MR CASTLETON'S LINES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2988, 8 September 1891, Page 3

MR CASTLETON'S LINES.

TO THK EDITOR. Sin, — In ynnr last issue " Lothnir " informs lis that he has proved (to hi* own satisfaction) that the word " king " is not the noun to which the Author referred wlwu tn> wrote the adjective "such." ft he likes to restrict his choice to th" other two noons in the sentence, well and good. I have all along maintained that it is optional for hirri to select whichever of the nouns he pleaded. Common sen<e and tho rules of grammar cannot be applied to lines strung together irrespective of these, unless to still further demonstrate tho utter absurdity of the said lines. " Lothair" can haul no cognition of the college where mv education was acquired. The twaddle he writes te this I will therefore pass without further comment.—Yours, &c., Li Hint a i.. TO THK EDITOR. Sir, — Fearing that your Saturday's i*i«uo would bo too crowded to allow of correspondence, I deemed it prudent to withhold a reply to "Liberal's ' last, in your issue ot the Hrd lost., on reading which the Dominie Sampson type of thought took possession of me, and I could not help exclaiming, "Prodigious 1 ! ! Jerusalem ! 1 what a whale wo are," <fcc., &c. Why, Sir, tho viow this " Masher-in-Chief of Small Potatoes" takes of his abilities in tho smashing lino is something one stands aghast at, contemplating. Judging from the ferocious hull-doe manner he goes for all and sundry who dare to differ from him on any point, he must, in tho literary arena, bo a veritable bruiser of the J. L. Sullivan type—one who can give you long odds and knock spots off you at that. The ,-K«>pian fabled frog who swelled with importance to bursting point, may take a back seat now. At the same time, his fate may " point a moral and adorn a tale " for tho benefit of this terrible " masher," for "history sometimes repeats itself." From tho splenetic tenor of his letter, one would imagine this smashing business congenial employment, and coupling this peculiar idiosyncracy of his, with the choice expressions he interlards his letter with, would be further led to believe that he had graduated from the purlieus of Whitechapel or Petticoat Lane rather than from the sacred precincts of a college from which he blandly intimates that he has. 1 would remind "Liberal" that in correcting one's errors mere assertion without proof, is a vapid and meaningless thing. He ("Liberal") takes exception to my rendering of the expression, "A sine qua non rule," but strange to say, does not attempt to show where the weak link is. " An indispensible condition rule," or "a rule of indispensible conditions," is, I' hold sound English and grammatical in form, which " Liberal " has pooh-poohed, but did not attempt to correct. Also the Scriptural quotation, in an abridged form, " The hands may be those of Esau, but tho voice is that of Jacob." In print, the latter part of the sentence is put in the possessive, but did it not strike " Liberal " this may have been a printer's error, as much as mine. I cannot sav, not having a copy of the original. He (" Liberal ") further on, savs, "The mystery attaching to Jacob's voice and Esau's hands, is too much for him, and cannot see what it has to do with the discussion." "None so blind as those who wont see." Yet "Liberal" in his reply, admits he is getting into the "sere and yellow." Why, Sir, the veriest tyro that ever smudged a copybook, would see the application of the quotation at a glance, if he could not—l should say his equivalentcould be written in four letters, fool. In applying this term, I am Sir, speaking of th» schoolboy; for I do not for one moment believe, "Liberal" to be so obtuse, as he would have your readers to think; but there are some folks Sir, who object to be let down easily, so that a little circumlocution is necessary. Perhaps if I had in the first place intimated to " Liberal," that in using that nom de plume, he was a "wolf in sheep's clothing," and instead of using the " voice of Jacob " as a simile had substituted the "bray of an ass from out of the lion's skin," he would have accused me of vulgarity; but not wishing to have him do so, I used the more peaceful scriptural quotation in order to convey to him thin insinuation : that his readers were aware that he was, as Jacob of old, occupying a false position and sailing under false colours. This was more apparent from tho fact that under the pretence of a review of Mr Castleton's poem (the old "red herring" business) he administered, as he supposed, a severe ca<tigation to the present occupants of the Ministerial benches, by holding up to ridicule "Henry George," "Socialism," "Land Tax," and all the great measures which are occupying the foremost minds of the world, but which "Liberal" was pleased to term "fads." Sir, the world l.ioks up to and respects fearless, honest men, who have the courage of thoir opinions, but despises the "wolf in •heap's clothing." Had this very small " potato masher," who loves to disport himself in borrowed plumes, been honest in his criticisms of the questions mentioned above, he would not have been ashamed to have subscribed the name of the party whose interests he contends for, and so escaped the contempt of all who love and revere the name of Liberal.—l am, etc., XENOPHPN. [The printer's devil is responsible for a good many delinquencies. We have turned up " Xenophon's '' letter, and find that in this case he has followed copy most accurately,—En. W.T.I