A Private Tutor.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 999, 24 April 1891, Page 9

A Private Tutor.

HIS UPS AND DOWNS IN NEW ZEALAND. EXTRACTED PROM HIS DIARY. (By Wanderer.) WRITTEN FOR THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. (Concluded.) I was duly inducted as master of the new school, and although my salary was better I soon discovered that mine was no sinecure, and that I had about as rough, uncouth, and ignorant a lot of children to break in as ever fell to the lot of teacher, but the children were not nearly so bad as some of the parents. Some parents are under the impression that their offspring are infallible and born geniuses, and if one child happens to be smarter and get on better than another in its studies an amount of petty jealousy is shown, and a liberal amount of spleen is showered upon the head of the unfortunate teacher by the author of the dull boy’s existence, and he is at once set down as no good—not fit for his billet. Well, owing to petty strifes and quarrels, in which neither side would give or take quarter, the school was eventually closed, and as my former patron had gone to reside in a fashionable township I had to seek about for pastures new. I was finally persuaded by a settler to go and teach his only boy—a perfect gem of the first water—for a very moderate salary indeed, but I thought it best to accept it and be on the look out for something better. Now, while my first employer was a rough and ready colonial, who made no pretence to show, my new boss belonged to that class now so common iu this country:—viz., ‘ snobtocracy.’ Originally he had come from Somersetshire, or some other shire, and had managed through industry to acquire a tolerably good farm, but once he opened his mouth it was enough to show that the aristocracy never owned him ; everything he had, even to the clothes he wore, he was careful to impress upon your mind the fact that they had been imported-, no shoddy, you know. No one had anything so good as he had, even his lad (pity he had not been imported) as ungainly and clumsy a boy as one could meet with, was a veritable paragon, for was he not the son of his lather. His wife had also been imported, but a very estimable woman was she. I was very comfortable here for a time until some visitors ai’rived, and the house, which, alas ! was a a colonial one, was not found sufficiently roomy, and I was politely asked to vacate my room for a few days, and as ladies were in the question I of course did so, and as an Irish friend of mine happened to have a camp a few chains from ‘ Somerset Park ’ T left the lordly mansion and received a cordial welcome, at Shamrock Lodge. This state of affairs lasted a few weeks, until my jovial host had to strike hir camp, as he had received a short, sharp, and decisive telegram from his better half, saying ‘ Come home at once.’ He had been taking a holiday in the bush, away from the worry and bustle of town life, so I had to seek fresh quarters, and as the ladies had still possession of my room I had to content myself at night in an iron whare where tools, &c., were kept. Here I knocked up a temporary bunk, but when I asked the lady for some bed clothes, ‘ Qh, tell it not in Gath,’ in this English establishment there was not a spare; blanket or quilt to be had, forgotten, I suppose, to be ordered from Home, orperhaps colonial manufactures were not sufficiently good enough for this refined household. Be that as it may, for weeks I had to content myself with a couple of horsesheets in a place only aj degree better than the Black Hole in Calcutta. My pupil was getting along well, and both parents notified how highly pleased they were at his progress. Heaving of a better and more suitable place I said farewell to this part of the country, and should this be recognised by any of the settlers whose eyes it may chance to meet I may say that I still have a very lively recollection of the kindnesses I received at the hands of those who reside at St. Fort and Primrose Hill—disinterested kindnesses ;to a stranger I shall never forget, while* to those true and warm-hearted friends at Sumner Hill, though far away, my one wish is to see them soon again? "’d that every prosperity may be the ; I have just hea’ my pupil passed his examine nd did I get as&y credit. p !’ It was all owing t mrness —-a commodity L her!

I was fortunate enough now to meet with a real English gentleman, and as tutor to his boys I have entered a home where peace and comfort reign. In this establishment everyone is treated with that kindly consideration and courtesy of manner which marks out the true gentleman. The master of the house works hard, sometimes he may be seen up to his neck in a drain, at another time ploughing, harvesting, or some other kind of employment, yet speak to him and at once you find the genuine ring of the polished gentleman. The lady likewise is a kindly soul, who thinks the world of her ‘ boys,’ and predicts great futures for them all. I have a nice school-room away from the house, where the heart burnings over the ‘ pons asninorum,’ &c., fortunately cannot reach the ears of this Spartanlike mother. The homestead stands in close proximity to a large lake with a beautiful range of New Zealand hills in the background and surrounded by magnificent scenery. It is rather a lonesome place, far from the madding crowd, out of reach of book fiends or sewing machine touts, a regular oasis in a dreary stretch of country. May it long remain so, and that the kindly owner, his wife, and bairns may continue to enjoy the good things of this life, for hospitality is freely bestowed to all who call here"; neither swagger nor masher being ever turned away from the door, be it late at nigbt or early in the morning without having their various needs supplied. The diary here closes. Of course, much has been left out of a personal character and all names excluded, and it is to be hoped that the ups and downs of a private tutor in New Zealand will have proved of interest to the readers of the Mail.

[The End.]