TO THE MEN OF WAIKAIO.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 23, 8 November 1849, Page 2

TO THE MEN OF WAIKAIO.

My Friends, —You must all clearly have perceived by this time that the white people, at least the greater portion of them, are earnestly and substantially you r friends, and desire to see you happy and contented. How many M : s<ioiidrics there are living amongst you all- -md do not th« thoughts often *cross your mind, how much these Rood men have given up, how mmy comforts they have sactiliced for you: and, breaking up the a«»ochtes of years, are content to abandon relations ami friends and country—just thai they may be with you, and by you, to teacli you the way of salvation—to illumine your dark hearts—and to bring before your understanding the knowledge of the true God, and of his 'Son Jesus Christ. And then you know, my friends, there are others not less earnestly engaged in imparting to you the various branches of useful knowledge which npeds must be known before you ar*; enabled to take your place in civi ized lite—here too, we present you with a medium of communication in the form of a newspaper, by which we hope that many ideas—many useful suggestions and hints, may he imparted to you, until the time may arrive, ■uid I have no doubt it will —il'ynu acquire a taste for reading —vihen books shall be piinted and circulated amongst you in your own native language. In several other letters which I have already written to you, I have endeavoured, as far as I h ; 've had opportunity to observe, to bring under you notice, some of the characteri<li s of your native a'nl untaught disposition j and I have dwelt, I am afraid yon will think, almost ledioiuly upon those peculia'itics of nation il I'listom which I believed to be inimical to your advancement. I hope what 1 have said and wiittou mav have reached the ears of many of you, and that my motives, as ihey were indued for a good object, may have been productive of a good result. I look forward, with pleasure to another visit amungst you, aud I shall nut fail closely to oh erve, and, upon a future occasion, to comment upon what may paiticularly strike me, m.d if, at any lime I should attribute to you, what miiv not appear to Iju j">t, <lo not tear but that I will speedily rectify the error. I mention this, because it is very possible, that inniy casual intercourse with you, I may myself be deceived and mistaken. It is my purpose in the following letter to endeavour, in as (lain and simple a manner as I can, to convey to your understanding, many matters of interest in connection with my own 'ountry, that you may learn of the circumstances which have conduced to hev greatness, and which have given her the proud pre-emi-nence in the scale of the civilized world—and I would first then desire to speak of, THE INSTITUTIONS Of ENGLAND. Bv an Institution is meant an establishment that is an establishment under the direction of one or more persons, whose end is, singly or unitedly to work out the government of a state, from which the prosperity of its people is calculated. It is then, as we believe, because the Institutions of Great Britain are so perfect, that our country is so great; and as it is our aim and intention gradually to inliocluce thfso Institutions, or some of them, into your own country at New Zealand, I cannot think that anything will yrove inoru instructive or more interesting to you, than som-'account of them. The first great Institution I would desire to speak of—is the Monarchy ol Great Uritaiu. A Monarchy implies that a Country is governed by a King or a Queen, now the King or Queen as the case may be inherits the throne of England, hy right of birth, hence the nearest descendant o'l the last King or Queen becomes the lawful of the Country. In the pieieiit instance. Queen Victoria who rules Great Britain is the nearest d scendant of her uncle William the Fourth, ihe late King of England; she is a daughter of the late Duke of Kent the eldest brother ot King William the Fourth, and son of George the Third, i former King of Englnnd. | If Queen Victoria had had a brother, he would have been the Sovereign, and not the Queen. Upen the deatn of Queen Victoria, an event which we all hope and pray may he very far distant, her eldest son, who is now a little boy, (the Prince of Wales), will come to the I Throne ; and if he should die before his moi ther tbe-Qneen, then his next eldest brother; I and as there are several brothers we havu no } f. ar that the succession of Kings aud Queens hereafter will piss from the direct line—an I event which there wnultl be reason to deplore ' in the history of any kingdom. Thus then, in a few nords, I h;.ve deocrihed to you all I i (bink that may be said, cursorily of the Institution of Monarchy. The Queen is thegreat head of the NatioDj she is, however, assisted ia. tha

government of her Couutry by olher Institu. Uons. First she has her Ministers, a body of men who are usually chosen lor their personal worth and knowledge of state matters generally ; thus 'here is a Secret-try or Minister ol Stale for Home allai'S. whose duty is to regulate and superintend the adairs of State io the United Kingdom itstlf: ">e" «»ere is a Minister of State for Foreign Allurs, whose duties are in relations with Foreign Powers; and there is a Colonial Seci-larv, of Slate and other Ministers besides all-of whom unitedly constitute what is called the Ministry, and are, indeed, the advisers of the Qucsn ; they are in fact the Queen's liu'ht hand in all matters connected with th«* Government of the Counli y. I have then to s|ieak of the two great Hoiufs of Parliament—one a House of Lords, P-id the other a House of Commons. The iIo!f»»»of Lords is an assemblage ol Noblemen —Si!-' inhciit in most instances a right of nobirfry by birth, although Peers are frequently created by the Queen for service rendered to the State. There are also in the House of Lords the Protestant Archbishops and Bishops of the Realm—who are called Spiritual Lords, and who have a seat by right of their high oflice in the Chinch. The House of Lords then consists of Dukes, Marquesses, Enrls, Batons,

Archbishops, and Hishops. It remains forme now to describe the House of Commons, which is composed of members who are not Peers—but who arc sent there from the various comities nnil towns of Eng. lanil, to represent the interest of the people by whom thev are so sent. An election for a Member of Parliament is determined thus — All the men of England have a right to vote who have aimed at a certain age, and who possess a certain amount of properly, these elections for members lake place, ut certain periods of time j and, as to serve in Parliament is an honour very much (ought alter, there are generally several candidates, who offer themselves to the People; but as I said just now, he who has the majority—that is, who has the greatest number of votes, is declared the successful member. The elected members, then, together, constitute the House or Commons. In this manner every Englishman has a voice in the government of his

country. The two houses of Parliament only meet at certain periods of the year, for the dispatch of business; and then they hold debates, or conversations, each member expressing his opinion as he feels it, upon the subject under discussion—very mucli, in fact, as you do, wtien you calf an assemblage of your people together. Of course it will happen that in so large an assemblage of men many different opinions will naturally be entertained ; when a measure, therefore, is before, either house of Parliament, after hearing all that is to be said on the subject, the members of the house dividi —voting as they feel to be right; on whichever siile, then, the votes predominate, by that aide the cause is gained. For instance, suppose a member of Parliament were lo rise up and propose to send convicis to New Zealand, he would state his views, and then there would be arguments on the other side against it j if the first person got the greatest number of votes, his wrsh would be accomplished (provided also that the Queen approved), and convicts would be Beat heie : but, if the second sp> aker wee to gain the majority, then they would hoc bo sent. This is the way an English law is made ; it h™ to get a majority in its favour both in the House of Lords and Commons, and after that it must have the Hoyal Assent from the Queen. So you see, neither the Queen, nor the House of Lords or Commons, act singly, but unitedly—a measure, therefore, before it can become u law, has lo satisfy each head, so that it is not likely that there should be any English law which has not been well and duly considered. Remember, then, what I hare said j I have spoken of four institutions —that is, the Queen (one), her Ministry (two), the House of Lords (three), the House of Commons (four); these, together, under the denomination of the Im. pqrial Parliament, constitute the governing powers of Great Britain. \l fear this letter may prove dry in its details j but remember these are particulars that you must know before you eau understand anything about England und her history. Your friend, Matthew Carter, M. D. Auckland, Nov. 6, 1819.