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Untitled Article
again art thou above art!—the cheek paled— " Tou are right , " he sighed .
" I thought so . Now , 111 give you at the rate of three pounds ten shillings per thirty-two pages for that book , if you will dispose of it , and swear you will not divulge your authorship of it , but allow me to put my name as its writer ; moreover , I expect you to write me a good preface for nothing . " So the labour of a life was sold at less than a penny a line ! the
poor author followed his child to the grave , in penury , obscurity , and rags , merely leaving in the memory of those who recollected his brilliant wit in former days , a vague surmise that the world had not dealt quite fairly by him . The editor was f 6 ted , lionized , and advanced , though no one ever heard him utter an original remark ,-
—"he kept all his best notions for his books , " people said , and verified the practical success of the favourite maxims of worldly wisdom , to keep every dog out of the kennel , the moment number one gets into it ; and " Every one look after themselves , as the donkey said when he danced amongst the fowls , " whose broken legs and crushed cockscombs gave him no pain , so long as " self" enjoyed his pleasure !
And this is the way selfishness gulls the public , robs the world of genius' brightest , fairest fruit , and absorbs for its own pecuniary profit the mental nutriment or corporeal activity which should benefit our common world ! What renders , at present , our national character so pettifogging in its chicanery , money-seeking , and toadyism ? "What impoverishes our literature , and keeps back originalitv ,
so that every article in the newspaper , every poem , fiction , drama , is only the ditto and fac-simile of some foregone production ; some vamped-up veneer , stolen from the fine mahogany of a past intellect ? We know minds w hich are masters , of certain questions ; they rest in mocking idleness as they read the dull platitudes of
journalists who live by exhibiting how many different scores can be rung on the same empty bell in the " Chimes ; " taking studious care that no one but themselves shall ever get hold of the ropes . These are the burglars who have broken into the public warehouses of literature —selfish plagiarists , who rob England of her growing mind !
Yet , though it is mean and contemptible in its injustice , want of generosity , and other characteristics , do not think selfishness is blamed now-a-days . We are all guilty of it , and in a den of robbers what culprit can criticise a thief ? " Self" pulls off the bandage of justice , " plates vice with gold" of merit , procrastinates conscience , purchases approval . Give him money enough , and we'll warrant
your most dignified patron will lay his services at your feet : grease well with palm-oil ^ and the doors of advancement , which generally shriek and move reluctantly , will fly open noiselessly at a touch . Discount a bill for the publisher , reader , or manager of a journal , you will find the method more sure to get you on the " staff" of a paper than if you were the animated encyclopaedia of science , or even the friend of the editor ' s brother , who writes his reviews , and sometimes spells " profit" with two f s . If gold be not yours to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
again art thou above art!—the cheek paled— " Tou are right , " he sighed .
" I thought so . Now , 111 give you at the rate of three pounds ten shillings per thirty-two pages for that book , if you will dispose of it , and swear you will not divulge your authorship of it , but allow me to put my name as its writer ; moreover , I expect you to write me a good preface for nothing . " So the labour of a life was sold at less than a penny a line ! the
poor author followed his child to the grave , in penury , obscurity , and rags , merely leaving in the memory of those who recollected his brilliant wit in former days , a vague surmise that the world had not dealt quite fairly by him . The editor was f 6 ted , lionized , and advanced , though no one ever heard him utter an original remark ,-
—"he kept all his best notions for his books , " people said , and verified the practical success of the favourite maxims of worldly wisdom , to keep every dog out of the kennel , the moment number one gets into it ; and " Every one look after themselves , as the donkey said when he danced amongst the fowls , " whose broken legs and crushed cockscombs gave him no pain , so long as " self" enjoyed his pleasure !
And this is the way selfishness gulls the public , robs the world of genius' brightest , fairest fruit , and absorbs for its own pecuniary profit the mental nutriment or corporeal activity which should benefit our common world ! What renders , at present , our national character so pettifogging in its chicanery , money-seeking , and toadyism ? "What impoverishes our literature , and keeps back originalitv ,
so that every article in the newspaper , every poem , fiction , drama , is only the ditto and fac-simile of some foregone production ; some vamped-up veneer , stolen from the fine mahogany of a past intellect ? We know minds w hich are masters , of certain questions ; they rest in mocking idleness as they read the dull platitudes of
journalists who live by exhibiting how many different scores can be rung on the same empty bell in the " Chimes ; " taking studious care that no one but themselves shall ever get hold of the ropes . These are the burglars who have broken into the public warehouses of literature —selfish plagiarists , who rob England of her growing mind !
Yet , though it is mean and contemptible in its injustice , want of generosity , and other characteristics , do not think selfishness is blamed now-a-days . We are all guilty of it , and in a den of robbers what culprit can criticise a thief ? " Self" pulls off the bandage of justice , " plates vice with gold" of merit , procrastinates conscience , purchases approval . Give him money enough , and we'll warrant
your most dignified patron will lay his services at your feet : grease well with palm-oil ^ and the doors of advancement , which generally shriek and move reluctantly , will fly open noiselessly at a touch . Discount a bill for the publisher , reader , or manager of a journal , you will find the method more sure to get you on the " staff" of a paper than if you were the animated encyclopaedia of science , or even the friend of the editor ' s brother , who writes his reviews , and sometimes spells " profit" with two f s . If gold be not yours to