It is a poor compensation, but better than
the Token; because the writing is so much less difficult." He afterward
carried out the design, or a large part of it, and the book has since
sold by millions, for the benefit of others. There are various little
particulars in this ingenious abridgment which recall Hawthorne,
especially if one is familiar with his "Grandfather's Chair" and "True
Stories" for children; though the book has probably undergone some
changes in successive editions. This passage about George IV. is,
however, remembered as being his: "Even when he was quite an old man,
this king cared as much about dress as any young coxcomb. He had a great
deal of taste in such matters, and it is a pity that he was a king, for
he might otherwise have been an excellent tailor."
Up to this time (May 12) he had received only twenty dollars for four
months' editorial labor. "And, as you may well suppose," he says, "I
have undergone very grievous vexations. Unless they pay me the whole
amount shortly, I shall return to Salem, and stay there till they do."
It seems a currish fate that puts such men into the grasp of paltry and
sordid cares like these! But there is something deeper to be felt than
dissatisfaction at the author-publisher's feeble though annoying scheme
of harnessing in this rare poet to be his unpaid yet paying hack. This
deeper something is the pathos of such possibilities, and the spectacle
of so renowned and strong-winged a genius consenting thus to take his
share of worldly struggle; perfectly conscious that it is wholly beneath
his plane, but accepting it as a proper part of the mortal lot;
scornful, but industrious and enduring.
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