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Report of the Committee on the Copyright Acts.

the copies of printed books in the authors or purchasers of such copies, and for other purposes therein mentioned; and to report, whether any and what alterations are requisite to be made therein, together with their observations thereon, to the House;-have pursuant to the Order of the House, proceeded to consider the said Acts; and have received various statements, and examined several persons connected with the printing, the publishing, or with the sale of Books; and after much attention bestowed on the subject, they beg leave to observe,

That although great changes have taken place in the literary systems of this country, since the first of the laws referred to them was enacted, on which the others depend; yet they conceive that the substance of those laws is proper to be retained; and in particular that, continuing the delivery of all new works, and in certain cases of subsequent editions, to the libraries now entitled to receive them, will tend to the advancement of learning, and to the diffusion of knowledge, without imposing any considerable burthen on the authors, printers, or publishers of such works. But that it will be expedient to modify some of the existing provisions, -as to the quality of the paper, which may fairly be reduced from the finest sort and largest size, to that used in the greater part of an edition;-by substituting a delivery on demand, after due and proper notice has been given of the publication, to a distribution in the first instance:-And by affording an alternative with respect to subsequent editions in certain cases.

Your Committee would however suggest one exception to these rules, in favour of the British Museum; this National establishment, augmenting every day in utility and importance, ought, in the opinion of Your Committee, to be furnished with every publication that issues from the press, in its most splendid form.

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Having presumed to advise certain regulations with the view of lightening as much as possible the pressure, whatever may be its amount, on all those connected with the publication of books, your Committee would be wanting in the discharge of their duty, were they not to recommend a strict enforcement of such obligations, as for useful purposes remains to be discharged: by annexing suitable penalties to the neglect of performing them; and perhaps in some cases by adding the forfeiture of Copyright.

The attention of Your Committee has naturally been directed to the late decision in the Court of King's Bench, ascertaining the true interpretation of the Statute of Queen Anne; and they find, that, previously to that decision, an universal misapprehension existed as to the real state of the law; and that works were undertaken, and contracts made on the faith of long established usage. Your Committee are fully aware, that, in expounding the law, no attention can be paid by Courts of Justice to the hardships that may incidentally be produced; but it will deserve the serious deliberation of Parliament, whether all retrospective effect should not be taken away from a construction, which might be thought to bear hardly on those who have acted on a different understanding of the law.

Lastly; Your Committee have taken into their consideration the subject of Copyright; which extends at present to fourteen years certain, and then to a second period of equal duration, provided the author happens to survive the first. They are inclined to think, that no adequate reason can be given for this contingent reversion, and that a fixed term should be assigned beyond the existing period of fourteen years.

June 17, 1818.

MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS.

BARON J. J. GERNING.

Privy-Counsellor and Envoy-Extraordinary from His Serene Highness the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg to the Court of Great Britain.

BARON J. J. GERNING was born at Frankfort on the Maine in the year 772. His father, who lived upon his 1- private fortune in that city, had by most indefatigable labour, and at enormous expense, formed a valuable collection in

natural history, and particularly in the department of entomology: he died in 1802. His grandfather and uncle were first magistrates of the free Imperial City of Frankfort. Baron Gerning pursued his studies for the most part at

1818.]

Memoir of Baron J. J. Gerning.

Jena, where he obtained the degree of Doctor. At Jena he resided in the house of the celebrated philologist Schutz the editor of Eschylus, and who is well known throughout Germany for having been the first to set on foot the plan of the "Literatur-Zeitung." He likewise lived on terms of the closest intimacy with the poet Von Knebel, the translator of Propertius, a most estimable man. He besides studied at the University of Göttingen, where his friend Heyne lived, and attended other learned Institutions. He frequently paid visits to Weimar, the residence of his friend Herder. At Weimar he also enjoyed the friendship of Göthe the great poet, of Wieland, and of Böttiger, the first archaeologist of Germany; he also became acquainted with the worthy Bertuch; to whom the literature of Germany in its various departments is much indebted. Klopstock, Herder, and Göthe, awoke the poetic genius of Baron Gerning, and exercised a powerful influence over him, as did likewise Sophia Von Laroche, who entertained for him the affection of a mother. The first poem produced by Baron Gerning was addressed "to Göthe at Rome." Horace and Ovid were his classical models. During the Imperial coronation at Frankfort in 1790, the Queen of the Two Sicilies resided in his father's house; a circumstance which made a deep impression upon him; and he celebrated Her Majesty in several of his odes. She invited him to Naples; but before proceeding thither he travelled to England, Holland, and France, where in 1793 he was a witness to the melancholy death of Louis XVI. In 1794 he quitted Weimar and proceeded to Naples, and had scarcely resided there three weeks when he was entrusted with an important mission. He visited Italy on three different occasions. In 1797 he proceeded thither by the way of Vienna,* and in 1798 he was sent to Rastadt. Had it not been for the breaking out of the French revolution, he would probably have remained at Naples. In Weimar the Muses af

* At Vienna, Baron Gerning had the happiness to enjoy the intimate friendship of Denis, Retzer, and Von Hammer; and the noble Count Lamberg, that distinguished connoisseur and collector of objects of art and antiquity, shewed him the utmost kindness.

At Naples, Acton shewed him great NEW NONTHLY MAG.-No. 55.

41

forded him consolation. There he composed his "Carmen Seculare on the 18th century;" and with the encouragement of Herder and Göthe, he wrote his Travels through Austria and Italy, which were published, in three volumes, in the year 1803. In 1804 he purchased an estate in Homburg, and from that time became a faithful friend and counsellor of the Landgrave, who ́ is much attached to him, and has appointed him Privy-Counsellor. There he wrote his "Heilquellen am Taunus," (the Salubrious Springs near Mount Taunus,) a splendid edition of which appeared in 1814. The study of the curious history of this classic ground of Germany compensated him for the disappointment of not being able to remain in Italy. He occasionally visited Heidelberg, where his friends Voss, the father and son, and A. Schreiber, resided. In the year 1805 he once again visited Weimar and Jena. A judicious selection from his "Erotic Poems of Ovid" appeared in 1815. In the year 1813, in conjunction with M. Von Stein, and the Prince of Hessc Homburg, then Governor of Fankfort, he powerfully contributed to the restoration of liberty in his native city, and made the first efficient exertions in the attainment of that object.

In 1795, he was placed by the Emperor Francis, in the rank of Imperial Nobility: and in 1818, the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt created him a Baron, having previously, in 1808, appointed him his Privy-Counsellor. All these dignities he held, in conformity with his own wish, cum privilegio non usas. He passed the greater part of the year 1811 at Frankfort, where, though he took care to pay no Court to the Prince Primate, he readily assisted in establishing the Museum. From 1813 to 1816, he contributed by important negociations to secure to the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg his "full sovereignty," the rights and advantages of which he never enjoyed to so great an extent as at present. In accomplishing this object, however, Baron Gerning had constantly in view the preservation of the friendly relations

attention, and said, " E pieno di spirito, è pieno di talenti." He likewise observed, " II est fait pour negociateur." During his residence at Naples he maintained intimate relations with Sir William Hamilton and Tischbein.

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Memoir of Baron J. J. Gerning

between the two branches of the House of Hesse. The reigning Prince then appointed him his Envoy to the Diet at Frankfort, where, independently of his ministerial relations with Hesse-Homburg, he was, as a citizen of Frankfort, twice chosen a member of the legislative body, and was also admitted to a seat in the Presidency. These situations he however resigned on accepting the appointment for his late mission to London. While he held them, he delivered his sentiments on the claims of the Patricians of Frankfort to the office of Counsellor -on the High Court of Appeal for the Free Cities-on the Petitions of the Jews to obtain the rights of Citizenship-and on the Finances, with respect to which his proposition for a moderate income tax, applicable to all classes, was adopted, and the burthensome duty on capital, or the Simplum, was repealed.

During the present year he has had the honour of being appointed by the Landgrave, Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of London, on account of the treaty of marriage between the Hereditary Prince and Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth.

His Odes, Elegies, and other poems, will shortly be published, as well as a selection from the Odes of Horace. Among his Epigrams and short poems, is a Nania, or Dirge, on the Death of Nelson. According to the opinion of German critics, he has eminently distinguished himself in lyric, didactic, and epigrammatic poetry. His last poetical Odes were, Wagram, (which contains a poetic anticipation of future victories,) and the Schonbund-schlacht, Battle of Belle-Alliance, or Waterloo. On the 31st of Oct. 1817, he published a Secular Ode on the festival of the Reformation in Germany.* He has besides written an antiquarian, historical, topographical, and statistical work on the neighbourhood of the Rhine, and likewise a history of the fortified places on the Rhine, which are now publishing at Wiesbaden.

The Baron is indeed a most zealous admirer of Luther, and is truly impressed with the great benefits conferred on mankind by that dauntless reformer.

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In London, as elsewhere, he had the good fortune to meet with patrons. He laid at the feet of Her Majesty the Queen, and His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, the splendid edition of his poem on the Salubrious Springs of the Taunus. The address which he delivered on his first audience with the Prince Regent proceeded entirely from his heart, and was fraught with the warmest effusions of love for Old England. Even before his departure from Homburg, he entertained no doubt of the happy issue of this auspicious union.

He also received marks of favour from other members of the Royal Family and whilst at the Princess Elizabeth's Cottage, he had the pleasure of visiting his old friend Dr. Herschel.

On his way to England he was attacked by a disorder in the lungs, to which his life had nearly fallen a sacrifice; but he eagerly hastened to fulfil the object of his honourable mission, and arrived in London in a state of severe indisposition. Dr. Tierney, the able physician of the Prince Regent, was then his preserver, and in ten days he concluded the negotiations for the marriage.

Baron Gerning is moreover a zealous amateur of the pictorial art, and has formed, at Frankfort, a valuable collection of antique gems, Greek and Roman coins, paintings, and engravings, He likewise possesses the most extensive and complete collection of insects in Europe, which was bequeathed to him by his father; though for this department of natural history he entertained no particular taste, until his travels enabled him to contribute to it.

As a man, Baron Gerning unites in himself all the simplicity and frankness of the scholar, with the polished manners and address of the courtier. As a poet and as a man of letters, he ranks among the first of the German literati: his poetry is nervous, pathetic, and finished; his prose is elegant and pointed. His talents are various: he is an excellent classic, a profound antiquary, no mean linguist, a first rate entomologist, and withal, a sound lawyer, in which latter capacity he has particularly distinguished himself in his various negociations. In . private life he is an honest, worthy man, and an amiable companion,

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1818.]

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ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.

JOHN CARTER.

IN the account of this eccentric character, Vol. IX. p. 12, is an error in respect to the annuity purchased by him, which was not one of four hundred pounds, but two hundred and thirteen pounds only, and of that he did not live to receive any payment. His collection of drawings, &c. sold for 1,5271. 3s. 6d.; from which sum some deductions were afterwards made.

It is observable, that the biographer of Carter has not deigned to notice the ludicrous ballads entitled "Woodstock's Ghost," and "Addison'sGhost," supposed to have been written by the late Dean Vincent, under the signature of "An old Westminster," and communicated by him to the worthy Editor of the Gentleman's Magazine. In these rhymes, the architectural antiquary and his friend the painter, certainly cut a very whimsical figure.

DANIEL BRAITHWAITE, F. A. S. F. R. s.

(Vol. IX. p. 75.)

A further account should be given of this gentleman, as a tribute of respect to one who deserved a niche in the history of English literature. He was descended of an ancient and respectable family in Westmoreland, where he received a liberal education, and coming early to London, obtained a situation in the post office. By assiduous attention to his duties, he rose to the place of comptroller in the foreign department; and his only son James, who died a short time since, was appointed postmaster at New York, not long before the termination of the American war. After many years of service in an important station, Mr. Braithwaite retired upon a pension, with another to his son; since which, he divided his time between London and Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, where he possessed a small estate.

Though not ambitious of shining as a man of letters, he was well qualified, by his genius and attainments, to have distinguished himself eminently in the sphere of general science. He belonged to the two principal societies of the kingdom for the cultivation of learning, and his company was sought by persons of the firstrate talents. Romney, the painter, found a patron in Daniel Braithwaite, to whom Hayley, their common acquaintance, has in consequence dedicated his memoir of the artist. The late Richard Cumberland also experienced the kindness of this excellent man, at whose hos

pitable table might generally be seen men who by the application of their abilities, did honour to the age and country in which they lived. Among the most endeared friends of Mr. Braithwaite was the late Isaac Reed, who, in extent of reading, may be said to have equalled Magliabechi, and yet of so taciturn a temper, as if curiosity had never once animated his soul. Reed, Braithwaite, and the no less eccentric John Sewell, of Cornhill, were the proprietors of the European Magazine, till the death of the publisher, and the infirmities of the editor, broke up the partnership, and occasioned a transfer of the concern. From Staple's Inn to Harpur-street was a short distance for Isaac Reed, who spent much of his time there, as he likewise did at Mr. Braithwaite's country house, being considered indeed almost a member of the family, in whose vault at Ampthill his remains, by his own desire, were deposited.

When the last variorum edition of Shakspeare passed through the press, our indefatigable commentator caused one, and only one, copy to be printed on a very large paper, which, at his death, he left to his old associate. Much more might be said of Mr. Braithwaite's virtues and connexions, by one who esteemed him for the sterling virtue of his character, the urbanity of his disposition, his unassuming modesty, and inflexible loyalty.

RIGHT HON. GEORGE ROSE.

2.

It is to be hoped, that an extended memoir of the late Mr. Rose will be given to the world by some of those who were most intimately acquainted with his remarkable history and excellent character.

The account (vol. IX. p. 76) is pretty accurate for such a sketch, but some particulars should be added of a man against whose good name the malignant spirit of party still continues to spit its venom, even when the tomb has closed upon his mortal remains. It is not quite correct, however, to say of Mr. Rose, that he "afforded a striking instance of what may be accomplished by industry and integrity, by which he raised himself from obscurity to opulence and the highest offices of the state."-I know that political malevolence has often sported upon the supposed lowness of this statesman's origin, and without much. regard to truth or consistency, has described him as sprung from the dregs of the people. This, from a set of levelling reformers, and the despicers of heredita

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Right Hon. George Rose.

ry honours, is too bad, even were the
fact as they represent it--but the case
is far otherwise, for, though Mr. Rose
could not boast of great ancestors, he was
certainly descended from a very respect-
able stock. His father was a clergyman
of an ancient family in the county of
Nairn, whose brother, Dr. Rose, the
first editor of the Monthly Review, con-
ducted for many years a seminary of no
small celebrity at Chiswick. Mr. George
Rose was brought up under his uncle
from the age of five to eighteen, during
which space he made a good progress in
general learning, and particularly ma-
thematics, to which last accomplishment
he was ultimately much indebted for his
success in life. His first situation was
that of captain's clerk in a ship of war on
the Jamaica station, at the close of the
war in 1763. In this capacity, he con-
ducted himself so well as to be made a
purser in the navy, from which employ-
ment he was taken by Lord Sandwich,
when that nobleman was at the head of
the Admiralty, and introduced by him to
Lord North, who gave him a post in the
Treasury. His talents soon made them-
selves so conspicuous, that he was deem-
ed a fit person to superintend the im-
pression of the Journals of the Lords,
printed in 1777. From this time his
preferments came on rapidly; but it was
Mr. Pitt who had the merit of appreci-
ating the full value of Mr. Rose, as a
man every way qualified for public busi-
ness. Into the history of his parlia-
mentary life, it would be needless and
tedious to enter; but of his integrity and
liberality it may be proper to say some-
thing, because no man so situated ever
suffered more unjustly from the tongues
of evil-speakers, and the pens of licen-
tious scribblers. It was the glorious for-
tune of Mr. Pitt's administration, that
he sought out men adapted for the eve-
ral offices of the state; and in Mr. Rose
he happily found a mind congenial with
his own-one who was not disposed to
eat the bread of the nation, without tak-
ing the pains to earn it. There are idle
talkers in abundance, who declaim with
wonderful fluency upon public extrava-
gance, and the enormous incomes of men
in power. But the business of great
states cannot be conducted without la-
bour; and they who are ill paid for their
services, will not be wanting in plau-
sible excuses for negligence or pecula-
tion. The truth however is, that they
who bear the heaviest burdens, and
drudge the most in public employments,
are far from receiving more than is ade-

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quate to their sacrifices and responsibility. Mr. Rose for near forty years discharged the duties of several important offices, but in none of them was he an idle servant; and it may be truly affirmed, that the nation derived more benefit from his industry than he did from the salaries which he enjoyed. To his skill and diligence all parties have borne ample testimony; and though continually an object for the shafts of his political adversaries, none of them, with all their zeal and perspicacity, could fasten upon him even the suspicion of delinquency. This was no ordinary praise for one who had to pass the scrutinizing ordeal of an opposition eager to magnify the slightest deficiencies into enormous of fences.

The liberality of Mr. Rose was not an occasional flight of generosity, thrown out to gain admiration, but a steady principle, acting courteously towards all with whom he had any business to transact, and never turning aside from the numerous applicants that sought his favour. Though the inferior officers in the several departments over which he presided were taught diligence by his example, they felt confidence in his kindness. He was no rigorous task-master, seeking to gain reputation by the hard labour of his dependants; nor did he treat with haughtiness and reserve those who were at his absolute disposal. In private life, his deportment was uniformly marked by placidity, unaffected generosity, and settled friendship. His charities were extensive, but far from being ostentatious; and the great object which he had in view, when exercising any act of benevolence, was to render it permanently useful. As one proof of his attention to the public good, rather than his private emolument, the following circumstance may be mentioned: When the vicarage of Christ Church, of which he was patron, became vacant some years ago, Mr. Rose, regardless of the applications which were made to him by some of his friends in behalf of their relatives or acquaintance, wrote to the Bishop of Lincoln, desiring him to recommend some clergyman of small income but approved principles and conduct, eminently qualified for such a charge. His Lord. ship, with the same laudable view, passed over those who sought his interest, and, without solicitation, introduced the present worthy incumbent of that parish to Mr. Rose, who immediately gave him the appointment.

In short, it may be said of Mr. Rose,

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