A review started by John Murray, the celebrated London publisher, in February 1809, in rivalry with the Edinburgh, which had been seven years in possession of the field, and was exerting, as he judged, an evil influence on public opinion; in this enterprise he was seconded by Southey and Scott, the more cordially that the Edinburgh had given offence to the latter by its criticism of "Marmion." It was founded in the Tory interest for the defence of Church and State, and it had Gifford for its first editor, while the contributors included, besides Southey and Scott, all the ablest literary celebrities on the Tory side, of which the most zealous and frequent was John Wilson Croker.