he ought to dignify, merely, as one
of them sings,

To keep his mutton twirling at the fire.

Another has said, "He is a fool who is a grain honester than the times
he lives in."

Let it not, therefore, be conceived that I mean to degrade or vilify
the literary character, when I would only separate the Author from
those polluters of the press who have turned a vestal into a
prostitute; a grotesque race of famished buffoons or laughing
assassins; or that populace of unhappy beings, who are driven to
perish in their garrets, unknown and unregarded by all, for illusions
which even their calamities cannot disperse. Poverty, said an ancient,
is a sacred thing--it is, indeed, so sacred, that it creates a
sympathy even for those who have incurred it by their folly, or plead
by it for their crimes.

The history of our Literature is instructive--let us trace the origin
of characters of this sort among us: some of them have happily
disappeared, and, whenever great authors obtain their due rights, the
calamities of literature will be greatly diminished.

As for the phrase of "Authors by Profession," it is said to be of
modern origin; and GUTHRIE, a great dealer in literature, and a
political scribe, is thought to have introduced it, as descriptive of
a class of writers which he wished to distinguish from the general
term. I present the reader with an unpublished letter of Guthrie, in
which the phrase will not only be found, but, what is more important,
which exhibits the character in its degraded form. It was addressed to
a minister.

_June 3, 1762._

"My Lord,

"In the year 1745-6, Mr. Pelham, then First Lord of the Treasury,
acquainted me, that it was his Majesty's pleasure I should
receive, till better provided for, which never has happened,
200_l._ a-year, to be paid by him and his successors in the
Treasury. I was satisfied with the august name made use of, and
the appointment has been regularly and quarterly paid me ever
since. I have been equally punctual in doing the government all
the services that fell within my abilities or sphere of life,
especially in those critical situations that call for unanimity in
the service of the crown.

"Your Lordship may possibly now suspect that _I am an Author by
Profession_: you are not deceived; and will be less so, if you
believe that I am disposed to serve his Majesty under your
Lordship's _future patronage and protection, with greater z