New Plymouth, 8th. Nov., 1852. Dear McLean, I was writing to you on Wednesday when the Shepherdess arrived, bringing a letter from you, enclosing a Bank receipt for £7.12.0 - the amount of the Wellington Subscriptions for the Plate to be presented to Capt. King. I feel obliged by the trouble you have taken in collecting and paying in those subscriptions. You have doubtless seen the manner in which the parties who are so violently opposed to the Natives have vented their spleen in the columns of the "Taranaki Herald". I believe that party has two objects in view, one to prevent any improvement amongst the Maories, and another to gratify a spirit of opposition to the Government and all its officers in New Zealand. Wm. Bayly is one of the most troublesome of that party; he bears a bad name amongst the Natives, and is very likely to do mischief -