TIMOTHY TICKLER

{From Mornîng Chronicle, 3rd Veeemher, 1878.) To THE Editor:

SiR, — An article sigued " Timothy Tickler," in this morning's Chroniclk, hai drawn my attention to " Borrowed and Stolen Feathers," in which Mr. J. P. Tardivel rocently appeared before the public. I bave carefully read the brochure alluded to, and I wish, if your space will allow, to offer a few remarks in addition to those already published by "Timothy Tickler."

Mr. Tardivel strivos to prove lhat the greater portion of the " Chronicles of the St Lawrence " is a mass of unscrupulous plagiarisms, and that the remainder, Mr. LeMoine's own, is written in very bad English.

The first charge, that of plagiarism, will bc best Icft to Mr. LeMoine himself ; but I may remark that bis task will not be by any means difficult, if all the cases brought forward by Mr. Tardivel can be as easily disposed of as the one which (on page 16) he terms the most x'evolting and impudent of all. It consista of six paragraphs, at page 216, translated from M. l'Abbé Casgrain. under the heading in small capitals, — " A Canadian Cottage." The whole is between inverted commas ; but two of thèse bave also been placed at the end of the first paragraph, probably through an oversight of the compositor. Yet thcse two commas de troj) are sufBcient for Mr. Tardivel's purpose ! Is this acting in good faith ? Is this consistent with bis assertions that he is " not personally interested in the matter," that what hc has undertaken is a " painful duty," an " ungrateful task," and that he undertakes it only because no one seems inclined to undertake the rather délicate opération."

The second charge against Mr. LeMoine, that of inélégant and faulty English, is one in which Mr. Tardivel seems to take particular pleasure. His forte is evident- ]y his knowledge of the Queen's English, ar.d, in fact, his remarkable command of it has been mentioned in several of the French papers. It may therefore seem strango that, not only do errors exist in Mr. Tardivel's pamphlet, but, he himself commits every fault which he censures in Mr. LeMoine's book.

Mr. Tardivel considers that enclosing sentences within inverted commas, without giving the namc of the author, is not a sufficient acknowledgment As this rule should also apply in his own case, he will, perhaps, favor the public with the names of the authors of two of his quotations, 1. e. : " Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you " and " The pen is mightier than the sword." He also suggests that the Jatter quotation should be paraphrased as follows : " A pair of scissors are more serviceable than a quill," A pair of scissors are ! !

" I deem it meet that the public should be shown the othcr side of the medal, as the French say." Do the French say " that the public should etc."?

Mr. Tardivel's introduction, forty-four lines long, contains at least twenty-fivo grammatical and other errors. I shall be happy to point them out to him, unless he can gct some of his friends, once more, to help him to take the pains to lind them out.

" There is no law," he says, "which proscribes jogyiam," 13ut is thore not one which proscribes the use of such a word ?

He has an idea that Avalls are adorned with ^-an^bills, and also. probably, that " woefully " (with an e,) " cooly" (with one ],) "illstarcd" (with one r,) and " blanc " (for blank) are models of orthography.

" There is not even an inverted comma to show that they are borrowed." Will Mr. Tardivel explain how he would show a quotation by an inverted comma?

The motto for part II of his brochure is " Learn to write well or not to write at all." — Dryden. Is he sure that this was written by Dryden ?

He believes that Mr. LeMoine is the first writer who has usod names of countries adjectively. Has he never met such expressions as, for instance, Norway Pine, Turkey Khubarb, or China Asters ?

Elsewhere he says, " the proposition which the unwary might deduct from tho premises." Why not say deduce ?

Again, he says that Mr. LeMoine is a copions trantJutor.

To say wrecked crews instead of shipwrecked crews, he considers ridiculous. On that point, let him, for once, consult a dietionary.

" In a papcr published recently in the Canadian Monthhj Mr. LeMoine speaks of beef mocassins !" And so he does in the " Chronicles," page 258, and why should he not? Is the expression not English ?

He quotes " Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks in Vallambrosa." Instead of " strew " Milton wrote "strow," a word of which Mr. Tardivel has perhaps never heard. Moreover, as to the aptness of the quotation, can hc state for a fact that the trees in Vallambrosa are not pines?

Mr. LeMoine writes : " Paspebiac, with its roadstead running out to a point io the Bay," and and Mr. Tardivel thereupon remarks that "he undoubtedly meant to say hçr.dland'" I do not think he did, for it is a sandbar, and not a headiand.

On tbe last page Mr. Tardivel writes :— "Ile is a poor though slavish translater.'* i)oes he think it strange that a man should be poor notwithstanding bis being slavish ? Is he unable to associate, in his mind, poverty with slavishness ?

At page 30 he makes this strange request — " Recommend me for loose, careless and ungrammatical sentences." He actually begs to be employod as a writer of bad English ! 1

Commend me, however, to Mr. Tardivel, for "Ioosp, careless and ungrammatical sentences,' and for antiquated, pretenticus and misapplied words, some of which I exhibit in the foUowing sentence :

I opine " that 'sundry " examples which have been given " anent " wbat Mr. J. P. Tardivel " knoweth " in "matters literary," will détermine him " to get rid of the impression erroneous " that he " possesses thc genius of the English lan'guage," or that his " ken " of English is such as to excuse him for " little recking'* whether he ** says his say " in a manner that "shocks " " cven an uneducated English ear."

Yours truly,

J. P. OER Teufkl.

Québec, November 29, 1878.