New-York daily tribune., 1843-02-03
vaL. III. NO. 255.


This part of the question, says the Editor,
(" may be made plain enough in very few wsrds, y
wbereupon these follow
May not light my candle at my neighbor's
lamp, without wrong to him CT to my own con-
science, if can do so without intrusion upon him
in the process, or Inconvenience to him or ha II
ne kindes FIRE within his own domain and fer
his own purposes, but in situation where Its heat
may reach me within the limits of NINE may | not
bask in the genial glow, without moral obiiga-
tion 10 pay for it :? If be rear for himself dwell
ling OF noblest architecture, and surround it with
all the lovellness OF cultivated nature which wealth
can command and art create, may not and mine
crafty taste by the enjoyment of it ell from
the precincts of our own humber home, without
being required to erect, on my side of the boun-
dary, wall which shall shut out the rays of The
sun that bring the image Of the beauty he has
built, and tne breezes Of heaven that are charged
with the perfume OF tie Aowers he has planted
wall never to be transgrcssed by me without the
payment of toll Tax TO him ? Or, 10 gene
raize The idea, when one individual has created a
geod which is susceptible of multiplied reproduc-
ton, to the benefit of Others Of the whole hu-
man race, without dininuion OF his special ENJOY
ment of his own, or any manner of interference
with him, according to all the rights and purposes
under which and FOR which he originally created it,
is the principle of Property SO exclusive in its
monopoly, as to forbid this unh United diffusion Of a
blessing which God has chosen to be the
minister Oft the race Perish the base contracted
selhshness of such principle"
This is verify fair paraphrase of-nay, man
ifsst improvement upon, the parallel passage y
in BANcRoFT's Lecture upon Genius the Expres.
sion of the Spirit of the Age, the finest specimen
of howery sophistry we have had among US. The
argument is precisely like that, only ga little
nary sense, and are greatly surprised to find it
in the pages of SO respectable a magazine. An
American Publisher reprints ALIsoN's Europe,
aud sells it for hard cash. Is this process merely
lighting his candle at ALIsoN's lamp? Does the
Publisher merely bask in the genial glow of
his FIRE Does he only look upon the splendid
house he has built, and smell the flower he has
planted? Does he not, moreover, steal-we beg
pardon consey the oil of ALIsoN's lamp the
fuel Of his blazing FIRE, to his use and profit
Does he enter into the habitation he has bui't
and claim to dwell there, without either paying
rent or thanks ? If there chance TO be room for
two, all the better for both how often does the
nteroper stop to satisfy himself of this preimina-
ry fact I If this matter of honesty must be set
tied by SMILES, let try hand at one, which
if not SO beautifully wrought, may be quite as full
of truth and prepriey IL have garden full OF
flowers, and my neighbor an apiary stored with
bees. Now these bees, or their infant swarms,
come TO my garden, as Mr.. O'SULLlvAE says,
for the same reason that the bird sings the flow
er blooms, and the star shines because the
Spirit of the Race seeks Expression through
them, and prompts them to gather honey wherever
they can find it. May l therefore make for my
self beehouse, and en,ice the infant colonsts to
dwell with me, and pour into my store-house the
sweets which they elaborate, acting under the ir-
spration of an 'irrepressible instinct ! God
forbid that SO cold and wretched principle Of
natural K,orals should ever be either admitted or
asserted {" Or may say to my neighbor, You
have been richly enough paid at home by the la
bors Of the parent bees; how are you injured if |
do 'evjoy the pleasure which the younger family
confer upon me- free as your home market :
tha. market for which your bees labor-is left
from Interference by those which have deserted
you, and sought shelter and food in ny parterres
PERISH" we exclaiu, with the indignant Mr.
O'SuLLlvAN, "perish the base, contracted selfish,
ness of such principle y
Now, in our view, all this stuff abou, genius
being the possession and property of nobody in
particular but sort of Public Domain whereof
the first squa,ler" is the only rgh,ful owner, is
unmitisated nonsense. A "ta!e told by an idiot y
could no. be less TO the purpose signify moth
ing more completely. For ten long years one OF
these men of genius sits in his retired dwelling,
visited, fed and clothed by none Of the people OF
that Age whose spirit he is endeavoring to ex-
press laboring in solitude and most likely In
want, checred by no smile, upheld by no strength
but that which is within his soul, and finally Civ
ing to the world the product of his thought. As
soon a. the Age can discover that his work Is
worth reading, "a matter generally reserved fo5
the neSt Age,) it steps forward and very blandiy
tells this of genius that be out of bis wits ii
he expects any peculiar credit fer his achievement,
that he has merely been It's organ, and that ne
can expect TO pocket neither the fame nor the pc
cuniary profit Of his long, uncheered nbor Not
only this: soae other genius belonging 10 that
same Age seeking alse to express its spirit
(and admirably succeeding, it must with shame
be confessed pounccs upon his labor and feeds his
family upon the proceeds, while the poor author
and his dependent kin must perforce starve, and
be viEed and abused if he venture 10 expos,nlaie.
If this be not q cold and wretched principle OF
natural morals )" we are at loss to hnd one. Nor
is this-a. every reader of literary history is well
aware-an extreme and impossible case. 1t has