SATURDAY, MARCH 18,1848.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 188, 18 March 1848, Page 2

SATURDAY, MARCH 18,18 4 8.

K'js dulria Imquimus arva. — Eel. 1. When the Abbe Maury (in an enily stage of the French Revolution), w.is fighting for Altar and Tythes, in the Constituent Assemlil V, a fcln'ill voice exclaims ftom the gallery, " Mcssicuis of the Clergy, you have to be shaved: if you wriggle too much, }ou will get cut," And the Missionaries just now are in a veiy similar position. They have been told that unless they suriender the title deeds by which they hold their land, — as King John yielded up his crown to Cardinal Pandulph, under promise that he should receive it back again, with a. condition attached, — that unless they kiss the rod, and make cowtsry to his Excellency, taking thankfully such portion as he may be pleased to restore, they shall get nothing at all Surely this is treating them moie like school-boys, than like beai dec! men, who have to he shaved. It is not bj threats that Captain Grey should endeavour to gain his end, so long as a more dignified course is left to pursue ; nor by aspersions upon personal character, so long astheieisan honester couise. Ii is ti eating them with contempt, as well as with injustice. They may well cry out, like poor Ford in the Meny Wives of Windsor, when they find " their coders ransacked, their reputation knawu at, and that they shall not only receive this villanoos wrong, but stand under the adoption of abominable tei'iis, and by him that does them this wiong." For it is in the loss of credit, lather than in the loss of properly, that the sting of the proceeding seems to lie. We believe that the overplus would e*en now he quietl) surlendered, if the two conditions originally proposed by one of their body, — that the Governor should either letract or prove his assertions, and that the land should be settled upon the natives for thth benefit, in the es'abli^hment of schools, or otheiv/ise, — weie complied v.'itn. The faunas of the proposal ought to have en&uied its acce^ta tec, One; of iheciM's, ihct of Mr. Ckufcc, was lately argued in iae 611 pi erne Court. It would be idle at picscnt, to attempt to analyse the Jeg.il poiuis 'iiat v.tre mooted on that occasion. Let iis yt once assume that the learned Mtoi> iu j y Geueral's exposition of 'lie (aw is (on?cf; tiiot 1 lie chile; ence 0* an '' s, ' between Cumnusi onfr al-ida 1- id Commission m=, has ousted the mibsirijc lior, Irom niauy a fair acic of Kind ; tint the niii" rence ot on " s ' has heca prognant with tooultb as nnpoitant to the New Z aliuicK-huich, as that of an iota, het« con the hoip'juusiou and the hoir.o?ou&io», was to the Greek Church, some few centuries ago. Instead of it legil view of the quesfion, l?t us tiy to tttku a cotn.nonsmse view oi it, and inquire how the inaiter fairly stands. The gt-cat difliculty is, to account for the conflict of opinions with regird to the propiiety of lemtorial acquisition in this nountiy by mitsisleis jf religion , opinions totally oppoMtp, yet honestly held on either side by just and clear sighted men. There aie few who forget the lime honored stO'V of two knights who met upon a road, over which was hung a shield. After the et«etint?s of the day had been interchange'],,

" What a magnificent golden shield," obseived the one. " Gold," answered the other with pieat courtesy; " yon must m^an to sny siher." The dispute waxed wanner and wanner, for neither would mistrust the sight of I) is own eyes ; until at last the lie diicct was given, vizois were loweied, lances couched, and a !i^l>t ensued. After a desparate encounter, as bo' n lay upon the giound, wounded lo death, they cast their eyes upwards., and then discouicd that both were right and both were wion£ —ih.it one side of the shield was gold, •and that I lie other was silver; but, unluckily, ench had seen it originally from an opposite point of view. Is it not possible that the discrepancy in opinion of which we spoke might be attributable to n similar cause ; that the question may present two diii Went aspects, according to the po-jrion from which it is obseived? Is it not pobsible that a layman might look upon it it! oir j ,'i"ht, anda churchman, — exclusively of those who are specially interested, — in anothei ; each all the while entertaining the fiimest conviction of the soundness of his own particular views ? The attention of a layman would first be caught b-s thy courage and devotion of the caih."' missionaries. They came out prepared to btit\e .ill manner of dangers and privation, ineecaie even of their lives ; they threw themselves among savages, then supposed to be of the wildest ferocity, known to be cannibals, and resigned without complaint all chance ol worldly plcj&ure for their remaining terms of life. It would be hard to discover even the shadow of self seeking there. And if, when they arrived, their dangers and difficulties proved smaller than might have been anticipated, still the risk had been freely inn; if they contrived to live with some degree of comfort, still the virtue of the oiiginal self sacrifice was not marred by then aiter-luck. They began the work of civilization, in which their bitterest enemies cannot deny them success. They weie doing the woik, and doing it well; a few jears more would have sufficiently prepared the Natives for the reception and more geneial admixture of JUnopeans amongst them, had not they been interfered with by that premature occupation and colonization of these islands, which was forced upon the British Government by the Mew Zealand Company. The missionaiy enterprise was successful, and all parties were gainers. The natives gained institution, their teachers gained power and influence, golden opinions from theii catechumens, which enabled them to acquire, at lather a cheap rate, certain tracts of land. As FalstafF says of Colebrook of the dale, — " Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it ;" so v>heu the chance of bettering their worldly condition lay befote them, they took it up. But it can hardly be said that they went out of their way to seek it. Nor is it quite so clear that they would have been justified in refusing such a chance. Let it be never forgotten that they had paternal duties as well as cleiical ; that numerous families, — increasing as only churchmen's families do inciease, — had to be provided for ; that the only way to secuie their children horn the contagion of the neighbouring convict colonies, was to assure them subsistence in their own What was to be done ? The home society declined to piomise that support, but gave the parents leave, under cci tain restiictions, to take advantage of their own position. And the provision which they have been able so to make is small enough ; it is even insufficient- We will take upon ourselves to say, that if ll»e whole mass of missionary land were now prft iip to auction, and the proceeds equally distributed among all the children, that they would not divide a hundred pounds, —no, nor anything like a hundred pounds a piece. And even that lit* le our Government is straining every nerve to lessen, blinking eveiy engine into action that ingenuity cm devise. Short-sighted and over-greedy policy ! The memory of past obligation to the mission, through which alone possession of the tou'Ui y was some while since retained ; cren the fear of losing its coidial co-operation for the 'utuve, — the daugcr of dhiaing a house cgai is', ii^eif, — might have coui.s>elkd another CQUISO. A chuichman, however, might look upon the question, from an opposite point of view, He sees that the Mission have lost caste by these purchases ; that the desire of providing lor their children, natural and blameless in itself, has diminished the efficacy of their labours, by exposing them to mis-co.isttuclion of motives; that invidious comparisons are drawn between their society and that of the Weslsyans, which has altogether avoided Ihe snaie. He may say that all tempoial considerations and care for woitily gear are incompatible with the cause to which they Jiavi-; cm 1 aged themselves; he may lequsre, ; unhesitatingly, that all pustule u rounds foi scandal, fair or unfair, at any sacnlice should forthwstn be cut away. A»u \\e would very possibly be right; we, at ali events, will not gainsay his aigument; lor with matteis that appertain specially and only to Mother Church, a layman has no right toiiterfeie. These are the two sides of {he question,

fairly stated to the best of our ability. Looking upon it with laic eyes, we are bound to confess that the Mission has been ungiatefullv treated; that even if Government had doubled and trebled the grants, it would still have discharged but a tithe of the obligations it is under. But with regard to the more ecclesiastical statement of the case, we do not piofess to pass any opinion at all, for the best and simplest of reasons, that such opinion could not be worth the having, The Church is the Dest judge of what is good for itself; pei haps even for the individual members of which that body is composed. This much however, we may be allowed to say, that the patent society has not behaved handsomely to its ministers. The Wesleyans have provided liberally for the wnes and families of their own preacher 5 ;, placing them above the necessity of securing themselves from future want; while the Chuich Mission threw its people on their own resources; forces them to lisk (he chance of mis-representation, and now seems disposed to shift the burden from its own shoulders on to their scape-goat emissaiies ; abandoning the underlings to their fate, as a sort of atonement for its own mistake, much in the same style as that in which Antony offered sati&faetiou for an aflront to Ca?sar. " If he miElike My speech, and what is clone, tell him lie has Ilippaichu.-, my enfrauched bondman, whom He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or toituie, As he shall like to quit me. 1 ' But the missionaries themselves,— we are not now alluding to their clerical duties, — cannot he said to have played their own cards well. To the innocence of the dove, tliey have not been able to joiu the wisdom of the seipent. : The first grand mistake was their ill-timed resistance to the colonization of the country. Granting, with them, that it was begun too soon, they should still have made a virtue I of necessity, trying rather to engage the new comers in the same cause with themselves, than to awaken feelings of dislike by vain attempts to oppose what could no longer be I kept back. By systematic discourtesy towards the early i settlers, and holding themselves aloof, they earned a name which they will now find it | a haid matter to shake oil But every allowance should be made. Before the appointment of a Governor, they were in fact the true rulers of the country, ami natuially felt galled at finding so much of their influence and power suddenly departing from them. Neither have they maintained their contest against Government in this very matter of land claims with the ability that might have been expected of them. Instead of banding themselves together, scouting all legal quibbles, and resting their case on one single principle, the broad "foundation of justice and hou< sty, they have separated, and allowed their foices to be attacked in detail. Some have been talked round by "oneßyends of the town of Fail speech.'' their firmest \ friend; others have let themselves be frightened by "Giant Onm ;" some still make obstinate, although isolated resistance; but unity of purpose and of action has been long since lost. It is now too late ; their titles are gone, vanished away from eaith : yet we believe ourselves conjurors enough to tell where they may Still be found. Aiiosto tells a story of one Orlandoknight, paladin, and good Christian to boot — who lost his wits, a judgment upon him for having fallen in love with a Pagan damsel. Hi 5 friend Astolphovery logically concluding, that the most likely chance of finding anything that had been lost, was to go in search of it, I resolves to take that task upon himself. In | the couise of search, he luckily Jails in with a kind of showman, or cicerone, to a terrestrial I paradise, who informs him that although Nebuchadnezzar buffered for seven years, tlnee months would sufficiently expiate Orlando's ofFence, provided only that his friend would I undertake a journey to the moon. To such a proposal, no hero of the days of chivalry was likely to demur, and he mounts at a moment's notice, in a chariot specially provided for the nonce. ! And in the moon he finds, in a valley between two high hills, everything f/int had ever been lost or thrown away wpon eaith, whether through carelessness, through age, or misadventuiK. A more incongruous and stranger list of articles it might; be hard to come across a°\un. Besides the wits of Oilando, carefully coi ked up in a bottle ; the wits of most of his intimate fncuds, all distinctly labelled ; and whut he least expected to find theie, the greater poilion of his own; he saw vain-glo-rious bulletins, lukewarm prayeis, diadems of ruined empiies, half-mad speculations, amorous snares — what Hamlet would have called "springes to citdi woodcocks" — dismantled fortiesses, astrolosry, poetry, a id magic, loveis' vows, all the soup that had evei bctn spilled, mid the donation of the Emperor Constantino to the Pope — Qics'o ei a ll dono, (^e ptio dir lece), Che CofaUutiuo dl buon Silvesiro fece. By the side of which wo opine that Governor Fitzlloy's Grants to the Missionaries are at present to be found. ,

Programme.— On Thursday, March 23, at 4 o'clock, on the space of ground opposite the Council Chamber, the Band of the 58th Regiment, will perform the following pieces of music :—: — Overture— Op., " Stradella" FJotow Spstetto— Op. " Ernani" Verdi Waltz— ' Olg«, orPimceV Jullien Pre«to — from Beethoven's " Choral Stnfonia" Ana ami Rccit. — Op. "Elizi c Claudio" Mercndsnte C-luadnlle — " Semiramide" Julhen

Pvinlfss Surgery. — Mr. Lee, Surgeon, of West Queen-stieet, performed on Wednesday last, the novel opeiation of cutting off a man's linger without causing him any pain ! Tin's was effected by the aid of Sulphuiic /Ether. Though not unusual elsewheie, the expeimient is a perfectly new one lieie, and deseives moie than ctnsory rneiitjon. The patient it seems Mounded the foieiinger of his right hand, about six weeks ago, with a fishbone. The fiiigpr soon became tertibly inflamed, and so effectually resisted tho application of oidinaty lemedies, that to save the hand, it was deemed necessaiy topioceed to amputation of the disordeied member. In oider to accomplish this w ltd as lutle piospect of suffeung to the patient as possible, Mr Lee, ingeniously enough, got up an inhaling appaiatu& r which, though simplicity itself, proved quite as ofli acious as if it had been patented for the purpose. The tippaiatus was meiely a common bladder, the onliee fitted w ith a screw-hole, a biass tubo pioceeding fiom that about seveis mclies, in the middle oftiie tube a stop-cock, and at the end of it a mouth-piece. The operatoi Hi st blew into the bladder so as to distend it f then poured in one ounce of stilpliotic trther, agitated the bladder slightly, and closed all vent by means of the stopcock. By applying his mouth to the tube, on turning the slop cock, the patient vt as enabled to inhale the sulphuiic aether Irom the bladder. After about sixty inhalations, the necessdi) snspension of the net vous action seemed to be produced, and while in this state, not unconscious, but insensible to pain, the woik of amputation was speedily effected. The finger was taken o(fat the metacarpal 01 knuckle bone, and exhibited a very diseased contour. Several persons weie present at the operation The name of the peison who assisted JVJi. Lee in getting up his inhaling appaiatus., was Mr. Robinson, turner, of Queun-stieet.

Si. Patrick's School.— Yesterday beingSi. Pdtuck's Day, the childien Mho »eeeive n\strncdou at the schools attached to the Roman Catholic Chape!, \ieie assembled, about two hundied in nnmbei, at an eaily houi at the scliool-honse, fioin whence they proceeded in procession, headed by their teachers, Mr. Huntley, and Mr. Whelan, tluou»h Shortland street, towards the Government Domain, where ibey weieiegaled with cakes and tea, and afteiw arils engaged in vanous amusements. Two handsome banneis, one white, the other giee.r, on which appiopiiate emblems appeared, emblazoned m gohl, were borne in front of the procession. The children returned into town about live o'clock, apparently well pleased with tlie day's entertainment-CoivshCßA-iioN op St. Patrick's Roma n Catholic Church —lt will be seen by an fidveitisemenl in our columns that the erietnoiiy o( coutjec'i.lllll4 this new cdifu-e \uil l)e peiloimed on Sunda) monn.-ig by Dr. Viaid, the Koman C tholic Bisliop, assisted In bcvetal of his o]er«>. The sermon will be pieaclied by the Rev. J.'p. O'lleily, who has recently a» lived lium port Nicliolsoii, for tl'e purpose of aiding on the occasion The building is constnn-ied of hammet ed scoria, and | Jas a pirn,, km substantial appearance. Tup inteuor is not )et completed* tha altar fittings, &c, bein<j in couise of const! uction.

CottRIVSPONDIiNCL BETWCEN THE CoLOWIAL SliCKE•{ar.y, and Archdeacon H. Williams. [copy.] Colonial Secetary's Office, Auckland, Jan. 7, 184g, Rlvi-rend Sir,— l am instructed by Ins Excellency Governor Grey, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter ot the Ist ult., but which only reached his Excellency on the 30th, and to inform you that a copy shall be foiwaided to the Resident Magistrate at the Bay of Inlands for his Report. I am finther diiucted to add, that his Excellency has not seen any instructions o( Lord Giey which dirert that tliu hnds of the Natives should betaken from them ; .mil the Governor attributes a creat deal of the i 1 feehn^ of the Natives in the North, to the larae land-claims of some of the Missionaries who his Excellency had hoped would have assisted him in the adjustment ot them. 1 have the honor to be &c, &c, &c, (signed) Andrew Sinclair, Coioniji bcctetaiy* The Vei erable Archdeacon 11. Williams, I'aihid.

[copy.] Paihuv, Feb. 14, 1848. Sir, — Your letter of the 7th ult., I have the honour to HCuiiowlrilge, and should not irouble his Excellent y with any fUither icmark, did you not inform me that you were " direc'ed to add that h s Excplleiry lwsnot seen any instructions ot Loid Gny's \ihich direct th>it the Uncls of the Natives should be takui from them ; and the Goveinoi at'nbutes a tv eat d-al of the ill fi-el-imr, ot the Nat vei in the Noitii. to the laige landdura sof some of the Mi^siinaiif. who his Excellency had hoped would h.ive assisted him in tLe adjustment of ilnni." In the preceding paragraph, there aie three distinct poims to winch it will be my duty to call his Excellency's attention ri.stly,-—'' That his Excellency "is not seen any insMuctionb of Lord Grey's « Inch di eot that the lands of the should be taken from them." I am surptist-d to see this statement as made bv hig ExceileiM y'f. dnecnou, as the leror ot the Despatches teceived tiom Earl Grey, evidently intlicate that New Zetland is aiieady conhiclßi'ecl the Demesne lands of the Crown, consequently " the lands ot the Natives" are virtually " taken from them." This ceitainly h the only mterpietation given to these documents by the riist men in the Cojony, antl by all who 10 Noycubei 1

last signed the petition to her Majesty on this question, and which opinion is now generally disseminated amongst the Aborigines. In support of this, I request to call his Excellency's attention to the 4th and Cth resolutions of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, and to the Queen* Instructions under the Royal 6ign- manual and signet, accompanying the New Zealand Charter— Chapter 13, and Chapter 14, 7. By a careful perusal of thcie documents, 1 can arrive at no other conclusion than that the whole country whs virtually legarded as the Demesne lands of the Crown upon the issue of these Royal Instructions, except those lands actually in the possession of " the Aboriginal Natives, or the Settlers of European bii th and origin, who may have established any valid titles, whether of property or of occupancy." j The second point in the above paragraph requiring notice is the following — "The Governor attributes a great deal of the ill feeling of the Natives in the North, to the large land-claims of some of the Missionaries. 1 ' I very much regret that his Excellency has authorized such an expression of hit feeling, such unfounded reflections at contained in the above clause to be repsated to me at this date- His Excellency will certnmly admit that the " ill feeling of Natives in the North" is shown towards her Majesty's Government, and not toward* the Missionaries. The csiu-e ot the late disturbances and present ill feeling and suspicious jca.rs expressed towaids the Government, is too well known to need my again drawing his Excellency's attention to the subject ; and certainly the uniform k<nd feeling of the Auongiues towards the Mi«sionaiies aud their sons, ought to have silenced, forever, such an imputation, that the land-claims of the Mi sionaries were in any lespect, the cause of. or connected with "the ill feeling of the Natives in the North," towards her Majesty's Government. Had theie been any foundation for the imputation his Excellency wishes to establish against the Missionaries, the Abongines would most assuiedly have evinced their displeasure against the Missionaries when so iully in their power, and not against hei Majesty's ti oops, Irom whom they could only expect as vere contest. The whole isirreconale able, and the correctness of these claims has not been disputed, except by his Excellency. But lam told " that his Excellency has infoimation from certain Chiefs, upon the 6ul>ject of which I may not be awme." May I ask is it trom motives of delicacy that his Excellei cy refrains fiom making this infoiination publicly Known, and at once silence the Missionaries with their own acts and deeds ? His Excellency's opinion respecting the Missionaries would appear to have bsen grounded upon statements su:h as the following, which has been recently given me as coming direct ftom his Excellency— "As a proof that the purchase ot lands by the Missionaries was the cause of the war between her Majesty's Government and the Aborigines, and not the flagitaff, that Waka had thus stated to Col. Despard, that the j-urchnhe of laud by the Missionar es was the cause of the war; that this statement was made m Mr Williams' presence, and that he attempted to stop Waka in his relation of this fact by putting his hand before Wakas mouth — that Colonel Despurd was highly indignant at such an attempt on the pait of Mr. Williams, and desired Waka to continue his narration." As his Evcellcucy cannot have any personal knowledge of this circumstance, I merely onset vi> for the information of his Excellency, that in the above ttatenaent there is as much truth as that his Excellency is now in C hina : Colonel Despard's veracity is too coifftcily appreciated to need comment from me. The above ltldt on I mentioned to Waka in the presez>cc of several of his people, who evpie^sed his perfect astonithment and disgust, with this emphatic esckcia ion — " Katahiano te uvi teluteka ko te Pakeha" — " The Europeans aie a lying people !" lam infoimed that hi 1 ! Excellency has collected statements against the Missionaries, and I feel it to be consistent with my profession and station to infoim Iris Excellency that upon the production of these (statements, shou'd I fail to scatter them to the winds, I will resign my duties in New Zealand. The appaient seciecy with which his Excellency obtains spurious infoimation. to the attemp'ed prejudice, and even ruin of the Missionaries, is after the order of the Inquisition, and calculated to cxc te the evil disposition of the Aborigines, giving rise to clandestine proc edings — thus introducing a new order of ideas amongst them, injurious to the vital interests of the Colony at large, ci eating suspicion in the minds of the Natives against the Government, and dnn^eious to the Settlcis not so firmly tstablished in the toniidence of the Natives as the Missionaries are. Were not the allegations against the Missionaiies made oy his Excellency personally, I should decline to i.otice them. Hit, E\.cHlency is aware that the Missionaries aie membern ot a public body of men, who will feel it to be their duty to institute the full-st enquhj into the ongin of these aspersions, and will require the fullest explanation to establish the lact whether they be true or false, for which purpose the Missionaiies v« ill tender their assistance and entne concurrence. JJis Excellency's communication with the Chiefs in the Bay ot Islands in September last, accoulmg to his previous intention a&expiessed in his Excellency's letter to the Bishop, August 30, 1817, might hate pioved the overthrow of the Missionary families, at the hands of the exciUble tribes aiound, had not the Missionanea been tuo well established in the aflection of the Aborigines, who have expiesged much tympathy on the occasion. I have, in the couise of my duty, recently travcised the ground over which the two Government Ofiicer-. sent to the North, passed in December list, to Wanga*oa, and Kjitaia, and whs frequently questioned by the Chiefs upon the sul ject of tneir mission, which has pioduccd a general feeling, which I consider to be my duty to mention to his Excellency. Amongst a vaiiety of information which had Iwen given by these two Officers, paiticulaily bearing upon the Missionaries, I was toid by the Chiefs that they weie infoimed that the Missionaries weie not sent to lake their'lands. The design of this remaik is too obvious — but as respects our own standing with the Aborigines, we could not desire anything more favorable to our cause, as a direct negative is put upon a ch-u/je against tbe Missionaries, ot being G 'eminent agents, vhich some have endeavoured to allege. Some Chiefs 3peaking upon the fubject observed— "True, the Missionaries have only tin 1 * ponion of groumi we gave tor then iamiheb of New Zealand birth ; they have not taken our ground as the Governor say. — but, though the Missionmies were not sent to take ihn lands, it appears that the Governor and others have come hither to lake our lund, and these two Officers have informed us of numbeis of ships coming with Settlers, and it is now fcuid generally that the country is seized by the Queen; we shall ten the tiulh of these sayings in tune. !" And to show the feeling of "he Aborigines., — '» the ill feding of the Natives in the North," (be Chiefs have been for some time pasl en^,it,ed in the removal of the bones of their relations, loii£ since dead, that they may not be abused by the Europeans — their fears having been created by these lac despatches. That fsentlerr.cn in connection with the Government, imperfectly acquainted with the Native charactei , should thus be s.eut among the Native tubcfj dissetm-

nating remarks of an exciting tendency, will be seen to have been unwise, and unworthy the dignity of British Officers, and dangerous to the public peace. The endeavour to prejudice the character of the Missionaries before the Aborigines, is too delicate a work to be attemptpd, and has failed, though the effect is reflected upon the community. Your closing remark is that '< His Excellency had hoped that the Missionaues would have assisted him in the adjustment of these land-claims." The Missionaries have long been officially informed that their land-claims had been adjusted in the LandCommissioners' Court. Butaftei the very high testimony given by his Exce'lency's piedecessors to the service of the Missionaries rendered to her Majesty and the Colony; — ot m*u whose lives hare been devoted to the preservation of peace and good understanding, and the adjustment ot differences — of "men on whose integrity and devotedness no imputations have f«iily rested" ; lam surprised to see a doubt expressed as to the desire of the Missionaries to •' have assisted in the adjustment of any point of difference existing amongst the Aborigines and themselves. But tve cannot discover any point of difference lequiring adjustment relating to the Missionaries, as implied by his Excellency, except those of his own creating ; and when the tenor of his Excellency's communication to the Missionaries was considered, accompanied with such seveie aspeisions upon our character and proceedings, we felt constrained to maintain our position, until these j-sst-rtions should be brought to light, and upon the meats ot which the Missionaries will either st.md or fall. In my letter of August 16, 1847, upon the occasion of his Excellency's unprecedented despatch to the Secretary of State, of June 23, 1846, I wrote the following words, by which will be seen our desire to rend er eveiy assistance to lier Majesty's Government in lemonng all difficulties as far as we were able, could it he shown thatonr claims were the cause of evil, aB repoited in that Despatch. " Consideun» that his Excellency's D^spa eh does convey a charge of a very grave and serious natuie against the Missionaries in the North, of having been accessory to the shedding of human blood for the possession of land, claimed by them and their children, as to involve the piopnety of possessing even a single acre of land in this couutsy,— l am authorised to say that the .Missionaries shrink with honor fiom such charge, and are prepared to lchpquish their claims al» together, upon its being shown that their claims would under the possibility ot such an awful cirtuoistai.ee as the shedding 1 of one drop of human blood. To this letter I received no reply. In more recent communications with his Excellency a proposition is made tv the limd-claimants to select from blocks, with this reservation — ''not to include m these blocks any lands to whuh the Natives mat/ c iablish a just claim." — Though these claims have passed the Commissioners' Court, and no Native has at any time advanced any point ot dispute— "or which mat/ be required for the me of the Natives, or for Public puijiOi.es." Seeing that ihe whole question was negatived by this re=eivation, we considered that it was intentionally bo placed as to render it impossible for us to attempt to enter upon it. Her Majesty's Officers, both Civil and Military, look for reward fjr long services, and obtain reward. His Excellency's feeling towards the Missionaries is personal and political also the remaiks of Earl Giey in his Despatches of March Ist, 1847, wherin he observes — " Nor should I hesitate to dispossess the whole body of Mihsiondnes of their property which they have acquired in the samemannei (as Mr. Kemp has), it the law would enable me to piocced to so extreme a mea« sure." Does not his Excellency regard tli.s expression as extremely vindictive ? 1 beg to assure his Excellency that Mr. Kemp dues not stand singular in his purchase— all have proceeded upon a simi'ar scale of purchase, and are therefore entitled to the same compliment from Earl Grey. Why Earl Grey should thus have expressed himself ton aids the Missionaries, who have mtrely acted as trustees for their extensive families, and otherwise have no personal interest in the question, is as yet to us a mystery, and it appears a siveange perversion of juttUe, that parents of these extenstve famines, on account of pioviding for their families, should be subject to the capnc ous judgment" ot men who know not a father's caie, and that in a wild and savage land. Eail Grey we conceive could not thus have expressed himself, had not representations been made to the Secietasyof State of which we have no Knowled"e. The Missionaries therefore view the past proceedings of his Excellency, und this expiession of leeiniff fiom Earl Grey towards them and their families, as thtir rewnid for past services rendered to her Majesty, and admitted by his Excellency's predecessors in most honorable terms, that l>y their influence the CoJony was first established, and afterwards preserved, in the absence of any military foice. I have the honor to be, &c, &c, &c, (signed) — Henry Williams. The Hon. the Colonial Secrewi y. Wl'aWmJ toTt— net nniii rwiiin->il*iiwwMi |l' aliMli l—ilMmiini i m