of commerce; but when a nation had reached so high a degree of progress in all ingenious arts and discoveries, and in trade and commerce, as we had, he thought that in this department, as well as in others, the system of bounties and premiums was much more likely to be mischievous than useful.” He then very clearly showed how the Patent system worked; how, in the place of securing the reward to great and meritorious inventions, it gave a monopoly to the first claimer of those minor improvements which he classed as unmeritorious Patents, and which improvements would necessarily be made in the ordinary progress of manufacture. As an example of this, I may mention the manufacture of artificial manures. The modern history of manures dates from the publication of Liebig’s book in 1840, in which the conversion of insoluble into soluble phosphate of lime is recommended. This suggestion has been perhaps more fruitful in results than any other of modern times, and forms the basis of the enormous manufacture of super-phosphate and other artificial manures. It was patented in 1842, not by Liebig, but by Mr. Lawes; and since that period various improvements in the manufacture have been patented, but the real inventor has never been rewarded. There can be no doubt that without a system of Patents all of the subsequent minor improvements would have been made in the ordinary course of trade; and one of the main objects of the Patent-Law, to secure a reward to the inventor, has, in this instance, as in many others, failed of accomplishment. Then, on the other hand, all these minor improvements, being patented, stand in the way of further progress, and if the manufacturer wishes to adopt a new process, or to improve his manufacture, he must do it at the peril of litigation with some unknown person, who at some time or other has thought fit to claim for himself a monopoly. No matter whether his claim be good or bad, it stands in the way of improvement until it is either disclaimed by the patentee himself or pronounced invalid in a court of law. As an example of how, under the present system, a patentee may create a virtual monopoly and embarrass manufacturers even when his claims are, according to his own showing, to a very great extent invalid, permit me to draw your attention to a Patent, No. 12,867, A.D. 1849, for compressing peat for fuel, making gas, &c., and with which I unfortunately became acquainted, because the patentee, under another Patent (connected, however, with the first), endeavoured to make my firm pay him for the use of a substance in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. Now, the patentee, Mr. F. C Hills, finding, I presume, that in its first state his Patent was invalid, filed what is technically termed a disclaimer, in 1853; and on comparing the original specification, which is very long and consists of about 230 lines, I find at least one-half is disclaimed. This Patent secured to Mr. Hills the monopoly of the