New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-02
LITERARY MISHAIN
ERRORS AND OTHER CURIOSITIES Vi PEN
AND PRESS

AM ININN.
LITERARY ELrNDEn,. 4 chapter in thc history
Of human error. Iiy Henry IS. Whrail'r, /. :. ~
Up. ~. 800. \. &. Armstrong a Sor. The
Book Lovers Library
HANDY.BOCK Of LITERARY CURIOsTIE, ~
william >. Walsh. PIP i,lOi j. b. Lipp'nc"h
Company.
There should be Il science Chat would take cornl-
zancc Systematically OF bunders and comprs" ioImu
las for their infablc detection. The position and
movement 81 unknown planet can ~ calculated
NON the alterations Of another which J. visible.
Something Of the Kind must b. po,'ib" with the
alterations of the human mind not by WAY of pre-
vontlon-a large percentage Of the fun that makes
If. worth li-.ng comes from the sight Of mistakes
made by other pcOplclii ~ way Of safeguard against
a repetition II the same error too frequently VI.
Whcailcys book only suggest by The negative char
accr Of is evidence the POSSIBILITY Of such science:
willie Mr. Walsh contents himself with an alphabriic
grouping Of things, the most amusing Of which are
the llundcrs. hut why ehoud In" Oh" permit con
tributor TO speak Of eqrdisinnt parallel lines ana
why should the other transfer 10 Frederick a." Great
his father. fondncss for tall soldiers. unless each
" shes 10 illustrate the imPD,,ihiy Of discussing
blenders without giving involuntary object lesson
II must Lc confessed however. that Mr.. Nhrdil"y
keep, well within the boundaries where his own
safety Is assured. On Ia" other hand. Mr. Walsh IN
his more than thou and pages, has s""ed the seed
for considerable crop Of errors. II IS To Ike sus-
ment ont Of the following paragraph than ;Ac three
distinguished Journalists who are alluded to In II:
WICKED PARTNER. Tie. l. refuge provided for
the "uny good man. Whenever an ulhanf'ome
action Is traced % ~ door. II Is ~, hr , VINO y
rcspon siblc but his wicked partner The usage
hrs' oiinined currency through The New York -nn,
about loT2. In a controversy with The cincinnati nH
against the latter sheet inscribed. Ironically. not
against. Deacon Richard smith, The emnenty re,
spectacle ngurehead Of that newspaper tut against
his wicked partner. Murnt H1!stcad.
one can only regret that sam Rockwell Reed Is
no longer alive to enjoy the extraordinary confusion
OF these Sentences Another example no, easily
understood Is the phrase .carry ont when Kirby
dies, which, the editor remarks has history Of rs
own though he nerlccts TO give It, The phrase Is
surely a corruption Of the one long popular IN
Ncw.York. wake up when Kirby dies" to which
WAS attached a legend that illustrated wildly enough
the passin OF the old Ncwiorler for playgoisg.
To the ariclc upon the phrase, Go West. young
man." which attributes the earliest OF the phrase
In print TO j. L. u. soulc-n lsjl the Editor Of
~ TIE Tcrrc Iiauc Express should have beer added
a significant passage In the autobiography Of Josiah
Bushnell Crinnell. the founder OF Grinnc Iowa.
who insisted that Mr.. Greeley changed the whole
course Of his life by the Of these words. The
case OF sJulr appears not unlike tnat Of those to
whom attributed the Invention Of Napocon's
phrase There Is but step from the sublime
the riiicnlou.' Mr. Walsh says:
The phrase will live as long as he VIII; yet in the
form which Tom Paine gave II IN his Age of Reason"
it wond have caught the popular fancy "0nc
step above the sublime saws iiinr makes the
h snbfne anu %eam @ less likely to Ia "n ss
public ear was the expression used by Dcsard. who
died In 1857: i distrust th0sc sentiments that
are too far removed from hand, and whose snblImy
is blended with rdicule which. too. nre as near
in his Table Talk" speaks Of p"sssgc being "ihc
sublime dashed TO pieces by cutting too close with
the hcry fourth hand around the corner OF NONSENSE"
EHWuTU Lori according 10 cCirpSlrndrn.
Of =. Notes aud Queries wV'c IN his commonplace
neigi5crs uat they Touch each other All thcs"
various authors recognized the fact that there was
they Just failed Of the happy phrase that might have
given their thought Immortality.
There are cases in which Mr. Walsh does not COM
plete his investigation. For example, In the article
on dictionaries. he alludes 20 the curious word
"condog' which he supposed to be the coinage Of
I.tlcton. the Latin photographer. "Ittleton- SAYS
he. debating the definition OF conctrro 10 his
secretary. who. little hard Of hearing stopped 10
ASK 'con--whar Concur said the DOCTOR testify
adding con-d0g as a further explanation. and the
| secretary. scared perhaps by the tempest he had
| raised. mcekly put down both the word and the
| pun by which its meaning was emphasized Now
that Is pretty story which has been told often and
has certainly lost nothing BY repetition Bat there
| Is an appendix to 1t which Mr. Walsh misses but
which Mr. Whealey gives I" An answer To this story
| he says is that. however odd a s,rd .condog' may
appear. II VII be- found In Henry Coclcram's Eng.
lish Dctionarie' first published In 1923. The entry Is
! follows: TO agree concurre. cohcrc. condog con.
discend.'r II is strange that Mr. Walsh overlooked
this, he gave Number Of entries from Cockcrum
by way OF Illustrating how funny the old dictionary
makers could DO without knowing II.
| Under NE head Of Catch" meaning wat was
known TO the readers OF The spectator" ms a .bite
Mr.. Walsh includes one familiar question which re-
| calls story told BY Professor Max Muller. II y