Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-10-29
Original Miscellany.

il occurs to me, as his distant junior alpha
6stical relative and also as his friend, to
offer few structures on the labored prOduc-
ton of master Philo-Lucius.
cannot conceive OF what family these
Lucii are composed.
have heard OF Lucius Junius Brutus
when was at school, or call it at college !;
and am therefore disposed TO accord unto
them the family name o. Bruti; for certain
ly the agnomen, Ito borrow the expression
Of EI.) of Junius, would be disgraced 10y
such relatives.
1t appears 10 me, and indeed to all our
brethren of the alphabet, that II. has acted
right in giving up newspaper controversy
with The Lucii and 10 speak frankly, il it
were not so clearly in my power to wiring
his withers, should also abstain.
What singular coincidence is, that in
the columns of your Gazette, we should
find the Luci flmiy and that of the Fudge
Family" (to use lower parlancs) check
BY jowl.
One would he disposed 10 think that they
are of kin-but whether Lucius and PHI
10 ought TO be added 10 the latter, by the
names of Ned and Tam Fudge" shall
never inqs.re about it,
This Philo Tor felo de sc writer holds
"a grey goose weapon" coarse-tipped
with gall, and feathered with petuauce--y
you may perceive in his strut, proud par
nassesn sneer and conscious SHIPPER" that
he conceives he has polished his periods
ad unguem.
Let US cut him up in detail !; for such a
writer, who has thus arrogantly thrown the
gauntlet to my friend H., merits, from even
generous foe, no quarter.
Still it is dismal prospect TO be obliged
to wade through column and half of OBJ
scure verbage--wbere there is carcely any
strong point of attack.
The first paragraph might possibly pass !;
althoughit blunders about meaning, when
speaking Of irony.
Let me here mention bon mot, which is
opposite and which was applied by an
English nobleman to Anthony Pasqnin--fc-
ttious-really Williams who died very
lately at New York,
Tony dined in his company, and his lord
ship said seme civil things TO Pasquin--who
replied, with all that affected humility of
HIS mleGered man." that his lordship
was ironing him.-No, by -, said his
!ordship-Tony, must first 'gash you.
Ycr6um sapienti.-
The fcebleness Of the second paragraph
is beneath even structure.
The third introduces to US" a well tenn
pered blade"-quite misnomer, in fact or
in metaphor; for Philo is very evidently an
III tempered JIGds.
When my alphabetical relative locks
back through the long vista g the long
tract Of time" is insufferably prosaic) of
years during which his locks have been
blanched, he will always consider il most
shameful to mistake facts.
Let me here call Philo-Lucus 10 the bar
oftruth and let him acknowledge, for it
must be done, that he was told by the fore
man Of your Gazette that H. never saw the
unprovoked attack of Lucius Till the fore
noon preceding that when the " retort cour-
,eous" was handed for insertion by my
friend II.
As to the languid stuff reiterated about
belle lettres and poetry, let it pass--as the
French say when they wish TO get quit o.
nonsense-tout celia peut eire beau, Ell bon,
ct bel.
Philo-Lucius says to HIT will be
seen, 1.-THE thai is fogotten) you do not dis.
tinguish the playfulness of laughter. (he
should say mirth) from the understanding
of seriousness"
We are here at issue-to use tern
within his practical ideas--ior what maj
Of sound understanding can understand sucl
sentence
As to Bourdaloue-by Typographical
error called Bardalow (and how pitiiul it i:
to bl,me the very types that he fondly in
dulges the blissiul feeling have over sha
dowed his temples with literary laurels)-
ii Philo-Lucius cannot feel, without refer
ring TO the "cold unimpassioned Blair,
the force Of the sublime figure quoted by
H., as having been used by Bourialoue, II
describing ETERNITY, am constrained tc
pity the mediocrity of those talents which
-.s LIZ . alliad %. RI,