UNKNOWN

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2525, 15 February 1887, Page 2

UNKNOWN

_ Sir Charles Ruasell's speech to ifo jury in the Campbell case was remark-able,-among other things, for containing excellent adaptations both, of an old joke. and a happy quotation. •Hereis thojoke:— '• My learned iriond says that the. desire of the Blood family Campbell's of Argyll was the mo'liV operating upon' Mrs Blood. Ido m believe any desire to -that offeot existed. The Duke of Argyll holds an exalted position,- not merely by his rank, but, what is much more worthy of consideration, by his. own chari acter and attainments.' ,'v Mr Finlay I ! know to bo a distinguished Scotohman., and it may be that it is only in recent years that he has become acquainted with that, offeminate garment whioh ffighlandorgdispsnsbwith. [Laughter] But from the way in whioh he talks of this alliance with the Campbells, otto' would'think that he was a descendant of that distinguished i Highlander whom Punch lias and'who l .U]!)ori.th6 oo'o'isioli'.'QLi oar. tain.allianoe with another member of the. Campbell /amilj, said/" Efflooij, but,tho Queen maun be a' pripediy thisday," [Laughter]; ;.;' l And here is the quotaiwri:— ■ I do not kow., whetlier.you »• member reading's' bw always struck me as being one 6fihft : most remarkable in JM which 1 have tried, as Wkt&alffy, present. It wis from that well-kiiom' work, "The Barber, of Seville," wfi; it bringatb my mind with fullness «a$ with vividness of perception how easy, once a slander.is set going, to' predispose the minds of others to believe it possesses their minds ; arid l onw possess their minds they view things; with a distorted vision, ' The writer saya:-"Calumny, sir! You hardly know what you are despising. I hwo seen the most respectable people almost overwhelmed by it. Believe m&thore is no sort of wickedness, no horror, ho absurd talk that you cannot-ni&ke the idlers of a village believe in if you set the right way about it. First & little humming sound, skimming th« ground like a swallow before thofs.tonn; pianissimo, pianissimo, murmurtog and buzzing, and spreading tho; pitt* l 'as it goes. A breath catches it piano, it glides into your ear adroitly. The harm is done,-it takes root, it climbs, it'travels/and rushing km i mouth to mouth, it travels liko ijie devil. Then all at once, you haroly .know how, you see it raising itsnead, swelling itself, growing monstrous ■ under your very eyes. It rises; "takes ■its flight, whirls rouiid. you/ielutches you, drags you along, bursts forCand thundprß,-and becomes, Heaven help us la general shriek) cmmdoiiivdveraalchorusofhatredandproscription. Who the devil can withstand it'?"'