THE LATE COLONEL ST. JOHN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 120, 12 May 1876, Page 4

THE LATE COLONEL ST. JOHN.

, (Timaru -Herald.}

The Press Agency announced a few days ,; ago, -among their items of ;Wellington intelligence, the death of Lieut. Colonel St. John, of the Armed Cpnstabulary; ami we dare say many of our readers wondered who LieutColonel St. John waa, or why hia death should' be considered of sufficient importance to be notified to the newspapers by telegraph. There was really no occasion for jeu ah a step on tbe part of the; Agency, for, aa far as the'present public ( of New Zealand',"are'concerned, poor St. John was a very ineignifioant pet-apnage ; merely an unattached officer of Constabulary, doing duty as a clerk in the Native Office, Pie was, however, an extraordinary c.hara_cteVi.:aud few who were eveir .trougnt into contact with him will , easily forget him. In the old fighting days in the North Island, ten or eleven years ago, St John performed a series' of exploits against the Natives, such as would do no discredit to the heroes of romance; and .earned the reputation of being, without one ex*

ception, the bravest man in the Colonial foro^s. His utter disregard of-, ganger, or rather absolutei' love of it, led to his being constantly chosen whenever "any" particularly desperate.; work bad to be done; and he never on a single occasion showed in any way |hot he knew what fear was. An officer under whose command, jb,e was, and who for certain reasons triad a very strong personal antipathy towards him, yras once speaking against him in unmeasured terms? ";But you surely; admit: his courage," said one of: hia fearers. " Courage ? " exclaimed the officer; «If I were to' tell him to climb up that wall single-handed, and meet certain death at the top, ljie would go without a question and really enjoy, it." T^ip mordina^ passion for military adventure,' indeed, sometimes rendered St John rather an embarrassment for his superiors, or to. the Government ; for there was no knowing what complicatioqs his dare* devil dash might give rise to. The gallant fellow was - kept very much; in the ba'ck-grbund, ever since the Colonial troops assumed, under Sir Donald M'Lean's philo-Maori regime, the character of police. r Sir Donald; made.St; - johtia-sort of private Secretary to him-' self in the Native Office ; «nd it was a Miserable thing to see the poor Colonel, like a chained .lion, dancing attendance on ope who eertaiujy was never accused of 'too much pluck. Colonel St. John, in addition to being a splendid soldier, was also, very accomplished : in the softer arts. He wrote an admirable ■ little work on certain phases of life in New Zaaland, and, with great literary powers and wonderful versatile talent*, might easily have succeeded as a writer, or indeed in almost any other line of life he had chosen to adopt. Instead of doing so, however, the end of his strange career has been humiliating enough. It is sad to. jthink of one of the bravest, cleverest, and most generjous men in the country, dragging out a broken existence as a G-oyernmeni hjack, and dying at forty in very poor circumstances. Colonel St. John wrb fprmcrly in the 20th Regiment of foot, ajnd -served .throughout the Qrimeap : war. He : w.ais ■ the- eon of the Hon. - (jjaptain St. John of the 12th Lancere, and was great-great-grandson of the first v ; , discount. Boliugbroke, |j Queen J Anne's illustrious. , but. epc^n.tri<q r . Minister, In many respects the character of the late Colonel St. John closely rc- . sembled that of his celebrated ancestor. He had the aame brilliant, parts,, the B^ame unsteadiness of pprpose, the same buoyancy of disposition; nor would the histbry 1 ot his life much spoil the comparison. His vicissitudes were not lees marked, th^n. those of the author of the, I peace' of Utrecht; and those who kpow \ what, be was really eapabje of,, dp r not doubt that on a larger stage he might : nave acted as prominent a part.