I have two letters on file; one is a pattern of adulation, the other of impertinence.

My reply to the first, containing the best advice I could give, conveyed in courteous language, had brought out the second.

There was some sport in this, but Dulness is not commonly a game fish, and only sulks after he is struck.

You may set it down as a truth which admits of few exceptions, that those who ask your OPINION really want your PRAISE, and will be contented with nothing less.
There is another kind of application to which editors, or those supposed to have access to them, are liable, and which often proves trying and painful.

One is appealed to in behalf of some person in needy circumstances who wishes to make a living by the pen.