Glad like a boy to snatch the first good day,
And pleas'd if sordid want be far away.
What is't to me (a passenger, God wot)
Whether the vessel be first rate or not.
The ship itself may make a better figure,
But I that sail, neither less nor bigger;
I neither strut with ev'ry fav'ring breath,
Nor strive with all the tempest in my teeth;
In power, wit, figure, virtue, fortune, plac'd,
Behind the foremost, and before the last.
Divided between carelessness and care,
Sometimes I spend, at other times I spare."

FORTESCUE.

But to insinuate that I am getting money for no good purpose, is false and invidious.* The great apostle St Paul, who was an humble follower of Christ, thought he might be permitted to boast of himself a little.

"If a man," says Selden, "does not take notice of that excellency and perfection that is in himself, how can he be thankful to God who is the author of it. Nay, if a man hath too mean an opinion of himself, it will render him unserviceable both to God and man.” He adds, "pride may be allowed to this or that degree, else a man cannot keep up to his dignity.” Montaigne says, "that to speak more of one's self than is really true, is not only presumption but folly; and for a man to speak less of himself than he really is, is folly, not modesty; and to take that for current pay, which is under a man's value, is cowardice and

*. When I wrote my Life in 1791, I had no partner. In the summer of 1793, I sold Mr Robert Allen one-fourth share of the profits of my trade. This young gentleman was brought up in my shop, and of course is well acquainted with my method of doing business; and having been a witness to the profitable effects resulting from small profits, is as much in love with that mode of transacting business as I am; and as the trade is continually increasing, I suppose I shall be obliged to take another quarter partner very soon, as I .. cannot bear to see even trifles neglected.

pusillanimity." Aristotle says, "no virtue assists itself with falsehood, and that truth is never subject matter of error." "False modesty," says Bruyere, "is the most cunning sort of vanity; by this a man never appears what he is." After which, I suppose it will not be thought very presumptuous in me, if I should state a few facts, merely to justify my conduct in carrying on my trade beyond the time that certain persons would prescribe to me.

It is now about five years since I began to entertain serious thoughts of going out of business, on account of the bad state of health which both Mrs Lackington and myself have laboured under; and having no desire to be rich, we adopted Swift's prayer.

"Preserve, almighty Providence!

Just what you gave me-competence,
Remov'd from all th' ambitious scene,

Nor puff'd by pride, nor sunk by spleen."

But it was then suggested by several of my friends, that as I had about fifty poor relations, a great number of whom are children, others are old and nearly helpless, and that many had justly formed some expectations from me: therefore to give up such a trade as I was in possession of, before I was absolutely obliged to do it, would be a kind of injustice to those whom, by the ties of blood, I was in some measure bound to relieve and protect.

"Twice five-and-twenty cousins have implor'd
That help his purse, they cry, can well afford."

COMFORTS OF MARRIAGE.

These and other considerations induced me to waive the thoughts of precipitating myself out of so extensive and lucrative a business; and in the meantime I apply a part of the profits of it to maintain my good old mother, who is alive at Wellington in Somersetshire, her native place. I have two aged men and one woman whom I support: and I have also four children to maintain and educate, three of these chil

dren have lost their father, and also their mother (who was my sister); the other child has both her parents living, but they are poor; many others of my relations are in the same circumstances, and stand in need of my assistance, so that

"If e'er I've mourn'd my humble, lowly state, If e'er I've bow'd my knee at fortune's shrine, If e'er a wish escap'd me to be great,

The fervent prayer, humanity, was thine.
Perish the man who hears the piteous tale

Unmov'd, to whom the heart-felt glow's unknown;
On whom the widow's plaints could ne'er prevail,
Nor made the injur'd wretch's cause his own.
How little knows he the extatic joy,

The thrilling bliss of cheering wan despair!
How little knows the pleasing warm employ,
That calls the grateful tribute of a tear.
The splendid dome, the vaulted rock to rear,
The glare of pride and pomp be, grandeur, thine!
To wipe from misery's eye the wailing tear,

And soothe the oppressed orphan's woe, be mine."

It has also been frequently said, that by selling my books very cheap, I have materially injured other booksellers both in town and country. But I still deny the charge: and here I will first observe, that I have as just a reason to complain of them for giving credit, as they can have for my selling cheap and giving no credit; as it is well known that there are many thousands of people everywhere to be found who will decline purchasing at a shop where credit is denied, when they can find shopkeepers enough who will readily give it; and as I frequently lose customers who having always been accustomed to have credit, they will not take the trouble to pay for every article as sent home; these of course deal at those shops who follow the old mode of business; so that in such cases I might say to the proprietors of these shops, "You ought not to give any person credit, because by so doing you are taking customers from me." As

to my hurting the trade by selling cheap, they are, upon the whole, mistaken; for although no doubt some instances will occur, in which they may observe that the preference is given to my shop, and the books purchased of me on account of their being cheap; yet they never consider how many books they dispose of on the very_same account. As, however, this may appear rather paradoxical, I will explain my meaning farther.

I now sell more than one hundred thousand volumes annually; many who purchase part of these, do so solely on account of their cheapness; many thousands of these books would have been destroyed, as I have before remarked, but for my selling them on those very moderate terms; now when thousands of these articles are sold, they become known by being handed about in various circles of acquaintances, many of whom wishing to be possessed of the same books, without enquiring the price of their friends, step into the first bookseller's shop, and give their orders for articles which they never would have heard of, had not I, by selling them cheap, been the original cause of their being dispersed abroad; so that by means of the plan pursued in my shop, whole editions of books are sold off, and new editions printed of the works of authors, who but for that circumstance would have been scarce noticed at all.

But (say they) you not only sell such books cheap as are but little known, but you even sell a great deal under price the very first-rate articles, however well they may be known, or however highly they may be thought of by the literary world. I acknowledge the charge, and again repeat that, as I do not give any credit, I really ought to do so; and I may add, that in some measure I am obliged to do it; who would come out of their way to Chiswell street, to pay me the same price in ready money as they might purchase for at the first shop they came to, and have credit also.

for

And although first-rate authors are very well known, yet I well know that by selling them cheaper than others many are purchased of me that never would have been purchased at the full price, and every book that is sold tends to spread the fame of the author, and rapidly extends the sale, and as I before remarked, sends more customers to other shops as well as to my own.

I must also inform you, that besides five or six private catalogues of books in sheets, for booksellers only, I publish two catalogues for the public every year, and of each of those public catalogues I print above three thousand copies, most of those copies are lent about from one to another, so that supposing only four persons see each copy, twenty-four thousand persons look over my catalogues annually; no other mode of advertising bears the least proportion to it.

I could say much more on this subject, but will not unnecessarily take up your time, as I trust what is here advanced will convey full conviction to your mind, and as I believe it is universally known and allowed, that no man ever promoted the sale of books in an equat degree with your old friend, and as in reading I have experienced many thousand happy hours, and which still engrosses the largest portion of my time, and gives me more real pleasure and solid satisfaction than all other things in the world; you cannot conceive what agreeable sensations I enjoy, on reflecting on my having contributed so much towards the pleasures of others, in diffusing through the world such an immense number of books, by which many have been enlightened and taught to think, and from mere animals have become rational beings. With a book, the poor man in his intervals from labour forgets his hard lot, or learns to bear it with pleasure, whilst in intellectual pleasures he can vie with kings. Books afford comfort to the afflicted, and consolation to the prisoner; books are our most constant and

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