THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1858.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 107, 29 October 1858, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1858.

Puffing, by which we understand all extravagant laudation, either of ourselves or of others, is, we verily believe, the besetting sin of the present age. From the concocting of a new kind of pickles to the construction of a Leviathan, we put forth no work without a preliminary flourish of trumpets, such as would have astounded the more undemonstrative men of the last generation. \Ve cannot, apparently, lay the smallest imaginable egg without its running accompaniment of cackling. This disease, (for it may now fairly be ranked among our social and moral ailments) though not, perhaps, originally a native of America, has, undoubtedly, attained its greatest development iv that congenial soil. But'we have lately observed.some symptoms much nearer home,, indicating, that even these unsophisticated regions are not altogether free from the taint. Let us take an illustration of what we mean from the opposite side of Cook's Straits, which: will enable us to indulge in that grini species >tif satisfaction usually afforded by the contemplation of the follies of our neighbours. . , ] When a New Yorker beholds the incessant stream of commerce rolling through',;the noble streets of his native city,—a commerce fed by a dozen states, each large enough to furnish forth a; respectable European kingdom—and numbers the shipping in the harbor before him by hundreds, the. surrounding population by hundreds of thousands —we readily pardon his claiming for this Queen of the Western World the proud title of " the Empire City." But when the denizens of an obscure seaport, whose present populaiioirand importance barely entitle it to be classed with a second-rate market town in the mother country, complacently arrogate the same dignity, forcibly reminding us pf an ambitious urchia strutting about in a coat of his father's, a world too wide for him, "risum teneatis amici?" And yet, before laughing too loud or too long, it would be as well to ascertain if we ourselves are altogether blameless in this respect., No less than five distinct flourishes of the trumpet', have, if our memory serves us, resounded from a certain nook at the bottom of Blind-Bay; five fanfaronades, successively dying away in feeble quaverings. Who remembers not the time when it was an article of faith which none were, hardy enough to question, that we possessed a' soil of a fertility so incomparable that two abundaut Crops might be grown from the same land yearly, and .for ,ftn v inde4nite;; terrnpf years ?I. Ittwere tedious to relate now by what meaha we were once induced to believe that the flax, which has hitherto baffled all our efforts to convert it into a profitable article of export (to any appreciable ' amount), was by some magical and'unexplained process to turn our moist places of the earth into the sources of undreamt of wealth. Nor need we stop to enquire what dread convulsion of nature has swallowed up what once loomed before our excited imaginations—a solid mountain of copper within an easy walk of our favored town. Who shall say—we speak in 1 sober earnest —what injury has not been done to our budding prosperity by the absurd exaggerations and unwarranted anticipations that have been indulged in with regard to those two of our products that least required such aids, our coal and our gold. For no offence, it has been well said, is so speedy and so sure a penalty exacted as for a boast. Few reputations, whether of individuals or of communities, can long survive a course of overpraising. We are convinced that neither our soil, our climate» nor our productions need, or can possibly be benefitted by, anything beyond the naked, unvarnished truth; for, to quote a homely old proverb, " though brag is a good dog, holdfast is a better." .

Nelson Goal.—The White Swan proceeded on her voyage yesterday fur Auckland. She got up her, steam, maintained full powex*, and left the harbor with a quantity ofthe coals from Mr. Jenkins' mine. yThe result was highly favorable—so much : so, that a import of the capabilities and quality of coal for steam purposes has been given by the Chief Engineer, Mr. Trail, as well-as by Mr. Henderson, the late Engineer ofthe Tasmanian Maid, who was on board the White Swan for the purpose of reporting upon the experiment. By our advertising columns in this morning's issue our readers will observe that a public-meeting is called for Monday evening next, the Ist November, at 7 o'clock, at the Court House, when these reports, so favorable to the working of this new seam of coal —which we believe to be the best yet discovered in New Zealand—will be read; and we trust that an object so desirable to the advance-, ment of the settlement will meet with that support which it deserves. The share list remains open for that evening, after which it will be finally closed. "■ ,T ;-'• -:y -