Daily Davenport Democrat., 1865-10-20

Eo,1os, az DsnocsAs.-Ths var d sns
odlcials hes3 bsas u on, and il It Is not -
ready regular 'Kilksnny fight" It o'os
fair to rival that memorable engagement %
- hnsntAbie cooclusieo. For which Al
lab be psaissd
Having exhausted the light sst'l!ssys sne
heavy guns ere brought in rsq1is't'on' sno
- lase an1 most prsfsntious comes the re.
view Of ..O4osi." "When Greeks joined
Greeks then Vas the tug Of was" saith the
old poet, and nothing could stand before
them and 20 when this literary Greek JOINS
his forces With the politicians, with tne
'ereat charter Of English rights" Tor h's
sword and bucklsr and lays about him %
masssrfully, we afe constrsined to stsrt
back in amasement and cry out Win DOM
inie Sampsou, "Prodigious r. :.
Nov, it u good thing to be learned I"
10 we'll 70 understand grammar and the pro
psieties it 10 commendsbIe to be "up IN
your rhetoric, and when the rest Of 10
Greeks cannot achieve these desirable things
it 10 al the same il We have some 'Oima'
70 come a1eak In The nick Of time to give us
good instruction, With examples. tie IS our
Arbiter Eleeantiatum, our GUIDE, our ln-
etructor, our Friend.
Let us hear hin, then, and be thankful.-
II there 10 one thing more than another
upon which ''Oimai'' plumes himself, 1t Is
his rhetoric and syntax. Al Logomachy De
is tolerable, At Etymology, good. u Latin,
'some," . lsw, considerable, but At Rheto-
ric and Syntax! why, bless you, it is his
forte!
Observe this sentence:
1.-The English grammar-Armo cirumque
eanor :" There's rhetoric for you Just
contemplate the beauty, the classica'ity OF
the sentence. How pointed, how clear, and
then the Latin, hos appropriate! Aud II
any inquirer, with Attic insolence, should
demand the meaning, quoth
''Oimai," with Johnsonian majesty, "mean-
ing! furnish you with Rhetoric and Syn
tax, sir; am not bound to furnish you
with brains."
But we learn more than mere Rhetoric and
and Burke, and Webster were chroniclers.
And what did they chronicle, pray you
tellr Asd Why werenot Demosthsnes, and
Chatham and Clay also chron,clers Shades
OF the Mighty Dead Chroniclers! Oh
most susPecting, most contriving ''Oimai,"
how could you disrobe yourself 30 soon
AID more do We learn, and it comes to US
IN the shape Of an intended compliment to
NJ. Geo. w. Ella. We learn s.tlias no man
OF all his peers outranks George w Els. :"
That is to say. Mr.. Ellis has no equals that
excel him. We had, in 'our SIMPLE wsy,"
always imagined that not only in Mathe-
ma,ics, but in Philosophy, ",hings that are
equal to the same thing, are equal 70 each
other" But, alas, Rhetoric upsets the fond
dAls,ason A snauso ouuul NAV o0Scihlv
"outrank" him. II is not so in Mr.. Geo.
only proves the rule.
But it Is not only in his English that We
yield the palm to '.Omai." His Latin
"outra nks" even that.
Attend 70 old Latins, mark that word
factum," says" Oinai." ut is pactum no
longer. The new phase means . contract
without consideration. The old one used
to signify . prom,ise without any writttn
obligations" Did It! Now mark, say We,
and amend your law. The old one used
to signify" no such thing.
If"O OimAi" was not % much Of Greek,
We might ,ggest that even an indifferent
knowledge oi Latin might have given him
the meaning nudum pdctum naked agree
mint. "A coEt act q ie will out . cons,dera
tor" says Bowler and To"rineton. BIT
We have followed this pretentious Greek
much farther than We had intended.
This community is pretty much disgust
et with the airing Of the dirty political lin
en- Of our officials. They al have their
merits and de merits. We have no inten-
ton Of taking hand in this quarrel, and do
not take sides now. But when we behold
new hand taking hold, hoping thereby to
gain few cheap laursls, and with great
flourish, dsmol,shing his foes with words
Of learned length and laundering sound"
and from bis lofty elevation picking pitiful
holes in misprinted articles. We cannot re-
a;aA Hho fam ~ %;o,, ~ rncr~ HE nO