The Refusal, Vol. 1 of 2 (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from The Refusal, Vol. 1 of 2When my readers and myself have breathed after this formidable period, I must proceed to remark, that these were not the only indubitable proofs of her at tarhment. My late friend, (gentle reader, after the above abjuration I am authorized to use an epithet so soothing to my feelings) has appointed me her execu tor and residuary legatee. A mine of wealth is thus come into my possession, consisting, not of goods and apparel, houses and lands, plate and jewels, but of two scrutoires and five trunks, filled with the unpublished offspring of her prolific pen, all of which, with the unwearied perseverance of a laborious editor, I here by promise to present successively to an admiring and generous public, being fully convinced that my friend could have consigned any of her lucubrations to oblivion, only through excessive modesty, or culpable inertness foibles which it is my duty to counteract. She indeed fell into the common error of great minds, that ofthink mg 1tmore improving and gratifying to study what was excellent, than to devour what was new and she used to talk with great pathos of living authors bury ing themselves under their own works, and of dead ones being exposed by their injudicious friends, in a pillory made of the manuscripts they had themselves devoted to the ¿ames.To justify myself for the steps I mean to take, I shall premise that the conduct of people often differs widely from their avowed opinions. If Mrs. Pruden tia really dreaded this posthumous assassination, (as she called it) why did not she destroy every paper in her possession, that being the only certain method of crippling the industry of her editor and bookseller, and disappointing the public, who read nothing With such eagerness as those last words and unfinished frag ments, which steal into the world under the interdict of their author. Her careful preservation of these multitudinous writings, convinces me she had a high opinion of their intrinsic worth, and as to their being preserved merely for the perusal of private friends, I confessithis appears a very fastidious discrimination, 10 'i HE refusal.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.