Mr. Oseba's Last DiscoveryBell, George W. (George William)
Science
Mr. Oseba's Last Discovery
Bell, George W. (George William)
New Zealand -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
"Though the country is very new in all phases of modern being,
political, social, judicial, educational and religious, it possesses
a wonderfully symmetrical form. For its present splendid condition
the country is indebted to the efforts of men who were themselves the
products of hard but happy and interesting colonial life.
"New and distant as this country is, narrow as has been the political,
industrial and social horizon, by the vigor of inherited pluck and the
resistless persuasiveness of the romantic environment, in physical
courage, in moral stamina and in intellectual force, Zelania's leading
men will compare well with those trained in the great world's historic
centres.
"The present Premier, who has guided the ship of State during more
than ten years of its most wonderful progress, graduated in the rugged
school of industrial activity, and, casting off the implements of
custom and delusion, he not only made Zelania a more conspicuously red
patch on the world's map, but himself became a recognised force in the
Councils of Empire.
"But with others than her progressive statesmen, Zelania is rich in
sturdy manhood and ability--grey matter. Her schools and colleges rank
well with the educational institutions of older and richer countries;
her instructors are profoundly learned; her judiciary, with its
present head, would adorn the bench of the Motherland itself; and her
professionals in law and medicine, if cast in a body in any other
country, would not lower the average.
"Of course, my children, as yet not all the milestones are statues;
not all who loaf in the parks are poets, nor are all who stroll in
the streets philosophers, but according to the prevailing notion in
Zelania, this noble aspiration will soon be realised.
"These, my children, though I drank not with the statesmen, I came not
before the courts, I 'feed' no solicitor, and my health was perfect
during my sojourn in Zelania, were my impressions on these themes."
FOR OPINION'S SAKE.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works." (Usually obeyed.--Ed.)
Under this head the notes were full and clear, but as life grows
shorter and space less, I will condense greatly.
Amoora Oseba informs his audience that the Zelanians have considerable
religion--in fact, there seems to be nearly enough to go round, for all
save a very few are reported to have it in some of its various forms.
"Of the 800,000 people, nearly all," he says, "belong to some religious
society, and about all who claim God as a father, seem to think it
necessary to regard the church as a mother--so few do business direct.
"Of the various creeds, the Church of England claims about 40 per cent.
of the whole; the Presbyterian 22; and the Roman Catholic, 14 per cent.
There are nearly 1,000 clergymen in Zelania, said to be gentlemen of
excellent attainments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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