Answers to Correspondents.

Auckland Examiner, Volume 1, Issue 11, 26 February 1857, Page 1

Answers to Correspondents.

Nemo.— Abuse is alicay indefensible. It is the blockhead's weapon, and the blockhead who employs it, usually damages himself more than anybody else. The attack upon ourselves is of coarsest manufacture, and considering the quarter whence it came surprisingly ill-done. Practice usually makes perfect, but in this instance the job was bungled although done by one who ought to be an adept at character-killing, for he. is by profession a sort of literary bravo and personal-reputation-stabber, ivho by dint of toadying some and slandering others has for years contrived to piece up a handsome living. That so practised a hand at defamation should assault us in so vulgarly abusive, and so stupidly unskilful a manner is surprising. Perhaps when he put himself to the work he was “ half seas over f or even more than usually drunk and generally out of condition. People who drink beer think beer, at least so we have been told, and it is imaginable that our good-cheer-loving assailant sat down to politically annihilate us while f ull either of sour beer or doctored brandy and water. Only by inviting him to dinner can we hope to secure ourselves against future attacks. “ He who bribes his belly is certain to command his soul.” Officers of the “ Calliope,” ship of war, soon found out that, as was shown hy their nick naming him — “ Gun, No. 4,’’ or “ Sponge.” While feasting him they were “ all honorable men," but for stopping supplies and leaving the Sponge nothing to suck up, said Sponge cduld not forgive them. His attempt to make it appear that we are irreligious shows some poor remains of cunning once admired, but the dregs of cunning will scarcely now be acceptable to the people of Auckland whose eyes are opening to the fact that unprincipled politicians and drunken gourmands and hireling-reputation-stabbers, being themselves without “ religion,” are ever forward to charge irreligion upon others. For the satisfaction of our Correspondent we state that we are neither believers in “ Socialism” nor disbelievers in “ religion.” Both charges are wickedly false. The well sour-beered, or brandy-and-wa-tered, malignant who made them oershot his mark, and my be cited to prove that Coleridge justly said.—After all a knave is but a fool with a circumbendibus, vis to the obscure little party print in which they appeared wehave to object, > because in giving currency to slander it ■ only docs the dirty work appointed for it. Chief part of that dirty work is to diminish the great and growing influence of our journal by lying aspersions upon its editor. Convcnieni-slander-vehicle and filth-conducting-pipe the sham new ;

paper undoubtedly is. At a glance the parentage is obvious. It is the genuine calf of a well-known spotted cow, and draws considerable nourishmen from its f mother who, by this time, must deeply feel the inconvenience of her “young un being “ out.” A Settler.— Back numbers of this journal are out of print. They are much in de mand but to reprint them is at present quite beyond our power. Argus.— The inconveniences alluded to have not escaped us, and will in this or some early succeeding number be made the subject of an article. How long it took divine Hercules to clean out the famous Augean stable is more than we know; but we do know that to make a clean sweep of the many foul abuses which disfigure and disgrace this Province is more than any human creature could manage in an ordinary lifetime. R. S.— ls informed that we are fully sensible of many defects in our paper but hope ere the lapse of another month to remedy a considerable number if not the whole of them. Arrangements are being made which when complete will convince “R. S.” and our readers generally that we are resolved to deserve their approval. The support already received has been far beyond our most sa.nguine anticipation. He ore proud to make this declaration ; because no support has been gained by crooked means. We have not condescended to toady or flatter either individuals or parties. It rejoices vs to find the Auckland public appreciate so independent a course.