PASSING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11524, 9 September 1899, Page 2

PASSING NOTES.

The panic at Johannesburg is evidence that the Outlanders take the crisis very seriously, and look for ho peaceful issue. British intervention will do them good in the end ; but they expect ..to be worse before they are better. The> rush the}' are making for the coast towns shows how scant their belief in the tender mercies of the Boer. Why are the Outlanders in flight? For the excellent reason that if ■they stay their- lives are not safe ; or at any rate that.they think so. One doesn't l'eadily see why ■ their- • lives .should not .be. safe, except ..lor .the reason that the. Boer is a savage,and will pay no regard to .the v.snges of .' civilised war. What has the -Out-lander ■ done that, is worthy of death or of bonds? He has recounted his grievances to the Queen, who is his snze-; rain, and the Queen-in response has intimated that she will see him 'righted. This is the sum of. his offending, and for this he .~is to suffer."the ioss "of all things. Anyhow; he thinks so,' and' President .Kruger lias said no word to reassure him. It would have been wise on: Kruger s part had he recommended the.. Outlanders by proclamation to remain 'where they were and as they were until the great diplomatic argument should reach an end, and had he guaranteed, in the case of'hos-' tilities, "the safety of Outlander women, children, and non-combatants. Snclr'a proclamation would have.helped his sideoithe discussion materially by softening British feeling and abating the'stiffness of British demands. With . all his cleverness President Kruger was not clever enough to see .that. On the contrary' he allows us to watch with . deepening anger' the panic flight of the whole British population to the frontier. There will be a reckoning for this, lot us hope. ■ In their bill of indemnity for the' Jameson Raid the Boers claimed, not only money out of pocket, but'''for moral and intellectual damage, one' million." It should go hard with us if we do not better the example.

Omniscience.-beinsj.-no foible-of mine I submit myself meekiyi to correction —when correction is needed—on- any question of fact, great or small. But .correspondents intent on convicting me of some inaccuracy will pleasa understand that I cannot' always afford them, the space, of a Note, for that: amiable purpose.; consequently though grateful';l may .be-unable to show--.it.' «.-In the .lollowing- case, this .remark' does not apply ; ;: 1,-make room with alacrity; •-.-' .--.. -. r. ■;, .-,-•' ..-:'• '" ■■■>■„• ■.■ - - • ■ ■ " '.-• ;.■.:.:'. : THE..THIN-.'RBD ,'LINE.^ Dear Civis,—ln.' reading your Passing Notes re the colour-of British mapSi etc.,. being.,red,you go.on to say .that the." thin-red line" atthe Alma, for instance, is historical indeed;but if B:ilaklava 'were'substituted for Alma it might be historical." Excuse, my criticism. One Who Has Worn 'the Red, ' • ~:.. " Ex-E.E., And campaigned with one who helped to form that Red Line. .- , ..,-..-:• . . - .

The Balaclava incident was this: The 93rd Highlanders,' assailed 'by : a column of Cossack. Cavalry 2000 . strong, received the- charge in line, not taking the "trouble!say some —not" having time, say others— to", form square; , Anyhow the Coskanks turned.tail.; a British, regiment.in line had repulsed with heavy 'loss a 'charge 61" Russian cavalry. W; •H. Kiissell; The Times correspondent, :giving the Highlanders their-meed of praise; 'used the expression "the'thin red line," and these words have been retained by the- 93rd. as the title of 'their regimental .magazine. So. far " Ex.R.Ei'.s" .criticism-is justified.' -But.before Balaclava; there,* waiv-.b. "thin;;red line" that had1 wrought wonders--, at /the Alma; -the 93rd Highlanders Were in-."both ; and Russell's phrase is as'apt in the one case its in-, the, other.- . \ Alec Forbes,:- writing, of the Alma, says :^£ Against 12. ba^ttaljons of vthe '.famous-"-fec^ian- Sixteenth Division Colin -■ Campbelfl«f his .brigade of vHi«h-lf..iiders.,.(^-2nd,J9tli, r ,93rd) in the old twodeep British line formation." Stephens, !in his biographical notice of Colin Campbell (Diet. Nat..' Biog.).'says: "With his Highlanders .in "line lie "Overthrew- Jhe last compact colhmns,;of;.tl>.e,,Eussians,u'and it was he who really'won the Battle'of the' Alma." The mere mention of these things sets one's pulses ;.,fiying,".:arid I, understand the feeling of. my';ex-military friend that when we do;mention',them .it should be with .a-n;.accuracy ..almost religious... But he''^ili;.:notl-be::angi;7 ; .with, me for{'remiiidmg;'jmh thafc"iiU^ry'.;of. the;;" thin'red line "..belpjigs;not exclusively-'t-o'.B'alaclava':". It b'slohg's equally .to tlie Alma;,:;and dotibtless to. many another British.battle before that. ■.■--. .' •.'.'..:. '.;.'..■'":.., . ".,-,■'. ..'■'.,:.

The Rev. Dr Waddell, writing'in the " Review of Eeview.s ■■' on- '.' -The.. influence of climate, on character," is'".delightfully, optimistic . for. New Zealand., I wish I could go with him! *' It, is n'ot,'m'erely that* v/e are destined to be good aiid great, but that we .shall. attain these excellences on absurdly easY" terms. We shall. owe them partly "to the fact that we live in an island—in two islands, indeed ;: : partly to the influence- of the ..weather.';'.' Dr Waddell' thinks that "justice has hardly yet'been done to the part that. islands'!have -.played in the development ol the human race."

Island peoples r.rc niore open to progressive ideas than the dwellers ma! continent. And it has been chiefly in..islands'that the great events began which have transformed the world. A lew ■ facts ofLhistory in, support of this statement would be- useful.. Perhaps ■ somebody will supply them."^."Eor my own part I can't'think-of any. _ It seems to me that since the world began all the great nations have lived on continents. There is of course one exception—that judicious blend knowii as the British race, our noble selves. But any-advantages we- may have derived from living in an island ■■'have: "-hardly beenof the moral or -intejlectual- kind. I should, incline,.rather to "sum them up in the lines of Dibdin: •, ■"■.... . ; ;■'.'

O it's a snug little island! :- A right little, tight .little island! . Frenchman or .Don, Let them conic, on! ■ . '

But will they.get off from the island?. • Respecting the moral influences of weather, I find myself on some points in agreement with Dr Waddell, on others not-at- all. Sunshine makes'" for 'pessimism,'' he says;, for which reason the Australians will inevitably be a cynical race and sad. , I doubt "it; but let that pass. Here is an estimate of our own, advantages:

It seems to me that the.climatic conditions of New Zealand, particularly of the4 South Island, ought to produce' the strongest character, physically, intellectually, and ethically, in Australasia. • ■• • ■■■:

This witness is true. -Our South Island climate, will never seduce us ,to idleness nor lap us in sensuous delights'. On the other hand its cornucopia of' cresses, losses, 'disappointments, exasperations, lay us. under the constant- necessity of keeping our weather eye lifting . and supply an excellent drill for 'the sterner moral; virtues: The climate is good enough; our trouble is to live up to it. ' " . '

Dear 'Civis,—What, would happen supposethere were a floed'.-in. the Molyneux, as there may be any day after this nor'-wes't weather, and. the uppermost drpdge, whichever it luay-be--iho "Electric probably, or the Hartley and Eiley—broke away and 'came down on the' next, and. these two with added impetus on the next again, and so on? Imagine.,a', batch oJ half a dozen dredges careering madly down stream on the top of a Molyneux flood! Nothing could resist them. They would simply, sweep, the river from Alexandra to the sou, and the whole fleet of Molyneux dredges, except such of them as might be-rolled aver.and sent to the bottom, woiild have to be sought for outside the Nuggets. Consider what befell the Upper Waipori^lrcdge, working, not in the river, but in a pond of her own making. Sunk at her.moorings! If this may happen to a dredge 'on dry land, as .it were, what might not happen on a stream of such volume and Violence'that, according to Dr Hector, it discharges as much water as the Nile? Are our dredges insured? Would the ! marine insurance offices take them? I don't want to be an alarmist, but feel it a duly to draw attention to a risk which has hitherto escaped notice. • Danger Si'gnat.. He " doesn't want to be an alarmist"— this--imbecile. ■ Lan happy to assure-'him that in the present ■ buoyant condition of the share market he' couldn't alarm us however much he wanted to. Day by day I watch my few modest.-investments rising, rising—a shilling here, half a crown there; and a shilling-on-a hundred shares is- £5 remember; half a crown 'is £12 10s. The state, of feeling promoted, by this steady influx of 'wealth whilst one sits at ease and does nothing'is that of peace with all the world and hopefulness for the best interests of the human race. I don't know how it may' bo'with those

minions of fortune who hold Hartleys at £7 odd, and get their whole capital back in dividends every other week. Possibly a little adversity might be for their good. Moreover, if their dredge went out to the Nuggets, I. should expect an opportunity of buying a, few Hartleys at a moderate figure. There are compensations, you see; and, anyhow, it is. no use preaching pessimism ou mining matters to this community just now. We are bopmsters in mid. career, and may no more be stopped or stayed than the Molyneux in full flood,

iGeriian in the High School. ; Spreydon, September 3. . ■Dear Civis, —This on reading your note in the Witness. Not haying.the advantage of a Dr Heinemann education' perhaps the German •is not up.to date; but that is hardly, our fault.----,-r-Yours, in haste, . J.M'L. •Dor Kaiser he vas vonderful • . On var, und foos, und p.oosh;. , ■ Und: dercfore .all der,Kaiser's manns Moost be so gect as mooch. Dots vy. Herr Heinemann here comes . Voi'e drees' vos made of woot, Zu dell us in his Shernianvay ■ Ye vas not any goot. ' Und nieder vas- ye very mooch '■ Mit all der-higher schules. -■' - - ; Heri- Heineniann lias gone avay, : Vich proves oos all as vools. •'• •-■ • Und more', der yoong vons growiijg oop— '■ "Ach:hein; —mem Herz :it pain. ... > To dinkea dot Herr Home-mann, Vill- not.goom- back again, ~.-'.. ' Zu teach der kid's :zu':-.speU'mit'V - 'Vot;shoot be-spelt mit Yj ..' . • ' ■•..'•, . Uiid sprechen "drei"- instead of "three," ;. . . Und sprechen. V two:-,-, als .'." zwei.'■ ' Ach so!—it schmerz me in dem herz ; .- Dot- now der chance "ish not Dot ye be bossed by yon whose bosa Zincs gontracts—'" Me und Gott."

Dear Civis,—You have much to answer for as /being the first, I think, to iiublish Dr ParkerJs celebrated .prayer, "God damn the. Sultan," as since then a number of persons have been trying to improve on that now well-known text-,. but I think the palm should be awarded to our local school committee. At its. last monthly meeting, iho ; clerk, who. is also superintendent of the Sabbath . School, d d the chairman as a dirty low dog, and the chairman, not to be outdone, d d the- clerk back as a dirty, grunting pig, adding a naught/ adjective beginning with b. To show how evil communications corrupt good manners, two other members- of the. committee present—one. a prop of the church, and the other who'had his, sins lately washed in 'the neighbouring creek,—in*/ stead of protesting, against such language, or resigning and leaving tl\e meeting,', evidently seemed to'enjoy it,-as they sat silent arid said nothing. ■'.'-■■■ • ■ : - \-■"■'■■"• ■■■■ .

| I have" struck,tfiit the.iiarnes- of persons and replaces, which^ if.left. in; '.woiild maKe'this, J.cpinmunicatioh' "disagreeably ; p6iiiteci.'- .The [writer.goes on to suggest that' the: Council of the Churches whilst'advocating ;the read-, ing of the Bible in schools, should also recommend; the reading of a chapter at. the., meetings of .school, committees. I should see little Vo hope" for in that. .Every day's, session in Parliament is begun with .prayers,—with prayers, . observe, which are".more, than, Bible reading.. Yei; we know what Parliament is. As for, Dr Parker and.his.famous.anathema against the Sultan, it may be pleaded. that' DiParker was merely exercising; one of his ordinary privileges as an ecclesiastic. : See - Tristram Shandy ori the curse of St.'•'Ernu'lphus; see also a parallel classic, The Jackdaw of . Rheims. 'Dr. Parker's .anathema; erred, 'by its 'brevity, ■ and by its lack of bell, book, and candle; otherwise it was not without abundant ecclesiastical precedent. An -attempt wasrecently made by an English Police. Court to explain away, the other naughty word-;, the adjective represented-by,b— —, or rather, to brifig it also under ecclesiastical'protec. tion. , It represented, said the! defendant'?-: lawyer, "■ By'r Lsdy,". and was consequently an,; appeal to the Blessed Virgin. Thfc. magistrate pronounced this" etymology to;( thin; and the defendant was fined. Nor would any such explanation ,be'-accepted. -by the school committee, whose proceeding^; , are: Jdeseribsd' aboye. Obviously they ' ari; ; all sound Protestants.'" ' ' ~',''.". . ';..'.,;.' •: ..'I..- ■'".."'."'. .;'.'/' •' ';', '■:'.• ■•. '••■■'; Cms:'I.';-'