THE DIALECT PLAGUE,

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 29, 7 November 1884, Page 7

THE DIALECT PLAGUE,

Joel Chandler Hakbis, author of the delightful "Uncle Remus" stories, has protested against the stream of rubbish printed in papers and magazines as " dialect " prose aud poetry, by writers who think that bad spelling and worse grammer make up for (he total lack of wit, humour and naturalness. Many besides Mr. Harris have groaned under the affliction of the ignoramuses, on the stage or in print, who, while unable to write or speak a sentence of decent English, fancy themselves able to •' take off " the lingual lapses of other uneducated people. There are yet others who think, like Mrs. Plornish " Little Dorritt," that broken English is a sort of tongue in itself, a lingua franca which all " foreigners " should understand in common, An educated man, and a Boatonian, recently applied to the JPilot Office for a point of information on Irish punctuation. To explain the purport of his question he showed a poem in the customary brokenEnglish attempt at brogue, which he honestly believed to be the oral and written language of the Irish people I As a matter of fact, it requires, genius, and genius of a high order, to reproduce any dialect. la addition to genius there must 'be sympathy. The writer who aims to ridicule is certain to overshoot his mark. Thackeray came nearest of any Englishman to catching the subtleties of the Irish speech, and anybody who has studied his borgue will readily see how much truer to nature it is where he only indulges in good-natured banter or affectionate humour than where he is actuated b? national prejudice and hatred. In trying to ridicule O'Connell and the men of, 18A8 he loses the good temper, and consequently the artistic fidelity which he brought to the creation of his imaginary Irish heroes and heroines.

Where Thackeray failed, the more generous-souled American, George W. Cable, succeeds. The latter easily leads all writers in the English language in his wonderful versatility of dialect. His Irish is almost, if not quite, perfect. The same may be said of his Creole French. He is equally at borne in German aivi Italian dialect, and the finely-shaded patois of the West Indian natives.

The reason is simple. Mr Cable has not only great genius but also great p >wers of observation and a sweet human sympathy which saves his unconscious subjects from absurdity. Ie delights him to follow in its finest shade tbe {astonishing freaks of Creole, Irish or Dutch mispronunciation. To reproduce or parody it for the purpose of ridicule would revolt him as much as the mockery of a personal infirmity. Jefferson's " Kip Van Winkle " and Boucicault's " Shaughreun " ought to drive forever from the stage the hideous monstrosities that have passed for " Dutchmen " and " Irishmen." So the perfect dialect of Cable if it do not find successful imitators, may at least succeed in abolishing the dreary and weary race of literary '• nigger minstrels." — Pilot.