Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-03-05
MEMPHIS APPEAL
SUNDAY, MARCH ), 1852
INGERsoLL As A PLAGIARIsT.

INGERSOLL As a PLAGIARIST.
The APPEAL Of the 10Th of January last,
in a long editorial headed "Ingerson and
Religion" repeated what had often been
charged, that the brilliant blasPhemer was a
notorious plagiarist, a kind OF literary
pirate, who had grown rich in fame by rob-
blng the living and the dead. Among other
things, the APPEAL alluded to the TACT that
Mr.. Ingersoll was accused OF appropriatIDg
DIR. Gums discourse on Temperance" In
another column will be found letter ad-
dressed to the editors of the APPEAL by Mr..
1ngersoll, which seems to be triumphant
vindication OF himself, so far as the temper
ance lecture is concerned. But it will be
seen that Mr.. Ingersoll has adopted the
strategy of the artful lawyer he is
known to be, by dwelling extensively
upon the charge uniustly made, and
which he exultantly refutes, but strenu-
ously ignores the accusations susceptible OF
proof and conviction. Mr.. Ingersoll has
been frequently publicly exposed in his pla-
giarisms. 1t has been shown that all that
he has said about his "preferring to go to
hell with his reason than to heaven without
it," was taken, word for word, from the
writings of Baron Holbach, French free
thinker of the past century. Mr.. lnSersol
makes no reply to the oft-repeated charge
that his lecture on "Ghosts" is stolen almost
wholly and entirely from the System Of Ma
tlre. He makes no allusion TO the fact that
he is charged with pilfering from the works
published more than 200 years ago. He is
silent upon the imputation that his most
sarcastic and pointed thrusts at christianity
are to be found in The Life of God, by
Parry, a work so foul that its publication
was prohibited in France. Ingersoll is
prompt to vindicate himself from the only
charge susceptible of vindicatien, but he is
as silent as the grave when accused, in his
lecture on ''The Mistakes OF Moses" OF
stealing nearly every word from the Doubts
Of LlfdeLs, a book published by james
Watson, in London, in 1888. During the
last few weeks R. G. Ingersoll has been
detected and exposed in gross, fragrant, pal
pable plagiarism. In January last he de-
livered, in Washington City, discourse on
the death and burial of the child OF a friend.
His utterances on this occasion were wove
into bouquet of beautiful thoughts, which
filed the whole country with fragrance
But in a few days after their publication one
of the newspapers of Philadelphia published
a short poem, and showed that every beauti-
full sentiment it contained was stolen word for
word by Ingersoll. We have written for
a copy of the Philadelphia paper containing
this exposure, and when received and pub
lished it will convince the public that Robert
ii. Ingersoll, who is SO prompt to vindicate
himself from the charge OF stealing DIR.
Gums essay on temperance, is the bold and
brazen plagiarist charged by the APPEAL.
Ingersoll is not an original thinker or pro-
found reasoner. He has vivid magma
ton, retentive memory, and in reading he
selects beautiful sentiments to be canned up
in his Uranium, just as the frugal housewife
cans up her peaches, to be used on occasions,
whether in blasphemy or a funeral sermon.
All of Ingersolrs lectu res are made up OF
stolen patches and shreds, and are as variega-
ted as an old-fashioned pieeed bed-quilt.
Oyid's description Of chaos is correct delin-
cation of IngersolPs stolen medleys. In lis
taning to them men of intelligence and
learning are ready to repeat the distich:
Take courage friend, and steal the rest,
The stolen part is much the best"
IngersoIl has no doubt succeeded in
convincing the world that injustice has
been done him in regard TO the
temperance lecture. But that he IL,
nevertheless, notorious plagiarist, is
unquestionably true. This has been demon
strated beyond the possibility of doubt. He
abounds in generalities, which, on their face,
are absolutely false and Intentionally dis
honest. With these crude generalities he
weaves a golden thread of wit, and drops
the whole into the ears of his audiences with
euphonious words and a captivating elo-
quence. But the world has no admiration
for the sacrilege scoffer who reviles the Al |
mighty in stolen blasphemy. The jackdaw |
was plucked of the gay plumage which it
stole from other birds; and Ingersoll has
often been detected and exposed in his efforts
to achieve fame by robbing the living and
the dead.