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Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 680, 14 May 1859, Page 4

In looking over the'file of the Otago ( Colonist'^ our attention has been caught by'a few of what'seem to be its private sentiments, scat-; tered in out-of-the way corners of the paper, and different therefore, for some reason, both from public news and from the-opinions which are'worthy of leading place and type. The following is. a curious example of the sort; taken from a few weeks old number :—

"Canterbury BotTKTPAKY.—We observe that their Honors of Canterbury (Air. Grresson and Mr. Moorhouse) have gone to Auckland. We should like to know what is doing in connection with the question of the disputed boundary; depend upon it our neighbours are keenly alive upon the poiot, and we should not wonder if the two magnates to whom we have referred were to reap the reward of their " loyalty." We are told on good authority that the • Canterbury Land Office is selling land within the disputed territory, and that one of their surveyors has been employed in chaining country within the Ofcago Province-. What is our Government doing in the matter ? Do they sifc tamely by and wait'the report of Colonel Mould, who has never set a foot on the country in question ?"

If the ' Colonist' really believed there w ere grounds for this remark, and did not put it forward simply as. a ' suggestio falsi' on which to hang fin 'irritating- comment,, we should wonder at the writer's ignorance. Not to be aware that Mr. Justice Gresson was summoned to Auckland to confer with the other Judges of the. Supreme Court on business of the highest importance, a.'conference which had been long- anticipated,—not to gather that Mr. Modrhouse's visit "to Auckland was the natural accompaniment of the energetic steps taken by the Provincial Government in the matter' of road communication—on the part of the 'Colonist' was simply not to possess '' those powers of observation which are essential to the conduct of any journal. But the: nofisn that Canterbury is ' keenly alive'upon the.point' is one that would be naturally adopted in Otago, and it may be w.orth while that the c Colonist' should be made" able to set its readers right in tbe matter. Canterbury has never been at all doubtful that the justice of her view of the boundary question would be recognised, and besides, since the readjustment of the Southern Island debt between the provinces, has had a material guarantee that her interests were not in danger. A desire may certainly exist in the Land office that the decision should be formally given ; but as to paying court to the General Government for thb sake of influencing the decision of the Commissioners, we are sure that such folly has never entered the head of any one. If the charge be brought in any shape against the i Lyttelton Times,' a.complete refutation is established by a reference to the opposition offered by this journal to many of the cherished designs of the General Government.. Either the ' Colonist' measures our anxiety, on the boundary question and estimates our'pr jbable course of conduct by its own, or it has simply insinuated a falsehood, because., it w ; as likely to be offensive and might be believed; Here, again, is a shabby insinuation, in the ' local intelligence' of the ' Colonist,' of May 6-~ ..• •. :.. ■. . . . ../:..

"The Proposed Loan,for Otago.—From a correspondence, which appears in the ' Lyttelton Times,' we learn that the Imperial Government has referred back to the Governor the application of Canterbury for permission to borrow £70,000, for the construction of a railway, with an intimation that' the Lords of the1 Treasury ' will not object to the Governor being authorised to give his assent to the proposed measure, provided,he is fully satisfied of the necessity and expediency of the intendedwork, and that the, security of the guaranteed loan will not be affected thereby.' ' Should there be any difficulty in the settlement of' our little -matter of £25,000 (which we can-scarcely anticipate) wo shall have at least the satisfaction of knowing'whom we hftvetothankfor.it:"- ■ ■ i

/Who it''-is-exactly from whom the ' Colonist' expects unfair treatment, it would puzzle a ■soothsayer, to-tell. But it is. insinuated that somebody who exerts himsedf for Canterbury will, as a matter of course, and as part of his business, strive to do an ill-turn to Ota°o. Now, really, Canterbury is .far. above this unneighbourly i'eeling1; we can fairly say that not an act of her leading- men—not aword of her journals—has ever given "cause, for an accusation of such meanness. AH the unneighbourly words and deeds which could be raked up from all sources against this 'province would not tog-ether contain in them half the envy, hatred, malice and- imcharitableness betrayed in this little paragraph. This constant imputation of motives indicates a suspicious familiarity with such incentives on the part of the accuser.

The ( Colonist 1 receives aid from without in its amiable task. Its Wellington correspondent is a model of the insinuating* school. We rather imagine we have met this g-entle-.mah in other company: he is to bo known

by his rechauffd jokes j and we take the opportunity of reminding him that there is nothing- so damaging to the reputation of I professedly joculav man as to be caught uttering second-hand jests where he imagines the company is new. A letter to the ' Colonist' descriptive of the Synod, is, with the above criticism, amusing enough: in fact, it is i n parts so ludicrous as, in connection with some of the subjects of description, to be impertinent, and by the use of metaphors drawn from sacred subjects, to be exceedingly pvo . fane. The ' Colonist's' correspondent is ap. parently one of those men, who, as DoiH-u, Jerrold said, finding that a Comic History o f England 'takes,' will next write a Comic History of the Church, and after that a Comic Sermon on the Mount. -We'quote and leave to; speak for itself, a paragraph' (not one of the profane passages) as a sample of this gentleman's ordinary style: "The Church of England Synod has suddenly collapsed. What has been done during the session no mortal knows ; and there is'certainly no saying what wonderous Acts might have passed, had they not "shut up" with such strange celerity. Tho truth"is,.that the public „ began .to' awaken to the fact ..that, .a body of individuals. wereholding themselves, forth; to the people as the. representatives of the Church ef England in New Zealand, and ":arniable schismatics." began to enquire who had placed them in that position—an inquiry necessarily leading to the conclusion that the whole affair Was a solemn but unmitigated humbug. This deduction being once drawn, of cdurse it vvas clear that the sooner the concern was at ..an end the better for all parties; whereupon the men in dark raiment concluded to "vamose the rancJie," and.have consequently dispersed to the four winds of heaven. So. much for a true- and useful history of the Synod. -