, 1881-10-16

S. I8si-TWENTY PAGES
literary fashion. and prose and verse nave
been regulated by the same caprice tnat
cuts our coats and cocks our hats' i.o
adds: .sDr. KiDpis, who had a tasle lot III
erary history, has observed that Doos!ey's.
Economy Of Human Life long received 1ho
most cxtrnvagant applause upon the suppo-
sition that it was written by celebrated no
h1eman.u Scores of similar works followed
simply because it was the fashion to read
Dodslcy's work, and it was the fashion to
read It not because Of my merit it possessed,
but because Of its supposed authorship.
Fortunately it is Mo longer posslole 10
make out case Of hardship in -behalI OIL
authors. Tie public is on the lookout 1or
esDius-nuy, it is ready to recognize anu
adequately compensate literary talent Ile
Young and unknown author may be snnboed
in the beginning, but il he is capable OF
writing ANYTHING worth reading he is almost
sure iii the end not only to obtain reco2nl~
ton, but to receive fair pay for his literary
wares, It was not so among the anclents.
Until within a hundred years the tittcrntettr
WIS AlIllUSk dIhA II A~P1AAA0AAsf - -
Dauper, lie was either sycophant cooling
his heels in the antc-rooms OF the palaces o1
/ the great. or, if bold and original, q sus~
pect," in danger Of the dungeon. LII eltner
case he was fortunate if he did not Qulte
staryc, and In the latter case lucky If he did not
lose his head. At tile age of 70 Dryden, = worn
out with study. and oppressed with fortune
contracted to supply the bookseller with
ten thousand verses at sixpence n llne"|
lIun1e's fame only began to dawn as ne en-
tered the dark valley Of the slatlowot deatli'
His life was Il series of literary disappolnt-
lueuts and seeming defeats. and he WIS only
able to write Of himself Two years before he
died: i begin to see many symptoms OF my
literary reputation breaking out at last
with additional lustre, though KNOW tnut
can have but few years to enjoy it.. uenry
Carey, a poet OF no mean genius, poet
whose songs and music were household
words all over England during his life, was
so reduced BY penury aud want that, in de-
spalr, he committed suicide, and, when
| found dead, had only a lalfpenny IN his
| pocket"
Ceryantes, whose fame is immortal, wanted
food: and Camocns, whose great epic III cele~
bratiou Of the glorics Of Portugal wiz live
| forever In literature, was driven from his
| native land by ingratitude, banlshed from
| India for satirizin. governmental abuses,
| and finally reduced to such abject poverty
| that a servant begged bread Tor his support
| in the streets of Lisbon. But this was not
| degradation enough, and he perishet pau
! per i'll Il hospital; and III note To Tie Asst
| edition Of tie .Lusad" the evidence Of the
! miserable death Of its author Is preserved Ill
| the language Ut q friend: II saw him die III
| an hospital i'll London, without having
! sheet or shroud to cover lfim."
| Tasso "was Obliged to borrow Il crown for
! a weeks subsistence" lie is represented as
| invoking s'tlle lustre Of his cats eyes" as 4
light by which to write verses, since he was
too poor to afford the luxury of candle.
Vaugclas, distinguished French writer
"1eft his corpse to tho surgeons for tile bene-
fit Of his creditors" While giving audience
] to Racine and Boileau one day, Louis the
! Fourteenth asked ''what there was new III
| the literary world" Racine answered that
! "hc. had seen 4 melancholy spectacle In
| the house Of Cornelle, whom he found dy-
| iuc, deprived OF q little brothV' Simon
F; Ockley, after having devoted his life to
| Asiatic researches, "da1ed the preface to his
great work from Cambridge Castle, where lie
| was confined for debt" Grotius wrote his
!; commentary on Saint Matthew in prison;
! and De Foe commenced his Rcvtclc, i period
ical paper which extended to nine volumes,
| in Newgate But the calamities Of authors,
| an account of which the elder Disraeli COM
! piled with SO much pains and SO admir-
ably, belong to a former age, They
| form a touching episode in the his
tory of literature, but appeal only faint
Iy to tic sylupathies of the present
generation of authors, who have to fear
neither the rack nor the dungeon, say what
they may. Nor do they often want bread.
The people demand books by the thousand
| aul to supply this Unsuitable longing for
mental papulum tile publishers are kept con-
| stautly on the alert. II In the stream OF
modern bucks, to which there is no end, there
is an abundance Of trash, there is much OF
real worth. At all events the world feeds
the great fraternity Of authors, and feeds
tllem better than they deserve If the asser-
tion of Frederic Harrison is true that Il
hundred titles contain pretty much Gil OF
value there is in the books of all time. And
if il be also true THAT the reading OF books OF
no value is a mental dissipation as rulnous
to the mind as physical dissipation is to the
body, mankind isliurrying forward very rap
idly OH the road to intellectual drunkenness.
| II some thousands Of authors could be
starved to death, always provided that the
worst were secured tor the sacrifice, the
quality of the current literature of the time
might be improved in the direction sug-
gestcd by the startling proposition OF Alr.
Harrison.
MRS. CHAPiN'S TWINS,
It was on Sunday-a day Of rest and Of