AT THE CORNER.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4862, 9 August 1884, Page 2

AT THE CORNER.

:■ . [by nemo.] ' / Homo sum, liumani ni7dl a me, alienum puto.

That parsoDS are an unmixed blessing many people believe, but "Nemo" is not one of them. Some of the" cloth "do a large amount of good in the encouragement and" advancement of wholesome thought, while others do as large an amount of harm by their endeavors to strangle the exercise of any psychological freedom or liberty. The JKev. A. Keid,.of the Pitt street Wesleyan Church, Auckland, appears to be of the latter class; this would be custodian of the minds and thoughts of his people inveighs on the matter of Sabbath observance, against Sunday work on he thinks that the readers of morning newspapers should be satisfied every Monday morn* ing with what those journals could put together from Sunday at midnight up to publishing time, and he condemns the issue of Saturday supplements with the newspapers, as the. attractive reading in them proves « temptation to many to devour the contenti on Sunday instead of the literature specially adapted for that day. I am very much afraid that the Bey. gentleman wouM nofc have many followers in the matter of their Monday morning paper containing no news. Pre« ■umptuous parsons Reek to interfere too much in matters they Lave jju right to meddle with. They are supposed to b? teachers, not rulers. If Mr Reid prefers the perusal of germpus and such literature

on Sunday, let him by all means indulge himself to his hearts content, but if Mr or Mrs Somebody-else hare a preference for different reading, what right has Mr Ev to presume to say them nay. Owing to a- weak*minded docility on the part of many members of certain congregations, many; not . much ,intellectually stronger clergymen have got into the belief that they should assume a dictatorship over ■ the actions of their people even in their own homes. This human frailty aias, is very sad.' .■■'■" •'•• : i;", •••• ": '.- :; '■'.'■:■■'-■:■ • ■■' '■'■■': ■'■"■■ * * X •■•. :' 'V, ' The tan^i now being held at Para x\a\ is somewhat enlivened by the Saltation hymns sung by the native children. I was rather startled when passing the temporary native encampment to hear some" little urchins warbling " If you don't be a lover of the Lord," &c. No doubt Te Kooti himself has ere this learned some of the Salvation ditties. ■:■'■'::> '■'.■'■■'■. x: X .^x...'-.y',y.-I never heard such an extraordinary | combination of sorrowful and cheerful adieus as that which occurred on Mon« day last at the Goods Wharf. The departure of "Captain" Francis moved to burning tears about a dozen hallelujah lasses, reminding one of Dickens' deserip« ■■ tion of the meeting of the Bricklane. branch of the Temperance Society, and the lovely Deputy Shepherd whom Mrs Weller paid such attention to. How is it that women will run- after any man who claims to be a hero ?;. it matters not whether he be a "Captain of Salvation " or any other- claimant for their admiration. The scene, on the wharf 'might have been very fsalisfactory to the " Salvationists," but 1 doubt whether many husbands would approve of their wives shedding tears because the " boss. Shepherd" was going away. The member for fcbe district toot a back seat: for a time, but as the steamer moved away, the hearty cheers on liis behalf mingled with the Salvation hymns,- and had a peculiar effect. ■■'■'"■'"■. ;■■.■ x x.■_x :' ■' ■■■/•: Young New Zealand is proverbially j sharp, and the following incident is an illustration of it :-rA lad was sent to one of the banks to deposit a sum of money, but as the >ntcy in his " slip" was £3 silver, and he had only two pounds and a pound note, the teller turned him away, saying that the description of the deposit and the money handed |n must agree. Our smart youth was not to be beaten. He quickly produced a pound note from another pocket, and civilly demanded change in equal amounts of threepenny and sixpenny pieces; having received these, he carefully mixed them up with the silver already in his possession, and handed the required £B to the teller, who had to count all his threepences' and sixpences', and was certainly not inclined to laugh heartily at being so cleverly "had " by such a youngster.

Those War Cry vendors are certainlypersistent, vnd attempt to carry their queer sheet into all quarters. If they believe in all they read, and are truthful in their expressions, they must, I am afraid, be a remarkably ignorant arid fanatical set of people. A day or two ago a meek looking man, who had not, as a " blood and fire " soidier should have, " his eye in fine frenzy rolling," entered the shop of a leading tradesman, and asked the It. would he buy a War Cry.' "No," replied he of business, "I am a man of peace." The persevering souUsaver had evidently a gleam of light shed on his bulging brain, and he opened out on the beauties of the sweet sheet. "Oh ! brother," he pursued, " it is good reading ; it will do you good—it does me good ;itis i as good as the. Bible, in fact I like it better." That poor benighted fish-wrap vendor had a bout as much reverence for the ■■•■'" Book of books " as had the man who exclaimed, " I chastise thee with the Word of God!" as he threw the Bible at his wife. X XX 'Twas in the Academy, one night this week, between the acts.: They were both Press representatives, and naturally criticised the performers, the-wife of.one of whom was sitting in the seat in front. Says a budding and enthusiastic member of the fourth estate, knowing that the; lady mentioned was within hearing, "What do you think of Mr Blank's acting?" " Well," was the reply of thY unsuspecting one, "I think he's rather loud ; too demonstrative, you know." Youthful scribe (sotto voce):" Yes, that's a fact." "I noticed the same thing when he appeared a short time ago . with Miss Blank, in fact, they were neither of them up to the mark," replied his companion very audibly. By this time a friend noticed the confusion of the lady in front, at this candid avowal, and just as another equally severe remark was about to be made hef informed the woald-be critic of the presence of the actor's wife. It was amusing to see how thoroughly he had been taken in, and how quickly his utterances changed to threats of dire vengeance on. the head of his inveigler, when .he caught him outside. Moral : Always be careful how you deal with "men of letters." .. v '■■: "■' ■'■■'. X X X .. \.' „[

An amusing scene was witnessed on the wharf, this morning.. Mr 8., a dapper little commercial roan, well known recently in connection with religious controTersies, was very anxious to Ret to Auckland by the Annie Milb'ank, and for on^ie he missed the mark, and only reached the end of the wharf just as the boat had got well clear. His 'first action was to denounce the manager for sending the boat off too soon, though, she was then: 45 minutes behind the advertised time, then he ran to the end of the wharf to try ; and get the steamer to come in for him, the captain opuld not quite see it. Next he had a turn at the manager again, and "at last he seemed to grasp the idea that a boat might be obtained to put him off. It was amusing to thiß onlookers (none y.'ot whom, by the way, seemed to be very grieved at the little man's misfortune) to see.him hurrying here, there, and everywhere trying to get a boat, and then someone to row it; However, he did get off at last; and caught the steamey, the Oaptain having considerately waited fp!r him. ;^;: *