ciety became rich and
respectable, and changed its name, I left it. I have little faith in
societies when they become respectable. When on one occasion I put up
for an M.P., I was amused by the emissary of the society sending to me
for a subscription on the plea that all the Liberal candidates had given
donations! "Do you think," said I, "that I am going to bid for your
support by a paltry 5 pounds note? Not, I, indeed! It is a pity M.P.'s
are not made of sterner staff." One of my intimate friends at one time
was the late Peter Taylor, M.P. for Leicester. He was as liberal as he
was wealthy, yet he never spent a farthing in demoralising his Leicester
constituents by charity, or, in other words, bribery and corruption. The
dirty work a rich man has to do to get into Parliament--especially if he
would represent an intelligent and high-toned democracy--is beyond
belief.

The ups and downs of a literary career are many. Without writing a good
hand it is now impossible to succeed. It was not so when I first took to
literature; but nowadays, when the market is overstocked with starving
genius in the shape of heaven-born writers, I find that editors,
compositors, readers, and all connected with printing, set their faces
rigidly against defective penmanship. I look upon it that now the real
literary gent, as _The Saturday Review_ loved to call him, has ceased to
exist altogether; there is no chance for him. Our editors have to look
out for articles written by lords and ladies, and men and women who have
achieved some passing notoriety. They often write awful stuff, but then
the public buys. A man who masters shorthand may get a living in
connection with the Press, and he may rise to be editor and
leader-writer; but the pure literary gent, the speculative contributor to
periodical literature, is out of the running. If he is an honourable, if
he is a lord or M.P., or an adventurer, creditable or the reverse, he has
a chance, but not otherwise. A special correspondent may enjoy a happy
career, and as most of my work has been done in that way, I may speak
with authority. As to getting a living as a London correspondent that is
quite out of the question. I knew many men who did fairly well as London
correspondents; nowadays the great Press agencies keep a staff to
manufacture London letters on the cheap, and the really able original has
gone clean out of existence. Two or three Press agencies manage almost
all the