The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-08-22

guage was given us to disguise our
 thoughts" According to a French | journal of that day Talleyrand was 1 waited upon by an ingenious youth who wished to enter the diplomatic ser- | vice, and, who, to recommend himself
 assured the minister that he was in the | habit of saying precisely what he thought Thereupon Talleyrand ln- formed him very gravely that Ian
 guage was given to man to enable him
 to conceal his thoughts. As matter Of
 history the whole story is a fabrication. Voltaire first gave utterance to the idea embodied in the phrase, and Lebrun
 turned it into an epigram. The editor of the journal referred to, published the
 epigram, and for the sake of 'actuali-
 ty," assigned it to Tallyrand who,
 recognizing it's merit, accepted it.t Ma
 poeon's description of us as La nation
 boutiquiere," is a staple quotation at
 almost every trade gathering held in
 this country, but the phrase was in
 measure anticipated by Sir Philip
 Francis, who, In the debatte on the
 armament against Russia. denounced
 his countrymen as "a nation of stock
 jobbers." Another of Napoleon's his
 torc utterances-that In which he spoke
 of the desirablity of washing one's
 linen at home-had previously been ut
 tered by Voltaire in almost the same
 words. Does not Horace also say, obvi-
 ously with the same meaning, T do my
 own washing at home?'' The fact to be
 recognized is that originally in phrase naking,as in Weightier literary matters
 is very seldom met with. Moreover, 1t is certainly more agreeable to listen to
 or read interesting matter, even
 though not strictly original, than dull
 platitude straight from the fountain
 head. Oliver Wendell Holmes men,
 tions how some one at the breakfast ta-
 hle sparkled greatly In conversation on certain topics, and seemed quite 1gno- rant on others. Presently 1t was mo- ticed that all the subjects he understood
 began with the letter A; then it was
 discovered that he was taking in an en- cyclopedia in weekly numbers-and the
 mystery was explained. This form of
 plaglarism-if such it can be called-is
 of course. highly praiseworthy A eel ebrated archbishop of Tuam was once the victim of the other and reprehensi-
 O''S of his archdeacons to assist him in pre-
 pairing charge, and the archdeacon, perhaps doubling his own capacity, quoted extensively from charge deliv- cred some time before by the then arch bishop of Canterbury. This was not pardonable plagiarism, and the English prlmate, in drawing attention to 1t, sar- castically observed that his right reve- rend brother had evidently forgotten the difference between "meum and Tuam."
 Most people are acquainted with the mild sarcasm represented by the pre- tended discovery of some "dear old tune" in what purports to be new and original piece of music. As matter of fact, composers of music are remarka- ble for the plagiarizing habits and they can always plead the example of Han del, unquestionably one of the freest as well as the most august plagiarist of modern times For example, no fewer than nine movements in the "Dettin- gen Te Deum, and six in the oratorio "Saul are founded wholly or in part. on themes taken from the Te Deum by Francisco Antonio Urio Israel in Egypt" contains an equally fragrant ap- pTDpTlullOll, lne LIduSlef pl dI organ canonza by Johann Caspar Kerl to the chorus Egypt was glad the only change being that of the key, from D minor to D minor. It is remarkable that pilfering of that kind was not so severely regarded in Handel's days as
 it would be now; though the charge | brought against Buononcini, Handels | great rival in this country, that he had | presented as his own to the Academy of l Music a madrigal in reality the work of I Lotti, the Venetian, suff1ced to drive the | Italian composer from England. The | truth of the matter appears to be that | Buononcini merely copied another | mans work without attempting to set | 1t in any framework of his own. In Handels case. the greater part of the music he adopted" was, no doubt | saved from oblivion by the fact of it's in his works. And we may