The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-21 00:00:00

EDWARD MURRAY has been sent to Ancona; it is
supposed, for execution.
M. TRIERS reached Rome on the 12th, and had an
interview with the Cardinal ANTONELLI.
The French fleet would leave Naples immediately
for Sicily. It anchosed in the Bay of Naples on the
10th. It is cotnpored of some of the largest line-of-
battle ships of their navy, viz. :—Ville de Paris (flag
ship), 120; Jena, 90; Jupiter, 80; Henri IV., 90 ;
Vainly, 120; Bayard, 80; and steamer Caton. The
fleet is commanded by Vice-Admiral DELASASE. The
presence of so large a force has naturally given rise
to various reports. By some it is supposed that France
ha. demanded the aches of MURAT, who, it will be
remembered, was shot and buried at Pizzo. Others,
again, will have it that Austria and Russia
are pressing hard on Louts NAPOLEON for the with-
drawal of the French troops from Rome, and that
the present force has been sent into the Mediterra-
nean to support the army, if necessary, as well as
the diplomacy of the PRINCE PRESIDENT.
A supclement to the official journal of Sicily
says —" We receive by telegraph the following from
Naples :—The contract with Messrs. ROTHSCHILD is
completed. Sicilian stock is at 102. Blessings on
our sire, the KING ! This is given for the accommo-
dation of commercial transactions, and that the public
may unite and bless the Prince who knows so well
how to procure the happiness and prosperity of his
people."

RADE.

THE BOOKSELLIN G
(From the Times.)
The bookselling controversy has received its quietus.
Lord Campbell, in the name of himself and his col-
leagues, has delivered a judgment on the case before him
for particularsl s
t o
repeat,of this conclusion it will be quite unnecessary
onlybecause
pouorippaotretdanidn even the
of yesterday, but because the
language
es
ouff
our own
tonhweecniraenmg they were published
Longman may, perhaps,
carefully
the
ee ddeacyisiboenfowree.re ;LI
appears in print" he is discardeinulglyw himselfohsacthemw iignohgf t
prove‘h t
thatocca-
siono
be-useful information to him. With
less self-confidence
than our eminent publisher, Lord
man and Mr. Grote " read Campbell, Dr.
within ve
their reach," and the result has has b hi
been shows came
ia
what Mr. Longman himself was fain accept-- as
" very able opinion." In future hea
con-
sider that a good deal which " may possibly
worth the attention of those aPPettes in print" is
engaged in a public dia-
cussion. .
Of course there could be but one decision in a contro-
versy so transparent. With a few conventional
compli-
ments to the motives and conduct of the amalgamated
publishers, Lord Campbell plainly pronounced thitita
thet
attempt to establish the exceptional nature of the com-
merce in books" bad altogether failed; that the regu- •
lations of the Association were " unreasonable and
inexpedient;" that they ought to be maintained
no longer, and that the Booksellers' Inquisition should
be forthwith dissolved. It scarcely needed a formal
analysis of such arguments as those of the As-
sociation to convict them of utter unsoundness. There
was a self-evident absurdity in the allegation that the
sale of books could be diminished by a diminution in
their price, and yet beyond this allegation the confede-
rated publishers had really nothing to advance. Not
only were their principles false, but their attempt was
impracticable. They did not secure any uniformity in
the price of books, they did cot create any rapid distri-
bution of new publications, but they did contrive to en-
gender a great deal of ill-blood, and to manufacture such
a system as insured its own conviction as soon as it was
exposed.
It is hardly worth while to renew the investigation of
an exploded protectionism, but we desire once more to
indicate the fallacy which we conceive to have been at
the root of the evil, and the more so as this was the
single point which Lord Campbell and his assessors
omitted to notice. This fallacy is the publisher's as-
sumption that the " publication " price of a book is
their own price—the price, in fact, which the
purchaser ought properly to pay, and from
which any reduction can be made by their•
indulgence only. This delusion or equivocation per-
vaded the whole of their arguments. Mr. Murray ob-
served that if the retailers chose to take less than the 30
per cent. profit at present " allowed" them, it would be
so much the better for the wholesale producers, who
would pocket the difference. Mr. W. Longman inno-
cently suggested that perhaps a decrease of this statut-
able " allowance" would furnish the best adjustment
of the controversy. The entire case was represented
as turning on the reduction made by one branch of the
trade in special favour of the other, and the whole ques-
tion was more than once described as a booksellers'
question exclusively—one, in short, with which the ge-
neral public had no kind of concern. The " publication
price" of a book, according to these views, was the true
price—the price which the consumer ought to pay, the
particular rate of discount obtainable by the retailer
being clearly, therefore, of no consequence at all. The
assumption is wholly indefensible.
Beyond doubt, the joint producers of a book—the
author and publisher—coav agree to fix whatever price
they please on their manufacture, without respect to the
costs actually incurred. If these costs amount in fair
reckoning to 155., the proprietors of the publication may
settle its market price not only at one sovereign, but at
five, or ten, if they so please. But what the resder
should und rst-nd is that this overplus charge, the divi-
sion of which bee tern so controverted, is a charge
imposed after all these arrangements have been made
without any re'sreece whatever to the property, so to
speak, of the publication, and with a view to its distribu-
tion only. 'rho author has no concern or participation
in the matter at all. There is a particular price affixed to
his work, which is so computed as to include his fair re-
muneration and all other ascertainable expenses of the
production. Author and publisher provide their respec-
tive recompenses in determining this sum, and there is
also a further and distinct provision for the publisher in
respect of his strict and proper capicity of issuing
or uttering the work. Now, to the " trade price'
thus constituted an addition of 33 per cent. must
be made to give the " publication price, and
for the publisher to pretend that this price pertains to
him is a monstrous wrong. He could only demand it by
a most prodigious act of extortion against the public
and an equal exercise of injustice towards the author. It
is never taken into consideration in his reckonings with
the author, but is always represented as an expense
inseparable from the distribution of the book.
To assume that the publbisher would be en.
titled to this price in his own proper person,
if he did not make " a reduction in favour"
of the retailer, is utterly preposterous. His only justifi-
cation for announcing at all a price so greatly beyond
the remunerative figure is that) he may have where-
withal to satisfy those whose remuneration must be cared
for in addition to his own. He makes no " reduction
their favour at all." He retains every sixpence oin
the
profit to which he is properly entitled, and merely
them the benefit of a nominal assessment, gives
which
a margin for their satisfaction over and leaves
above the con-
sideration which they actually pay. We
clear that it will be greatly for think it quite
literature when this overplus the advantage of
from publishers' reckonings altogether.
is discarded
gs altogether. It is
gat
evi-
dently the source of very
between these gentlemen andre
their and
general ill-feeling
as appears in every page of NI " authors," who,
disgusted at the difference
the purchaser of their works
the price paid by
s and that accounted for to
themselves. To Lord C
of " entire freedom ampbell's plain recommendation
branches of trade, of transactions" between the two
we would simply add the suggestion,
that every publisher's concern with a book should termi-
nate absolutely with i
Price, to the retail its delivery, at the trade or author's
_la dealer.
conclusion we confidently hope that the discussion
may be permanently advantageous both writers and
readers at large. rGladstone most
I said that
the state of the bookselling t.raudee was a disgrace to the
Community- Nothing in the markets of the universe is
so extravagantly dear as a British-made book, whether
contrasted with other productions of labour at home
or with similar productions abroad. With a large edu-
cated population, an inquisitive tone of society, and a
general desire for knowledge, the most uncommon
article of private purchase is a new book, and the com-
modity most certain to be procurable at a depreciated
rate is a publication of credit and renown. The
truth is that scarcely any degree of success can
maintain prices so hugely artificial. When one-
third of a book's nominal charge has been gratui-
tously added to its true cost, an appendage so
preposterous is sure to be unsafe; and a collapse, which
is merely the consequence of unnatural inflation, ac-
quires the appearance of formal disparagement, to the
prejudice of readers and writers together. Readers
only get access to a publication when its conviction
seems to have been pronounced ; and writers, who
see the price demanded from the public, and know the
price accounted for to themselves, are scandalised and
discouraged by the operations of an enormous charge
combined with a miserable return.
It would scarcely be fair to quit the subject without a
tribute of public acknowledgment to those individuals
who, at some personal risk, encountered the unscrupu-
lous coercion of the " Association," and secured free-
dom of trade to all followers of their craft. Lord
Campbell, we observe, confirmed, as from his own
knowledge, the suspicions we had expressed respecting
the alleged " unanimity "of the profession. Many felt
secretly oppressed by the restrictions of the system, but
few only ventured to protest. It is natural enough that
consideration should bo claimed for those uncertain
ventures, but it would bn a wiser and more serviceable
proceeding to forget the past altogether, aid to place
the trade upon a system which will give authors and
booksellers a better source of profit in a larger sale of
books.

VARIATION OF THE COMPASS.--Profttssor Bache,
superintendent of the United States Coact Survey, has com-
municated to the Secretary of the Treasury the magnetic
variations at certain positions on the Pacific coast, which
must prove interesting to navigators. The variation at Point
Pinos, in California, is 14 deg. 53 min. E. At San Diego,
California, 12 deg. 29 min. E. At Cape Hancock, or Disap-
pointment, 20 deg. 45 min. E.
BRITISH QUEEN SCREW-STEAmEL_Vire are re-
quested to state, upon authority, that the survey and inves-
tigation show that the propelling machinery was not the
cause of the fire in this vessel's after hold. It appears to
have originated from spontaneous combustion, or other tut.
discoverable cause, in the cargo itself.