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PROPOSED AUTHORS' CO-OPERATIVE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION . The following extract from an ably conducted provincial journal , the Dover Telegraph , is doubly interesting as bearing on the booksellers' contest ( which , though nominally settled , is really as active and as fierce as ever ) , and as illustrating the great co-operative principle which now meets us at every turn—the inevitable solution of all enigmas , social and commercial , —the unfailing Deus ex machind of all public writers , who , in their very denunciations of socialism , become thus its unconscious supporters and propagandists : — " The whole bookselling and publishing machinery in
London is one enormous conspiracy , by which the highest intellect is made to labour as the slave of the lowest cunning . It is Newton gazing at the stars while a vagabond picks his pocket . Men like Macaulay , Dickens , or Thackeray—authors who have a popularity , whether true or false—do not feel this , because your publisher wants them as a call-bird to entice others . Such men learn their value , and will be paid in hard money , and trust to no accounts of profit and loss . It is your men of science , your ardent searchers after truth , your men before their time , who are understood only of the few : these are the men who grind their very souls , but to whet the appetite of some modern Curl or some Osborne of * the
day' Still , for stem Mammon , do they toil in vain , And sadly gaze on gold they cannot gain ;' —these are the men who are the victims of a thousand petty arts , the whole sum and object of which are to bring out a balance of loss at the end of a sheet full of figures . " But why , it may naturally be asked , should not an author write his own ' book , have it printed , and subscribe it to the trade just as a publisher subscribes it ? Because no bookseller would take a copy . "Why should not a bookseller sell a book for any price he can get for it ? Because the publisher would , according to the rules of the ' Booksellers' Association , ' refuse to let him have any more at the trade per centage . Thus it is that the system is made mutually dependent and mutually supporting . The publishers are keen to see that if the interest of the
booksellers in maintaining the system be taken away , the system itself will soon crumble , and the reign of sordid cunning over intellect must pass away . " Messrs . Longman and Murray , however , have placed themselves , like the two-winged lions at the entrance to the palace of Nimroud , at the very gate of this temple of Mammon ; and we must regard them , not by their own course of business , but as the representatives of all that is done therein , by every member , honourable or otherwise , of ' the trade . ' They have the commerce of literaturenay , more , they have the reputations of authors—in their hands . Messrs . Longman have the ^ Edinburgh JZeview , Mr . Murray has the Quarterly . They can cry up any work they please ; they can ' tomahawk' any author they dislike .
" An instance of how they use this power was brought to our notice not long since . Some writers of high reputation joined together to produce an independent review , with the especial object of protecting the numerous bookclubs throughout the kingdom from being misled as to the contents , origin , nature , and merits of the books , of which the members of these societies could only judge previously by the advertising announcements and mercenary puffs put forth in the papers . Orders immediately went forth that the new review—it is called the New
Quarterlyshould not bo ' recognised ; and we dare say that every dodgo is now being employed to prevent its circulation . The attempt lias fortunately signall y failed . The talent , independence , and cheapness of this New Quarterly at onco gave it a position ; and a thousand book-clubs already tako it , read it , bind it , and are guided by its counsels . ' The Trade' is utterly impotent to do it harm ; for we aro informed that tlio proprietors , ¦ whenever the slightest difficulty occurs , send it free to tho subscribers through the Post-office .
" This is the secret by which tho whole system we dcnounco will , ore long , bo broken up . Jtowland Hill is more than a match for all Paternoster-row . The tyranny of capital and trade monopoly is working its own ruin . Tho day is not far distant when an aHHoeiation will bo formed to print and publish our author ' s works at a small discount—just enough to pay for office expenses—to distribute thorn lo tho retailers , if tho retailors will tako thorn ; but if not , to send them direct to the public through the Post . Whenever this shall happen , your wholesale houses will topplo down liko houses built of cards ; books will be cheap , trash will cease to be published , and literature will bo free . "
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ROMANCE AND RASCALITY . Fanny Bird left . her parental homo in April , 1850 , to keep house for her brother , . John Bird . His father had ju . st taken it small farm , and water corn mill for him , at Hhirland Park , in Derbyshire . She was then twenty-four yearn of age ; a lively , tolerably educated girl" the light of the household . " Hut near to Shirlmid Park there lived one George BariHall , a young farmer of twenty , gay and heartless ; and he made
love , desperate love , to Funny Bird . Ho wrote to her , and , after the fashion of impatient man , demanded an instant reply . He should 1 m ; " uneasy" until he heard . But Fanny wjw a timid young woiriwi , and did not reply ; ami George Bunnnll , still uneasy , met the lady nt Mansfield fair , went home with her and her brothers in their gig ( : i capacious gig by tho way)—wooed his fair one tlm same evening , nr . d won . Now nil went happily for nome time . JJaiiHttll made constant viwitH , wrote very bud poetry , and gave giflta of love and
riendship to poor Fanny Bird . The parents knew of the engagement , and in due time George told Fanny that his father was about to take a farm for him , and then they would be married . Unhappily , seduced by his promises , in a fatal moment the simple Fanny yielded that which women prize most to his impatient suit . When she discovered the consequences , she told her Theseus , and he said there was nothing to fear , but that on the first Wednesday after the 1 st of April , 1851 , he would marry her . The ring was bought , the wedding clothes were prepared . But Bansall put off the dav , as the farm was not taken . What should she
do ? He suggested flight to Australia , and some preparations were made ; but the scheme was soon ^ abandoned . He fixed another wedding day , but did not come . Then , broken in spirit and health , poor Fanny went home , and a child was born in October , 1851 . Bansall was again applied to , but he would not reply ; and , finally , an action for breach of promise was brought , tried at Nottingham last week , and a verdict of 800 J . damages obtained . Meanwhile the sufferings of mind and body have quite destroyed the health of Fanny Bird ; and for lost honour and forsaken love , what consolation is there in 800 J . ?
A similar drama was , it seems , going on at Caerphilly , in Wales , about the same time . There the lovers were a Miss Davies , daughter of a farmer , and a Mr . Rees . The lady was overcome and deserted by Rees . Evidence was given in proof of the promise , and the jury awarded 400 ? . damages . We commend this spirit in juries . Rees and Bansall are a worthy couple .
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HOW TO GET A STOCK OF PORTRAITS . Thomas Coilins , a man of sixty years of age , has been engaged for several years in fraudulently obtaining portraits from the " nobility and gentry , " on pretence of engraving them . " Eminent military men , eminent Conservatives , eminent Liberals , " and Members of both Houses of Parliament , have been applied to for their portraits to form his collection of notables . He sought after the portraits of ladies , to form a publication which he called The Female Aristocracy of the Beign of Queen Victoria . It does not seem quite clear to what extent his professed intentions were carried , but the portraits which he obtained seem generally to have reached the pawnbroker ' s shop sooner or later . Some complaints have been made against him at various times , but the prosecutors have in every case abandoned their proceedings upon their pictures being sent home . He has at length been prosecuted , and was brought before Mr . Arnold on Ttlroday . The first charge was made against him by the Earl of Desart , who stated that in the summer of 1848 the prisoner ( as he believed ) called upon him , and aeked him for his portrait , from which he might engrave a copy for publication in his work of Portraits of Conservative Statesmen . His lordship gave him permission to have it , Avith an understanding that it was to be returned the following season , but it never came back , and he heard no more of it until about three weeks ago , when he received a pawnbroker ' s duplicato for tho portrait , pledged for 21 ., and the following letter : — "My Lord , —I have really now no other alternative
but to write to you and describe what must be to me most painful . I struggled but wholly failed in my efforts to publish your lordship ' s portrait in my national work of eminent Conservatives , and during the Whig Administration all my efforts were in vain . A distress on my property was the result , and in order to save the property of others , I was compelled to adopt a most disagreeable mode to do so . Your lordship ' s portrait among tho rest is in safety , at a considerable expense to myself . How , my Lord , I rejoiced when Lord Derby ' s Government was installed ! 1 made myself quite certain of conquering my
difficulties by proceeding with my national work , and my resolution was formed to place your lordship ' s portrait in hand forthwith , but , my Lord , unexpected troubles havo come upon me , and I therefore candidly and openly confess my position . I incloso tho document ( tho pawnbroker ' s ticket ) , to show that the property is in safety ; but , my Lord , not being able to conquer the troubles with which I am now visited , 1 have resorted to your lordBhip without Iohh of time . I will not enter into any details as to my present position ; suflico it to say it is excruciating . " I have the honour to be your lordship ' s faithful , humble servant , " Tkoh . Collins . "
Lord Desart stated , upon cross-examination , that he had given his name as a subscriber to the work which Collins pretended to publish , and that he had received somo copies of a work of the same name . It was , however , proved by a gentleman connected with Virtue and Co ., that that firm were the publishers of a publication ho named , which had been discontinued ten years ago , and of which the prisoner might havo purchased a few copies . It was further proved that this portrait was pawned on the very day on which Collins had obtained it . Another case was mentioned , in which ho had pawned tho portrait of Mr . Miles , M . I ' . The portrait . *! of Lord and Lady Pagofc had been obtained in a similar way above six : months » igo , and tho pawnbroker '*! tickets bad been sent to Lady I ' aget in a Idler similar to that given above . Tlie prisoner was remanded , bin solicitor declining to say anything at prewnt .
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TIIK 1 'ANAMA RAILWAY . Mit . Ai / i ; xani > kh Wyiju , chief engineer of the Roynllnnil steamer Trent , bus published a brief account of tho railway now in progress , intended to unito tho
Atlantic with the Pacific by traversing the Isthmus of Panama . " The Atlantic terminus of this railway is placed on Manzanilla Island , in Navy-bay , and separated from , mainland by a narrow channel , with ten feet d epth of water in it . The trains start from the wharves where the steamers lie , and run everyday . From the wharves ,, in Navy-bay , to Gatun , a distance of seven miles , the co untry through which the railway passes is a complete swamp , presenting , in that climate especially , the most for midable difficulties , and rendering it necessary to pile every foot of the road . This work was performed b y steam pile-drivers at the rate of 250 feet a-day in the easiest p arts , while at other placeswhere longer pilea were required , not more
, than 68 or 60 feet forward could be done in the same time . Above Gatun , where the first view of the river Chagres is obtained , the ground becomes of a more solid description , consisting principally of a clayey red loam , which is carried down dafly in large quantities by the ballast engines for the purpose of filling up the road between the p iles . The worst parts have already been made good , and in less than a year , banks of this earth , which the heavy rains only render more compact , will have superseded the piles , which may be termed the pioneers of the line . Further along the r # ad , freestone of an excellent quality is seen in abundance , and is now being largely used in the construction of culverts , and it is intended to replace the bridges over the numerous gullies with this stone , wood haying been
used in the first instance for the sake of expedition . The whole line passes through the wild primeval forest , with all the rank and luxurious vegetation of the tropics . It is remarkable how few of the trees which have been cut down produce serviceable timber , as it is only here and there that a tree is seen really solid , the majority of the palm tribes being soft , and the large trees nearly all hollow This is to be noticed more especially in the swampy districts . Near Tavernilla , the present terminus of the line , the native trees are being converted into sleepers . Tho rails , 641 b . to the yard , are laid on cross sleepers , without longitudinal balks , a construction which admits of the sleepers being replaced , kid closer together , or lifted without at all disturbing the road . railsbut the
" There is at present only one lme of . , laying down of a second or third line , which the great traffic across the isthmus will undoubtedly soon require , will be as easy as the first was difficult . The principal difficulties have been triumphantly overcome , and the work , when finished , will be a lasting monument to Colonel Stetton , the engineer-in-chief , and the other brave men connected with him , who have laid down this great engine of civilization through forests hitherto untrod by the foot of man , tenanted only by the tiger , rattlesnake , and iguana , and this , too , in a climate proverbially fatal ( o Europeans . A contract has been entered into for the completion of the line through to Panama by the 1 st of August , 1853 ; and when it is considered that not more than 20 months have elapsed since the commencement of the work , there can be little doubt that this stupendous undertaking , of such time have connected tho
universal interest , will by that Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . The speed at present obtained on the line , though at times rising to 25 miles an hour , does not average throughout above 10 or 12 . The total rise on the line does not appear to be very great , as at Tavernilla the height above the river is not more than 50 feet . The gauge is five feet . There is only one class of carriages , on the American plan , having a communication from each carriage to the driver by means of a checkstring running along the roof . The fare to Tavernilla , a distance of 21 miles , is 7 £ dollars , and the earnings of tho railway are stated to be 30 , 000 dollars a month , and tho great California and Pacific traffic now passing over confirms this Btatement . Passengers' luggage to any amount is checked , taken charge of , and delivered on the production of tho checks given , with the greatest promptitude and regularity . "
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A PEEP AT MELBOURNE . One of the thousands who hav e left Scotland for tho gold fields of Australia has written homo a p icturesque and statistical account of things as they are in Melbourne , and bin friends have published his letter in tho Jlosslr ire Observer : — " Melbourne , March 23 , 1852 . —We sailed in November , last year , from Oreenock , and had altogether a very lavourable passage . Wo arrived hero fivo weeks Hinco . I no first , nicht 1 had tho kev of tho street—no getting a bed , iirsi
and houses very scarce . I got into tho theatre tho < night I came here , at a very small salary , as there was no vacancy just then . However , I got 10 s . of a rise Ja ^ wceK * , Of course- you would read of this now being tho best golu country , superior to Sydney , to which place tho most , ol the ship Cnthbert ' s passongerH wero going . With this gold business everything is moro than doubled in price-Bread , 41 b . loaf , 1 « . % l ., short weight included ; butter isper lb . ; cheese , 2 « . < W . per lb . ; eggH , <) n . ( hi . a dozen ; p <> - tatoeH , H « . per cwt . ; tobacco , Hd . tin ounce , and very baa , but most people smoke cigars at Id . each . Tea , common Mark , l . v . < W . per lb . Good moist sugar at 4 r / . p «> r »»• Prior to landing here , our third mate used to accost us with- — ' Come gents , give us a pull here—hurra lor «» A , iT , r \ , uTti ! ' H / i nor w « never dreamed of Hiich a thing < l i
Melbourne , and his father ' s ship » t . ill lying in tho bay want of hands . Now for wages . A charwoman going <>» at woven in the morning till six in the evening R «' >*"'"'* her meat . The charge of a washerwoman is «»• «• " ™' shirts ; a dress-maker for making a gown , 8 s . ; ctt 5 l \ - " ti'i- or joiner , per day , lo « . ; some 1 / . and Home It . ws \ particular work ; a tailor , 10 « ., some 12 « . per day ; » » boiirer , H « . per day , and some 10 * . ; blacksmifliH , Ironi o - to fit . weekly ; tinmen 1 cannot say ; they seom to Jtto » if tlioy wore making thoir fortunes . They sot up shop » nook or corner , and thrivo—no much tin-work being r quired for tho diggings . Aro all fortunate that go to Jigging ^ No . Many como back with empty pocket *
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702 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), July 24, 1852, page 702, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1944/page/10/
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