CONCERNING THE SUPPRESSED BOOK. 443 



his mind." But he knew this no better when he wrote his second let- 

 ter than when he wrote the first. He sent Mr. Spencer a private 

 note asking explanations about the book, and this Mr. Spencer an- 

 swered, but said nothing respecting the copyright ; this did not enter 

 his mind, probably for the reason that the house which issued it had 

 published his books for twenty-five years, paying him regularly on all 

 of them from the first, and he had no care about it, knowing that 

 the equitable thing would of course be done to all concerned. But 

 the inadvertence gave Harrison his opportunity. 



But while Mr. Harrison exonerates Mr. Spencer from all thought 

 of making profit out of him, he adds, " But it certainly crossed some 

 one's mind," referring of course to Mr. Spencer's "American publish- 

 ers and friend." Yet there was not the slightest wish or design on 

 the part of the publishers of the book to withhold from Mr. Harrison 

 his proper share in its copyright proceeds. They have published the 

 scientific and philosophical works of many English authors, on which 

 they have paid the customary compensation allowed to American 

 authors, and if Mr. Harrison doubts it he can satisfy himself by in- 

 quiring of his neighbors, Tyndall, Lecky, Huxley, Bain, Sully, or the 

 Darwin s, and there is surely no reason why they should not have com- 

 pensated Mr. Harrison in the same way ; and this was certainly their 

 intention. 



But perhaps the party who desired to plunder Mr. Harrison (he 

 uses the significant word twice in his first letter) was Mr. Spencer's 

 American friend, and that he supposed this " friend " capable of sharp 

 practice is inferable from his remark, " I will only congratulate the 

 Yankee editor on his 'cuteness." Yet the 'cute Yankee editor in this 

 case was the only party to get nothing. Among the several stools 

 occupied by authors and publishers, it was his fate to sit on the 

 ground. Neither by stipulation nor expectation was he to have a cent 

 for his labor in editing the volume, or his efforts in promoting its cir- 

 culation. The reasons which actuated him have been already stated. 

 But as the question is here raised of venal motives in the treatment 

 of foreign authors, and as this transaction has been extensively pa- 

 raded as a flagitious example of American piracy, the editor of the 

 suppressed book is entitled to say that he has done his full share in a 

 practical way toward promoting international equity in the payment of 

 authors for their books. He gave nearly a year's labor to the organi- 

 zation of the "International Scientific Series" for the avowed pur- 

 pose of securing more satisfactory compensation to scientific writers. 

 The project was based upon the condition of the payment of copy- 

 right to each of the contributors from all the countries in which the 

 books were issued. Nothing of the kind had ever been done or at- 

 tempted before ; and, in regard to its result, Dr. John W. Draper re- 

 marked, " Although there are international copyright regulations in 

 Europe, and my various works have been translated into many foreign 



