The New York herald., 1872-10-12
LITERARY CHIT.CHAT.

TIE FOLLOWING Is the best part OF Mark Twain'a
complaint Of the London piracy OF his books:-
MARK TWAIN AND HIS ENGLISH EDITOR.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR
SIR-I only venture to intrude upon you because
come, in some sense, in the interest Of public
morality and this makes my mission respectable.
his own individual motion, republished several OF
my books In England. i do not protest against
protest; and, besides publishers are not account
a5le to the laws OF heaven or earth, in any coun-
books are bad enough Is just as they sra
written; then what must they be after Mr.. John
Camden Hotten has g. composed half Q dozen chap
all true hearts will bleed Tor author whose
volumes have fallen under such dispensation as
this.
II friend OF yours, or II even yourself were to
write book and set 1t adrift among the people,
with the gravest apprchensions that IL was not up
to what Il ought to be intellectually, how would
you like to have John Camden Hotten sit down and
stimulate his powers and drool two or three
Would not the world seem cold and hollow to you
Would you not feel that you wanted to die and ba
chapters "Holiday Literature" "True story OF
Chicago" ION Children 'Train up Child and
the strength OF having evolved these marvels from
his own consciousness, go and copyright" the en-
s s pnsa II IN
the legend, "All Rights Reserved ;
Ana Mr.; Hotten says that one nom de plume OF
tlon in this world that makes man feel so down.
trodden and abused as the giving him q name that
does not belong to him. How would this sinful
aborigine feel If We're to call him John Camden
Hottentot, and come out In the papers and say he
was entitled to 1t bv divine riahtf l do honestly
believe il would throw him into brain fever, Ii
there were not an insuperable obstacle In the
w SAMUEL 1. CLEMENS l"Mark Twaln'J.
LONDON, Sept. 20, 1872.
Mr.. CHARLES BRADLAuGn's paper which the tel
egraph says has been prescribed by the English
government for refusing to register 1t for trans
mission abroad is The National Re,orner Secular
Advocate ana Freethonght Journal. 1t Is republI-
can in politics and free-thinking in religion, and Is
In Its twentieth volume.
THE Athen9aun pronounces the late Dean Alford'a
commentary on the Books ofGenesis and Exodus to
be "based on no competent knowledge OF Hebrew,
marred by errors and defects, inspired by no acute
criticism, and showing an imperfect mastery OF
the materials and literature OF the subject" II
the criticism be valid 1t Is consong to learn that
we are to have no more Of the posthumous work Of
the Dean, who died before finishing Exodus.
THE BRITISH PEOPLE are great medders with
the bones OF the dead. The body OF Robert Burns
has been dug up twice at least, and the last time
the authorities Of Dumfries boasted that they had
replaced the skull "in box lined with the sofcst
materials"
The saturday Rerte,o says OF Lannon's "Iie OF
Lincoln: 1--we should have suspected that the
work was prompted by party and personal AMI
mostly to Mr.. Lincoln, If II were usual with Ameri-
can writers to conceal such animoslty under tho
mask Of approval or OF impartlalty."
HERR SCHEuBE has published q work on German
culture In Alsace, the object OF which is to con-
vince the Alsatians that they are excellent Gers
! mans, If they would but see II.