The attainment by John Murray of his jubilee as a publisher is a reminder that the name of the founder of the famous firm was not Murray, but M'Murray. He was an officer of the Royal Marines, who, finding promotion unduly delayed, took over im 1768 the business of a Mr. Sundby in Fleet Street. John M'Murray was an' Edinburgh man, and it is has been suggested that he dropped the distinctively Scotush Prefix of his name on account of the prejudice against Scotsmen which set in among Southerners after Bute signed the 1763 Peace Treaty of Paris.
8 a young naval officer, M'Murray had been on friendly {terms with another Edinburgh man, a@common sailor, who had uncommon. gifts for a man in his position. This was William Falconer, who had published in 1762 "The Shipwreck," a three canto poem, which was well received and led tothe author's promotion. When M'Murray thought of starting as a publisher, he wrote to Falconer, suggesting that he should come into the venture, but the sailor poet could not sce his way to accept the proposal. In October, 1769, Falconer sailed for India as purser of the frigate Aurora, which was: taking out several officials of John Company."' The yesso] touched at the Cape, which she left on December 27, and was never heard of again. In October, 1773, a negro Was examined by the directors of the East India Company, and afirmed. that the Aurora was wrecked on a sunken reef in the Indian Ocean, and that he was the last of the five survivors.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.