rashly expose my "ignorance", I trust that, whatever opinion others may entertain of the act, he will believe that I am influenced only by a desire not to be outdone in disinterestedness, seeing that I am still willing to let my darkness be the foil that shall best set off the lustre of his thoughts.

I do not consider tautology,—and by “tautology” I mean a repetition of the same word or words,to be always a blemish in composition; on the contrary, I consider it to be often a beauty and a power, and that it frequently gives eloquence to the utterance, and force to the reasoning. In the following passage from my work, 'The Dean's 'English', page 110, I have, myself, used the word "language" eleven times in one sentence; and yet I have not, I believe, used it once {Do often. The passage is on the neglect of the study of English, and is as follows:

"What a disgrace to us as Englishmen is "this!—that our noble language, the language "of our prayers to the Throne of Heaven; the "language of the dearest and holiest relation"ships of life; the language of the maternal lips "which have blessed us and are now silent in the "grave; the language of our sorrows and our

"joys, our aspirations and our regrets; the "language in which we breathe our consolations "to the dying, and our farewells to those whom

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we love; the language in which are embalmed "the stirring appeals of our patriots, and the "thrilling battle-cries of our warriors; the "language of our funeral dirges over those who "have fallen in defence of our homes, our "children, and our liberties; the language in "which have been sung our pæans of triumph "in hours of victories which have made England "great among the nations; that this language,

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-the language of Shakspeare, of Milton, and "of the Bible, should be utterly ignored as a "study in our schools and our colleges! This "is indeed a disgrace; a disgrace such as the "Greeks and Romans never incurred; and one 66 upon which men in future ages of the world will "look back with wonder."

Mr. Gould tells us that he is availing himself of the advice of his friends. I hope that none of them will be so indiscreet as to advise him to discontinue his letters to The Round Table'. They will certainly establish for him a reputation which will last as long as the English language is spoken. Go on, Mr. Gould, in the path which

you have chosen; rewards, far greater than any which you have yet received, await you in the future. But as there may be a wearying delay before we shall be able to congratulate you on the possession of those honours which you covet, you will not, I am sure, object to our whiling away a portion of the time by indulging in a little innocent mirth at your expense.

"Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt;

“While every burst of laughter draws one out."

A man who begins to build, and is not able to finish, has always been regarded as a proper object at which to point the finger of ridicule. Mr. Gould began to build a formidable battery, on which he purposed to mount one of the heaviest of his little guns, and then tempt me to storm the position, that he might—do, I know not what!

He said, as I have previously remarked ;

“I would like to ask why Mr. Moon uses the adjective 'strange for the adverb strangely, in this "sentence: Mr. Gould's plea respecting a "first

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99 edition sounds very strange to those who 'remember,' etc. As Mr. Moon informs me "that 'carelessness admits of no excuse', I trust "that he will not plead 'carelessness' in answer"ing this second enquiry."

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Mr. Gould meant to say; "will not, in

answering this second enquiry, plead 'care"lessness'." Now, however, Mr. Gould feels obliged to acknowledge that my sentence is perfectly correct, and that his "question" (as he foolishly calls it, for it is merely the expression of a desire, and contains nothing interrogatory,) was a blunder, "a careless blunder".

I do not like to contradict any man; but I must protest against Mr. Gould's calling this "a "careless blunder ". There was no carelessness

in it; it was a direct, deliberate charge of error preferred against me; and was, moreover, accompanied by an expression of trust that I should not plead carelessness as an excuse, in my answering the charge. He believed that in my sentence, which he quoted, the adverb "strangely" ought to have been employed, and not the adjective "strange"; this, even a child may see.

Mr. Gould rather astonished me by saying, when he accounted for the errors found in his "Good English', that he had "read the proof"sheets superficially". But for his own assertion, I should never have believed that he, as an author writing to expose the errors of others, had acted in so silly a manner. However, I gave

him credit for the carelessness behind which he sought shelter. Again, when he thought that it would answer his purpose to condemn The 'Dean's English', upon which he had previously lavished his praise, and he felt that some apology would be expected for a change in his views which he foresaw would be regarded with suspicion, superficial reading was again the plea which he put forth. This, too, astonished me; but, once more I gave him credit for the carelessness behind which he sought shelter.

There is, however, a limit to every man's credulity, and now that Mr. Gould pleads carelessness a third time, and as an excuse for a very different kind of error, I feel bound to tell him that I think he has used a wrong word. A man may plead carelessness as a reader, and carelessness as a writer, and, consequently, be utterly unworthy of confidence as a professor of literature; but when he pleads carelessness as an excuse, not for the form of his sentences, but, for his deliberate statements themselves, he employs a term, of which the most polite thing that can be said, even in parliamentary language, is, that it is not justified by the facts of the case.

Like one groping his way in the dark, and