Page "William Ernest Henley" Paragraph 7

After his recovery, Henley earned a living in publishing.

In 1889 he became editor of the Scots Observer, an Edinburgh journal similar to the old Saturday Review.

It was transferred to London in 1891 as the National Observer and remained under Henley's editorship until 1893.

Though, as Henley confessed, the paper had almost as many writers as readers, and its fame was confined mainly to the literary class, it was a lively and influential feature of the literary life of its time.

Henley had an editor's gift of discerning talent, and the " Men of the Scots Observer ", as Henley affectionately and characteristically termed his band of contributors, in most instances justified his insight.

Charles Whibley was friends with Henley and assisted Henley edit the Scots Observer and also the National Observer.

The journal's outlook was conservative and was often sympathetic to the growing imperialism of its time, and among other services to literature it published Rudyard Kipling's Barrack-Room Ballads.