Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



59 



"DIZZY" AS LITERARY THIEF. 

 Sir Henry Lucv, writing in the Corn/till Maga- 

 zine on his " sixty years in the wilderness," presum- 

 ably of journalism, brings to light a flagrant instance 

 of Disraeli's plagiarism. Sir Henry describes it as 

 exceeding in audacity " even the historical appropria- 

 tion of a purple passage from an oration by Thiers 

 patched on to a eulogy delivered in the House of 

 Commons by Disraeli on the death of Wellington." 

 The description of the Derby of 1837 jn " Sybil," in 

 one of the earlier chapters of the novel, "was 

 deliberately cribbed from an account of the race 

 contributed to the Sporliiig Magazine in the ordinary 

 way of business by one of its staff." Sir Henry puts 

 the two passages in a deadly parallel. ^Ve quote 

 here the first and last sentences of the passage in 

 question : — 



".Sybil." 

 As soon as they were well 

 away, Chifney makes the run- 

 ning with Pocket Hercules. 

 Up to the Rubbing House he 

 is leading ; this is the only 

 point the eye can select. 

 Higher up the hill, Caravan, 

 Hybiscus, Benedict, Maho- 

 metan, Phosphorus, Michel 

 Fell, and Kal-trap are with 

 the grey, forming a front rank, 

 and at the new ground the 

 pace has told its tale, for half a 

 dozen are already out ol the 

 race. 



At the Stand, Caravan has 

 decidedly the best ; but just at 

 the ixjst Edwards, on Phos- 

 phorus, lifts the gallant little 

 horse, and, with an extraordi- 

 nary effort, contrives to shove 

 him in by half a length. 



In all other cases the Press is not only unjustifiable but ruinous, 

 disxstrous, and destructive. 



The English daily Press has now become the money-making 

 machines of commercial adventurers. Why not say that the 

 modern so-called daily Press of England is not Press in the 

 true sense of that expression, but a mere machine of commerce, 

 a department of trade, nothing extraordinary in it, nothing 

 noble in it, but merely mercenary in its aspect ? 



"Sporting Magazink. ' 

 As soon as ihcy were well 

 away and laid down to work, 

 Sam took Pocket Hercules to 

 the front. Up to the Rubbing 

 House this was the only point 

 the eye could select. Hijihcr 

 up the hill. Caravan, Hybiscus, 

 Benedict, Mahometan, Phos- 

 phorus, Michel Fell, and Rat- 

 trap were with the grey, 

 forming a front rank. .\t the 

 new ground the pace has told 

 its tale, half a dozen being 

 then out of the race. 



.\l the Stand, Caravan was 

 decidedly the best ; but just at 

 the post Edwards lifted his 

 gallant little horse, and with 

 an CTttr.iordinary effort con- 

 trived to shove him in 6rst by 

 half a length. 



A DIATRIBE AGAINST THE PRESS. 



If any of our daily news(japer editors are e.xposed 

 t'l the temptations of having too good a conceit of 

 themselves, th-y will do well to read the December 

 number of T/u Rajput, a lively monthly published at 

 2J7-8, Strand, and edited byagentleman who rejoices 

 in the name of Tliakur Jessrajsinghji Sessodia. A 



intributor called Sundara Raja explains " The 

 Meaning of the English Daily Press," in an article 

 (rom which I quote the following eloquent extracts : — 



For ages and ages the Press posed ii'<(.'lf as a teacher, educator, 

 light and guide of the nation. But none had the lioUlness to 

 refute this mnnstmus audacity. The evil was allowed tu ripen, 

 nd the tiny plant has now grown to a formidable tree. 



The_moiicrn English daily newspaper is a luxurious evil. It 

 kills two birds at a str'ikr. To the fatal disaster of annihilation 

 — killing of man's innate dignity — it adds the danger of iin- 

 povcrishmenl. Coluiiiiis of hair-raising, thunder-striking, and 

 heart-breaking stories, devoid uf all realistic taste, fill up the 

 ilaily new-.|>.ipcrs. 



To develop the finer instincts of man, In promote unity and 

 co-operation among the disuniletl factors of the nation, and to 

 strive for the common welfare, are, or should be, the only aims 

 of the Press. It is con-lruclive and bcni ficial if these ideals are 

 looked after. In no other case tlicri is the slightest justification 



<r the existence of a Power, popularly known as the Press. 



" SWAGGER RELIGIONISTS." 

 This is the title of a paper by Marie Corelli in the 

 January London, which has as its frontispiece a full- 

 length portrait of the lady. She says : — 



To me there is nothing more appalling in the whole amazing 

 spectacle of modern civilisation than to see thousands of men 

 and women publicly professing a Faith which their private lives 

 deny. It is not as if they were playing the humbug with 

 themselves and with each other, for that is generally conceded 

 to be the universal code of social ethics. But they are actually 

 playing the humbug with that tremendous Omnipotence to 

 whose intelligent action they owe their very being — the 

 Generator of universes — the Creator of everything the eyes can 

 see, the ears can hear, or the brain can imagine — they, the 

 children of one out of a million million vast productive epochs, 

 can be found assuming a certain "swaggering" posture before 

 the ever-present Divine — the purely Pharisaical " swagger " 

 which expresses " Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other 

 men ! " 



This may appeal to our anti-Pharisaic sense ; but 

 when she includes Belle w and Spurgeon as types 01 

 swagger religionists, and then goes on further to 

 count amongst them Abraham and Moses, we feel 

 that most of those she wishes to pillory will feel 

 comfortable and \\\ good company. The characteristic 

 diatribe concludes : " .\ religious hoarding with an 

 ' Ism ' advertised on it, it is the sign of the Swaggerer, 

 not of the Disciple." 



WHAT WAS OUR ANCESTRY? 

 A WRITER in the Rciiic Scuntijique believes that it 

 is possible to trace in modern families the marks of 

 descent from armour-bearing ancestors. The argu- 

 ment is that the wearing of casques and armour 

 pressing on the necks and bodies of generation after 

 generation of men who wore armour leaves certain 

 birth-marks known by anatomists as nan<i. These 

 marks have been found on members of families not 

 now in good social position, but investigation has 

 always proved that they were of gentle descent. We 

 should naturally expect other peculiarities to be 

 transmitted, and we are told that the martial hand 

 fnay be noted in families in which the profession of 

 arms has been followed from father to son. The 

 hereditary sign of the soldier may be found in the 

 jxirson who holds his hands parallel to the axis of the 

 body by simple tension of the supinator muscles, so 

 necessary in the movements of external rotation 

 required for the handling of the sword. This is very 

 interesting, and we wonder if there are any signs by 

 which we may discover from the way we walk the 

 family profession or trade. What, for instance, does 

 shuttling denote ? Docs it mean that our ancestors 

 were old-clothes dealers ? 



