The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1172, 19 January 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1880.

OtTB considerate little article of Saturday last, in which we, brimful of good nature, once more set "The Times" —of "Wansbeckstreet, not of Printing-house-square —right, has been accepted in a spirit antagonistic to the principles of Christianity. The letter signed " A Friend in Need," which appeared in "The Times" of this morning, is designed to convey to the public an impression that someone, acting the part of a good-natured IreHy who champions a helpless little boy, has rushed to the assistance of the editor of that paper. That that gentleman needed such assistance, no one will for a moment dispute ; but, . may we not be allowed to express a doubt as to the divisibility of the editor and " A Friend in Need.'' "Had we been able to sever the identity of the writer of the letter from that of the writer of the article, we woold have applied to both the well-known line "A coward to an equal for assistance Bies." But will the public plea3e take notice that the usual editorial is absent from this morning's issue of the Times. What is the inference to be drawn from this fact t—That " A Friend in Need " is only another name for the editor —that the -effort of writing a leader and such a letter for the same issue would have proved to be too great a strain upon Ma mental powere. •It will also be observed, however, that the position he occupied was a difficult one- Our article, though calm, was far too •conclusive, and left him no loophole large .enough for an editors escape. Wrapped in .the less portentous garb of "A Friend in Need," lie has fared badly enough. He has struggled through in such a manner a3 to e repose his identity, whilst the engagement has to him been lamentably inglorious. In administering reproof to our contemporary we feel that we are dealing with a literary ■weakling—that we are fighting a shadow. It :i3 difficult to get at him. He takes refuge behind a friendly tree, and fires at random with closed eyes from a pea-shooter that never liuxts anybody. He likes poetry, and ■we will, therefore, treat him to Congreve'a Hues—- *' Thou, like the adder venomous and deaf, Hast sttrog the traveller, Bat hearst not his pursuing voice. The rustling leaves and bended gr;iaa Confess the path which thou haat (Ob, fate of foots : officious in contriving, In execution, puzzled, lame and lost/' Are these*lines not appropriate, Mr. Editor? Liodley Murray I We cast it aside dag-eared in the leaves and coverleaa. Tiie . erratic "«, ,T which afforded }*»tt a test upon wfeieh to hang your trash, fell from the fingers of an innocent compositor. Do you not know that they are fallible ? Look at your own letter. Yon may not be able to discover the numerous blunders that therein

exist. Yet they glaringly stand forth as damning proofs that your effusion was, in its embryonic state a mass of printers' '' py e -' Yon compliment ns with being intellectual. Of course we are. This Information is no newer than that to which you usually treat your subscribers. We are not personally aware that Ctesar ever crowed like a ccok, nor that anyone ever said that he did so. Fie, Mr.'Editor 1 The little school-bOy that trudges -through the streets bag-laden, will laugh up his sleeve at you for the ignorance you have displayed in construing a sentence

-as familiar to him as household words. We regret that we cannot find in any historical work evidence that you are correct in your interpretation of the dog Latin qnoted by us, willing as we are to help you out of a difficulty. Cresar, so far as wc are aware, never crowed. But we have met with bantam cocks and an occasional Shanghai that have indulged in such " hcroical" conduct. Improve your library by adding to it a respectable work on Greek and Roman biography and mythology, and place it side by side with your present cheap book of Latin quotations. "We leave you to "chew the end of sweet and bitter fancies." The editor and J. G. S. Grant —Par nobile fralrum.