brought in a bill for the purpose, but party strife was then at its
height, and little else than the approaching elections were thought of by
the members of Congress. When party heat had cooled a little, he gained
their attention, and his bill became a law. If we had now in Congress a
member so much interested for the rights of authors and artists, and at
the same time so learned, so honored, and so persevering, we might hope
that the inhospitable usage which makes the property of the American
author in Great Britain and of the British author in the United States the
lawful prize of whosoever chooses to appropriate it to himself, would be
abolished.

A dinner was given to Verplanck on his return from Washington, in the name
of several literary gentlemen of New York, but the expense was, in fact,
defrayed by a generous and liberal-minded bookseller, Elam Bliss, who held
authors in high veneration and only needed a more discriminating
perception of literary merit to make him, in their eyes at least, a
perfect bookseller. On this occasion Mr. Verplanck spoke well and modestly
of the part he had taken in procuring the passage of the new law;
mentioned with especial honor the "first and ablest champion" who had then
"appeared in this cause," the Hon. Willard Phillips, who had discussed the
question in the "North American Review;" referred to the opinions of
various eminent publicists, and pointed out that our own Constitution had
recognized the right of literary property while it left to Congress the
duty of securing it. He closed with an animated view of what American
literature ought to be and might be under circumstances favorable to its
wholesome and vigorous growth. We listened with delight and were proud of
our Representative.

During Mr. Verplanck's fourth and last term in Congress he became
separated from his associates of the Democratic party by a difference in