THE NGARUAWAHIA MURDER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 87, 14 April 1877, Page 4

THE NGARUAWAHIA MURDER.

-w •-• --'„.. i f - . . . . _ . ■ ' [TRIAL AND SENTENCE OF TE PATL ! ■ The trial which was concluded yesterday in the sentence of Te Pati to be* ..banged, was remarkable in this respect; 0 — that rarely indeed has suoh a man as , the accused been called upon to plead tto an indictment preferred io an Eng-; liah Court of Justice. . Td Pati is. a; type of what the least intelligent! .of the Maori race must have been before; [th^y came within the influence of modern civilised life. A person observ-; ting him- in the dock yesterday, could .not fail to be struck witb faoe, demeanor,; of the prisoner/ A, apparently passive and sluggish; was, as his countenance indicated, at| ''the command of any impulse which; terribly endowed animal propensities! .might, suggest. Hia demeanor,, /was; quiet indeed. There was ;an impass-! iblity in his gt titude which ooly told its; real character, by a reference to thej -evidence* -But bis face and head would' present a study to those who believe in; 'facial., indications or phrenological' developments. The charaoter of the expression is Mongolian ior Cbipesei rather tban Polynesian ; the nose' ilat; 1 the lips fnll, but not so full aa those of i -Maoris -of a marked type; the lower jaw; is squarei and ha ; rd-eet; the eyes'ar >' small, but the lids are long and narrow;' Abp narrow, . bat welldefine^}, th-pir outward ends inclined lip-! wards? the crown of the hekd, however,| 'terminates in a narrow end, almost in -shape -like the- narrow end of an eggj the forbead is extremely, ner row, tapering from outward extremities of the .brows . 4ot short-cropped bar i ; ' thel breadth of the facial angle is greater • than Usual, and the animal propensities . very prominent in the phrenological' . sense. The general expression of tbe : face is stolid; there was scarcely any ! apparent variability of feeling or interest manifested in what was passing. .The whole of the young fellow's move-: ment was alaggiah, and his demeanor . what is best deaacribed as slouching — ; In short, as suggested by, the defence, be oonld not be. guilty of the crime of t deliberate murder, because be was etill (iti the; mental condition of ihesavagei V^ince i^he . prison e r.j has .been '\ in gaol npoii charge of the crime for which he is now sentenced to death he has not beecj in any way reserved.- When asked' ~ abont |he commission of the less offehce Z$ bF?aki*Qg . iota $n& L stealing 'ftpm '■_ a store, for which he .was .sent to the 1 gaol at Ngacuawabia, hejsaidhe did iti To the question why ba did it, the; anVwer was " hecause my bands wanted! -4o— steal aomethiogr - - When asked whether he knew he would have to did --fori killing Morgan, ha replied that he knew that' also. With respect to the alleged curse by Morgan, the prisoner -•aaid: he v would be disgraced by the .Maoris if he did not punisb Morgan (p. saying what he did. The suggestion :-was made that he mast have been " a ,: fool," or " mad,'' to do such a thing, 'Tha reply to this was e laugh, and the following in Maori: — "Kahore, me no .cporangi" (not at all, I am not mad); From the first moment of his being T seized by Constable Kirk and Mr Nor* , grove (whose conduct is deserving. of ?;,the -highest praise), he, never shrunk from the avowal that he had killed 3 -Morgan. " Nor does he appear to have ,been capable of even imagining any pother reason for committing .the crime than that Morgcn cursed bim. He '^neyer even suggested that Morgan him, but ,he. did state upon one j.-occssiqn F that Morgan had acted unfail--Tto Jaim in appropriating the gaol proi* visions. If there is any truth in <his "'sta'temenf^'it 5 is uofsvorable' to the supposition that be v was. incapable ojf deliberativ.^ crime, because it. suggest^ that which is.the very easense of all > Criminal motive : — vindictiveness and revenge. Still he appeared throughout his trial yesterday completely destitute f: of ; aoy consciousness of the enormity 5 ' of his offence. The trial itself is a6 exemplary instance of the bare and tenderness ; with which bur Courts oif Justice shield a man on bis defence before the law. The learned Judge ' declined to accept the the first plea of the prisoner, wbioh was, indeed equivaflent;to i; a: plea of guilty; but hs its terms j.were somewhat equivocal, he was permitted to amend it. That tb e : wretched man is . little oetter" than a savage ia but too apparent; but this is a consideration, as his Honor told the jury, for those whose office it is to dis r pense the prerogative of mercy. We believe that hia defence was • provided for by the Native Office. Whether the : Governor will be advise4 to e'xercise ; the clemency of the Crown we cannot.

say, and it would, perhaps, prejudice the doomed man if we were to speculate upon such a contingency. It is to be hoped there are not many Maoris of this type in the land.

Regarding Sir William Filzherbert's knighthood . the; ; Wanganui Herald says:—" The newly.create'd'knight, Sir William Fitzherbert, K.C.M.G., will be 1 no disgrace to the honor, for political : meters -aajtde^ few : men can- show a greater political career than' he,i as! pertaja.lynone.in the colony has brought; to the ' field of politics a mind more! trained and equipped by every qualification which should adorn a statesman.* It has been the custom to confer the: honor of knighthood m Speakers of; both houses of the Assembly, and it; may hav^ Tbeen in bbadietic'a Xt. this' that the present Speaker of tbe House of Representatives haa been knighted. We! shb'qld, very, much pra(er. believing that; it was for long political services of _\ ;mofiftoriouß. qrdor thpt he has been remembered, but it is certain that the! Coiooial office is not oblivious of.'thoseservices, and we can very well accept, the fact that the distinction haa ;bednj bestowed as much from a consideration! of the jiafefc'aa ibf = ithe • present. When! aa aotive politican becomes Speaker,! more especially at Sir William's time ! of life, it may be said his political career it at -an end}- wbea, hia actions jand: individuality can be calmly surveyed: without trenching upon political ground! or being .subject to the v bias of; partizanship. It would fee. out of place here to go into questipns a^pctiog. the policy or the honor of colonial titles. Be the value ever so great or ever so infinitesimal, the intention is to honor those who have reudered public services of a high character, and in the instance .under notice the purposo has been fulfilled in a way that will admit of no dispute— the guinea stamp has been simply impressed on the gold." In reference to a portion of the above we may point 1 out tbat the distinction conferred on Sir William Fitzherbert is evidently something more' than the official recognition of his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives.! Pre .ions Speakers, Sir D. Monro, Sir C.;'OH-ford; Sir John Richardson, : and ; Sir Dillon Bell, were, like Speakers in other colonies, made Knight Bachelors,! while. '{Sir] i yYilljam) gifzWhert bast bestowed upon him the higher title of. a Knight ..*pGmtnander M <)fS(t. Michael! and St. 'George, of which order he wa^ previously a Companion. Knighthood! also is not usually bestowed upon an ordinary Speaker until he has been twice elected to that offioe. ■

The Melbourne correspondent of the ! Otago Baily Times writes: — Matters have been very dull here socially and event-ully — if I may so use the world — for some time. I cannot give yoq -.any. better, .indication.of ..the gre_s amount, of , vacant, weak-minded idleness which exists in the Community,' and for which a certain -personage is supposed to be constantly finding mischief to ; dp, than the fact that on St; Valentine's Day this year there were no r less, than, so,ooo of, thqee foolisH .missivea passed; throi|gh the. post" iii Melbourne and. its suburbs alope.r.T'he "amount spent ia Melbournaion .these imbecile -child-like efforts of art and libera' ure was estimated at £4000. \

.-•*:;--.*■_... /f ! It fall-to/he lot of very few cricket? ers says BelVs Life, to have presented to them so Valuable testimonial as was banded over to Richard Daft, the welU known Notts . player.at an Influential dinner' held at the' Nottinghnm, r on Tuasday night,- Jan. 9. Dajfc Wag 4--^ "yoar honored bythe Notts ;-C6uniy Committee with h benefit match, took phce „90 .the, Treqt, Bridge ground, and w'bieb J brougltl 'together "one " of the .largest and most; eathueiaatic assem^ blagea of the season. ;Tbe; contending tfe-tns were North and Sooth, 1 and •• the latter, '^at the finish 1 scored^ ! a icomf paratiyely 5 Victo.y: * The proceeds at ' the :gi_te.-. were almost, beyond, e^pecta*tioc, and (he Notts, .Committee,., being anxious to show their appreciation of '-Daft's sterling abilities as an;all-"rbund /c>i^.te., 'elected a kind of flub-comt . mittee, ,who were ; empowered to piirr chase for bim a . cosily .tea and .coffee service in solid: silver,, which alone, in vakie*, was computed at upwards of 70 guineas. —The cost -bf the >hole a l mbnnts\' to something; like ICO guineas ; but besides this there remain'--I a : .balance of which, also formed no small, part of the testimonial.

Mr Spurgeon said recently that there are people who should never go to church—such as those who; wear squeaking boots and ladies whose umbrellas fall with a snap.