divine, who had in no small degree
saved the State of California to the Union, by his earnest and constant
plea for national integrity, died in the midst of his useful and noble
career: forthwith the publisher of a Review, in whose pages some of his
early essays had appeared, announced their republication: in vain the
friends and family of Starr King protested against so crude and limited
a memorial of his genius, and entreated that they might be allowed to
glean and garner more mature and complete fruits of his pen, as a token
of his ability and his career; and thus do justice, by careful selection
and well-advised preparation, to the memory they and their fellow
citizens so tenderly and proudly cherished: no; the articles had been
paid for, the recent death of the writer gave them a market value, and
the publishers were resolved to turn them to account, however good taste
and right feeling and sacred associations were violated.

Again, one of the few legal works of American origin which has a
standard European reputation is Wheaton's 'International Law.' Its
author was eminently national in his convictions; foreign service and
patriotic instincts had made him thoroughly American in his sympathies
and sentiments; no one of our diplomatic agents sent home such
comprehensive and sagacious despatches, having in view 'the honor and
welfare of the whole country;' and no one who knew Henry Wheaton doubts
that, were he living at this hour, all his influence, hopes, and faith
would be identified with the Union cause.

Yet an edition[14] of his great work has lately appeared, edited in an
opposite interest; and the standard reference on the law of nations, so
honorable to the legal knowledge, perspicacity, and candor of an
American author, goes forth perverted and deformed by annotations and
comments indirectly sympathetic with the wicked rebellion now
devastating the nation. Can a greater literary outrage be imagined? Is
it possible more grossly to violate the rights of the dead?

Aware that certain rules apply to the annotation of legal treatises not
recognized in other departments of literature, and diffident of personal
judgment in this respect, in order to ascertain how far our sense of
this violation of literary property and reputation was well founded, how
far we were right in asserting a partisan aim, we requested an
accomplished lawyer, thoroughly versed in the literature of his
profession, and experienced as an edi