The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-05-25 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

thi:l the printing .businnss.
Clao,o 19 prevents the free printing in this country 'of
an h,,ok in c.py right. Clauses 3 and 4 make the term
of copyright to cvend for tire author's life and sixty
leafs snore, duriug- all witielt. time only one edition may
have. been printed. Clause 9 authorises an application
to the Court of Chancery five years after the present
twenty-eight years of copy-right, (33 years,) as before
noticed. And clause 20 permits the importation from
foreign parts of any book which has not been printed in
this country during any twenty years I Thus we may
have thirteen years' supply of a book from abroad, be-
fore it can be printed or published in any part of the Bri-
tish dominions! The injury to the printing business is
here sufficiently obvious;—the advantage to authors,
howeyer, is not so clear. =

Enough, it is hoped, has been here stated, however
imperfectly, to impress on the members of the printing
profession, and on all interested in the publication of li-
terature, the urgent necessity of immediate opposition
to the proposed enactment. Mr. Talfourd may be actu-
ated by a sincere desire to benefit his class of workmen,
and were that possible, without injury to others, it would
be as worthy of praise as it is now of censure. But
mere opinion, or invective, will not now avail. A direct
appeal must be made to the House of Commons, praying
them to stay the threatened injury, and to pause ere they
inflict upon the country a law so full of injury to so many
branches of tradesmen. It is not asking too much that.
Parliament should inquire before it decides—that it
should attend to the interests of all while legislating for
a few. Were the House of Commons to grant a corn:
mittee of inquiry on the subject, such a body -ofevidence
could at once be'produced, as would set the bill aside for

Not only has no evidence been taken that it will
be injurious-to some, but none has been received that it
will be advantageous to any. _ _ _

•
If printers, therefore, value the profession which they
have served seven years to acquire—from which alone
they derive a livelihood :and maintain 'existence—let
!item be up and stirring.
We `are glad to 'find in the columns of our able and
Talented contemporary, the United Service Gazette, the
folloWing corroborative ieniarks :
" Our naval and military friends, although they contribute
largely'to the current literature of the day, are but little in-
terested, save as forining"a- considerable portion of the reading
public, in the, ad cuptand tun bill for the pretended protection'
of authors, of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd; but as the question ap-
pears to have excited consideraEd attention, both'in and out
of the House of CommonS, we' trust we shall be excused for
Offering a few remarks on the subject. •

,4 We consider" Mr. Sergeant'Talftrord's clap trap bill, for the
protection of literary copyright; to be one of the most specious
pieces of humbug to which. modern empiricism has given birth.
Nothing would appear more just or rational than that an author
of merit should reap the full benefit of his genius ; the only
question, therefore, that remains to. be discussed, in reference
to Mi. Tallourd's chivalrous proposition is, whether it will or
wilt not trench upon the interests of a large body of persons
who have been the chief props and stays of literature in this
country ; and limit the resources of the reading public, with6ut
any permanent advantage to authors. .

. " It is admitted by Mr. Talfourd, that not one author in 500
would be likely to derive any advantage from the new bill. We
think he might have fixed the ratio at one in 2,000, without
being very wide of the mark. In the present age, Sir Walter
Scott, and Mr.'Wordsworth, the poet, are the only authors to
whom the advocate of this measure has it in his power to refer
as likely (through themselves or their executors) to be in the
slightest degree benefitted by the arrangement. Under the
present, law of copyright, which extends the right of an anthor
over his works during life, or to,twenty7eight leap, jr§ Walter
Stott realized by. his writings from £250,000i.t4,E301),000. ; and
had he chn-sen to be content With ur his
works, iitstcad iif"desi'ring CO secure these; of the,Upkseller And
the printer, be would; iu.. all protrabilty, ha/eUlied itr the
possesSion.,of a princelii.foriiiiielF •15ca we think fliilt"he received
a farthing .niore tOictiiiinAls due ? We sincerely
Wish Atkliail realisga twice,asmtich, Our,solo motive.for re-
ferrinvio his'case is;!tbauulithough Mr. Tilfourd makes it his
chev44o:butcalle, no strop' argument can be cited ag'ainst his
bill, than that case, on 11r. Talfourit's:44owing, supplies.

" lo anticipation of the-objections which-have been made to
the bill by those who fersee that it is calculated, among other
disadvantages, to limit the diffusion of knowledge, inasmuch as
that, so long as a monopoly is permitted, the prices of books
will be kept up, M r. Sergeant Talfourd has referred to the cheap
illustrated edition of the works of Sit- Walter Scott,.as a proof
that the ,existence of copyright has proved no bar to the publi-
cation of works at the lowest rate at which they could, in rea-
Sod, be expected to be afforded. Nothing could -be More Un-
lucky than the learned gentleinan's illustration. It is quite true
that Sir Walter Scott's works (although a copyright is yet un-
expired) have been published at a rate which has led to a sale
so enormous as to have yielded him and his executors a larger
profit than they had ever obtained by the previous, but far more
expensive editions. But to what do we owe the enterplise which
has been productive of such great advantage, both to the public
and the author ? To the fact that the term of copyright of se-
veral of Sir Walter Scott's works was on the eve of expiring!!
" Novels, originally published in three volumes, at the price
of half-a-guinea each, were thus republished at the rate of five
shillings per volume; each livraison comprising the contents of
two of the half-guinea volumes, to say nothing of the addition
of numerous and splendid embellishments ! But let us pursue
Mr. Sergeant Talfotird's leading illustration through all its
bearings. That the public has derived great advantage from
the publication of the Waverley novels, at less than a quarter
of their original price, will not, we suppose, be disputed. And
what has been the result to the author and his assigns? Why,
that instead of a sale of from four to five thousand copies, they
have obtained a circulation for the work of some 50,000. By
the addition of notes and prefaces, moreover, coupled with the
impossibility of rivalling the edition in cheapness without the
chance of a similar sale, Sir Walter Scott may fairly be said to
have taken a new lease of his copyright: And what is the worst
that can, in any case, happen, in reference to these works here-
after ? Why, that at some future period, a still cheaper edition,
on coarser paper; without the notes and later novels, may pos-
sibly be published for the benefit of those humbler readers, who
would never have been enabled to afford it in a more expensive
forth. At the same time, the genuine and complete edition will
continue to be purchased for the next twentyseiv,dit years, and to
enjoy, so far as the interests of the author are concerned, as
complete a monopoly as if the duration .of copyright had
been sixty years. Will any body pretend for one moment, that
if Mr. Sergeant Talfourd's humbug bill had been in existence
ten years ago, either Sir Walter Scott, or the public at large,
would have reaped the beuefit that has resulted to both under
the present law. Yet this, as we have already remarked, is
almost the only case by which Mr. Talfourd has sought to illus-
trate his weak and untenable argument. As for Mr. Words-
worth, with the highest esteem for his writings, we doubt if they
can ever become extensively popular. If we thought theywould,
and thadhe would sustain the most remote injury from the ex-
istence of the present law of- copyright, we would suggest that,
as he would be the sole exception to the rule; a law shotild.be
framed expressly fur the protection of his rights.
" Not content, however, with asking fur an extension of
copyright of thirty-two. years longer duration (sixty years from
the period of publication,) Mr. Sergeant Talfourd would fain
make the law retrospective, so as to deprive the present posses-
, sors of copyright of their property,.after the twent,yeeighLyeqrs;
as -well as of their right to reprint the contributicitY4Avliintit 041
have purchaSed for workS;00:11, oNfiffinfling in their oioVsug-
gratiiin, they have employed ,authors to compile. Let usAee
what .Messrs. Longman and Co., the; largest, and so farms
amount of capital invested in pulilicati;Atit
-di! es, the most ent'O-
prising booksellers of the time, have t0,543!0n this subjectr--
:;;.iii taken. theirtmck property
'ietri
et ys
" 'Surely it is untieiMgary to dwell upon the obvious injustice
of
passing a law anitidrisitigiilotedrievsitd:4als
sold under such stipulations. Is P`!"..A really, to insult authors'
ttLpeoopPti),::'i oflS inminLttet intgb efirfaud, by rktt'inicrtig that'which their
progenitors had unreservedly sold and been paid for?
"'The loss that would be entailed upon the publishers, and .
the injury that would be done to literature,' by the passing of
such. a .retrospective enactment are as evident as its injustice.
Publishers who purchase the copyright of works freq'uentl'y em-
ploy literary menat an immense expense to revive and improve
tnern, and make them more in accordance with the advancing
knowledge of the age. But should the copyright revert to the
family o. the original author at the end of 28years from its pub-
lication, or at his death, two parties would have conflicting
claims to the work .in its improved state; and unless the pub-
lisher were able to re-purchase from the family of the original
author tlmt )tart of the work which he had already purchased
from their father, it. Might be pulled .to- piecei, and the pub-
lisher lose the whole value of the improvements he had effected
upon. it.'
" "rhi, case now stated will, should the proposed bill pass into
.a lawAe of vet y frequent occurrence. A very large class of
the moet.tiscrul works, includipg all descriptions of works on
practical politics, law, science, and artond all school Lurks, are
necessarili in a state of progressive and continuous improve-
ment. Tint passing of a new law, or a new discovery iu science,
may make what was perfect to-day imperfect to morrow; anri
the publishers, it they would prevent their bookneing driven
out of the market, must take care to have thein improved tic;
cordingly.'. In consequence of the changes that are thus per-
. petually occurring„ it very frequently happens that at-the 'end of
28 years, or :it the death of the original authors of legal and
scientific works, little remains of their nrirnavy'ContributiOns
'except the title. That; however, being thedesignation by which
books are known, is of great importance; at d if the fandliis of
he original oi hors are to be eutitled.to 'claim it, and any other
fragment of the original work that may 'remain, notwithL
standing the sale of every existing and%-contingent right to
it by their fathers, the 'value of the additions tnsde bv the pub-
lishers, that is, of the work in its improved state, will be totally
destroyed.
I There are other important considerations connected with
this matter, which are entirely overlooked in Mr. Sergeant Tel-

fr?ur,l's hill. Some of the -must important and valuable works
n the English, language have been ivhotly. projected and
planned by publishers, who have employed litereVmen, and
paid.,theni large sums to furnish contributions to these works,
according' to • a plan laid down for their guidance. Above
£lOO,OOO. has been paid for contributions to some single works
of the class now alluded to; and surely it cannot be the inten-
tion of the legislature to give the families of the authors who
supplied portions of such works a right at their deaths, or at the
termination of twpnt v.-eight years, to claim the property of those
portions. This Would he the climax of injustice, and would
occasion a destruction of literary property unparallelled in the
annals of literature. The projector and publisher' of an ency-
' clopmdia, a review, or other literary work supplied by numerous
individuals, should be looked 'Upon in the saute light as a con-
tractor who purchases contributions for any great work in archi-
tecture, civil engineering. &c. But what would become of such
works were those who furnished a brick or a column, a sluice
or a drawbridge, to he allowed, at the end of twenty-eight years,
to come and carry it away ?'
"We think we have thus shown that Mr. Sergeant Talfourd's
bill is pure, unadulterated humbug, from beginning to end;
and that, whilst it cannot be carried into effect without injury
to the public at large, and the robbery of those by whom litera-
ture his hitherto been been chiefly encouraged and supported,
it will do nothing whatever fora brace of very heavy tragedies,
that stand in little need of protection. Like a ship's anchor,
they are too heavy, the author or his representatives. As for
Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, he is certainly enlitled to the credit of
being disinterested in the matter, for his own over-praised tra-
gedies stand in no need of the protection which he so officiously
demands for the body to which he belongs. The weight of his
poetry, like that of a ship's anchor, will be its protection."

UNITED STATES.—By the Great Western, which ar-
rived at Bristol on Tuesday, we have read New York
papers to the 7th inst. inclusive. This noble vessel ac-
complished the distance in fourteen days and seventeen
hours. We subjoin the following extracts:—

" Montreal, May 4, 18730.

"Col. Cowper has hpen
,here, and in conjunction with our
friend G-have been engaging 'houses for Lord Durham's
establishment. The colonel appears to he a discreet man, and
will be well able to advise the earl on his arrival. We are
anxious for it, and are determined to offer every assistance and
encouragement to the Governor-in Chief. Bailer's appointment
is much disliked, however; it is indeed offensive.
" The ' Special Council' has been in session a fortnight, and
will remain so a few days longer; it has been working well,
and many most useful measures have passed, and so far without
the slightest ebullition of party spirit in act or attempt. The
expiring laws have been renewed; the civil lists and the loans
of government voted; in fact the feeling in the council is ex-
cellent.

A charter for the Montreal Bank, with a capital of £500,000,
has been passed, and there is little doubt but that the sundry
valuable privileges to the Bank of British North America will
be granted. Sir John Colborne will have the satisfaction of
surrendering to his successor this province unembarrassed and
in perf,,ct tranquillity.
" A cashier of the Montreal Bank has returned from the Up-
per Province. having settled affairs amicably with the Bank at
Toronto, which, will commence business again, greatly to the
benefit of all.
"The lo.s to the Montreal Bank by the defalcation of the
cashier at Quebec is likely to be £lO,OOO. The business of the
bank has, however,, been very good independently.
The usual rains haVe not come down, and much timber will
beleft in the woods. No vessel from Europe had arrived at
Quebec, though the river was quite open. The season is favour-
able for farming operations."

.„
ARRIVAL oF TIIE GREAT WESTERN AT BRISTOL.
(Private Cortespondenee of the Times.)
King-road, Tuesday, Slay 22, 12 o'Clock.
It is with the greatest satisfaction that I communicate to you
the safe arrival of the Great Western steam-ship from New
York here at half-past 10 o'clock this morning. Having lain
in the Roads in expectation of her, 1 had a full view of the
majestic vessel immediately after her passing the Holmes
(about 21 miles down the Channel), and nothing could exceed
the beauty of her appearance as she gallantly breasted the
waves; and although &smart breeze was blowing from the
N.W., she sailed triumphantly along without rolling iu the
slightest degree, or appearing to be all affected by them.
At the time of the departure of the Sirius from New York,
on the Ist, she bad nut finished discharging her cargo, and upon
departing from New York quay, at half-past two o'clock, p.m ,
on the 7th instant, upwards of 100.000 persons assembled to
witness her departure with bands of music, and a variety of
steam-boats attending her to Sandy Hook, which she left at
five o'clock, with sixty-eight cabin passengers, at thirty-five
guineas each, (the greatest number of cabin passengers which
ever came across the Atlantic in one ship,) upwards of 20,000
post-office letters, and a cargo Consisting of cotton for our
,new factory, indigo, silks, and miscellaneous articles. During
her voyage borne shd encountered head-winds nine days out of
the fourteen, and orinigtiecasion a severe gale, yet she accom-
plished seven knots and a' half during its greatest severity, with
the wind directly in tier teeth, and completed her voyage to
King-road in 11 days
,and 171 hours, her engines averaging
from 17 to 19 ,strokes a-minute, itnl with a consumption of, less
03411'4%64i:4;0d' Per hour.
A niOstawfUrfire has taken place at Charleston, consuming
whole streets, and occasioning a lossiof property, to the amount
of :3,000;000 dollars. ',rhe French fleet are blocking the Mexican
polls. "Among her passengers are Lady G. Duncan. Lori
James Butler, and the celebrated Colonel Webb, the editor of
one of the New York papers, the gentleman who fought the
duel which has occasiuued so much conversation, and in which
he shot his antagonist through the heart.
Oil her passage home she spoke with the following vessels:—
On the 7th May, the packet ship Wellington, off Sandy Hook;
on the Bth the ship Columbus, of New London, from Boinbay
via St. Helena, in 46 days from St. Helena, bound to New
,Y,tio,t,•kw, aatl
ing v 2,01, oag
en g
m7id th2a.d
tlotu
ef,wasedcj
ao
8e co tmu
br eadyshe had b
Same
day,een
oa stohenitiont.ha, ittehre IHI the snto St, oward,
fromCoHuto,,aithß ti,NeteerwsbYur:grkh!
11 days from Key West ; on the 14th, the nadrid, front Rotter-
dam to Philadelphia, out 19 days; .on the 20th, the.lliligence of
Glasgow from Glasgow, lat. 49 26,,' long. 12 46; the same day
the ship Samuel, of St. John's, NFtW Brunswick, front Mobile to
Liverpool; on the saute
.day the Virginia, from New Orleans to
Liverpool, in the same,latitude and longitude.

We are this mornent• informed that the projectors of the
(original Liverpool and New York Steam-packet .Company
have for some time been in treaty with the proprietors of two of
the most splendid and fast steamers in' the world, and that the
result is that they will he immediately placed on the station.
THE THEATRE ROYAL.—Mrs. Nisbett has been delighting
crowded audiences at this,theatre during the week, by her clear
and polished acting. Next week we perceive au Italian
Opera Company is engaged to perform, embodying in it the
names of Lablache, Bellini, Miss 'Wyndham, and several well
known Italian Opera Singers. A neat fur the musical ama-
tuers. •
ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.—MR. HUGHES' BENEFIT.—We
understand that. Mr. Hughes takes his benefit on Monday even-
ing next, on which occasion the whole of the performances. will
be equestrian—a feature which, from its novelty, cannot fail to
attract a numerous attendance. The distinguished patronage
under which Mr. Hughes introduces his benefit, is such as must
necessarily procure for him the support of the Liverpool public.
FREEMASONS' LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY.—We beg leave
to draw the attention of the brethren of this ancient fraternity
to the advertisement which appears in another column. We
feel assured that the society only need to be known to meet
with the most extended support.
STEAM TO THE LAKES.—The splendid steam-vessel Winder-
mere. we perceive, has 'commenced limning for the season.
We do not know of a more delightful trip than this steamer af-
fords, either to.the searcher for health or the seeker of enjoy-
ment.
NORTH WALES STEAM COMPANY.—We understand that
this company will start their first boat fur the season early in
June. The inhabitants of Wales will be sadly at fault if they
do not give the undertaking their warmest support. The very
humblest person in the principality has an interest in its well-
doing, as it will be the means of strengthening the intercourse
between Liverpool and North Wales.
(w aorodd-
'We were gratified yesterday by the permission of the directors
of the Liverpool Seyssel Asphalte Company to inspect the ex-
periment we'd withorks
in
although the mastic was scarcely cool
aiae ofat
it did not yield tinder the
this material, Ho
spierreient7 niot
it
ahvely n
gh
droevru mldrt
dvantae'es froM its application to parape s,
We anticipate great a ,
splroeosds uoriewoof
it manyfor persons
length
standing
time
withoutnloon it,o,aatdri
making
even arnhaor
marks.
. .
solidity and evenness are required.
Arrived here on Wednesday, per Hobart,
- Selden, from New
terraces, stables, garden walks, and other purposes in which
York, the master D. NPNienl, and'five of the crew belonging
to the Kent, of Irvine, bOund from Troon to Bathurst, which
vessel-sprung a leak on the 7th, and was abandoned on the 11th
May, in 1at.47 22 N., lung. 27 16 -W. To Captain Henry
Selden, of 'the Hobart, through whose active humanity ana
kindness the lives of these men have been saved, the greatest
thanksph the a
Dredeuiede
tzil
: lhaem Packet; ai n
d fo
remainder the Kent's crew
go the
iwe r e picked
licause
day.*
Seeing in the Mail of yesterday a prospectus for the forma-
tion of a company to run steamers between Liverpool and New
York, we hope the parties who are at the head of it will call to
their aid the • direaurs and managers of the City of Dublin
Corripany, wkdse 'great, experience would guarantee success.
We have reatilb -to believe that they do intend taking 'up the
line, ,m 1 haVe only deferred' it until the' present moment to
allow others to make the experiment, as they were out inclined
to risk their stibseribers' money until the enterprise had been
futind[practicable, a degree of caution highly creditable. • We
haVe'Spoken to Mr. Show, their marine manager, who states
'deeidkilry that the Royal William and Royal Adelaide, of 270-
horses eiich, are as competent, or snore so, to cross the Atlantic
than the two vessels recently returned from New York; indeed,
he is positive those vessels would make the voyage out and
home in thirty-five days, including nine days in New York.
LECTURES uN MYTHOLOGY.—Ors Tuesday 'evening, Mr.
Rogers delivered, at the Medical Institution, .'Mount-pleasant,
the first of a series of Six Lectures on the Nataral History of
Mythology,—a subject of great interest in itself, and which, if
the remaining lectures bear any resemblance to the first and
preliminary one, will, in the hands of Mr. R., prove a source
of high gratification to his audience. We regret that, owing to
the state of the weather, and the lectures not being sufficiently
known, the attendance on Tuesday evening was but thin; We
trust, however, fur the credit of our town, that the second lec-
. ture, which will be delivered to-morrow evening, will toe nu-
merously attended. The 'eloquence and learning whiCh charac-
terized—Mr. R..'s opening discourse entitle hint to more than
ordinary 'encouragement, and we do. hope that he will not have
to complain of want of adequate support from the people of this
"opulent and intelligent town.
The ftillow Understand, .a .correct list of the ambas-
sailors who will be sent to this country to represent their
respective sovereigns on the approaching occasion of her
jVi iojestY's :—l' ranee, Marshal Soult; Spain, Marquis
Ito Airatin•es' ; Austria, Prince Schwartzenburg ; Belgium,
Prince de Ligne Couht Stiogorniff; Prussia, Prince
Pittbus ; Sweden; Count.' Gustavus Lowenhjelin ; Sardinia,
Marquis Brig,tiole Sala; Netherlands, M. Van der Capellon ;
Denmark', 'Prince Christian of Holstein. •
PAPER FROM THE BARK OF THE MULEERRY.—Paper of in-
ferior tifri
ia I may be m
easily manufactured from the fibrous
l)er
fplautS; without the necessity of these being first
converted into thread, and made up. into cloth. The bark of
the mulberry might be very advantageously employed for this
provided the .fragments of epidermis, which; tend to
dirty' brownish tinge, could be readily separated from
itoe''fifire by some eco-Minocal process. ! Messrs. Gerard: and
Pred'aval have proposed a process whictteffect this object. " They
wash the materials with lime-water, and then dry them. pre-
viously to their passing through the mill. The epidermis is readily
separable from the album= and the fibre is easily detatched
by winnowing the alburnum. The .fibre is then bleached, and
flius rendered fit for the direct manufacture of paper.—Monthly
Chronicle.