lso to express a hope
that such a law will be passed ere long by the American legislature, as
will place English authors in general upon a better footing in America
than at present they have obtained, and that the protection of copyright
between the two countries will be reciprocal. The vast circulation of
English works in America offers a temptation for hasty and incorrect
printing; and that same vast circulation would, without adding to the
price of each copy of an English work in a degree that could be grudged
or thought injurious by any purchaser, allow an American remuneration,
which might add considerably to the comforts of English authors, who may
be in narrow circumstances, yet who at the same time may have written
solely from honourable motives. Besides, Justice is the foundation on
which both law and practice ought to rest.

Having many letters to write on returning to England after so long an
absence, I regret that I must be so brief on the present occasion. I
cannot conclude, however, without assuring you that the acknowledgments
which I receive from the vast continent of America are among the most
grateful that reach me. What a vast field is there open to the English
mind, acting through our noble language! Let us hope that our authors of
true genius will not be unconscious of that thought, or inattentive to
the duty which it imposes upon them, of doing their utmost to instruct,
to purify, and to elevate their readers. That such may be my own
endeavour through the short time I shall have to remain in this world,
is a prayer in which I am sure you and your life's partner will join me.
Believe me gratefully,

Your much obliged friend,
W. WORDSWORTH.[156]

101. _Of the Poems of Quillinan, and Revision of his own Poems_.

LETTER TO EDWARD QUILLINAN, ESQ.

Brinsop Court, Sept. 20. 1837.

MY DEAR MR. QUILLINAN,

We are heartily glad to learn from your letter, just received, that, in
all probability, by this time, you must have left the unhappy country in
which you have been so long residing. I should not have been sorry if
you had entered a little more into Peninsular politics; for what is
going on there is shocking to humanity, and one would be glad to see
anything like an opening for the termination of these unnatural
troubles.

[156] _Memoirs_, ii. 344-6.

The position of the Miguelites, relatively to the conflicting, so
called, liberal