The Marlborough Press. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1860.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 48, 1 December 1860, Page 2

The Marlborough Press. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1860.

The approaching elections for the General Assembly will, of course, revive the spirit of political rivalry, and agitate anew the waters of strife. We shall, as heretofore, abstain from espousing the cause of any party, and open our columns to all parties who will be content to couch their communications in decorous terms. Personal invective and abuse cannot aid a good cause, and makes a had one worse. Mutual esteem may co-exist with the widest diversity of opinion. A man may be very honest in his own convictions ; his reasonings may satisfy his own judgment; but he has no right, on that account, to denounce as dishonest or illogical those opinions which are opposed to his own. The same facts assume a different aspect and suggest different conclusions to different minds, which are equally assiduous in the pursuit of truth. It, therefore, becomes the duty of every one who takes a share in party discussions to state his own views temperately, and listen courteously to the views of those who are opposed to him. The above was scarcely written when we received a letter from Mr. John Godfrey, which furnishes so apt a vindication of the course we have prescribed to ourselves that we present it to our readers entire, leaving them to judge whether such productions are not more calculated to engender anger and illfeeling than to carry conviction. We shall publish no similar effusions in our open columns.

By the post which arrived yesterday afternoon, we have, in addition to European and other news, Taranaki intelligence to the 17th, of which, this week, we can only note briefly the leading particulars. Mr. John Hawken, contract butcher, who had made an excursion for the purpose of seeing the field of battle at Mahoetahi, and about whose fate serious fears were entertained, has been found killed. His body was brought in by an escort, and interred in the town. The Governor has sent the Niger and Victoria for 400 troops for Auckland. The movements of the Waikatos are causing much uneasiness. Since our last report of the engagement at Mahoetahi more bodies of natives have been picked up, and they are said to admit a loss of 71. Captain Turner’s wound is very severe, and all the attempts to extract the ball, which is firmly lodged in the jawbone, have proved fruitless. With this exception, we are glad to report that the wounded are all progressing favourably.

Union Bank. —We understand that the Union Bank has purchased, for £IOO, a quarter-acre section of land in High-street, Blenheim, opposite the Court House; so that the mercantile and other classes of the community may congratulate themselves on the probability of the speedy establishment of a branch bank, or agency, in the province. At a recent sitting of the District Court in Nelson. Mr. Travers, the judge, announced that he had tendered his resignation of the judgeship.

Shipping. —The Alert, from Wellington, arrived at tbe Big- Bnsh on the 24th ultimo, and left the Boulder Bank for Wellington on the 27th. The Ellen and Matilda also left the Boulder Bank, for the Pelorus, on the same day. The Gipsy, from Nelson, with general cargo and 20 passengers, arrived at Blenheim on the 28th, and left the wharf on the 30th. The City of Nelson, from Nelson, arrived at the Boulder Bank on the 28 th, with general cargo and 17 passengers. We have not received any report from Picton.