Men who live by their wits, their talents, or their genius, have, somehow or other, acquired the character of being improvident.  Charles Nodier, writing about a distinguished genius, said of him—­“In the life of intelligence and art, he was an angel; in the common practical life of every day, he was a child.”  The same might be said of many great writers and artists.  The greatest of them have been so devoted—­heart and soul—­to their special work, that they have not cared to think how the efforts of their genius might be converted into pounds, shillings, and pence.  Had they placed the money consideration first, probably the world would not have inherited the products of their genius.  Milton would not have laboured for so many years at his “Paradise Lost,” merely for the sake of the five pounds for which he sold the first edition to the publisher.  Nor would Schiller have gone on toiling for twenty years up to the topmost pinnacles of thought, merely for the sake of the bare means of living which he earned by his work.

At the same time, men of genius should not disregard the common rules of arithmetic.  If they spend more than they earn, they will run into debt.  Nor will complaining of the harshness of the world keep them out of it.  They have to stand or fall on their merits as men, and if they are not provident they will suffer the same consequences as others.  Thackeray, in painting the character of Captain Shandon, in his “Pendennis,” gave considerable offence to the literary profession; yet he only spoke the truth.  “If a lawyer,” said he, “or a soldier, or a parson, outruns his income, and does not pay his bills, he must go to gaol; and an author must go too.”

Literary men are not neglected because they are literary men.  But they have no right to expect that society will overlook their social offences because they are literary men.  It is necessary for the world’s sake, as well as for their own sake, that literary men and artists should take care to “provide against the evil day” like other people.  “Imagination and art,” says Madame de Stael, “have need to look after their own comfort and happiness in this world.”  The world ought to help them generously; all good men ought to help them; but what is better than all, they ought to help themselves.

CHAPTER XIV.

RICHES AND CHARITY.

 “Who—­who—­who’s here
 I, Robert of Doncaster. 
 That I spent, that I had;
 That I gave, that I have;
 That I left, that I lost.”
        Epitaph, A.D. 1579.

“If thou art rich, thou art poor;
For, like an ass, whose back with ingots bows
Thou bear’st thy heavy riches but a journey
And death unloads thee.”—­Shakespeare.

“II est bon d’etre charitable,
 Mais envers qui?  C’est la le point.”—­La Fontaine.

“There are many idlers to whom a penny begged is sweeter than a shilling earned.”—­Douglas Jerrold.