Mystified Authors

Authors have of ten mystified the public, but a rúan who made a business of mystifying professional writers is a notable character. Suoh a one, however, was tho Rev. Francia Mahony, better known as "Father Pront. " His favorita trickwas to take a well known and popular poem, translate it into another language, boldly assert tbat in ita new form it possessed great antiquity and ohargo the authorwith having stolen it This trick he played on more than one noted anthor during the early days of the presen century, and eachwas sorely pnzzied to explain the ideutity of the poem whioh he knew to be his own with that in a toreign language. Pront translated Moore's "Go Where Glory Waits Thee" into excellent French verse, attributed it to Mme. La Comtesse de Chateaubriand and charged Moore with having stolen it bodily. The song, "Lesbia Hath a Beaming Bye," he rendered into choice Latin and claimed it as a youthful production of his own, which he. liad once shown to Moore. Another of Prout's achievementp was the translation of Wolfe's "Burial of Sir John Moore" into Freuch, claiming, at the same time, that the lines were written by Colonel de Beaumanois, whowas killed at Pondicherry in 1749. Not satisfied with this, be proceeded furthor and translated the lines into Germán verse and stoutly declared that, vvhile Wolfe had stolen frorn the French poet, the latter had in tnrn pilfered frora the Germán, the latter poem having, as he stated, been written to oommemórate the death and burial of the Swedish General Toistenson, who waa killed at the siege of Dantzic. Poor Wolfo was dumfounded at seeing his popularity disappear and was not muoh comforted when the hoax waa ered