MR. MAYHEYV’S SECOND LETTER TO MR. BARLOW. 441 
A noble mind is grateful when its errors are mildly pointed 
out ; but I have heard little boys, angry when told they had done 
wrong, seek to hide their faults by exclaiming, “Well, you did 
the same ; you did so too.” These seem to be the models Mr. Bar- 
low aspires to perfect. I simply said, his language was vague, 
ungrammatical, and unintelligible. I shewed him proof that it 
was so, and could, were it needed, bring forward many evidences 
in support of my assertion ; but, in kindness, I spared him further 
exposure, and made no comment on the solitary instance which 
I adduced. 
He wants the generosity to acknowledge truth — he lacks the 
courage to confess an error ; but he meanly seeks to cover a fail- 
ing by asserting that similar accusation could be made against 
myself. In proof of his opinion, however, be brings forward 
nothing, but, while entering into dispute, permits his word to rest 
on his unsupported authority. Few men in a like position dare 
exhibit a similar temerity : he, by so doing, lays himself too barely 
open for me to strike. 
He seeks to justify himself, even by contradicting what he had 
previously advanced. He, to vamp up a defence, openly denies 
what he before had publicly acknowledged; and, to support his 
palpable tergiversation, ventures to assert that I condescended 
to “garble” his language. The facts are before your readers; — 
let the passages be turned to, and it will then be seen whether I 
was so much at a loss for argument as to pervert the meaning of 
an antagonist. I will not disgrace your pages by dwelling further 
on this part of the subject. Throughout, Mr. Barlow’s letter is 
marked by misstatement. The very first sentence is erroneous. 
He is more ignorant than should be possible, did he not know that 
the “ head line” to such communications is attached by the editors 
of journals similar to The Veterinarian. 
But I must treat this person with more charity. His intelli- 
gence is limited, and his faculty of comprehension exceedingly 
small ; he cannot comprehend plain English : he quotes two sen- 
tences of my writing, and openly confesses he cannot interpret them. 
If such is the case, I am sorry for him ; I cannot render them more 
plain. If he is really unable to make them out, he had better seek 
the assistance of a governess. Any tolerably educated female will 
supply “ not” to the second, and teach him to construe the first 
without any such addition. I am, as a member of the veterinary 
profession, indeed grieved to witness the confession of one of its 
public teachers acknowledging that he is unacquainted with the 
language of his country. Such barefaced ignorance I had not 
imagined could be found in Britain at the present time. 
Mr. Barlow’s limited power of comprehension should have made 
