ment was L1 sterling, and many were paid for at the rate
of L5 and L6. From this there is nothing improbable in the supposition
that, in addition to the large sum received for the tale, its author
gained some L15,000 by his advertising sheets. The "Household Words"
produces an income of about L4,000, though Dickens, having put it entirely
in the hands of an assistant editor, has nothing to do with it beyond
furnishing a weekly article. Through his talents alone he has raised
himself from the position of a newspaper reporter to that of a literary
Croesus."

[Footnote 1: The tax on advertisements has just now been repealed, but
that tax was a small one when compared with that imposed by
centralization.]

Centralization produces the "cheap and abundant supply of labor" required
for the maintenance of the British manufacturing system, and "cheap labor"
furnishes Mr. Dickens with his "Oliver Twist," his "Tom-all-alone's," and
the various other characters and situation by aid of whose delineation he
is enabled, as a German writer informs us, to have dinners

"at which the highest aristocracy is glad to be present, and where he
equals them in wealth, and furnishes an intellectual banquet of wit and
wisdom which they, the highest and most refined circles, cannot
imitate."

Centralization enables Mr. Dickens to obtain vast sums by advertising the
works of the poor authors by whom he is surrounded, most of whom are not
only badly paid, but insolently treated, while even of those whose names
and whose works are well known abroad many gladly become recipients of the
public charity. In the zenith of her reputation, Lady Charlotte Bury
received, as I am informed, but L200 ($960) for the absolute copyright of
works that sold for $7.50. Lady Blessington, celebrated as she was, had
but from three to four hundred pounds; and neither Marryat nor Bulwer ever
received, as I believe, the selling price of a thousand copies of their
books as compensation for the copyright.[1] Such being the facts in regard
to well-known authors, some idea may be formed in relation to the
compensation of those who are obscure. The whole tendency of the "cheap
labor" system, so generally approved by English writers, is to destroy the
value of literary labor by increasing the number of persons who must look
to the pen for means of support, and by diminishing the market for its
products. What has been the effect of the system will now be shown