THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 297, 15 December 1877, Page 2

THE WEEK.

Circumstances have of late combined to favor Tsevy Zealand's present idol, Sir George Grey, to $uch an extent as to justify the belief entertained by many that a guardian angel had been specially jtolcjl off tq watch over and promote his interests, but if fbjs really was the case, that littie spirit op Sprite— either word will do— was strangely aegleatf uJ of its duties last Monday when it suffered the Premier to make such a huge mistake with refepenqe fq $fa e £and Bill. With his mouta yet full ot protestations that he of aIL others was ttje he»ve»-sent guardian o£ the liberties of the poople ( »n(l Of the privileges of the House, he seems to have endeavored to turn fco account the position in which he had been placed to set at defiance the ,^eU^er^.tely arrived at decision of the people s repr^njtaf /yes, and toendeavor to induce f,he Governor ip place hi} veto upon a measure agreed to^the Parliament, for no other reason than that Sir George' Haft 'bidden him so to do. If the Marquis "of jNormauby .had , only been the fool that the Premier appears i to have thought him, or the dmoojy he would like to make him, would not the latter have chuckled? As it is, however, the Governor has most unmistakeably scored one against his opponent, and Sir George stands very, very much lower in the estimation of the people of Ifeiv Zealand than he did this day week. And, for this, aoee js to blame

but himself. Once more I ask where, oh where was that guardian angel last Monday? Ibeliere there i3 a debating society ia Nelson. Let me suggest a subject for their discussion. The Hinemoa with the Hon the Premier on board is now on her way to Auckland. Supposing a Russian cruiser were to take possession of her, or a whale to swallow her, or a lot of Maoris to set out in their canoes, attack her, aud make Sir George a prisoner, would the Governor be so griefstricken as to be rendered totally unfit for business? Would he proclaim a public holiday in commemoration of, or a fast day by way of showing his sorrow for, the event? State the reasons for his adoption of either course. I will go and hear that debate when it comes off.

The depravity of the naughty little boys who swarm in our streets, and the dilapidated state of the boundary fences of the paddocks in the town of Nelson are becoming matters of serious importance. Thia I learned by attending the Resident Magistrate's Court last Wednesday, when some eight jor ten individuals were summoned for allowipg their horses to stray in the streets. All admitted that they—or rather their horses— had been guilty of a breach of the law, but in almost every case there were extenuating circumstances such as these:—" Some boys iopened the gate and let the horse out;" « Tha children let the fcara down;" "Thore wag a trifling gap in the hedge that I thought would We escaped any horse's observation," and so on. One of those who were summoned, however went even more into details. "My hedge" he said, "had recently been burned by boys so that any animal could force its way through. My mare's foat had died, and I had buried it. She was mad-like at it 3 loss and broke out to look for it, and runned up against Peter Lery, and that's how it was" Now, if we are to infer from this, as it is natural that we should do, that the mare mistook the doughty constable for her missing foal, I must say that such a (blunder is entirely at variance with all my pre-conceived ideas of the sagacity of the horse, for I shouldn't think much of either man, woman horse, mare, child, or foal who would ever suspect for one moment that Peter had not shed his sucking teeth. I believe it is a libel on the mare.

la looking over the Illustrated London News the other day I came across an obituary notice, accompanied by a sketch of the subject of it that affected me evea unto tears. As I am not naturally of a selfish disposition and therefore am disinclined to have the blubber all to myself, I reproduce the sad story in order that my readers may have an opportunity of sharing my grief with me. It runs as follows:—" The whale from Labrador which arrived from the Royal Westminster Aquarium last week, expired on Saturday morning shortly before four o'clock. While on its way from Southampton to London, Mr Carrington, naturalist and curator to the Royal Aquarium Society, noticed that it had a severe cold, and that mucus was issuing from the blowhole. On arrival at the aquarium the whale was put into the tank which had been specially constructed, but the symptoms gradually increased. On Friday week Mr Carrington remained with the whale until midnight; it was then breathing very heavily, often coming to the top and blowing several times before diving. About one o'clock on Saturday morning it became very uneasy, and its uneasiness developed into a state of delirum; going about the tank a great deal and swimming very rapidly, it 3 nead came in contact with the end Of tue tank, but without doing itself much damage. Having somewhat recovered, it again sjvam several times round the tank, and again came into collision with the end of ib, turned over and died. The body was removed and exhibited to the public, and in the evening a plaster cast was made." To sit by the bedsido of a man in delirium is bad enough, but to nurse a delirious whale must be a trial that few nerves could stand. What a fearful night must Mr Carriugton have had of it. Watching the frantic tosaings and plungings, listening to the labored breathings, every now and then mopping the mucus from the blowhole le3t the interesting little creature— it was only 9ft. 6in. longshould be inconvenienced by its accumulation. Poor Mr Carringtonl Happy whale to be so cared for in its dying movements. I met with a Brazil paper the other day containing a paragraph which appeared to me to be possessed at this particular moment of some interest to us in New Zealand. It wasas follows:—" The Emperor, the Emppesa, and suite sailed from Lisbon on the Bth inst., ia the French steamer Orenoque belonging to the fleet of the Messageries Maritimes. The Emperor has again ia this instance evinced his desire to avoid unnecessary display by selecting to take his passage in an ordinary mail steamer as he has done on both the occasions of his visiting Europe and the United States." I present the above with my compliments to his Excellency Sir. W. Jervois, who could not come across to New Zealand from Australia unless the Hinemoa was specially sent for him. F.

A system of musical shorthand hag been invented by Mr. Roberts. It is possible by its use to take down the melody of a piece during its performance.

a young gentleman attached to a Western paper went to hear the Americaine, Miss Abbott, sing, and this is the way it affected him: "Miss Abbott is beautiful as an aagel, and was dressed in green. Her voice is sweet as the tender accents of a mother crooning her only babe to sleep, and strong as a tempest when jt roars in the forest and smashes the mouarcba of the woody vales. Listening to her the soul is lifted on the wings of infinite joy, and soars into the realms of eterual glory. When 3he ceased singing we fell back again to earth, and were as stunned by the concussion as though we had fallen from the top of a four storey house or been kicked in the stomach by a mule." • *