America. Permanent writing does not bring an immediate cash reward at least it is not likely to. In America the whole strain is on the aspirant. In England the strain is shared to a certain degree by institutions.
London and Paris have other advantages, advantages which America can not compete with until her civilization has been enriched by the presence of generations of excellent writers; but in this matter of cash there is no excuse for our country lagging behind.
France is so poor that I have heard French officials complaining that they can't get funds to catalogue their national library efficiently. The Prix Lasserre is eight thousand francs (sixteen hundred dollars).
The other bit of news to which I referred is in The Times the report of a sale of manuscripts, etc., in New York. It seems that Mr. John Lewis has purchased an extra-illustrated copy of the Pickering edition of the Campleat Angler (1836) for the sum of $1,650. It is obvious that Mr. Lewis is not competing with DeGoncourt and Lasserre, and that America has as yet no serious intention of competing with London and Paris. E. P.
WHEREFORE THE POET?
From "Democracy—(unpublished)
Wherefore the poet? What good does he do? Is he not a trifler, and something of a nuisance?
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