Daily national Democrat., 1859-02-08
How the Giant was Slaughtered.


the trouble to count the number Of times that
DeLong addressed the Chair on the sd inst,
and he found it to be thirty fge. Now, there
is neither point nor force to this would-be
satirical observation, in the estimation Of
anybody who has taken the trouble to read
the proceedings of that dayn the Assembly
If member had addressed the Chair thirty
! five different times on different subjects it
during the frequent contests which occur in
all deliberatve bodies over motions, rulings
points of order, &c, where one side of n
question is trying to triumph over the other
by a slilful use of the weapons of parlia
mentary tactics, it may SO happen that one
member will address the Chair not only thir-
! tyfive, but fifty or hundred times and yet
have consumed in the aggregate a very small
amountsof time. In the case before us, it is
apparent, from running over the proceedings
of the Sd inst, that Jack, the Giant Killer"
there will be some other kind of killer
after him, if he does not look out-has count
ed all the resumings of his remarks by Mr..
DeLong upon his being interrupted twenty or
thirty times while speaking, by the Speaker
and the opposition, as distinct addressings of
the Chair
AS to the use of the pronoun " I" so many
times, what would this "cute" critic have a
man say, under the circumstances Would
| b.. Hov l. ., a. Al
honorable member now addressing the
Chair? % We think it would be much more
modest to say 81" and go on with what - L"
has to say"
Jack" wants next to know how much
Mr.. belongs speech, on that day, cost the
people of California We would reply, by
asking "Jack" how much the Lecompton
Broderick Resolutions, which he is no doubt
in favor Of cost the people, and, Furthermore,
if there would have ever been any discussion
of those resolutions by Douglas Democrats,
had they not been in the first place introduc-
ed by Lecomptonites? If there would not,
who then is responsible for the waste of time
and the expense to the people which they
have occasioncd?
Jack next inquiries, chow much are
they (the speeches) worth2" We leave that
question to be determined by men who have
the brain, to Judge and whose hearts are not
gangrcned with prejudice, whether Of per
sonal or partisan nature. To expect a man
whose soul is covered all over, with the green
slime of partisan bigotry or personal dislike,
to give fair opinion as to the merits of a
man who does not happen to belong to his
kind, is to expect stagnant pool to reflect
! the stars.
Our friend the "Giant Killer" next essays
to take up the defense of Lindley Murray
who has been assailed according to Vandyke
Brown, far more by the Lecompton members
of the present Legislature than any other
class of people in the State. The Giant
Killer" seems to think that his side of the
house are entitled to a monopoly of all the
" bad grammar" that is going, and it offends
him mortally when he thinks he sees this
Lecompton province intruded upon by out
siders. Thinks, we say, because it is quite
evident that he mistakes strict grammatical
construction for a departure from the rules
of grammar. He takes Mr. DeLong to task
for saying:
al have reasons cogent urgent and mngnf-
cent, against suspension Of the rules, as is now
proposed"
The italics are his, that is to say, this self
named saughterer's, although he omits to
put the comma after "rules," where it ap-
peared in the Unions report As to the term
magnificent in the above quotation, if Mr..
DeLong chose to think his reasons were mag
nificent ones, it was his right to use the word,
and there was nothing ungrammatical in
voived in such use. Probably he used the
consider the expression, as as" the pecu-
liarly ungrammatical part of the extract
Now, such expressions are common with the
very best writer's and speakers. 1t is a rule
with them to omit all words which are readi-
ly supplied in the mind, land they have the
authority of grammarians for so doing,) and
especially so in cases where disagreeable
repetition is thereby avoided In the extract
before us, Mr.. DeLong said :" have reasons,
&c. against a suspension of the rules, as is
now proposed" That is to say, 81 have
reasons against a suspension of the rules
such suspension as IS now proposed" or,
"I have reasons against suspension of the
rules in the manner now proposed" Proba-
! bly, our friend Jack" misunderstood the
whole intent Of tho words used. 1t is likel :
that he thought that the speaker meant TO
say that the rules were proposed, and in do
ing SO abSurdly connected a singular verb
with plural noun, as thus Rules is pro-
posed Ifsuch was Jacks" notion he must
blame his own perceptions and not Mr.. De-
Long.
As this article has grown to greater
length than we intended it should reach we
shall not notice our hyper-not to say hvpo
critical friend, Jack" any further than
to say, that, since he is 50 exceedingly strenu
Gus for the rights of Lindley Murray, he
would have done better to put the addition
"ly" to the word private" in the follow
ing conclusion of his communication "Pri
yate and confiden tly, from yours, modestly:
JACK THE GIANT KILLER"
P. S.-The aforesaid "Giant Killer" will
perceive that we have not complied with his
request that we should copy his communica-
tion in the DEMooRT. We should cheerfullv
oblige him by doing So were it not that
these comments have taken up all the room
that we had to spare on the subject.