PROPHETS. 



265 



literary worts, already published, which the law rec- 

 ognizes and allows. What is such fair use must be de- 

 termined by the circumstances of each particular ease. 

 It is perfectly fair to use portions of a work for criti- 

 cism or review, but criticism must not be made a guise 

 for the publication of another's work. And in the .same 

 way fair quotation is allowable. The remedies for piracy 

 are an action for damages or an injunction to restrain 

 the act. 



Cojwright Slafntex. Prior to the adoption of the 

 Constitution of the United States many of the States 

 had passed copyright statutes, but as these were in- 

 adequate for the protection of authors outside the 

 boundaries of each State, a provision was inserted in 

 the Constitution giving Congress the power to enact 

 such statutes. The first act of this kind was passed in 

 1790, and after several amendatory acts were passed 

 from time to time, finally the act of 1870 came into 

 force which repealed all previous laws, and, with a few 

 alterations, constitutes the copyright law of to-day. 



The provisions of this act are briefly as follows : Any 

 citizen in the United States or resident therein, who 

 shall be an author of any book, or dramatic or musical 

 composition, and his executors, administrators, or as- 

 signs, by complying with the provisions of the law, 

 have the sole liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing, 

 and vending the same ; and in the case of a dramatic 

 composition, of publicly performing or representing 

 it, or causing it to be so done. And authors may re- 

 serve the right of dramatizing or translating their own 

 works. Copyright is also given in maps, charts, cuts, 

 prints, photographs, paintings, drawings, chrouios, 

 statuary, models, and designs. 



The copyright is granted for twenty -eight years from 

 the time of recording the title. The author, if living 

 anil a citizen of the Cnited States or resident therein, 

 or his widow or children, if he be dead, may have the 

 same exclusive right continued for fourteen years more 

 by complying with the provisions as to recording and 

 advertising within six months before the expiration of 

 the first term. A copyright can be assigned by an 

 instrument in writing auly recorded. 



To obtain a copyright there must be deposited with 

 the librarian of Congress the printed title of the book, 

 etc., and two copies of the book. A fine is imposed 

 for failure to deliver these copies. 



No action for the iiifringitiiiciit of a copyright of a 

 book can be maintained unless there is inserted in the 

 several copies of each edition published, on the title- 

 page or the immediately following page of a book, or 

 on some visible portion of a dramatii: or musical com- 

 position, maps, etc., Uic following statement, "Entered 



ac rdinp to the act uf Congress in the year by 



A. 1!.. in the office of the librarian of Congress at 

 Washington," or "Copyright," together with the year 

 the copyright was entered, and the name of the per- 

 son by whom it was taken out. 



Any one who knowingly prints, publishes, or sells a 

 book or other work, or performs a drama, duly copy- 

 righted, without the written consent of the owner, duly 

 attested, forfeits every copy of the book or the work 

 issued in violation of the copyright, and in his posses- 

 sion ; and is also liable to damages. 



Damages may be recovered for printing or publish- 

 ing any manuscript without the consent of the author, 

 if lie isaeitizeiiofthe United States or resident therein. 



The act further provides that an injunction may issue 

 to protect a copyright ; and that the provisions of this 

 law do not extend protection to aliens and non-residents. 



The words of this act have frequently received ju- 

 dicial interpretation. The applicant, if not a citizen, 

 must be a permanent "resident." The assignee of a 

 foreign resident is not entitled to copyright. "Author" 

 ine!ii'l"S any one. who performs original labor in compe- 

 tition, whether as writer, translator, or abridgor. A 

 " book'' may consist in adiairram ofmie p.i'.'e, withdirrr-- 

 tions lor euttinir ladies' dresses, as well as the bound 

 volume of luaiiy pages. All the contents of a book, 

 VOL. IV.-K 



including engravings, etc., are covered by a copyright 

 Any mode of depicting action, whether by words, 

 ballet, or pantomime, is included under the term " dra- 

 matic composition," and the copyright of such a pro- 

 duction will protect the music in the action, the letter- 

 press, the text, and the dramatic incident or situation, 

 but not the mechanical arrangement for facilitating the 

 flow of the incident. 



There is no international copyright statute in the 

 United States, though vigorous efforts have been made 

 for some years by native authors as. well as foreigners 

 to induce Congress to pass such a measure, (s. c. P.) 



PROPHETS. In this article we will consider first 



... _.._. the phraseology employed in the Old 



STsu <p. 836 Testament to describe prophecy and 



Am Rep ). * ne prophets ; secondly, the history of 



the succession of men known as the 



prophets ; thirdly, their position and functions ; and, 



fourthly, the written works commonly described as the 



books of the prophets. 



I. Thewordcomuionlytranslated "prophet" is ndlhL 

 f3J. Other words of the same stem are translated 

 "prophesy," "prophecy," "prophetess." The der- 

 ivation of the word is unknown, and is of no con- 

 sequence ; even the assertion that it is borrowed from 

 the Canaanites is a mere guess. Practically, the word 

 is a technical term used to describe a certain class of 

 men and their acts ; the only way to define it is to learn 

 wh.it we can concerning the men. 



The phrase, " man of God," has precisely the same 

 meaning as the word " prophet," so far as the person 

 denoted by it is concerned ; it is never applied to a 

 priest as such, or to a holy man as such, but always to 

 one who is thought of as having the prophetic char- 

 acter. 



The word "]*> rnth, translated "seer," is used 

 a few times to denote the person who is more commonly 

 called a prophet, or a man of God. It is from the 

 stem which primarily denotes ordinary eyesight. Two 

 different nouns of this stem are sometimes translated 

 "vision." The passive verb of it maybe translated 

 "appear," and is the verb regularly used to describe 

 the instances when Jehovah is said to have appeared 

 to his servants. The active and the causative verbs of 

 this stem are frequently used of the seeing of visions. 

 In the use of these words a prophet is described as a 

 man to whom Jehovah reveals truth by causing it to 

 take a form in which it is thought of as visible to the 

 3ye. Ezekiel's visions of the winged creatures are 

 familiar instances. 



A prophet is also sometimes called 1'n hozrh, 

 also translated "seer." Several words of this stem 

 are translated "vision," and the verb may be used in 

 the cognate sense. In sonic of the other Shcmitic 

 languages this stem is employed to denote ordinary 

 eyesight, but in Hebrew it is restricted to the idea of 

 insight or of thougjitfiil seeing. Used of the visions 

 of a prophet, it may include other forms of divine 

 revelation than those -that are thought of as presented 

 to the eye. The word "vision," as found in the titles 

 of the prophetic books, is always a word from this 

 stem (Isa. i. 1, e. </.). Where words of the two stems 

 are found in the same context the derivatives of 

 run should be regarded as generic, and those of .^s 1 ? 

 as specific. 



Tne prophetic gift is currently said to be by " the 

 Spirit of Jehovah" (1 Kings xviii. 12; Isa. Ixiii. 10, 

 11 Joel ii. 28, 29 (iii. 1,2); 2 Chron. xv. 1, etc.). 



The phrase "the word of Jehovah," very rarely 

 "the word of God," is used throughout the Old Tes- 

 tament to describe the message brought by a man en- 

 dowed with the gift of prophecy, e. g., Mic. i. 1 ; 

 Jonah i. 1; Jer. i. 4. The word ma&ta, NE"? " bur- 

 den," is used from Elisha's time onward to denote 

 a prophecy of a certain character (2 Kings ix. 25 ; Isa. 

 xiii. 1, etc.). 



In Hag. i. 13, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16, and possibly 

 elsewhere, a prophet is called a " ni<>ss<;nscr," or angel, 



