They  began,  in  fact,  with  an  impossible  theory  :
that  authorship  is  a  profession  as  distinct  as  law  or
medicine  ;  and  that  it  is  possible  to  unite  its  mem-
bers, as  those  called  to  the  Bar  are  united,  into  a
guild  or  company  governed  by  its  own  laws.  At
the  most,  authorship  is  a  collection  of  professions.
The  novelist  practises  one  of  the  fine  arts,  though
not  one  critic  in  a  hundred  recognises  fiction  as  an
art,  or  knows  how  to  estimate  a  novel  with  refer-
ence to  the  laws  of  perspective,  colour,  atmosphere,
grouping,  drawing,  which  govern  that  art.  The
poet  practises  another  art.  The  journalist  follows
a  distinct  branch  of  literature.  The  writer  on
science  is  a  student  in  science  first  and  an  author
next  ;  the  historian  is  a  student  in  history  first,  and
so  on.  It  is  impossible  to  make  a  guild  of  these
men.  How  are  outsiders  to  be  kept  off  1  How  is
the  distribution  of  work  to  be  regulated  ?  How  is
professional  etiquette  to  be  established  ?

There  is  one  thing,  and  one  thing  only,  for  which
those  who  write  books  and  papers  which  are  sold
can  possibly  unite — viz.,  their  material  interests.
The  authors  of  1843  were  like  Dickens's  American
friends  ;  they  whispered  to  each  other,  '  Yes — yes —
wc   arc   horribly   treated — it    is    quite  true,  we   all


282  Essays  and  Historiettes

know  it  ;  but  for  Heaven's  sake  don't  say  so  in
public  ;  in  epigram  as  much  as  you  please  ;  but  in
plain  English — no.'

There  were  then,  I  repeat,  just  as  there  are  now,
two  distinct  grievances  under  which  writers  suffered
— tlie  American  piracies  and  the  absence  of  any
equitable  system  of  publishing.
