The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-09-08
MISCELLANEOUS.

SIR E. L. BULWER ON LITERARY MEN
AT the dinner Of the London Booksellers Provi-
dent Retreat, Sir +. L. Bulwer made the following
truthful observations;
"But It was in vain to deny that the condition Of
the literary had not kept pace with that i'm
proyement in society which he had been the main
agent 10 effect IL not the fault of the publisher
He largely remunerated works commanding large
popular sale; but how many Of the greatest nellects
employed in literature engaged In works which,
from their nature were not widely popular (though,
by influencing the thoughts Of the few, they ulu
mately become the eiylizer ofthe many and could
not, therefore, by the laws of the market, obtain
suitable remuneration for the time and toll which
they had cost And even the most popular au-
thor. What practical man there did not know
that even the most popular author was compelled TO
strain every nerve, oyerask every effort, If he was
condemned TO make literature his only available
profession! How familiar to many of you must
have been the sight OF some young author flushed
with inauspicous hope at the unexpected sale Of his
first work. with what pity you must have smiled
when you saw him cast away all other calling and
vocation TO devote himself TO the thankless muse!
How sadly you must have anticipated the hour, too
soon to come, when, sinking from all his high
pirations, you would see him frittering away his
genius in the arudgery Of periodicals, making fierce
efforts to sustain himself the surface of the stream
he could no longer hope To gude-poor slave TO the
caprlces Of the hour Yes, how familiar 10 you have
been his change from corrodlng hope to consuming
care-hs anxious countenanee, his deoaying health
his untimey grave! For il is remarkable fact
land 1t proves much) that while in France, in
Germany, ia countries where suitable honors and
provision await those distinguished in letters, the
average lives OF literary exceed the standard of
longevity, few in England, If without other resource
than literature, attain TO the natural age Of man
Can you wonder at ~ Why, what calling on earth
so preearious, beset with cares, so harassed by
the disappointments Of honorable ambition, that
OF the English man OF lettersl Johnson sums up
the courses Of the scholar Sin the patron and the
jail" we have lost the patron, we have kept the Jail
Suppose any prudent father amongst you have FIVE
sons one enters the law, one the church. third the
army, fourth into some trade or business and the
sbest, the most promising Of oil says, Father,
viii be an author, will depend on literature for
bread" ask you, ask any father whether he
would not feel the most respondent for that son.
though destined, perhaps, to enrich the world With
immortal treasures, and make all Europe familiar
with his name This would not be the case in
Germany or France. II is peculiar to England
And at time when we have been specially invited
10 examine the wide field Of social Reform this is
one OF the anomalies that demand our most serious
consideration. When ] see Burns, the great peas
ant beside whom the crowns Of kings grow pale at
an age before the schoolmaster was abroad and the
diffusion Of knowledge had become a vulgar can't
cry, deyotng his generous energies to the establish
ment Of libraries IN the villages Of Scotland, and
then dying himself a broken-down exciseman;-
when see Hayden, amidst his difficulties and dis
tress, yearning to dhfuse through the empire that
knowledge Of the principles Of art and design which
- so essential to the excellence even Of manufac-
lures, and smitten by phrensy down to his bloody
grave-l do pause and ask II these things are wor-
thy of England. do pause and ask If it be not pos
sbe, by the institution of professorships upon the
extended and liberal scale Of Germanyj by more
fair distribution Of the honors which should belong
to intellect, and the emoluments which should re-
ward industry; TO bring art and genius into the pale
OF available professions, and make those whose
gloomy fate now only serves as beacon to the
young, their safe exempar as well as their honored
teacher. Pardon me this digression-let me believe
that you would blame me if had forborne it,.
Blame me, indeed, # |, an author whom the acct
dents Of birth and fortune have befrended, did not
lift up my voice, here and all suitable occasions,
while these huge wrongs shall last, on behalf of my
nobler but more Inflated BRETHREN