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In all conditions of man , the love of distinction and the power it bestows will probably be a ruling passion , As the intellect of the mass expands , mere richefc , uttaccompanied by Other advantages * will decline in influence . A change is even now fast Wdrh ^ ing . t $ ut it is a monstrous atiomaly , that a class of beingi who
are certainly far frotti devoid Of ambition , should be found willing to barter away the giant power thfey might posses * , and make of themselves abject and contented slaves and parasites * td a race infinitely below them in intellectual attainments , — -I allude to literary authors , and their noble And wealthy patrons , It is most strange that the former will not see , that , even in & nfedtmiaty
point of view , their true interest lies in awakening the dormant mind of the public ,, and promoting the interests of the great mass of the community . Is it forgotten , that , in the space of four years * the profits of Mr . Cobbett ' s Register were twenty-eight thousand pounds ? Even if men of genius are bent on debasing themselves
by becoming hirelings , where is the aristocratic caste which will thus reward their dereliction from honesty ? The whole system of authorship , as at present conducted , with very rare exceptions , is A mere matter of trade . A man , often , does not write a book , because he believes what he writes , but because he believes it will flatter
prejudices , which will procure it a sale , or because it will procure him a patron , or set of patrons . He does not reflect , that if he writes truth , and writes that truth in agreeable language , and with the object of improving the condition of the people , he will sooner or later be appreciated . Not so . Too many a modern author is essentially a sycophant , more so even than those who
in the last century wrote long dedications . He write * a book which contains something vastly witty , in order to set the fashionable world on the inquiry after him . Dinner invitations pour iti , and with parasitic eagerness he falls down in base worship of the rich and great , who need him as a jack-pudditig . He dreams that he is respected , and made a friend of , and is woefully deceived . He is but the successor of the motley fool who was expected to
say witty things to make his patroh laugh in past aged . He is as necessary to the feast as the epergne or the liveried lackey ) find perchance , if possessed of the full liort * power , may rttte as the equal of the hired singer , with the disadvantage of not being paid for his labours . The singer gets his payment as well Us his dinner ; the author must say his witty things for his food and wine ohly . He leads the life of a base parasite , scorned by those who endure him for thesake of the advertisement his name will give to the
entertainment , and he dreams in his folly , that his power is on the increase But this is not the worst . His mental faculties become jaded with over-excitement , and his charity-dinners , and rich wines * become matters of necessity from long habit , and when he is not asked out , he must live beyond his income at home . The appetite of an epicure is not to be maintained lightly ; his parse becomes ttnpty *
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On the Morality of Author * > 897
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1833, page 307, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2614/page/19/
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