THE COLONIST. NELSON; FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1861.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 398, 16 August 1861, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON; FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1861.

If philosophers governed the world, or if there was enough of philosophy even to moderate and partially guide the actions of those who govern us, then would our respected correspondent's views about personalities and motives be tolerably correct. But while a country is governed by scheming and ambitious politicians, whose only aim is self-aggrandisement or the usurpation of undue power over their fellow-men, 'Senex Albus' will permit us to differ from him in the main. As far as the present confused and ruinous state of affairs are concerned, his advice may be good, though impracticable

Philosophy, now as heretofore, seems only fit to be a closet companion; for no sooner does it attempt to enter on the arena of politics than it is rudely thrust oat, and political huckstering and diplomatic humbug rule triumphantly; and the much boasted, though hitherto unexplained, Public Opinion will have it so. However Philosophy may theorise, Religion tells us that the heart of man is deceitful above ail things and desperately wicked.

Let us take a few examples, and then see if we have nothing to do with the 'motives' of men.

It is somewhere related of the late Sir Robert Peel's father—who was as superior to his trimming son as the brilliant light of day is so much stronger than the borrowed light of night— that when his son was dabbling in the finances of the country, and confusing people with {standards of value,' • circulating medium,' ' paper currency,' ' profits,' * capital,' and other shibboleth of financial cant, his son was the cleverest man in England, for he had doubled bis fortune in a day: Are such a man's motives to be considered pure ?

Mons. Thiers, when Prime Minister of France, accomplished a similar feat, though in a more direct manner, namely, by taking advantage of his position, raising a report" of a war with England, which caused a panic on the Bourse, and then speculating largely in the funds. Should not the motives of such a man be scanned ? .

When a politician becomes suddenly rich, as was the case with the first Earl of Shelboutne, and likewise with another noble Lord —some may ask who extinguished the last ray of liberty in Poland and Hungary, and then dogged the steps of the exiled Kossuth in England and communicated everything concerning him to the Austrian court for years ?—who was the first to congratulate the sanguinary ghoule of the Second of December on his atrocious success?—who caused the loss of 50,000 British soldiers in Afghanistan, and then for twenty years escaped the blame.hy mutilating the despatches"of a.zealous arid faithful public servant ? Should not the motives to every such act be closely examined ?

Now do not let our readers suppose that because, the last two examples were 'Xords,' that they were incapable of mercenary acts. Many of them have doubtless read Macaulay, and. some of them are perhaps, devotees of that historico-romance writer; well then they must have read the minutje details of the sins of the greatest and most, successful of British generals, the Duke of •Marlborough. In addition to which we will just mention that the Muscovite gained a footing in the gulf of Finland by bribing'a British nobleman. - .'■■■'

Let us come nearer home, and take some of our own politicians; and in doing bo we will leave out all reference to subjects relative to the war, and the motives that in? dtfced so rash an undertaking—so disastrous in its consequences. .

Well then let us suppose the case of some gambling horse-jockeys, some acute lawyers or doctors, who have turned their attention to land speculations in the east, west, north; and south, and purchased largely. Then let us suppose that, by these and other, clever a§ts, such men have acquired, influence enough among a population, whose judgment is influenced by success'in money matters or by a voluble tongue and tearful eye, to gain political power; After due time, let us suppose that such men meet and say we have land in various places which we must turn to account, as we wish to go to England, and perhaps buy'up an estate, and therefore something must be done, and that quickly. No sooner hinted at than the thought is brought into shape, and the result may be that a new township is proclaimed or a New Provinces Act passed, when land hardly saleable hitherto may fetch a thousand times its original cost. As a mercantile speculation this, we know, will be justified. But are we not to scan the motives of such men ?

If men be placed in a judicial court to dispense justice to all parties, without fear or favor; and not only the antecedents of such men may have unfilled them, to so dispense justice, but their present private profession and acts be incompatible with their, public appointment. Are not the motives oi such men to be looked to ?

If a number of men meet together to advocate a certain measure—be it. the formation of a college or any other educational scheme, or a steam, gas, water, or gold company, and one of the number should be very prominent in his advocacy that a high salary should be paid to a certain officer required, and should such a man be appointed, ought not his motives to be canvassed, when discussing his merits or shortcomings in his duty ?

We could enumerate examples without end, even in the small community of New Zealand; but we stop, as since we penned the above we have seen a paper in the Canterbury Press on this very subject, from which we make the following extracts, and shall give the paper in full in our next issue. It is entitled ' Public Criticism and Private Character:'— :.

.' If a scurrilous and licentious press on the one hand bespeaks a depraved condition of the public taste; on the other, a morbid and unhealthy tone of feeling is indicated by a shrinking from wholesome outspoken criticism. Mealy-mouthedness is as much a fault—and a mischievous fault—as coarseness and violence. No public man or public journal has ever yet set to work honestly and earnestly to attack abuses without the same cry being raised—'you are doing mischief; you are setting people by the ears ; you are attacking private character; you are setting yourselves up for the only honest men in the world.' •

. ..The above might well have been written of Nelson, The writer then says:—

♦ No journal can hope to be of use unless it deals fearlessly with public wrongs, regardless of any authority by which they may be sanctioned, and unswayed by party ties or private friendships.' ' We assert that the mingling up of. matters of public and private interest in the same transaction is the root and origin of all jobbing, all corruption, and all dishonesty in government.'

' The name of the first magistrate in a province ought not to be mixed up in any way whatever with private speculations, the success of which depends on the performance of his public duties.' • Free institutions bring nothing but misery to communities incapable of working them, and they can never be successfully worked unless there is a lofty standard of public duty to which men may aspire, and by which they are judged.' It will be a sorry day when everything is judged commercially, and when men placed in positions of power and honor possess no higher feelings than the tradesman in making as large a profit of his position as if lie were behind the counter; and a worse day still when men with rotten private characters shall be placed by political adventurers into offices of honor—even the sacred bench of justice. •

Some of our readers may remember that soon after the outbreak at Taranaki, when nearly every province'was in a state of en-* thusiasm to assist the sufferers, Canterbury got into rather bad odor, which arose from a misconception of some expressions used by one of the members of the government. We are gratified in being able to aunounce that a sum of jfmoney, between £1500 and £2000, has been forwarded to the Superintendent of Taranaki, for the Relief Committee there.r - .

Mr. Fox, in the House of Representatives, on August sth, announced that his Excellency the Governor had determined to discontinue the organisation of the Militia.

Gas Company.—A prospectus has been handed to us for a Nelson Gas Company, nominal capital ,£3OOO, in 100 shares of £30* each; 10s, per share deposit, and £4 10s.'per share'on signing the deed, being the preliminary payments; the remainder in calls of not more than £5 each, at intervals of not less than three months. It is calculated that a saving of 200 per cent, is effected through the use of gas instead of oil or candles. The operations of the Company are proposed, in the first place, to extend over three of the principal streets. The cost for a thousand feet of gas is calculated at twenty shillings, which is to allow a fair margin of profit beyond the usual 10 per cent, interest on capital, or a total profit of at least 20 per cent, per annum, with probable increase. '. The provisional directoiship is composed of Messrs. A. Kerr, J. Elliott, J. R. Dodson, and J". W. Tatton; Promoter,. and Secretary protten%r n% J. L. Bailey. ' . , v ... r ...

" Iron Sand.—A "specimen of iron sand procured j froni.vyithin4wenty.; miles of this «ity may be seen 'at our offi«e. It is apparently of identical quality and value to that of Taranaki, winch has been reported sq favorably of for. the. higher branches of steel manufactures. The place where it is deposited is situate on the west side of Blind Bay, between Riwaka and Waitapu, and the quantity is said'to be immense. It is easily procurable, lying for some feet deep Within short distance of a place favorable for shipment, and .about 150 pounds weight has been sent to Melbourne to have its quality tested. Upon confirmation of the belief. of its value we hear that a company will be formed to work it.

, Nelson .Gold-Fields. —We copy the following from.the debates in the House of Representatives of July 20th:—'Mr. Wells asked the Colonial Secretary if the Government were in possession of certain resolutions passed in the last session of the Provincial Council of Nelson, praying that the Governor may be pleased to delegate the powers vested in him by the ' Gold-Fields Act, 1858,' to the Waste Lands Board of that province; and if the Government were disposed to advise his Ex--cellency to give effect to the same.-—Dr. Featherston replied that it did not appear by the Gold Fields Act that the Governor-could delegate, liis powers to the Waste Lands Board, but the Government had advised him to delegate to the Superintendent of Nelson all the powers which it1 was competent for him to, delegate, in.' the same way as had been done to the Superintendent of Otago.

Concert.—We call attention to the concert of. the Nelson Harmonic' Society which will take' place on Wednesday next in the-'Provincial Hall. The specific purpose for which this entertainment is presented will doubtless prooure a large audience.

The Board op Works.-—The validity of the last election, and the objections raised to the same in two memorials, came hefore the consideration of the Supu intendent and Executive Council yesterday. After taking evidence on the points raised, the decision was, that another election should take place, the former being declared null and void.

The Constance, barque, sailed from Auckland, for San Francisco, on 2-ith ult.j with a valuable shipment of sheep, from the celebrated flock of Air. Robert Graham, at Motutapn.

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. On Tuesday evening last, the room recently erected in Bridge-street for the above purpose was opened by a public meeting, Captain Rough in the chair s and although the evening turned out wet, a very fair audience was in attendance. Severalietters of apology were read, from various individuals who. had special invitations sent them, for their nonattendance. -

After singing an hymn,

The Chairman, in opening the meeting, complimented the Association on their commodious place of meeting, and hoped with the aid of faithful ministers, and zealous sabbath school teachers, that much good would be accomplished. They had now a reading-room for intelligence and useful knowledge, which they could call their own, for their spiritual and mental enjoyment. Many would address them that evening who would be able to bear testimony to the usefulness of such associations in other parts of the world. Politics would not be admitted nor discussed. He congratulated the young men who had been the means of forming the Association, and recommended them to be faithful in their walk through life and to each other.

Mr. H. Lucas, the secretary to the. Association, read to the meeting an interesting paper upon the beneficial influences likely to arise from such institutions, and said : It is well to look back and view the practical working of the Young Men's Christian Association in the metropolis, and other large cities of our fatherland; and the glorious truth forces itself upon you,, that this Association is directly under the fostering care of our \Father. During the first nine years of, the Metropolitan Association it had produced a great change in the character of the young men of London; thousands had been reformed from vicipua paths, and^vere walkiug soberly, wisely, and respectably, spending their "week-day leisure in.Literary Associations, and attending a place of worship on the; Sabbath. It had been instrumental in the conversion of very many ; and as we do not like to speak of numbers, we may say that there were-proofs of from" 600 to 700 conversions to God, besides an'immense number who had been seriously impressed. The change it had produced in many of the large establishments of London was surprising; numbers of large concerns in which there used formerly to be nothing but ungodliness and all manner of vice, had now their Bible Classes and Prayer Meetings. If we take up the reports of the Branch, Associations formed in other cities and towns of England, Ireland, Scotland, or the Continents of Europe and America, we see the same blessed fruit produced/ So much good having resulted from the working of these Associations elsewhere, may we not expect similar results in Nelson ? - Some time since one of our members in Council advocated measures, which, he said, would give a tone to bociety here, but which was negatived by a large majority of the citizens: we say the best means to be employed to give a sound and healthy tone to society is for all Christians to lend their aid, in the name of our great Immanuel, to help on the Nelson Young Men's Christian Association. And we call, upon all young men to avail themselves of the means put in their way for the improvement of their mental, moral, and spiritual condition. Our invitation is to all, ' Come thou .with us, and we will do thee good.' ... Mr. I. M. Hill, next addressed the meeting. He said the present building cost £116 *45., which he was happy to say was' paid, leaving a small balance in hand. The room, however, would require lining, painting, and. furniture, which would cost about £'50 more. The committee started with a grain of faith, and they had faith as to the result. United prayer meetings had been held every Friday evening it» temporary places which had been hired for the occasion, until the present building was finished. They had had visits of ministers from time to time, and he recommended them to attend the Tooms as often as their duties would allow them. The speaker concluded his remarks by strongly tirging the young men:of the town to be present at their classes, and said, if they were not in a position to give anything towards the working of the society, they could attend without payment. i ' v -■' - : The Rev. P. Caldeb, in a very able speech, said he wished^ |hem God speed in their undertaking, and would take every opportunity of furthering their interest by giving his adherence to it, and recommending it to the youth of his congregation. ; ;

The Rev. W. M. Biss said, that the advantage of such an association, was now. no longer a matter of speculation; but a great fact. He observed that such an association was fitted to the* character of the age, and also met the requirements of thechurch. Tie also remarked that the progress of the association hitherto was very encouraging, and augured well for the future.; and urged on its members to give their attention to the Bible Class and Prayer Meeting, as two of their meetings from which they would, with God's blessing, realise much good' themselves and also be enabled to benefit their fellow young men. '.

After singing another hymn,

Mr. H. Drew said: I rise by previous arrangement to address the young men. of Nelson, and I am about" to presume to give a few words by way of advice. I have been thinking, Mr. Chairman, ;if I was called upon to embody the best advice I could give to young men in one short sentence what should that sentence be ? 1 thought of the words ' Fear and Faith;' but as this Society professes to have for its object, the mental as well as spiritual improvement of its members, I discarded that, and fixed upon one that may perhaps surprise some present, still I think it is the sentence which embodies the best advice. I cart gire to young men, generally,—the sentence is, ' Cultivate self-respect.' I do not mean self-esteem, commonly known as the bump of No. 10, —would that those who cultivate that would remember the well-known couplet— . •

■■■'-, Oh, that the powers the gift would gee us, To see onesel as others see us. ' But what I do mean was exemplied in some measure by the noble-minded Paul, when he, with li'is companion Silas, had been beaten unlawfully, and had had their feet made fast in stocks. Paul was a gentlemau by birth, by education, and by companionship, a gentleman in the 'strictest sense of the term ; such usuage was calculated: to break his spirit, and wound his self-respect: "but it did not, for very early in the morning a messenger from the magistrates arrived in great haste to tell the jailor, 'Let those men go,' get them away as quickly as ever you can, and if possible get them out of the city altogether. The jailor told. Paul, the magistrates have sent to let you go, now therefore depart in peace. Oh, says Paul, have they, after beating us openly and uricondemned, which they have no right to do, seeing, we are Romans they want t6 send us away pliVately—no such thing; tell them to come down themselves and fetch us out. Now, sir, I think there was a considerable amount of self-reapect shown there; but tojexplaiu what I mean more fully, I will relate an anecdote..... Some school boys were once enjoying a holiday, and in the course of their rambles they came to an orchard, which seemed full of beautiful fruit; some of them proposed helping themselves, but one stoutly refused^—why, they asked, no one will see you ? Yes they will, he replied. Ah, I thought so, said one, I know what he means—he's a Methodist. No, said he, I do not mean that—God will see me, that is true, but I mean I shall see myself, and I should feel ashamed of myself afterwards. That, sir, is exactly my definition of self-respect; I would say cultivate that, and then you will be very careful what company you keep. I was called upon some time since to go with two gentlemen to examine a curiosity ; we had to go to a public-house, and in passing through a room, sir, I saw a number of, I was going to say gentlemen, but they had lost their self-respect, and therefore ought not to be called gentlemen. Well, they were sitting round a table, at their head was a youn» man ft clerk in one of our principal mercantile houses, with a cigar in his mouth, and a glass of braiady (iud water by his side; they were gambling \?UU

c aids. As we passed through I looked at thai young man, and hia face was" covered with the blush of shame,—oh, sir, that blush was making terrible havoc with his self-respect; that young man was on the high road to ruin. Again, the young man who cultivates self-respect will not associate with her whose feet take hold on death, whose ways go down deep into hell. Lastly, for I must be brief, theyoung man who cultivates selfrespect will not, I am sure, for lie caunot, neglect or despise religion. The subject ot religion as an objective fact, something that he can look at and examine, wil force itself upon his notice, and he will feel bound to look at it, and examine it—he will not pin his faith to the opinion of any man, but he will take his Bible and read it for himself, there he will seejthat the government of God is a moral government, is one of persuasives, appealing to his reason, to his moral sentiments, his highest and his best interests both as it respects this world and the world to come, he will find that if he refuses to bow to the sceptre of God's Jove he must bow to that of his wrath, he will see that God promises him untold blessings in possession, and inconceivably more in reversion, if he becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will soon feel constrained to bind the Gospel to lug heart, and there bye and bye, by Gift's grace, he will unite, after the battle Qf life is over, with that glorious host above, and casting his crown at hia Redeemer's feet, he will exclaim, ' Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the glory for thou hast redeemed us.' Oh, young men as you value the well-being of your immortal souls I entreat you to cultivate self-respect. Mr. R. Burn next addressed the meeting, and spoke strongly upon the. increase of gambling houses amongst us, and pressed upon the young men not to frequent them. Messrs. Gardiner, Rose, and Crisp also addressed the meeting. ,"'•■• V - - At the close a collection was made amounting to £A 145., and after singing, the Rev. P. Caldeb pronounced the benediction, and the meeting separated.