The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-11-20
A LITERARY THIEF AND LIAR.

A LITERARY THIEF AND LIAR.
The seventh commandment" Thou Shalt
Not Steal" which was Numbered forth
by the great Jehovah from the top Of
Mount Sinai to be observed by all men,
was recently disregarded In shameless
manner by Rev. Madison c. Peters, alias
"Madcap Peters" at Henry Georges
funeral. This eccentric A. 2. A. Baptist
minister has achieved considerable
notoriety by his insulting sectarian
mouthings against Roman Catholics. On
recent occasion the Catholic members
of military company of which Peters
Is chaplain absolutely refused to turn
out to prayer meeting presided over
by this ranting bigot. and the officers
In command declined to force their at
tendance. The fellow is SO habituated
to the stealing Of the good name of
Roman Catholic citizens that it does not
surprise those who know his record to
learn that he has been guilty of plagiar-
ISM
At the solemn ceremonies held over
the remains of the late Henry George,
Mad Peters" delivered an address which
he had stolen from DR.. Motifs superb
Grafton over Alexander Hamilton, the
victim Of Aaron Burr, In the year 1904
He wanted to get credit for the produce
tton Of another mans brain, and to
eclipse DR.. McGlynn and others by his
eloquence he used the following beauti-
full and appropriate passage with slight
variation. from DR.. Motifs eulogy on
the dead statesman, which was delivered
ninety-three years before, substituting
Henry George for Alexander Hamilton
where the name occurred:
Approach and behold, while lift
from his sepulchre It's covering! Ye ad.
mircrs of his greatness, We emulous Of
his talents and his fame. approach and
behold him now! How pale! How silent!
No martial bands admire the adroitness
of his movements; no fascinating throng
weep and melt and tremble at his elo-
quence. Amazing change! A shroud, a
coffin. a narrow subterraneous cabin!---
this is all that now remains of Hamil-
ton! And Is this all that remains of
Hamilton?"
Having an ear for euphonious words,
the pirate parson used "subterranean"
for "subterraneous" and answered -..e
question terminating the extract by ex-
claiming: mo. He who now sleeps
has been clothed with new influence.
Dead. yet alive, he speaks to men who
now willingly listen to what before they
closed their ears to-"
Mad Peters" astonished the great
multitude that listened to his stolen gem
OF oratory. and his fame as a preacher
Of transcendant eloquence went abroad
on the wings of the press. Everybody
spoke about it and said it could not be
eXcelled. But. alas, some boo1worm
read it and remembered to have read IL
many years before He exposed the
literary theft of the ambitious Peters,
and now there is none so poor as to do
him reverence"
Instead Of acknowledging the plagiar-
ism like an honest Christian minister,
the notorious blatherskite seeks refuge
behind his wifes petticoats, and says &c
dictated the passage verbatim ct litera-
tim to his better half" when preparing
his Grafton. The deadly parallel COL
umns." however, prove Peters to be a
liar as we'll as a thief He admits there
is wonderful similarity between DIR.
Motifs address and his own and cannot
account for the remarkable coincidence
of thought and diction. except that great
minds run in the same groove. We sup
pose that the audacious A. P. A. parson
has been using the stolen thoughts and