Many other writers speak in the same fretful strain.
There is now work in the vast field of literature for all who have the
taste, ability, and requisite knowledge; and few authors now find their
books fatal to them--except perhaps to their reputation, when they deserve
the critics' censures. The writers of novels certainly have no cause to
complain of the unkindness of the public and their lack of appreciation,
and the vast numbers of novels which are produced every year would have
certainly astonished the readers of thirty or forty years ago.
For the production of learned works which appeal only to a few scholars,
modern authors have the aid of the Clarendon Press and other institutions
which are subsidised by the Universities for the purpose of publishing
such works. But in spite of all the advantages which modern authors enjoy,
the great demand for literature of all kinds, the justice and fair dealing
of publishers, the adequate remuneration which is usually received for
their works, the favourable laws of copyright--in spite of all these and
other advantages, the lamentable woes of authors have not yet ceased. The
leaders of literature can hold their own, and prosper well; but the men
who stand in the second, third, or fourth rank in the great literary army,
have still cause to bewail the unkindness of the blind goddess who
contrives to see sufficiently to avoid all their approaches to her.
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