The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-12-18
Concerning Literary Larceny.

The present seems bad year for
a peaceful prosecution of the crime
of literary larceny. The clergymen
are ''going for" each other on this
head with vim worthy of a clean
er cause, anu now Colonel Robert
Ingersoll, p. P. Peculiar Preacher),
is accused of having filched the
most eloquent passage in one of his
temperance addresses from an old
pamphlet on the subject, in the
possession of a clergyman Of Corn
Ing, n. Y, written by an unknown
hand and published in 1S45. From
a comparison OF the two extracts
one from Mr.. IngersOll's speech and
the other from the pamphlet-we
infer that the gallant Colonel is
either guilty of the offence charged
upon him, or else that he is fur
hished with one of those wonderful
~ rotentIve memories about which
we have heard so much lately in
connection with another case. All
this is very deplorable and will tend
TO shake popular confidence in the
originality of modern oratoGy.-
And yet really it does appear as
though an argument might be made
for the defense. 1t Is not Colonel
Ingersol's fault that he was born
some years after the chap who
wrote the paragraph in question.
The Colonel himself would IN
doubtedly have written it if he had
been old enough thirty years ago,
and had then been on the anti
whisky racket. And Furthermore,
the pamphleteer is probably dead.
and not likely to be damaged by
the ColonePs having shaken the
dust of his yellow old pages and
introduced him into good society.
Besides If Mr.. Ingersoll, P. P, had
"made mouths" in his address to
indicate quotation marks the crowd
wouldn't have swallowed his flight
of eloquence with half the enjoy
ment they felt in suppOsing it to be
his own. And that would have de-
stroyed half the benefit accruing
from it. And shall we block the
wheels of the temperance cause for a
mere mstter OF mixedness as to the
authorship of lectures, addresses
and such like? Talk of plagiarism
Why, a man cannot blow his nose
and vCuch for the originality of his
style CT blowing it. If we blow our
nose at all we must blow them, as
it were, OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
ing that some long -nOsed and long
deceased snoozer may have filed a
caveat on the process and left a
copy with some country clergyman.
And so with everything. Adam
(peace be with him. was the only
original man ever born-or would
have been if he had been born at
all-or, hang it! was, anyhow, for
how could he help it? Since his
regretted death mankind have been
obliged to borrow more or less
Why, how runs one OF our popular
hymns, so often given out in
church?
~ love to steal awhile awsy,p &c.
We all give ourselves away every
time we sing we Glove to steal
awhile away" Brethren, charity
covers a multitude OF sins, and it
ought to be broad enough to cover
whatever offense against righteous
ness there may be in practice which
is the bulwark of modern platform
success. But not always, nor IN
deed generally, as an Intentional
act. Bless your heart and liver, no.
Ideas are like kerosene oil-they
soak through whatever they touch,
and run into the best form of words
as water runs into the most conven-
lent channels. Hence the fortuitous
aggregatiops of verbal resem blances
which the ''uncO' guid' call plagiar-
isms. Brother IBgers9lI may have
sat down on that Corning pamphlet
II some one of the sermon shops Of
his clerical friends and the sub
stance of it soaked into his mind;
and when be next broke out liz a
philippe against the flowing bowl,
that confounded old paper quoted
itself unconsciOusly in a sort OF
Runic rhyme. keeping time, time,
time TO the NATURALIZATION of his
sophomore sOphistry. You can
step down now, Robert; it's al
right, but be careful hereafter
There are limits even to mental alb
sorption, and the moral sense may
awake at last, as it did in the case
OF Shakespeare, who, when appro
priatipU the Dlay of "Hsmlet" from
Mark Twain's works, cried out {:
"Oh, bullying conscience, how ner
vous thou dost make me p n. Y. |
Daily Graphic.