Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-05-24

..;oh nro,e,v are not two nations, but one, IN
d,vs BIZ. by Parliament, Congress, or any hino u "u
man law or diplomacy, Icing already united ny Iiea
vens act of Parliament, and the everlasting law o, Ma
ture and Fact 10 that oPih'oh s'i "o"es' $3.50
like tn continue adheIng.
In discussion of the matter before any congress u
P men, man f.id GOES dera'io sand rsumeh'at.'
ell necessarily arise, which TO me are not
10, assap,;al for helping 10 decision. lhty res
meet the time and manner IN which Inc 'hihg shouu
h not at all whether the thing should be CT not. In
~ ancient Book reverenced, should hope, on ooln
sides Of the ocean, was thousands oil years ago "'
a., doc,n in the most decisive and explicit manner
s.Thon shalt not steal That thou belongest 10 di
So, s:at,on and canst steal without being certainly
L,nred for IT, gives thee permission to steal. ihou
I'D not IN anv wise steal at ALL So 1t 10 written down
f r,,;ons and for men in the Law Book oil the Maker
of this Universe Nay, poor jeremy bentham ana
others step in here and VIII demonstrate ''a' u % aetu
ol o,r true convenience and expedlency not TO Steal
L;h | for nv share, the great scale and on the
Ill md IN Mi conceivable scales and shapes, do ais"
G,mlv believe it to he. For example, II nalions az
stained from stealing what need were there OF hghtng
with its butcherings and b'rnIngs, aecuedy Tue "os
o Ynens;ve thing in this world? How much more tw"
oat;ons which as said, are but one nation, knit IN
bonsand WAYS BY Nature and practical intercourse IN
d;v;sibl. brother elements OF the same great Sdzehdom
n which in all honorable ways be long life!
When Mr. Robert Roy McGregor lived in the dis
trio, ne Mcn,eith on the Highland Border, two centu
RES auo he for his part, found it more convenient 10
sunnly himself with beef by stealing it alive from the
adjacent glens than by buying II killed IN the Surfing
bn,chers market. 1t was Mr. Roy plan OF supplying
h;msalr with beef in those days, this of sealing It, In
many little "Congress' in the district OF Men'e'lh
,here was debating doubt il not, and much specious
Recommendation this way and that before they could as
certain that really and truly, buying was the best way
to get your beef which, however, in the long rum they
did with one assent find il indsputaby TO be- ana &C
cordingly they hold by it to this day
n
safe return remain always. my dear Slr yours very
sincerely. THOMAS CARLYLE.
To CuAs. DICKENS, Esq, in The U. States
HEAR BOTH SIDES.
ExrRAc1 of a Criticism on the atore Lotcrs, By a
Correspondent Of The Boston COurtr
"The letter from Carlyle begins mus MY aeaf
Sir-We learn from the newspapers, that you every
where in America stir up the questions OF interna
tonal copyright and thereby awaken huge dissonance
where all else triumphant unison Tor you. am
asked my opinion OF The matter, ana requeS'eu 90
write it down in words. He then goes on with KIND
of pretended argument, intended, no doubt, 10 num-
bug the American people for the letter is evidently
written for publication here.
ale SAYS il is written in the Bible Sin the most
decisive and explicit manner, Thou shalt not Stedt
That thou beongest TO different nation, and can
steal without being certainly hanged for it, gives thee
no permission to steal. | will not stop to remark
upon Carlyes ignorance of English grammar, in
using can for canS but will proceed to TINS 'condeT
FIJI argument, which is the only one IN his letter.
His assumptions are two first, that the command
me ,s laid upon the Hebrews by God are never limit
ed 10 the moral intercourse with each other, but al
WAYS extend their conduct towards those OF another
nation A severe casuist might contest this assump-
tion The prohibition against taking usury or interest
did not apply to strangers or foreigners The com
mand Thou shalt not k does not seem TO extend 10
killing the heather; for in the attacks OF the lsraees
upon them they only killed all their warriors, but
afterwards in cold blood, slaughtered all the women
and children of a conquered country, ana even the
beasts: they spared nothing that breathed This was
BY divine command. When the Hebrews lett Egypt,
they lraudulently took 'borrowed, by the command
of Noses the jewels, gold, &c, of the Egyptians, ne
YER intending return them II this was not "stea'
ing, it something very much like It. They also
ruled the Canaanes of all their lands and goods, and
thus 'stoc or took the property OF foreign people
without their consent 1t is therefore pretty evident
that the command Thou shalt steal, was not intend
ed TO prohibit stealing from any other people, but was
in s;ric,ness designed to regulate the conduct OF the
lsraeltes towards each other. If this be true, the
command quoted may not be opposed to our "stealing
the English copyrights, of which Carlyle accuses u.s.
But pass over this Theological question, and pro-
coed the second assumption, which 49, that reprint
inr &C., English books, without The consent OF Their
authors, is stealing. This deny; II IS nothing IKE
il. If it WERE then printing the Greek and Hebrew
Scriptures in England is "steallng;' the using the
nourh the hoe The axe, the cart, is "stealing;' for
they were invented by men of other nations Then
the introduction of trees, plants, wheat, &c, from
other countries TO our own and multiplying them by
re- planting is "stealinc" What difference is there
between 6uyng an English book, and re-prntng it
here, and buying quantity of foreign seed, sowing
it on our soil and multiplying II by our own labor!
We buy foreign book; IT is ours; we multiply
copies and dffuse its advantages We also buy a
bushel offoreign wheat before unknown 10 US; We cu
tiya,e IT, increase it. and spread its the coun
try Where the difference: If one IS "stealIng,
the other is So Nonsense!- Neither is stealing. They
both prasewortby acts, beneficial TO mankind lnu
rious 10 nobody right and just in themselves and COM
mendable in the sight OF God An opposite course
would be disastrous 10 the whole world. Yet this rid
culous selfish bubble is the whole amount of Carlyle
letter. sent all the way from London, TO astonish and
instruct US!
Ii remains to take slight notice Of the principal
letter-the circular Of twelve English writers to the
American people. They beg with proper quantity
of fattery conciliate attention. The writer Proba
bIy laughed in his sleeve when he put it upon paper
1t was wse however, for we are most easily BATTERED,
and take every compliment for mathematical truth
This very lummcry will have more effect than all The
false reasoning IN these letters
This circular embraces two propostions-irst, that
the proposed copyright law would be OF great odyan-
tsge IL American literature and American writer's
The argument is, that if foreign books were mostly
excluded, we should be compelled to buy and read
American works principally. This would put money
into the pockets of American authors, would create
compcti;inn and therefore would cause the produc-
lion Of better written books This may be in part true
few lcriters would be benefited. But as people, the
great would be sacrificing the immense advantages
of having ready TO all the genius and learning
Of Europe, al n small expense, merely TO confer pc.
cuniary benefit on very small number of authors and
compers Of books. THIS would, indeed be paying too
dear for the whistle. 1t would be expendng dollar
to save cent We usually calculate too Closely to be
taken in by such proposal
The second proposition is, that the reading public in
this country would continue 10 be as cheapy supplied
with English works as at present. They say, There
can be no doubt that this would be the case This IS
mere assumption: they assert it, and that is ALL deny
it, and that is a complete Every person of
common sense mus, perceive at once, tina: this could
not be the The very assumption that is made in
support of this position is complete refutation OF 1t
at will be for the interest ofevery author hey say to
put the price of his book low possible IN order TO
command the greater number of purchasers among
American readers" Is it not just much Tor their
intere st to do now as it will be then? Do they
Dir in Enoland n oblain