Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-06-02

low, both by his employer and the
pubic. TIE iong-suffering public, OF
.Vurse' mas TO take what IL can get, Is
700 apathetic to demand better work.
manship. and easily grows accus-
TONED TO the haclswork that duiis the
,n,.e ana deadens the literary sensi-
,unl,y. As for the employer. tho pub
nsner' ne hnds n ready sale for the
Sheap product, and hence does not OF.
49, t.e compensation that good work
uubn, 70 bring. of course he has n
moral responsibility in the matter, but
" ~ not likely to care for that when
ms pocket Is concerned. ANY young
person with stnattering OF French
~ German and dictionary 10 help
MN out, feels competent TO become a
I'm IL never occurring TO aim
mat the cultivation of an English
style is the first requisite Of All: whiIe
me average nubliaher shows that he
accepts THIS view by refusing to pay
LOT trahslations any sum that a CONF
peteht workman. the real master of
Two languages. can possibly accept.
~ course, honorable exceptions to
tnls rule may be found here and there,
ana equally of course good tranaln'
tons VIII now and then come from per-
sohs acluated not by self-intcrest, but
~ delight In good workmanship FOR
lts own sake. But the conditions that
TX the existing standard of transla-
IONS are sun mainly OF the hard com
Inereial Kind. and. until they are In
r rori way modified the standard will
II is possible that the art OF trans.
, , may rise from its present dis
Ispute, but the process will be slow.
.ause Tor hopofulness may be found in
Nv iaets. The first OF these facts ia
snat inc copyright act OF 1881 for the
ntst time gave the foreign writer seine
,', ,Jl,1ure OF control over the American
puoiicauon OF Transitions OF his work.
ne mas II In his power to secure IN
adequate translation and to pre-empt
tne market for II. Unfortunately he
uoes not always know good transla-
Ton from bad one, and even II he
uoes may ind 1t difficult TO arrange for
what he wants. Possibly he NAV come
TO learn by experience how immsa s,ira-
ply his reputation suffers from blunder-
inB uanslatlons. and take measures
20 secure himself against them. The
other cause for hopcfulness is In The
i9ct that an immense expansion has
taken place of late years In the mod
ern iAnguage departments OF our cdu-
c9tlonal Institutions. The languages OF
Europe are pursued in the scientific
ana literary spirit by an increasing
number OF students every year, These
students Will make most or the trans
lntlons that Will be read by the coming
decades II is not too much to believe
that their better methods and fuller
knowledge will make itself felt more
and more as the years pass. and their
eHorts may cause a marked elevator
IN the current standard OF literary
translation"
II would appear that the critics were
very far on In their calculations re-
garding "outre Mer," since Paul Bour.
gets Dook Is now In Its second edition
critic has christened George VIII.
lam Curtis the Addison OF America. 81
This title. however, was long ago be,
slowed upon Joseph Dennie, on account
OF MS two series Of essays, "rhe Faro.
go and the Lay Preacher" Curtis
has also been called the American
Lamb Some OF these nlcknnmes have
curious history "The American BE.
wick is nickname given to AleNan.
der Anderson, the first engraver on
wood In America. At the age OF l.
says Frey In his "Soubriquets and
Nicknames." he made quite successful
attempts at engraving on copper and
type-metal; and In 1888. when employed
In copying drawings on wood after Be
wick, for an American edition OF 9TH,
Looking Glass" he discarded the type
metal upon which he had been WORKING
and cut the rest Of the illustration,
| upon lockwood, with tools OF his owl
invention. He signed his name e
! the first woodcut published on THU
| continent, and thus gained for himsel
the title of American Bewick." Thl
vast number OF American books Illus
| trated by him attest the skill anC
industry OF this pioneer Of the art o
wood-enErnving. who continued In tn
| daily practice of his profession III
few months before he died, Samuc
| Adams was called "The American
Cato by the newspapers Of 1881. lou
| American Crulkshauk' Is a namt
| given David Claypole Johnson by Pres
colt, in his Biographical and Critica
| Miscellanles," who says, speaking O
a book entitled Scraps" ut Is, more
! over. adorned with etchings by ou'
| American Cruikshank, JOhnson--som
| OF them original, but most copies from
| the late edition Of Smollet's transla
| tons" The newspapers OF l7I5-sj werl
wont to refer to washington as "Th'
| American Fahius." This was because
| of washnrton's military policy o
wcarying the British troops by harnss
ing them. without coming to a pltehe'
battle, a plan similar TO that adopte'
nv Fabius against Hannibal, Samu
Woodworth, author Of THE Old Oakel
! bucket" during his day was calle'
"The American Goldsmith owing Il
his fonduess for rural pictures an'
/ simple domestic themes. Ralph Waldo
| Emerson has been frequently referred
TO as ''The American Montaigne." '"Th
American Richard Savage" Is sou
hrIuuet that was bestowed upon Poe
Sir James Macintosh nickname
I .sfrNN- A m