The indignation of Mr. Bullet-head at these scandalous insinuations, I shall not attempt to describe. On the eel-skinning principle, however, he did not seem to be so much incensed at the attack upon his integrity as one might have imagined. It was the sneer at his style that drove him to desperation. What!— he Touch-and-go Bullet-head!—not able to write a word without an O in it! He would soon let the jackanapes see that he was mistaken. Yes! he would let him see how much he was mistaken, the puppy! He, Touch-and-go Bullet-head, of Frogpondium, would let Mr. John Smith perceive that he, Bullet-head, could indite, if it so pleased him, a whole paragraph—aye! a whole article—in which that contemptible vowel should not once —not even once —make its appearance. But no;—that would be yielding a point to the said John Smith. He , Bullet-head, would make no alteration in his style, to suit the caprices of any Mr. Smith in Christendom. Perish so vile a thought! The O forever; He would persist in the O . He would be as O -wy as O -wy could be.
Burning with the chivalry of this determination, the great Touch-and-go, in the next Teapot , came out merely with this simple but resolute paragraph, in reference to this unhappy affair:
“The editor of the Teapot has the honor of advising the editor of the Gazette that he (the Teapot ) will take an opportunity in tomorrow morning’s paper, of convincing him (the Gazette ) that he (the Teapot ) both can and will be his own master , as regards style;—he (the Teapot ) intending to show him (the Gazette ) the supreme, and indeed the withering contempt with which the criticism of him (the Gazette ) inspires the independent bosom of him (the Teapot ) by composing for the especial gratification (?) of him (the Gazette ) a leading article, of some extent, in which the beautiful vowel—the emblem of Eternity—yet so offensive to the hyper-exquisite delicacy of him (the