Mr. Croker, in the midst of his work at the Admiralty, his articles for the Quarterly, and his other literary labours, found time to write his "Stories for Children from the History of England." In sending the later stories Mr. Croker wrote to Mr. Murray:
The Rt. Hon. J.W. Croker to John Murray.
"I send you seven stories, which, with eleven you had before, brings us down to Richard III., and as I do not intend to come down beyond the Revolution, there remain nine stories still. I think you told me that you gave the first stories to your little boy to read. Perhaps you or Mrs. Murray would be so kind as to make a mark over against such words as he may not have understood, and to favour me with any criticism the child may have made, for on this occasion I should prefer a critic of 6 years old to one of 60."
Thus John Murray's son, John Murray the Third, was early initiated into the career of reading for the press. When the book came out it achieved a great success, and set the model for Walter Scott in his charming "Tales of a Grandfather."
It may be mentioned that "Croker's Stories for Children" were published on the system of division of profits. Long after, when Mr. Murray was in correspondence with an author who wished him to pay a sum of money down before he had even seen the manuscript, the publisher recommended the author to publish his book on a division of profits, in like manner as Hallam, Milman, Mahon, Croker, and others had done. "Under this system," he said, "I have been very successful. For Mr. Croker's 'Stories from the History of England,' selling for 2_s_. 6d., if I had offered the small sum of twenty guineas, he would have thought it liberal. However, I printed it to divide profits, and he has already received from me the moiety of £1,400. You will perhaps be startled at my assertion; for woeful experience convinces me that not more than one publication in fifty has a sale sufficient to defray its expenses."
The success of Scott's, and still more of Byron's Poems, called into existence about this time a vast array of would-be poets, male and female, and from all ranks and professions. Some wrote for fame, some for money; but all were agreed on one point—namely, that if Mr. Murray would undertake the publication of the poems, the authors' fame was secured.
When in doubt about any manuscript, he usually conferred with Croker, Campbell, or Gifford, who always displayed the utmost kindness in helping him with their opinions. Croker was usually short and pithy. Of one poem he said: "Trash—the dullest stuff I ever read." This was enough to ensure the condemnation of the manuscript. Campbell was more guarded, as when reporting on a poem entitled "Woman," he wrote, "In my opinion, though there are many excellent lines in it, the poem is not such as will warrant a great sum being speculated upon it. But, as it is short, I think the public, not the author or publisher, will be in fault if it does not sell one edition."
Of a poem sent for his opinion, Gifford wrote:
"Honestly, the MS. is totally unfit for the press. Do not deceive yourself: this MS. is not the production of a male. A man may write as great nonsense as a woman, and even greater; but a girl may pass through those execrable abodes of ignorance, called boarding schools, without learning whether the sun sets in the East or in the West, whereas a boy can hardly do this, even at Parson's Green."
James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, was another of Murray's correspondents.