Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 333, 26 July 1849, Page 3

Original Correspondence.

To Vte Editor of the New Zealanchr. Sir, — With a view, I suppoie, to the gradual transformation of the " easy writing but uncommon hard reading" of the Maoii Messenger into the more congepii 1 literature of a Maori Punch, there hat ap» pearcd in its last number (I i)lh July), a letter, addressed to the Men of Waikato — gravely notifying to them the supremacy of the male sex, and beseeching them to assert their dignity, and revolutionise their r>resent Petticoat Government. *^ The learned writer is very pathetic upon the domineering propensity of Woman. He calls it " the bane of civilized life" — "the demon of contention" — " the one, if not the only, source of much of the wickedness which afflicts humanity," — he then expends an infinitude of pity upon the henpecked husbands, as represented in the person " of a poor fellow, six-feet high, trembling before a litt.'e wife;" and, in conclusion, *' most e.utie tly and anxiously, and, indeed, most affectionately 1 ' warns the fair (or rather brown) Xantippci ' not to b.eak tS-e r liubbands' spirits, and cripple thrir energy, and make them almost ashamed to look their

fellow-men in tlie face, from the feelings of humilia. tiou they would experience at the thought that their wives rule and domineer over them." Unfortunately for the great erudition, argument, and sympathy displayed in this powerful appeal to the manly dignity and female sensibility of the Waikaco Maories, the exact reverse of the fact assumed exists, —the tyranny bewailed ii placed on the wrong shoulders — and such a defrct, in this matter-of-fact word, materially interferes with the success and advantageous effect ot benevolent intentions. A homely auu'ogy of everyday life holds goo.l in sach cases. Carts he. fore hoises are not only opposed to popular prejudice, but also to popular advantage. It is, howeve-, consoling to remember that tins very circumstance only enhances the exquisite humour oi the (intended) j ike, and will give the sturdy warriors of the " Waikatj"an increased rolish for this receipt for taming their shrewish wires. The contrast is incomparable; — on one side lies the husband, stretched in sloth, and revelling beneath the opiatic influence of mingled warmth, tobacco and Mesiengeis ; on the other side is seen the menial wife, impelled by the moral influence of threats, kicks, and tomahawks toiling bene ith loads of chil dren and kunieras, — ahjoct hlaves, despised beastq of burden,— degraded into merchandise, oveiwoiked into premature old age ; often the helpless victims of the sudden rase mid the vindictive blow. As well might be denounced the luxury of palish paupers, or thedespotiim of American negroes ! In the chivalrous refinement of civilized society woman is, indeed, by a fiction, and sometimes by reality, raised into superiority over man ; but, alas 1 in t Qe the rudeness of barbarism, no such gallantry prevwils— unmitigated severity is her invariable lot. If Waikato belles were such termagants and »mazon» <J8 the letter assumes, it would seem extraordinary that each husband should g*n*rally be possessed of two or three wives; unless upon the hazardous principle that conflicting foices tended to mutual neutralization. I would suggest, as materials for Letter No. 5, the extreme aversion which natives entertain to tobacco, and their gross ignorance of the Maori language. I remain, Sir, Your obedient Servant, A Bachelor. j Auckland, July 25.

Glranings from Late English Papers.. — The Railway calls in the United Kingdom in January amounted to .£2,587,225, being a million and a quarter more tb an for the preceding month.... A. lart;c increase of the police had been found necessary in Ireland.. ..It was intended to change Newgate, Dublin, into a convict pi ison.. .. Se/eral sheep had been imported into London from the Cape of Good Hope, with a view of crossing them with an English bleed.. ..It appears by a l > athame i >t i uy return that within the last three years, 1500 new places have been created, the salaries of which exceed a quarter of a million.... Lola Montes, who was created by the Into King of Bavaria Countess of Lnndsfelt, and who attained con* siderable notoiiety in connection with recent events in that country, hud arrived in London.. .. The South Western Railway C mpany had given gicat dissatiisfaction by advancing their charges about 20 per cent, on the whole line from London to Southampton., ..A prize of .£loo for the best Essay on Juvenile Depravity, had been awarded to the Rev. Henry Wor&ley, Eveton Rectory, Suffolk.. .. Nearly 12,000 persons visited the British Museum on two days in Chiistmas week. ...The "Reformer's Almanack" states that the Duke of Grafton and bis t.imilv have received, since the time of Chailes 11., j£2 ,857,058 of the public money. , . . Curious remains of a pavement believed to be Roman, have been discovered und'T the ground near Eastbourne. . . . The original floor of the reiecory at Durham has been discovered. It is compost d of plnin red encausti tiles. . ..Many of the mills in Irelaud were grinding little or none, because flour, now la>gely imnoru-d trotn America and France, can be bought at a lower price tlwn the home manufactured article.. ..The distress of some of the Roman Catholic priests in Ireland was so great that, according to a Limeuck paper, tcveril of them urended to emigrate and join the American Mission.. .. War medals for the veterans of the Army were deli vered at the Hon>e Guards from the Mint on the s'h February, and were being soi ted prepjra'ory to immediate distribution. Gleanings fuom ami laic Au3iiialast\n Papeus.—beveral persons have gone from New South Wales to California who forgot to discharge their debts before their departure; and othtrs, holding responsible situations in rat- re tntile house*, huve suddenly taken their passage, leaving the accounts, &c, of their employers in a confused and unsatisfactory state. The Sydney Herald uiges on the Council the adoption ot the regulation in the Muutitius and some other colonies, by which a certain legal notice ib required to be published previous to departure Irom the colony.. J. F. L. Foster, Esq., has bctn returned to the Legislative Council at Sydney for the Electoral District of Port Phillip; and S. A. Dona'dion, Esq*, for Durham. Mr. Cowper has been returned for St. Vm« cent and Auckland by amajouty ol 39 to 1G.... Mr. Alick Osborne, of Wollongone;, has buen appointed Warden of the District Council of lllavvarra, in the room of Mr. John Osboine, resigned.. .. Vessels being daily expected irom California, it has been ordered that the number seventy nine shall in fu ure be used at Foit Phillip to notify their arrival.. .. The Van Diemen's Land Company is following the example of the Australian Agricultural Company, and endeavouring to sell their land to persons willing to settle at Circular Head.. .. Complaints ore made of the email number of pilots at Port Phillip, owing to which vessels are somemnet detained for several days ....Nearly £30,000 was raised by the late Government land sale at Port Phillip ; some of the suburban lands brought very high prices.. ..The Cono Chronicle ttrenuously urges that Geelong, in prefeience to Melbourne, should be the seat of Government of the New Colony of •' Victoria." It is thought that Sir Emerson Tennent, Colonial Stcretary of Ceylon, will be the first Governor of the colony. He had obtained leave of absence to visit his native place, Belfast, Ireland.. ..Sir Thomas L. Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, is pieparing a Map of Australasia, which is to be printed at the expense of the National and Denomination School Board) for use in their schools. . . . There are now five considerable tobacco manufactories, besides some smaller ones, at work in the Maitland district..., A new and good load from the Burnett River to Toromio, on the Upper Brisbane, has been discovered and cleared.. ..The first numbei of the Australia Felix Magazine has been published ut Port Phillip. Its Editor is Mr. Colin Campbell.. . .Mr Foote has, at last, decided thut there is coal at Loiitit B,iy, abundant in quantity and excellent in quality. A meeting was convened at Gceiong to form a Coal Comp.my, and a Provisional Commi tee was appointed to obtain further information, &c. ..The Melbourne Argus has been commeuced as a daily paper, making three daily papers In Melbourne.. .. A new Custom House is to be erected at North fiiisbanc, opposite Kangaroo Point.... A " Brisbane and Ipswich Water Conveyance Company" is in course ot formation.. .. A piece of patnfied beef, brought from flinders' Island, has

been exhibited in Launceston., .. Anew Tcf total Hall, which will accommodate 400 persons, has been opened in York-street, Launceston.. .. The Jews have obtained a grant of a burial ground at Gcelong.