If justice requires the admission of foreigners to the enjoyment of a
monopoly of the sale of their books it should be conceded at once to all,
and it should be declared that no book should be printed here without the
consent of its author, let him be Englishman, Frenchman, German, Russian,
or Hindoo. This would certainly greatly increase the difficulty now
existing in relation to the dissemination of knowledge; but if justice
does require it let it be done. Would it, however, benefit the men who
have real claims on our consideration? Let us see. A German devotes his
life to the study of the history of his country, and at length produces a
work of great value, but of proportional size. Real justice says that his
work may not be used without his permission; that the facts he has brought
to light from among the vast masses of original documents he has examined
are his property, and can be published by none others but himself. The
legislation, whose aid is invoked in the name of justice by literary men,
speaks, however, very differently. It says: "This work is very cumbrous.
To establish his views this man has gone into great detail. If translated,
his book will scarcely sell to such extent as to pay the labor. The facts
are common property. Out of this book you can make one that will be much
more readable, and that will sell, for it will not be of more than one
third the size. Take it, then, and extract all you need, and you will do
well. You will have, too, another advantage. Translation confers no
reputation; but an _original_ work, such as I now recommend to you, will
give you such a standing as may lead you on to fortune. Few people know
any thing of the original work, and it will not be necessary for you to
mention that all your materials are thence derived." On the other hand, a
lady who has read the work of this poor German finds in it an episode that
she expands into a novel, which sells rapidly, and she reaps at home a
large reward for her labors; while the man who gave her the idea starves
in a garret. A literary friend of the lady novelist, delighted with her