Pen and Ink Portraits.

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 27, 19 March 1881, Page 6

Pen and Ink Portraits.

No. 15.— Colonel Robert Trimble, 81. H.R. There are hewers of wood and drawers of water in political as well as in private life. The leper, the prophet, and the king, have been in chance communion with each other long ere the days of Haaniau, the Syrian ; and the leper, by an equal chance, is some times the best man of the three. It is one of the greatest mistakes conceivable to imagine that our Governments are kept in office on account of their possessive merit or ability. Not long since, Blanders, the ex-member for Wakatipu held the balance of power in the House of Representati cs — rival parties being clamorous and eager for his vote. Vincent Pyke, later, held a similar position of strength ; and at a still nearer period we remember — well, the Auckland four. We get tired of looking at great men. Their virtues dazzle, or their crimes disgust us. We learn little by studying their characters, for only unto a few of us is it given to be great, and to a still smaller number to be good. The homely virtues of the rank and file afford the safest study. We can get near to them moreover. The lustre of their countenance is mild, and common men can gaze on them without being dazzled. Greatness, after all, is very often only a matter of accident. Necessity made Yogel unscrupulous, and with this weapon alone he attained eminence. When Reader Wood came back from England, in 1863, with the remembrance of an interview with the Secretary of State or Rogers, we forget which, fresh on his mind, he attempted to patronise Sir George Grey. Remembering these and many kindred illustrations of the influence exerted at times, by "meaner men," we sketch Colonel Trimble. There is nothing so decided about the member for Grey and Bell as his nose. There is a haze over Colonel Robert Trimble which is hard to be seen through. Thus, one is in doubt at times to determine whether he is an Irishman from Liverpool or a Liverpool Irishman. He constantly says he is a Radical in politics, but the only Grey thing about him is his hair. Many years ago we were at school with a mahogany coloured boy, from one of the West India Islands, and this "mahogany lined lad was always talking about my father " The Colonel " One inquisitive young mannikin, on one occasion, when "The Colonel" was trotted out, said, "lsay, Bill, tell us what regiment your governor belongs to." The lad with the crisp and the curling hair was equal to the occasion, and said : "In the Cuban Native Volunteers." When one hunts wearily through the army list, without finding what is sought, the conviction steals upon the mind that to some such worthy and illustrious corps must Colonel Robert Trimble have belonged. When the last election for the House of Representatives took place, Mr. Thomas Bailey, of Waitara, was thinking of putting the Colonel, as a schoolmaster, into a village school ; but he altered his mind, and put him, instead, into the House of Representatives. Mr. Bailey is still doubtful whether lie put the Colonel into right place. There is a haze about the manner in which the gallant colonel obtained some 2000 acres of land in Taranaki. But then there is a haze over all Taranaki men, and over all their affairs. There is a haze over the reason why he was made, last year, Chairman of the Native Committee — whether it was to punish Mr. Hamlin, or to reward a " friend of the Government. There is a haze over the question, what has become of Colonel Trimble's New Zealand Brigade ? — nor is it generally known that he had one. There is a haze over the question whether Colonel Trimble will be in the next House of Representatives, Mr. Tom Bailey being himself hazy on the subject. Saddest thing of all to state there is a haze over Colonel Trimble's political principles. This indistinctness is very common among celebrated persons. Thus we do not know the parentage of the wife of Cain, nor the name of the man who hanged Charles the First. The descent of the Roman oil's is inextricably entangled, and it Avill suffice for our readers to know that the co]onel claims to be an Irishman. Breeds in Ireland have become much mixed during the last few centuries, so th^ member for Grey and Bell has a Scotch face. To his lionour be it said, that though possessed of a nose well adapted for the pastime, he does not take snuff. Some people in New Plymouth consider the colonel the " Coming Man." On this subject the colonel very truly remarked, "A Colonel is above a Major." He answers with an air of wisdom, the only thing he has to do with the sages ;he protests much. He professes to have an ardent zeal for the welfare of the native race. He poses as a land owner ; .and finally, he is the most prosy member of the House of Representatives, and that is saying a great deal for him. He is more intolerable than the Hokitika butcher, Dick Seddon, wound up for a nine hours' spin, or than Dr.jWallis, when he dilates on education. If we err in any way in this sketch, it will be from the haze mentioned. Should this mischance befall us, the Taranaki News — the Trimble organ — will no doubt put us right. Like many more of his countrymen, Colonel Trimble has been in America. He was in business in Lancashire. He came to New Zealand in 1875, He was accompanied by his "brother. Upon his arrival, he obtained from the Provincial Government of Taranaki a block of 2000 acres of land, described as ' ' level, dry, and of the highest quality," near the town of Inglewood, close to the railway, the reference made to the purchase by the Colonel's enemies in the House of Representatives rest on the assertion that the block was sold without competition, at £1 per acre, upon the condition that he introduced a certain number of settlers, and placed them on the land. At the present time, or only a few months since, there was only one cottage on the block in which a Government immigrant resided. There appears no doubt but what the colonel tried hard to fulfil the conditions imposed upon him, when he came into the possession of the land, as he introduced a number of young men at the expense of the Colony, without money, and known as "Trimble's Brigade." The military spirit runs in the colonel's family. He has a beardless son, in his teens, a captain in a Taranaki brigade-. Another, it is jolcingly said, plays a triangle in a New

Plymouth drum and fife band. His brother, described to us as of "pig and whistle" celebrity, ranks as senior corporal in a Katikati regiment They will doubtless all be colonels in their turn. When the gallant colonel was being run by Tom Bailey for the House, he told the electors' that her Majesty had sent him out a commission to light Te Whiti. Besides his military knowledge, he claims an intimate acquaintance with political economy. He boasts that he was employed by Blr. Gladstone at_ an election, and avers, that once, in his early life, he had the honour of blacking O'Connell's boots. It is not the colonel's fault that he has had greatness thrust upon him by Blr. Thomas Bailey and the bank. Koneke.