The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-01-31
A CHAPTER ON PLAGIARISM.


This is true enough, yet for all that, plagiarism
goes on 3 regularly and as tbriyingly as any
other dishonest trade that we know OF from
" fat burglary" down to pocket picking. We
were, ourselves, guilty Of a larceny of this
Kind a few weeks ago, which we should no, &C.
knowledgeIhad not circumstances placed US in
fair way 10 be charged with obtaining the plum
der from a source whence we certainly did not
get it, In writing an article upon the subject of
African Colonization, we had before US
speech delivered by the Rev. Philip Slaughter
at the Annual Meeting of the American Colo
nization Society, which took place On the Goth
Jan" airy, 1852. Ii struck US as a very remarka-
bic speech tracing, as it did, the history CT the
settlement of the English colonies in America,
the disappearance Of the aboriginal tribes, and
the introduction of slavery, to that remarkable
prophecy of the patriarch Noah, God shall
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the
tents Of Shem, and Canaan shall be his SER
want" We rather suspect the unceremonious
use we made OF his ideas, caused Mr.. s. (who
we are happy TO say is a regular reader of the
Dispatch) to stare. But he is one Of those
men who has plenty, in this line, to spare,
and did not feel his loss so acutely as gentle
men Of less fertile brains might possibly have
done. Moreover he is an old friend and school.
mate, and will not be very severe on US tor try
ing to appear smart and learned out OF his ma
terials. We should not have betrayed our
secret, but for our having discovered that ALI
son, in the first chapter Of his new work, writ
Ten since this speech was delivered The saws in
February, 1852 has pursued the same train
of thought Now, did we not come forward
and tell the whole truth, We should certainly
be charged with stealing from Alison, and that
charge would be unjust, for we never read the
CHAPTER in question, until last Friday. Asst can
hardly be supposed, in the mean time, that he
had seen Mr.. Slaughter's address, delivered in
January, 1859, before, in the following month,
he wrote this chapter, we know not how to
account for the coincidence, except on the
ground that great men will think alike-or ra
Their, that two minds engaged in the same train
OF Investigation, will, without intercommuni-
cation, lie apt to arrive at the same conclusions.
We recollect having heard a young lawyer
in the Southwest, deliver speech in defence
of a or iminal, the peroration of which electri
fed, bench, bar, jury, and by-standers. When
congratulated upon the brilliancy of the effort.
he said, yes, gentlemen, it was brilliant
piece ofeloquence, and you would have thought
so, if you had only heard John ]. Crittenden
when he first altered it as did," The Eng
fish Chancellor of the Exchequer, we believe,
was convicted of literary larceny upon some
French Minister (Thiers or Guizot) in his so,
called euiogy upon the Duke of Wellington.
Hazlitt gained considerable credit by his life
Of Napoleon. The entire history of the cam
paigns Of Italy and Egypt is translated word
for word from the Memoirs of Napoleon, die
tated TO Montholon and Gourgaud at st. Hele
ma, as we can show any body who doubts the
fact, for we have the original and the work of
Hazlitt before US at this moment. The book is
full of original observation, it is true, but the
narratape, so far as these campaigns. and that
Of Waterloo is concerned, is all stolen from
the st. Helena Memoirs.
The daring character of this plagiarism ex-
cites establishment now one hundred and fifty
years ago, it would not have even attracted
n0ylce. 1t is astonishing to see how freely the
works OF continental writer's were used at that
period, and with how little apparent fear Of de-
lection. The English play, "The Plaindealer,"
is an exact translation Of Moliere's "Msan-
thrope" The names of the personages are
substituted by Englsh names, and the verse of
the original is translated into English prose-
Save in these two respects, it is a complete
plagiarism throughout. The "Tartuffe" of
the same author was translated into the ZIP
pocrite" of the English theatre, and Fielding
cut down his five-act aware" into q three act
"Miser' for the London stage.
In no department of literature has there been
30 much plundering as in the dramatic. Au.
thors steal from their predecessors, not only
characters and ideas, but situations language,
and entire plots, charging Them scarcely as
much as the glpsies change the children they
steal, TO prevent their parents from recognising
Them. A person once determined TO construct
comedy out of such parts of number of
French and Italian comedies as he indeed
IL lest Of humor. Like the work of the ar,s,
who formed statue of Venus, by collecting
together number of beautiful women. and
modelling after the nose of one, the mouth Of
another, the forehead of third, the arm Of n
fourth, etc., he succeeded in making quite a
fright Of it yet be fattered himself tina, il
would pass. When he came to read it 10 the
manager, who was well acquainted with En-
glish stage-literature, but had no knowledge
oiiorelgn languages, he was told that it could
mol received, because the limitations lnof to
say piagiarisms) were too palpable. Upon his
requesting to have the initiated passages point
ei out, ne was referred to one which he had
copied word for word, from "rAyare," one of
Moiiere's most famous comedies. This, the
manager said, was an exact copy OF the open.
ing scene in "She Stops TO Conquer" where
old Hardeasile gives his servants directions as
u their behavior at dinner. He came 10 the
conclusion that the world renowned comedy
was not entitled to all the praise il has re.
ceived for the orig inaiiy, a, least, of its posi-
ions Though ii was quite certain that the
manager had not read sloliere, il is verv
evident that Goldsmith had.
vrhe Governor OF Pennsy lvania has been
convinced. by The commissioners sDnoia,ea nv