Ken Purdy on Englishmen—a reply
Sir,
What a dim rabble this island of ours has bred! Or so Mr. Purdy would have us believe. Lacking in information, understanding and civility are we English, in the eyes of Mr. Purdy, if I have correctly construed his last paragraph. I cannot think that civility is the outstanding quality of his letter!
Judging by the tenor of Mr. Purdy’s missive I am inclined to think that “the chap who was doing the driving” was provoked into a temporary loss of civility by an offer of assistance tendered in an uncompromisingly patronising air.
In a person so overwhelmingly knowledgeable and well-informed as Mr. Purdy it is indeed surprising to note distress in the fact that someone’s views do not coincide with his own. Whilst deprecating the fact that a reader enthusiastically supports the use of the gearbox, he displays his own unmitigated bigotry in blind championship of the American conception of Motoring.
Perhaps “slush-pump” is the wrong term to apply to the transmission system of an American automobile but it could well be used in description of the implement employed by Mr. Purdy to pen his pernicious and provoking paragraphs.
L. P. KNIGHT.
Hainault.