 1830 onwards he was writing in the Metropolitan Magazine, and had besides received an offer from Bentley to become an editor on his own account. The terms which he preposed proved that he already knew some thing of the value of his services. In the case of this new venture, a nautical magazine, which was to be framed on the lines of the United Service Journal, Captain Marryat declared that he must be despotic as the sole condition of ultimate success, that he was to have a sub-editor who was a nautical man, and that his remuneration was to be £400 per annum until the end of the first year, afterwards rising, if the work were successful, to £600 per annum. Moreover, he added that he had reason to expect a rather better offer from another quarter, which he would certainl accept if it seemed profitable. The second proposal was t e editorship of the Metropolitan Magazine itself, which he took in 1832, the very year which saw the publication of Newton Forster, three volumes, post octavo. So far as the sub-editorship was con cerned he obtained his wish, for the gentleman who helped him with the Metropolitan was Mr. E. Howard, the real author of Rattlin the Reefer, which was only edited by Captain Marryat. Inasmuch as in some senses he was responsible for the issue, it is often included amongst Marryat's works; but the real facts will be laid bare, with the help of information supplied by some of Mr. Howard's relatives, when Rattlin the Reefer is published in this edition.

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