IDIOSYNCRASIES.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 397, 20 October 1876, Page 3

IDIOSYNCRASIES.

JBut every de.ipe<-ate blockhead dares to write ; Why not !~ 'Art of Poetry.' i I PKKt, that an apology for my non-appear-ance last week is due from mo to my uumeroiw readers, many of whom were doubtless fearful that they were about to be deserted by their guide, philosopher, and fiiond—the Moses of'their Egyptian sojourn who had thus far successfully led thern through the mazy paths of Now Zealand polities, and placed their mental feet, as it were, upon a constitutional rock, without giving them even the trouble of climbing theieto. And, indeed, I am only too glad to return to my post, for I feel that my defection, temporary though it was, lias given that arch enemy, the leading column, a very decided advantage over me, and rendered it necessary that 1 should proceed with unusual ardor, and take upon myself unusual toil, in order to regain the ground which, unhappily, T have lost. But I am constrained to admit (for modesty, though no one would suspect it, is one ot the leading features of my nature) that I derive on this occasion very material assistance from the other side, from those ruuownod champions of the people's rights to whom I have from time to time adverted, and who have of late shown a more decided hostility to wisdom than ever they evinced before. This latter movement on their part could scarcely have been taken with the solo view of obliging me ; but as it has had the ciTect of lightening my labors, I am by uo mean:; ungrateful. And I have :i strong conviction too that I may rely upon a continuance of their kindly but unconscious favors, wui.-.h has the effect of making things Very pleasant for me indeed. It incites to perseverance. I prbst'mk that everyone in tho district has read Sir George Grey's telegram to the Secretary of State, in which he expresses much alarm -it the prospect of the disturbances which, ho has discovered, arc very imminent in thia Colony ; and deprecates tho use of tho Vuoen'H ships in suppressing the expected and, on his part, long-wished-for, rebellion. Now, while it must be admitted, that in one respect there exists a point of very striking resemblance between ;jir George and Hamlet, namely, in so far as no one can say for certain whether he is mad or sane, I may be allowed to express my opinion, amounting to conviction, in favor of the latter theory ; and to rjuoto this celebrated telegram as the last link in the chain of evidence which goes to prove it. .All men are more or less mad, but Kir George Grey is undoubtedly sounder men- I tally than most of us ; and tho highest proof we have of it lies in the fact that he displays, in an unusual degree, the possession of a sound and well-directed spite. That renders tho matter quite conclusive. A madman as a rule —to which, however, there arc some exceptions—loves his neighbor as himself ; a sane man hates him, and if be is very sano indeed, he hates him without a cause. Now, Sir George Grey cannot bo said to love the Governor, on the contrary, his speeches, his telegrams, his iimendoea about signing blank forms, his bill of indemnity implications, and his reduction of salary movement, all goes to show that ho entertains in that direction an amount of malice which is bred of the clearest and most undeniable sanity. If, then, he is not the king of a fantastic realm, with thoughts which, unlike those of the lady in Byron's " Dream," are not combinations of disjointed things, what about the dreaded disturbances aud tho equally dreaded bombardment ? Alas ! T can give no answer. " ' What is truth ?' sai i jesting Pilate, and would not stay for a reply." It must be remembered that there are men and men, and that society has wisely ordered that a man's status or condition shall qualify his statements. That which, corning from a doughty knight, and leader of the people, would be a mere inaccuracy, or a slight misrepresentation, or an unconscious mis-statement, would, I fear me, be a lie if it emanated from a poor digger like " Parthian." Tt is only proper that such should bo the case. .—♦_ Ts Macandrow also among tha prophets ? Of a surety he is, and ranks seconcl in command of the noble army. " A deep feeling of wrong pervades tho i'rovince," telegraphs hiR Honor to the Secretary of State, which telegram leaves th i latter gentleman to infer that the said feeling may at any moment break into an open and most desperate rebellion. Tho wily Superintendent, however, takes care not to commit himself to so many words, and above all things he avoids dates. He is far more knowing than Dr. Gumming, ■who is for ever putting an end to tho world

at periods which, like short-dated debentures, are continually falling due, and, like a good many dobentures, are continually being dishonored. He is not to be caught in the toils like poor Sir George Grey, but merely goes as far as he can without endangering his reputation for discretion and good sense. But his most interesting telegram is to the Governor. " I now venture to express my deep regret," he Bays, "that your G-overnment seems to be so completely under a cloud," &c, &c. The moat natural thing in the world, say I, No one has a better right to sympathise with those who are " under a cloud" than Mr. Macandrew. Such sympathy, the outcome of a aad experience, ia creditable alike to his head and to his heart. <► Mr. Vincent Pvke has no great esteem for the electors of Alexandra and Bald Hill Flat, and he is not ashamed to let it bo known. " I regard it," he says, "as a piece of great presumption for 12 or 13 persons—all political opponents—to speak in the name and behalf of the 370 who did me the honor to elect me." Mr. Pyke is perfectly right: it was a piece of great presumption, to which he returned a fit and proper reply. I fear me, however, there a good many more elec- ' tors of Dunstan, besides those few of Alexandra and Bald Hill Flat, who are somewhat dissatisfied with their member, but of course no one knows bettor than Mr. Pyke that they have been coached up to it. He is a Shakespearian scholar, too, and no dorbt well remembers the contempt with which Coriolanus (whom he somewhat resembles) regarded tho mob, and the very accurate sense of their fickleness which ho always retained : " With every minute you do change a mind> And call him noble that was now your hate, Him vile that was your garland." Mr. Pyke has been a crown of glory to the. electors of the Dunstan, and although he is at presrnt suffering under a slight obscuration, tho whirligig of time may make him an ornament to them again. The transition is not very difflcidt. «. I BEE that the Rev. Father Royer has been writing oi. tho " Method of Curing Habits of , Drunkenness in General," and a very eble and interesting article it was. The rev.- Fa- j ther displayed much wisdom in sticking to generalities, for, had he gone into particular j cases, vast as would have been the field opened i up to liirn, he might have raised a hornet's nest about his ears from which he would not escapo with any degree of facility. It is not prudent to quarrel with any large and influential section of a community. When the writer said—and said most truly—that drink should be immediately abandonod whore there wnß organic disease of the liver, I thought of what a vast responsibility rested upon tho shoulders of Shakespeare, who seemed to regard that organ as of very little importance indeed : " Let my liver rather heat with wine, Than my heart cool with mortifying groans.' Of the two men undoubtedly Father Royer is by far the safer guide. But while it is admitted.that the cure of drunkenness is of much importance, what about prevention ? Are there no means of largely preventing drunkenness other than by Acts of Parliament '! I think there are, and one of them is involved in the determined discountenancing of a most sensele-s habit, and one which, to the young, amounts to an elaborate education in the art of drinking,—an education as complete and effective as was that of a great scholar who has left behind him a condensed history of his experience : " I went'to Strasburg, where I got drunk With that most learned Professor Brunck ; I went to Worfcz, and got more drunken With that more learned Professor Ruhnken.', I allude to the habit of "shouting," which is an instrument in the hands of the devil for teaching the art of drunkenness. Of course these opinions are very dangerous, and, were I known—which I am not—l might not bo leisurely and safely leave my claim of an evening. lam a little bolder perhaps becauso 1 am just about to leave for the Kumara to try and improve my luck, which has not been iu the ascendant since I came to Naseby. _ Next week I shall probably take an affectionate farewell of my numerous and appreciative readers. Parthian.