Men must read,
must observe, must practise. Diligence is as necessary to the
author as to the grocer, the solicitor, the dentist, the barrister,
the soldier. Nothing but nature can give the aptitude; diligence
must improve it, and experience may direct it. It is not enough to
wait for the spark from heaven to fall; the spark must be caught,
and tended, and cherished. A man must labour till he finds his
vein, and himself. Again, if literature is an art, it is also a
profession. A man's very first duty is to support himself and
those, if any, who are dependent on him. If he cannot do it by
epics, tragedies, lyrics, he must do it by articles, essays, tales,
or how he honestly can. He must win his leisure by his labour, and
give his leisure to his art. Murray, at this time, was diligent in
helping to compile and correct educational works. He might, but for
the various conditions of reserve, hatred of towns, and the rest,
have been earning his leisure by work more brilliant and more
congenial to most men. But his theory of literature was so lofty
that he probably found the other, the harder, the less remunerative,
the less attractive work, more congenial to his tastes.
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