II.
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION.
WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for an author to dissolve the bands which have connected him with his publishers, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that he should declare the causes which impel him to the separation.
The war between authors and publishers has been a conflict of ages. On the one side, the publisher has been looked upon as a species of Wantley dragon, whose daily food was the brain and blood of hapless writers.
“Devouréd he poor authors all,
That could not with him grapple;
But at one sup he ate them up,
As one would eat an apple.”