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inclined to refrain from the liberties practiced by those of former times. To deny the importance of such a widespread change of technique is fruitless, for its existence argues for its naturalness. The best critics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries demand perfect rhyming, and no aspirant for fame can afford to depart from a standard so universal. It is evidently the true goal of the English, as well as of the French hard; the goal from which we were but temporarily deflected during the preceding age.
But exceptions should and must be made in the case of a few who have somehow absorbed the atmosphere of other days, and who long in their hearts for the stately sound of the old classic cadences. Well may their predilection for imperfect rhyming be discouraged to a limited extent, but to chain them wholly to modern rules would be barbarous. Every individual mind demands a certain freedom of expression, and the man who cannot express himself satisfactorily without the stimulation derived from the spirited mode of two centuries ago should certainly be permitted to follow without undue restraint a practice at once so harmless, so free from essential error, and so sanctioned by precedent, as that of employing in his poetical compositions the smooth and inoffensive allowable rhyme.
Editorial
Weak and pliant indeed is he who maketh no enemies. Ever since The Conservative commenced his series of frank criticisms and unvarnished comments, his heels have been annoyed by the vindictive snappings of a dozen or more vituperative little curs whose bristles he seems to have brushed the wrong way as he passed by them. Not all of these have yet expressed themselves in print, but from the gifted Charles D. Isaacson down to the wretched, sneaking mongrel "Bab Bell", they have each taken their "little fling" at the newcomer. Now the Conservative has no wish to trample the under dog, nor even to stifle the feeble yelps that assail this paper; wherefore he extends herewith an invitation for every hostile amateur journalist, human, Nationalite, or "Bab Bell", to submit for publication herein any and all sneers, attacks, or insults which he may have prepared against the Conservative. Reasonable brevity will insure publication without deletion. The Conservative believes that no one possesses the right to attack him unless willing to have that attack printed with original spelling, style, and grammar, in these pages, directly beside the articles whose tone he is denouncing. The public may then be able intelligently to compare the reasoning and attainments of the Conservative and his critics. It is to be hoped that those critical canines and insulting insects will by next issue have furnished the Conservative with sufficient venom to start a new column, to be entitled "From the Enemy's Camp".
It scarcely need be remarked that the above has no reference to those persons of intelligence and good manners who conscientiously disagree with the Conservative in gentlemanly fashion. These critics and dissenters are but to be praised for their sturdy independence of thought, and their admirable restraint of expression. For
