TARANAKI.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 6, Issue 281, 13 February 1862, Page 3

TARANAKI.

(from .an occasional correspondent.) • New Plymouth, Jan. 29, 1802. An occurrence has happened here within the last few days:which caused a little excitement and relieved the monotony of .the place for a time. -Hapurona, the great fighting native general in the war, and who accepted Governor Browne’s terms, and who since has been in charge of Matarokoriko blockhouse, I believe, .under Government pay, came into town on Saturday last with his son, Horopapera. During the afternoon they went up to an officer’s quarters, in, company with some women. While there, it appears, they all, more or less, got liquor, and being, I suppose, rather, noisy, weip. ordered away by an officer of the 57tli. Horopapera refused, whereupon the officer got his horsewhip and struck liim repeatedly over the shoidders: Hapurona;, the father, who--at the best of times is a perfect savage, and of a violent temper; and who .had taken enough liquor to make him worse, took the matter up, and with his son immediately left the place, and came down, to the square, where, with a long stick in his hand (a native weapon of some sort)," he danced about in a .perfect fury, using the most abusive and -.threatening, language against the pakehas. Opposite Black’s shop lie held forth in the usual, Maori style, running to aind frd, working himself up into a perfect madness of rage, brandishing his weapon, rolling his eyes, putting put his tongue, &c. The majority of the iiersohs present . little understood the meaning of his expressions, until Mr. Woon arrived on the spot, who,Understanding the Maori language, intimated that he was saying that he should have revenge for the insult offered to his son. Mr. Woon went up to him, and endeavoured to pacify him, and urged him to go to the authorities if lie had aiiy grievance. Hapurona pushed him away, said he wouldn’t, and threatened to shoot him if he iound him at Waitara. A crowd having collected, and Hapurona’s appearance and conduct being such as to warrant the apprehension that some violence would be committed on the spot, the police interfered, and carried him off to the lock-up* alter a violent; ,strns«jlo. oiv Ly> -part... to '• I have been told since that .li.is expressioiiS'oppb-r site Black’s were to this effect : he should go back to Matarokiriko, burn it down,, and go inland, and would consider the insult his son had received a cause for war against the pakeha ; that lie would have the officers up for payment, &c. &c. 'When lie was put into the gaol, he pulled off his shirt, tore it up, set up a dismal howl, ciying with his son, and singing a song, in which I am told he spoke of the degradation he had received; that it would"be told to the-tribes that lie had been put into gaol by the pakeha after joining them ; that he was - now made a slave, he was no longer a chief, and woulch rather lie was" hanged/at once. After tlie lapse of an hour, Hapurona was liberated, on promising to appear.on Monday, when he would be permitted to make his complaint'. He went away, sullen, and with a countenance expressive' of the deepest revenge. Monday morning came, but no Hapuroua. A military inquiry was to be instituted, I hear, but Hapurona was not forthcoming. The last hews we have is, that he has vacated Matarokoriko (not burnt it down as he threatened), and gone inland to the Arei, and sent a letter in ..to say! that lie won’t come unless the Government writes for him. It was reported he had gone to "Waikato, but I hear today lie is still at Te Arei, or in its vicinity. We all approved the conduct of the police; and condemn the act of the authorities in liberating Harpurona before he was sober. He was" riotous and disorderly, and, chief or no chief, lie should have been kept in gaol till Monday. Hapurona lias great and absurd ideas of his own importance, and the burden of his complaint was, that he, a chief, had been insulted in the person of , his son. The saying that “ when the.-, wine .-is in, the wif-is out,’’.was exemplified in his case. The. real feelings of his heart towards the pakeha came out, for he not only said he would burn down the stockade, but would J kill any pakeha he found there. Yet, in | the face of this he was allowed to be at | liberty, and go home in the evening when j scores of pakehas were about the coxmtry. —Southern Cross , Feb. •!.

SPURGEON ON' SHREWS, AND HOW TO TAME THEM. Mr. Spurgeon lately delivered a lecture on “Shrews, and How.to Tame them.” At seven o’clock Mr. Spurgeon ascended the platform, and, having offered up a brief prayer, com men eed his discourse by explaining that he had been delivering a series of lectures, in which the peculiarities of the various orders of mammals had been descanted .upon.. He would now say a few words of the ordgr to which belonged that little animal the shrewd There are' two kinds of these creatures, the water shrew and the ordinary shrew, and they differed in some minor particulars. The shrew is an exceedingly beautiful animal, and is, besides, the smallest mammal found in England, with the exception of the

harvest mouse. It was wonderful how their name ever came to We applied, to ill-t.empered women. People in this country weregenerally of opinion that toe shrew was nothing more or less than a mouse, but if they would consult a cat or a dog' they would be better informed on the subject. Dogs, it is true, will kill them, but invariably refuse- to eat them afterwards, and if a cat were by any chance to devour orie, it would not retain it on its stomach, it would find it so excessively disagreeable. (Laughter.) The fact is, that the shrew has a strong musty flavour, in consequence of the musk secreted in its glands. Nevertheless, the owl, whose taste is not particularly fastidious, manages to make a very comfortable meal of the shrew. Many animals perish in this manner. The rev. gentleman then proceeded to. give a description of tlm appearance and habits-of tlie animal in question, dwelling on the fact that it was not destructive to the produce of the earfh, as jvas generally supposed, but that his extermination' would be fraught with consequences as serious as those which have followed the wholesale slaughter of birds in Prance. With a view to test the procreative capabilities of the shrew, a gentleman, put several of them into a box, and, on looking into it shortly afterwards, found that, instead of increasing in numbers, they had decreased, the largest shrew having devoured all the rest.. (Laughter.) The shrew, like the mole, did everything; with fury and passionate enei’gy, He has his pleasurable moments,: too, and thenemits a sound which can: only be compared to the grating of a melodious piece •of slate pencil'on a-slate-. (Laughter.) The shrew was formerly an object, of great terror. Aristotle and Pliny regarded them with dread. Its -bite was considered extremely venomous, and many and curious .were the receipts given to-cure, the wounds ' it inflicted. In England, also, there we,re.numerous superstitions. about: this little animal. The reverend, gentleman, after reading several quotations from White’s “ Natural -History of Selborne,” passed on to-the-species - of human shrew.. Ho said that on turning to Walker’s dictionary he found that the word “ shrew bore three interpretations - first, “ a mouse next, “ a peevish, brawling, turbulent vixenbus i woman’:”- —(laughter) ; and in the tliml instance was a derivation; from a Saxon word, which he (the rev. gentleman) coif'd,,spell, but was not able to pronounce. On looking, however, into old dictionaries, he discovered that the word “shrew ’’ lias a more extended meaning than is ordinarily assigned to it, and that it applies to males no less than females. (Roars of laughter.) He was. very glad of this, for it afforded him an opportunity of taking both sides of the: question. The number of shrewish women recorded in history was very small, and this was’a tolerably ' good proof that many could got have existed, or other--rrioo- -fcli-o Lirj-feovicA'iTTSvlrtr T.-ra:xrur-fclro vrtlic.x sex would" certainly have recorded the -Li Ale .would only particularise two ; hut he would first of all~ state Ills" beliet ' that there were nß* living specimens: The female shrew was extinct, or a thing that “used to was.” ..(Laughter.) The first shrew mentioned in history was Xanlippe, the wife of Socrates the philosopher. Before marriage Socrates was aware that his intended was ill-tempered, but he said he wanted some one to teach him patience. It was said that upon one occasion Mrs. Socrates made a great deal-of noise at hi v husband, who thereupon went outside tl ehouse, and sat down upon , a stool. Tl e lady was. exceedingly irate at this coldness, , went upstairs;, and liaviug four cl something, emptied the contents on' li s head. '(Roars of laughter.) The philosopher,. however, was in no way disturbed, but quietly remarked, “ It has thundered so long that, I was sure it would rain.” (Renewed laughter.) Socrates, however, gave his wife a good character, and perhaps her failings had been exaggerated. He said she might not have had the beit of tempers, but still she had such virtues as he hardly hoped could be discovered in any other woman. Having briefly alluded to Jezebel, the lecturer passed cn to the most renowned of modern shrews, Mrs. Wesley, of whom he related several anecdotes, besides; reading a lengthy extract from a book respecting her shrewi; h qualities. The lecturer then said that with regard to male shrews he could point to scores of instances. He was a common object of the seashore, a comux n object of the country, and a common cLject in the town. He was to be found in the police courts, and also undergoing a pleasant course* of two months’ imprisoi - ment. (Laughter.) But it would pei - liaps be as well to pass at once to the consideration of the question, “ How shrew - , whether male or female, are to be tamed. ’ Mr. Spurgeon, in solving this problem, referred to Shakespeare’s well known play, from which he read several passages. In nine cases out of ten the reverend gentleman was of opinion, where a husband did not get on well with liis wife it wes his own fault. There was a clergyman * once, who had taken too much to drink, when lip was called upon to “ sprinkle ” a child. ■ He fumbled at liis hook,-but could not find the place, whereupon he stammered out, “What a very difficult child this is :to baptise ! ” (Laughter.) It was the clergyman himself who was in fault ; and so it was for the most part with husbands and wives. The rev. gentleman then related a story of a good husband, who received from his wife a ring. He at once todkit to a goldsmith’s and had some words engraved upon it. His wife had a strong desire to see the inscription, but he declined-to gratify her curiosity, but told her that the time would come when she.should see- it. The husband died, and on the wife’s looking at the ring she found these words—“ I have loved thee, on earth,: L. will meet thee in heaven.” The rev. gentleman trusted that many persons could Hitter the same

.sentiment. T.q return,., however, to. the taming of shrews. The Rev. John Scott was once waited on by a man who had a •dreadfully *bad wife, and wanted to know what he should do with her. Mi- Scott said, “You must be very kind to her ; treat her with patience.” The man said he had done so for a long time, but it ’ was no use, she was so passionate. “ Never inind,” said Mr. Scott, “ continue the treatment.” The man promised to do so, and on the next Saturday night took all his wages home, and threw them into his wife’s lap. She threw the money at him, and got' in a furious passion. The man went again to Mr. Scott, and told him what had occurred, but the reverend gentleman told him to persist. A third time, however, he came with the same story, and added, that he had been informed by a friend that the only-way to subdue a refractory wife was by a free application of a horsewhip, hut, before adopting that extreme course, he would like to know Mi*. Scott’s opinion on the matter. Mr. Scott renewed liis‘ former advice, and some time afterwards had the gratification of seeing the man and his v. ife reconciled to each other. Mr. Spurgeon wen t on to say that there was an old proverb to the effect that women ought to have their wills whilst they were alive, for they were not allowed to make them at their deaths. (Laughter.). But, on 1 the other hand, it was asserted that if they had their wills they would soon die. Mr. Spurgeon’s advice to husbands with }>acl wives was this—-Keep your temper ; for love mingled with good temper will • assuredly tame the most stubborn creatures. Christian women have often much sorrow of heart because they were yoked to ungodly husbands. The rev. lecturer then enumerated several instances of men having been converted through the instrumentality of the patience and forbearance of tlieir wives. Silence and patience worked a great deal of good, though there was once a man who was killed by the silence of a minister whom he used to annoy by constantly sending him abusive letters. He sent them at first through the post, but as no notice was taken of them he fancied they had not reached their destination. ' Accordingly, he waylaid the minister in the street, and handed him a letter. The latter quietly put it in his pocket, and walked unconcernedly on. This contemptuous treatment so preyed upon the mind of the poor man, who imagined he had a real grievance, that lie died shortly afterwards. The lecturer then made a few remarks respecting himself. “When I first came to. London,” he said, “ a person gave me a by no means reputable character. I met Dr. Fletcher in the street, and he said to me, ‘ I see they have put you in the papers ; are you going to answer them V ‘Never,’ said I, ‘ I will never answer anything.’ ‘ You are right,’ he replied,, ‘for their ink will dry up, and their pens be worn out some day or other.’ I think that advice was veiy good. If dogs bark, —-itr is ry no means "a" proper tiling to, reply by barking again. If a Christian man . witK oin,uoj lio iiJLiiy say* with old Quarles, ‘ If I had npt been a stranger in this parish, the dogs would not have barked at me.’ ” (Laughter.) Mr. Spurgeon, in conclusion, said, that the moral of his lecture was, that all should strive in their family relationships to contribute to the comfort of others. They might rest assured that there was more enjoyment in helping others to be happy than in always looking to oneself. It was saidthat chai’ity should begin at home, but, in a higher sense, it would be found that to have true joy at home one must, begin by. shedding that joy and peace on, others'. He would exhort all to make.tlieir households Christian households, and their families would then be brought to. k>ye the Lord. Mr. Spurgeon, resumed his. seat amid applause.