neglect the examples of great authors, whose successes he would so gladly imitate, who took the trouble to furnish their printers with such clearly written copy, that in many cases a proof of sixteen pages would not require more than sixteen corrections.

AUTHOR AND EDITOR.

Supposing all these suggestions to be adopted, and a clearly written, plainly numbered, and well-expressed manuscript to be completed, the great question of where to place it will be the next difficulty. In this search after happiness-the exquisite happiness of getting into print-no introductions or outside aid can very materially help the amateur. The sooner he makes up his mind on this point, the better. In these days he has a very fair field; and no favour could afford the sense of satisfaction that a beginner feels in having scored even the most modest literary success off his own pen. The various agencies which profess to introduce amateurs to the notice of editors and publishers, can exist only by reason of an almost incredible amount of ignorance on the part of the public. That such agents. and agencies can exist, and even afford to advertise so extensively as they unfortunately do, is a plain proof of how great is the need of such a book as this, if only to teach people who desire to write that no editor whatever would permit a midleman to dictate to him as to what contributions will suit his magazine. It is pitiable to think how many eager and hopeful women, anxious to earn money by their pens, have sent their guineas to these unscrupulous traders on inexperience, and are now vainly waiting, after years of deferred hope, for the promised literary success that is always coming but never comes.

For there is no royal road to the favour of editors; the only sure method of obtaining acceptance with them is by offering good and readable work, of the style best suited to the magazines they edit. The very common plan of sending them a tale of some length is by no means

likely to prove successful. A bright and readable little article on some subject of interest, thoroughly understood by the writer, or a short and well-told tale, made striking by some freshness in style and treatment, has a better chance of success. Most of the serial tales running through the leading magazines are "by eminent hands,' and are arranged for long in advance, whilst there is always an opening for something brief and pointed.

Writers who have mastered any special subject, have a great advantage over those who can only offer contributions on the ordinary lines. The advice generally given to anyone who has a speciality, is, to cultivate it, to become known in connexion with it, and to confine all literary efforts to that one direction. Whatever his subject be, from Arabian art down to poultryfarming, a great point is gained by the writer whose name always appears in connexion with his own special theme. By keeping to this, he may become connected with several different magazines and reviews, and gain recognition as an authority upon the subject.

Those writers, however, who have not sufficiently studied any subject to throw fresh light upon it, must turn their best attention to the cultivation of any gifts of style or originality they may possess. Careful practice will perfect them in the great art of expressing their thoughts with ease and freshness-an art which is at present esteemed so important that some of our latest authors have little real claim to the admiration their compeers shower upon them, beyond the capacity of saying very familiar things in a very finished style.

The inclination to over-estimate, or rather to misconstrue, this very important qualification, leads many young authors into an error against which it is well to warn them. By careful study of some great English author, a writer may acquire the trick of expressing himself so exactly in the style of that writer, as to get praised by the reviewers for having "caught some of the delicate playfulness of Cowper's style," or "the exquisite charm of Lamb's graceful wit," or in some such other phrase which implies that they shine by borrowed

light. But clever as the imitation may be, it is but a superior sort of mimicry; and, although those who desire to follow in the steps of our great English authors cannot have their minds too well stored with English literature, they can never hope to gain for themselves any worthy distinction if they are only echoes, however faithful, of other men's words.

The writer who has overcome the faults and failures which belong to inexperience, and who has succeeded in producing really marketable work, must not give up the hope of ultimate success, even though continual rejection be for some time his fate. At this stage of his career, he must be content to wait and exercise patience, sending his contributions to magazine after magazine, till at length he is rewarded by receiving the first packet of proofs, whose coming gives such a thrill of delight, and so fully consoles him for all his disappointments, and rewards him for all his perseverance.

This time of probation, indeed, is part of the training needful for the profession of letters. In it the beginner may learn by his failures how his talents may best be used. He may of course pass through the stage described by Campbell, who, when writing The Pleasures of Hope in a gloomy lodging-house, was suddenly seized by a fear that the poem "born and nursed through many an anxious day," might not succeed. "Suppose," he writes to a friend, "that the public should find out, as I did this morning, that the thing is neither more nor less than trash; would not the author's predicament be ten times worse than if he had never written a line?" And such cold fits as this, alternating with the warm and hopeful enthusiasm of young and untried authors, are by no means bad for them in the end. They serve in some measure to prepare one for disappointments, such as have at first been the portion of some of our best writers.

One final practical suggestion. It is advisable that an author should preserve a copy, or at all events the rough draft, of an article that he has sent on chance of acceptance. For one thing, it is within the bounds

of possibility that the copy sent may go astray or get lost. It is, further, not improbable that the editor to whom it has been sent may keep it by him unused for what seems to the author an unconscionable time; and it may seem desirable to try its luck in another quarter. In case the author should decide to send it to another editor, he ought to take the precaution of informing the first editor that, unless the article be used by him within a specified time, it will be despatched elsewhere. This will prevent mistakes. But such a course should not be resolved on too hastily. It must be remembered that even eligible contributions must wait their turn or suitable season, and that the editor's space is strictly limited.

AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER.

An interesting chapter might well be made from that portion of literary history, which relates to the vicissitudes of famous manuscripts, their early rejection and final triumph; and in these records the still unsuccessful but hopeful author would find abundant encouragement. There is not space for us here to do more than remind the reader of how Cowper's first work was received as "little better than a dull sermon," and described as "displaying only that mediocrity which neither gods nor men can tolerate❞—and how poor Goldsmith, in spite of his "knack at hoping," suffered the mortification of finding that his publisher lacked courage to bring out the Vicar of Wakefield, and kept its author for two weary years on the rack of uncertainty as to the fate of one of the most exquisite works in our language. Jane Austen had the same experience; for the Bath bookseller who gave her £10 for Northanger Abbey, preferred losing the money to running the risk of publishing the work, which lay neglected on his shelves for years. James and Horace Smith found considerable difficulty in getting any publisher to bring out Rejected Addresses; for even Mr. Murray, distinguished as he was for his quickness

in gauging the powers, and forecasting the popularity of new writers, refused the manuscript at £20, although he had to pay £130 for the copyright of the same work after it had run through fifteen editions, and gained for the authors over a thousand pounds. Crabbe could find no publisher for his powerful poem The Library, till Burke prevailed on Dodsley to bring it out. Rogers had almost equal difficulty with his first work, and was fond of seizing any opportunity of telling his brilliant guests of later years how despondent he was becoming when only twenty copies of it had been sold in four years, and how his distress at his failure was relieved by finding himself praised in some obscure review as "an able man." He was fond of displaying that first cherished review to the end of his days, and of describing the sense of intoxicating delight he felt on seeing his first printed book.

Instances such as these might be multiplied almost indefinitely. But whilst it is well for the young author to console himself with the thought that the British publisher sometimes errs in judgment, it is also well for him to realize that his special mission is not that of patronizing all literary adventurers. "For those who have no merit, it is but fit that they should remain in obscurity," says Goldsmith, who, when he found his genius recognized, withdrew all the bitter things he had once said of the unfairness of publishers to authors. He had suffered so keenly from poverty and hope deferred whilst his book lay neglected on Newbery's shelves, that some strong words of complaint might well be pardoned; but as soon as better days dawned for him he forgot his grievances, and was proud to say, "The booksellers are my patrons, and I want no others."

Innumerable are the instances on record of the generosity of publishers to authors; but we will only. refer to the remarkable confidence which Cottle of Bristol placed in Coleridge and Southey. In their early difficulties, he paid them for their unwritten. poems, and, "on seeing the surprise and joy his offer