referred to very humble houses in
our cities. Those who now inquire for them will find their answer in the
beautiful volume lately published by Messrs. Putnam and Co., the precursor
of others destined to show the literary men of this country enjoying
residences as agreeable as any that had been occupied by such men in any
part of the world; and in almost every case, those homes have been due to
the profits of the pen. Less than half a century since, the race of
literary men was scarcely known in the country, and yet the amount now
paid for literary labor is greater than in Great Britain and France
combined, and will probably be, in twenty years more, greater than in all
the world beside. With the increase of number, there has been a
corresponding increase in the consideration in which they are held; and
the respect with which even unknown authors are treated, when compared
with the disrespect manifested in England towards such men, will be
obvious to all familiar with the management of the journals of that
country who read the following in one of our principal periodicals:--

"The editor of Putnam's Monthly will give to every article forwarded for
insertion in the Magazine a careful examination, and, when requested to do
so, will return the MS. if not accepted."

Here, the competition is among the publishers to _buy_ the products of
literary labor, whereas, abroad, the competition is to _sell_ them, and
therefore is the treatment of our authors, even when unknown, so
different. Long may it continue to be so!

Such having been the result of half a century, during which we have had to
lay the foundation of the system that has furnished so vast a body of
readers, what may not be expected in the next half century, during which
the population will increase to a hundred millions, with a power to
consume the products of literary labor growing many times faster than the
growth of numbers? If this country is properly termed "the paradise of
women," may it not be as correctly denominated the paradise of authors,
and should they not be content to dwell in it as their predecessors have
done? Is it wise in them to seek a change? Their best friends would, I
think, unite with me in advising that it is not. Should they succeed in
obtaining what they now desire, the day will, as I think, come, when they
will be satisfied that their real friends had been, those who opposed the
confirmation of the treaty now before the Senate.