LECTURE AT THE FORESTERS' HALL.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 99, 21 September 1878, Page 2

LECTURE AT THE FORESTERS' HALL.

Professor Fraser gave his first lecture, entitled " Signs of Character,," at the Foresters' Hallj PalnWsto'n, on Wednesday evening, to a very fait* house. He commenced by showing how ; . the character, iof a man could be read by that leading feature, the nose; stating that tLat portion of the face was divided into five -classes— the Roman, or aggressive ; the Grecian, or defensive ; the Jewish, or acquisitive ; the Celestial, or inquisitive j and the Snub, ox inelegant or inactive. After-' giving' various instances m support of his theory, asserting that all the great warriors had Roman noses, he touched upon the Grecian, Jewish, Celestial, down to the Snub, of which he said there was but one instance on record of its owner being a greab man, tlie exception being Socrates. In speaking of the latter class, the lecturer went considerably out of his -way to. have a fling at a certain nationality, h» remarks being quite as unfounded as thpy were uncalled for ; and we might just give the Professor a hint, that although we are sixteen thousand miles from Home, and nearly a quarter of a century absent, we are not prepared to accept the wholesale libel which he seeks to promulgate npori 'the Irish female peasantry. We happen to have someknowledge of. the ; .race j, wo question if the Professor can say the same ; but even supposing we did not, wo would prefer to take the dictum of an unprejudiced writer, whose ability makes her an authority upon the matter. This is what Mr* S. C. Hall says upon the women which Mr- .F-raser stated ' were but half-civUised'', or had' relapsed into semi-barbarism : — " The women- of Ireland, from the highest to the kroest,; represent the national character better than the other , sex. In the men very often enei'gy degene- ; rates into fierceness, generosity into reckless I extravagiince, social habits into dissipation, : courage into profitless daring, ( confiding ! faith into slavish -dependence,' honor into | captiousness, and religion into bigotry ; for [ m no country m the world is : the!, boundary > which separates vice from virtue so narrow. i Bub the Irish women haye — taken as a I mass— the lights without the shadows j I the good without the bad ; the wheat withi ou 1 ; the chaff. Most faithful, most devoted, I most pure ; the best mothers,' the best wives, the best children ; possessing preeminently the beauty -and holiness., of virtue, f they have been rightly described as holding [ intermediate space between the French and r the English, mingling^ the. vivacity of the I one witli the stability of the other, but yet i with hearts more naturally toned than [ either ; never sacrificing delicacy, but entirely free from embarrassing reserve ; their gaiety never inclining tp levity j: their frankness never approaching to freedom ; with reputation n*>t the less securely protected because 'above suspicion, and -fih'e natural guardians of honor are preseut, though unseen. Thehv information is without presumption, their cultivation without parade, their influence is never ostentatiously exhibited. The Irish woman is a very iwman, with high intellect and sound heart, her character being essentially .feminine. In writing of the Irish woman, I refer to no particular class or grade. From the most elevated to the humblest they possess innate purity of thought, word, and deed ■> and are certainly unsurpassed, if they arc equalled, for the qualities of heart, mind, and temper, which make the beat companions, the safest counsellors, tlie truest friends, and afford the surest securities for sweet and upright discharge of duties m all relations of life.' 1 Tlie above, we imagine, is scarcely the characteristics of a people who should be classed with the Aboriginals of Australia. It may be- that Professor Fraser thought that he would have the sympathies of his audience with him m having a fling at what he was pleased to designate a down-broddeivrace, and thought he was safe/in haying a sneer at a people upon whorri^-accof dihg : to tlie Professor — persecution had had such a debasing influence. We consider he made a mistake, and Tnay yet find/af ler; he knows more of the ' ■coimtryMn ; which ne has so lately arrived, that such reflections upon a race aro scouted byNewZealanders. Even the most; enlightened and liberal minds are not altogether free from those weaknesses which are incidental to their birth ; and. the meanest and most debased will occasionally rise.iv arms against any undue strictures on their old home. Sarcasm, be it over so mild $ ridicule, even though it provoke a 3inile, is never so keenly or so bitterly felt as when levelled at a whole people. An affront offered to an individual is easily atoned for,

and quickly forgiven j but when a nation is publicly insulted and derided, the susceptibility of offence is greater ; the vfouhd m- v . flames, and is not readily or easily In a mixed community, such as fchfe is, to preserve a good understanding and familiar intercourse, without^vnieh there* can be general prosperity or peaces!ife is absolutely necessary to avoid public .allusions tpnationfalities. There is no real benefit tobe'derired from them, and V sfcbey .'are bound to^, pi-ovoke dissensions and dispussions. We are prepared to accept that Professor Fraser had no further object in -his remarks than to_ adcl_spice Land JQavorJfco hw lectiire^. but we maintain that they were impolitic as well a3 unfounded, and it might be as -well to remodel- it with a-v-iew-to-thtfipelimi-nation. After the different classes of. nasal, organs had undergone' analysis, tlie eyess/cliin, and various modes of progression were submitted , to criticism, the indications of character being given by the carriage of the subject. That concluded, two well-known citizens presented their craniums for examination, and having been put " under the microscope," amidst much merriment had their various qualifications publicly dilated upon. As both the subjects — who, we presume, are tb& most competent to judge m the matter— rdeclaredrtliat the-, readings given of their ' chaiiacters : we/c coiToet, that part of the entertainmont may be considered a success, as certainly was also the lecture, Tjthich was entertaining and instructive. '- ' '