A DAY DREAM.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 105, 4 January 1873, Page 3

A DAY DREAM.

It was the day after the festival of Christmas, tho anniversary of the death of Charles Lamb, one of the greatest of duv-dreamers that England ever produced, that the little steamer floated towards the lonely island of Motu Ihi with its many holiday seekers. The sun was shining m meridian splendour and the open sea was radiant and sparkling as ! jewels. The passengers, if not rich, were evidently bent on I a duy of unshadowed enjoyment. All Beemcd happy and gay, and frolicksome, from tho ' Captain with hia whiskers' to the man at the wheel ; and wnen we landed, there wa9 W skipping, and jumping, and tun of every available description. Aftor a time I strolled away to a remote part of the island wiiere I could bo alone for a season, and meditate upon the outstretching scenes composed of hill, sky, and water. Tiio outlines of the distant hills all around me were suggest! vu of the secret of man's most worldly aspirations. Tue majority of people come to those islands with the leading Tiew of improving their condition and for the primary worposc, if possiblo, of finding gold ; the few find the precious treasure and the many do not find it, and they murmur m the midst of resources which othor communities will unearth, when this superficial age shall have pas'ed away. I seated myself m the shadow of a noble Fohutukawa tree •^mded with Christmas flowers, and with many thoughts fafSA&'jon matters connected with human happiness, I saw m the i-lFroup engaged m playful exercise that a very small portion of money is really needed for the purchase of innocent pleaourc The people boforo me were not rich but they were richly enjoying themselves m tho open arms of nature. A natural weariness, orit might have been indolence overcame me, and I sank upon the dry grass, m a kind of half- wakeful mood an I experienced what may bo termed a day-dream. lam not a thorough believer m spiritism as Dr Peebles who is now on hit way to Auckland profess to be, still there may be some truth m modern thconos. Milton might have been sincere when he said, " Millions of spiritual beings walk the earth unseen." lam not m a position to refute the great poet's utterance. Protected from the flies, thoso busy holidaymakers, I fancied m my dreaminess that the form of a beautiful woman stood before me, apparently with a full knowledge of the thoughts which had passed through my mind, and spoko thus to me: "Do not despise the words of a woman, for woman, is doing a great work m the world. She has shown to proud man that sho is neither intellectually, morally, nor socially inferior to him, and that m all tho phases of life she has an important part to play, ami especially was she formed to tem.ier man. It is tiio "nature of ninn m the present state of society to be discontented with his position. He vainly thinks if he could gather tho gold the chief object of his existence would bo reulisod ; but it is not so. Those who realise tho idea are frequently tio most unhappy of human beings. Lo<* kat yoar foliowpassengers dancing on yon hill-side, and you fin 1 a refutation of the ill-founded statement that gold can make man happy. Think of the poverty of tho rich, and of their privations Do you know that all real pleasures which a healthy mind can enjoy come from sou cos freo to all, without money and without price— a freehold for ever to the poorest of us. Like the air we breathe, and like the wild (lowers about our path, it is vt ry easy to mistake it for valueless things which arc only pncoloss. And this it is which makes rich people so poor, and ofttimea bo cross and ill-tempered ; they expect too much from gold, expoct it to buy pleasure, whic'n is just what it cannot, buy. It will bring excitements, and comforts and position m sicicty, and shallow friends who profess to esteem you, and a lot of other things of a volatile nature. Good honest money, which represents a man's honest labour nnil toil with houd or hnnds, bring-! with it a zo*t:uid

I piquancy which idle- accumulators add inh-jritors of stored up wealth wouid give a heavy price to experiencu'. But no miser has wealth enough to buy mch beautiful uLca*.' tilings as love, and charity, and good nature, and real earm-st friendship with his kind— he cnuiut purchase an enjoyment, thankful even to tear*, suc'i as those outstretching scenes, clothed with clouds, and slars, and se;w alford ; nor om he buy real delight m natural objects, nor comprehend the pictures which the creator makes m the veil of clouds that sweep the heavens. Gold too frequently tears tho mind and blunts tiie affection 1 , and makes a man hard-hearted and tyrannical towards his less wealthy folliw-men. Docs, the gold never burn when it cjmus to a man otherwise than m the ono honest, way — as for example, when it eomos wet with the tears of the poor and needy, from whom it has been wrested m some of those gigantic swindles which bur laws do not touch ? Gold is a treasure that doth rust, and if not rightly used, it may enter the soul and encrust even that. Beware! " The spirit passed from my dreamy view, but the words lingered m my memory. I awoke at the sound of the cornet and found that the shadow had ceased to protect me from the burning sun which was pouring down his searching rays upon my upturned face, and thus closed my day-dream m the island oi' Motu Ihi. B.