THE PRINCE'S GUARD OF HONOR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 225, 25 September 1867, Page 2

THE PRINCE'S GUARD OF HONOR.

The following has been forwarded to us for publication, and we need hardly add that we cordially endorse the sentiments which it embodies : —

The editor of the Colonist has seen fit in his wisdom to write a puny article against the proposition of the Government for the selection of certain Rifle Cadets to proceed across to Wellington to act as a guard of honor to our Queen's son, the Duke of Edinburgh, on his landing in the capital of New Zealand: a procedure so calculated to draw forth good feeling on hoth sides of the Strait, to smother petty enmities, and do away with (if only for a summer's day) the paltry jealousy subsisting between us and Wellington, that one would have imagined a writer who claims to himself so large a share of prescience as does the editor of the Colonist, would have been the very last to attempt to strangle such an idea. On the lime-honored principle of 'Love me, love my dog,' how many parents' hearts will be propitiated by this plan. How many an honest hard-working father (whose hope to see his son a little better than himself was the lever that transported him hither from Old England's meadows) will hold his head up higher, and feel his pulses quicken, as he sees his son marching in the ranks of the picked lads who go to see and receive the Sailor Prince; and for the nonce be a better citizen, because a happier man. Is the Government merely a mill, in which, like horses, we have to grind out our daily duty? Is.it not, or ought it. not to be, a fostering parent to educe and elevate all the best feelings of our natures? By all means, say we, and hundreds gathered round the tea-tables, of which we form an interesting iota, are joining us, by all means let it go on and prosper I The boys themselves will be happier, more respectful of themselves, more patriotic, more loyal, in anticipation of this event, and for years afterwards will treasure up in their minds that summer's day at Wellington as marked by a glistening stone. On the score of economy too, which is a motto the pennons of the Colonist are ever bearing aloft from their citadel, where is the churl who expends all his income on necessaries and duties, and spares none for the amenities and prettinesses of life? There is not a single workman in our forges or laborer on our soil who would not allow somewhat earned by his honest grimy hands, to be put aside, for his Julianna-Josephine's new spring bonnet, or little Bobby's whistle; and shall Government be more stingy than they? Then send our lads to Wellington; give them a new rig-out and, if we can manage it, put some handsome little Cupids in front, with fifes and drums and a scrap of bunting; and when the bill comes in, let us be magnanimous and pay without growling, for the pleasure of having done a good and kind action, fruitful in present and future benefits to our community.

From the Spout of the Teakettle,