(Vol. vii., p. 431.)
Mr. Forbes rightly describes the Drummer's Letter in the _Sentimental
Journey_ as "not only correctly but elegantly written." There is,
moreover, in two or three places, a play upon words, which indicates an
intimate acquaintance with the idiomatic turns of the language. But all
these circumstances are, to my mind, only so many grounds for the belief
that the French of the letter is not Sterne's.
If we are to judge of Sterne's French from the samples to be met with in
_Tristram Shandy_ and the _Sentimental Journal_, there is ample evidence
that his knowledge of that language was somewhat superficial. I shall
give a few examples.
Your readers are familiar with the incident in _Tristram Shandy_, where
the Abbess and Margarita, having occasion to make use of two very coarse
and indecent expressions, resort to the ludicrous expedient of splitting
them in two, each pronouncing a separate syllable. Those words are
scandalously common in the mouths of Frenchmen; and yet Sterne seems so
little aware of the correct spelling of them, that he makes the poor nuns
give utterance to two words, one of which, "bouger," means "to move," and
the other, "fouter," is unknown to the French language.
Farther on, in chapter xxxiv., the commissary employs the expression
"C'est tout égal;" but this is merely the translation of our English
phrase "'Tis all one." The French say "C'est égal," but never "C'est tout
égal."
In the _Sentimental Journey_, under the head of "The Bidet," La Fleur is
made to say "C'est _un_ cheval le plus opiniâtre du monde." Now, the man
who could write the Drummer's Letter would not have applied the epithet
"opiniâtre" {154} to a horse; and, at any rate, he would have said
"C'est _le_ cheval le plus opiniâtre du monde."
In the chapter headed "The Passport," and also in another place, we have
the phrase "Ces Messieurs Anglais sont des gens très extraordinaires."
This should be "Messieurs les Anglais," &c.
Again, under the head of "Characters," Count de B. says, "But if you do
support it, _M. Anglais_, you must do it with all your powers." This
"M. Anglais" is our "Mr. Englishman." The correct expression is "M.
l'Anglais"--Mr. _the_ Englishman.
I might add other instances; but these, I trust, are sufficient to
warrant the opinion that the Drummer's Letter, in its present shape, was
not written by Sterne.