THE Manawatu Times. SATURDAYT, JAN. 29. 1881. A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 112, 29 January 1881, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

SATURDAYT, JAN. 29. 1881. A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR.

" Words are thinss, nnd a drop of ink falling like dsw upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think."

Fob some years past the colonies would appear to be m tbe eyes of a certain class at Home a kind of .sanatorium m which broken d' wn litterateurs and scientists could repair tbeir fallen fortunes. First, we have had that most unveracious chronicler Anthony Trollope; next Proctor ; Professor Huxley is to follow m his wake, and tbe latest intending visitor by whom the colonies is to be honored, is James Anthony Fbotjde. What Tbollope has proved himself toward the colonies, Froude has turned out to be at Home— an historian whose historical facts are the emanation of a highly imaginative brain, tbe records of. which are couched m the most jaundiced language. Mr. Fboude, we notice, has been favoring the peop!e of England with his opinion of tbe present state of Ireland, and as no doubt there are some with whom his utterances carry great weight, we intend to give his estimate, summed up by one of the ablest of English journals. We have before now, m other columns, dwelt at some length upon the arguments and statements of that gentleman, disclosing his capacity for coining malignant falsehoods, and perverting historictl facts ; but uncontrovertible and unanswerable as our statements were', we naturally expected that much of the weight attached thereto would be lost by being uttered by ourselves. If, however, there are any inclined to put faith m the statements or opinion of Mr. Froude, we commend to his consideration the following paragraph, clipped from the Saturday Review— one of the most influential and widely circulated of the Home weeklies, when reviewing that gentleman's "The English m Ireland." After challenging tha accuracy of many of the historians facts, that journal winds up with the following scathing denunciation: — ■ Mr. Froude's case is different from that of the most violent and unfair party writer. "We make no excuse for Irish Papists and Irish Protestants speaking to one another. But here is a writer, who, with no temptation, no interest m the matter ; without the poor excuse of national or religious rancor, puts himself forward m cold blood to defend the evil deeds of one side, and to blacken those of the other. What may be Mr. Froude's motive we cannot guess ; the only practical resuU of hia labors can be to make old memories and present disputes bitterer than they need be. If Mr. Froude wished to stir up another rebellion, to find new viofcims for new tortures, he could not have token a better means to compass the end. He stands alone m modern English historical literature as having habitually applied no small natural powers to a purpose which we can only pronounce immoral. The downward course is easy ; the panegyrist of Henry VIII., has sunk into the panegyrist of Flogging Fitzgerald. If writings so flimsy and so inaccurate live to be remembered m another age, it is something to think they, will carry their own condemnation with them. If a man who can sneer over the gibbet of "Whiting m one age. and the gibbet of Crosbie m another, is to find a lasting place m men's memories, it is something to think that the character m which he will be remembered, will not be as the defender of this or that doubtful theory, but m the oharacter which he has chosen for himself, as the champion of evil, the apologist of wrong. We doubt if Mr. Fboude oould be so hardly dealt with atour hands, and considering that the above is the unprejudiced verdict of an English literary tribunal on tbe man " who vindicated the memory of Henry VIII.," it must be conceded that he has received but little consideration after the laborious work of whitewashing that model monarch. Although Mr. Fboude has been proved to have been guilty of gross partisanship, and even deliberate falsification, the possession of considerable literary abilities has been accorded him, his inaccuracies being attributed rather to heart than hpad, and it was a matter for regret that sneb talents should have been prostituted, so that as a sophisticator his yery abilities became the more dangerous, It has, however, remained for an English journal, m addition to the charge of inaccuracy and reliability, by characterising his writings as weak and flimsy, t^ roh. %» g_ ftejr cl^ W fa

ability, which was their only merit. It ia such an unusual thing to find an English journal whose judgment and views have not been so warped, and biassed that they either cannot, or will not accord the smallest meed of justice to the Sister Isle, and rarer still to find one with the moral courage to bravo tbe prevailing opinion — even when convinced of its injustice— tl-at the conduct of the Saturday Review stands out m bold relief, and bespeaks tbe gratitude of .all lovers of fairplay. No doubt Mr. Fboude's visit to the colo »y will be followed by a work from bis pen, and if he be wise he will take counsel from the past,, and _Beck m it to repair his damaged liteTraYy reputation by a greater, regard for facts, and a wholesome curb on his far too vivid powers of imagination. Men" of ability, though their talents may be far above the common order, are none the more reliable as historians/unless they are totally devoid of that prejudice and bigotry which runs as a vein, from beginning to end through all Mr. Froude's writings, occasionally hidden beneath the surface, but cropping-up when least expected. The experience of this colony with regard to another great author who paid us a flying visit,_ will, perhaps, make the necessity and justice of our remarks somewhat apparent. Mr. Anthony Tbollope's work on the colonic-, bristling as it is with misstatements and. inaccuracies, will, no doubt, m a few years be looked upon as a standard authority of the state of civilisation m these colonies at the time it was written, just as Dickens "American Notes" was m bygone days. Men like FaorDE and Tbollope are too prone to make the dry facts of history or statistics subservient to a desire to indulge m some specious word-paintings, which, although no doubt pleasing during peru«al, are far from what tbey purport to be — authorities upon the subjects of which they treat. It is almost beyond comprehension the amount of ignorance existing at Home m reference to Australasia, even amongst classes which might fairly be supposed to well-informed, and it is most desirable that when mpn of genius and ability pay us a visit, the public m the Old country should learn their ideas and impressions with regard to us. On the contrary, however, it is as strongly to be deprecated that the writings of such men as Trollope should be taken as works of authority on colonial matters, of which he must be a mere sciolist ; and notwithstanding his ability, it is a matter of impossibility tlat a book of such magnitude and importance, and embodying so many facts and data, luch as he has given to the British public, could have been accurate witb the very limited amount of time and means at his command. It is to be hoped, then, that should Mr. Frotjde carry his intention into effect, and visit the Antipodes, his experience of our customs and resources will be somewhat more extended than those of Mr. Trollope, whose knowledge of the colonies was gavnered-up during a stay of but a few months ; and that we shall not be treated by him as Ireland has been.