THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1868.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 116, 9 May 1868, Page 2

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1868.

“ GIVB me the liberty to know, to utter, and toergue freely according to conscience, above all other liberties.''

“The days of our years are three score years and ten.” So writes the inspired Psalmist, and when one passes from our midst to—- “ That undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns” —with silvery hair, and an enfeebled frame; when, after a life of usefulness, either to the State, or as a good citizen, and neighbor, having obtained for himself a name worthy of record on the page of history—when by energy, by perseverance, by rectitude of conduct, and by honesty of purpose in life—lie has won our sympathy, gained our esteem, and endeared himself to his fellow men—then, to be called away, having attained the full number of the years appointed for man to live, Death is nothing more than what might be expected. But when—possessing these attributes—in the prime of life, in apparent good health, evincing promise of rising high in his profession, respected by acquaintance, beloved by those intimately known to him; when, having, as it were, overcome those difficulties, and surmounted those trials, which at first beset the path of man in every calling or undertaking, then, to find the hand of Death strike down such an one—then it is, that its dart As ' keenly felt, its sting most lasting I With a heavy heart we announce to our readers, the demise of Charles Henry Moppitt, which took place at his residence. Maxwell Road, Blenheim, at about Five o’clock on the morning of Wednesday last, at the early age of Twenty-seven years. During the previous vweek, he had been confined to his bed, suffering from diphtheria 3 on Tuesday however, it was believed that the malady had so far succumbed, as to render a change in his treatment necessary, by guarding against that exhaustion which invariably follows in cases of this kind. But all the aid of man proved unavailing, and at the hour above-named, Mr. Moffitt breathed his last. He was born at Alnwick, in Northumberland, and landed in New; Zealand at twelve years of age. Studying for the law, chiefly in Auckland, he obtained such proficiency,‘.that when passing his examination at Wellington, before Judge Johnston, that astute gentleman was pleased to compliment him highly upon his attainments. Acting in accordance with the advice of . friends, he some five years ago, chose Marlborough as his future home, and commencing practice at Blenheim, made rapid progress as a Soli-

tor ; ho further filled the, responsible offices of Coroner, Crown Prosecutor, and Revising Officer for the Wairau and Picton Electoral districts. In January, 1866, he married a daughter of our respected Resident Magistrate, Dr. Muller, and has now left a widow and one son to deplore his loss. By a quiet demeanor, and urbane disposition, he secured the affection of many, and the esteem of all; and, from his early connection with this town and Province, had a most extensive circle of friends, who, when they follow his earthly remains to the tomb this day, will feel a blank has arisen in our community, and that we may live long, and look far, before we meet one called away to a premature grave, more esteemed, or more regarded, than the late Charles Henry Moffitt. S

'"Much has been said with respect to the subject of Education in this Province, rnd Irequcnt enquiries are made of us, as to what is to be done at the close of the present Quarter. The subject is one not easily to be disposed of in a few words, but the position appears to be thus : That as no Appropriation has been made tor the payment of Schoolmasters, the Local Committees must take the business into thenown hands entirely. Schools have been erected for them in a number of places, and provided with Endowments which will one day be valuable. That the Household Rate is miserably insufficient for the purpose, is no doubt correct, but as it is un-English to be entirely dependant upon a Government for the means of educating our children, the Committees may reasonably and readily supplement the rate, and obtain a sufficient sum, by raising the School Pees to something more nearly approaching what is paid in ordinary schools, providing that they give an equivalent in return, in the shape of a good, sound education. To this pt may be objected, that they lack the means of enforcing more than the trifling sum of Five shillings per quarter. We reply, that it is their business in that case, to take steps to obtain such powers, and we would urge their immediate attention to this portion of their duty. , As we purpose returning to this subje ct, we shall only remark the extreme unreadiness shewn by several persons who have had the service of the Schools, in paying the paltry fees now charged, and give the police no little trouble to collect them. _ W e have heard of one flagrant case of an individual, following a literary pursuit, who point-blank refuses to pay_ them. Our contemporary has had his fling more than once at the present Government for not doin" more for Education, whilst advising the non-payment of the fees, but this is only another instance of his consistency. The Government has done more in initiating the means of education than many people are aware of, some six or seven schools having been erected during the period it has been in office, besides the settlement of various endowments. Sergeant Emerson has received some | £SO for school fees in arrear, during the i last four weeks; but there are still, we , learn, a few repudiators, whose_ names we ;; expect to see shortly in our Police report.

We recommend tile following to the con-' sideration of the writer of the article in our contemporary of Saturday week :

“ It is an old device of mischief-makers, after having sown any amount of dragon’s teeth, to cry out for union. Let us be united for the good of the Province—there always have been people who sigh and groan for the public good and mean their own good all the while—let us be united, say our local mischief-makers, or their mouth-piece for them, and with every inculcation of the virtue, thissaid mouthpiece deals a punch at his neighbour’s ribs, like a good Mussulman making confession, only that the Mussulman is instructed to punch himself. The punching is a matter of perfect indifference, in so far as we are concerned, only it is allowable to say that punching and union have rarely gone together. We most heartily deprecate incessant squabbling—we would like union above most things—and there is no nobler ambition for a settler to set before him than to advance the interests of the locality in which his lot has been cast —but union means common aims and common aspirations, and these are sadly wanting among us. We are too fond of our own pet schemes and projects in which we see, or fancy we see, (it is often little more than fancy) something that will bring grist to

the mill, or business to the shop. Douce Davie Deans has many descendants —selfwilled and self-opinionative —“they who think differently," said David, “on the great foundation of our covenanted reiormation, overturning and misguggling the government and discipline of the Kirk, and breaking down the carved work of Zion, might be for sawing the craft with aits, but I say pease, pease.” We labour and hope for a better and more unselfish state of things—more public spirit and a more wholesome and stronger public opinion—meantime, any talk about union is the merest hypocrisy, and ever must be so, until those who use it are prepared to take and give, to speak the truth, and subside into the place for which nature fitted them.”