SCRAPS F.ROM OUR NOTE BOOK.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 56, 6 March 1869, Page 3

SCRAPS F.ROM OUR NOTE BOOK.

No. XXIV.— D ISA G-UEE ABLE PEOPLE. In a well-known punehlied, Gothe has compared the elements of a bowl of punch to the constituent parts of this little world of ours. In such a classification the part of the bitters would bo well represented by the persons forming my present theme 1 of discourse. I havo cither droamfc or read a fable in which cither Jupiter, Brahma, or Allah,— l know not whic' 1 , — sot to work creating human fy'ings. A largo heap was collected of all possible qualities, and for a time .all went well. TiG firs!; batch wero absolutely faultless ; but, unfortunately, the illustrious workman found that he had exhausted in their creation nearly all the good qualities at. his disposal, and as the work progressed the results bocame more and more unsatisfactory. Finally, when the lowest grade had been reached, the fragments of all kinds, good, bad and indifferent, were swept together, and out of these scrapings \vero fashioned disagreeable people. A bad man, indeed, can never pretend to bo one of because their -peculiarities depend on the s trail 'O jnmblc of good and cvil — the curious want of cliFcerivjient, tact and discretion they display, one titho of which would ruin the most adroit rnscal in Christendom. To class! fv theso moral hodge-ho-is, whose rude prickles are ever finding joints in our harness, would bo no easy task ; to paint the colours of the chameleon would be attempted with greate*.' probabilities of success*. There is a provoking disinterestedness in their efforts that at once baffles anger and ridicule. Ie 16 " for your own good, you know," that they mercilessly drag into light your pet failings, or prove that your favourite hobby is but a wooden nag after all. It ia the public weal that leads them to disturb, with strident bellow, the peace of the senate aiii tho assembly. They are not conscious of spite when they drag before the public private secrets ; nor arc they capable' of making their attacks upon wrong-doing impcrsona 1 . They are born under tho sign of Taurus, and resemble, or surpass, the proverbial bull in tho china-shop. Have you a liking for any one, it is their hoarse K whisper of evil tales that loses you the chance of a friend. They are the police of the green-eyed monstsr. andj hi tho most innocent manner in tho world blast your reputation, and rob you of the favour of the fair Duleinoa. Their momorie3 are of Vulcanic origin — veritable castiron, for no bygone peccadillo escapes their recollection. They hoard it up in some odd lumber'room of their brain until — as they word it — a sense of public duty or private friendship demands an exposure. Their oratory is of the clenuciatory wheu it is nob of tho peevishly argumentative style ; and they believe the whole world united in one grand conspiracy to swindle itself. They ai'e tho persons who, if religiously inclined, make anxioua enquiries about "your state of mind,'' and who drag tho most sacred things into the moat trivial conversation. They have a happy knack of " upsetting pots," and equal luck in turning up when they are not wanted. They are never in the wrong, according to their own belief, and great ia their a3tonishrnent at tho pigheaded obstinacy of their opponents. "When they do happen to be right, this .eobstinacy 'is at times useful ; but more (Frequently hurtful, for they have quite as much skill in dis^ustm* friends as they have power to annoy enemies. T,u*y are so pure an 1 spoil 333 in their own estimation that they offcoai deceive

themselves as to their motives. "When a, trade rival is to be damaged, they say it is with regret that a sense of public duty calls them to the task. The interests of the community are at stake, they believe, when thi-ir envy of a better man than themselves incites them to abuse and insinuation — which last, in sooth, is their great weapon, ] for they have the fear of the law — as it is written in the Libel Act — before their eyes. Yet are they so brutish "that all who run can. read : they do not leave the pangs they indict to be discovered from the groans of a wounded victim. Their wifus closely allied to insolence ; their indignation to that of the fish-fags of Biliins^ate. The whole world grormoth under the affliction ; but who is bold enough to bell the cat? A De Moggyns can ! hardly hesitate when the eyes of Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Polynesia and Tuapeka are turned towards him ; therefore hath he run this tilt against Disagreeable People.