Show james T fields as editor in 1859 tho atlantic monthly passed into the hards of ticknor fields the junior publisher becoming finally its editor it was a change of much importance to all its contributors and greatly affected say own literary life lowell had been of course an appreciative and a sympathetic editor yet fields had tho advantage over lowell of editor and publisher so that ho had a free hand as to paying for articles the prices then paid were lower than now but were raised steadily and he first introduced trod the practice of paying for each manuscript on acceptance he had a virtue which I 1 have never known in any other editor or publisher that of volunteering to advance money on prospective spec tive articles yet to bo written and he did this more than once to me I 1 have also known him to increase the amount paid on finding that an author particularly needed the money especially if it case of a woman his sympathy with struggling women was always very great and I 1 think ho was the in the early atlantic circle except whittier and myself with emerson also latterly who favored woman suffrage with all his desire to create a staff fields was eagerly looking out for new talent and was ever prompt to counsel and encourage ho liked of course to know eminent men and his geese were apt to be swans yet he was able to discriminate ho organized dickens readings for instance and went to every one of them yet confessed frankly that their pathos was a failure that little lell was unreal and paul dombey a tiresome choso whoso death was a relief fields was really a keen judge of character and had his own fearless standards I 1 once asked him which ho liked the better personally thackeray or dickens and he replied after a moments reflection dickens because thackeray enjoyed telling questionable tio stories a thing which dickens never did colonel T W higginson in atlantic |