64 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



script which all the respectable publishing 

 houses have refused. He himself subsequently 

 acted upon this mistake, and lost his money 

 without in the least advancing his reputation. 

 The young writer can seldom be made to under- 

 stand that all publishers are continually on the 

 look-out for good work ; that good work is 

 almost certain (though mistakes have been 

 made) to be taken up by the first publisher to 

 whom it is offered ; that if it is refused by 

 good Houses, the reason is that it is not good 

 work, and that paying for publication will not 

 turn bad work into good. Jefferies concludes 

 his little book by so shocking a charge against 

 the general public that it shall be quoted just 

 to show what this country lad of nineteen or 

 twenty thought was the right and knowing 

 thing to say about them : 



" The public will read any commonplace 

 clap-trap if only a well-known name be 

 attached to it. Hence any amount of expendi- 

 ture is justified with this object. It is better 

 at once to realize the fact, however unpleasant 

 it may be to the taste, and instead of trying 



