and practice they sympathize. There is a convent of Abyssinian monks in the Nitrian desert; they share the same chapel at Jerusalem; and the abuna of the church of the mountains is dependent on the head of the church of Egypt.-Portions of three separate versions of the Scriptures into the Coptic tongue have been found among the MSS. brought from the Egyptian monasteries, which were probably made in the beginning of the 4th century. Of these, that used in Lower Egypt and the Nitrian desert is called the Memphitic; that used in Upper Egypt, the Thebaic; and the third, which it is conjectured may have been used in the eastern part of the Nile delta, the Bashmuric. The Thebaic version, which is often called the Sahidic, is the most important in the textual criticism of the New Testament; while the Memphitic, which is usually styled the Coptic, has the most authority in the existing Egyptian church. The first printed edition of the Memphitic New Testament was issued by David Wilkins (4to, Oxford, 1716), with a Latin translation. A later and more accurate edition was begun by the Prussian Schwartze in 1846, but only the four Gospels were published before his death. Since 1852 Dr. Paul Bötticher of Halle has published the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. Another edition, under the superintendence of Dr. R. T. Lieder of Cairo, has been published by the London society for promoting Christian knowlledge. The Thebaic version has been collated and fragments of it published since 1779 by Woide, Mingarelli, Giorgi, Münter, and Ford. Fragments of the Bashmuric_version have been published by Zoëga and Engelbrecht.The Copts have three liturgies. The principal is a translation from the Greek liturgy of St. Basil, in which, however, several alterations are made to adapt it to the variations in doctrine and discipline. Another, which bears the name of St. Gregory, was probably borrowed from the Armenian church (of which Gregory was the apostle and founder), after that church lapsed into the Eutychian heresy. A third is doubtfully attributed to the Alexandrian Cyril, who in all the churches of Egypt has great authority, and is honored by the pompous title of "doctor of the world." Of these liturgies there are Arabic translations in use in all the churches. Most of the priests are unable to understand their sacred dialect except in a translation. (See COPTIC LANGUAGE.) -In 1442 the Copts were prevailed upon to enter into communion with Rome; but the union was soon dissolved. In 1713 the Coptic patriarch again recognized the supreme authority of the pope, but this act appears not to have had any lasting results. The missionaries of the Roman Catholic church, in particular the Franciscans and reformed Minorites, succeeded in gaining over a number of Copts for a reunion with Rome, and thus established a united Coptic church, for which the pope in 1781 instituted a vicariate apostolic, which

still exists. The vicar apostolic, who is a bishop in partibus, resides at Cairo, and in his house young men who wish to devote themselves to the ministry receive free board and instruction. Since 1840 the vicar apostolic has also had under his jurisdiction as delegate of the apostolic see the church of Abyssinia, to which country the Propaganda at that time intended to send a bishop of the Coptic rite. The number of united Copts is estimated at about 3,500, who have 9 churches, 7 chapels, and 25 priests.-The average morality of the Copts in Egypt is about the same as that of the other races, with the single exception of the vice of drunkenness. The Copts whom travellers usually meet are of the more respectable class, and hide their avarice under the mask of courtesy. They are more familiar and fluent than the Turkish effendis, and show in their intercourse none of that contempt for the infidel which the most polite Moslem can hardly refrain from manifesting. The domestic customs of the Coptic people differ but slightly from those of the Arabs of the Nile valley. There are some peculiarities, however, in their marriage ceremonies. The Copt bride, unlike the Moslem, has no canopy to cover her in the procession to the bridegroom's house; at the preliminary feast pigeons are released from pies and fly around the room shaking bells attached to their feet; in the church, besides the sacrament of communion, there is a ceremony of coronation, and the priest sets on the foreheads of the new couple a thin gilt diadem; the bride, in entering her husband's house, must step over the blood of a newly killed lamb; and the whole pageant, after lasting eight days, ends with a grand feast at the bridegroom's house. This is the custom with the wealthy and on the occasion of a young girl's marriage. The poor are wedded more simply, and no parade is made when a widow goes to the house of her second husband. All marriages, to be religiously lawful, must be licensed by the patriarch or bishop; but as civil contracts marriages licensed by the cadi are valid, and many of the poorer Copts prefer the disgrace of that resort to the extortion of their own spiritual rulers. Such marriages, moreover, are more easily dissolved than those which the priest solemnizes. The respectable Copt women live in the harem in seclusion. The wife's adultery is the only ground for divorce, notwithstanding that the incontinence of the husband is regarded as a sin. In most of the cities and large towns the Copts form but a fraction of the population. In the city of Cairo they have been estimated as high as 60,000; other writers put their number at 30,000, 20,000, or even 10,000. At Negaddeh, in Upper Egypt, there are 2,500; and Minieh, Osioot, Ekhmin, and Girgeh have each a considerable Coptic population. The whole race, from the sea to the Nubian frontier, number somewhat more than a 15th of the entire population of Egypt. In Nubia

they are not found.-The history of the Copts in Egypt, from the time of St. Mark to the Arabic conquest, is the history of the land itself. The names of their patriarchs, scholars, and anchorites, Clement, Origen, Athanasius, Cyril, Dionysius, Anthony, Macarius, and many more, belong to the annals of the Christian church, and are commemorated both in the Roman and Greek calendars. From the 3d to the 6th century Egypt had great influence in settling the doctrines of faith; its patriarch was the rival of the Roman bishop; its hermitages were the most attractive shrines of pilgrimage, and in its solitudes the persecuted believers found safety. From the latter half of the 5th century the controversy between the Melchite or royalist party, who adhered to the creed of the Greeks, and the Jacobite party, who were Eutychians, was vehemently maintained for more than a century, the victory inclining more and more to the Jacobite party. The pacific policy of Zeno for a time restrained open warfare; but in the succeeding reigns of Justin, Justinian, Phocas, and Heraclius the strife of arms was added to the strife of words, and bloody persecutions were carried on. In vain Apollinarius, at once prefect and patriarch, attempted by threatening and massacre to convert the Jacobite masses; roused by their zealous bishops, they returned defiance, and early in the 7th century all Christian faith not Monophysite was heresy from Alexandria to Syene. To quarrels with the Greeks succeeded quarrels with each other about minor points. Theodore and Themistius discussed the question concerning the wisdom of Jesus, the latter expressing the belief that Jesus was not omniscient. John the Grammarian affirmed that there were three Gods, and rejected the word unity from the doctrine of the being of God. In the five years of his administration as patriarch, from A. D. 611, John the Almsgiver made more converts by his zeal in good works than by his zeal against the Greek heresy; yet he was not acknowledged as a genuine patriarch, since he was appointed to office by the emperor, and followed the imperial party when it was driven from Alexandria by the invading Persians. In the ten years of Persian rule the patriarch was a true Copt. When the Romans regained power, the Jacobite Benjamin was displaced, and for a short time the church of Egypt had a ruler whose opinion was a compromise between the Greek and Jacobite views, maintaining two natures in Christ, but only a single will. In the great strife between the Greeks and the Arabs, which occupied the succeeding years, the Coptic church secretly inclined to the Moslem party, and it has been charged against them that their connivance with Amru and his army decided the contest in favor of the religion of the prophet. But if they were promised amnesty and protection, the promise was not long kept. Within a century from the fall of Alexandria the hands of monks

were branded, and heavy annual imposts exacted of them, and such as refused to pay were scourged, outraged, and even beheaded; many of the churches, too, were destroyed and plundered. In the reign of the caliph Hashem (724-743), the Melchite dispute was revived by the restoration of some of the Greek bishops to their ancient sees in Nubia, and bribes by one and the other party swayed the authorities in either direction. In 755 it was forbidden to any Copt to hold any public office, even if he should embrace Islamism. In the time of the Abbasside dynasty the humiliations of the Copts were multiplied; the caliph Mutawackel compelled them to wear disgraceful articles of dress, and to fasten on their doors pictures of devils; and a century and a half later the mad Fatimite caliph Hakem prescribed for them the black robe and turban, ordered them to wear suspended from their necks a heavy wooden cross, confiscated their churches, and finally decreed their banishment. To save themselves from these heavy penalties great numbers apostatized, and in the following centuries the number of Christians steadily decreased. In 1301 an edict was issued requiring all Christians to wear blue turbans, and forbidding them to ride on horses or mules. Fresh conversions to Islam were the result of this edict. In 1321, by a bold conspiracy, the Moslem zealots destroyed simultaneously all the Egyptian churches, many of which were overturned from the foundations. The Christians retaliated by burning in Fostat and Cairo a large number of houses, palaces, and mosques. The punishment for these outrages, though it fell upon some of the Arabs, bore more severely upon the Christians. Some were hanged, some were burned alive, and leave was given to all Moslem subjects to rob and murder any Christian who might be seen wearing the white turban. No government official was permitted to employ a Copt. At the baths they were distinguished by a bell hung from the neck. Very numerous changes of faith resulted from this persecution, and at the end of the 14th century the condition of the Copts in numbers and influence had reached its lowest point, at which it continued with but little variation until the present century. Under Mehemet Ali and his successors, the Copts have had no occasion to complain of unreasonable taxation or of violated rights. Their exemption from military service, which seems to be a disgrace, is in reality a privilege, and is so regarded by most of their body.—A full statement of Coptic history may be found in vol. ii. of Quatremère's Memoires géographiques et historiques. The most condensed account of their manners and customs is given in Lane's "Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians." Sir Gardner Wilkinson has given some valuable notices of the Copts in his work on Egypt, and Mr. Curzon has described the appearance and condition of their convents

and MSS. A good account of the Coptic versions may be found in the "Introductions to the New Testament" by Hug and Tregelles. Burckhardt, Bunsen, and Lepsius have furnished many important incidental notices, and the Arabic historian Makrizi has treated of the fortunes of the subject people in his elaborate account of their conquerors, and of Moslem rule in Egypt.

COPYRIGHT, a right conferred by law upon an author or his representatives to the exclusive sale or use of his intellectual productions. Owing probably to the circumstance that the ideas of property originated in an age of violence, the first laws recognizing property referred wholly to material things; and long be- | fore intellectual property acquired a pecuniary value, the laws of property in modern society were established, and it became difficult to admit a new object of property among those recognized by the ancient law. Since 1774 the law of England has been regarded as settled against the perpetual right of the author to his work, and the copyrights of authors in that country as well as in the United States are deemed property only by virtue of statute law. The copyright conferred by the statute applies only to works after publication. Before publication an author has the common law right of property in his manuscript, or other unpublished production. In England, by the act of 1842, copyright extends to 42 years, or for the life of the author and seven years thereafter, whichever period shall prove the longer. Protection is extended to books, maps, charts, pamphlets, magazines, engravings, prints, dramatic and musical compositions, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculpture, models, busts, and designs. Lecturers are also entitled to copyright on their lectures, and musical composers and dramatic authors may secure the sole right of performing their compositions or pieces for the term for which copyrights are granted. In order to secure a copyright an entry is made in the registry books at stationers' hall of the title of the work, the time of its publication, and the name and residence and interest of the proprietor or proprietors. A copy of every book is to be delivered within a month after publication to the British museum, and four copies at stationers' hall, for Oxford and Cambridge universities, the Edinburgh faculty of advocates, and Trinity college, Dublin. The first publication of the book must be within the realm; but such publication may be Contemporaneous with publication abroad. In the United States the authority over this subject is in congress. The act of 1870, which is a substitute for all previous statutes relating to copyright, permits any citizen or resident of the United States who shall be the author, inventor, designer, or proprietor of any book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, or photograph or negative thereof, or of a painting, drawing, chromo, statue, or statuary, and of models and designs VOL. V.-22

intended to be perfected as works of the fine arts, to secure a copyright thereof for 28 years, and gives a right to renewal for himself, his widow or children, for 14 years more; and authors may reserve the right to dramatize and translate their own works. The statute also gives to the author of a dramatic composition the sole liberty of publicly performing or representing it, or causing it to be performed or represented by others. A copy of the title of the book or other article, or a description of the painting, statue, &c., must be sent to the librarian of congress before publication, and two copies of the book, or in case of a painting, &c., a photograph of the same, must be sent to such librarian within ten days after publication. The librarian makes the proper record, receiving 50 cents therefor, and 50 cents for any copy, and there is also a small fee for recording and certifying assignments. A copy of any new edition is also to be sent to the librarian, and a penalty of $25 is imposed for any failure to forward such book, &c. The fact of the entry with the librarian is to be stated in each book or on each other article, and a failure to do this will preclude any action for infringement; while the publication of an entry not actually made subjects the party to a forfeiture of $100. Under previous statutes copyright was secured by depositing a printed copy of the title of the work in the office of the clerk of the district court in the district where the author or proprietor resided. The penalty for infringement of the copyright of a book is a forfeiture of the books printed, imported, &c., and such damage as a court may award; in case of maps, charts, prints, cuts, musical compositions, &c., a forfeiture of the plates, sheets, &c., and $1 for every sheet in possession of the guilty party; and in case of a painting, statue or statuary, $10 for every copy in possession; and in case of a dramatic composition, the damages which may be assessed, which shall not be less than $100 for the first and $50 for every subsequent representation. Authors are by the same law protected against the surreptitious publication of their manuscripts, and may recover damages therefor. In England ornamental and useful designs on articles of manufacture, &c., may be copyrighted; but in the United States designs come within the scope of the law concerning patents. It has been held both in England and America that newspapers are not protected by the copyright laws. Copyright is transferable to heirs and assignees. entitle an author to copyright, his work must be original, and must not have been published or dedicated to the public prior to the application for copyright. Abandonment to the public before copyright renders the work common property, and defeats copyright. — Prior to 1845 the capacity of a foreign author to acquire, or at least to confer upon a British subject, valid copyright, does not seem to have been denied by the English courts. The ques

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tion was first thoroughly discussed in a court | of law in that year, when it was held that a foreigner was entitled to the benefit of the statutes if he had given England the advantage of the first publication of his work. It was not till 1849 that the doctrine was absolutely announced by a court of law that a foreigner 'resident abroad could not acquire copyright in England or confer a valid title upon an English subject. After much change of opinion on this subject in the English courts, the question was decided by the house of lords in 1854, after an elaborate and exhaustive discussion in the case of Jefferys v. Boosey. The judges were nearly evenly divided in their opinions, but the judgment of the house of lords was that neither at common law nor by statute would English copyright vest in a foreign author while resident abroad. This uncertainty arose from the fact that the language of the statutes passed for the encouragement of learning, from the reign of Anne to the present time, has been general, extending protection to "authors," and leaving the courts to determine whether that expression included all authors or was limited to British authors. By this and other more recent decisions it has been settled in England that copyright will vest in any person, whether foreigner or citizen, upon three conditions: 1, publication must be in the United Kingdom; 2, there must have been no previous publication; 3, the author must have been at the time of publication within the British dominions. In the case of an English subject, however, presence within the realm is not necessary. When copyright has once vested, protection extends throughout the British dominions, including all parts of Great Britain and Ireland, and all the colonies, settlements, and possessions of the crown. It will thus be seen that the place of publication is limited to a less area than that throughout which protection extends, and within which the presence of the author at the time of publication is required. There may be a contemporaneous publication of the same work abroad, but a prior publication will defeat the copyright. A foreign author therefore may acquire a valid English copyright by first publishing in Great Britain, or publishing there on the day of publication elsewhere, if he be anywhere within the British dominions at the time of such publication. In order to meet this requirement of the law, it has not been uncommon for American authors to go to Canada and remain there during the publication of their work in England, thus acquiring a valid English copyright. In the United States, by the several copyright statutes that have been passed, from the act of 1790 to that of 1870, congress has expressly excluded foreigners from the benefits of copyright, extending protection only to such author as may be a citizen of the United States, or resident therein." The judicial construction given to the word "resident" is that it refers to a per

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son residing in the United States with the intention of making that country his place of permanent abode. A formal declaration of such intention is not necessary, nor is any definite period of time indicated as requisite to constitute such residence. The question is determined by the intention of the person at the time he has his abode here, and by his acts so far as they go to show what that intention was. If, at the time of recording his title in order to procure copyright, a foreign author is residing in the United States with the intention of making that country his place of permanent abode, he becomes a resident within the meaning of the act, and entitled to copyright without regard to the length of time of such residence, and notwithstanding the fact that he may subsequently return to his native country. On the other hand, if such author intends to remain temporarily, but actually remains for a long period, he is a mere sojourner, and does not acquire a residence so far as to be entitled to copyright. The assignee of a foreign author, though a citizen of the United States, holds the same relation under the statute as the author himself; so that a citizen is not entitled to copyright in a work which he has purchased from a foreign author. -In Great Britain provision is made for international copyright with such nations as may extend reciprocal protection to British authors. This is effected by an “order of her majesty in council," by which a foreign author resident abroad, by complying with the statute regulations as to registration, delivery of copies, &c., may secure protection for his work in Great Britain. In these cases it is not essential that first publication shall be in England. There are arrangements for international copyright with France, Prussia, Saxony, Hanover, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and other powers. An arrangement exists between England and France by which the author of a work published in either country may reserve to himself the exclusive right of translating such work for five years from the first publication of the translation authorized by him. No arrangement for international copyright has been entered into by the United States. The leading publishers in the United States are nevertheless accustomed to make a liberal allowance to British authors of established reputation from the profits on their books republished in this country. The difficulty of protecting British copyrights in the colonies has led to the laying of heavy duties for the benefit of their owners on reprints, copies, &c., imported.-In France and Belgium an author, and his widow after him, is entitled to a copyright for life, and the children for 20 years after; and in France the other heirs or assignees for 10 years, and in Belgium for 20 years after the death of the author or his widow. In Germany the copyright is for life and 30 years after. In Greece it is for 15 years from date of publication. In Russia copyright endures for life, and after the death