Original Correspondence. ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COLONY.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 85, 16 January 1847, Page 3

Original Correspondence. ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COLONY.

To the Editor of the Neio-Zealander. Sir,— l am glnd to learn that a little intended public amusement is in the course of preparation for the holiday on the 29th. The "Epsom Rices" will doubtless be the principal item of attraction in the catalogue,— and I am also glad to find that the Managing Committee have not forgot a prize for "All horses the property of Native Owners to be ridden by Natives," and hope they will cause a placard in Maorie to be immediately circulated to that effect. By allowing and encouraging our Aboriginal friends thus to join and mingle with us in our sports and amusements, we cement the bond of good feeling and fellowship the stronger between us ; and, moreover, it is a civilising agent, though a small one, but none, however small, should be lost sight of. ♦• Small rain on the tender herb" is better than no rain at all ; and if it should be the cause of planting in one Native mind the desite of having a horse to enter at next races, good is accomplished— for that Native must work (better for the settlers than selling his land) to attain the object of his desire, if it merely instils a love of dress, ' 'something to appear smart at the races." good again is done, for more wheat, or maize, or potatoes must be planted, or flax scraped, or labour given our farmers, to enable the Native to procure the money to spend. Encrease his wants and desires, and in the same ratio is his usefulness encreased, and is he made a better member of society. 1 remember at the fust Epsom Races in 1842, the Mechanics had a ball at Auckland in the evening ; are they now so engrossed in the pursuit of money-making, that they hnve no time to spend even in the little enjoyments of social life? There is the Hall of the Mechanics' Institute for them for a ball room, free from any of the contaminations attendant on a public house, and I doubt not the Committee would gladly grant the use of it. 1 would much wish to see a greater degree of local community of feeling and interest spring up among our fellow townsfolKS. They have pitched their tents on a far distant shore from the "father land ;" let them be made happy homes, for this is now their adopted country, and partake now and again of the rational amusements and enjoyments of life, as they are passing through it. It is pleasing for the mind in atter years to dwell on the recollection of such, and to have a tew happy holydays, the incidents and events of which may remain " still to memory dear," as I hope those in anticipation on the Seventh Anniversary may prove. Your's &c , A Seven-Ybar-Old. Auckland, January 15,, 1846.

' To the Editor of the New Zealanddr* Sin,— The words of old Horace appear to me just now singularly applicable Qui fit, Msecenat, ut nemo guam sibi sortem Seu ratio dederit, seu fors objccerit, ilia, Contentus vivat, laudit diversae sequentes ? Prom the foundation of the Colony to the present time there has always been a party, restless under the administration, and querulous of the measures of Government, but never have these complaints been so ill seasoned as at present ; for these are certainty not the times when a wise man would endeavour to diminish the authority, or censure the well meant efforts of the representative of our Sovereign. I conceive it behoves us not only generally, but individually, to leud our best assistance to the Government tor the improvement of the Aborigines, the welfare of the Europeans, and the bringing forth the natural capabilities of the country. Are we doing this when we thus repudiate every motive of our Governor, when we thwart him in all hib endeavours, and oppose him at every point ? 1 fear me that many of us thus gratify our private feelings of disapprobation at the expense of the general welfare of the community. We forget that we are surrounded bv a people who possess all the curiosity, with all the imitation of children, and whose passions are as easily excited ; but when once aroused, they combine with the power of men the feiocity of the savage; they observe us much more narrowly than we observe ourselves, and if we thus indulge in universal and open crimination, whether deservedly or not, we inflame them, because we cannot have a cause of complaint in which they are not participators. Now let us see of what we have to complain against Governor Grey: when he arrived he found us amid war, blood-shed, and rapine ; now we have peace and plenty throughout the Colony : he found us with empty coffer.', and saddled with debt; we now enjoy a large increase of revenue, not only from local resources, but from our mother country, and can honestly look our liabilities in the face, and feel if we have but time, we are in a fair way of meeting them ; the value of nearly every thing has enhanced, and the price of labor incrcas • ed: and we have but little to complain o r . Cicero says *' that it is the property of justice not to injure meu, and of politeness not to offend them." 1 am afraid that we have both injured and offended; but I trust that for the future, as Englishmen and as Christians, we shall unite to perfect both justice and politeness, and render them thus connected and exalted, greatly conducive to the welfare of ourselves, the advancement of the Natives, and the good feelings of the Governor. I defend Captain Grey however, on higher grounds, Sir, as t know that " the desire of praise and reputation is commonly the fust motive of action in second rate, and a secondary motive in first rate characters," so 1 see at once by the dispositions of many around me, that praise and adulation is a secondary motive with him. Ido not mean to say that he is immaculate, but I do mean to say, that his errors were committeil in a desire to do good, and with the most honest purpose in view, and are attributable to that shortness of vision, and that frailty fro in which no man is exempt; they were so disposed by that Being, who " out of evil bnngeth forth good," and if God shall not cease to be, if he will not let go the reins, if his word cannot deceive, if the wisest men are not infatuated, if the common sense of mankind is not extravagant, if the main props of life, if the great pillars of society do not fail — he that walketh uprightly, doth proceed on sure ground. 1 am, Sir, Your obedient servant, Old England. Auckland, January 14th, 1846.