NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10414, 12 April 1897, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

In view of recent statements regarding u» decadence of the Maori race, and of the & couraeing results of missionary work them, some of the remarks of Mr. Char!« Darwin, regarding his vieet to N ew zMB I land in 1835, are most interesting Btra D w' ' ; to eay, the great naturalist waa not favour ' ably impressed with our country, /llf writes :-"I believe we were all gl a j JM ■ leave New Zealand. It is not a pleas,,! place. Amongst the natives there Uabjeai' " that charming simplicity which is found .tflf Tahiti, and the greater part of the Eneliih ' ! are the very refuse of society. Neither I ■ ■ '' the country itself attractive." The work I of the missionaries supplied Mr. J),' rw j j. with the one oasis in what struck bin I I as an uninviting land. "Hook back" , I I he write, "but to one bright spot I '*' and that is Waimate, with its Christian inhabitants." Describing Waimate,- hj«.fMj mark?, how, delightful was the eudder ; • appearance of an English farm-house, ,„; its well-dressed fields, placed there as'if D] j ' an enchanter's wand. " Native workup ' ,' '■ ship taught by the missionaries haseffecW \ this change; the lesson of the missionary pP> the enchanter's wand." He adds, " Wh«l looked ab this whole scene I thought it « u ' admirable. Nor was it the triumphal feelia e at seeing what Englishmen could effect, but 11 rather the high hopes thus inspired foe' th','' future progress of this fine island," It'wilf saddening to think that a work begun 1 loft hopefully, and carried on for years Vith'S such signal success, should have experienced ■ : so much discouragement in these Uttei -'• days j etill we are officially informed■ thir signs of a change for the better are not' 1 wanting, and that since the time of tht ; '■ groat lapse the work has, perhaps, neva looked more promising. '. -" The latest available report appears to bflrl that of the Anglican Maori Mission Board, : from which we gather that two native evaii-' gelists have been working among the lapwd! Maoris of the Waikato for the last threV years with marked results; and now th» ' Urewera and Taranaki districts must be : added, where the doors aro fast re-opening : to both Maori and European misaionariej. ? - Then the recent Maori conference atTe • - which was successful beyond all anticipation,. ! I is another hopeful sign, showing that the ' ■ more educated Maoris are taking a renewed interest in the physical, moral,'and spiritual ■ well-being of their race. The follower* of > '• Tβ Whiti, too, have just given the Revitif; Taimona Hapimana a cordial reception-it'. -', Parihaka. Wherever he went there wai'v' not a word said against the Christian religion, bub everyone came to worship, Of Tβ Whiti, Taimona Hapimana eayii ■ "That man's throat bubbles over with:. Scripture, but he appropriates to himself the prophecies relating to the Messiah,", , Of course these hopeful indications :'isf|J most welcome, but it must be remain, bered that no real tangible results will 1 ever be achieved except by the employ.' menfc of adequate means and by steady. |- and sustained effort. Before we blame tii.'. missionaries too severely for want of succeu, we may well ponder the words of a grei) ; :j modern writer, who asks; "Can you coo- ; '" ceive for an instant what it must be tl • preach the Christian doctrine, and to ex-' ■ plain to the people what the Christian wSct ■ means, when all the time you are ooneoiooi'-' that just in the background there is that ' life exhibited behind you, and it is foal "' with every sort of sin ? Can you conceit ', ' how that must take the heart out of mil- , .' sionaries?" We notice that the Maori! • ] Mission Board has decided "that, in vie*" - of the annually decreasing grant from the I■'■'■1 ■'■'■ Church Missionary Society, and of the fall- . : ing rates of interest in the colony, all ':.'£ balancos of moneys arising from the properties which can possibly be spared, shall b< capitalised at once." Other economies an '' proposed ; but it is clear that if the work ii ' ' to be pushed on vigorously, and if tnj i advantage is to be taken of the new open< ings, increased funds are an absolute neces'' ■?}; 3ity. ( "I|g ! A congress of Greek women is about tt . be held at Athens, when the country ' ' women of Sappho and Penelope will pasu ■• ;• series of resolutions upon the improvement' of the education of their sex, and also upon" the improvement of their dress. A move-'. \ : menb for the introduction of a national Hellenic costume, to be adopted by patriotic < Greek women (in defiunce of all laws to'. ;• the contrary from the Paris milliners) - has been in progress for some time amongst educated circle?. The arch* ologists and the artists, as well U/'., the enthusiasts for the " Greater Greece," " ' do not approve of the " modern" Albanian : I dress which is now worn by the Greeki I upon all solemn national festivals. They;j...i I have written and spoken in favour of its ' . abolition, as a survival of the Turkish, ';| bondage, and want to persuade some 1, influential ladies boldly to adopt the J, ancient Greek dress of the classic period M of the fatherland. The headquarters of] : || this reformation is at Agrinion, AJisso-' '!| longhi, whore Lord Byron gathered hie '" brigade of six hundred Suliotes in CS, January, 1824, where ho died in the ' '' ; April of the same year, and where bit Greek mausoleum still stands, though fail '.'-'„'/ body was carried 'o the village church ol Hucknall to bo buried. Byron himself, it. " his enthusiasm for Greece, adopted thi contemporary Albanian dress, though bl ' •' , might possibly have preferred, if anj i Greek had ventured upon such a thing at '['/; that period, to have dressed hinwelf liki" Theseus, Achilles, or Pericles. The Hellenic / Women's Committee at Agrinion have re- • i>. ceived the full assent and consent of their 11fathers, husbands, and lovers to clothe %/ themselves, in the privacy of home, during . ■ ; . the coming spring, in the simple and graceful costume of Hermia and Helena. • Be. fore any active step is taken in the Greek . dress revolution, however, the matter is til be submitted to the National Congress "of.-. L Greek women. '-*&&§, " y :

The situation in Crete and Turkey il extremely critical. Fighting has broken out on the Turko-Grecian frontier, the Turks attacking a body of Greek irregular who crossed the borders. The Turkish commander is making preparations for I ' general advance. There has also been ■ further fighting in Crete, the Britiek and Austrian warships having been forced to open fire upon tho Cretan insurgent*. The affaire of South Africa continue to occupy much attention. The Cape Argue is responsible for the announcement that Great; Britain has docided to occupy lnvack Island, which is situated at tho entrance M Delagoa Bay. The Canadian Alien Labour Bill, introduced with tho direct object of ! retaliating againatthe United States, whert similar legislation has been adopted, bw passed its second reading without opposition. The Premier of Canada regrets that such a measuro should be introduced.. : ■ batrtatee that the policy of the Unjtei >; States h«s compelled Canada to reUlM*

; autlioritiei are taking ■'■Skib to prevent a Japanese influx, and ■ii refused a contingent of immigrants \Ljsion to land. The United States ! Urtrnmen* are sending warships to s « iriii but or what purpose we are no I formed- The representatires of th« (J tern States in the American Senate are :L,nding an increase in the duties on raw "lil''