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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd May 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 494, Untitled Article

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      to their constitution than the excessive dryness . of sultry Australia , which he ^ nds g uilty of robbing the cheek s of his fair countrywomen of their native bloom and freshness . O £ New Zealand he says : " Putting myself in the position pf a newly-arrived emigrant , neither Akarana nor Poneki would have many charms in my eyes , at least at ; first sight . The aspect of the former is repulsive , like that of all countries whose interior has been convulsed , and exterior disfigured by the action of subterranean fires . The mountainous character of the latter is discouraging to any one who ,-like myself , may have no fancy to live in a continual state of up and down hill . This feature , with the insecurity of property and the hostility of the natives , has prevented—as has happened in most of the other settlements in the colony—that devotion to farming pursuits on which its ultimate success depends ; and has reconciled the emigrantswho came out with worthier intents , to the wretchedly inferior traffic

      , of the counter . Those who came to till , remained to peddle . Those who should have been producers became the sutlers and hucksters of the bolder few and of the natives , while the better born adventurers dissipated their capital in the clubs and taverns of the townships . Perhaps it is presumptuous in me to say , that , did circumstances induce me to make New Zealand my ' new home , ' iny choice of locality would fall upon neither of the provinces I have named , nor even on any spot in the Northern Island . I cannot conceive that any solid advantage can accrue to the English settler from the labour or the vicinity of Maoris . Of what use is an idle , independent , free-and-easy savage , at 2 * . 6 d . or 3 s , a day ? I would pitch my tent , rather , on the comparatively uninhabited Middle Island , where there would be no Rauperabas and Kangihaietas , nor even Te Wheros , to watch and humour ,

      bully or propitiate , according to one ' s strength or weakness;—perhaps at the nascent Church of England settlement of New Canterbury , where doubtless , ere long , there will be a complete social slice of England transplanted > something in the old style , —Church and State , peer , priest , and peasant—an entire community packed and labelled in the Old Country , and landed without damage , as per invoice , in a fine , clear , level country , with plenty of room in rear of its port , and a British climate . To be sure , 31 . an acre is somewhat high for land 16 , 000 miles from Mayfair—especially if the purchaser stretches a point to pay it , in the faith that the settlement will maintain an exclusive episcopalian character ; for , long before its streets are half laid out , some nonconformist Poundtext will be found mounted on a barrel at a corner allotment , or on a tree-stump in the market-place—and will

      not wait long for a flock ! Towards the end of 1850 I was informed , by an officer who bad just arrived from the Canterbury Settlement , and who has purchased land and stock for the purpose of settling there , that when he left the place there were about 250 persons there , and that , at this essentially Church of England plantation , the only Churchman present was a Roman Catholic priest , to whom all the children were taken for baptism and other rites ! " ' .. _ . His judgment in favour of New Zealand is also influenced "by the superior beauty of the scenery , and the wondrous luxuriance of its woodlands : the glossy , tufted foliage of _ their gigantic timber trees , creepers , red

      and flowering parasites ; among the latter , the Kata , witli its brignt ¦ blossoms literally illuminating the dark flanks of the mountains , " Doubly welcome must such sights as these have been to his artistic eye , wearied as it had been by the comparatively monotonous and circumscribed landscapes of JNTew South Wales , their want of verdure and water , then- dusty pastures , and the sombre foliage of their interminable groves of gum trees , miscalled evergreens . Yet he is not insensible to the sylvan beauties of some favoured spots in that colony ; the loveliness of its native flowers , and the genial hospitality with which its soil and sky welcome exotics from our northern gardens ; so that the floral gift bestowed on you by your lady love , if you but stuck it next morning m the white sandv soil about Sydney , " will grow , in a season or two , into a fine plant ,

      covered with flowers , and remaining a perennial momento ot the giver . He admits , also , the advantages of a climate in which fine weather is the rule , and rain the exception , so that " whatever you have planned for outdoor work or pastime , you may , for three Jiundrcd and twenty days out of the three hundrod and sixty five , pretty assuredly perform . » It is a great blessing , too , to bo able to go abroad in an ordinary indoor dress , instead of piling on extra pellicles , graduated according to the season . Here the family of clogs , galoshes , umbrellas , &c , imported from Europo by the careful emigrant , are hung up as monuments ! ' Chesterfield , Benjamin , Taglioni , and Macintosh , are sumptuary ' nobodies ; and Nicol is only tolerated in his moat in South

      gossamer form . I am awaro of the existence of one warming-pan New Wales—ono only ; and I shall move the owner to present it to the Sydney museum when she rctiirns to England—perfectly certain that to ninety-nino out of a hundred Anglo-Australian visitors of the institution the intent and purposes of tho implement would bo utterly inscrutable . * * * Yet with all its beauties the Australian climate , taken as a whole , is hard , glaring , almost withering in its excessive aridity . If it does not prompt to languor and listlcssness , like that of Borne other southern countries , neither is there anything voluptuous in it . Byron ' s dictum regarding ' what men call gallantry' ' climates sultry' does not hold good , I think , with regard to New South Wales . It is an indirect libel upon it happily ! Perhaps , however , so buftincas-lilco a people would not bo sentimental , romantic , pootical , or amorous , under any skyey influences !"

      From tho stories scattorcd through these volumes , lot us quote this—WATRKLOO AND ALBUBItA . " . TuRt after my return to Sydney from Illawarra , I became acquainted with a singular pair of old soldiers , well known by some persons in Sydney , and in receipt of this charitable allowance . Living together in a rocky cave on the shore of Double Hay—ono of tho romantic coves of Port Jackson , about two miles from DiirlinghurBt—they eked out a wretched livelihood by making and Helling boHoms . Thoy wore known respectively by tho war-names of Waterloo and Albuora ; no one cared about tho real nmnos of the poor old follows . They woro inseparable Thoy

      worked together , fed together , slopt together , walked together to Sydnoy to soil their brooms , got drunk together nlmost daily , and together stnggovod homo to thoir habitation in tho rock—which by waving them lodging money , afforded them each no less than three-and-Hixponco a week for extra drink ! Waterloo lind served in the Grenadier Guards , Albuora in tho 57 th regiment ; tho former a lino tall old man , tho latter a regular little bandy-logged ronr-ronkor . Each wafl aged about seventy ; each waa invariably accompanied by a well-fed eur-dpg , which trotted at hiti heels . Inseparable , and perhaps truly attached as were tins par

      naibile fratrwm ; they were not always on the best of terms . It was amusing' to encourage one to talk of the other in his absence . Albuera professed the greatest regard for Waterloo : — " ' Qh , yes , your honour , ' said he to a friend of mine who patronised the poor old soldiers , and was talking with him , 'Oh , yes , we are the best of friends and comrades , but that Waterloo—you wouldn't think it , may be—that Waterloo is the proudest man I ever knew / , ' .. ¦ - "' ¦ Proud ! demanded his eolloquist , ' how is that ? . ' " * Why he ' s proud because he was a guardsman , and I -was only in the line , — . that ' s why he ' s proud . Lord bless you , sometimes be would not speak to me for a week together—that he wouldn't . ' " Thus it seems pride may live in a cave , dress in rags , accept a ' compassionate allowance' of 44 d . per diem , and make besoms !

      " One evening I perceived old Waterloo slowly passing my house towards his own abode . He was , contrary to custom , solus and sober , and the two dogs jogged dolefully after him . I guessed at once what had happened . Albuera was dead Pathos is sometimes composed of strange materials ; and to me there was something really pathetic in the mere spectacle of two dogs , abject mongrels as they were , following that wretched white-headed and feeble old man to his solitary and surf-beaten retreat . A few days afterwards the old Grenadier gave the following description of his comrade ' s last hours and character : —

      " 'On Friday , howsomever , he was took wus * I got a cab and sent him to the Infirmary . He died on the road . Next morning I went down to the Infirmary , and gave in his effects—an old pair of trousers , not much good , and a quart pot . That ' s his tomahawk , Sir , for cutting the broom j it's a better one than mine . It's all that ' s left to me of poor old Albuera ! Well , Sir / continued Waterlooshaking his head meditatively , as if recalling to mind the many virtues of his deceased comrade—' Well , Sir , he was , he was the . . . but he ' s gone ! . . .... Ah ! well , he was the foul-mouthisest old blackguard that ever I saw—that he was !' And the old soldier seemed relieved by this tribute to his departed friend and

      comrade . " Some time later in the year , I rode out with my wife to pay a visit to the now lonely veteran , and had some difficulty in finding his retreat , which is situated in an unfrequented spot , cut off from the high road to the South Head by a thick wood . The ' twa dogs' rushing out to bay at the intruders , discovered its locality ; and , as we rode up , the tall , thin figure of the old Grenadier appeared upon a rocky pointy his tattered garments flying in the wind as he stood up at the mouth of his cave , shading his eyes with bis hand . His bare head was covered

      with curly snow white haii-, thick as in youth . His long arms , burnt black by the sun , looked like dry oaken sticks through his ragged shirt-sleeves . The .-old man was sober , and wa $ about to cook his supper over a fitter fire of sticks , under the shelving rock that ' served him for parlour and kitchen and hall . ' We talked a good deal about the officers of his old corps . I saw that he did not recognise me in plain clothes . In course of conversation , I told him that his former captain , Lieut .-Colonel * * * , had retired from the army , and taken holy orders . Upon this the old Guardsman came a step nearer , and , laying his withered brown hand on my knee , as I sat on horseback , said , in a tone of instruction not a little

      edifying—« < so > Sir > —I beg your pardon , Sir , —but that couldn't be . No one after being a soldier would go for to be a parson j not that it ' s no ways disgraceful , —I wouldn't say that it is , —but you see , Sir , —oh ! no , damme , that couldn't be , no how ! ' And he looked at me with a grim smile of contemptuous unbelief . " It was clear that the retired Household Brigade-man was every bit as ' proud ' as his defunct comiado had asserted him to be ! I asked him what made him come to this country . * Oh ! you see , I did not know when I was well off . I had twelve shillings a-week , my pension , and the rent of two small cottages . I had a sister at Manchester , well to do in the world , owner of five or six good houses . Says she to me , ' I ' ve room for you , Joe ;—there ' s tea of a morning , and coffee of an evening for you , if you'll stay with me . You need not go and spend your money in a public-house ,- for I ' ve beer , strong and small , in my cellar for you , and a hearty welcome' But , as I said before , I did not know when I was

      well oil ' . ' . , , . " I was not without hopes that the loss of his boon companion might have reformed tho old man ' s habits . Alas ! the very next day , returning from my evening ' s ride , I met him , not drunk , but worse , —suffering under all the mental and muscular flaccidity of returning sobriety , —the liquor dying in him , as it is called . His brooms were sold , his money spent , his square bottle of strong waters empty . The wretched old sot felt keenly tho misery of his predicament . The prospect ot his solitary ' cave , " * By tho sad eca wave , and a nig ht of spirituous destitution , was too much for his manhood ; and ho wept ! Tho hardy old troglodyte had not slept under a roof for seven years , we survived his comrade longer than I expected ; for he was still alive , although wucn brokenwhen I loft tho colony in 1851 . " .

      , After all , when he comes to consider the subject in all its bearings , and not from one or two isolated points of view , Colonel Mundy finds jumseu impressed with a strong conviction that Australia is tho " best ot an »^ for European settlomont . "

      Untitled Article

      THE CLOUDS OF ARISTOPHANES . The Clouds of Aristophanes . Tho Greok Toxt , with a Translation into cwrospon . ing MotroB , and Original Notes . Oxford : 1 < . Majors Sookatbs , to us ono of tho great heroes of Humanity—to us a name to short of sacred—was to tho Athenians a troublesome Innovator , a " terribly in earnest , " and , as such , an Anarchist . What wona ® V j n ,, that tho Athenian Tory and Wit solaced his antagonistic fervor by mw » to atu \

      this Reformer ridiculous P It is amusing see men wno y / Jonly antagonists , and read with great relish tho abuse of others , siw ^ turning wroth at 4 ho unwarrantable satire of Aristophanes ! xr , u jr of feeling anger at tho Athenian wit , tlioy would only look m upou own hearts , aind learn a lesson from " tho Clouds 1 " . . . . / , i roum-Wo cannot conceive any man thoroughly acquainted witfc « " > £ ^ stances , hesitating to admit that if polemical satire is jwstiliaow ^ Aristophanes is justifiable . That he represents Socrates as a qu an atheist , and a oorruptor of youth , is certain ; that this repres ° » J 8 J ; 0 . is a misrepresentation , is certain ; but equally certain is it w » " ? /^ j fl 0 plianoa and tho Athenians generally believed it of Socrates , anu *«•

      Untitled Article

      494 THE IjE ADEE , [ Satxtrba ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1852, page 494, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1936/page/18/