Hawke's Bay Times, PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY. MONDAY, 21st JANUARY, 1867.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 448, 21 January 1867, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times, PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY. MONDAY, 21st JANUARY, 1867.

“ Nullius addict us jurare in verba nutgistri”

By the courtesy of Captain Cellem, Harbor-master, who has kindly furnished us with a copy of the Wellington Independent, of the 17th inst., which he obtained yesterday from the Colonial Government p.s. Sturt, we are enabled to give our readers the latest telegrams of English, Continental and American news. The Sturt seems to hhve brought no mail, nor indeed any files of papers for the press, for which we are unable to ac count. However, as we have obtained the loan of the paper above referred to, it is of less consequence than it might have been. We can foresee that very great inconvenience and annoyance will at times be experienced by the general public while the present obnoxious postal regulations remain in force.

THE RETIREMENT OF MR FITZGERALD FROM PUBLIC LIFE. From a paragraph from a Canterbury paper, published in our last, we learn that J, E. Fitz Gerald, Esq., has announced his intention to retire from public life, and has accordingly resigned his seat in the General Assembly as a representative of the City.of Christchurch. informs his constituency that the state of his health has become such as in any case to compel him to take this course, and that he lad actually resolved on doing so previous to Lis being appointed to the office of Comptroller of the Public Revenues, but that having accepted the above office, his resignation of his seat in the Assembly became a necessity. Tlie office, he has accepted is entirely of a non-political nature, and his retirement, from politics is to be final. We feel sure that many of his constituency will regret extremely the step he has taken, and more particularly that it should be mainly owing to ill-health; and in this particular we join our sympathies with theirs. It is well known that as a politician! Mr Fitz Gerald has shown a vast and varied fund of talent, and that the Assembly has often been charmed by the display of his oratorical powers; but that the views he has enunciated —especially on questions connected with the Maori race have rarely been such as could gain our approval, and on several occasions wc have been led to criticise his peculiar doctrines i perhaps rather severely. Nevertheless, , we we fm to acknowledge—witbj we

believe, all Lis political dissentients rViur lip Hr® shown himself to be a

gentleman of talent and industry, who has gained the respect of all, however much they might feel obliged to differ from him oo the questions of the day.

He was. on the introduction of the

frBB constitution into tbo Colony,

elected tne nrst superintendent 01 me T> . _r n u ,*« i; IUViiiCO vi Vu.iilviwuij ) U**w 1 w ** w v too much to say that to his skill and masterly administration of the duties of his office, that Province owes much of its continued prosperity, and its escape from many difficulties. He has also sat in the House of Representatives almost without intermission from the first session of that Council in 1854, the only exception being during a short absence from the Colony, and has for a number of years been con* nected with the ‘ Press,’ of Canterbury. During his whole career he has exhibited talent and peresverance of no mean character, and though his peculiar schemes respecting Maori rights, Maori representation, and sundry other matters may well be deemed visionary and impracticable, all will, we think, give him credit for a con scientious desire to promote what he considered the good of the Colony as a whole, however mistaken he mayhave been regarding the means best calculated to effect so desirable an end. We suppose his acceptance of his ap pointment of Comptroller of Public Revenues has necessitated his retirement from his connection with the press, and his removal from Canterbury to the Seat of Government. We need scarcely add that he takes with him cur best wishes and esteem. MASONIC HALL.—BENEFIT Off MBS W. U. NEWTON. We beg to call the attention of the public to Mrs Wi 11. Newton’s benefit, in the Masonic' Hail, on the evening of Wednesday next. The play selected for the occasion is Torn Taylor’s great French dram*, “Plot and Passion, or the Gambler, tin Spy, and the Penitent.” The story of the pluv hinges upon the power of the great French Minister of Police, Fouche, during the reyime of the first French Empire ; and the characters depicted by ihe dramatist are finely and historically rendered. I The plot is elaborate, yet simple—faithfully ponrtraying the State and its chief supIporters. Fouche, Desmartes, and Do Neurille are framed with exquisite skill, and Madame de Fontangcs is, without doubt, a perfect picture of i) ouches Cohort Citoyenne ; aud, with the well-known his troinic talent of the principal performers, the piece cannot fail proving a success. The scenery of the op -ning night (which, through the courtesy of the talented stage manager, Mr W. H. Newton, we have seen) is entirely new and elaborate ; and the new drop scene—“ Largo del Casto,"’ — is without doubt a gem, and reflects the highest credit upon Mr T. S. ETemp s skill as an artist of the first order.

In conclusion, we trust that the company will meet with every encouragement in their endeavours to furnish the good folk of Napier with a rational and select evening’s amusement. The old complaint of distance can now no longer be urged ; and we hope that the new Theatre will receive a fair share of public support.