Pen and Ink Portraits.

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 62, 19 November 1881, Page 152

Pen and Ink Portraits.

No. 31.— Mb. W. J. Hurst,

There lias been no one in the House of Representatives who has been thought such good fun as Mr Hurst since the newspaper men drove Thomas Luther Shepherd out of it. They were both of a portly presence, addicted to much shirt front and the wearing of flowers in button holes of their coats. Both considered they -were enabled to give lessons , in deportment and believed they were favourites with the daughters of Eve. Their gait, as they walked about their daily avocations, challenged the admiration of the nursery-maid, and often caused her to neglect her charge. The same thing has been noticed in the history of the Guards. The vanitj' of these men is of a curious kind. A Avoman is vain of a pretty face, a good figure, nice hands and foot, or long and thick hair, and with good reason, as the points of attraction are not only a source of envy to others of her sex, but of delight to those of another gender. Small men are also vain— witness R. Churchill in the English House of Commons, and ex-Judge Weston in the General Assembly. But the vanity of men like Shepherd and Hurst is one of the anomalies of our race. They are both large men, but Chang was much higher, and Lambert fatter than either. It is probable that Manaena Tini, of Napier, could take Shepherd under his right and Hur3t under his left arm, and walk away with them as easily as an ordinary man would with two fifties of Hour. Shepherd had as ugly a face as one could find in a day's march, and" a painter would not select Hursfc's expression of countenance as betraying careful breeding. Their limbs are not shapely, but coarse. In neither case could any man account for the grounds of their vanity. Shepherd had more ability than Hurst. He was, however, a heavier man. He held strong views on other matters than himself. His selfesteem was so great that he thought himself equal to any and superior to most men. He insisted on shining with His own light, which he thought sufficient for all his purposes. Hurst shines, or twinkles, with reflected light. He thinks himself of importance because men of mark know and tolerate him. He is one of those who dearly love a Lord. He from a crowd would single out His Grace, And cringe and creep to fools who strut in lace. Several years ago Mr G. M. Reed wrote a notable article iii the Slur about Mr D. M. Luckie— one of the notable articles in our Colonial newspaper literature. He described him as a ilunkey to Yogel. If Mr Hurst had been in the House at that time God only knows what vials of wrath the ex-parson would have poured upon his head. There is no wormwood in our ink, and we forbear imitating the example. Truth, however, compels the statement that Mr Hurst is endowed by nature with the qualities requisite to flunkeyism. lie fills the position well and gracefully. There are, however, courtiers of two kinds. Praed describes the antithesis to Mr Hurst when he says, A courtier of the nobler sort, A Christian of the poorer school, Tory when AVbigs are great at court, And Protestant when Papists rule. Mr Hurst has done two notable things in his life. He saved the credit of the Colony, and exhibited a painted pig. It is hard to determine which was the greater achievement. He was sent to Parliament to support a party and a policy. He betrayed his trust, lie sought to obtain a prize for a pig by the use of a pigment. In both of these circumstancs lie claimed the gratitude of the people. A trustworthy politician in the one case, lie averred, could not be known unless there was a renegade to contrast with. In the other matter lie sought to save a descendant of Judah from the awkwardness of being a successful breeder of swine. When these palliators of justification of his conduct were placed before Sheehan, John muttered — A innii may cry church, church, at every word, With no more piety than other people ; A daw's not reckoned a religious bird Because it keeps a-cawing from the steeple. An enemy has described him as one of those men who require a judge of the Supreme Court to give them a character. This was seen in his libel cases. A man of unsullied reputation, it is urged, goes not to law to obtain testimonials of respectability. The good man's life gives the lie to the slanderer. He needs no bolster on which his virtue rests for display. Mr Hurst did more than any other Auckland member to get the Representation Bill passed. Yet he voted against it for appearance sake. He was as sedulous to maintain a House for the Government as though he were a deputy Whip. He would sleep in a groat coat, tell the chairman that the bell could not be heard in the lobbies when a quorum was called, and would, fain have passed for two men if the requisite twenty were not to be found. If John Hall had advised him to vote for the Bill he doubtless would have done so. He had his reward in apparently limiting the duration of the Bill. Mr Hurst takes an intelligent interest in agricultural affairs. It has been maliciously said that his sympathies have been enlisted in this industry because he is a dealer in artificial manures. But those who are more charitably disposed assert that the display of interest is genuine and charity gains credence. He never loses a chance in the House to advocate agricultural interests, and almost alone of its many members deplores that they are not more ardently and discriminatingly represented. The goldfields, he asserts, and their welfare, are in all men's mouths, but no one says a word, only at rave intervals, to aid and sustain the man who makes two blades of grass or two ears of wheat grow where only one grew berore. He is always cheery. He is of a forgiving disposition. He forgets hard words and forgives a taunt. His desire to please makes him pliant in principle. His weaknesses are, after a manner, amiable. Uncharitableness and malice cannot be laid to his charge. He is disposed to patronise journalists when they let him down easily. He is as much, out of place in Parliament as a horse would be in a lady's boudoir. It is an arena where only hard whole-sided men should be found. His detractors say that financial influence can alter or confirm his vote, but

this is probably untrue. "Yogel, in one instance, put his sister-in-law to make love to Shepherd at a critical time, and Miss Fanny, it is said, performed her allotted task to Vogel's complete satisfaction. When men err who go to Wellington, it must ba borne in mind that there are ardent female politicians in the Empire City. R. A. A. Sheeein.