PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2314, 7 July 1898, Page 3

PASSING NOTES.

From .Saturday's Daily Times.

| After reading in the Daily Times certain articles of merit, jcivenile iserit, on " English Prose " and " Style," I had the feeling that these were subjects on which I too might BBy something, if it were worth while. lam afraid ifc is not worth while. Siyle is the man, said Buffon. The cryptic wisdom that essayists on style find iv this saying, a£d the ecstasies they permit themselves over its profundity, are proof, to me at least, that these gentlemen are in evil case. Tho root of the matter is not in them. Tueir axiom that the style is the man is a truism acd a triviality. Tbe man* intelligence or ignorsnee, his refinement or coarseness, the wealth of his vooabclary or its poverty, his ear for words -or want of ear, the clearness of his thinking or his muddleheadedness, will appear and must appear in what be writes. Wherefore — O surprising deduction !— the style is tbe man. Could the thing be otherwise 1 And for what reason, then, are these same learaed Thebans bo much given to goshicg over it 1 They wete better employed if preaching the truth that to mend the style you must mead tbe man. Belief in this truth makes me somewhat a pessimist. It is hardly worth while writiDg about stjle ; that ia to begin at tha wrong end. Make the tree good and its fruib will be good also. Of course lam quite awake to tho advantage of familiarity with good literary models, and under this head am prepared to give a lip. The young writer who is exercised on the subject «of style cannot do better than give his days and nights to the study of Passing Notes.

There is a variety of colonial politician whom exaltation to the House has had | the effect of a drop too much. They are nob ! drunk,— far be the thought !— indeed most |of them are prohibitionists ; they are not, in | the police sense, incapable ; all the same they are visibly " elevated." Amongst the ! earlier c-ffectß of a drop too much is the loosening of the tongue. The man will talk, and he talks without his customary sober-sided refierve. This is plainly the condition of Mr T. Taylor, member for Christchurch, and Mr J. Hutoheson, member for "Wellington. These gentlemen were not born to greatness ; they have achieved it, or ifc has been thrust upon them, and fche transition from this to that, from what they were to what they are, has been just a little too much for them. It; would be impossible that Mr Taylor should " run on " in the House as he does unlesß the brake were off ; as for the irresponsible and inconsequent tirades of Mr Hutchescn— well, a man may be inebriated by other things than liquor, by " the exubsrance of bis own verbosity," for example, according to Mr Disraeli, or by vanity, or by both. Tha things which Messrs Taylor and Hatchesoo, whilst in this condition, are unable to restrain th«rnselves from saying against the Government — with whom, strictly, they are accomplices as thick rs thieves — are delightful to hear. Unfortunately this is discounted somewhat by the wildnessof theiv talk on other subjects ; e.g., Mr Hutcheson on the mining industry : There is one thing the hon. memba- won't get me to do, bo long as I have a head on my shoulders, and that is to buy mining scrip. When I see a snake's head sticking out of a hole I Eacva over to the other side, and reckon fchab that hole belongs to the snake. That is how I view gold mining. From' this we are able to infer tha value of | Mr Hutcheson's " view 3 " generally. Let us | give him time, however. An uplifted Labour | member usually returns to sobriety of mind about tha dafco'of his second election. Two years hence Mr Hutcheson will be as tiober as Mr Earnshaw. And as to his views on mining scrip, I wouldn't recommend anybody to try him, even in his present slightly non compos "state, with a tentative donation of Waihis or Mount Lyelli, or even of Molyneux Electrics.

Charity, says Addison, is a virtue of the heart, and not of the bands ; and Goldsmith also says, describing his good man, — Thus to relieve Ihe wretched was his pride. And c'en hij failings leased to virtue's aide. It is very evident to me that the Charitable Aid Board, which is the living embodiment of the public wish to be charitable, has been feeding itself on maxims upon fche beauty of the greatest of the virtues. Ifc recognises, however, that there is a distinction to bo drawn between tbe charity whioh is true because merited and that which is false

because unmerited. I observe that at the la*t meeting of the trustees those estimable gentlemen fully realise the vaiue of tempering charity with justice. The Vincent County Council, it seems, had recommended ! that relief, be continued to a man in poor circumstances. It was reported that, the man was a patient 5n the hospital ; "so j that," 6aid the chairman, " the3e gentlemen i recommend that relief be continued, and this ) person has been in the hospital for tws j months." Ifc was therefore decided that the ! County Couucil be asked for an explanation. ; Now this, I submit, opens up an opportunity j for a revision of 4he whole question of i charity. What business has any patient in a hospital with charitable relief 1 Is he not already provided for? Tender-hearted persons may suggest that the man may haye ' a wife and family rendered doubly destitute by his illness, and that tha relief afforded was only nominally in his name. O.hers may suggest that the County Council will be called upon to support the man while in the hospital, and are justified in appealing to the Charitable Aid Board, which has placed itse'.f in loe;> parentis But these eublhttes are 'too attenuated. There is the broad fact that the man U in ] the hospital and charitable relief is demanded for him. Mr Bumble would have swellsd with iadigaation at the enormity of such a request. I do not riesd to be told that the County Council did not know that the man, was in'the hospital, and recommended relief as a matter of course. It is every one's business to get as much as he can from everybody else. This is the obvious result of our political teaching of the last few years.

Daar Civis, — Seme iims sgo, referring to the experiences of Dr Hocksn and Dr Cofquhoun with the Fijian fire-walkers, you mentioned a story of the Prince of Wales when a boy having plunged his hands iuto molten metal without takicg harm. I have jast met with an authentic account of this incident ; perhayg you would like to have ib. It is to be found iv " Notes from a Diary, 1873-1381," by the Right Hod. Sir M'ount%(;uart E. Grauc Duff. 24 March, 1878 : At High Elms, Lyon PHyfair, amongbt others, being of tho paity. Apropos of the Algerian conjurors, who apply hot metal to their bodies without savffeiing-, he explained to us that, if only the metal is sufficiently hot, this can be done with perfect security ; and toldan amusing stovy of how, when the Prince of Wales was study- ' ing under him in Edinburgh, h>j Iml, after taking I tbe precaution to make him wash his hands in j ammonia, to get lid of any grease that might be ] on them, said, "Now, Sir, if you have any faith j I in science, you will plunge your light hand into , that cauldron of boiling lead and ladle it out into the cold water which is standing by." " Are you serious?" asked the pupil. " Veifectly," was the reply. "If you tell me to do it I will," said the j Prince. " I do tell you," rejoined Playfau-, and | the Prince immediately ladled out the burning liquid with 'perfect impunity. Thi3 story is of a sort that one cannot quite believe, whatever the authority. Bub, supposing it true, then I say that Dr Lyon Playfair's conduct ia iuviting H.EH to plunge his hands into molten lead wag decidedly improper. Constructively ib was lese majesty if not high treason. Can be suppose that Mamma would have liked 'it 1 The doctor should have illustrated the certitude of science by using lm own hands, Soience, quotha! I do not believe ifc science that a man may, unharmed, hold fire in his band, whether by washing first with ammonia, or by thinking on the frosty Caucasus. And yet I have had a strange experience of my own. I remember, or seem to remember, that, long long ago, I had water from tho epout of a boiling kettle poured over the back of my hand without feeling it. Sometimes, after dinner, I would ewear to the fact ; at the present moment my feeling is that it must have occurred in a previous state of existence.

A prophet is not without hoaour in other countries than his own, aad Mr Cidman, Minister for Eiilwaye, is no exception. Some kind friend has sent me all the way from Cue, in Western Australia, a copy of tha Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette, with a paragraph carefully marked for my information. This states that "the New Zealand railways have an estimated surplus of L 100.000,000 for last year." The attention of Mr John M'Kenzie ought to be drawn to this kind of thing. Ha takes such a keen interest in the purity of the press that I feel sure he would consider it his duty to caution the editor of the Murchison Times, &c, that over-praise is as injurious as calumny. I know that the Minister is not particular as to the quality or thickness of the praise. When we sco journalists hoisted into the Upper House we do not need to refer to back numbsrs to find out how strong is the Ministerial stomach for adulation. But paragraphs like that which I have ctuoted are too utterly bad.

A reader will reason thus : A hundred millions ot a surplus means an enormous development of railways and an incredible amount' of trade. Therefore New Zealand is a most prosperous place. Why should one be blistered and starved and bscome liable to all sorts ot trouble on the arid plains of Western Australia when a commercial paradise like this is near ? The result of the reappearance of this paragraph in other papers may be an invasion of Weßt • ralians, against which, the Alien 3 Immigration Restriction Acb not yet beiog thoroughly effective, there is no obstacle, and New Zealand may become the haven of undesirable immigrants from Westralia. The influence of a newepapor paragraph' cannot be measured. Who has net read of the destitute man who wa3 tearing up an old newspaper and accidentally saw a paragraph which informed him that he was heir to* a fortune 1 In like manner some Westralians may see this paragraph and forthwith pack up and emigrate to this land of Goaheo, where the railway surplus in one year amounts to more than six times the capital cost of the lines. When Me M'Ker.zio succeeds in '"reforming the JNew Zealand press, he will have to undertake fche reform of the Australian press also.

That everlasticg topic Scotch v. Scots crops up again this week in the suapa of a letter from a prominent Scotchman in a far distant town. He sends me a long epistle, of which the point is contained in the following sentences :—": — " I have always baen amongst Scotch people, and I meet them eVery day, but I never yet heard a Scotchman call himself a Sc^c or Scotsmao. I have never heard Scotchmen in conversation speak of the Scotch as Scots or S^olsmsn, and I fancy if you make inquiries amongst the many Scotch, people you may know in Dunedia you will find that their &xp3rienc3 has been similar to mine." Credat Judcens ! Scotchmen never call themselves Scotsmen ; but they wish others to do so. They m-y write themselves Scots, bub they never by any chaacs use ths word in conversation. Ih is parb of their " company " manners aud is in consonance with the national wish to behave yourzelf before folks. I once heard an ancient Iri6h dama thus reprove a fellow couutry woman for over nicety in conversation to a visitor: "Arrah. thin, how Inglified you're getfcinV'and I suspect that the distinction between Scots and Scotch arises from the same reason. I hereby give notice that I shall discontinue tha discussion en this subject. The best judges — ie., the Scotch themselves — use the fcorm, and* appear to resent it only when ifc is used by outsiders. I decline to be coerced in this mauner, and there fche matter must rest. Thors is nothing offensive in the term. It is merely a diminutive, and ought to be accapted as complimentary. Who ever heard of Scota collops, or Scots lovage, or Scots m<uriag<s ? Then, why not Soofcch pec-p'e 1 Why cannot these people bs entirely frank, and admit that in their opinion fche terra Scotch implies a certain amount of vulgarity, and that to be called a Scot not only indicates the nationality, but a grade above the common level. I trust that this question, if noS killed, is scotched. Crv.s.

The position of manager for New Zealand of the Victoria Insu-Hiice Company, for some years held by Mr J. W. Brindlejp, who recently resigned to go into busineaa in Sydney, bas been offered to aud accepted by Mr James Edgar, manager of the Nfcw Zealand Insurance Company's Dunedin branch. Mr Edgar has for years been a popular rn*n in insurance circles, and his well-deserve! aJvancemenfc will be viewed with general satisfaction ia Dunedin. Mr Leslie Reynolds, C.8., has received inEtrucMoDS from the Harbour Board to inveati- | gate the condition of the lower harbour and furnish them with a comprehensive report. Mr I Reynolds has also been requested to advise the ! board aq to the best methods of continuing its dredging operations. He anticipates beicg able to send in his .report in abjut three weeks. The regular meeting of the Bsuovo'lo-i.t Institution Truateea was hell on the 29th, and was attended by Messrs Solomon (chairman), Allan, Wilson, Trcseder, Watson, and (hurley. Accounts amounting to £93 Is 4d were passed for payment. It was reported that Henry Pearce, a^ed 76, hal died in tbe institution from chronic broucaitis. Two months' leave of absence was granted to Mr H >zlett to take a trip to Australia for the benefit of his health. In connection with a recommendation from the Vincent County Council, that relief be con- ' tinned lo a man in poor circumstances, it was j reported that he was a patient of the hospital. I This information drew from the chairman the remark, " So that tbe3B gentlemen recommend that relief bo continued, and this person has ,

been iv the hospital for two months." It was decided that (he council be asked tor an explanation. Toirfcy-six relief cases were dealt with, among them being one in connectioa with ■which the chairniAn stated that the woman had had sjx illegitimate children, in each case the ' father. being a different man. Two of the children were iv the Caversham Industrial School. " An inquiry was held last week by a committee of the Education Board into a complaint n centiy lodged by Mr G. Morgan against Mr A. Spence, one of the teachers on the staff of the Albany street School, of having ill-treated his children. The inquiry, which was not open lo the press f lasted for three hours, and will form the tubj-jct of a report from the committee at the next meeting of the board. ' At the inqasafc on tho boy Msson, who committed suicide at Fremantie, W.A , the jury returned a verdict that the deceased committed suicide owing lo the. disgrace attached to his birth, which had preyed upon 'his mind. Frederick, Mason, the- father, a wealthy man, , bad been living with a woman for several year?, and had five or six children by her. He recently deserted the woman, aad married a widow named Mrs Hillmer. Mason >&nd his wife intended leaving on a trip, and went to say goodbye to the children, but Henry, 16 years of age, refused to shake hands, but pulled a revolver oub of his pocket and Knot himself. The father, disappeared, was ultimately discovered, with his newly-made biide, on boa*.. >ha German steamer Karlsruhe, and brought r '.■ r< by fche police. Mrs Mason, however, remained on board and weat for her trip. Despite persistent rumours to the contrary (says the Wellington correspondent of Ihs Lyttelton Times), ib may be taken as absolutely certain that there will be no reconstructs n <A the Ministry during the present session. 1 aui also in a position to state that when the tima arrives for reconstruction ib will take the shape of inviting tho Hon. J. G. Ward to resume his position as Colonial Treasurer, and tha 1 ; the Minister who will retire to make room tor him will nsither be Mr Thomp-on nor Mr HiilJoaes.

Perhaps the best illustration of the fcopc of file Glscis'one's power as a liDguis!; (s'iys the Westminster Gazette) was given many years ago when he addressed an assembly on tho Island of Corfu in modern Greek, a litt)'* later tpjke to an assembly in Floreuce in Italian, a few dayi later conversed with ease in G rman with Bismarck, soon afterwatds respond* d in fluent French to a toast at a bauquet in Paris, aud ih'in crossed the Channel to deliver a, fi.va hours' speech in Parliament on the Budget. The council of Victoria. College, Wellington, met on the 29th ult. Ie Las been decided to appoint four professors at a salary of £700 a year. The "chair:, to be filled at present are Boglish language p.ud literature, classics, mathematics, and clu-rnialry aud physics. The council will probably introduce an amending bill into Parliament. rsrsr 5 n^y want more money and more scholarship ilr Blair, the mayor, who is a member •< i',o council, haa been deputed to intsrvu \: c Premier on the matter. The case Thomas Mecz'es v. Henr Matthews wa» decided at the S.M. G Friday last. Ib was a claim £80 33 6d, c • • • for alleged breach of contract with referu • < o the delivery of 2000 cau'.itbwm S T r Gallftway appeared for the plaintii!', * :ui Mr Woodhouse for the deftndanr, and his Worship gave judgment as follows :—" The evidence shows that M'luiyre agreed on i>esntf of the defendant, in whose employ he th >■> w.s-, to grow about 2000 cauliflowers fcr the pbint'fl aud give him delivery ia the months of November aud December, 1897. Mr M'ln'-.yre wa», and is low, manager of the defendant n- i scry grounds and business ab Morning \ %:>J is employed to grow and sell nursery 'itu-'k— that is, tree 3 and shrubs,— and he lus <\}so grov/n cauliflower plants for sale for pi ui ting out. About six or seven yean ago the defendant grew and sold pegatables to Chinese customers, but has not grown any for s%le sines thrn, and M'lutyre^who has mvuaged the bwin-si for.-about two years, was not authorised togiow vegetables for sale, and had not done so i-. t i to tha time he agreed to grow cauliflowers ro:r o: fiale to the plaintiff. Mr M'lotyro failed t) carry out the contract he made with the plaintiff, t\n\ tha question is whether the defendant i>- liable in the contract. The only previous tram action between the plaintiff aud Mr M'lntyro was a. purchase by the former of some nursery stjck, young trees and bushe3, growing in the nursery grounds. The occupation of growing vrgrUblc* i 3 that of a market gardener, a, distinct line o£ business from that of growing nursery stock. Mr M'lntyre's employment wa3 to grow and sell nursery stock, aud, as an agent, has no implied authority to do anything outside the ordinary scope o£ his employment, and employmenfc in one line of business affords no inference of authority to act in another. I think the defendant is not liable. Plaintiff nonsuited, with costs of court 12s, witnesses' expenses 48s, professional co3ta £4-. TB»»Wffy.'.y ', T ffi WfflMttflg!