ADVICE TO AN OPPOSITION. [From the New Zealander.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 276, 22 March 1848, Page 3

ADVICE TO AN OPPOSITION. [From the New Zealander.]

"He shall be flayed alive ; then 'nointed over with honey, set on the head of a wasp's nest ; then stand till he be three-quarters and a dram dead ; then recovered again with aquavits, or some other hot infusion ; then, raw as he is, and in the hottest day prognostication proclaims, shall he be set against a brick wall, the sun looking with a southward eye upon him, where he is to behold him with flies blown to death." — Winter's Tale. " Opposition" (we personify it throughout, to steer clear of personality) should take a leaf out of Autolycus's book ; there is much profit to be derived therefrom. For in what did the real refinement of the punishment devised by this most ingenious of tormentors consist ? Was it not in the recovery, "by aquavkae, or some other hot infusion ;" in the restoration of a blunted sensibility, lest the victim should become too soon callous to the torture. That was a master-stroke of art, which " Opposition" has yet to learn. We believe that it has not gone the right way to work to make the best of its own position, or toward the best furtherance of its | own peculiar views. It never knows when to | leave off, or to grant a respite from infliction ; I in its incessant rain of blows, it goes beyond

the limits of fair play ; for it is un-English to strike a man when he is down, although it is perfectly lawful to pick him up, and then to knock him over again as often as you please. It has not yet learned " the right trick of fence ;" it commits faults which we, who fight under other colours, are not displeased to see, and which we certainly would not point out but for the full conviction that they will never be amended. We believe that " Opposition" hits too furiously ; so much at random that nearly every thrust is parried. It rushes with shut eyes, as was lately observed, like the Andalusian bull, and may be met with as little danger. For Tauromachy, or the art of battling with bulls, might be reduced to a system in New Zealand, as securely as it has already been in Spain. The principles upon which it is based are these :—": — " that the bull butts without seeing the object against which he strikes ; that he vents his rage on the cloak of the chulo, the flag of the matador, or the horse of the picador ; and that when he feels the barbed darts of the banderilleros in his neck, he halts, and thinks not of pursuing his assailant." Verbum sapientibus ; they that have understanding will make good the whole parallel, line by line. It must be confessed, that our Auckland " Opposition" is fearfully heavy-handed — " Its labour Mars what it does ; yea, very force entangles Itself with strength." Even where it only means to tickle, it " fillips with a three-man beetle." It opens oysters with daggers, and goes to market to buy an. axe to break an egg. It is Achilles and the elephant Ajax over again, v/ho " could not in circumvention deliver a fly from a spider, without drawing their massy irons, and cutting the web." It overcharges with powder, thereby causing the shot to scatter : equal measure of each is thought to be the more killing charge. It has held a good hand, but has played its trump cards rashly ; discovering its game at once, in open defiance of Hoyle and Major A. We therefore venture, with all befitting modesty, to give some counsel — which, it must be confessed, would be much more charily offered were it not safe to be refused — a few slight hints, stratagems, and devices which are useless to ourselves, but might be turned to good account on the other side of the question. The first object of a true patriot should- be "to realise political capital." m _ By political capital is signified, the establishment of a reputation for candour, for moderation, for disinterested motives, and purity of purpose. To the speedy acquirement of which, a good persona] grievance (Churchrate martyrdom is the most effective in England, but here we must be content with tyranny and oppression) is powerfully conducive, although not of strict necessity. A sufficiency of such stock in trade having been accumulated, the next should be, to avoid extravagant expenditure of it. Resources must be husbanded with care. And what can be more wasteful than to hurst into eloquent remonstrance about things indifferent ; to wax " hot in a cold cause," or to be wroth about trifling oversights and atomic errors of state. We have heard of a dog that barked at a thief in the candle. He may have been valuable as a curiosity, but few would choose so overscrupulous a guardian to watch the house. In choice of subject, our patriot cannot be too nice. Let him bide his time ; chances will turn up — plenty of them, and soon enough : but it is greediness to take the first that comes. The fox-hound that opens upon, every trail, that will hunt anything, from an aut to an elephant, runs some risk of being hanged for his pains. And when he shall have found the'subject, let him carefully study how to handle ft. It is the style of going to work, as much as the work actually done, that now commands attention. Style is every thing ; style is now what action was — the first, second, and third requisite for oratorical display. The time is past for inflammatory eloquence ; for red hot explosions of patriotic wrath. Quousque tandem Catalinarians have lost their foree — are mere blank cartridge — Brutum fulmen. Even virtuous indignation, once the prettiest of all known figuies of speech, will no longer avail. It has been worn out, used up many a long day since ; its tattered shreds abandoned to third rate actors on the political stage. Le petit coup de langue — the inuendo, the bye blow, the careless, passing hit, will tell as heavily again. He should affect to speak or write " more in sorrow than in auger." The subdued and quiet tone is always more influential ; there is an air of good breeding about it that is irresistibly enticing. And though he -may suffer himself to be roused from time to time, to be goaded to desperation by a sense of insufferable wrong ; let it be done with caution, and watchful observation of effect. The secret of effect, is contrast. The chiaroscuro, or management of light and shade,

must be attended to in politics as in painting ; piano's and forte's must be observed, for patriotic agitation, as for musical emotion ; ceaseless indignation soon becomes as ineffective as the outrageous noise that ill conducted orchestras so invariably indulge in. Blowing of horns straight, setting fiddle-strings on fire, sawing double basses in half, and bursting of drums, may startle for a moment, but soon palls upon the ear, and becomes insupportably monotonous. The proper handling of "facts" — those thews and sinews of rhetoric — will next come under consideration. The first object is to give them the colour of truthfulness — to relate them so as to ensure belief. Simple narrative has become of uncertain force : men are too wary now to swallow downright assertions. It has become necessary to prepare them ; to wile the readers or tbe listeners into a mood of un&uspecting belief. , There are two fashions of gaining credence. The one tells its story with finished exactitude and circumstantiality of detail, throwing in occasionally some of those Daniel Defoe touches that are so charmingly persuasive — that careless mention of accessory trifles — so artless and unstudied — which would never have been thought of had they not been trne. For the service of an immediate purpose, this style of telling a tale is not without its advantages. It may serve, like a match or fuse, to fire a mine, or burst a shell — after the fragments of which no inquiry is likely to be made ; the mischief is done, and there is an end of it. But we connot recommend its systematic adoption. It requires too much ingenuity and painful attention ; it braves the risk of being met by a point blank denial unless, indeed, the fact should by any chance be true — and, at the very best, painfully commits the narrator for a future day. The safer mode of dealing with facts is in principle directly opposite. It tells little but creates " impressions." Extreme vagueness is substituted for extreme apparent accuracy. The half is told instead of the whole — the imagination is appealed to ; mystery, which, like a fog, magnifies every object seen through it, contributes its unfailing aid. — " And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding heavy, neither was the weight of the brass found out." Tbe wisest of kings well knew that a doubtful estimate must gain in the telling ; that he would be unlucky, if common fame contented itself with only a fourfold increase. Let it only be* taken for granted that a " fact," is well known to all — that a bare allusion to it suffices ; let the universal knowledge of readers and listeners be 'only assumed, and few of them will confess to ignorance. But we have dealt too long in general maxims, concerning which we might write till doomsday and be never the better heeded. But what if we were to offer a hint of more special and local application — of immediately practical effect. Shall we tell " Opposition" what it should have done long since : what we ourselves would have attempted but for a latent fear of too complete success. It should at once have fastened upon the despatches, tooth and nail ; it should have staked all against the despatches, and taken its chance to throw deuce ace, or to sweep the board. It should have sifted each of them, line by line, and word by word ; each in turn should have been separately referred to whoever might be best able — from his own peculiar sources of information — from local knowledge of co-partnership in action — to confute or verify tbe statement contained therein ; the comments should have been filed, and a complete Liber veritatis, — to borrow a title from Claude Lorraine — compiled and given to the world, in accusation or justification, as the case might be. Let chir words be marked — for we shall never shrink from them — it is by his own despatches that Captain Grey will stand or fall. If they be fair and honest — far be it from us to breath suspicion of the contrary — he is a man of genius, and a hero. Let his own account of himself be made good, and we cheerfully concede the title, craving absolution for much injustice that we ourselves have been guilty of towards him. But, on the other hand, should the doubts that have been so freely expressed be confirmed into certainties — if he should have really appropriated the deserts of others to himself — if he have wilfully blemished the fair fame of good and just men to bring about his cherished purposes — if he have confounded many such as the famous " blood and treasure" despatch, (for the one alone, like a first fault at school, is pardonable to human frailty) he is a lost man. For it is not in the nature of things that systematic mis-representation, should endnre beyond a certain while. The genius of Ulysses could not support it. It succeeds for a time, — all goes on smoothly, — till some casual, unforseen mishap, betrays a glimpse of truth. Though it be but a glimpse, it is enough to rouse suspicion ; and suspicion,

once excited, soon brings the whole to an end. The scales fall from the eyes of the judges, the cloak from the culprit. Le masque tombe, l'homme reste, Et l'heros s' CTanouit.

Wheat : per bushel .... Wool: N. Z. per 1b. .. Do. Lambs' .. .« 0 0 0 5 0.. 0 8.. 0 10 .. 0 0 0 6 1 1 0 0 & IMPORTS Ale: p.hhd.Whitbreads' 0 0 0 .. 6 0 0 per doz 011 0 .. 0 0 0 Arrack : per gallon . . 0 3 0. . 0 3 & Blocks: each, 0 0 6.. 013 6 Beef: Sydney, per tierce 3 0 0.. 3 10 0 Prime India, do. 410 0.. 5 0 0 Blankets: per pair .. 1 0 0 .. 2 0 0 Brandy: First quality, per imperial gal. .. 0 7 0 •• 0 8 6 MarteU's 0 0 0.. 086 Brown Stout : per hbd. 610 0.. 0 0 0 per barrel 4 0 0.. 000 Blacking : per doz 45., Bs., and 12s. Cigars : Manilla, No. 3, perlOOO 0 0 0 .. 3 0 0 N0.4 0 0 0.. 000 N0.5 0 0 0.. 000 Coffee: per lb 0 0 7 .. 0 0 0 Candles: Sperm, per lb. 0 2 0 .. 0 0 0 Mould 0 0 0.. 007 Dips 0 0 0.. 0 0 6 Flour: per ton 16 0 0 .. 18 0 0 Gin : Hollands, in cask per gallon 0 5 0 .. 0 6 0 Case, 2gall-8 -. 0 0 0.. 011 0 Ditto 4 gall. 1-4.. 0 0 0.. 140 Mustard : Per dozen .. 015 0 .. 1 6 0 Oil: Linseed, per gal.. . 0 4 9.. 056 Pork: Irish, per barrel 0 0 0 .. 0 0 0 Porter: Byass', inbot. per doz Oil 0.. 0 0 0 Pickles : Assorted, per 1 doz., quarts . . 0 0 0. . 1 5 0 Prints . per piece 0 12 0.. 016 0 Pitch : coal, per barrel 0 0 0.. 100 Paints : white lead, per cwt 1 15 0 .. 2 2 0 Black, 1 8 0.. 1 12 0 Rice: Per cwt 018 0 .. 14 0 Rum: B. P., per gal. ..056.. 000 Sugar: Mauritius per ton 30 0 0 . . 32 0 0 Refined loaf, per lb 0 0 0.. 006 Manilla per cwt. 1 8 0 .. 1 12 6 Salt: Liverpool, per ton 4 0 0.. 000 Coarse 0 0 0.. 3 10 0 Slates: per 1000, according to size .... 3 15 0.. 615 0 Soap : Hawes's London, per cwt 0 0 0.. 0 0 0 Liverpool 0 0 0.. 0 0 0 Sydney 1 5 0 .. 1 8 0 Sacks : Corn and Flour, each 0 1 6 .. 0 0 0 Starch: Per lb 0 0 0 .. 0 0 7 Sheet Lead: per ton.. 28 0 0 .. 30 0 0 Tar. Coal, per barrel.. 1 0 0 .. 0 0 0 Stockholm, .... 1 15 0 .. 2 0 0 Tea : Hyson skin, per chest 3 10 0 .. 4 10 0 Congou 4 10 0.. 6 0 0 Tobacco : Negrohead, perlb 0 0 3 .. 0 0 8 Turpentine : per gal. .. 0 0 0.. 07 0 Vinegar: per gal 0 16.. 0 2 r> Wine : Sherry, per doz. 015 0.. 2 0 0 Port, per doz. .. 018 0 .. 2 0 0 Whiskey: 010 0.. 0 15 0 Cordage: English, pei cwt 2 10 0 .. 3 10 0 Canvass: per bolt .... 2 10 0 .. 2 15 0 Iron : English bar, per N ton 18 0 0 .. 20 0 0 Hoop, per ton .. 0 0 0 .. 20 0 0 Oil Butts: Gordon's or Mills' per imp. tun :.. 0 0 0.. 330 Cows: Milch 8 0 0 .. 12 0 0 Mares: Brood 25 0 0 .. 35 0 0 Working Bullocks: per pair 16 0 0 .. 22 0 0 Sheep: Each 0 17 0 .. 10 0