The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-18 00:00:00

The Fenian Conspiracy.

The Freeman's Journal thus explains the procla-
mation of the city and county of Dublin, as well
as certain Baronies in the counties of Tipperary
and 'Waterford, and the city of Waterford
itself :—" It is stated that this precaution has
been adopted by the Executive in consequence of
particular information received by the Government
. within a short time. Most probably the recent
Idiscoveries in Blackball-row and North Anne-street
have had some influence in the adoption of this
measure ; but it is beyond question that the finding
of such large quantities of arms and ammunition,
and such matters as were lately brought to light by
the police, caused a very general feeling of uneasi-
ness to prevail, and though the proclamation, or the
disarming of the metropolis of the country, is a
strong and an unusual proceeding, and especially so
when It is well ascertained that its inhabitants are
among the most loyal in the country, it would be
wrong to say the adoption of such a course will be
looked upon otherwise than with satisfaction by
the general community. In it the peaceable and
well-disposed will recognise the desire and the
determination of the Government to main-

- tain, no matter at what inconvenience, or
- trouble, or expense, the peace of the city and
the property of the citizens against the workings
of the evil-disposed. Although we most sin-
cerely lament that a necessity has arisen calling
into active existence the operations of an exceptional
L piece of legislation, we cannot deny the factthat this
act on the part of the GoTernment will be grateful
' and acceptable to the larger section of the com-
munity, and that it is well calculated to restore con-
fidence in the maintenance of the peace of the city."
The same journal says :—" Soon after the proclama-
tion had been published, anxious groups were to be
t
seen collected reading it on all the places where it
by
pikes,w as
pposted,stol
sa,nsdwtohred
sr
ammunition,lic erec ive.d information
h
drill-books,
&c.,at
concealingwerebeing mthaedme away with
ingenious
places, as hpossi b
ol re
by
throwing them into the river and canals. On Sunday
evening some constables proceeded to a field in the
neighbourhood of Harold's Cross, where, in a hay-
stack, they found 20 pikes ready for immediate
service. In the same locality, on the road, a bundle
was found, which, on being opened, was discovered
to consist of a military cloak, composed of superfine
green cloth, with red facings, and secured at the
collar with a solid gold chain and clasps ; also two
green tunics with red facings, bearing the initials
of ' The Irish Republic.' All this uniform was
elegantly finished, and was evidently the property
of some person who had recently returned from
America, as the cloth and style of workmanship are
foreign. In the Grand Canal uniform coats of a
similar kind were found."

The Cork Herald reports that telegraphic instruc-
tions were received by the military authorities in
that city, on Friday, to keep all the troops of the
garrison within barracks, and the cavalry with
horses saddled ready to mount at a moment's notice.
The immediate grounds for this precautionary mea-
sure are only to be surmised. The same paper an-
nounces that at Kanturk, on Thursday, a person
named O'Keefe was arrested. The prisoner was in
a good position. The Mitchelstown constabulary
have been on the alert during the past two or three
days, searching for members of the Fenian fraternity.
The pursuit up to Friday was profitless.

AMERICAN CLAIM OF COPYRIGHT IN ENGLISH
BOOKS. --A case involving a question of copyright
law of much interest to book publishers has been decided
by Judge Shipman, in the Circuit Court of the United
States, of a motion for an injunction and a receiver. The
facts of the case, as set up in the complainant's bill, were
briefly these :—They allege that in the bookselling trade
there has sprung up a usage, or custom, or courtesy, by
which, if one firm prints a book which is not the subject
of copyright, other booksellers refrain from publishing rival
editions of the same book ; that the defendant, Mr. Hough-
ton, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, being the proprietor in
this way of the " Household Edition" of tho works of
Dickens, made an agreement with the complainants, Shel-
don and Co., of this city, for the publishing and sale thereof
together for a certain number of years, and under which
the books had been sold until now, when the term was about
to expire ; and alleging that the " good will," as they
termed it, of this publication was worth 530,000, they ap-
plied to the Court for an order that a receiver be appointed,
under whom the publication should be continued by tho
parties as heretofore until the final order of the Court. Tho
Judge, however, refused to make an order, holding that
this alleged "good will " was not property, since it came
only from the courtesy of the trade. A contrary decision
would have givfrn a publisher a copyright iu the works of
a foreign author, for the benefit not of the author, but of
the publisher.—New York Times.;