Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/364

330 from my own literary productions; and being aware, that from the very nature of their subjects, they can scarcely be expected to reimburse the expense of preparing them, I may be permitted to offer an opinion upon the subject, which I believe to be as little influenced by any expectation of advantage from the future, as it is by any disappointment at the past.

Before, however, we proceed to sketch the plan of a campaign against Paternoster-row, it will be fit to inform the reader of the nature of the enemies' forces, and of his means of attack and defence. Several of the great publishers find it convenient to be the proprietors of Reviews, Magazines, Journals, and even of Newspapers. The Editors are paid, in some instances very handsomely, for their superintendence; and it is scarcely to be expected that they should always mete out the severest justice on works by the sale of which their employers are enriched. The great and popular works of the day are, of course, reviewed with some care, and with deference to public opinion. Without this, the journals would not sell; and it is convenient to be able to quote such articles as instances of impartiality. Under shelter of this, a host of ephemeral productions are written into a transitory popularity; and by the aid of this process, the shelves of the booksellers, as well as the pockets of the public, are disencumbered. To such an extent are these means employed, that some of the periodical publications of the day ought to be regarded merely as advertising machines. That the reader may be in some measure on his guard against such modes of influencing his judgment, he should examine whether the work reviewed is published by