Had they placed the money consideration first, probably the
world would not have inherited the products of their genius. Milton
would not have laboured for so many years at his "Paradise Lost," merely
for the sake of the five pounds for which he sold the first edition to
the publisher. Nor would Schiller have gone on toiling for twenty years
up to the topmost pinnacles of thought, merely for the sake of the bare
means of living which he earned by his work.
At the same time, men of genius should not disregard the common rules of
arithmetic. If they spend more than they earn, they will run into debt.
Nor will complaining of the harshness of the world keep them out of it.
They have to stand or fall on their merits as men, and if they are not
provident they will suffer the same consequences as others. Thackeray,
in painting the character of Captain Shandon, in his "Pendennis," gave
considerable offence to the literary profession; yet he only spoke the
truth. "If a lawyer," said he, "or a soldier, or a parson, outruns his
income, and does not pay his bills, he must go to gaol; and an author
must go too."
Literary men are not neglected because they are literary men. But they
have no right to expect that society will overlook their social offences
because they are literary men. It is necessary for the world's sake, as
well as for their own sake, that literary men and artists should take
care to "provide against the evil day" like other people.
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