the inferior task of
"portraying" individuals, and abusing other men's works. The editor of
the Zuyderzee, though not particularly anxious for a classical sub (who,
to tell the truth, was no more wanted than a Scandinavian critic for the
_Blunder and Bluster_), had no objection to the gratuitous aid of Mr.
Benson; and so it came that Karl was installed as classical editor of
the Zuyderzee, with full power to annihilate the classics, and with no
restraint set upon him except that he was to do it briefly.

While acting in this useful capacity, Karl had once had occasion to
examine an edition of Agamemnon, published by an eminent Greek scholar.
In the course of his review, he had pointed out no less than ninety
errors, eighty of which had been of omission in not having the notes
sufficiently full to be obscure; five in referring to editions with
which Mr. Benson's private tutor had not been on reading terms, three of
punctuation, and the remainder of a trivial nature. The classical editor
had, however, smiled upon the professor, by saying that the work, though
faulty, contained no very outrageous blunders, nothing for example like
Relyat Siwel's "constitut_ing_," in place of constitutED.

Had the sentence been passed upon the ordinary publishers of classical
works (a humble race of men who are happy when they can publish books
which will bring home neither pay nor abuse), it would probably have
been thought extremely flattering to all the parties--a sort of beacon
light, to gladden the hearts of the watchmen of AEschylus. As it was,
Professor Weston bore his honors meekly, but Mr. or rather Professor
Relyat Siwel, was unfortunately a fiery little man, who was thought by a
large circle of admirers to be the first Greek scholar in the great
Republic; who had expended years of severe toil on his favorite work,
which he thought tended strongly to sustain the character of
Christianity, by showing that Plato was not opposed to it; and who,
moreover, had a cordial dislike to the Gotham school of classical
critics, and had resolved to have a crack at Mr. Benson the first
favorable opportunity.

Accordingly, in the next number of the Zuyderzee, appeared an "original
article," sandwiched between the first part of "A Thrilling Romance of
the Second Century," and a "Tale of the Flower Girl of the Fejee
Islands," entitled "An Essay on the Greek Language, by Professor Relyat
Siwel, LL.D."

In this interesting essay, Professor Relyat