BUSYBODIES.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 84, 12 November 1872, Page 3

BUSYBODIES.

(Libbbal Bbtibw,) Wβ have all much to be thankful for. We can Ktrefy take a walk without' attracting the notice of some observant friends, who straightway inform the world of the feet.' If we knock our eve agaitat some substring—a stone wall, or an iron railing, for instance—we are sympathised with by commiserating beings, who, aa soon as they'have left us, inform the next friend that- they meet that we have been fighting and , got awfully mauled. We cannot have an amicable" little tiff with oufr wife—and will not the beet regulated couples vary the monotony of their honeyed intercoiwstf by oceasioiotei " tiffs ? "—without it being noised abroad that we live a cat end dog life. If we assert our martial authority in the mildest fashion, we are set down as perfect brutes; if the gentleness of our nature induces us to give way in triflep, it is reported that we are henpecked, a reproach difficult fijjr a man to bear in a becomingly meek manner. If we owe our tailor a bill, which we are rather tardy in liquidating, the rumour goes forth that we are on the verge of bankruptcy. Because we take a glass or two of good old port after our dinner, it is said that we are confirmed sots, and - will, probably, sooner or later drink ourselves to death. By paying an occasional visit to the theatre, and to gatherings of a festive character at friends' houses, we find that it is- Openly asserted that we are empty-pated and frivolous. The.Rev Mr Sleepawtfy is sometimes rather, soporific, a"nd the pew in which we put'ourselves twice every Sunday very comfortable'. What wonder, then, that the combination is now and then too much for us, and we fall victims to tne god of sleep ? But what is the.result ? Why it is declared—of course when we are not by—that we arc the' very incarnations of eviP, and must be dead to all that is godly in failing to listen , to the " nice " sermon of good Mr Sleepawayi If we Rend- out children to a first-rate school, and have then taught Greek and Latin, French and German, mathematics-arid the pianoj drawing, music, and all the accomplishments and branches of a first-rate education,, it is pityingly said what fools we are'to throw away our money upon what will not be of the slightest utilitj to our children. If, on the other hand,-we alniost confine tneir education to a knowledge of the three " Rβ," .people sorrowfully murmur that they are surprised we do not know better, and opine that either our resources must be very limited, or our stinginese very great. It is, of course,, highly satisfactory for us to know that so many worthy folk take aniihterest in our affairs j but it is not by any means pleasant that thus should be eprea&abroad a number of scandalous reports to our disadvantage. We can appreciate the kindness of our friAids, evidenced in the interest they take in our behalf, btit feel deeply gratified if their attentions were a trifle less assiduous.

Most t/f these reports to one's discredit are spread abroad by a certain class of people, wlio rtiay at once be detected from their conversation, which would lead innocent listeners to the conclusion that they Enew everything about everybody. Certainly they do know a good deal. They go about picking up information as untiringly as a country reporter hunts up " paragraphs." They are always ready to gossip. They arte prepared to gush over with sympathetic feeling when Mrs B. relates the peccadilloes of Mr B, and, by their persuasive and in-viting-manner, induce the poof soul to say a good deal more than she intended, and upon mature reflection, considers she has any right to. How craftily they insinuate that Mr B. does not like his home as much as he ought, atid ia riot so- generous and -fiindf da lie might be. Having extracted afri admission to this effect, what touching emphasis they throw into the -Words " they never knew 1 things were as bad as that." But' they Will act as mediator; the result of their mediating efforts being, in a general way, that they aire met by the " coarse bru'te " in amanner which is very insulting, and that an opett Breach is created between hil'sband tfnd wife. They csti, in preferfitfee to pursuing the course just indicated, adopt another: They may urge injured Mrs B. to stand Up' for her rights, &&<! itfform her' that they would never sußtti'it to ouch treatment. Perhaps Mrs B 1b induced to act Its advised, and never rfe'grets doing so but once, and that is ever after. How these people gloat over a really unhappy and discordant iiausdhold. How they Seep on calling' there offering the!?' ntoclc- sympathy, their real object Being to' obtain as muck information as they can. How sOori they retnark if the house is untidy, and tab* children in' the' satae condition as their home-; if Mrs B. is iri a bad temper, and itr B. in the srilks. How they endeavour to cheer everybody. Mr B'. is encouraged to linger over his old port after dinher. Mrs S. is strongly advised during a very confidential chat to rtlsh into-extra-vagance. It is perhaps, a just retribution for listeners to such pests that Mr B's friends shoulcl learn greatly to their surprise—that he is ,df heavy drinlser, and Mrs B's acquaintances should be told—also to their astonishment— that she is an extravagant woman and an improvident housewife'. But it may be said, what matters all this ? the idle tales- are not believed. Are they not ? We should rathef* think they are. That is the pity of it. YoUj reader, when you aro told that your friend is spending more than his income, and will come to grief, it is the report,- f implicitly believe. Why do you ? apparently, one of the natural instincts of the English people to believe the worst of their neighbours and gloat over their misfortfunes. But this would not matter so much if the tales set ifi circulation were tirufe. But they are not. "the busybodies in relating a true account draw upon their imaginations to an alarming extent; and then', after a story has been repeated three or four times, its author would hardly recognise it. They instinctively conclude that unless their narratives are very highly colored people would not care to listen' to them. But the active' interference of such folk- is most to be dreaded. Beware of he or she who tells a parent that sons or daughters should not be allowed to do certain things. Beware, also, of those who carefully scrutinize all you do, and all that there is in your household. They will make mischief in one way if fche'y Cattffot in another. They must have a finger in everybody's pief. If they cannot conduct their is fre' quently the 1 CiJse—they can manage your business, greatly to thew tfvra satisfaction if to no one else's/ So they go on pryirig ttnd spying about, collecting and repeating all the' idle! tJfles they can, sowing dissension far and wide, Until' they become universally detested, and raise up ml to themselves a host of enemies.

VoxOLO&y.—When we feel sad or pre-oeffupied, strive ab firff iri&y, there will ever be a slight, a vety slight inflexion revealing the inner secrets of the soul—a pathetic easily discernible by those who are hanging on over every word, and which few of us have the ability to control. When unoppressed cares, or buoyed up with hope;- what is it but the sudden elevation of the voice, a newly-acquired lightness and clearness in the tone, which' informs those around that the threatening clouds have for the 1 time disapptered from our horizon ? And which of us have riot experienced the impossibility—when for our own ends' we Are' anxious to avoid all trace of emotion—of endeavouring to chain down the too-impressible voice for any length of timer to the unattainable pitch of ordinary composure'? A single tone, marking surprise, when we would fain appear unconceMied; a touch of eagerness <rheri' our aim is not to betray such; the faintest tremor, bespeaking that which, "rt-e feebly attempt to retain buried in our heart; these are all small but unmistakable tokens of the tumult raging within, so diferent from the calmj passionless exterior. But to arrive at sitch knowledge,- some ttmount of experience in tlhe science ctf Voxology is necessary; soffle slight! acquaintance with the "ins and outs" of that important organ—-the human voice. When we consider bow the entire fortirne of a life may be changed by a single alteration in the voice; whfcri, despairing of ever obtaining from the ofie in all the world who is everything to our hearts, the few encouraging words we seek, We turn away in utter hopelessness, tffld then, jisfc at the last, an involuntary change in the voice, a tender break in those cold tones u's to turn once more, and by thismeans we learn that M<fret which which would otherwise never be put into words. When we reflect on this and a thousand varietf" wajs in ivhich the vibrations of the voic'6 are brought to bear on our daily existence, can! we deny its influence is great, greater than we before supposed, and will it not persuade us for the future to give more attention to the study of Voxology than we have hitherto considered it deserves ? We are already, most of us, ready to allow the charms of a soft, modulated voice; iKJr is this partiality without due crtuse, for such a Voice is undoubtedly the keynote to the character, even nfore so than the expression of the eyes, or the form of the mouth, A.refined voice is the mdst distinctive sigri of a real lady. A vulgar person can be educated, tutored, made to resemble, as far as possible, that pattern to -tfhich she aspires, but nothing can transform her coarsen e'ss of speech, her harsh, lodd to ties tc# the? required standard. Lovely as the face and form may be, one listens to the words which fall from those lips, and the illusion is dispelled; a sense of disappointment replaces the pleasure we had in gazing at such beauty, and with a shudder we exclaim;- " Oh, what a dreadful voice; it quite spoils her." And in this there is much truth; tie' possession of a clear, gentle voice is as much to be desired as ariy other feature (to which we perhaps attach more importance), and, especially so, if our friends are to pass judgment upon us by means of its peculiarity. Much has been said of " falling in love at first sight " with a face; in many eases—-unprepossessing as thfi. exterior mriy be—do we not recollect being gtiilty of I "filing in love" with a voice? —The Hawthorn. . I

Irish Absentees aitd Ibish Residents.—On the motion of Mr Patrick Smyth, there has been laid before- the House of Commons a refcuri, pWptoed in. 1870, based en the -talnation books of 1869, giving an account of the owners of lasd (in fee simple in perpetuity or on long leases at chief rents) in the country or rural districts of Ireland, county by county, but not including owtiera of lands and buildings in cities, towns, and townships. The total number of proprietors enumerated was 19,547 5 th? holdings amounted to 20,046,182 statute acres, and the of the property was £10,180,434. Of these proprietors 5,982, holding 236,873 teres, of the value of £257,100, held less than 100 acres each. Those baring 100 acres or upwards were 13,565 in number, and heldl9,Bo9,3o9acreß, the valuation of-whioh "was £9,923,334; and of these landed proprietors the-following clasification is given 5,589 who were proprietors of 44 8

wev& ffemMifc usually elsewhere in Ireland, but occasionally on the property; 4,465, with 22 per cent of the area, 2'l-4 Er cent of the valuation, were resident elsewhere in Ireid. Thus,.tßqi^QttvlQ,'l3l of tli« 13,§65;beiiig the proprietors of 71' l per cfent. of the' constituting jnvalue 72*7 per eent. .of.the valuation, wpre resident in' land. There were 180 who were proprietors of: 6 9 per .cent of the acreage, being in vMue 61 per cent ef the . valuation,, and who were usually resident out of Ireland; but occasion- ] ally on the property. There were 1,443 who wene proprietors of 15*9 percent of theaereage, being 15.5 per cent; of valuation/ and whotwere rarely o* neter resident in Ireland. The proprietors of 3- per cent of the aoreage, 2$ pel- cent of the valuation, were public bodies, 161 in number. The 1,350' proprietors of the remaining 2*l per cent of the acreage, beinK-S'fr per oent of the valuation, could not be classed. The particulars regarding residenee were obtained; at the desire of the Irish Government, by the poor-law inspectors, through personal ibfiOiries from the clcrks of the unions, poor-rate eollfectoM, *'lad other persons possessing local knowledge of the facts. J