MILL, John Stuart.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Autograph Letter Signed, to John Chapman, concerning the Westminster Review. A late autograph letter attesting to Mill's support for both the Westminster Review and its editor, his addressee John Chapman (1821-94). Despite his general statement of support, Mill expressly asked Chapman to refrain from publishing his sentiments.The Westminster Review had been founded by Bentham (Mill's godfather), as a more radical alternative to traditional Whig and Tory journals: in his Autobiography, Mill wrote that "especially from the commencement of the Westminster Review, I had what might truly be called an object in life; to be a reformer of the world" (p. 106). Chapman, by origin a physician, served as editor of the Review from 1851 to 1860, and then from 1861 to his death in 1894. The Review appears to have been under financial pressure in 1868: Mill writes that "its disappearance would leave a sad blank in our periodical literature, and would be a severe blow to advanced thought and to the education of future thinkers". Although Chapman has been criticised for his financial skills, few ever questioned his commitment to radical idealism, and Mill comments that he had "a strong claim to the gratitude of the friends of advanced opinions and independent thoughts and after the proofs he has given for a number of years and under great difficulties, of his fitness to conduct such an organ, I hope that he may find such assistance as may enable him still to carry it on".This letter was publis

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