If an author
receives twice as much pay for a page as for half a page, he will write a
page as a matter of course; and, as a matter of course, the quality of
what he writes will be depreciated in geometrical proportion. For the same
thing, said in few words, is ten times more effectual than when said in
many words.
No doubt, different subjects require different handling, and more space is
needed for some than for others. An essay is not necessarily too long
because it fills five columns, or fifty pages; but periodical and
newspaper writing demands compactness, conciseness, concentration; and the
fact of being paid by measurement, is a writer's ever-present temptation
to disregard this demand.
The conceit of estimating the value of an article by its length and rating
the longest at the highest price, is about as wise as to estimate a man
by his inches instead of his intellect.
Certain names there are in the literary world, which carry great weight in
a reader's regard, independently of the quality of the contributions. If a
Sir Walter Scott were to write for the _North American Review_, he would
temporarily elevate the reputation of the Review, however carelessly he
might throw his sentences together.
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