Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1878-01-29
MANS lNHUNTANITY TO MAN. :"

The other day, prefacing an editorial article
upon the subject matter of the Labor CUES
ton, we quoted the wellknown lines, "Man's
inhumanity to man makes countless thousands
mourn, and by some strange whlmsey, IN
spired, no doubt by the Imp of the Perverse,
We credited the same to Wordsworth. Moth
ing short of an absolutely hopeless and help
less iii eracy would seem to account for so
GORGEOUS a bIunder; but men are the victims
of phenomenal lapses and mOmentary aberra-
tions which are no more susceptible of expIa-
nation than the startling freaks which origi-
nate in Dreamland or the strange manifesto
tons ascribed to the sladowy realms Of ''The
Spirits" A moments reflection, single sec
nnd Of reminder, after the mistake ire
trievably committed to type, and the sense of
confusion which follows the sudden coming
seIf-consciousmess OF having perpetrated
monstrous and inexcusable blu Ter comes up
like the wall-eyed specters which are born OF
a guilty conscience. Now we have been wait
ing for an excuse to make public confession
Of guilt and as earnest a confession Of shame
and contrition; and yesterday, through the
medium of letter fetched from Virginia City
by Wells Fargo 4 Cos Express, we are fur
nished with the coveted excuse. The COM
muricati0n is written on half sheet of letter
paper bearing the legend of LINDSAY u Dick
son. Attorneys at Law" and is dated Virginia
New Jan. 20 1878. The considc ate and gem
tie creature who wrote it was too morbidly
modest to sign his name; and so we ascribe it
to the impalpable and impersonal spirit
Of pure literature which fondIy turks about
that temple of the Sacred Nine. Here it is;
FRIEND MIGHELs: You old fossiated, be-
fo5gled and idiotic literary fraud; is it posi-
BILE that you have spent half century in this
world Of letters and don't know yej, who Is
the author of the lines,
''Mans inhumanity to man,
Makes countless Thousands mourn
I can excuse a man who in q tit of maudlin
drunkenness breaks down III the expression OF
some sublime thought, but what palliation is
there for one who in the privacy of his ''s5nc
tum" deliberately robs the iIlustrious dead of
their laurels! In this instance the act can only
be attributed to one of two causes: Downright
ignorance, or desire to tOady to one who at
a certain period of his life received the Royal
appointment O. Poet Laureate to the English
Court | believe the latter to be the true
cause. Wadsworth, at some time of his life,
may have quoted the lines referred to, but
one Robert Burns Of Scotland, poor plough
boy, and therefore perhaps unknown to you,
was the author of a poem entitled "Alan was
made to mourn in which poem the lines lg- |
norantly accredited by you to Nadsworth oc-
cur. This exhibition on your part of mental |
opacity is only equaled by that of certain |
man of this city, when he sOlennly announced |
as a fact that the "Dread Scott decision was |
written by L. P. Cowie ESQ. | expect in
some future issue Of the "Carson Apple (as |
the intelligent portion of this community now
insist on designating your poor little Sheet to
find one of Junius's letters quoted verbatim
and accredited to ''Dennis kearney."
The immaterial skips so evident in this
graceful missive-such as spelling Wordsworth
with ''Wad and bred with a superhuous
"a are not to be taken into account. The
firm but amiable rebuke loses none of its force
or timeliness; and it is only new reminder
that the office of the critic is to promote purity
Of style as well as correctness of statement.
Nothing could be more charitable and at the
same time convey an earnest expression OF
discriminate regardfulness than the alterna-
tive of downright ignorance" or "a desire to
toady'' to Poet Laureate who died more than
a quarter OF a Gentry ago. We have tender
footed impression that one Marc Antony did
once exclaim: ooh pardon me, thou piece of
bleeding earth that [ am meek and gentle
with these butchers"
c1, IlI,11 tod