But how (thought I) am I to profit by his advice? In what shape shall
I commence my eccentric course? A good general at the head of a large
army, on the eve of a general battle, with the enemy full in view, feels
less embarrassment than a young author finds in marshalling his crude
ideas, and placing the raw recruits of the brain in any thing like
respectable order. For the title, that is quite a matter of business,
and depends more upon the bookseller's opinion of what may be thought
attractive than any affinity it may possess to the work itself.
Dedications are, thanks to the economy of fashion, out of date: great
men have long since been laughed into good sense in that particular. A
preface (if there be one) should partake something of the spirit of the
work; for if it be not brief, lively, and humorous, it is ten to one but
your reader falls asleep before he enters upon chapter the first, and
when he wakes, fears to renew his application, lest he should be again
caught napping. Long introductions are like lengthy prayers before meals
to hungry men, they are mumbled over with unintelligible rapidity, or
altogether omitted, for the more solid gratifications of the stomach, or
the enjoyments of the mind. In what fantastic shape and countenance then
shall an author appear to obtain general approbation? or in what costume
is he most likely to insure success?
If he assumes a fierce and haughty front, his readers are perhaps
offended with his temerity, and the critics enraged at his assurance.
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