MR. VOGEL IN NELSON.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 55, 5 March 1874, Page 2

MR. VOGEL IN NELSON.

[Otago Daily Times, February 21 ] ; Never, since Mawworm's avowal that "he liked to be persecuted," -has the Christian grace of forbearancejbfen bo Bignally illustrated as by the 'good people of Nelson at the dinner given by them to the Premier, They went far beyond the injunction to turn .the cheek to the smiter. They feosted. him royally, flattered him, cheered him, and sent him on his way rejoicing. It seems that it suddenly dawned upon the inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow one morning that it would be a fine thing if gome rivulet from the torrent of borrowed money that is being poured over the other provinces were diverted towards Blind Bay. They accordinglyresolved with a unanimity that is touching from its very simplicity, that ; they would _ forthwith apply for leave to borrow a mere driblet — a quarter of a million of so. By a singular coincidence, which, of; coursp; has no more logical connection with this" notable scheme of theirs than Goodwin Sands have with Tenter den Steeple, the idea of inviting Mr Yogel to come '■; to a dinner at Nelson, occurred to them at the flame time. He came. Then the ftelsonians did great things in his honor. Not only did they literally kill the fatted calf, they had a show fish of huge proportions, probably the only one of its inches in the province. Him they sacrificed to their illustrious guest. As the Nelson Everting Mail puts it, with ' pardonable pride — " a magnificent nine-pounder trout, that had been caught in the Maitai in the morning, graced the board, and was probably the first fish of the kind that has been set before Mr Yogel in New. Zealand J" But our Premier was not to be baulked of his meditated vengeance by the stale and transparent device of a mess of pottage. Trout was all very well, but allegiance^ to. Yogel ism was a* higher and a holier thing. These Nelaonians had ■ been troublesome and disloyal folk , in times, past. Some of their members had wavered, Borne had presumed' to take an independent line, a few had even dared to becothe open Opponents. This kind of people must be duly snubbed and repressed when a convenient and safe opportunity offered itself, the laws of ordinary courtesy, and the delicate relations between host and guest notwithstanding. They might be ultimately received into favor, but only after. { a considerable probationary period, and, in the meantime, their manifold faults and shortcomings must be very distinctly pointed out to them. Now, when a speaker prefaces his remarks by saying, that "though he will not hurt the most tender feelings of anyone in the province, he intends ! to speak in a plain and candid manner," we know pretty well, what s to expect. The prayer to be Bayed from "the candid, friend" is by no means a new one. —Therefore, after congratulating his victims, with, a cruel kindness, upon their tardy repentance and conversion to a policy that he . euphemistically described as " that of awakening the slumbering spirit of colonisation," the Premier showed himself a master of the art of ingeniously tormenting, by putting an .imaginary case, in which he sought to show that if the Canterbury' settlers had only come to Nelson , and the Nelsoniana had 3 only ■ gone to Canterbury, their present respective positions would have been' reversed. This was indeed a bitter pill for his hearers to swallow. We can fancy the poor- people ;lookingarOund at their narrow riband of cultivable land at the f bottom of Blind Bay,,, bimmed in by ' steep and barren hills, and mentally , contrasting it with the broad expanse of the fertile Canterbury plains, which no conceivable mismanagement could have long rendered unprosperous-r---and then heroically eating their leek^ and cheering their mentor or tormentor. The enormous injustice of the comparison, to say nothing of its needless-.- . ness, is too obvious to require pointing' out at length. When the conditions are so utterly dissimilar, comparisons are something more than odious — they * are simply silly. The whole thing reminds us , of. David Copperfield's aunt, who was perpetually taunting her nephew with the (hypothetical^) admirable behaviour of a sister of his, who bad the misfortune never to be born. There was much more 1 to the Bame purpose, all of which, we are informed, was not only endured, but rapturously applauded by these lineal descendants of the patient Grieelda. .The,. .astute Pretnier had n|ot miscalculated the ox- like patience of his audience, ,and, with fine „iropy, told thenv that "it spoke well of his esfN mate of them that they bad rather he should speak his mind frankly and freely to them than address empty: compliments .to them." It is true that he' was 'good enough to iaay ,' f fjThat with regard tp.ihe v City of "Nelson, opart from .the province, he, had jno fault to find/fr , Xhii? handiwork, of the Creator, in providing: "a beautiful site, and a delightful , climaif,'^ waW spoken" of with unqualified .ajipr.oyaT. The. good looks of the virgins of Nelson were vi also ; honored , ;by -his commendations. But even. then, dwelling on that Boftening theme, be could not /re i ß(Bt''-ftddibg;' < 'vtbjlt;,;-- I !*,^Lll^;,HßAv r^ the ; spirit, ,:of , .roan, .^'a's I ,' divine' ;"^-a sentiment that the guileless v men ; of Nelson appeared to applaud lustily^ Had U«t but given 1 HebferV parallel lioeß .he cays of Afyicft,;; f'^atf \fchlyWn a%. vile," b h^ wotjld' su^ly -hhje brou&h t" down' the house. .. j Pi y • rlT Tftiiy, :^cta§al^G)irißtiatiiiJr 'ft not' extinct iatheßelelee of the South, r