40 New Year's Hints for the Management of the Magazine. [JAN. 



Hint the Second, which treats of Advertisements. I shall make no 

 separate mention of puffs, as distinguished from advertisements, because 

 a little tact, which may be easily acquired, will enable you to make the 

 latter answer all the purposes of the former, and at a considerably less 

 expense. The plan is very simple, and has been put in practice with 

 much success. Print all the notices you can obtain, varying in terms 

 of praise, from the comparative to the superlative degree, on a separate 

 sheet, and take care to place them conspicuously in the ensuing number 

 of the magazine. It may not be amiss, occasionally, to blend with these 

 one or two reviews, of a less favourable character, from the London 

 journals ; by so doing, you will attain a reputation for honesty and 

 integrity, which .you will not cherish the less, because you know it to 

 be undeserved. The composition of an advertisement, though less com- 

 plex than a prospectus, requires no small talent to bring it to perfection. 

 Some of the most perfect specimens I have seen are those of Mr. Bull, 

 of Holies Street you may refer to them with advantage as models of 

 art. Your efforts should be directed to the throwing a sort of mys- 

 tery over the several papers and their authors. I should advise you 

 (provided the experiment be attended by no extraordinary disbursement 

 expense must be avoided like the plague), to get two or three first- 

 rate performers for your earlier numbers ; in the event of your being 

 unable to obtain their own contributions, a small donation will procure 

 their signatures, which you can affix to articles by unknown writers, 

 whose pay you will abridge, in order to meet these extra charges. I 

 think you will find your account in adopting this plan ; for it will 



afford you an opportunity of exhibiting; the names of the Author of ! 



or the Authoress of ! ! as the case may be, and so induce a belief 



among some persons in the assertion, with which you will conclude, 

 that your magazine is supported by " all the leading talent of the day, 

 and by physical and scientific writers of distinguished ability." A 

 period like this leaves a very agreeable sensation upon the ear. I had 

 nearly forgot to mention another mode of notification which may be 

 also employed I allude to walking advertisements. I do not mean 

 those very respectable individuals who bear the placards of the Divan 

 and Pantechnicon, but I refer to those correspondents (and with proper 

 care you will find plenty) who, upon the insertion of a Sonnet, or a few 



Stanzas to ! which can easily be hooked on to the tail of a page, 



will make a point of lauding the magazine in every company, with a 

 passing reference to the beautiful poetry which illuminates the current 

 number. 



Hint the third relates to Contributors. It would decidedly be desira- 

 ble to conduct a magazine without any contributors at all, if it were 

 possible and for two reasons : first, because the trouble of reading the 

 MSS. would be avoided ; and, secondly, because the editor and pro- 

 prietor would be able to divide the profits share and share alike 

 without interference or molestation. But I see no prospect of this 

 devoutly-to-be-wished-for consummation; and I do not, therefore, offer 

 any apology for troubling you with a few confidential remarks. The 

 principal obstacle to the formation of a lasting friendship between the 

 editor and his contributors, is the unfortunate practice of pecuniary 

 compensation. The first writer in ancient days who wrote for money 

 was Protagoras of Abdera, the copyright of whose elaborate " Memoirs 

 of his own Life and Times" was purchased by Paulo Meopolo, the prin- 



