RANDOM NOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 61, 1 July 1876, Page 2

RANDOM NOTES.

By MAGGUFFIN.

" A duel's amang' ye takin' notes, An' faith he'il prcnt 'em." A friend of mine in the paper lii whom, for the sake of personality, Ijy call Pluffin —lias lately entered the ho!bonds of matrimony, but his first double-harness was under circumstance calculated to slightly upset the usiw serenity enjoyed upon such auspicious«. casions. The facts are these : Pluffin q the father's side, hails from the Land t Calces ; while maternally, he is entitledj. claim St. Patrick as his Patron. ft ot Nature lias evenly distributed the m tional characteristics of Pluffin mere at ■pere ; consequently, from the one he inherited that native the children of Erin have been ever menu able ; while the paternal has bestowed | national love for the bawbees. The bri& elect paid a visit to a maiden aunt at ft City of the Plains—who, however, not in the secret—and the expectant Bendiet quickly followed. The morning arrived which was to terminate his bads loric misery, and with the bashfillness as bawbees both holding prominent positi« Pluffin meeting his intended, hailed a font wheeler, and inquired the charge perhm "Four bob, yer honor," said a sly glance at blushing Seventeen, "j right," said Pluff. ; " I'll take you for h hours. Drive me to St. Mary's"—mentiu ing a little secluded church some four mi! from town—and in he stepped. Am rattled cabby at a pace which revived b; gone memories of Domrybrook Fairs the Strawberry Beds, never- stacking I whip till the destination had been reads To those who have been "throughß mill" it is unnecessary to state that J knot was very soon tied, and Phi male and female, re-appeared on the sttj radiant with happiness. After handi Mrs. P. in, he was about to take his« beside her when he felt a touch on { shoulder, and turning beheld a tr Milesian countenance, adorned with! broadest of grins, and lit up with a p of merry twinklers, one of which, In ever, was closed in a most know manner. " Wish ye joy, yer honor;! how much is't to be?" said Pat witl roguish leer. " You don't come theot soljer over me, Sir. Not if I knom Oh! no you don't." "What do j mean?" said Pluffin. "I took you the hour; didn't I?" "Begorra, i true enough, an' I won't dispute it;l you tuk me for an omadhaun; but I not. No sirree. Two notes is I figure, and dirt cheap, too, seeing tl it's a fare many a good man getsi chance of oney paying wonce in a lifetim Here was a predicament. Cabby i master of the situation, and adawi so making " a virtue of necessity'}" win a:r of liberality, as if the effort did i cost him a pang, he agreed to the ten and took his seat inside. Notwithsta ing, however, that his time was m agreeably employed in vowing eta love, and sundry similar stereotj] amatory expressions usual on such <x sions, he could not but observe that the passers-by, after looking at the vel for a moment, burst into laughter. Be curious to know the cause attracting si undesired observation, he "pulled ' check-string, but the summons not be attended to, in his eagerness to intern the Jehu, he thrust his head through I opposing barrier of glass, thereby add: another half-sov. to the expeffi To his horror, he then found that I horses' heads had been decorated i favours, while the driver, in addition l< pah" of white gauntlets which had « graced the palms of a now defunct li guardsman, had fastened a rosette his breast which might easily be til for a monster cauliflower. IKJ

to have to chronicle that even in $ blissful hour, undeterred by the f sence of the agitated, blushing, * newly-made Mrs. P., Pluflin indulged language more notable for its selectness. To all his demands, rem strances, and even entreaties, Pat, te ever, Avas alike deaf, insisting that "I play is a jewel; and that as his honor! acted as a rale gintleman, begorra should have all the perquisites." the bridal party arrived at the aunt's da true to their instincts, a score or to young Arabs were there to welcome and the hearty cheer from the juvesfl made it unnecessary to explain to' " old party" the delicate position affairs, even if the gorgeous "get-up'' the charioteer would have gone for w4 It is three months since then, and; Pluflin can never recall the circumsfel and retain his equanimity, but whether be owing to the bashfulness or the fe bees, I am at a loss to tell, for he shd his head, and says " he will know 1$ next time." It may, perhaps, he well state that th : s last remark is never mi but in the als sence of Mrs. Pluffin, ~

Personally I do not know tho Rev. * Todd, and indeed I am not even a" that I have ever seen him ; but I i" heard that he is an earnest, zealous,' sincere worker in the field to which had been called. Hearing so much, i* I was somewhat astounded to learn t the rev, gentlemen had announced to audience of which lie was the chain* that the Rev. Mr. Agnew would deliv* lecture on " the Gallant Bushrangers New South Wales." Now, I am not f pared to say whether the word had been a part of the title given to t lecture by Mr. Agnew himself" or *W adjective had been supplied reverend friend by way of giving™ J* dash, and thereby enhancing its attract

„ „,t if. must, be admitted that in ,j :, r ■:>,.»• it was sadly out of place. I ' .. •.• .nvfire that f>r. Johnson, in lib '.,' , .iii-auiuiCs, ha.-s given !in»itt;'»t ['■ d.i.-uig in light," hut I think in the ','ish.u acceptation ..f the term the object 1mft .|,,,l for must be a worthy one. Vltlioiiu'h admitting that a few—very few, ' |Ml [,,,.,[, ,if the bushrangers may have had „i'it:vances t" complain of. Ken Halt for iiiHtttim't! -as a body they were entitled to |,iit' sympathy. Men who, were "ilai'ing '" Xu'ht "--t'Utr generally speafcjm/ with all .the advantages on their side J/r.t lacked the courage to toil, pretVring k" I'l'indcr, for a living, were hut [""'Of specimens of true manhood. '['lmre is very tittle chivalry or gallantry j n stooping a foot-sore and defenceless traveller with the tutizide of a pistol ; and in' Mih cases where the persons attacked m ,,. ( , prepared and ready to defend their proiHTty, those specimens of gallantry 'iuuincd ''' discretion the better part of valntir." t have not had the pleasure of limiring tlio lecture in iptestion, and eon.wiiuijiitlyam not to be supposed to take «.«!o|'ti"ii to anything Mr. Agnew may liuvi! said therein, ft may be. for aught [. know, that Dunn. Halt, and Co. were trotted out as "frightful examples," and diuir nets and lives field up for eoudemnalion : hnt, judging from the annunciation I refuiwl to, most people would hold a different opinion. Perhaps it was owing to some highly-colored recital ef_ the gallant (lu«<lm of his predecessors in crime that the youthful Dunn was lured to his destruction, causing liinv to end his young fife in iunimihiy nu the scaffold while in his teens, mid before manhood had dawned upon him. I remember, some doxen years siiiun, in Victoria,, a brace of these wortliiuH [.'lying thvir avocation in the very tart i>f t'ollingwood in broad noonday, by attempting to stick up a bank. Unfortunately for "fthem, however. *>n that reKisioa they caught a Tartar, for. with liu other weapon than a heavy candlestick llm clerk defended himself, with a pistol ntllJH head, until his calls for assistance brought aid, and the scoundrels were trapped. Although life had not been lakun, nor the robbers did not profit one iwiny by their attempted crime, both sttfmi the extreme penalty of the law. _ Mr. IVilson, one of the proprietors of the 'Ai'U'ns" had just at that time a mania iir thrusting the criminal class before the liililii!, and the more desperate of the two jmiviuts had one of the " Argus" start' in liiily attendance upon him, taking shortmini notes of his career,, having sold the npyrighc to that paper for £"*>. Periujw in the eyes of such hero-worshippers ho fact of that rnfhau chanting in stentoian tones "Soon I'll be in .Dixie, aha !' litv!" while proceeding from the eonumnod celt to- the scaffold, wotitd be s«fimuit to exalt him above ordinary weak muimir.y, and his brutal contempt for with he vaunted as a test of bravery. After to prisoner had suffered the penalty of iambi-'"'-:;-', the Oovernment, however, iiii ;>;i . ml'argo- on the manuscript, renun", -... '••!■ >'- go forth to young Australia i i!ip' i'. v,. ;i.y-ie (>f a gifted penny-a-liner, tied >..- : " "vely imagination of one whoml |.i■■" :--I- i.ioius as to- what eomfcUvtted no ■: :'.' Vl'.-.. Mr. Wilson's paper ivei-;".-.! ■:: hitter terms against the uirS'- pursucil, find wa.xedeloc(.nent a*>ont io invasion of private rights, hut the masrf I tho public believed- that the parading of lu deeds of the so-called heroes was exomnly impolitic, an opinion which I jni'tily endorse.