Fair play., 1883-10-13
LAST WORDS.

LAST "ONOS.
DEAR SIR Permit me once more
to trespas- on your space. AS 1 can
not well spare time to attend TO this
discussion any Longer, and rs ''lnde-
pendent Democrat" bow cd himself ont
last week, shall follow his example
this week. In justice 10 myself, feel
bound 10 comment on the scoffs md
sncers which his extremely saperci!i-
Gus gentleman i;ivishes on my humble
attempts TO reply to the phenomenal
l,.yic with which he h,, favored an as
tonished community during this dis
c,Ission. "Va.arics aud wanderings,'
he calls NV delightful digressirns from
the main argument. of which, lie states.
| have entirely lost sight. Now, |
claim that have attended a little too
closely to the point at issue TO please
either the independent Democrats, or
their guondam allies, the Republicans.
If have attempted TO pvirt out some
Of Tie inaccuracies in 81 vie and state
meni contained in the published
replies of my opponents, IL was TO
show tie capacity for inaecuracv pos
sesscd by persons who have assumed.
and still assume. the leadership of
others ou. OF error. lie who under
takes to revolutionIzc public sentiment,
shoaid give proof of superior judy
ment, and shouid not. by exposing his
ignorance i'm ordinary things, demon
stra.c that he i not laaitic mentally
TO take the guidance Of the people IL
10 l.is hands. when extraordinary mat
tiers are under consideration TO write
the English language properly, re-
qnires fair mcnta! powers, and intel
| lcctual industry in acquiring the ne
ccssarv knowledge. The assumption.
therefore. is perfectly reasonable. that
person who has not attained ortliIi-
airy precision i'll the use Of words. WHO
shows himself deficient in knowledge
of the everyday construction of lan-
guage. who conjurcs up the spirit of a
hero of the Middle Ages 10 arouse the
modern dccendants of Il race against
which he fought. who talks of liandl-
capped man sinking beneath the dark.
blue wave. who makes sentence, hy
the linear foot, who has to make cor
rectionS of one weeks letter i'll the
next, and who addresses himself, IN
one communication. first 10 the editor.
next TO an imaginary audience. then
10 another multitude equally the of
>prin" Of his own excited brain. and
tina!iy 10 the writer To whom lie is re-
plvin.. cannot be sufficiently method
icai and clear.hcaded 10 be a safe guide
for ANYBODY. How can !. man who
has 10 ransack Elair's Rhetoric in or
der 10 ascertain whether he has used
a proper figurative expression. who is
not certain that 4 man referred TO as
handicapped in a race for political
Office bv the weight of some colleagues :
dement's. is described me.apiioricallv.
and who cannot tell whether horses
are handicapped in sieeple-chases till
he has reached home and consulted his
books. how can such man be entitled
bv his intellectual superiority TO as
sumo the leadership OF his fel!rw-men:
If his mind is obfuscatcd and unin-
formed on such simple matters, how
can he be considered the political Mos
es that he claims to be? lie NAV lead
his followers out of Egypt, and into
the Red Sea, but, if they are never TO
escape from its depths except by such
miracles as he can work. Gabrirrs
trumpet will hardly sound loud enough
to awaken them from their watcry
grave.
did rot charge a total detection
from their party on the independent
Democrats. To accuse them of that.
would be to question their sanity. as
they could furnish no rational preteXt
for such an act of dcsertion. Wha,
effect could it have had on the total
Democratic majority if they had vot-
ed against the Democratic candidate:
for State and Congressional houors
l did assert that they deserted theil
part, in this county, and rushed into
the arms of their Radical opponents
and that | maintained, and do main
tain. "Independent Democrat" assert;
that he has proved that he, and his &c
operators, and followers, did not catci
hold of the leading strings held by the