The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-28 00:00:00

Mr. KNIGHT BRUCE, with whom was Mr. SUTTON
SHARPE, then addressed the Court for the plaintiff in °AP;
port of the injunction. He regretted exceedingly is;
great length of time that the case had already taken, u-it•
cause he could not but consider that three or four sue,
cases might have been disposed of in the time the'
had been already occupied. It now became his rill
to state the question in the case, namely, what Captalf
Marryat had a right to do, having regard to the fact, to
his having signed the agreement. His Mends had te,en
drive the Court away front that question. It w'as
pretended that Mr. Colburn had done, or attempted. to 6111;
anything not warranted by the agreement. If CaPtlell
Marryat had marls out a case, that in consequence of t
other work Captain Marryat's work had been delayed, they
he would tave had some standing in that Court, but vrri
Captst'An Marryat came there and admitted that Mr. tAci
turn had adhered to the agreement in all its parts, it lookete
very much like trifling with the Court to bring forward !ell
point that Mr. Colburn had purchased another work whio‘
might interfere with his. The story of Capt. Marryat's
was open to the whole world, it was a matter of tradition •-„f
therefore there could be no question as to the identity 0t
the two works. In one sence, it was true that it was .00
trifling with the Court. Authors were but men, an ers
person, he would venture to say, could teke up the PaPtbat
connected with the case and read them without seeincole,
this rival publication was at the bottom of the 'IT the
This dreaded Flying Dutchman was the cause, 551 bad
single cause, of all the complaint.a. If Mr. Colbuliyieg
not been guilty of buying the copyright of the 'tool
Dutchman the Court Would neverhave heard of the.Phaileht
Ship or its publication ht America. He the jota
that the case might 'have been brought f°rbeee.
in a manner very different to what it had .10,
Why had the application for the dissolution of the ini
tion been made upon the answer of Captain l‘farrYett' rev
not upon affidavit ? Why, for this plain and simple`
son, that upon a question of title the answer was condo,cive. That was not the fair way to have the matter
roughly su wellinveizated.____Money_rouoy..,cooney, one
be the only cry of Captain Marryat ; he had received
sum from Mr. Colburn, and he wished to have a gres—ell
On the question of title Captain Marryat had the ease to
on his side, because, on that question they had no right t
repudiate the ansvfer. But he must tell the C ?erg
that on hi; side affidavits had been filed, exPlaiaithe
the wh=ole case, and if required he should tender them to.
ere
(;hurt. The injunction being obtained ex parte, tPthe
were two grounds upon which it might be dissolved, tog
upon the merits, or the fact of some special matter u',bt
'concealed from the Judge. Now, if the Court tbol7o,
that there was anything in the answer raising the queliilta,
of conduct as distinguished from the questions of tee ait
then he should tender the affidavits to the Court, as
would be great injustice if those affidavits were net elf
lowed to be received, because the answer might make % o
old
case. He believed that the law upon this subject Cool
not be disputed. That the protection in this coughs,
afforded by copyright against piracy by foreign to
or works imported from abroad, only extendeuoili
works which had been previously and 0141 the
published in this country. Now, what Was pp
dealing between Captain Marryat and Mr. Cowitioa
why it was a mere matter of merchand;ise. The pc' pip
in which Captain Marryat would have it. believed that oid
Colburn had placed himself was, that after he bag ftba
7501. for the privilege of inserting parts of the work ire to
New Monthly Magazine, and pub:tishing the wh° p 01,
three volumes in October—the moment after that
ocer
was paid, Captain Marryat might send the manuscript
brisg
to America, and get it printed and published there, tie
it back to this country, glut the market with it, althe jog
Mr. Colburn had paid 7501. for the purpose of keePtlie
the public constantly on the qui wive for the
work. According to Captain Marryat's version °hot t
agreement,_ the 7501. was to be paid for 13,4°1 I
He did not mean to say that the statements of vltteo, •
Marryat were untrue, but he surely must have foil
1.04
the real position in which he was placed. The liteol,
Counsel then proceeded to comment on the agree—ot
from which he stated, it was clearly to be inferred, ply
the right was taken away from Captain Marryat of
b oP,dir
lishing the work in any part of the world. Could it hes
looking at the aareeanent, that Captain Marryat oil
liberty to go to Rotterdam and Boulogne, and tlieres46
and publish the work, and import it to this country
he would ask, would the Court have said if he 116`.;,;„ I
so ? He had not thought it right to atttempt !
course, but he had threatened that he would p Ile
it unless a better bargain was made with bits'. t 011
(Mr. Knight Bruce) thought that Captain Ma' aria ill
reflection would not put those threats into elecr.tiea;l of
was not disposed to say a single word disreweet'en
Captain Marryat, he believed him 'to be a nit- "
first-rate talent, but he must be aP.owed to say ttsestg
Captain Marryat should think it rip'nt to put. his tu 0.;
into execution, it would be, to sw.,, the least of it, 9
honest act on his part. The Exesent was, not aca 50
sd
specific performance or fraud.. The interest whic
been transferred to Mr. riol'ourn was a legal interest'lV
it would be competent for him to maintain that intereoottll;
an action in his orrla name if his right was interfered
spd
In the agreement there was a total P.bsence of fraud' ides
there was every probability of the parties on bot'i tbst
that nothing material bad escaped them ; and 110011.,
agreement Captain Marryat had deprived
of publishing the work anywhere ; becaustr 7,retr
agreement not a single word was said with 0'00;
to the reservation of America or any •otbeni'aidA
Captain Marryat had got 7501., was to }raw) 25,
from Mr. Colburn, and then went and cor,stated o_,`eataP,
tor as to the way in which he could destroy any ad be
that Mr, Colburn might derive from tl',e g agenl:etb• ik
had entered into. Then it had been acaid that selqbeire
material had been kept back from the, hurt whoa ~
if
junction was applied for. The question yeas whethe,r,:ao.,,
Court had heard all that now appeared, it wouldr (raj,*
fused the exparte injunction. It appeared to 10,111,,
Knight Bruce) that every step in, the proceecl`l',7o p,r°,;
aggravated the offence, and the lettiars that had be
duced added to the strength of Sir. Colburn's easeo.ooPoloP
I believed that if Capt. Marryat dviewed this matter
calmly, and deliberately,
he wo,uld have come to the et fibo;
sion which every disinterested. person must arrive at tbj: pd s
he threatened to do was a violation of his agreereef:
la
breach of faith and truth both in law and • el!"
(Mr. K. B.) said, most deliberately and distinctly' e/Iti
the acts threatened by Captain Marryat, upon t evre°l
dente and the docuanents, if carried into effect,
have amounted to an act of dishonesty, but, behei,„b al• l f
he did, that CaP:tain Marryat possessed those bp;sea
honourable feallings which ought to belong to a P: Ottd
his station., he did not think Captain marrYA t P
have carried his threats into effect. /Lea°
had done probably had been under the Ire sub;
of excitement and temper, which the best of us.v, rasp°
ject to. But that would make no difference w?tu.breets:
to the injunction, in the consideration of which ttle.L'oterip,'
whether coolly or hastily made, would have a rodulgoi
awight. Rather strong expressions had been
retaliate,;
in by the other side ; he did not wish to
wag
be
I
and would merely observe that Mr. Colburn br re°
as respectable as Captain Marryat. lt fig act 0.110
said that Mr. Colburn might be left to
al'uswer
for compensation, but that would be an
of I:
.tor pt
an application for an injunction in every case of u_
property; and if his Honour thought the answero,Aid
afford a case for dissolving the injunction, he
w
had been assailed at the bar, unless he refuse the app
doing justice to a respectable tradesman,wh,e'ae chart if
tion with costs.
Mr. SUTTON SHARPE followed on the same side. 4,
Mr. JACOB replied. An English publisher, alt) JOU
. ;•
I. ,
he might have had an assignment of the copyright
Get l /2,8
could not prevent an American publisher, 0r.,11c1
re.ollll°
from supplying English readers with as many A"