Under The Black Flag.

date to formulate terms which ( the former avers ) would have been instantly accepted , no understanding with regard to the publication or reproduction of the ILAtory could have been arrived at between the farties in 1883 . Nevertheless ,

in tbe year last named ( 1883 ) , Yorston issued a prospectus , and Mr . Enoch T . Carson undertook to write , or to get written , the American Appendix to the work . After this , Yorston ' s agents visited the various States , soliciting

subscriptions ancl arranging for the insertion of portraits . The correspondence between Yorston and Jack has already beeu given somewhat fully in the Masonic journals , and it will be sufficient in this place to remark thafc " the last

straw which broke the camel ' s back , " or , in other word ? , that led to Mr . Jack's patience being exhausted , was the touting for portraits to be inserted in the American issue of the History of Freemasonry , at a charge of three hundred dollars each .

After this Jack declined to have anything further to do with Yorston , though the latter again wrote to the former , stating that his conduct in the matter had been pronounced blameless by Messrs . Nickerson ancl Carson .

That Mr . Nickerson of Boston ever expressed himself as above alleged , I shall take leave to doubt , but of Mr . Carson ' s entire sympathy with Yorston there is no doubt whatever , ancl here we reach a further stage of the

inquiry . Passing over the obvious reflection that no individual Mason can arrogate to himself the position of censor morum or arbiter elegantiarum , in all matters

relating fco the Fraternity , ifc is quite clear tnat Mr . Carson , who had entered , at all events , into a literary partnership with Yorston in 1883 , when tho prospectus appeared , in which it was announced thafc my work

would be delivered to American subscribers through the medium of Mr . Yorston , was altogether disqualified for the post of umpire in a difference between the latter and Mr . Jack . What subscriptions had been received up to

June 1884 , or what number of brethren had paid the " portrait fee " of 800 dollars , are equally unknown to me , but if Mr . Yorston in his next deliverance will kindly furnish these particulars , a little light may be shed upon

what I may venture to term the secret history of a very singular transaction . Still , upon tlie evidence before us , we may assume with confidence , that from at least the close of 1883 , Yorston had decided—coilte epic coule—to

bring out an American edition of my History of Freemasonry . His negotiation with Jack was therefore of tho mosfc illusory character , nor , indeed , was even fche semblance of fair dealing exhibited by Mr . Yorston . Is ifc possible

thafc a person who was merely negotiating for the right , or licence to publish an English work , would have issued a prospectus , charged ' 300 dollars for the insertion of portraits , and sent round canvassers to attract subscribers ? The

idea seems to have been ( having dexterously got me out of the way ) to exhaust Mr . Jack ' s patience by impossible requisitions , and then to plunder and defame him . The plan adopted has been a highly successful one .

Yorston , aud not Jack , according to Messrs . Carson and Drummond , was the injured party , and on their vouchers many American Masons of repute have rallied to the standard of Mr . Yorston ,

My own action in seeking to clear the fair fame of the late Bro . Jack now appears to have given the clique some uneasiness , and the word seems to have been passed to vilify and defame me in the same way as my deceased

friend . This proceeding , however , I shall bear with equanimity , for I cannot but think that in putting on the Yorston livery , Mr . Drummond , in his zeal to curry favour with bis employer , has rather overacted his part , and thafc

the abuse which he lavishes on vie will recoil upon himself . It has been assumed by Messrs . Yorston aud Drummond that I regard them as " fraternal pirates , " but I can assure them that I do nothing of the kind , for ifc seems fco me

thafc they view the exercise of brotherly feeling as an obsolete precept in Masonry—one of those more honoured ( at least by themselves ) in the breach than in the

observance . Nor do I admit for an instant ; that a thief ( or thief ' s maintainor ) ceases to be one , merely because from the imperfections of the law he can snap hi ~ fingers at his victim .

In conclusion , I shall address a tew remarks to a body of brethren for whom , both collectively and individually , I have a great x-espect—from whose labours in the past I have greatly benefited , ancl from whose impartial consideration of the various circumstances connected with the

Under The Black Flag.

piracy of my work I trust some good may result . I allude to the " Reportorial Corps , " U . S . A ., and shall anticipate , without anv misgivinors , that the conduct of Mr . Yorston and his ( nofc my ) assistants will receive from their clearer sense of morality the condemnation it deserves .

To begin with , literary piracy is either an offence against morality or it is not . If it is , does the fact that , in the present instance , one Mason has plundered another , make any difference ? But , say Messrs . Carson and Drummond , the circumstances of the case were such thafc Yorston was

fully justified in proceeding with his enterprise . Have they made out , or can they make out their plea ? Or , to put the matter in another and more forbidding light , but one which will fcho better enable ns to regard tho case iu

its true aspect , are the inculcations of Masonry to be summarily set aside , because a piratical publisher has received the countenance and support of three brethren in high quarters ? Is the thief to be absolved because he has succeded in squaring the police ?

Yorston and his accomplices pass over very lightly my own claims to have been consulted with regard to the reproduction of my work in America . These I shall say a word or two upon .

In the firsfc place , wbafc is the position m the United States of an English author who either has , or has not , retained tho copyright of his work ? To this I reply , that his claims can only be urged in foro conscientce , and that

his sole protection is the binding value of the eighth Commandment . But , as the proverb says , " it is always termtime in the Court of Conscience , " and I do not think that the Craft , as a body , would raise any objection to the case

being disposed of within this jurisdiction . Yet , to grapple more closely with my despoilers , let me deal with the notion that the law of copyright , which in the case before

us—as Yorston so constantly impressed upon the English publisher—does nofc exist , had , nevertheless , the effect of making the late Mr . Jack the only Englishman to be negotiated with .

Now , as ifc seems to me , for an American pirate ( in literature ) to plead the law of copyright , is the very height and acme of impudence , from whichever of tho two points of view ifc may be regarded . Firstly , the said law is

inoperative in the U . S . A . Therefore , except on the broad ground " that mankind [_ and especially Masonic mankind ? ~ ] are mostly fools , " as laid down by the sage of Chelsea , or unless the infallibility of Mr . Drummond as self-elected Masonio Pope be conceded , the plea must be viewed as a deliberate insult to our understandings .

The alternative is equally absurd and ridiculous , but as drowning men catch at straws , so the idea of " ringing the changes , " to quote the expressive phrase by which a

common mode of plunder in this metropolis is popularly designated , seems to havo occurred to the pirate-in-chief , and to have been promptly put in action by his obedient

crew . " Dead men tell no tales , to quote the expressive language of the old buccaneers , and it was apparently

thought by their modern successors that as the late Mr . Jack's mouth was closed , they might defame his namo witb impunity . So the law of copyright , having served its purpose as against the author , a dispensing power was

exercised by Mr . Carson , and Yorston forthwith proceeded as though no such authority had been conjured up . To find a parallel for this we must imagine the notorious Captain Kidcl , or a mariner of like repute , being arraigned

for piracy and murder , and setting upas his defence the 8 th and 6 th commandments , while the incident of his having compelled many captured prisoners "to walk the plank "

would be pleasantly explained by the production of a written dispensation , certifying that be had beon fully justified in proceeding to such extremities—under the hands of his firsfc and second officers .

I shall next consider , nofc the custom of the publishing trade , with which I am unconcerned , bufc the comity of Masons , or code of morals inculcated by the teachings of the Craft . Ifc seems to me that in all cases where the

author himself is not debarred from re-printing , he retains such equitable rights as may exisfc , but to go altogether beyond the comprehension of Yorston and his chief

henchman—I shall proceed many steps further , and contend , that even if the English law of copyright had extended to the United States , ifc would have been an un-Masonic ancl discourteous act for American brethren to

agree , even with Mr . Jack himself , to contribute an enlarged edition behind my back . To compare small things with great , and not forgetting ,