Custom
(Golder Project subject term)
Represented in
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Canto Fifth in The New Zealand Survey
- Though these surrounding scenes, where’er the eye / Of observation turns, have undergone / Great revolutions buried in the past: / Another of importance yet awaits; / Nay, is it not in progress even now?— / It is not always revolutions come / With sudden change, as of an earthquake’s shock; / Or, as in politics, when discontent, / Through insurrection, long in secret hatched, / Bursts forth in civil war, o’erturning all
- At early morn, as they’d through custom sit, / Wrapped in their shaggy mats, upon the beach, / With vacant gaze on the horizon’s bound,
- such a sight, of import omenous, / As that great bark to them had ne’er occurr’d / Before,—and was to ancient sires unknown!
- Though much of their traditions in their kind / May bear comparison to what of old / Would Ovid tell, (1)—how things in present form / Had their existence by transforming spells; / Yet the untutored natives, more debased, / Knew not how advantageously to turn / Such ev’n to good instruction, in the guise / Of fiction’s elegance, with morals chaste! / But such in uncouth state have been conceived / As ’mid pollution, so produced unclean, / And told, while such have passed as current coin / Through generations, much transformed and patched / With fresh additions of unseemliness / And horrid shapes; while, upon which the minds / Of infancy were fed, and puerile thoughts / Were cherished, till such in their nature’s wove! / Thus superstition’s canker on them grown / Has gnawed into their souls! Thus prestine truths / Are made extinct, while falsehood bears the sway; / Wild superstition as with reptile’s coil / Have in the bonds of mystery wound their tail!
- But whence this solitary race of men? / How have they here got planted?—may be asked.— / A race of savages without a date,— / Or record of their early history / To trace their lineage!—They’re ever prone / To deal in wonders, and tradition’s lore / Much mixed with fable, contrary to aught / That’s probable, or may be reckoned true; / Crude fancy’s pictures ever over drawn / On some poetic, but untutor’d mind, / Which would try to expound the reason why / The ancient sires got landed on these shores; / While facts with fictions of the basest kind / Are so comingled, no dependance can / Be placed upon each theory declared: / But what can be expected from such minds, / Whose ignorance was darkness multiplied? / Whose ideas, the shades of wand’ring dreams / Of evanescent nature, hard to hold! / Or like the ignus fatuus wand’ring wide, / And leading the benighted far astray / From the sure path,
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Canto First in The New Zealand Survey
- And Superstition fain would hide the head / Convinced of folly in its rigid rites / Of formal services, and outward show, / Where mammon more is served than Him who claims / The humble heart’s devotion as his due. / Come from a sterile soil, where stunted views / Of holy life but grovel upon earth, / And never can expand to heav’nly heights, / Nor peace nor charity extend to all / Who differ may in conscience from his rule; / He finds some strange misgivings in his heart, / As there, some voice for first to him reveal’d, / A deep impression makes, as ’twould declare / That with his former ideas of truth / Were mingled much of error!—such bestirs / Reflections on the history of the past / With sighings for the future, while he strives / To raze what habit long has rooted deep!
- they long had been deceived / By their wild fancies, when they thought themselves / Reposit’ries of wisdom; and they knew / All worthy to be known! Thus prejudice / Like a huge serpent of volum’nous length / Around its devotees had twined itself / In strangling folds, and long withstood th’ attempt / By philanthropic aid, to be expell’d / As riddance much desired—while they themselves, / As slaves would hug their chains, in ignorance / Of freedom’s blessings,—
- barb’rous powers, who scarce have gained a name / Among the various princes of the earth, / Who on a brother’s welcome scarce presume— / They’ve come as fond to see and learn what they / Could ne’er conceive, while in old habits pent / Beyond improvement’s reach!
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Canto Second in The New Zealand Survey
- how much the works of industry / Must have increased, and those, how much improved, / As one age on another has advanced; / So the barbarian here is skill displays / According as necessities would urge, / Though somewhat rude compared to what is shewn / By the sage artizan, yet much is seen / That might surpass th’ adept would means allow, / As proof that he’s a unit of our race!—
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In Memorium in The New Zealand Survey
- So cease invective! pour not out your rage / Of venom’d malice on his memory now: / Because in less enlighten’d times his lot / Had been forsooth, while many virtues lived / Within his heart, which had been better known / Had he enjoyed th’ improvements of this age!
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Canto V in The New Zealand Survey
- The peaceful and happy state of the Natives round Port Nicholson, when the above lines were written, may be known from the fact, that many of them had got located in places, and that in open camp, where in former times they dared not venture. Before the arrival of the first settlers in the Colony, the pas or villages of the natives, were strongly fortified, so as to resist the sudden intrusion of an enemy; but since then, their fortifications are greatly at a discount,—as now they are not required. At the time when the first settlers came, the Port Nicholson natives were in a state of warfare with some of their neighbours, though they seemed to have the upper hand, yet they were in a state of dread. But by-and-bye one of the chiefs, who one day being in his garden, was surprised and killed by one of the enemy, who was there lying in wait, and his head was taken away, I believe, as utu or payment for what damage the enemy had sustained. Since then no alarm of war has troubled them, save when they were a little startled at what was called the Maori row of 1845. Now, all their pa defences have fallen into disuse. With the natives, their spears and clubs have become plough-shares, spades, and hoes; and the only defences they now require are such as may keep their cattle and pigs from their crops.
- There is scarcely a tribe or nation on earth but has not a few superstitions peculiar to itself, some of which may be traceable to some cause or event in its past history: but those connected with the Maori race are in many respects so devoid of common attraction that they are not worthy of being enquired into as regards their origin, however much their foolishness may provoke a smile.
- the tapu superstition,
- Among the many fanciful traditions belonging to the Maories concerning the primeval growth of the forest,
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Saturnalia Astray. — or, Christmass in the South in The Philosophy of Love. [A Plea in Defence of Virtue and Truth!] A Poem in Six Cantos, with Other Poems
- Such was the custom of the heathen fathers / According to traditions in old yore, / Of northen superstitions, as when gathers / The gloomy storm-cloud’s bulk; so they’d adore / Their fancied Gods and firmly thus believe / They did true homage; hoping to recieve / Much good from his return, as did their fathers.
- But the historic Muse unfolds the hind’rings* / Of such a change, which southern climes require; / And shows how corrupt Church amid her wand’rings, / A whoring went from Truth, as she’d desire / After some heathen cerimonies vain, / With gaudy pomp attached, and lucre’s gain / Obstructing thus Truth’s progress with such hind’rings!
- To prove a nursery to superstition, / Would heathen rites enjoy a christian name: / And, as to better some a base condition, / Would charities commingle for good fame; / Yet all for seeming shew in adding cheer,
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Priestly Bigotry. an epigram in The Philosophy of Love. [A Plea in Defence of Virtue and Truth!] A Poem in Six Cantos, with Other Poems
- Priestly Bigots with truth in arrears, / Themselves exert, contracting the domain / Of heavenly freedom: while their victims gain’d / Are soul degraded, full of creature-fears: / Yes, round their souls vile superstition’s mesh / Is wove, as spiders would their prey secure!
Searching
For several reasons, including lack of resource and inherent ambiguity, not all names in the NZETC are marked-up. This means that finding all references to a topic often involves searching. Search for Custom as: "Custom". Additional references are often found by searching for just the main name of the topic (the surname in the case of people).
Other Collections
The following collections may have holdings relevant to "Custom":
- Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, which has entries for many prominent New Zealanders.
- Archives New Zealand, which has collections of maps, plans and posters; immigration passenger lists; and probate records.
- National Library of New Zealand, which has extensive collections of published material.
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, which has extensive holdings on the Auckland region and New Zealand military history.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, which has strong holdings in Tāonga Māori, biological holotypes and New Zealand art.
- nzhistory.net.nz, from the History Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.