No. 10.
hniToiti.M.
218
other remuneration than the honor which
they receive from it." This argument un
doubtedly has some force. There arc in
deed always men who are willing to set
about any work which promises them
largo honors. Hut no one, who has been
m fortunate or otherwise as to be elected
to the editorship of this magazine for a
car has not repeated his rash ambition
for honors in saek-oloth and ashes before
he had held tint position two months
While honors aic fresh they may be Mil'
fieicnt inducement for one to work, and
answer very well as compensation ; Mil an
editor's honor arc fresh and stimulating
about as long as it takes him to gel out
bis Jlrst issu". and let people know that he
is Mr. Editor. After this the task of writ
ing editorials, soliciting and correcting
copy and leading proof, is drudging work
and the man who does it feels down in the
secret depths of his own heart that it is
worth some more stimulating compensa
tion than all the honors which he receives
for it. Hut the receipts of the Stitiilxt
from all sources are ns yet only sufficient
to pay the expenses of publishing it, so
that the idea of paying the editor-in-chief
anything, and still lesslhc other editors,
cannot be entertained, however much val
uable time be may spend upon it or how
ever much his services may be worth to
the Iiistilu'ion. This, question, then, of
remunerating the editor-in-chief may be
discued with profit when the Studkxt
is able to pay him anything and not be
foie. and each editor until that time must
live and woik in the generous hope that
his successors may de better compensated
than himsolf.
AUTHORS' PAY.
In our last issue we had something to
suy respecting the characteristic (juali
licatioiiH and w ork of authors. We should
like at this time to continue the thought
in a dill'oront direction, and consider the
profession Jiom u pecuniary point of view.
Authors, in litis day and age of the world's
history, are, as a rule, more poorly com
ponsated than any other class of profes
sional men. For in this ago there arc too
many good authors, too many mediocre,
and by far too matt' poor ones, so that the
average professional litterateur is com
pelled to work for a mere pittance. Now
and then a Scott or Dickens make their
writings pay, and an " Uncle Tom's Cab
in" and " Daniel Deronda " bring their
authors $:t0,000 or $40,000. But such mag
nificent compensation for literary work
will only be received by a few authors in
a century. Hundreds of very good writ
ers cannot make over $10 a week fiom their
writings; and even our first-class writers,
as Hayard Taylor says, seldom obtain
wealth front their best works. Mr. Taylor
says of Himself that he could make as
much in a fortnight lecturing as he ever
received for his translation of "Faust,"
a work which occupied the better part
of his time for live or six years.
The following collation of facts and
llguies will further exemplify thiu fact.
Kineron, who is now over seventy-four
yars of age, and has been writing oil' and
on for forty years, has not made over
$20,000 front his writings. It is only his
last work, published about two years ago,
that has at all approached a remunerative
price.
Bryant is now eighty-three yeais old,
and has written poetry from his youth up,
but, though he is rich, being worth perhaps
$."500,000, vet be has not made with his
pen enough out of this sunt to purchase a
respectable dwelling.
Longfellow is independent, being worth
from $100,000 to $200,000, but the greater
part of this came to him through his de
ceased wife who was rich by inheritance.
Washington living's income from his
books did not amount to enough to meet
the expenses of his household until he
was about seventy yours old; and he,
as wc know, lived a very plain life in the
country.
Hawthorne wan poor all hi, life, and
ifflffli
if I
