of which they disapprove; and that if once a respectable and well-supported Review[O 1] were established, capable of competing, in payment to its contributors, with the wealthiest of its rivals, it would very soon be supplied with the best materials the country can produce.[O 2] It may also be apprehended that such a combination of authors would be favourable to each other. There are two temptations to which an Editor of a review is commonly exposed: the first is, a tendency to consult too much, in the works he criticises, the interest of the proprietor of his review; the second, a similar inclination to consult the interests of his friends. The plan which has been proposed removes one of these temptations, but it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to destroy the other.
- ↑ At the moment when this opinion as to the necessity for a new Review was passing through the press, I was informed that the elements of such an undertaking were already organized.
- ↑ It has been suggested to me, that the doctrines maintained in this chapter may subject the present volume to the opposition of that combination which it has opposed. I do not entertain that opinion; and for this reason, that the booksellers are too shrewd a class to supply such an admirable passport to publicity as their opposition would prove to be if generally suspected.[I 1] But should my readers take a different view of the question, they can easily assist in remedying the evil, by each mentioning the existence of this little volume to two of his friends.
- ↑ I was mistaken in this conjecture; all booksellers are not so shrewd as I had imagined, for some did refuse to sell this volume; consequently others sold a larger number of copies.
In the Preface to the second edition, at the commencement of this volume, the reader will find some farther observations on the effect of the Booksellers' combination.—Note to the Second Edition.
