New-York tribune., 1875-09-25
hardest form of mental labor. II is the offspring OF
necessity. and nursed by toll

a. Hence il follows that in whatever country IN
ventons can be appropriated by direct theit' OF
adaptation. or any easy process, except purchasc
the habit of invention is discouraged, and each act
of inv yention undersold aud the inventor puhisheu
: Therefore by piratng from foreign authors
nation scratches a foreign authors iinger, Dut cuts
the native authors throat, and turns its own lhtei-
lectual sun into mOOn and r0bs itself of the hao'
of inventing which is q richer national treasure
than pyramid of stolen Inventions ms ls UNI
versal truth; the experience of Europe III every ago
confirms il and in the United States it IS special
truth for the Republic has put Justice and injustice
side by side so that even a child may see whch IL
the more enduring policy. ,., ,o,,
rapid and remarkable The States were behind us
in invention. They soon advanced upon US. ana
caught and now they head us lar lnIrrna,ionai a
Justice began with trade balance IN our favor YET
now the States draw an enormous Daialce lroih r-u-
rope and about three hundred thousand year ilom
Great Britain. Europe teens WIN the h.a,ciiai h.aa
products of American genius. American patents
print English newspapers, and sew EhgiishiI'hs
shirts. Briton goes to his work ny Aihcrlcal,
clocks and is warmed by American stoves, anu
cleaned by American dust collectors; whereas my
housemaid, when she dusts with British Diooll'
only drives it from pillar to post In word, amer
lea is the leading nation III al matters OF hiitcii'
invention and construction, and no other nation II.
walls nor approaches her. II is, Eclipse first, ana
the rest nowhere"
MATERIALS OF AN AMERICAN AUTHOR.
Now. do but turn an eye to the opposite expert
mcnt What is the position i'll the world OF the
American writer! Does he keep pace with the
American patentee! Why, 1t is a complete CON
trast: one is up-the other is down one leads old
nations-thc other follows them; one IS sun diff
fusnp his own light over his own hemisphere and
ours the other pale moon lighted by Europe. Yet
the American mechanical inventor has only the
forces and materials our mechanical inventor can
command whereas the American writer has larger
more varied and richer materials than ours. Even
in Fiction. what new materials has the English
artist compared with that gold mine of nature, Incl
dent passion. and character-life III tho vast
American Republic Here you may run on one
rail from the highest civilization TO the lowest
and inspect the intervening phases, and write
the scale of Man. You may gather III
MONTH amidst the nObcSt scenes OF nature the MS
tory of the human mind, and note its progress Here
are red man. black man, and white man. With lis
man is all of color, and nearly all of picce there
contrasts more piquant than we ever see spring
thick as weeds: larger and more natural topics ring
through the land discussed with broader and ireer
cloqucnce; in the very Senate the passions OF we'll
dressed men break the bounds of convention, ana
nature and genuine character speak out III places
where with lis eti0uette has subdued them to wills
per Land of fiery passions. and humors IN
! finite. you offer such a garden OF fruits as
Molierc never summed himself III, nor Snakes
| peare either, Aud what food for poetry ana
! romance were the feats of antiquity, compared
with the exploits of this people! Fifty thousand
Greeks bc,ieged Phrygan city, fighting Tor rot
ten leaf: the person of an adultercss-without hcr
mind This 10 years waste OF time Is a lit SUBJECT
for satire only genius has perverted 1t INTO an epic
| what cannot genius do But what was this, in
ifseIC and what tine puny wars of Pompcy ana
Cesar. compared with civil war, where not few
thousand soldiers met on either side to set one
Pompev up. one Crsar down but armies like those
of Xcrxes encountered again and again, fighting not
for the possession of a wanton, nor the pride
of a general but for the integrity of nation
and the rights of man Yet the little Old things
seem great. and the great new things sound small
Cdrcn guid rdte Sdc'O
The other day mans greatest feat of labor was the
Chinese Wall. II is distanced. An iron road Dlnds
| hemsDheres together See II carried over MI ana
dale through civilized and uncivilized countries;
see the buftoes glare and snort, and the wild Tribes
gallop to and fro i'll rage and terror as CIVILIZATION
marches with sounding tread, from sea to sea. See
iron labor pierce the bowels of the mountain, and
span the lakes broad bosom. Ii creeps, II marches
it climbs il scars, it never halts the savageS ar
and saddle their wild steeds; they charge ,hey
t,v-they aSsas>inate-they wheel about with nam
ing eyes. and flying arrows then CIVILIZATION takes
its rifle Ill one hand and It's pick III the Other ana
the labors of war and peace 30 on together ana sun
the mighty iron road cTecps. climbs. and Walcnes,
from hemisphere to hemisphere and sea TO sea.
These are the worldwide feats that touch man
kind, and ought to thrill mankind Yet they 60 ior
less than small old things done IN no les and corners
CdreR 0ud rate For there where tle SOIL is
so fertile art is sterile. Few are the pens that glow
with sacred fire. few great naTrators, and not one
great dramatst. Read the American papers-you
rcvel in world of new truths. new fancieS, ana
glorious crude romance, awaiting but the hand Oh Oh
,.,n f,nlI al RpaH
narratives. How French How British How
faint beside the swelling themes Life teens with IN
living, and doing everything-eXcept writng-at
rate of march without present rVai OF past par
allcl beneath the sun!
EFFECT OF PIRACY.
The reason is ninc-tenths of their heaven-born
writers are nipped in the bud snubbed starved ana
driven ont of immortal literature by piracy before
they can learn so profound and difficult an art
some driven into business, some driven on to the
land which there God, in his mercy, throws open to
the oppressed some driven into journals, that go
bankrupt by the hundred.
Mr. Emerson" There are men in this country who
can put their thoughts in brass, in iron, stone, or
wood who can build the best ships for freight, and
the swiftest for race. Another makes re-
volvers, another pOwer-press.
"Bnt scarcely one of our authors has thrown off
British swadd ug-clOthes. The great secret OF the
worldwide success of Uncle Tom was It's novelty;
it had something peculiarly American in it. The
works of American authors have been smothered
under English authors in the American market
Not only has the wholesale system of malappro-
priation most nuriously affected the interests OF
living American authors, hut it has a tendency 10
dwarf down the original literature of the United
States to a scrve copyism, and to check the deve-
opment Of the national mind"
Piracy is Upas tree. If you really love your