FLYING SHOTS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XIII, Issue 3578, 3 April 1880, Page 3

FLYING SHOTS.

I An honor to the llev. Mr Edger for his manly defence of the memory of a great and good man; and he chose the best of days for his work. It is difficult to understand why such a defence was necessary, for there is not a line in all that Dickens ever wrote that would tint the purest cheek with a blush, or suggest an evil thought. His was the bright, particular genius the time required; he was inspired, and divinely so, to lash iniquity and hold hypocrisy to well-merited scorn; he used his mighty pen in the cause of the oppressed, and the "short and simple annals of the poor" were immortalised in such touching language that it thrilled the hearts and gladdened the homes of the civilised world. No religion in Dickens! It would be better for humanity .if the world knew no other. Every book he wrote was a sermon, inviting men and women to the attainment of the beautiful and true. Why, one can almost realise on reading the death of Little Nell, the footsteps of angels, as her gentle soul winged its flight. The wonderful picture is full of the lights and shades of life and death—of the present and the future, sublime in its spirituality, and the man who asserts there is no religion in it lies. And Tom Pinch, seated at the organ in the old church, his spirit carried away by the soft music he played, is there no religion in his character P Indeed, there is; and such as the whole world may grasp, and be happy here and hereafter in its simple faith. I grant that the religion of Dickens, as pourtrayel in the characters I have selected is not the religion of the evangelist (?) Webb — for in it there is no fire and brimstone damnation, no torment, no despair. I have often wondered why any minister of religion should take exception to the writings of Dioliens. If they are indeed the lowly disciples of a Great Master ihey profess to be, if they care nothing for the vanities of this world, if they devote their lives without hope of earthly reward to the conversion of the heathen, why should they take offence because a master mind holds up a red nosed Stiggins and a Uriah Heap to publio reprobation ? Who will dony hypocrites, such as these, flourished then, that their portraits aro life like, and their name is legion now? Dickens had no more conception of these characters representing the great body of the clergy than of Sampson Brass being other than the ideal of a (pretty large) section of the legal profession, I fear the hypocrites in the one are now about equal to the unmitigated rascals in the other. To no modern writer is Bociety and true religion so largely indebted lor a masterly denunciation of all that is vile in human nature, and for the brightest creations of purity and,-loveliness, than to the immortal Charles Dickens.

Tho great Councillor McGowan has moved a resolution in the Borough Council vrhioh, for thoughtless presumption, has seldom been equalled. In his opinion the municipal boundary should be extended, and he and the Town Clerk are appointed to take this matter in hand Let the inhabitants of the threatened districts consider this superlative piece of cheek. The reason assigned is the necessity of extending tJw boundary. Council lor McGowan evidently looks upon his little Borough as ho does upon his little shop, and advertises his intention to sell tho residents of the covetod districts precisely as he would a pound of his tea. Ht sella the latter to impart strength and an agreeable flavour, of Souchong w Tiraukay •

I to simple wafer, and he wants to sMI the people he hits his eagle eye on, to infuse a new circulation into the depleted body of his little municipality. Bide a wee, Mac. There aro two sides to all questions, and you may load your friend to the water, but you cannot make the long-eared cuss drink when you get him there; and by the same rule you nny cajole a few into your way of thinking, but you must shew something more tangible than asphalt at 4s a yard, and a better spot to spend their rnte,i in than a street or two in Grahamstown, before the great majority, or even those you lead, will swallow the mixture you have prepared for them. The present position of ibe Borough is really very similar to tbo " little shop" awhile ago, when the spirited proprietor advertised his redundant stock must be sold or his little concern would " bust," and in view of the loss of subsiiies, if the other concern fails in robbing its neighbour, why, that must "burst" too. Mr_ Johu Lundon is improving, if ono may judge by his recent address to the Maoris, This M.H.R. seems fit for any. thing from stuffing a roll to sedition. Many a man for less treasonable utterances has been impeached and imprisoned, and the Government should deal with him as they did with Kemp, but with this diffrrenco, the unscrupulous Kerne should suffer, if possible, a heavier punishment than the half-tutored savage. If a just example is made of one the other should not escape with impunity. The state of the country justifies the Goverment in dealing very summarily with men like John Lundon, and in fact with all Pake-ha-Maori ruffians, whose worthless lives are spent in debauching the natives and inciting thorn to revolt. The present Government have shewn groat decision and judgment in native affairs. There is a refreshing vigour in their policy which contrasts very forcibly with the "flip, doodleism" which has distinguished the administration of the Native Office in the past. Baku.