The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-04-17
Get fhs Seeond Beet.

Get tAs seee~d Beet.
We Americans arc in The habit Of 1atier
ing ourselves grca, deal too mnch. BE
cause we circulate vast number Of copies
Of some very poor novel, wc call ourselves
"a reasoning public" So we are; hut ws
have arrived only ut that stuyu whom We
read the second hest things.
Take, for instance, our periodicals. There
arc three favorilc monthly magazines,
which cater for three different gu'ies ol
customer, and have met with a good deal
Of success In their way. These are the Al.
lanhe Monthly, Hapvs Magazine and Pc
lerson's Magazine. Of course, wo natllrnl.
" assume that their success IN due to rival
~ among their editors to make them ~ good
rs possible! On the contrary, when we get
behind the scenes. we find that the success
of each 10 due to its Icing systematically
kent down. Even the hest Of them must
guard against being too good.
Mr.. Peterson Is reported tn have once
said to friend: my magazine cirrulaie,
i25, 900 copies lf varied It's literary
standard 10 the lensi. I should lose the 100.
900 and keep only the rest Tho editor
Of Haper's Magazine Is reported to have
replied to some critic "Personally ] might
prefer purely literary magazine, like the
Atlantic. Hut that is not our precise aim
We have certain place to fill, aud We
must fll It," And finally one Of the pro.
prietors of the Atlantic is reported To have
said to dissatisfied friend: My denr iel-
low, if were to edit this magazine TO please
you and mr, the house Of Ticknor x Fields
would be ,ankrupt in fortnight"
All tell the same tale UP TO certain
point, in America, an authors profits In.
crease with his merit; uiter ihst point they
diminish. The readers of tho Boston Pub
he Library are Us intelligent class as my
in tho country; Ear more intelligent than IN
the average OF towns, taking the nation to.
gether. They read, during The last year.
Mrs. Caroline Lee Ilenlz to the number OF
3l75, while aIrs Stowe found $50 readers,
and Hawthorne far less -,
This, Of course, tends 10 demoralize MI
Young writers, 50 far n. literary excellence
Is concerned. The cheap melodrnniic l'or
rors Of Mr.. Henry James Jr'.s tale in The
February Atlantic probably helped tho sale
of the number ;as would any other OF Bea.
dies Dime Seri,s, if il had stnycd in there
by nistnke, rs this did. lf the magazines
were all OF the Beddls grade, II would sell
much better. and It Is an act of disinicrest-
ness in the publishers to keep It up to tho
present grade. But, meanwhile, wlint in.
,luceinent is there for Mr.. James to aim
higher? -.
Gail Hamilton Is another instance. She
had in her, undoubtedly, the material OF
writer who would have done honor to Amer
ican literature. Slo has been symp ,the'i
cally spoiled by her public and tho more
fippant and aasl,y she is, the morc her
books sell.
We knew a young lady OF uncommon
literary talent, who was engaged to write
letters for several newspapers, from fash
ionnble watering. place On her requesting
general instructions. her employers only
laid down one genernl r,ilc-that she should
he ''as wicked IN she dared" Now, n
young woman, under such circumstances.
retains her delicncy and her taste, the merit
is due to herself, and not to her vocation.
And the same thing is true, intellectually,
through all our literature. The first de-
n,and of the public is That young author
should write well; that is, readnbly. The
second is TINT hc should not write too well.
lf he does, lic will soon find that higher
gmdc Of execution will re,lucc his profits,
as surely us il ho edited u fashionable mag
uzine.
What il needed, is a gradual elevation OF
popular TASTE, that shall give to the best
things ut Icust minimum OF support md
ii' u writer has that, his enjoyment OF his
own work will suffice for the rest. God
has annexed to all higl, pursuits an ''cx'
crc,ling great reward" OF their own. l.
would he too much for any man TO unite
the income of Sylvanus Cobb, Jr., and the
inspirations of llawil,ornes II is n good
deal to possess either nloDe. One wllS has
sufficient character t0-bc good writer has
usually character enough to comprehend
this distinction, and nbi,le by il. We ~
member hearing Mr.. Emerson saw, good
naiuredly, locking over The oil Dial nnd
pointing out Theodore Parker's da.lIing and
ruiher hasty essays, "Those were the arti.
cles that sold the n,iinl'@H."
Literary artists, like NIL others. need
bread for their households but il !. less the
want of an international copyright which
keeps down the standard ri our literature,
than The low character Of tho popular de-
mand. Ruskin says, There Is hut one
way for nation to get good nr-fo ENJOY
il. The contest Of the dictionaries bHs fa-
miIiarired the public with the motto, "Gct
the hest :" I,n il will never get the hest
while IL 10 better satisfied with thu sccoml-
best.-IndPendent.