that class of publishers who have been in the habit of reproducing English works, without the consent, and mainly without the compensation of the author? This class has been stigmatized, unjustly, as we think, as literary pirates-unjustly, because it is no trespass, or no great trespass, to pass over a common left open by the laxity of the authorities. In nice honor, they were, doubt less, bound to make some return to the authors whose goods they used (many of our publishers have done so in a liberal manner); but the obligation was only honorable, and not legally binding. By long custom and the strange perversity of our law-makers, the English literary field was abandoned to the first comers, and the individuals who have sought to work it do not deserve the harsh epithet often applied to them. The vested interests, moreover, which they have built up, under this lax and unsettled condition of things, are to be regarded in any introduction of a better system. But this class, we conceive, have no special or peculiar rights in the premises. They have profited, in the past, by the ill-state of the law; but they have no claims, therefore, to a continuance of a similar profit. in the future. If it be positively just, that the rights of foreign authors should, in some way, be acknowledged, their fancied or prospective interest, in the existing system, ought not to prevent the full performance of our duty to do justly to all men. On the supposition we have made above, however, the interests of even this class, as a whole, would not greatly suffer, if at all. They would be compelled to pay the foreign author, it is true; but their compensation would be found in the exclusive possession they would derive from it. As matters now are, every reproduction of an English work is made at the hazard of rival editions. Many a round sum has been sunk by houses that could ill afford it, in consequence of some other house printing upon them, and flooding the market. But, under the new arrangement, they would be secure from this kind of invasion. Only those among them, who are unwilling to make returns to the foreign author, would be interfered with in any degree. Every publisher, who should be willing to negotiate with the foreign author on fair terms, would get the printing and publishing of his work, besides the exclusive dis

posal of it for the term that the contract should last. But does not every honorable publisher acknowledge himself to be of this kind? does he not confess his willingness to deal equitably with his author, provided he can secure the exclusive publication of that author's works, and be protected in their sale?

The worst effect which such a scheme, if put in practice, would produce upon the reading public, which is, after all, the great interest to be consulted, would be, that it might possibly raise the price of books of foreign origin; but it would raise it only to the extent of the slight percentage paid to the author, which is usually, in this country, ten or twelve per cent. on the retail price. A book by Mr. Dickens or Thackeray, for which we now pay one dollar a copy, we should, perhaps, in the event of a change. have to pay a dollar and ten cents for, which is too inconsiderable an amount to be computed against the solid satisfaction which every just-minded man would experience in the consciousness that he was making some adequate return to the writer for the wealth of information and delight he furnished. We say that, perhaps, we should be compelled to pay this additional mite, but it is not clear to us that we should-it is not clear to us that, in consideration of the assured control of the market, and the prospect of larger and more certain gains, the publisher could afford the work, maugre the percentage yielded the author, at as low a rate as he does now. Be that as it may, how ever, it is demonstrable that some compensation ought to be made to the author-we are bound in honor and justice to render it—and so miserable a sacrifice as a few cents on the part of each buyer (which is nothing to him, though in the aggregate of great importance to the recipient), should not be allowed to stand in the way of so obvious and imperative a duty. No genuine American, we are sure. who prizes the integrity of his country aud her citizens, as an object beyond all money estimation, could hesitate for a moment in such an alternative. Nay, we doubt if there is one, who would not be glad of the opportunity to testify his sense of the immense benefits which the foreign writers have conferred upon us, by their immortal labors. When they come among us in person, we evince the utmost eagerness to shower

upon them every attention, which can mark our adıniration and gratitude, or render their sojourn agreeable. We entertain them heartily and generously, and the same feeling, which prompts these personal compliments, would find an equal solace, could it be gratified, in the more systematic shape of a legal recompense.

It will be noted, that we have thus far argued the terms of copyright, in the supposition that the foreign author actually issues his work, that is, prints and binds it in this country. We have done so, because we understand that many of the leading publishers do not object to action, in this shape, and we deem it too important to get the principle once established, to hazard the success of it altogether on any dispute about details. Our own convictions, nevertheless, remain as strong as ever they were, that no serious damage in the end would result to anybody, from the completest reciprocity of copyright between our own and other nations. A late writer, whom we have before quoted. urges, that, "of the two countries (he is referring to Great Britain and the United States), it will be mainly to the advantage of the British publishers. The British are a nation," he adds of sellers, not buyers. They preach free-trade to all the world, but when a market is open, they rush in and engross it. It is free-trade, but only to them. If we enter into the proposed partnership, they will buy few of our copyrights-those only of our best authors, and few books beyond samples. We may, perhaps, be permitted to purchase some copyrights of them, and publish the works here; but the general Course of things will be this: the London publishers, having the control of British copyrights. will send their agents to New York. Boston, and Philadelphia, or they will here form branch establishments. Through these we shall be supplied with British books, on British types, on British paper, and in British binding."

This ring on the word British would be more appropriate in a political harangue than in a dignified argument; but, in either place, it has no more force than any other appeal to mere popular prejudices. A book may be an excellent book, worthy of every man's purchase, though fifty times more British

than is here represented. The simple point is, what is just in the matter, and, at the same time, best for all interests legitimately involved in the decision? Now, we believe, contrary to the entire tenor of the above extract, that literary wares, like other wares, will in general be carried first to the best market; we believe that authors, having an assured sale for their books, will dispose of them to those publishers who will likely bring them the largest returns; and, consequently, that the American market, and those who stand in immediate relation to it, will command the authorship of both nations. The American market, if it is not now, will be, in a few years, under the unprecedentedly rapid diffusion of the taste for books, which distinguishes our growth, the leading market for all works in the English language; and American publishers, who must, from the necessities of their position, hold a more controlling attitude towards it than any others, will become the leading publishers. They would, at least, in a fair competition with the British publishers, stand as good a chance for the first right to important works, and they would enjoy the same advantages in the British market which the British enjoy in this. Under this competition, we should ex pect to see, in no long time, a transfer of the centre of literary productivity from the metropolis of Great Britian to the cities of the United States. Yet we do not press this view, nor shall we enlarge upon it now, because, as we have said, we are willing to see the principle of copyright established in the modified form before described, and which, we are told, would probably obviate the objection, of hitherto formidable opponents. We are so anxious that our national reputation, on the score of honesty, should be redeemed, that we are willing to accept an imperfect measure rather than no measure at all, provided the principle for which we contend is thereby asserted. The writers of the country have long been nearly unanimous in their sentiments as to the propriety of granting some return to their fellow-laborers abroad, and, if they can procure the cooperation of the publishers to so desirable an end, even though it should not be to the extent they might wish, they will un. doubtly welcome the omen.

task remarkable for any felicity; and yet it was hardly possible for a writer, of any degree of ability, to make two large volumes wholly destitute of interest. The early recollections of Mr. Goodrich, which relate to village life in New England, at the close of the last century and the heginning of the present, possess a certain charm, and some notes of the people whom he has met abroad, in his many foreign tours, are pleasant reading. We suppose, too, that his diligent collection of memorials about locally distinguished men will have no little local acceptance; but, as a whole, his book appears to us diffuse and insignificant. His anecdotes are not always preeminent for their point. nor are his sketches of character very graphic, but the spirit in which he writes is, for the most part, amiable and benevolent, in spite of the old political prejudices which he makes no attempt to disguise.

A gentleman who superintended Fanny Ellsler's pirouettes, a few years since, and who recently "managed the press" for the managers of the opera, bas published a book which settles the question which, for the last four years, bas agitated the public mind-namely, what was the precise relation of the ex-purveyor of pirouettes to the English government. He tells us that Lord Palmerston hired him to manage the French and American press for the English foreign office, and soon after politely paid him up, and asked him, indirectly, to leave. Leave? The foreign secretary forgot the £500 a year. Our Pangloss did not; but pressed boldly on, from a hint to a snub, and from a snub to a kick. Why he did not go, when his employer asked him to do so, he does not say; nor why he calls himself a diplomatist. En revanche he quotes freely from the Latin grammar, and gives us his opinions of general politics. There remains but one thing more for this gentleman, who is, at present, apparently out of employment, to do. Let him pacify the public impatience by writing My Pas de Deux with Fanny Ellsler. A world, anxious for its favorite diplomatist, waits to see him take that step next.

- MR. FREEMAN HUNT, who is universally known in the commercial world, has laid that part of the great world under additional obligations, by his Lives of American Merchants. This is not an attempt to

flatter men, who have no other title to respect than the energy or skill which enabled them to accumulate large fortunes, but is an earnest endeavor to commend to others whatever is really great and ennobling in mercantile character. The biographies are written with ability and taste, and furnish many a paragraph of profound instruction. The volume contains engraved portraits of several of its most distinguished subjects.

- Mr. CHARLES NORHOFF, favorably known by his Man-of-war Life continues his sea-experiences in Whaling and Fishing; a semi-biographical tale of the whaleman's anxieties, perils, and pleasures. It is most agreeably written, abounds in nice observation, and striking incidents, and is parti cularly adapted to engage the attention of the young. As the particulars of the sketches are derived from an actual participation in the events described, they possess an unusual degree of freshness and fidelity to truth and nature.

-The Court of Napoleon (Derby & Jackson) is the gift volume of the season, which fills the place of Dr. Griswold's Republican Court, published by the Appletons last year. It is a very superb hook, handsomely printed upon fine paper, and massively and elaborately bound. The text is a spirited and entertaining sketch of French society under the empire. It may seem an easy work, but the graceful ease of the treatment is not to be mistaken for any insufficient knowledge of the subject. The whole work shows not only the careful and vivacious observer, but the industrious student, of French life and social history. Despite its form, the work of Mr. F. B. GOODRICH is a valuable addition to the literature of a fascinating period of modern history. It would have a large sale, we are sure, as it would meet with universal favor, were it published in another and cheaper form. The general reader buys such a volume for a gift and for its general splendor; the special reader never believes that the text of so superb a volume is worth attention. Mr. Goodrich, who made his first literary mark by the gay and sparkling Paris letters of Dick Tinto in the New York Times, has a facility and raciness of style which will always command the public attention. He has written a delightful book; and we could wish that the illustrations were worthy the text