PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2106, 5 July 1894, Page 27

PASSING NOTES.

The colony came down to breakfast on Saturday morning to find itself saved, — not exactly against its will, but certainly without its consent. The whole thing had obviously been done in a most undemocratic fashion. No appeal to the country; co sounding of Liberal associations; Parliament itself stuck up, so to speak, after the fashion of " Robbery Under Arms." It was a piece of benevolent despotism pure and I simple, the [purecess and simplicity of the benevolence serving as an .apology for the despotism So, at least, we were bound to believe. For that the salvation was a fact there seemed to be no doubt. Ministers, with tears in their eyes, emphatically said it i was so ; Opposition leaders, with a touch of cautiousness and a murmured " without prejudice," admitted that it must be so; conscientious editors supposed that it might be so. The piquaccy of the intelligence consisted in the novelty of both peril and salvation. Had news of the peril been a day or two ahead, the ensuing salvation would have been doubtless welcome, but nevertheless commonplace. But the two things came together : it was a twin birth, and the effect, according to the nature of twipp, was impressive, not to say disconcerting. Tnis it was that gave an unwonted albeit somewhat fearful relish to the matutioal newspaper, and banished even' the library versus statue wranglings as a subject of conversation. The excitement is mw oretty well over, and the honr of cool and candid criticism is probably at hand. But though the hour may ba at band, it is .scarcely necessary to say that I am not the man. I leave such high discourse to that financial genius Mr George Hatchieon, and to the editor of the Wellington Post, flushed with his triumph over inquisitive Ministers and burrowing commissioners. The true inwardness of the recent banking crisis appertains not to this column.

Pending the possible arrival of that candid criticism the Hon. J. G Ward must bo regarded as the hero of the hoar. And. there is no denying that as a hero he displays unsuspected powers of dramatio propriety. Throughout the watohea of the night he bote up with fortitude, despite anxiety, hoskinegs, act} the. few ut fatal tttrdineu on

the part of an over-scrupulous Legislative Council, bent on asserting its dignity. But when the terror was past and the cloud removed, he cried " Saved, O my country 1 " and sank back into the grip of influenza with au apt promptitude which must have won the heart of the Tragic Muse. Unrehearsed aod quite involuntary as this little effect undoubtedly was, it none the less had all the happiness of genuine histrionic art. In a day or two, when the Treasurer resumes his seat in the House " amid general cheering," the imaginative eye will perceive a graceful halo of heroism about his head, and (save in the unlikely event of his doing something palpably foolish) that halo will remain until the advent of the next sensation. The comparatively blameless reputation of the Colonial Treasurer figures largely in the assets of the present Ministry ; it is a Providential gift for which Mr Seddon should give thanks on his knees night and morn. And yet four years ago no one Dointed to J. G. Ward as a coming man. His name figured among juvenile M.H.R.'s — merely that and raothing more ; and now that he has developed into a popular Minister he probably lies awake o' nights now aud then, and asks himself " Who would have thought it ? "

There has been a sputter of newspaper correspondence about the degree of right or wrong in calling a prosecation for heresy a ♦• heresy hunt." Though my opinion on the fcubject has not been asked for, 1 see no reason why I Bhould keep it to myself. Frankly, then, I think the phrase " heresy hunt" has great merit. It is picturesque, and it fits the facts of most heresy prosecutions with a neatness and accuracy quite scientific. In all other prosecutions the forma of justice are observed ; there is an orderly trial before a competent judge; evidence is Bifted and weighed, passion and prejudice are excluded, the citioi*m of amateur irresponsibles is pilei ced, and the accused ia reckoned innocent uniil Le is proved guilty. But did anyone ever see a heresy suit conducted on th- se lines ? Was it after this fashion that we visited npon Dr Salmond the enormity of hi 3 "Reign of Grace "l We surely have irct forgotten the alarams, excursions, fchricks, and anathemas which in that celebrated instance constituted a prosecution ior heresy. Lst a minister of religion have the misfortune to see further into a millstone than other people, thereby becoming euEpect as "nae soond i' the faith," and what we may look for is Jedburgh justice; he will be executed first and tried afterwards. In a twiEkliDg the hunt is up ; at his heels is a pack in full ciy. An accusation of heresy is like the cry of "Mad deg!" Instantly a number of estimable people lose their heads ; there is racing and chasing, shouting and Ecreaming, and every man who can lay his hand upon a gun thinks himself entitled to take a flying shot. If we were not already in possession of the term "heresy bunt" it would bo necessary to iuvent it.

Understand, please, that I hold no brief for newspaper English. If I justify " heresy hunt," I surrender at once " Accidents and i atalitiee," now becoming common as a headline. The idea seema to be that when no life is lost an accident remains an accident, but that loss of life converts an accident into a fatality. This is mere confusion. " Fatality," as the term is used in literature, has no necessary connection with death. There are ciroumstances in which the breaking of a limb, or of a china teacup, might be described as a fatality. One might say without any abuse of language that after our melancholy experiences in statues there seems a fatality in our being threatened with another; But, whilst objecting to " Accidents and fatalities," I am bound to admit that newspaper English is, on the whole, just as good here as anywhere else. No colonial newspaper man would perpetuate the monstrosities which pas 3 unchallenged in America. Nor has any reporter on this side of the world been so far left to himself as to write that Mr So-and-so " chairmanised the procaedit gs." According to the Musical Times this phrase recently adorned the report of a concert in an Engliuh provincial paper. The same authority complains that the art and mystery of piano-playing has been described in print as ■" pianism," and, with strict consistency, that ct oigan-playing as "organism." These developments are quite in the Una of Mr Mactnillan Brown, of Christcburch, Professor of Stoglish there, but they have not yet, thank Heaven, descended to the newspapers.

This same Professor Brown is suffering, and seems to be likely to snffer, from theintemperate affection of his friends. Some time ago the professor's "Manual of English Literature '" — an overgrown pamphlet of 400 pag cb — W3 8 rfcviewed in the Otago Daily Times. It is ill quarrelling with a reviewer or an editor ; he is sure to have the last word, and readers of the Times are now awaiting with curie sity the reviewer's inevitable reply to a letter published this week, in which one •of the professor's students^ comes to his rescue. For the review, be it said, was not ■complimentary. It had exhibited the English profeesor as a gross, glaring, and unconscious sinner against the simplest decencies of grammatical English. And his student's attempt to vindicate him will not mend matt era. For one thiDg it has set me doing what I had not done before— l have looked ir,to the inculpated Manual for myself. It <50ntaiss, I am bcuivd to say, much good matter and useful, but the English— O, the English of it ! Wi' h examples of the professor's etror.-? of phrase— oddities, crnditie?, obECuritiep, absurdities — I would uudtsrtake to fill si page of the Witness. His misuse of pronouns is maddening. Continually are you compelled to stop and try back that you may discover what the relative refers to. His lies and Mms and hises are sometimes pages distant — literally pages — from the name they belong to, although a dozen other names may have come in between. I permit myself one extract — just one, — a passage showiDg the professor's lucid employment of the pronoun it. There are eight its in this extract ; I have taken the liberty of numbering them :

The era saw the possibilities of »n audience for literature widened more and more ; it (1) annexed first the new middle class and, during our own century, the new indu trial classes, The first half of it (2) fitted English literature ijQ the new wealth, and. leisure that the growth

of industiy and commerce produced. It (3) was the other half of it (4) that consummated this adaptation and grew conscious of the vast field sti 1 to be cultivated in the artisans themselves. It (5) was, taken as a whole, the great era of middle-class literature; but it (6> was for a middle class not yet far enough separated from its (7) relations to labour to lose sympathy with it (8). You may read this passage 40 times and then remain uncertain about the reference of some of these its For No. 1 you have a choice between " audience " and " literature." No. 2 looks past these to " era " at the begining of the previous sentence. No. 3is a new sort of it — an it in apposition with the sentence. No. 4 is "eia" again. No. 5 is another appositional it. No. 7 belongs apparently to " middle class " ; but Nos. 6 and 8 I propound as a conundrum, offering for it 3 solution a small prize— nature of the prize to be disclosed as soon as I receive what I may consider a satisfactory answer.

Last week saw the arrival of a cablegram which everybody was expecting in assured faith. We had been informed a few days earlier that the Rev. Mr Ottley, vicar of Eastbourne, bad received tbe offer of the Bishopric of Wellington ; therefore it was that we waited in sure and cevtain knowledge of what was to come after. As night follows day, so tbe offer of that exnlted but uncoveted post is inevitably followed by a grateful but firm refusal. Mark Twain soon got to know what remark would be made by each hapless passenger as he rushed on deck and made a bee line for the ship's iide ; and in similar fashion it was quite unnecessary for that second cablegram t.o be despatched. It came, nevertheless : "The Rev. Mr Ottley, vicar of Eastbourne, has declined the Bishopric of Wellington." There is a monotonous unanimity about this cry of nolo episcopari which the Anglican community ot Wellington may well regard as tragic ; but in which, it is to be feared, mischievous outsiders are inclined to see a touch of comedy. Ifc will be readily believed that I deprecate the mischievousness, and that my sympathy is at the service of the slighted WeilingtoEians. Meanwhile, apropos to the episcopal bench, it was recently recorded by a London correspondent that the late Bishop Smythies enterrained a high opinion of Sir John Gorst. De Gorstilus non dispvtandum, as someone has said ; but the statement may serve as a peg for the following true narrative, which I cull from an English paper : —

During Sir John Gorst's career in New Zealand he became painfully aware of the fact that genius is not always appreciated. The ex-Under-Secretary for India was at one -time editor of a well-known Maori journal, of which the King of the Maoris did not approve. One night a body of natives descended upon the establishment and confiscated the plant— the editor and his staff c leaping with great difficulty to the pakeha settlement. When at the battle of Orakau the 65th Royal Irish were greatly puzzled at the strange ammunition which the enemy were using ; the problem was eventually solved by the erstwhile editor.

" Good gracious ! " he exclaimed, as a galley full of solid brevier burst over his head ; " there goes a column of my spring poetry." It was afterwards reported that a young subaltern had been wounded by a couple of "sticks" of Gorst's "Essay on Christian Fortitude." Let us all to meditation.

The days of company promoting are, for the present, dead and gone, but there ought still to be hope for a prospectus so modest as the following : —

TIMARU MARINE MOTOR. 150 Shares 5s each, and bearing interest at 7 per centum per annum, repayable twelve months from date of allotment.

Security : One acre and a-quarter of Land at Dashing Rocks, with Shed and Machinery. OBJECTS SOUGHT TO DE OIITAINED.

1. Strong, Cheap, Reliable Mechanical Power. 2. To Flush the Streets and Public Buildings of Timaru with Sea Water daily, 3. To extract from Sea Wator profitably certain Properties contained therein. 4. To supply the Public and Private Buildings of Timaru with a constant current of Pure Sea Air. Note the moderate limits of the capital required—lso shares at ss; and observe the praisewonhy nature of tbe "objects sought to be obtained " There is a modesty and self-restraint in this phrase that compels one's confidence. No false hopes are held out. The objects are not objects to Joe obtained, but objects to be sougJit to be obtained. This is a material difference. Then look at the commendable nature of these objects considered in themselves— eg., "To extract from sea water profitably certain properties contained therein." Sunbeams from cucumbers would not be a richer source of national wealth than this. "4. To supply the public and private buildings of Timaru with a constant cunent of pure sea air." This Beems a work of supererogation — a sort of carrying coals to Newcastle — but it is thrown in with the rest, and certainly nobody need object. On the whole the Timaru Marine Motor, with its unexpected by-pro-ducts is a wonderful five shillings' worth. CIVIS.

The express train from the north did not arrive until 10 10 last evening. The engine of the afternoon train from Oamaru left the rails while shunting at Teflchemaker's, and thus blocked the line for some time.

In the Supreme Court yesterday, his Honor Mr Justice Williams delivered -his judgment iv the Clutha licensing case, its effect being to quash the three wholesale licenses which were gran f ed in the Clatha district by Mr R. S. Hawkins, S.M. The prohibitionists scored another victory in the evening, when a motion was carried in the House of Representatives that no alcoholic liquors should be dispensed at Bellamy's.

The Clutha Presbytery have taken the necessary steps to moderate in the call to the Rev. J. A. Will from tho Lawrecca Presbyterian colgregation. Thomas Mackenzie was on Wednesday ordered home to bed by his medical attendant. He has been suffering Bince Friday from a severe attack of influenza. The member for Clutha evidently thought to fight it down, but haß, like others, had to give in. Mr George Jones, of the Oamaru Mail, has been at Wellington for some days endeavouring to purchase the New Zealand Times, but the negotiations are now broken off, the directors of the local journal haviDg definitely refused to Ml!, S