has
indeed this advantage, that, however unlifelike his characters may be,
there is no one in a position to prove it; it is not 'a difference of
opinion between himself and twelve of his fellow-countrymen,' or a
matter on which he can be condemned by overwhelming evidence; but, on
the other hand, he creates for himself unnecessary difficulties. I will
add, for the benefit of those literary aspirants to whom these remarks
are especially addressed--a circumstance which, I hope, will be taken as
an excuse for the writing of my own affairs at all, which would
otherwise be an unpardonable presumption--that these difficulties are
not the worst of it; for when the novel founded on the Past has been
written, it will not be read by a tenth of those who would read it if it
were a novel of the Present.

Even at the date I speak of, however, I was not so young as to attempt
to create the characters of a story out of my own imagination, and I
believe that the whole of its _dramatis personae_ (except the chief
personage) were taken from the circle of my own acquaintance. This is a
matter, by-the-bye, on which considerable judgment and good taste have
to be exercised; for if the likeness of the person depicted is
recognisable by his friends (he never recognises it by any chance
himself), or still more by his enemies, it is no longer a sketch from
life, but a lampoon. It will naturally be asked by some: 'But if you
draw the man to the life, how can he fail to be known?' For this there
is the simplest remedy. You describe his character, but under another
skin; if he is tall you make him short, if dark, fair; or you make such
alterations in his circumstances as shall prevent identification, while
retaining them to a sufficient extent to influence his behaviour. In the
framework which most (though not all) skilled workmen draw of their
stories before they begin to furnish them with so much even as a
door-mat, the real name of each individual to be described should be
placed (as a mere aid to memory) by the side of that under which he
appears in the drama; and I would strongly recommend the builder to
write his real names in cipher; for I have known at least one instance
in which the entire list of the _dramatis personae_ of a novel was
carried off by a person more curious than conscientious, and afterwards
revealed to those concerned--a circumstance which, though it increased
the circulation of the story, did not add to the personal popu