ABSTRACT
Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country was established as a literary and political magazine in London in 1830. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn (1794–1842).
Maginn was an experienced journalist who had contributed to Blackwood’s Magazine and helped to edit the ultra-Tory newspaper, the Standard, after it was founded by Stanley Lees Giffard (1788–1858) in 1827. Maginn was an influential periodical writer and publisher whose strong views led him into fighting a duel (in 1836) and whose intemperance led him into debtors prison (in 1842).
This article declares the magazine’s political creed at its inception. It maintains that political parties are no longer distinguished by their traditional labels – ‘The Whigs have been un-whigged; the Tories have been un-toried’ – and offers a historical review of the circumstances in which these terms originated. Fraser’s staked out a place for national, Protestant, Tory opinions. As the editorial notes, had it existed a year earlier, the magazine would have been a vociferous opponent of Emancipation. Nevertheless, it had no appetite for seeking the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. In foreign policy, the magazine asserted its belief in non-interference with the affairs of other nations, ‘except in extreme cases’, and expressed its determination to communicate ‘distinctly’ with its readers on all matters of domestic and foreign policy.
