23 JULY 1881, Page 3

Mr. Oscar Browning sent to Monday's Times, as a" curiosity

of literature," a good specimen of a class of productions that ought to make the wiser Americans seriously anxious for the conclusion of some copyright treaty which would render liter- ary stealing unsafe, and by degrees, perhaps, even un- popular in the States. This was an account of a little book, of which the whole contents (except a page or two of preface) had been contributed by himself — Mr. Oscar Browning—to the " Encyclopa3dia Britannica," but which had been reprinted in the States, bound in cloth, and stamped in gold letters "History of Education.—Payne." On the title-page it is admitted that the book is a reprint, but the true author's name does not appear, either outside or in. The only ostensible name is that of the annexer of his essay, Mr. Payne, "Professor of the Science and Art of Education in the University of Michigan." This literaryifilibustering must be as fatal to the original development of American reflection and imagination, as it is burdensome to the literary conscience of honourable men.