Star.
London, England, 1808-06-21 00:00:00

BILL FOlt DISCOUI2.4 GIYG LIPERATURE. i ' InrelfOUTll, JIINB 18.
, i •...............•
il It's bad wind that blows nobody good," is an
A Bill, entitled— 8, For the l'Acouragement of 014 adage that the Innkeepers in particular and the
Learning," is now in the House of Commons, the town in g- eneral have seen verified by the outward-
real object of which is, to secure, gratis, to the libra- boundlfediterranean fleet, consisting of'more than
100 rail of transports, and victuallers, under convoy
vies of the Universities, and other public libraries, -
. of his Majesty's ships BA
lza POULE, Captain Bats-
copies of all newly printed books, and books reprint- •
BANE, and PLUTO, Captain JANVERIN, putting into
cd with additions ; and for extending the terms of our roads by contrary winds : they formed a most
copyrights. It enacts, that ekveo copies of all such • phasing scene to the town, and much gratification to.
works, with all notes, maps, charts, prints, or illus- cur fashionable visitants.
trations appertaining to the same, shall be deliver. 1 Yesterday being a charming day, numerous water
arties were he IBay was covered with
ed to the warehouse-keeper of the Stationers' Corn- pleasure boatswailinground the fleet ;s the whole day
pany, for the use of such libraries.. The bill also ens' was a scene of bustle and gaiety by the coming on
acts with respect to copyrights an extended term of. shore of a multiplicity of passengers and officers of
exclusive publication to be vested in the authors, " the army, on their passage to join their respective
or their assign
s, provided the same shall be duly : regiments. The great number of boats that were
rowing to and from the town, gave it the appearance •
entered at Stationers' Hall, and copies delivered to the of a besieged garrison, and it being market day, the
warehouse keeper within three months after the first productions of our excellent market were put in a state
' publication. The blanks in timbal are not yet filled up. . of requisition and sent on board the different ships.
This Bill, deserves particular attention, and we The balance account cf arrivals and departures in
hope will not be suffered to pass. 13y the law of the. course of the present i
month is greatly in favour
I copyright, as it now staeds, the pperty is secured to ot the former, as will appear n course; and the ru-
ro mour of a camp to be formed near the town the latter
i the author by affixing his name, or to the publisher end of July, is still afloat.
.
if his name be prefixed to the work. When nis is Among the many improvements of this place may
Inot the case, by having the book entered at Stationers' be justly noticed its ample supply of good water,
crnveyed hither in pipes from the Spring Head, a
Hall, and a certain number of copies leftethere for the distance of near five miles ; our situation in the Chan-
Universities, the copyright is secured ; but by this bill, nel is such, that Government a few yetars ago sent
iif 'we understand it, every author must give eleven their Surveyor to discover where his Majesty's ships
copies, without receiving payment, whether his naive , may conveniently water, but did not succeed.
be prefixed to the work or not.—This is indeed a
. This invaluable acquisition is now completely ac-
r cornplished ; 'a great number of ships yesterday made
singular mode of taxation, not for the benefit of the ' up their deficiency of water for the voyage ; the casks
public, but for that of rich communities, who can well were filled in the boats in the harbour laying alongside
I afford to pay for books. Are Members of Parlia. ' the Quay, by a communication from the main pipes
I meat aware, that of many works, and these the most !-fitted up by Mr. H;savev, manager of the concern,.
with that judgment as to .eeuse three large casks to
valuable, not more than 200 copies are printed ? And i
he filled in the course of telt minutes, affording the
that eleven copies will amount on all.such el:tions, to '•
greatest facility in accommodating his Majesty's ships
nearly 5 per cent.---.not of the profit only, tut of the of war, and preserving the health of our brave sea-
;loci and pr?fits. men, as well
.as adding a substantial . comfort to the
. ..
The gilded pill held out to make this attempted town at large. , .
! JuNe. 20.—Yesterday morning aIIC Mediterranean
robbery palatable, is an extension of the copy-right fleetle& . in die
got under weigh, and sailed a - evening put
from 14 to 28 years—a measure which may benefit a back by contrary winds. The whole Soiled again this
few (a very few tally) of the booksellers who deal in ti morning with a fair wind, and were soon out of sight.
copy-rights, but which can never compensate the I
authors ter such an• arbitrary imposition. Authors
already have 28 years property in their works, if they !
survive the first It years : but, is there a bookseller I
in London .who would give a single guinea for the
reversionary interest of the second term of 14 years ?
Not one. With what face then can it he maintained
that authors, by this Bill, will be enabled to obtain a
higher price for their works ?
But if it be just to extend the term of copy-righti
to 28 years, upon robbing the authors of eleven copies
of their work, would it be less just to extend the term
withoUt any such robbery ? That Members for Uni. ,
versities should not see clearly, that this Bill, if car- I
ried into a law, will operate to discourage learning, to
deStroy the printing business, and ruin the majority
of booksellers, will not appear surprising to any one ;
but it will indeed be a wonder if a British Parliament
should not see the true object of this Bill,
The magnitude of this unjust, because partial tax,
exceeds every idea that a person- not acquainted
with the business_can possibly form cf it. The 'Sta-
tioners' Company will absolutely be obliged, if the
Bill pass into a law, to build warehouses to receive
.the books, and to incur an expence of some hun.lred
pounds a-year in salaries to clerks and porters—to
furnish to rich bodies of men, who can better afford
than most others to pay for them, copies of every
work, however expensive. And the more expensive
the work, the more ruinous the tax ; for the most ea-
linable books are those of which the smallest impres-
sions are printed. This Tax will amount to an absc-
lute prohibition of all books of a certain class—Had
MACKLIN'S Bible been subjected to such an impOsition,
the Tax on that one work would have amounted to
One Thousand One Hundred Guineas.

'L+y

Lust night: Lord Viscount VALENTIA took the
oaths and his seat in the House of Commons, as Mem-
ber-for Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight.
One of the deputies from Spain pet off from town
yesterday, in order to accompany the remittance of
our Government to the Patriots of that-country.
A few days ago three French prisoners made their
escape from Chesterfield.' A young Lady has dc+
camped with one of them.
General Dustman= has certainly, offered to t ke
the command of the Patriotic Army of Spain.
The Asturias, in which the patriotic flame has -
burst forth, consist of two provinces, named after
;their respective capitals Astoria D'Oviedo, and As.
! tuna de Santillana. They are about 120 miles in
length, and from 20 to 45 in breadth. They are
bounded on the north by the ocean, on the west by
iGallicia, on the south by Old Castile and Leon, and
on the east by Biscay. These provinces have alwayg
been distinguished for their independence, and thett
I natural str ulgth is great. Surrounded by mountains;
they served as a refuge to the Spaniards against the
Moors, by whom the Asturians never were subdued:
The Portuguese Nuncio is to s out at the end of
the prescil week f r the Brazils. The STORK sloop
is under orders to carry his Reverence to Rio de Ja-
i nciro.

OKPORD.—The Vice.Chancellor;s Prize for the best
Essay. on " Hereditary Rank," has been adjudged to
Mr. CHARTERS EDWARD GREY, B. A. Fellow of Oriel
College, and second son of RALPH Wsr. GREY, Esq.
of Backworth House, NorthumberLule.

The day fixed for the Commemoration at Oxford
this year is Tuesday the 28th instant. The town is
already filling very fist—BnAitxt and the two Miss
LYONS are expected there to sing at the Music Room
on the 27th and 2;ith:
Yesterday was reviewed by his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wm.Ls, on Hounslow Heath, the 'l2th Re-
giment of Foot. The day proving fine, this excellent
Regiment went through their evolutions with so
much correct exactness and promptitude as to- have
obtained the highest praises from his Royal Highness.
His Royal Highness left Carleton House in the mor-
ning, and was :accompanied in his travelling coach by
two other Officers. •
BREAD.—To-day no Court of Aldermen was held,
and the Lord Mayor, after insptcting the returns,
ordered it to faller& per Peck.
A Legal Advocate'is amongst the Crine. Con. de-
fendarits, whose cases are set down for trial at the
Sittings after the present Term. The Learned Gen-
deman denies the . allegation. The scene of amorous
incontinence is said to have taken place in the chariot
•
of the injured husband.
A female antelope, which was. brought, with its
mate, from Tripoli, by the Hpndurable Captain
BOYLn, fawned, about two months sinee, at Cowdray
Park, in Sussex, the seat of W. S. Porxrz, Esq. and
the fa*n and. its mother are doing very well. Mr.
POYNTZ has been so attentive in making • their resi-
dence suitable to their nature, that they donut appear
to suffer the least from the difference of-Climate.—
This is believedto be the first-instance of the antelope's
fawning in this kingdom. .

I

Agreeably to the Portuguese Minister's summons,
a meeting of the principal merchants who claim i'or-
tnguese and Brazilian property, took place. on Satur-
day.. His Excellency, desirous of convincing the
Gentlemen who attended, that no exertions were left
untried by him to procure the restitution of the pro-
perty in question,. addiese any distinction, read the
whole of his correspondence with Mr. CANNING on the
subject, which fully exculpates the PORTUGUESE MI-
NISTER from any remissness. His Excellency requested
that the Gentlemen present would only attribute ties
failure of his exertions to the great opposition he met
with through the progress of his negotiations, and to
the inadequacy of his own abilities to impreis the ne-
cessity of a liberal concession on the part of the Bri-
tish Government, to correspond with the PRINCE Re.
GENT'.S friendly protection of British persons and pro-
perty prior to the migration. His Excellency stated
this to have been the hrst object for which a meeting
had been called. The next was, to inform the Claim-
ants, that he conceived himself to be .now the only
person in this country who had any controul over
Portuguese and Brazilian property—and he read a
letter he had received from the Commissioner: acknow.
ledging the authority.vested in his Excellency. His
Excellency proceeded next to state the numerous dif-
ficulties which had occurred to) his mind with respect
to connecting safety. with the promptitude necessary
in making restitutions of 'property, and having com-
mitted his difficulties (in the shape of queries) to
paper, a Cominittee of five persons was elected to
consider and solve the questions, and to arrange a
plan which (if approved of by his Excellency and
the British Government) might be immediately acted
upon. Many question's were put to his Excellency
respecting the different descriptions of property. The
answers were far from being satisfactory or beneficial
to the Portuguese residents in Portugal, whose pro-
perty', even when transferred to British subjects in
,payment for debt: due, must remain subject to the
PRINCE REGENT'S orders. It appeared evident that
property belonging to the Portuguese residing in Por-
tugal, is not tangible by the parties except emigre-
tion takes place. and which JUNOT has forbid upon pain
of death. SD that if a Portuguese attempts to emi-
grate, and is discovered, he suffers death, and, if he
remains, he is deprived of what property he possesses
'n England. His Excellency determined that no
deposit shall be demanded from the Claimants, and
ordered bail and security to be given for the amount
of the charges. The Commissioners have not been
as yet dismissed ; but their establishment will, it is
expetted; soon be abolished. •
'Mamas of those who compose the CommitteeMr: HIM aT BollllZeTti, Chalrll33ll.
bers--Messt PAlVA,Corrimagn, J. Lir mg, Ma COL NI