The New-Zealander. SATURDAY,JANUARY 2,1847.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 83, 2 January 1847, Page 2

The New-Zealander. SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1847.

Be just ami fear rfot : Let all the' ends thou aims't at, be thy Country's, Uhy God's, ami 1 ruth's.

THE OLD, AND THE NEW YEAR.

" Time in .advance, is wont to hide his wings, And seems to creep, decrcpicl with his age : Behold him when past b} r , what then is seen, But his broad pinions, swifter than the wind ? And all mankind in contradiction strong, Rueful, aghast, cry out on his career."

The link of union subsisting between a Public Journalist and his readers, is of so peculiar a character, and in some respects so intimate and confidential, that it fully justifies the adoption, at proper times, and on particular occasions, of the most familiar terms of address. We avail ourselves of the privilege of the season to " talk awhile" with our friends and supporters. We have waded through the exciting occurrences of the past year, and are now commencing another period of an ever-chequered existence. Hope and disappointment have pursued each other in close and constant succession": joys and sorrows have alternately usurped their influence over us, and the most permanent impression left upon the minds of the considerate and thoughtful by the events of the year, must be, that | •' There's nothing here but what as nothing weighs ; The more our joy, the more we know it vain.,' Let us commence the present period in good humour, and draw largely upon the candour and consideration of our readers : amidst the vicissitudes that will mark the events of the year we have now commenced, and the varying character of our comments upon them, let us exercise that spirit of mutual good will, which will tend to lighten the cares and augment the pleasures of the coming year. If wishes could give birth to, and ensure a preponderance of happy realizations, the course of the present year would be found by all our readers to run in smooth andundeviating prosperity ; and the measured cup of life, now newly replenished, would be found to contain a far greater portion of the ingredients of joy, than of the dregs of sorrow. Whether the ensuing: year will Be productive of prosperity or adversity, we cannot with safety predict j but our sympathy with public sorrows, our participation in public joys, our deep and undying interest in all that affects our united and individual weal will remain the same ; and though we may not always be on speaking terms with the public, we shall always think of public interests with the deepest solicitude. May our readers forget the sorrows of the past, under the influence of the joys of the present year. May the follies which marked its precursor be avoided, its errors be rectified, its vices abandoned ; and under the influence of matured experience and chastened knowledge, may we and they glide happily and peacefully down the narrowing stream of life until " Winged with fire, We reach the distant skies and triumph there."

We have long been convinced of the inapplicability of British. Law in all its complex and manifold ramifications to the circumstances and necessities of the Natives. We believe that it is essential to the peace and good government of the Colony, that justice, in some cases, should be administered to the A-borigines in a more prompt and simple manner than the common Law of' England will allow ; and in consequence of these views, we approved of the principle upon which the Exemption Ojdinance of the late Administration was based, and we are equally inclined to favor the principle intended to be applied by the Resident Magistsrates' Ordinance of the last Session. But in the practical application of the principle we have alluded to, the greatest care and caution is requisite lest justice should degenexate into cruelty. There is a danger kst by any mea*ns

a spirit of litigation should be encouraged amongst the Natives, and if the somewhat despotic powers entrusted to the Resident Magistrate are not very cautiously and wisely wielded, this much to be deprecated evil will certainly be engendered. We make these remarks in consequence of a most extraordinary scene which took place in Mr. Hart's Auction Mart, on Wednesday , last, when the effects of Dominique Ferraris were sold by virtue of an execution issued from the Resident Magistrate's Court, at the suit of Tami, a Native from the East Cape. ■We are aware of many cases of great ia* justice, where Europeans have taken advantlfger of the Natives in agreements respecting the sale of vessels, and should always be glad to see those paities who do deliberately and intentionaliy deceive and impose upon the Natives, severely punished ; but the present case appears to us to be one of an extraordinary character, and as we happen to know somewhat of Dominique Ferraris,— having been called upon some years ago to interfere between him and some natives, over whose vessel he held a bottomry bond, the existence of, which had not been made known to the Natives by the parties who had, without Dominique's knowledge, sold her— and having been pleased with the honest and straightforward manner in which he behaved in that affair — wo cannot but think that he has been treated far too harshly. The depositions taken in this case are too long for publication, but the following is, we believe, a faithful abstract of its leading points : —