A CONTRAST.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 57, 4 July 1846, Page 4

A CONTRAST.

The following " contrast," which we copy from the i TmM, is so just, so eloquent in its facts, and so beautiful iv itssimple expression of them, that it does not ueed a word of introduction : — " Not many weeks since the Eclair steamer anchored in Funclial-roads. "The dread yellow flag drooped from her masthead. A strauge and deadly sickness had swept off two-thirds of her officers aud men Her captain and both her surgeons had perished. The wan, worn survivors sought reliof from the inhabitants of Madeira. " The Governor of the island deemed it his painfuf duty to forbid any intercourse between the plagueship and the shore. He sternly commanded them to weigh their anchor and depart. " The scanty crew of the steamer, already insufficient to carry on the duty of the vessel, were daily ; becoming scantier under the attacks of the fever. ! The equinox was at hand. In this pitiable plight, without medical aid, they were on the poiut of being compelled to put to sea, and cross the Bay of Biscay. " There chanced, however, to be at Madeira, Sidney Bernard, an English surgeon. This man and seven seamen, volunteers from English merchantmen, came forward and offered their services in taking the Eclair home. "It is needless to waste words in praising their noble conducl— a more signal act of cool disinterested devotion is not on record. " The Eclair reached the Motherbank ; the fever still raged between her decks. Many had died on the passage from Madeira; the pilot who boarded her in the Channel died, and the heroic Sidney JJer- ' nard, having accomplished the humane task he had assigned himself, died also." Home a Sacred Place. — Oh, how sacred is that ■ home, where every word is kindness, and every look ' affection ! Where the ills and sorrows of life are borne with mutual effort,and its pleasures are eqnally divided, and where each esteems the other better than himself; where a holy emulation abounds to excel in offices of affectionate regard ; where livelong day, the week, the month, the year, is a scene j of cheerful and unwearied eftbrt to swell the tide of domestic comfort, and overflow the heart with homeborn enjoyments.— That home may be the humblest hovel on earth, but there heart meets heart, in all the fondness cf a full affection. And wherever that spot is found, there is an exemplication of all that is lovely, and of good report among men. It is heaven begun below.

Esquires.— -Real esquires are of 7 sorts — 1. Esquires of the King's body, whose number is limited to four. 2. The eldest sons of Knights and their eldest sons born during their lifetime. It would seem that in the days of ancient warfare, the kuight often | took his eldest son iuto the wars for the purpose of giving him a practical education, employing him meanwhile to be,his esquire. 3. The eldest son of the younger sons ot peers of the realm. 4. Such as the King invests with the collar of SS, including the Kings of arms, heralds, &c. The dignity of esquire, was conferred by Henry IV, and his successors, the investiture of tue collar and the gift ot a silver pair of jpurs. Gower, the poet, was such an esquire by creation. 5. Esquires to the kn-ghts of tiie Bath, for life, and their eldest sons. 6. Shei riffs for counties for life, coroners and justices of the peace, and gentlemen ot the royal household while they continue in their offices. 7. Barristers-at-law, doctors of divinity, law, and medicine, mayors of towns, and some others are said to be of a scriptural dignity, but not actual esquiies. Supposing this enumeration to comprise all who are entitled to esquireship, it will be evident that thousands of persons styled esquires are not so in reality. It is a prevailing error ihßt persons possessed of £300 a-year in the land are esquires, but an estate of £50,00,0 would not confer the dignity. Nothing but one or other of the conditions abovemtntioned is sufficient. Maruaoeand Education. — Examine the choice of a girl. Among allthe qualities which h pleasing|m her lover there is, perhaps, not one which would be suitable in a husband, and in faces, she frequently sees little more of him she loves than the beauty of his form, or, perhaps the elegance of his dress. Is not this, then the most complete condemnation of our system of education ? From an apprehension of too strongly affecting the heart, we allow the sense of the beautiful that exists in them to be lost among futilities— the outside pleases them— what is within is unknown. What therefore, after having been united six months, they look for the delightful young man whose presence charmed them, they are often very much surprised to find in his place only an impertinent fellow, an ignoramus or a simpleton. Yet this is what is^iommonly termed in the world a marriage of inclination. The Rata of New Zealand. — "One of the most extraordinary trees iv a New Zealand forest," says Simmonds Colonial Magazine, "is the rata, which originating in a parasite, grows to such a size as to rank among the giants of the forest. It first makes its appearance in the form of a tender vine, clasping the trunk of some huge tree with its long tendrils, and growing both upwards and downwards, and increasing in bulk at the same time. After a while, the parasite, having killed the parent trunk, esta- \ blishes itself upon its roots, sends forth numerous ' branches aloft, which again send forth aerial roots clasping the neighbouring trees, aud ultimately the rata occupies a larger space than any tree of the fore -it. It is uuder this tree that the curiosity so well known as the vegetable caterpillar is found. Instances have occurred of natives lying down to sleep under the rate having been found dead, and in consequence, it is now always carefully avoided by them." Well informed botanists, on the other hand, describe this singular plant as perfectly innocuous, and maintain that if natives have been found dead beneath it, that their death was owing to any other cause than the rata.— Chambers. Evilspeaking and Backbiting. — Much inquiry having been made concerning a gentleman who had quitted a company where Dr. Johnson was, and no nformation being obtained, at last Johnson said, "I dont like to speak ill of any man behind his back, but 1 believe the gentleman is an attorney." Matrimonial Concord.—" I wonder," says a woman of humour, " why my husband and I quarrel so often, for we agree uniformly on one grand point; he wishes to be master and so do I." Served Right.— The man that lost his eyesight by reading a borrowed paper, has recovered it again since he became a subscriber.

MACKY.