The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-28 00:00:00

for such registration at Washington. It may here
be remarked that, as the copyright question
stands at this moment between France and Great
Britain, it would appear that each volume, in
order to command the benefits resulting from the
international convention, requires to have upon
its title-page, or in some other conspicuous part
of the book, a distinct and formal notification
warning all publishers on the opposite side of the
Channel against pirating the production, if not by
reprint, at any rate by translation. The necessity
for any such notification should, we conceive, be
at once and permanently obviated. It should be
obviated, not merely in regard to translations in
France, but also in reference to reprints in the
United States. Otherwise the rights of in-
ternational copyright, on the one • hand, be-
tween this country and our continental
neighbours, and on the other between ourselves
and our brethren on the opposite shores of the
Atlantic, will be dependent upon the punctilious
regard shown by individuals to this petty and
irksome formality. A casual oversight may de-
prive any one of the products of his intellect ;
and surely any such slovenly system ought to be
guarded against by every enlightened Govern-
ment. If the treaties are to hold good, let their

influence be of universal application—upon the
simple conditions, of course, which we have al-
ready particularised. Let registration be required
in the one instance at Paris, and in the other at
London—in the one case at Stationer-se-hall, and
in the other at the corresponding institution at
Washington—let it be regarded as essential that
copies of the works shall be deposited in the
British Museum, as well as in the National Repo-
sitories of France and of America; but so arrange
matters that it shall henceforth be needless to
have the volumes published in either country dis-
figured by the above-mentioned notifications.
Everything considered, however, there is in the
treaties referred to matter for very earnest and
peculiar gratulation. The boon for which Sir
THOMAS NOON TALFOURD struggled so ardently
but unavailingly years ago in the popular branch
of the English Parliament has at length been se-
cured, so far at least as our relations with France
are concerned ; and, yet more, is now on the
brink of being obtained so far as relates to the
American Republic. Yearned for so long, that it
came at last almost to be despaired of, the privileges
of internStional copyright are rapidly extending the
facilities for their realisation. How enormous
the advantages will be to the authors of Great
Britain and the United States, it were as unneces-
sary to insist upon as it would be to assert that
incalculable benefits must be thereby conferred
upon English literature. We have' not forgotten
the remarl9,ble statement made a year or so since
by one of 's the most illustrious men of letters of
our generation certainly the most universal
genius of our living literature ; need we say that
our allusion is here made to Sir EDWARD BULWER
LYTTON ? We have not forgotten the startling
declaration made by Sir BumwEß, Lyrrox on the
occasion of a large public meeting held in the
metropolis, and over which meeting he was pre-
siding at the time as chairman—a declaration to
the effect, that the absence of a reciprocal copy-

right between England and the United States had
been a loss to himself personally of no less an
amount than 60,000/. sterling, and this, more-

over, at even a moderate calculation. Neither
have we forgotten, neither would it be possible for
us for a single moment to overlook, the deteriora-
tion of native American literature, in consequence
of the wholesale piracy of the literary masterpieces
of the United Kingdom. The happy consequences
of the apprOaching change must very 'speedily be
manifest. ' Until the interests of. British authors
can be protected by means of an international law
of copyright, the American writers, must continue
to be denied ail available market among their own
publishers. For it would be absurd to expect
that a New York house in the book trade would
be disposed to pay any native novelist very hand-
somely for an original romance, so long as it can
reprint gratis, at pleasure, the last story composed
by a DICKENS-car a IltriwEß LYTTON. Once hav-
ing obtained t e secu *ty of this copyright treaty.
' between the) TJ ited S tes and the United
13King-
dom—in addi 'n to e one already ratified be-
tween France and Great Britain—the literary
world in this country will, we confidently trust,
dedicate the whole of its energies to the removal
of the odious Taxes upon Knowledge.

" The King of France, with all his men,
Went up the hill, and down again."

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL of Ireland manifestly
approves of t•he Royal precedent. With all his
staff—a formidable array of Crown prosecutors
and Crown witnesses—he proceeded to Ennis, as
Special Counsel fOr the Crown, to bring to justice
the parties charged with the Six-Mile-Bridge
homicide. Mr. DELMERGE and the military de-
fendants were duly warned to appear to stand
their trials, and every indication was exhibited of
a determined and serious prosecution. No ex-
pense was spared on the part of the Exe-
cutive. Every witness that could by any
possibility throw light on the transaction was in
attendance. Men of the highest respectability
were, perhaps for the first time in their lives,
summoned on the petty jury ; the first law-officer
attended specially, in addition to the standing
Crown prosecutors of the Munster Circuit ; the
supernumeraries for the county of Clare were also
retained, and voluminous briefs, marked with
handsome fees, delivered to the learned gentlemen.
Everything, in fact, gave note of dreadful prepa-
ration. Under such circumstances, it was, of
course, incumbent on the accused to exhibit equal
activity in preparing for the defence. Their wit-
nesses also were in attendance ; their briefs pre-
pared and delivered with suitable honoraria to the
elite of the Circuit; and Mr. WRITES/DE, Solicitor-
General to the late Government, brought down
special as a fitting opponent to the new Attorney-
General. The forensic conflict between such men
was looked forward to with no ordinary curiosity,
and numerous spectators congregated together to
witness the collision of these doughty champions.
But alas for human hopes! The most high-wrought
expectations are but too frequently doomed to dis-
appointment !
What was the result 9 Nothing more ridiculous
appeared since the tiny mouse was hailed as the
anxiously-looked-for heir of the teaming moun-
tains. The Grand Jury first ignored the bills,
determined that they, at least, would exonerate
themselves from the imputation of being promi-
nent actors in the truly national farce. The find-
ing on the Coroner's inquisition, however, remained,
and on that the parties might be arraigned—aye,
and convicted too, if good grounds could be
shown for such a decision. The Counsel for the
prosecution might have called their witnesses, and
still endeavoured to obtain a verdict, and at first
it appeared as if such had been the intention, for
immediately after the fact that the bills had been
rejected, notice was served upon the traversers,
requiring their attendance on the following day to
take their trial in pursuance of their recognisances.
The mystery was maintained to the last moment.
No hint was given that might have removed the
suspense or allayed the anxiety of the defendants.
Not even the Junior Counsel for the Crown knew
of the course about to be adopted. The same un-
certainty continued during the swearing in
of the jury, and only one of the parties impli-
cated was given in charge, lest the Jury panel
might be exhausted by the challenges to which
the defendants were entitled. It was
not, indeed, until close upon the termination
of a rather lengthy oration that the Right Hon.
Gentleman intimated his intention of not offering
any evidence in support of the indictment, and of
entering a node prosequi with respect to the other
defendants. And • thus ended the Ennis State
Prosecutions of 1853.

Now this is all very absurd. The costs of the
transaction either to the county or the defendants
must have been very considerable. The Attorney-
General himself must be handsomely remunerated ;
and the services of Mr. WHITESIDE could not have
been obtained at a low figure. But the expenses,
although very onerous to the private parties con-
cerned, was by far the least important part of the
transaction. An excitement was fostered and
maintained very prejudicial to the district, and by
no meatus calculated to promote its peace and

tranquillity. The legal opinions enunciated will
give additional courage to those inclined to im-
pede the military in the discharge of their impor-
tant duties. We do not question the law laid
down by Mr. Justice PERRIN. The great expe-
rience, acknowledged learning, and unblemished
integrity of that learned Judge, confer high
authority on his dicta. It was his busi-
ness not to make the law, but to ex-
pound it, and any inconveniences that may
arise are to be attributed to the law itself, and
not to its conscientious interpreter. That law
may be absurd, it may toss the soldier on the
horns of a very unpleasant dilemma, placing his
military and civil duties in direct collision. But
all these, although not merely justifying, but
imperatively demanding new legislation, consti-
tute no sufficient grounds for censuring the pre-
siding Judge, who conscientiously discharged his
duty, interpreting the law as it is, not as his
critics may imagine it ought to be.
But why, we again ask, did not the :Attorney-
General exercise his undoubted prerogative of
entering •a- nolle prosequi on the indictment ? Why
make all the unnecessary and uncalled for parade
of a serious prosecution, when, from the deposi-
tions, he must have known that there could not
by any possibility have been a conviction. As
well might there have teen a prosecution of Lord
JouN RUSSELL on the Coroner's inquisition which
declared him guilty of the wilful murder of an
unfortunate person who, in the famine of 1847,
died of destitution. There would have been as
much chance of an adverse verdict of one case as
in the other. And what would now be said
if the Leader of the House of Commons was
called upon to find bail to abide his trial at Castle-
bar, and compelled to retain counsel specially
for his defence. And yet such a proceeding
would be as fully warranted as that which has just
taken place ! We do not, for a moment, sup-
pose that the Right Hon. functionary could have
been actuated by any sordid motive. We would
not do Mr. BREWSTER the gross injustice of ima-
gining for a single moment the possibility of such
an occurrence. But there must have been some-
thing, and what was it ? Could it have been any-
thing in the shape of the Compromise that was so
earnestly repudiated ? Could it have been as the
only way, of obtaining an adequate excuse for the
non-prosecution of Messrs. BURKE and CLUNE, of
casting a shield over these Reverend Gentlemen ?
We leave our readers to draw their own conclusions.
The Attorney-General declared that their conduct
was perhaps (! ! !) criminal, but most certainly
reprehensible ; but he thought it indelicate to send
bills before the Grand Jury against persons who
had been produced as witnesses before them. The
prosecution of the soldiers, then, averted the pro-
secution ,of the priests. They were saved from
annoyance, but,at a heavy expense to the country
as well as ito Mr. DELMERGE and to those who
provided the'unds for the defence of the soldiers.
One result must, however, follow. Legal Refor-
mers must direct their attention to the subject, so
as to prevent at all future times the impolitic
conflict between the military and the civil law.

The SPOONER debate is over. One more ob-
struction to business isremoved—we hope removed
for ever. Wealthy Protestantism railing at Po-
pish beggary, while it gives it a crust, is no par-
ticular credit to the former. For the reputation
of Protestantism, both at home and abroad, the
less of this sort of thing the better. Irish Popery
was, no doubt, very ill-behaved at the last election,
but sometimes it is very hard to know how much
of it is simply Irish, and how much Popery; shil-
lelahs And broken heads being always'lrish; and
Irish Protestants not being altogether lambs and
doves. And also, .as Sir J. YouNd remarked,
there were unusual excitements at the last elec-
tion. The Durham Letter, the Ecclesiastical
Titles Bill, the Proclamation against Processions,
and the Stockport Riots, had heated priestly ire
seven times hotter than usual, and some allowance
must be made for it. Mr. SPOONER went to work
quite philosophically. He first arranged a large
assortment of facts proving one great conclusion,
the 'rath of the priests, and the bitterness of
their denunciations. He next sought amongst
the verce causce, and found the true cause in a
compound of St. THOMAS AQUINAS, Cardinal BEL-
LARMINE, and the Bull in Coen& Domini. Mr.
DUFFY, however, follows, and affirms that the
newspapers quoted are all calumniators of Catho-
lics, the facts calumnies, and that they were not
denied because no one deemed such journals worth
contradicting.
As to the SPOONER mode of interpreting May-
nooth class-books, Mr. DUFFY and Mr. LUCAS
agree that Protestants know nothing about it, and
that such far-fetched arguments are unworthy of
an answer. Now it must be owned that the whole
class of Spoonerites are grievously inconsistent on
the oath business. Mr. S. laboured most strenu-
ously to prove that Catholic oaths of allegiance are
not held binding by them in regard to excommu-
nicated princes ; that Protestant princes are ex-
communicated—,therefore, &c., Q. E. D., the logic
is perfect. Yet Mr. SPOONER reminded Roman
Catholic members of their oath not to hurt the
Irish Church, at the very outset of his speech !
reminds them first of their oath, and then labours
mt o
rperoovveer tha
latheir
lt
the
poath
ee
s doest
hnroot b u
ghind out Great them !
Britain and Ireland are vehement advocates of
swomeanarinongawill let them. the Cathtoliecs as
If
feetphe deeply
paosptshecaHn
absolve
elvoef
C
aantdleast hold
common
hfrmiomsellanabosaotlhv,edMfrr. SPOONER
cownNristenccayn

sense.
But if these teachings, and bulls, and canons are
now obsolete, why not do away with them ? Mr.
SPOONER had better not ask that question. He
did not go beyond Rugby. Had he ventured to
'Oxford, he would have found oaths deliberately
sworn to there with the full knowledge that they
will not and cannot be kept. He will find also,
on inquiry, that the Canons of his own Church de-
clare every impugner of the Prayer-book ipso facto
excommunicate until lie abjure his wicked and
damnable errors. Of course, his respected neigh-
bour, the Rev. ANGELL JAMES, and all Dissenters
with him, are in Mr. SPOONER'S view excom-
municate ; and, as EXETER hath it, " consigned
to the uncovenanted mercies of GOD." He will
•find, too, that Lord LYNDH.URST dared not, through
fear of the Bishops, repeal a whole batch of the
persecuting statutes of his own Church, but only
the penalties thereof, leaving offenders against
them still open to prosecution for a misdemeanour.
We assuredly plead not for the persecuting canons
and bulls of Popery—only there is an old proverb
we 'could not forget anent those hoof ive inresent glass
houses. Sir J. YOUNG, on the part the p
Government, and Lord STANLEY, on the part of
the late one, both opposed the motion ; Sir J.
YOUNG, at some length, citing ample authorities,
alleging that Catholics contributed nearly one-
tenth of our revenue--that the 30,000/., there-
fore, was but an acknowledgment of that fact, and
representing Mr. SPOONER as a Protestant Grand
Duke of TUSCANY, only wanting the power to im-
prison and to banish Catholics. Mr.
SCHOLE-
FIELD moved his amendment in a short but able
speech, objecting to the Acts which endowed May-
nooth. He did so on no merely sectarian
grounds.
Although a member of the Chureh of England, he
equally objected to Acts of a similar kind which
gave endowments to that and other Pr
Churches ;he specified several—one for the Esta-
blishment in Jamaica, amounting to 20,300/. an-
nually, and others, amounting altogether to upwards
of 40,0001., besides several minor, but equally ob-
jectionable grants. He demanded the support of all
advocates of religious equality for his amendment,
as, by abolishing all State grants, it dealt equally by
all. He justly denounced Mr. SPOONER'S one-sided
care for Protestant consciences, while he evinced
no concern for Roman Catholic consciences, which
must be quite as burdened by being taxed for
Protestant grants, as those of Protestants by taxa-
tion for Maynooth. It will hardly have escaheped
the notice of those who have waded through t
debate, that extreme views on the subject of State
endowments are gaining ground in the House.
Mr: FREDERICK PEEL, in his speech on the Clergy
Reserves, pretty plainly intimated that it was for
the Church in the Colonies to rely on the charac-
ter of its doctrines and its ministers for its future
success. Mr. SCHOLEFIELD represented the special