Originally published in Hood's Magazine (Henry Hurst) vol.6 #2 (Aug 1846).
There are few persons whose fortunes are more subject to fluctuation than those of Literary men, and it generally happens that they have to depend very largely, if not entirely, on their own exertions. Praiseworthy and honourable to the individual of talent as these exertions are, there are periods when failure, or postponement of success, renders every effort useless, and, in consequence, severe temporary distress ensues. If the man of the pen have friends, from them he probably may derive some small assistance, until palmier days shall dawn upon him; if he have not, and we fear there are too many in this latter predicament, he must call in philosophy to his aid, and be content to bear with a half-starved existence, until some resource turn up to better his condition. There is one resource, apparently, within the reach of literary men, when assailed with difficulties, and struggling on to harvest-time and the future—we allude to The Royal Literary Fund Society. Blazoned forth as this Society is, with all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of attractive professions, we had, until lately, upheld it with all our power; but we find, by the force of facts which have lately come to our knowledge, that it is by far too exclusive to be productive of that extensive benefit which it seems to be competent to afford.
By the rules and regulations of this Society, there are exemptions which we consider to be ill-advised, if not unjust, inasmuch as they affect the hardest labourers in the wide field of literature, namely, writers in periodical publications, who, if they have not published one or more volumes of some work, separately, are excluded from benefiting by the large and accumulating fund placed at the disposal of the Committee.
In our unequivocal opinion, the Society ought to recognise the whole body of authors, as affiliated members of the same profession. The distinction between the labourer in periodical literature, and the producer of a given book, is invidious, and unworthy of those who profess to be anxious to rescue the individual of talent, as such, from distress and destitution. In France, there is no such absurd distinction made. Why, then, when, in France, the whole body of respectable literati are acknowledged as men of letters, why should liberal England draw lines of demarcation to the detriment of the largest section of her writers? Writers in periodicals, and reporters, who have never published a separate volume, have, perhaps, done more general and essential good than nine-tenths of the select, who are recognised as coming within the narrow definition of the Society's regulations. From the ranks of the reporters we have had a Lord Chancellor, who, had Fortune turned her back upon him, instead of taking him by the hand, would, notwithstanding his great and acknowledged talents, have been deemed ineligible to have received relief from the Literary Fund, unless he could have laid claim to the authorship of some specific book. Few persons, we believe, are fully aware, when they subscribe their guineas to this fund for the purpose of providing temporary aid to the necessitous members-of the literary fraternity, that many of those whose daily, or weekly, or monthly, or quarterly, lucubrations they peruse with benefit and delight, are hopelessly excluded, should they come to-need it, from benefiting by their liberality and kindness.
We have taken up this subject solely from a wish to see this Society pursue more beneficial measures. Of late, several circumstances have been communicated to us, and documents, that cannot be refuted, are now lying on our table, which convince us, that a more extended sphere of usefulness ought to be, and must be, adopted by the Committee. We have proof upon proof, record upon record, that a new organization of this Society is loudly to be called for, and we wish to direct the attention of the Committee, and the members of the literary profession, to the necessity of an immediate expansion of the rules and purposes of the Literary Fund Society, by which all authors, as was evidently contemplated by the founder, shall be entitled to benefit from the Society's Funds, in time of need, i.e., as far as they will permit.
The circumstances in life which may materially change the position of individuals in every class of society are as innumerable as they are ever-recurrent. A gentleman who has been a contributor to the public and periodical press, may have been courted and patronized by the very parties, who, sitting on the Committee, when he applies for relief in a state of serious distress and difficulty, are compelled, by the absurd, illiberal, and unjust regulations of the Society, to refuse him a trifling modicum of aid, because, forsooth,; he is not the bona fide parent of a published volume! He may have written largely for the benefit of mankind; he may have contributed to their instruction and|amusement; he may have charmed them with some of the sweetest specimens of poesy;—but, by the rules and regulations of the Society, endowed as it is, he is suffered to bear his miseries with what philosophy he can; perhaps, to see his wife sink daily under the most cruel privations; to hear his children ask for bread, which he has not the means to obtain; and all, because he has only written, or reported, for the periodical press, and, therefore, cannot. claim. relief!
We have a strong notion that these rules and regulations are modern innovations; and, if so, would emphatically ask, by what authority, and upon whose responsibility, have the intentions of the original founder of the Society been altered? A former Secretary to the Society once said in our hearing, "the Reviewers were considered to have the highest claim for relief, if difficulties oppressed them." Now, a Reviewer is nothing more than a periodical writer; but twenty years have made a great difference in men and manners. We have known many of the Secretaries, and can affirm, that, upon our own recommendation, a young lady who never had published any thing but what appeared in periodicals, did, some years ago, receive a donation from the Society! How then is it, that, now, those who are only writers in periodicals—under which designation, here and elsewhere, we include reporters—are refused, or can be refused, relief? As the doings of the Society are under the seal of secrecy, we, of course, claim the same privilege as to our sources of information; let it suffice that they are authentic, and we challenge them to refute our assertions. All we ask, all we require is, that the funds of the Society be thrown open for the relief of periodical writers, as well as the writers of books.
We would also ask whether the idea of hoarding up the contributions of the public to form a capital for the purpose of granting annuities to authors out of its dividends, or interest, is a just one? We say, certainly not. The present generation of authors ought not to be left inadequately provided for, that succeeding generations may, thereby, be in better luck. Has this idea been cherished, or abandoned? On this point we confess we are uninformed.
We have, also, an objection, and a very strong one, too, to the particular manner in which literary persons are required to apply to the Society. Its printed form has been shown to us; we have seen the signatures attached to it; and we aver most conscientiously, that we are shocked to observe the humiliating manner in which the male or female applicant must seek for relief. No mendicant could be required to do more; no parish pauper could be asked, more minutely to describe his whereabout, and his wants. In the first place, by the rules and regulations of the association, a printed form is to be applied for; this form has, then, to be filled up with every particular of the applicant's present property, and future expectations—thus exposing his circumstances too openly to the committee. But, more than this, he is required, after he has himself filled up the printed form, to go round to his friends and obtain their attestation to the truth of his report; to disclose to them that he is in distress; and, perhaps, from this forced exposure of his circumstances, to do himself permanent mischief in some quarters, for sake of an aid, which is temporary, and never of considerable amount.
Another objection we have to make is to the mode in which inquiries are conducted with respect to the truth of the representations of any applicant. Sometimes he is visited, we are informed, by the Secretary, who, inquisitive overmuch, startles him with the information that relief is not given to parties who possess thirty pounds a year. Let us ask how an educated person is to live upon the pittance of thirty pounds a year?
These things are not as they should be; they outrage all the finer feelings of humanity. Would it not be better that the applicant should be requested to call at the office of the Society, at a stated time, and be admitted to a private interview with one or two of the older members of the Committee, who, if dissatisfied with the conference, might subsequently institute such inquiries as they conceived it to render advisable? in our opinion it would be so, and this point we beg to urge on the consideration of all who have an influence with, or a voice at, its Board.
To return to our original point, we repeat that, in regard of The Literary Relief Fund, periodical writers should be on a par with all other claimants upon it. The distinction made by the Committee is based upon such manifest injustice, that, at first, we doubted the fact; so much so, indeed, that we asked our original informant to furnish us with proofs. We were furnished with convincing ones! Justice, however, must be done to the gentlemen who only write for periodicals. They have wives and families, who, perhaps, at their death, may be left in a state of destitution. The Literary Fund professes to afford, and does afford, relief to the widows and orphans of Book-writers, while those of Periodical-writers are debarred from all claim on the Bounty of the Society. For justice' sake, let this crying evil, this unjust decree, be immediately remedied. It is disgraceful to the managing members of the Society to exclude a large body of talented and respectable men from participation in the benefits that, common sense points out, the Founder of the Society, and the Donors thereunto, intended for all literary people. Hundreds of periodical writers have neither the interest, nor the pecuniary means, to get a volume through the press. Again, we most earnestly call on the Committee to cast aside their system of exclusiveness; to remodel the Society on an expansive scale; and, on the strength of so doing, to appeal to the public for means to keep pace with an enlarged sphere of benevolence and usefulness. If they refuse to do so, Periodical writers must bring into life another society, and separate themselves, both in their good and their evil fortunes, from those who would exclude, from funds devoted to literary relief, a large proportion of the literary community.