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Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 60, 5 June 1863, Page 2

(To the Editor of the Inrcrcargill Tinws. ) Sir,—To be is the indefeasible property o Truth; to seem tobe is the nc plus ultra of Imposture. Short Measure a-d Starch have discovered loner jijro tliat a clever stroke was to be made by tratTieing in the fictitious trade-marks of we'learned Reputation. The came is nearly as ancient as the hills. Tho subtle Ophidian Order madeits appearance quite early on the scene of activity. The Vampire also knows the importance of £jetting its tap 'established near the heart. Dime Tnftamia may congratulate herself on being at. the summit of her ladder, whon rou^e, French diamonds, and purple will enable her to figure in Recent-street, and to open her court in the West End. When a marshal of Venus Nocturnalis comes out as " Southlander," true patriotism advances its modest, but, nevertheless, its unquestionable title to a country's gratitude : and whon hor " Civilisation " issues rueful bulletins from Tay street, it is certain that '•' S icial Evil" is left, at nn " inconeeivah'e " distance behind the n«e. The d raw-in jy of its true portraiture in oaen day is a terror to Infamy, at which ib may well shrink and exclaim—" O, let me die the death of the righteous." When its only sheet-anchor—effront-ery and baseless assertion—won't hold any longer, it "may well tremble in presence of a lee shore, The world must be growing gloomy, and times indeed bad, to Noctnntia, when the ramparts of hor Elysium nre broached, and her game-cocks take to crow so small. When the ploughman's share runs such deep furrows through her domains, and when the subsoil does not bear inspection or analysis, things become shockingly in-to'iM-able to her. How have the anti-sceptic out-ports of Truth beon ever advanced into tho dominions of Corruption, and ground gained ? By the winnings of the affected representatives 'of " Civilisation," so overpowered by a conceit of tlieir own superior delicacy as to sicken and die in disgust on their downy ottomans ? Quite so. Tbe physician who is made ior his work must shape his course differently. It is not because his visual aud olfactory organisation is more obtuse than that of superlative dandies, that be forgets the measure of his long hours iv the sick wards and dissecting room, when they aro rollicking or killing time with the frankincense of cheroots and eau de Cologne. It is because be has to cope—and not never in their own Palatial Tyburnia—with maladies, some of such aggravated type as to be inconceivable to their pure imaginations, but to him too sternly real to be ignored, and too fatally serious to be left uncombated. DoNALD MXCKAT. TFor the future we decline to insert any letters from Mr. Donald Mackay, vll less they are written in plain English; in fact, we would prefer not to hear from him under any circumstances. — Ed. I. TS] . «.