SCRAPS FROM OUR NOTE BOOK.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 61, 10 April 1869, Page 6

SCRAPS FROM OUR NOTE BOOK.

ISTo. XXVI— VARIOUS.

Mr. Muggins has been up country. The d no, I don't mean that — the icthyosaurus he has ! At any rate Mr. Quip says so, and the astonished Augustus must confess his ignorance, for he was under the belief he had spent a fortnight enjoying otium cum dig. I hope that bit of Latin is correct ; it should be, for I copied it from the pill-box of a genius and an apothecary. But who on earth is Mr. Quip, whoso penetrating glance can pierce the blankets of the last De Mogyns, whose acute mind can, by use of plumb line and rule, discover that twice one is more than three. I confess my critical powers are at fault, although a first perusal of his charming epistle led me affectionately to exclaim — " 0 my prophetic soul, my grandmother ! " Eor, be it known, that worthy old lady was of a cantankerous disposition, and loved the sound of her own voice, although it was harsh and discordant as the grating of a file. But, alas ! sho died, in the pathetic words of Tennyson, " Long, long ago ! " so, unless some gentleman has become the victim of metempsychosis, I am at a loss to discover the personality of." Quip." But if my surmise be correct, how deep is my pity for the rcoor inhabitants of Tuopeka. An irrepressible creature, plain in speech, but persistent in effort, will hammer away in the senate and in the assemblies of the people. He will avenge his pfiyate spites under tho cloak pf public spirit, and gratify his malice when ho appears most disinterested. His finger will be in every pie, yet, unlike the good boy of nursery rhyme, he will not confine the result of his enquiries to a corner. He will build wondrous structures on the slightest foundation, and hypocritically regret misfortunes of which he himself has been architect. But enough pf " Quip " and the letter he wrote ; let me to fresh fields and pastures new. I am a most' loyal subject 3 have, indeed, — owing to my position of crass-ing-s\veeper near Buckingham Palace, — seen, much of courtly life, Unfortunately, my great talents and rigid honesty havo never gained for me the rank of Colonial Secretary, Superintendent, M.P.O. or pickpocket, so the approaching visit of Prince Alfred does not cause my dreams to turn on prospective knighthood or the Order of St. Michael. Still, my voice will not be lowest — I was claqueur in the Varieties onee — nor will my brimless hat be waved less enthusiastically than that of any placeman or toady, if the the Captain of the G-alatea. honoi\rs Tuapeka with a visit. I only hope his reception will be quite as cordial, and infinitely less absurd, than that given him a year ago by our Australian brothers. The hearty and heartfelt hurrahs of a crowd of diggers, dressed in their work-a-day suits, and bearing the honourable emblems of their toil, strikes me as a worthier and nobler greeting than all the trumpery gimcracks in the way of triumphal arches, trophies, and pyramids ever could give, and far better than the waving of acres of perfumed handkerchiefs, or tho feeble thunder of innumerable gloved hands. Let tho diggers welcome their Prince like men, and not like flunkies.