Blackwood had now arrived at a point in his life when impatience of a monotonous career, and that desire to “make a spoon or spoil a horn” which is so strong among those predestined to fortune, had risen to fever-point within him. He was impatient of bookselling and of the moderate risks and rewards of a humdrum publishing business, especially after his disappointment in respect to the ‘Waverley’ series; and all his faculties were on the watch for an opportunity to step forth from the usual routine, and make a distinct place for himself. The method in which it was easy and natural to do this is indicated in a curious letter addressed to him by Murray, whose relations with the Edinburgh publisher were so varied and often full of friendly feeling, though broken by occasional misunderstandings and makings-up. Murray seems to have assumed an attitude of superiority, as of a man of much greater experience and knowledge of the world, which, though probably quite justifiable from his point of view, must often have been exasperating to one so independent and high-spirited as William Blackwood, fully conscious of being as good a judge in his own case and perhaps a better man of business than his irregular and dilatory correspondent.