PASSING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9875, 21 October 1893, Page 5 (Supplement)

PASSING NOTES.

(From the Otago Witness).

'Thb Dunedin Salvationists havo pub forth ■a neat handbill showing a patent mc-dlcine ' bottle labelled "The|)nly realcureall -cheap, "convenient, rapid, tilective," and setting forth a long list of " internal diseases" for ■which the contents of the bottle are "the 'only apeciQc," beginning with " temper and irritability," aiid ending with "lying and backsliding." " Direclions': To be taken in* tsrcally and applied externally.'' "Caution : None genuine except having this seal." Then coma "Testimonials"— 'eg.:

Troru P. B. Gordon, Esq., Solicitor.—l testify that I have tried the remedy, and havo Jfoand it efficacious for the following diseases, to which I have . been, subject; bub am now •entirely freed : Piide, Selt-Bufficiency, Evil=spe»kiug, and Fear of Man.—Yours truly, P B ■Gordon.

This is .about as trustworthy as most patent medicine testimonial.*, I dare say, though P. B. Gordon's 'diagnosis of iha diseases he sufittved from and the confidence he expresses iv his perfrot euro seem toEavour aomewbat of tbe very pride and Edf-sum"-ciency from which ho professes him?elf ""now entirely freed." But this is a detail, and I have no desire to be- hypercritical. What strikes mo most in this circular is the boldness of its aathors in representing the Go3pel pictorially as a quack medicine, and offering it neatly put up in bottles. Remembering the success of Kolloway's pills and ■ointjjenh, not to mention a hundred nostrums besides, I am inclined to think that this idea will take. Anyhow it is preferable to gospel Towdjisra in the public thoroughfares, the braying of cornets, aedtfatfbeating of drums. The Salvationist gospel as a patent medicine is a new departttre which possibly means a policy of peace and' quietness, and on that suppositibh I'■wisbi it Euccesß.

iPew people, except, perhaps, the proprietors of Pears's soap or Mother Siegel's syrup, have received more testimonials in their time than'has Mr * Fish. And few paople need'era. more, say his enemies sardonically. Which is as it may be; but the fact retanins that the inevitable and annual presentation has just been accomplished,and with more than the accustomed eclat. Tho back parlour of a public houso gave place to the civic council chamber in the Town Hall, and with happy audacity no less a personage than his Worship the Mayor "was got to preside. Ha. wriggled a little, it is true, did his Worship, and would fain have had ie appear that he was there, as mayor to thank a councillor for services rendered to fche Corporation. Bat whatever.the reason of his presence, the ■ effect was the same—the glorification of Mr Fi3h as oar future member and our future mayor. In other points, too, the function was an improvement on itß predecessors. The purse of sovereigns was omitted, and wisely so. Truth to tell, the " puree" had ceased to impre3S the public. For myself1 1 never for a moment doubted its integrity, but, rightly or wrongly—wrongly, of course —a vague suspicion bad, got abroad that the sovereigns were more or leas mythical. When, however, 1000. people testify in writing to a man's virtues and excellencies, there you are,' you know-—the signatures speak for themselves, and can't be explained away as so many blank 1 0 U's and unpresentable cheques." .";"'■" ' :.' -:; '"";'",;:;;,•

Say what we may.about this same Fish testimonial, its significance cannot be gainsaid. ' Clever engineering., possibly- had touoh to do with its success, but a success it was, and nothing succeeds like success. And there is more in it than clever engineering. There is public opinion, confounding the wisdom of toe wise. For at the very poiot of time which all fche political qaida'unc'j had prescribed for Mr Fish's exticetiorj, he bobs up serenely with IOOOp ledged adherents behind him and the mayoralty and anM.H=R.ship before him—both well within his reach, too] But the New leflnence that was to purify politics and eliminate Fish 1 The unblushing Fish is coolly play iog for it, arid as likely as not will capture it. Sempermutdbile, 4'c That touching matrimonial allusion of his means votes, as nobody knew; better than he whoa he made it!"'*' The city of Duriedip," said Mr Fisb, with a tear in his vcice and the eusoeptiblecshe-electcr in his eye—

'the trifcy of Dunediuheld an-almcsb similar position in his love and reverence as' his wife herself held.-,He had been wedded,"singularly enough, ss long to the city in a representative capacity as he had been wedded to his wife.

♦'Dear me," exclaimed Mrs C. as she read this out at the breakfast table—she has lately taken to reading.the paper aloud— ** Dear me, how Interesting. Why, I had no" idea'1 — — "No, my love," &aid I,; abstractedly.—" I merely meant to observe," pursued she, "that yon may say what you like'abbat Mr Fish, but he c>n. set an example to g'ovie. people in some things. There now, Mr G." Aatf do you know, I shouldn't be surprised if sfce were to plump for him if she only learns how to do it.

li'a high time Sir ..Robert, had .sown bis ■wild oats and begun to settle down. And Dunedin is magnanimous enough to try and believe there is some prospect; of it. Alter jilting Inangahaa and frivolously flirting with half the constituencies in the colony, he has at last thrown the handkerchief to Wellington, and presumably intends to do the straight thing by her,' poor crea tare, and make her his wedded wife in a representative capacity, as Mr Fish delicately puts it. For ourselves, we bear him no ill will. The past is dead, and'we forgive, though we raar not be able to forget. In bidding him farewell, a long" farewell, no word of repining or reproach shall {.ass. our lips. We wish him every happiness, and only hopa that his new love may. prove half as faithful as the old, my dear. It is noteworthy that he intends to famish entirely afresh. Party government is to go out, and the Referendum to come in—in short, his new House is to be refitted from basement to garret. Quito Stbutcsque all this. His mind is curiously receptive. The last new book, the last new idea, takes complete possession of him, and if by ill-lack he chances to be near a paper or a platform at the moment, out it all comes, to the dismay of his friends and the delight of his enemies. Happily the' possession ia only momentary, for he is gifted wish the; faculty of discarding ideas as fast as he receives them. Wnich makes him the kaleidoscopical phenomenon he is.: Mr O'Oonor is of course responsible for this latest infatuation, bat as Mr O'Conor will be tied by the leg on the West Coast for the next few" months, it is probable that Sir Robert may recover before the general elections.

Dear Cxvis, —I was in a church tho «ther Sunday where the minister in the midst of his prayers diverged to announce an approaching wedding. Fact, I assure you.. No exaggeration. It was literally and actually in the very middle of his prayers. What he did was of course to "publish the banns of marriaga." Why is this curious custom kept up? Is there any point in it,—fees, for example ? In this country the State makes the- marriage lawr, and though it provides for publicity, I don'b think it provides for " banns." In' this caso the amount of publicity attaiued seemed- to be scant.. I'should have been inclined to ssy that the object was concealment. The names were mumbled, and the only words that reached my ears were "bachelor," "spinster," "just cauee or impediment," "third time of asking."

The "banns of marriage" seem to be what biologists call a survival. They illogically continue, to exist, though their reason of being baa long since passed away. I suppose they had a reason of being at one time. In Charles Keade's" Cloister and the Hearth," there is a rascal who gets hia living by " forbidding the banns." He has to be squared beforehand. A whole Iliad of woes befall the hero and heroine in consequence of this villain's gratuitous intervention ; in feet, they never get legally married at all. But this was in Holland, and in the fifteenth century. Nowadays nobody forbids the bannp, and the worst that could happen if anybody did would be a scene in church. It seems a roundabout method of getting married anyhow, and nobody need adopt it except by way of laxury, as long as the registrar or Dr Stuart will marry you " on &ight." From a recent book on barem life in Egypt, I learn that there is a first, second, and third time of as*kirg in Mihomutan marriages, but that it belongs to tLe stage of the proposal, or betrothal: —

The bride is in au iuuer room, surrounded by her nearest relations and f riencls; the door is ajar, but a thick curtain ia drawn, bsfure ifc. The gentlemen stop outside, and one of them, asks the important quebtion, "N., wilt tihou have this man to be thy wedded husband ?" There is a dead silence, for, willing or-unwill-ing, it is not etiquette for the liidy to be so easily won. Af:cr a p*use tlia question is repeated, and again there is no response. Now I have been fcchl tliab if then; is no reply to the third time of af.king, there w an end of the business, and the parties ail go homn again without; any marriage taking placo. I dou'fc suppose this oflezi occur 3, but there is a long pause between the second ai>d third times of asking, to give time for fcbe ladies to x, -.-'- .. .t> * ; ■' A !..r?..-- *•- r;.■ ■•. ■..>. .- *■■'• ••■ ■ .....■:.„. oecoM'i/.:, : ' Jne contract is hijjned.

This seems a good deal more sensible than the ous'tom of the banns. After the high contracting parties and all their f rends have settled and deteroriEed that the thing shall be, where is He propriety of asking theassent of people who have nolbiig in the world to do with the matter ?

Th:re is nothing like Christian charity, if only, you get.the real thiDg. Here is a gem of purest ray serene which does not eeera to have attracted the notice it deserves. It is from a letter ia a Dapodin paper by Mr J. F. Ferriß, editor oE the Tablet: — ,

. Aa to the combination against "priestcraft"Xiropoaed by your correspondent, probably it will be found Satan cinnoi; be divided against himself; therefore Bible readers necesßarily oombino with atheists and infidels against the Catholic Church.

By "B;ble readers " fee are to findehtaud, I iiiia^uo, llm advocates of Bible reading in .schools.' Wuat view Me Perriu's charity would take'of Bible reading iv general may be_ conjsc'ured wkh more or less plau-i----bility, bat is not here in point. According to Protestant wril era — who, of course, artf not to be trusted—there have been divines of Mr Ferrln's church who denounced Bible leiding as a practice dangerous- to; the soul, and probably Mr Perrin himself would recommend as preferable tho perusal of the 'i ablet. In the passage rquoted,' however, he is referring inerelytb people who want Bible readicg iv schools, and of them he says that they necessarily combine with aobeists and infidels, because " Satan cannot be divided against himself." This deliverance may 6erve to illustrate the sweet reasocablenei-a and superabounding charity of Mr Ferrin's attitude on the education question. Not all Mr Penin'a co-religionists can have attained to this measure of grace } indeed; one might almost venture to hope that he speaks fcr himself alone. To hope, t say,—for if such Bentiments beoame general this would be altoge her too heavenly a place for some of up, and we should have to clear out.

Apropos, a correspondent asks me whether I can give him any information on the subject of the " Breeches Bible;" My first impulse is to snub him. Useful knowledge is not my forte ; Ido not undertake to supply, it, whether in answer to questions Of otherwise. The "Breeches Bible" forsooth! Why should I be thotight an authority on the "Breeches Bible "? Has it anything to do wiih the Bible in school*? A suspicion that this might possibly be the case, and that an allusion was intended to some method of imparting Scriptural instruction 'by the drgmhentum a posteriori, has led me to look up ths srabject. The "Breeches Bible," I find, has been out of print for;three centuries, and consequently ia.not likely to become a fclioolbook in New Zealand, though -as a translation it seems to have had the merit" of vigour. In describing the attempt of Adam and Eve to cover :their nakedness it states that they " made themselves breeches" of fig leaves. Henoe the name. Having disinterred thiß fact, I may as well present to my correspondent along with it a few other curiosities of Bible literature dug up at the same time:; •■ ■ • ■ ■

The Bug Bible, date 1551, owes its name to the fact that the fifth verse of Psalm 91 is translated: "So thou shalt. not nede to be afraid for any bugges by night." The original idea of this ugly word—a goblin or spook—is still to be traced in bpgie, bugbear, bugaboo. The Wicked Bible," 1631, so-called because the all-important •; not" was omitted in the Seventh Commandment. The'edition waa suppressed, and Archbishop Laud fined the printer £500. . ' ' l

I The Vinegar Bible, 1717, gives the parable of the "Vineyard in St. Luke as the " parable of the Vinegar." The Placemakers' Bible has' on error in Matthew v, v 9—" Blessed are the placemakers.". The Treacle Bible asks: "Is there no treacle in Gilead?" The Douay version in the same passage has: "Is there no rosin?" • Finally, the Printers' Bible makes Bavid complain—" Printers have persecuted me without a" cause." Some modern scribes, sore from maltreatment by the intelligent compositir, would "■justify tbi'a error, holding that David spoke in the spirit of prophecy. .■;■.■. • ■ ■ Civis.