e present law, the wisest, virtuousest, discreetest,
best of authors, is tardily rewarded, precisely as a vicious,
seditious, or blasphemous writer is summarily punished--namely,
by the forfeiture of his copyright.

"That, in case of infringement on his copyright, your petitioner
cannot conscientiously or comfortably apply for redress to the
law whilst it sanctions universal piracy hereafter.

"That your petitioner hath two children, who look up to him, not
only as the author of the 'Comic Annual,' but as the author of
their being. That the effect of the law as regards an author is
virtually to disinherit his next of kin, and cut him off with a
book instead of a shilling.

"That your petitioner is very willing to write for posterity on
the lowest terms, and would not object to the long credit; but
that, when his heir shall apply for payment to posterity, he will
be referred back to antiquity.

"That, as a man's hairs belong to his head, so his head should
belong to his heirs; whereas, on the contrary, your petitioner
hath ascertained, by a nice calculation, that one of his
principal copyrights will expire on the same day that his only
son should come of age. The very law of nature protests against
an unnatural law which compels an author to write for anybody's
posterity except his own.

"Finally, whereas it has been urged, 'if an author writes for
posterity, let him look to posterity for his reward,' your
petitioner adopts that very argument, and on its very principle
prays for the adoption of the bill introduced by Mr. Sergeant
Talfourd, seeing that by the present arrangement posterity is
bound to pay everybody or anybody but the true creditor."

In France perpetual copyright was guaranteed from very early times.
The Ordinances of Moulines of 1556, the Declaration of Charles IX. in
1571, and the letters-patent of Henry III. constituted the ancient
legislation on the subject, but the sovereign had a right to refuse
the guarantee whenever he thought desirable. In 1761 the Council of
State continued to a grandson of La Fontaine the privilege that his
grandfather possessed, on condition, however, that he should not
assign it to a bookseller. The Revolution of 1789 modified this
regime, and now copyright is guaranteed to authors and their widows
during their lives, to their child