Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 152, 13 November 1847, Page 2

Original Correspondence.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir,— l have long waited in silent expectation that some one sustaining a> more influential position than myself would undertake the^prepara-' tion of a Petitiojnjj>r_J^empr}ajl for general' signature, respecting the injustice and dangerous* tendency of Earl Grey's instructions relative to thelands of the Natives ; my conviction of duty! will not allow me to remain silent any longer," and 1 now beg to hand yon' the annexed draft of a Petition to Her Majesty, for insertion in your next, which 1 hope will be found so worded, as to secure the signature of all classes of the community.—As it is not my intention to proceed further immediately, if there is any objectionable word or sentence, it 'may be pointed out and remedied. I am, Sir, your's, &c , J. Newman. Remuera, 10th Nov., 1817.

To thb Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. The humble Petition of the undersigned inhabitants of Auckland and its vicinity, sheweih— That your petitioners entertain very serious apprehensions for the future safety of themselves and families, in consequence of the proposed alteration of policy with respect to the lands of the aborigines, as indicated by the Right Honorable the Secretary of State's despatch to His Excellency Governor Grey, accompanying the New Charter for this Colony. That from the foundation of this settlement to the present time, the utmost harmony and goodwill have prevailed between the settlers of the Northern district generally, and the surrounding native tribes. That the mere circulation of intelligence through the , country, that a despatch has been received from your Majesty's Secretary, embodying principles opposed to ] the policy heretofore adopted with reference to the native lands, has already excited the suspicion and distrust of the native chiefs ; and that the happy interchange of confidence and friendship hitherto characterizing the intercourse between the two races of your Majesty's subjects will most certainly be destroyed, if any measures of policy are actually introduced calculated to infringe upon the landed rights of thl natives. That the natives have been repeatedly and uniformly assured by your Majesty's successive representatives here, that the Treaty of Waitangi, which guarantees to them the full and exclusive enjoyment of their landed rights, would never be repudiated. | That the instructions addressed by your Majesty's | Secretary to Governor Grey, accompanying the Charter, are, in principle, manifestly at variance with these assurances. | That every acre of land in this country, whether oc»- < cupied or not, is claimed by the aborigines ; each tribe and family having its respective boundaries, known and (except in some few cases of international dispute) acknowledgedby all; and, consequently, that there is, properly speaking, no waste lands in this oolony that can be appropriated to the Crown without purchase. That the natives, both those who have so nobly supported your Majesty's Government, a* well as those who have rebelled against your Majesty's authority, would unite in resisting, even to death, ■ any attempt to deprive them, either directly or indirectly, of their landed possessions. That the instructions contained in the despatch referred to, are calculated to lessen the confidence of the Natives in the inviolability of your Majesty's pledged word, and weaken their attachment to your Majesty's person and Government. That these instructions are moreover not only utterly opposed to the principles of equity and justice, but positively impracticable, and fraught with the most imminent danger to your petitioners, whose lives and properties can only be considered secure so long as the present friendly feeling of the Natives towards them is preserved.

That the apprehensions entertained by your Petitioners are not confined to those alone whose want of experience of the native character would justify the conclusion that their fears have no foundation in truth .-— The Missionaries,— men who have spent the greatest portionjof their lives in the country, and who are thoroughly acquainted with the disposition and feeling of the natives— are unanimous in the opinion that the mere rumour of such instructions having been received is calculated to disturb the peace of the community j and that any attempt to carry them into effect would involve the whole colony in war, and peril the safety of every indmdurl colonist? and they have communicated these seutiments to the local authorities, and office-bearers of their respective societies. That the silence maintained by His Excellency Governor Grey leaves your petitioners in doubt as to the intentions of the local Government with regard to these instructions, and debars those who might exercise a powerful influence over the natives, froinjmaking any attempt to arrest the progress of suspicious feelings in their minds, by contradicting the rumours that are spreading through the country relative to the policy which will in future be adopted by your Majesty's Government. That your Petitioners have always been and will continue, loyal subjects of your Majesty, devotedly attaohed to your Majesty's gracious person and Governmentand that influenced by -the purest sentiments of loyalty they now most earnestly deprecate the adoption of the principles embodied in the' Secretary of State's letter of instructions already so frequently referred to, as derogatory to your Majesty's honor. .Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that your Majesty will be pleased to revoke the instructions of your Secretary of State that relate to the appropriation of any lands, claimed by, or in possession of the Natives, by other means than that of simple purchase ai provided for by the Treaty of Waitangi , and that your Majesty will be pleased to direot that the utmost publicity be given to a renewed assurance,; to ,'the' Native chiefs, that your Majesty never did oontemphite, and never will permit, the solemn engagementi entered into between them and your Majesty's representatives, to be evaded or set aside ; but that the spirit^ as well as the letter, of the provisions of the Treaty of Waifanjri af ect ing the lands of the Aborigines, shall be most religiously maintained. And your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. > " - ¥

To the Editor of the New Zealawter. Sir,— ln your paper of Oct. 30, fotperved a paragraph in reference to Solomon's Temple That no building, existing, or noh-existing, can be compared with it, and that our reason refuses to reason upon its vastnessandspleudourj thai the labour bestowed upon it was immense, and the sums of money, vast — is true. Still, tbere were many circumstances connected ' with that building, which 1 if properly considered would prepare the mind for something far' beybnd our modern ideas of Ecclesiastical structures/ Ist. The Jewish nation was then predominant as far as the Euphrates to the east, and Arabia to the south. Its sway extended ovsr'Byria to the not to ; and they seem also, to t Jiave had a - very extensive and profitable trade with' the nations of the east. ■ 2nd v These immense supplies had been amat- : sed by the victorious David, from ; the conquered ;- countries, and from his allies, arid were much - increased by his ion Solomon. 3rd. It wasX^onlyjplace of worship of .that great nation, and their place of^rorsiffpwaV ever from the earliest days, and to the latest period regarded by them with the deepest interest of national feeling. [N.B. You must not judge of the Jews by the people of a certain very neighbouring town, in vWhicu a neat little building of brick is suffered to go into a state of dilapidation, for the ttiiwt of a tt& pounds to repair it.] ' .- . I ' : 4th. The ancient nations down to the ages shortly preceding the Reformation, seem to have bestowed incredible labour and expense on tbetr public edifice*. To enter into the pioofs of this statement, would be unnecessary with a scholar of the information whjch it is; clear you possess j and which I trust will yet raise the tone of our colonial publications; still many of your readers are not perhaps prepared for such conceptions. I beg leave, therefore, to suggest, that you should occasionally enliven the. endless* motonoty ofJand squabble^ by giving us some account of the immense Structures^ of former times, and the extraordinary power wifh which the. flood of wealth poured by being confined to one channel. How interesting would a comparison be between ancient and modern' accounts, of structures of earlier periods j rand r and a contrast between those structures and those of later dates. I suspect that in grandeur, solidity and expense, we shall find few works of recent date to equalthe 'Tofrer of Babel, the'five great works Nebuchadnezzar in* Babylon, of which an interesting account-is giveii in Piideaux j the woiks at Palmyra, (yoiiifpaper of Oct. 13, has already given us some idea of the mighty works of Nimrood), the' splend'id "structures at Greece and Rome } the w.alls of. Qhiua» the temple* in India, and though last, not least, (what in my judgment far exceeds the temple of Solomon,) the Pyramids of Egypt. Herodotus, you' will recollect, tells us that 100,000 men were employed in the construction of the.great .pyramid, that they were relieved ,by an equal number ,-* every three months/and that the building of the s " pyramid took twenty years. Cheops, the founder of this pyramid, is assigned by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, to a period considerably after the erection of Solomon's' Temple, — after it- had been rifled by Shishak j*and it is thought that this immense accession of wealth helped the construction of this the greatest architectural'wonder in the world. *' " " ';'! {4^ , Denon describing the first view of Thebes by the French army says, " So gigantic was the apparition, that at the sight of its scattered ruins, the army halted of its own accord,. and the soldiers with one spontaneous movement, clapped their hands." ' j -_ ': I remain, Sir, a profound admirer of the greatest of all works, and which occupied 1590 years iv its, construction,— The Bible. ■„ . „?•..< Your'B, &c, &c. ' ; Y. Auckland, Nov. 11th, 1847.

To the Editor of the New Zealayker.\ Sir, — The' manner in which you were pleased to notice my design for the New Presbyterian Cburcb, in 1 your paper of Saturday! last, would Have been quite satisfactory, and 1 should, npt have, troubled you, or any other persons with an observation thereon, had the capacity and cost of my design been, inserted at the same time, -

As the matter at present stands,' the public might naturally suppoie that 1 had furnished a plan of the most expensive kind, and that the Committee were under the necessity of rejecting it because it was extravagautly in excess of the estimated cost of others. This may operate to my prejudice, I shall therefore feel obliged, if you will state m your next, that I submitted my design to the Building Committee, accomoanied by the following estimate.

The Church built in Scoria complete £2740 0 0 If needful, omit tower 526 0 0 £2214 0 0 « « galleries 240 0 0 £1974 0 0 The above Church contains on the ground floor 592 Galleries 426 Children's galleries ... 178 Total 1196 Sittings I am, Sir, Your's, &c, &c. George Vaile. Auckland, 11th Nov., 1847.