ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 724, 16 September 1867, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

WE DO NOT IDENTIFY OURSELVES IN ANY WAY WITH TUB OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS. « (TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTHLAND TIMES.) Sir, — Not many years ago I happened to be iv London at the commencement of what was supposed might be one of the most important sessions of the Imperial Parliament, and, having from my very hobble-de-hoyism been somewhat of a hero -worshipper, I determined to spai'e no labor in obtaining admission into the gallery of the House of Commons. With this object I visited the representative of my native borough, as well as some dozen other members whose politics placed them upon that side of the House towards which I had been trained to look as in all cases the right one. I spent the greater part of a day in hunting for my ticket of admission, and in almost every case in which I found the honorable commoner at home, I was blandly assured that I was one among a score who had unfortunately applied too late. In utter despair I turned weary and jaded towards Whitehall, and was standing with my eyes languidly directed towards the clock- tower over the House of Lords, when some one passed by me as if making for Westminster Bridge. I recognised the gentleman immediately. He was not a member, but it struck me that he was iust the man who could get me into tbe Stranger's or Speaker's Gallery, and I was astonished at myself for not applying to him earlier. I pursued him as he ascended towards the bridge, and in a moment was the possessor ofthe coveted pass ; and, sir, on the following morning I took up my position at the door of the House, and doggedly retained it, till in the afternoon, I found myself the occupant of a seat which at that moment had a marketable ralue of five or six pounds sterling. I had struggled hard to secure my prize ; I had striven with all my might to be able to sit at the shrine of the intellectual heroes, and to offer them my worship as . a humble devotee *, I had raised in mv imagination -i ** . I know not what surpassing excellencies in eloquence, and — as usual — was disappointed. Dizzy, Gladstone, Lowe, and Bright — aU did very well in their own particular ways, but not one appeared to come up to the conception I had formed in my mind, and after all it seemed to me that my oratorical feast had indeed been dearly purchased. Well, sir, times have changed, and this morning Pate had cast me into an antipodean town, where I was told the great Council was just about to assemble to elect a Superintendent. Having more hours at my disposal than guineas in my pocket, I thought I could not do better than stroll as far as the Council-chamber, and seize such a favorable opportunity for airing my Queen's English. I had been given to understand that there were three or four out of the twenty that had seats in the Council, who might not inaptly be classed among colonial Foxes and Sheridans. " And, indeed," addedmy informant "you must perforce confess, that like all undoubted geniuses, they carry the mark of their superior powers in the distinguished calibre of their olfactory organs." Awed, as you may imagine, sir, by the consciousness of my proximity to such transcendent talent, I ascended the steps which lead to the chamber, and stepped into the room as tenderly as any victim ever stepped into the dreaded jSW-charnber of old. Though stars might not be on the walls, yef there could not fail to be living stars in the room. I stole noiselessly into a seat, and waited expectantly and with baited breath for the advent of the gods. After a while a number of individuals entered, and proceeded leisurely to take their places around alarge square table which was fixed at the centre of the western portion of the house. " Privileged ones," though I ; " I suppose the real members will be here presently." And I sat in patience. But the indivi- 1 duals who had first taken their seats retained them, and by-and-by a middleaged person, dressed semewhat like the country people in my native county, and leaning on a stick, proceeded towards the canopied chair and with becoming gravity placed his manly frame on what I suppose ihey may designate as the tributary throne. So serious was his aspect that I verily sighed in sympathy with his dolorous breathings. His long dark hair descended till it gave a nautical curl about his neatly dressed neck, and his reverend countenance reminded one fondly of the " Oak that had braved a thousand years." Sir, perhaps, you have been in the British House of Commons. If so, you will have carried away a lively recollection of the dignified gentleman who sat wigged and gowned in his official chair. Truly, they do usually manage to have a man of lordly carriage at the head of the Commons House at Westminster. As far as personal appearance is concerned they do indeed contrive to enthrone in their midst a God among men. But, sir, what is the body when placed in the balance agaiust the soul ? Did aot .Fathey Watta

sagely rhyme about the mind being the standard of the man ? And who would controvert a word which has dropped from tlie pen of such a reverend doctor of things divine ? I looked at that illustrious individual with the West End Coat, who displayed such an enviable tact and suavity of manner while holding the check-strings of debate ; I listened to his " wise saws and modern instances;" I gazed at the " spectacles on nose " and pouch on side; I heard his judgment against the decision of the Supreme Court ; and utterly bewildered I buried my face in the interior of my wide-awake. Such amazing wisdom, such sterling independence in giving utterance to it, such elegance of diction, such a commanding attitude, such astonishing vigor, that one would almost imagine himself once more at the vestry meeting of the parish of Sarum-cum-Appleby. To be sure, the wigged and gowned one at Westminster might enjoy the pre-eminence attending an Herculean frame ; but you know what Watts says, " the mind is the standard of the man." It was the mind which shone forth so luminously from that chair. On hearing his concluding dictum against the Supreme Court, I escaped from the room as best I might, lest my countenance should betray me. — Yours obediently. Wandekeb.