LECTURE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 67, 9 October 1862, Page 2

LECTURE.

“ ON THE GREAT A AMES ASSOCIATED WITH THE TOWN OF NAPIER.” BY ME. JUSTICE JOHNSTON. On Tuesday evening last. His Honor Mr. Justice Johnston delivered the following discourse on the above subject, before a select and attentive audience in the Council Chamber in furtherance of the objects of the “ Napier Athenaeum.” Ladies and Gentlemen— I have much pleasure in meeting you here tonight, as your presence is indicative of a desire to promote an object which I cannot help believing to be of urgent importance to this settlement! Having learned on my last visit to Napier that steps had been taken for the establishment of a Lheravy Institution in the town, and having expressed my willingness to offer my small contribution towards so laudable an effort, I wrs somewhat disappointed to find on returning after the lapse of nearly a year, that circumstances bed prevented the inhabitants from making any practical advance towards the attcmmeit of tins object. Believinp - , however, thrt in all such matters it is the first step willy H at is difficult, I ventured to suggest to a few of my friends here, that if but a few” books were got together, by way of commencement, for the immediate use of subscribers to the “Napier Athenaeum,” there would be a greater probability of ulterior measures being taken for establishing and developing the Institution ; and my suggestions having been favorably listened to, and Mr. Bridge having kindly undertaken the trouble of procuring and keeping the volumes for which your attendance to-night will provide means of payment, 1 have now to fulfil my promise of something to you about the great names associated WITH THE TOWN OF NaPIEE. And I am sorry that my leisure time since I made the promise has been so limited that I have been qu'te unable to grapple fairly with so largely suggestive a subject, or to do more than put together a few random hints and notes neither very comprehensive nor very coherent. I am sure, however, that “ for my cause’s sake” I shall meet with indulgent crit’csm, and that my merely conversational suggestions and rema’-ks will not bo judged by rules pvope; ly applicable to more deliberate and elaborate compos t'ons. When the sweet, love-stricken Juliet of the Capnlets, thinking aloud at event'de on the balcony, and little dream hi g who overheard her halfwhispered soliloquy, asked—- “ What’s in a name ?” and said — —“ Ui,' t winch we caU a rose, Ey any other name would ~-ueU as sweet - ’ she felt she was only arguing on the side of passion against conviction. Much as she mvst have loved that fairest of flowers—dear as must have been its odors to her keen sense, would she have loved it all as well hrd its name been harsh, rude, rough, displeasing to the car? No ! Bella Giulietta! —you knew right well that there is something in a name, even if it be only in the sound of it. [His Honor here nude some allusions to the fine names used in advertisements, and the principles upon which fond fathers and mot'icis select names for thew children, and proceeded as follows : —] I must say I consider it a very auspicious circumstance for t-h's colony ard a very fortunate one for our posterity that a very large px-oportion of the settlements and provinces,—of the hills, lakes, and rivers of (l-ese islands, —our towns, and roads and streets, —have had the names of immortal Englishmen, and of places with which the history of English and glory are associated, stamped upon them for generations. Within that division of the colony with which I am more immediately connected in an official capac'ty, the nr’hary glories achieved for England by Mahl..o. ough, Clive, Wellington, Picton, Napier, and Haveloce, and the personal histories of those illustrious men are constantly brought to nund by places bearing their honored names ; while ti e names of Code, Nelson, Collingwood, Codejlngxon, Haedy, and Hawke keepireshthe memory of the r chicvements and lives of the naval worthies of old England, and of her greatness on the se . Each of these names is a link in the chain that unites us to our great Fatherland. Each name helps to guarantee our attachment to the country of our origin—the nation irom whose past greatness our postoiUy in this hemisphere must for mafly a century derive its greatest honour and its liighe;t boast. But there are other names still—and these more immediately connected with this town—which according to my view of things, are likely to bo even more efficacious in keeping up the attachment of the future generations of New Zealand to the illustHous parent State. I mean those of the great Brit’’sh poets. 1 believe it is to the good taste and wise judgment of the present Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, when he occupied a different position, that this town and its vicinity are indebted for the distinguished names which were assigned to them on the formation of the settlement. While the name of a most distinguished English general, who had then recently won the last laurels of his glorious career, was selected for the town, the scenes of his great exploits as a soldier and a statesman were commemorated in its vicinity ; and thus we have Napier with Scinde, Hydee/ bad, and -Me.»nee around it. And at the same time contemporary*

English literature received its tribute through the names of Carlyle and Tennyson ; while Scottish poetry was illustrated by the suggestive name of Burns, and the elder glories of the British muse were indicated by the use of the names of Chaucer, Spencer, Milton and Shakespeare. To speak of all these at any length—to allude even to the memories and thoughts which they must suggest —would sadly try your patience; so I shall sey and read but a few sentences about Napier, quote a few favorite prsssges from Carlyle, indulge myselfby repeating a few sublime and a few beautiful verses of Milton, snatch atrandoma few gems and flowers from Shakespeare, recall afew lines of Robert Burns— lest I should incur the displeasure of my brother and sister Scots who muster so strong in this province—and conclude—after a few remarks touching one recently added to the I'sts of the illustrious dead—with the last noble memorial lines of the Lau"eate Tennyson. It is now just nine years since I saw the remains of General Sir Charles James Napier carried to and deposited in their last resting-place at Portsmouth. Not equal in pomp to the funeral rites which I hrd witnessed in the preceding year in London—those of England’s greeted soldier—the obsequies of the departed General were yet not unworthy of a hero and a great military commander, duly appreciated by a great nation. Moving through a line of procession indicated hy the 42nd & 79thHighlenders, ondattended by the MrrinesandMarineArtUlery, the body was borne to its final receptacle; General’S’r William Napier, the distinguished historian of the Peninsular war, and affectionate biographer of his deceased brother, and Admiral Sir Charles Napier, his cousin, following as chief mourners : and when the grand funeral service of the English Church hod closed at the grave, the sorrowing brother strove through his deep emotion to declare that there, in that grave, lay the best of soldiers, the best of brothers, and the best of men. Indeed, he was a great man—a noble man—a very brave man—a very able man—a very loveable man ; but not without his faults—and those faults tended to depdve him of the full measure of success, fame, rnd honor, among his contemporaries, which he deserved, and the withholding of which made him somewhat bitter, and Ins biographer somewhat indiscriminately unjust 'towards the British Government and people. The great general and statesman who conquered and pacified the vrst rugged country of Scinde, with its numerous hordes of warlike and theretofore all but invincible tribes, and laid the foundations of civil! .ation, commerce, and prosperity, all in three years’ time—had he but been able to repress his feelings of indignation at the littleness, the utilitarian hardness, and the pretonsiousness of men in authority in India and in England, with whom he hrd to deal, and to forbear from saying and writing things which men cannot ordinarily be expected to. endure with equanimity, might have achieved—one scarcely knows what'—in our Asiatic emp : ro ; and, as his shrewd experience and foresight saw the probable results of the.patent errors, and detected the more latent vices of the system of the Indian Army, it seems not improbable that had he continued entrusted with supreme military authority throughout Ind’a, for some time longer, the horrors, sufferings, and losses of the recent mutiny might have been averted. I trust that the Napier Athenaeum will soon be possessed of Sir Charles Napier’s life, for the readers cannot rise from the perusal of this book without a convict'on of the greatness of head and heart of him with whose name this settlement is associated. Two or three little scraps from my common-place book must serve for illustrations of Sir Charles Napier’s character—his way of thinking and of writing. Some day, perhaps, I may have a chance of dedicating a whole evening to so interesting a subject. [The learned lecturer here read a few passages from Sir diaries Napier’s Life, illustrative of his •character.] And now we come to the literary names I have mentioned as familiar to you all. To Carlyle,— a contemporary writer of great power and originality, and, I believe, a special favorite of the nomenclator of this place, I am not sorry to offer my tribute, although he can hardly pretend to a place on the same level with the other writers to whom I have alluded. Carlyle has a style of his own, which unfortunately has led to a considerable amount of bad imitation; but in himself, though perhaps overdone, the originality and vigor, which it displays disarms criticism, and there are much valuable thought and suggestion, and evidences of so’much research and care throughout his works, that along with their peculiarities of manner and train of thought, they are very well calculated to arrest attention and to suggest reflection on many important topics. Clinging to Gorman modes of thought and expression, and woi’ds of German origin, Carlyle, it has been said, if he were obliged to write an “ Essay on the impenetrability of matter,” scorning to use words of Latin origin, would entitle it “ On the unthoroughfaresomeness of stuff.” I shall read two or three characteristic passages. The next name on my list is that of the venerable blind poet of the Commonwealth, whose dignified and graceful figure, as he dictates his lofty strains to the pen of filial piety,— represented by the sculptor’s or the painter’s avt, —remain engraved on the memories of all who have ever seen it, associated with the ideas of purity, dignity, beauty, harmony, and lofty thoughts derived from ultra-mundane sources. Listen for a moment to tho melody and harmony of that wondrous song which describes the Nativity of the Saviour. [The learned lecturer here read a portion of the Ode on tho Nativity.] Nor does this great bard disdain to deal with scenes and thoughts and feelings of the lower earth ; but mark with what graceful dignity and chastened purity ho invests the loss spiritual subject— [His Honor then read from L’Allegro.] And now immortal Shakespeare claims our thoughts. But how to speak in hurried terms of this great light of poetry* and human nature, of him who above and beyond all other of her sons

is the boast and glory of the Mother Country. True, he was not of an age, but for all time ; true, ho was not for one country and people only, but for all countries and nations —the most catholic of poets. Yet was he supereminently an English poet and an English man ; and in his great works all English-speaking peoples, derived from Old England, will ever have a common inheritance of priceless value. Whether for sublimity, pathos, beauty, grace, humour, wit, love of nature, benevolence, or thoughtfulness ; —whether for subtlety or simplicity, conciseness or fullness, massiveness or delicacy, critical acumen, p.actical wisdom, analysis of motive, germinality of thought, catholicity and practical utility, or for unfailing interest and rivetting charm, —the works of the Bard of Avon are unquestionably peerless among the uninspired productions of tho human mind. Glad an I that tho adoption of this revered name for one of your chief thoroughfares will constantly remind the inhabitants of Napier of this most illustrious of Englishmen ; and I trust that it will be the cause of their doing special honor to that name in the coming times,; and rot forgetting to teach their sons and daughters from their early years to drink freely from that fountain of knowledge and delight which ho opened up for all future generations. Detached specimens of this or any dramatic poet’s works are seldom so interesting or effective as when read with their context; and I must be content with giving but a single scene or so to-night; but those of you who care to hear it may have a more full illustration of our poet’s powers on Thursday night, when I propose to read the principal portions of the play of King John, dedicating the admission money to the purpose of purchasing music for the Napier Choral Society. [Two rccncs from Julius C'ccsar were here read by His Honor with telling effect.] And now, not to disappoint my Scottish friends of a tribute to one of the greatest British poets, whose works I trust will be familiar words among our children’s children, let me read a pa ,r e or two.lrom Burns ; and local associations compel me to select Tam o’ Shanter for tho purpose—a masterpiece which we Scotchmen will hardly admit that any Englishman can thoroughly appreciate and enjoy. [His Honor then read “ Tam o’ Shanter” in an amusing and entertaining manner.] The last name connected with this town to which I propose to allude, is that of the Poet Laureate Tennyson ; and.l intend to conclude by reading a most noble and worthy effusion of his —written—(alas for the cause of it!) —since last I had the pleasure of bringing before you in this place his noble Idyll of Guinevere. I must first say a few words respecting tho subject of that cflusion. At a civic dinner given by the Lord Mayor of London, at which the representatives of tho municipalities of Great Britian were present, and at a time when the possibility of carrying out the great International competition in Arts and Industry, which shortly after resulted in the Exhibition of 1851, was yet considered doubtful, one speaker used, among others, tiie following expressions : “ I conceive it to be the duty of every educated j. erson closely to watch and study the time in which he lives, and, as far as in him lies, to add his humble mite of individual exertion to further the accomplishment of what lie believes Providence to have ordained. “ Nobody, who lias paid any attention to the peculiar features of our present era, will doubt for a moment that we are living at a period of most wonderful transition, which tends rapidly to accomplish that great end, to which, indeed, all history points—Me realization of the unity of man kind. Not a unity which breaks down the limits and levels tho peculiar characteristics of the different nations of the Earth, but rather a unity, the result and product of their national varieties and antagonistic qualities. “The distances which separated tho dilfercnt nations and parts of the Globe are rapidly vanishing before the acliievments of modern invention, and we can traverse them with incredible ease; the languages of all nations are known, and their acquirement placed within the reach of everybodythought is communicated with the rapidity, and even by the power, of lightning. On the other hand, the Oral principle of the dirision of labor, which may he called the moving power of civilization, is being extended to all branches of science, industry, and art. “So man is aproachlug a more complete fulfilment of that great and sacred mission which lie has to perform in this world. His reason being created after the image of God, he lias to use it to discover the laws by whicli the Almighty governs his creatures, and hy making these laws his standard of action, to conquer nature to ilia aid, himself a divine instrument.’’ The speaker of these most noble words was the husband of England’s Queen —that most illustrious Prince whose premature removal (as we poor earth-worms dare to call it) has recently so agitated the hearts of the Nations of the World, and called fortli expressions of admiration for the dead and sympathy for the bereaved living one, which go far to proved)at the thoughts of tho illustrious speaker were no dreams of an Utopian enthusiast, but were indicative, not merely of the possibility, but the probability, of the realization of the unity of mankind. As a curious coincidence, I may remark that at this moment, in all probability, a great body of our fellow-countrymen are wending their way from our Colonial Capital, to their future homes in this Island—henceforth to be known as “ Alberlland.” Worthily— truly—;honorably to himself, to his Royal Mistress, and to his Country, has our 'Pennyton embalmed the memory of the departed one. The noble daughter of England who has just been united to the object of her affection, and who fortunately is to have her home in England—the chief stay and solace of her mother in her great grief—isreportedtohaveconveyedto the Laureate, in most appropriate terms, the thanks of the widowed Sovereign for his tributary verses, and for the consolation they afforded her. Doubtlessly, the names of the beloved Queen Victoria, of Albert the Good, and the poet Tennyson will go down together to remote ages of the future, while the English language continues to he known among men. The memorial verses appeared in the shape of a dedication of a new edition of the I'dylls of the. King, published this year. These to his memory—since ho held them dear, Perchance as finding there unconsciously Some image of himself—X dedicate, I dedicate, I consecrate with tears, These Idylls. And indeed he seems to me Scarce other than my own-ideal Knight, “ Who reverenced his conscience as his King; Whose glory was, redressing human wrong; Who spake no slander, no nor listen’d to it; Who loved one only, and who clave to her." Her, over all whose realms, to their Inst isle,

Commingled with the gloom of imminent war The shadow of his loss moved like eclipse, Darkening the world. We 'nave lost him; ho is gone; We know him now; all narrow jealousies Are silent; and we see him as he moved, How modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise. With what sublime repression of himself And in what limits, and how tenderly; Not swaying to this faction or to that; Not making his high place the lawless perch Of wing’d ambitions, nor a vantage-ground For pleasure; but thro’ all this tract of years Wearing the white flower of a blameless life. Before a thousand peering littlenesses, In that fierce light which beats upon a throne And blackens every blot: for where is he Who dares foreshadow for an only son A lovelier life, a more unstained than his ? Or how should F.ngland, dreaming of his sons, Hope more for these than some inheritance Of such a life, a heart, a mind as thine. Thou noble Father of her Kings to be ? Laborious for her people and her poor— Voice in the rich dawn of an ampler day. Far-sighted suminoner of war and waste To fruitful strifes and rivalries of peace. Sweet nature gilded by the gracious gleam Of letters, dear to science, dear to art Dear to thy T land and ours, a Prince indeed. Beyond all titles, and a household name Hereafter, thro’ all times, Albert the Good. Break not, O woman’s heart, but still endure ; Break not, for thou art royal, but endure, Remembering all the beauty of that star Which shone so close beside thee, that ye made One light together, but has past and left The Crown a lonely splendour. May all love, His love, unseen but felt, o’ershadow thee, The love of all thy sons encompass thee, The love of all thy daughters cherish thee, The love of ali thy people comfort thee, Till God’s love set thee at his side again.