THE WAGES OF SIN.

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 117, 9 December 1882, Page 194

THE WAGES OF SIN.

The wages of sin is death. When ? Ccs not always in this world. Perhaps we ' interpret the text after the manner of Mt_ 8 and the believers in Conditional Immortality the wages of sin is death ia this world, ? people are a very long time dying — in factj kinds >of sin appear to conduce to long* Else how is it that we see ty many people who lire on the vr&ges 0>

„ j n broadcloth . and fine linen in the greets? There is, for instance, the son sfrhlr respected Presbyterian clergyman a "large quantity of valuable property *fe,e by-sfcreets of Auckland, which proiT^i almost entirely of small tenements ■S^k-rents by unfortunate women. The ii'the landlord is the son of a clergyman I generally known, but i^mask of gold hides all deformities," jffalks the streets with unblushing front, ted by respectable members of society, and welcome admission to the most select ?So l° n £ as c can keep U P a good Lje and a substantial bank account, joes not trouble itself with any disagree- ' {ions as to the source of his income, or, 'object is alluded to, shrugs its shoulders jp a on. It is only vice in rags and tatters fepuleive ; and disreputable vice in a carjnd arrayed in silks and diamonds, or in toth. with a liberal array of spotless shirtjj eminently respectable, so long as it prejobe so-

THOSE SULPHUR SPRINGS. se used to be a tradition among some of Hhands at Whangarei that any man who irank of the soda-water springs near that raa sure to display all the symptoms of a sed dipsomaniac. It was supposed that Mations from the springs affected people Bach as the ancient priestess was by the !0t the sacred fountain, and- that if they did actlj prophecy their utterances were usually ffigible as those of the oracles. The latest & the kind comes from Tauranga. It is at the inhalation of sulphur fumes proatorication. At least so one of the White 1 excursionists discovered to his cost. 4 extraordinary," said he next day, " posi- ' never touched a drop of liquor, sir. sober and returned drunk. Yes 8t) sir, drunk. It must have been the

KNIGHTLY GRATITUDE, fes not Sir George Grey after all, although pple think it was, that made Sir Maurice »c the first commoner in New Zealand, and ifo of St. Michael and St. George. He professed, it must be borne in mind, to him a gentleman. This is a kind of *ith which Dame Nature allows no inter- '■ What Sir George did was to make the member Speaker. But we have to ■>mind that John Lundon made Mr G. M. *' the member for Onehunga. He went juames and brought up some two score of • 'jote for him — and then O'Rorke only *Ms election by one vote. Time passed on, « Maurice, as he likes to be called, always % Lundon in grateful recollection — he had "that he wanted to pay, an obligation |* banted to release. Time came tardily ■wont, last week, when John Lundon, poor "ellow, wanted to become Mayor of One-

O'Rorke was equal to the occasion. ?*to the military settlement he represents to have voted against John. There ? better episodes in all the annals of "igratitu.de than this. It must be borne ? Wat the party with which Lundon has notified for many years, adopted Mr Q-. 9fse a long time since, placed his feet on !t rung of the ladder, and pushed him jf upwards. We can only say chat we are 7«olin Lundon lost his election in the way , Most of the maxims we learned in ■^c faded from our recollection, but one as green in our memory as though JM yesterday. We make it a present to JeMauriceO'Rorke:— tip i. l*spere mores, jus, Aecus, pietas, fides j^Jr. gut redire nescit cum perit pudor."

1 ..D0N JUAN'S CANTASS. •U^ell-known trick of a few smart book P and tallymen to secure entrance into jj^te House during the absence of the :■}?>■* family, and to endeavour to force

their wares upon some weak-minded woman, too -easily susceptible to the attractions of gorgeous binding, gaudy pictures, shoddy draperies and gewgaws, and long credit. In such cases the head of the household has the alternative of paying through the nose for an article which in nine eases out of ten he does not require, or of being accused of meanness in repudiating his wife's bargain, if he escape a curtain lecture from the good woman herself.

But amongst the most insinuating canvassers we have ever heard of, commend us to a young fellow who called at the house of a respectable family the other day for the purpose of selling his boobs. It happened that only one of the young ladies was at home. In the course of his eloquent panegyrics on the beauties external and internal of his boobs, the young man expressed a desire to sit down for a few minutes, as he felt tired. He was invited to take a seat, and remained a few minutes. Next day he called again. He was a young man not easily daunted by first failures. No successful canvasser ever is. It happened this time that the younger sister, a girl nine years old, opened the door. The canvasser asked for a drink. He must have found canvassing at this particular house rather dry work. However, he was accommodated with a drink of Adam's ale and a seat in the kitchen.

Then he suddenly changed his role and assumed that of a fortune-teller. Taking the girl's hand he proceeded to read or pretend to read the lines. He could pronounce with certainty that she was fond of jewellery, and he was equally certain that he loved her. Startled almost out of her senses by such a strange declaration the girl fled like a frightened fawn to her sister's bedroom. The man followed and rapped at the door. The voice of the eldest sister demanded in stern tones what he wanted there, when he suddenly discovered that his business lay elsewhere, and vanished. The fellow is known, and three or four very stout cudgels are getting mouldy until he calls again in that neighbourhood.