Page:Modern Literature Volume 3 (1804).djvu/170

but to those who are in health. Numerous are the recruits in the literary ranks, from counsellors and physicians, who, unable to procure clients and patients, have sought refuge in the occupation of authors. It may be naturally asked, Are not unsuccessful clergymen in the same situation? To this the answer is obvious, and indeed trite. Success, good or bad, is not in a clergyman the consequence of qualifications, good or bad, with the same probability as in the other learned professions; the recovery or defence of our property we will not trust to an insufficient lawyer; the recovery of our health we will not trust to an incapable physician; but our spiritual concerns we readily entrust, without much investigation of the competency of the guide. High fees are bestowed on the most eminent professional men, but rich livings are often