The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 219, 5 July 1848, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

I'.e just and leiir not: Ut all tne ends thon ainis't at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Tiutli's.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 18 48.

The mighty re\olulion, uhich we were called upon to chionitlc, in our las>t, is one of those ovei whelm ing events, so all important, and so ' full of peiilto the interests of universal man, | that politicians of e\ety clime, and of every shade and guide, must needs experience a lively excitement iv pondering the degree in which its consequences may possibly affect the region wheie their destinies may have called them. We, ourselves, long impressed with a conviction that the throes and throbhings of France, taken in conjunction with the subdued but stedfast aspirations after liberty inflaming the blood of southern Europe, coupled with the wakeful and warlike vigilance with which the gieat Noithern powers repressed its most trivial ebullition, could lead but to one result — and that, a general and sanguinary W ar, — we who have watched, and we believe, have lead, with tolerable'accuracy, the signs of the times, — were taken by complete surprise, at tin; manner of the outbteak. Although we differed from those who had set down the dale of the death of Louis Pnn.LirrE as the period actively fatal to the lepose of the wotld, we nevertheless, entertamed not the most remote suspicion that the ! wily and wary Monarch of the barricades, the deft and dexterous schemer, who had observed so successfully and so profitably every false move of his cousin Charles, would close his own eyes to the hazaidous attempts which had wicsted the crown from the elder and more generous branch of his infatuated house. Bufso it has turned out, and this ingenious manceuvcrer, — this grasping adventurer, — this despotic niler, under a semi-republican robe, has .sunk unpiticd beneath the agency of precisely the same class of puppets as those he himself helped to put in motion to accomplish his elevation. In the great drama of life, where can one discover a moie exquisite example of poetical justice than in the overthiow of this most subtle and dangerous projectors. It has been the fortune of Louis Phillipe to be loudly and lavishly commended by a numeious and an able class of writers. The pen of history, may however inscribe his name as a prince, who despising the ties of blood, and unscrupulous of the means, acquired a temporary possession of an uneasy and an unceitain diadem : — as a monarch who sought to coerce the libeity of his subjects by girdling Ins capital with a chain of forts and fortifications, the most costly ; not designed to ward off foreign aggression, but projected in the hope to put dow n any future effort such as that which had created him King : — as the hoary pandei, "who to consolidate and extend his illcained power, hesitated not to sacrifice the peace of mind of a youthful princess, by a series of intrigues and conspiracies, as heartless as they were infamous. History will record this, and doubtless much more to his dishonour. But what was to be expected from the son of such a sire ? Could viitue issue from the loins of an Egalite 1 With Revolution in France and Sicily — with Italy struggling beneath the influences of a general convulsion — and with the unequivocal determination evinced by Austiia, Prussia, and Russia, those bigoted and unwavering asseitors of the divine right of royalty to misgovern, who can tell where the flame may spread, or when it shall be stayed "? We may be told that the tone and temper of the French Provisional Government is pacific. So was that of the Republicans of 1793, who evinced the most earnest desire to maintain j amicable relations with Great Britain. And yet, through the diplomatic ascendancy of the poweis a\ c have just named, through their fixed icsolve to force legitimacy, at the point of the bayonet, upon the exasperated French : and from a vaiiety of causes too extensive to be even hinted in a paper such as this, England was diagged into maintenance of that enigma, the balance of power — the frequent and fertile source of European strife — by prosecution of a long, an arduous, and an exhausting war, whose sanguinary struggles were, probably, unequalled in the annals of the world. Are such contingencies less imminent now than then 1 We fear not. If the enunciation of French feeling be not a meie vox et prceterea nihil, politicians must be constiained to infer that Louis Philliffe — the controlling power — deposed, the nation will have recourse to arms to indulge its long pent rage against "perfidious Albion." For the present, indeed, that does not appear to be the case. The Provisional Government is friendly, and England wisely recognizes the legitimacy of that Government by which Frauce wills she shall hereafter be ruled. But, at the date of our advices, all was confusion, for the turbulent elements of successful levolt had not been able to hew a definite consitution from out the chaos of their handy work. The present chiefs may be overthrown, and a struggle for power may reproduce a succession of leaders, such as sprung up so rankly in the earlier years of the fiist and gieat Revolution. Austria, as then, may pour her battalions upon Italy — Prussia may find it convenient to advance her forces beyond the Rhine—and Russia, may concen-

trate her legions, as most available, for renewal of the deadly conflict. All these hypotheses are more than feasible — they are probable. Is it to be supposed, then, that, were such a fire raging around her, England could preserve her neutrality, or remain altogether unscorched 1 When a spark is cast upon a barrel of gunpowder who can regulate the extent or the direction of the explosion ? Many augur well and fondly for the preservation of peace because of the proscription of that self-satisfied hero of the French Marine — the firebrand Prince de Joinville ; we confess w r e consider the edict as levelled less at the man than at his family and at Royalty, consequently we build nothing whatever upon such a foundation. " The heather," in the figurative language of Rob Roy, " is on fire," and we must bide with patience the extinction of the blaze. It may, however, be well, in the meantime, to investigate the probable effect of an European war upon our own and neighbour colonies, and to endeavour, by calm and careful preparation, to avert or mitigate the evils likely to ensue. We have no desire to be designated alarmists; hut better alarmists in time, than terrorists too late. ( One of the most immediate, and most injurious influences of war upon the destinies of the Australasian colonies would be the check, if not the absolute cessation, of emigiation to their shoies. The risk the emigrants themselves would run — the vastly enhanced rate of tonnage, consequent upon the almost certain war demand for shipping, added to the increased ! rate of freight and insurance, would prove a positive barrier to the charter of vessels upon , anything like their present terms. Simultaneous with such a check to emigrationwould be a stoppage of the exportation of British and other manufactured goods to dependencies so remote as these. At all events, such cargoes as found their way to market would, from the enhanced freight and charges, extract a larger price from less replenished purses. These being evils not (that we can discover) to be cured, must be endured as philosophically as we may. The enforced lesson (should it be enforced) might, nevertheless, be eventually productive, compelling industry to open up channels of beneficial employment as yet at the uncontested disposal of the foreigner. " Upon ourselves, the effects of war will be far less sensibly felt than upon our wool growing, tallow melting, corn producing, and otherwise more commercial neighbours. As yet, we may be said to be but consumers, and consequently, we have little or no trade to imperil. Our substance is sunk in the soil, or embarked in the tow ns- and settlements of our several provinces, and we are looking in hopeful anticipation of after results,rather than reaping the immediate fruits of our anxious adventures. In such a conjuncture our main hope rests in the security against hostile aggression of our territorial possessions, the probability of which aggression it behoves us minutely to examine, and to devise the best means to obviate its practicability. The recall of five thousand troops from India to service in the mother country, renders it just possible that a similar course may be adopted with respect to us ; and that to some such abomination as a badly formed and ill disciplined colonial corps, the maintenance of New Zealand, as a British possession, might be confided. Such a course it would be impossible to deprecate too strongly ; but when we see the soldiery withdrawn from an empiie of the magnitude and importance of India, it is surely not unreasonable to fear what may be in reserve for ourselves. However good as local allies, we feel confident that no mere colonial corps can ever be put in. competition with the troops of the British line. The only 1 one which ever did duty in these seas, The New South Wales Corps, was but little calculated to raise the character of such a force ; and to entrust the defence of a post to any such were an act, in our opinion, of the most suicidal policy. Nothing can he more lamentable than, the abjectly defenceless condition of every one of these colonies. In. Sydney, there is neither barrier nor battlement, nor one available gun in position. At Melbourne, the ditch which must be threaded ere that city can be attained, is, in part, its security : still, a landing could be effected opposite to Williams Town, and it might be battered with impunity, as its means of resistance are even less than those of Sydney, where a few show guns are most amusingly paraded. Adelaide, like Melbourne, is likewise sheltered by a marine ditch, and when its dirty port is achieved, the capital is still seven miles distant, across a clear, open and level plain. Launceston is too far up an intricate river to be assailed, except by an enemy in force, and bent upon occupation. Port Arthur is a noble and easily accessible j harbour, without the shadow of defence, and within a trifling distance of Hobait Town, which is protected by a breast work, nick named the Prince of Wales' battery ! This protection, mounting ten unexceptionable 32 pounders, is so sagely constructed that one of its primary achievements must be to batter down the ordnance store which masks the harbour, the guns were meant to cover. With reference to the defences of New Zealand, they may be said to be comprised in the bayonets of the 58th anil 65th regiments •, a

minute section, embracing two officers and about a score of the Royal Artillery — a fragmental portion of the Royal Sappers and Miners — about 600 of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles •,, — One small frigate of twenty-six guns — a smart corvette, and a sloop of eighteen guns each, and a second class steam -sloop, hourly expected, on survey. We have no doubt that this gallant handful would, in the hour of need, perform their manful devoir ; but is it pioper that to a handful should be left the protection of a possession to which England professes to attach so much importance ; for the acquisition of which France has evinced such an ardent desire, and to secure a footing in which a sort of neck-and-neck race, a few years since, occurred % The subject has grown so under our hand, and is still so far from being exhausted, that we deem it expedient to defer its further consideiation until our next number; conceivingthe topic to be of such paramount importance as to demand the most searching investigation and elucidation.

The Undine, with the Bishop of New Zealand on board, arrived yesterday from the south, having visited the Chatham islands while away. We have been given to understand that the persons who arrived "by the first fleet" at Otago, and who, subsequently, migrated to Port Nicholson, were laboureis, unable to procure employment in consequence of the non arrival of several of the landed proprietors. Those land holdeis who had arrived are reported as being pleased with the aspect of their future homes, to the founding of which they were about to dedicate their best energies.

Taranaki. — Our settlers have hitherto been so busily engaged with their cultivations, and other employments, that few amongst those of them who are qualified, have had time to contribute to the newspapers in the other settlements, statements relative to the capabilities of Taranaki, or to prepare a work descriptive of their, beautiful district, whilst all have admitted the necessity there has long existed for such publicity through the press. We are now however delighted to know that Mr. Charles Hursthouse, a gentleman of considerable abilities, has completed a work, almost exclusively on the resources of the district, and containing a map of the settlement at New Plymouth. The MSS. has been submitted to several of the settlers most distinguished for talents, and they have pronounced it to merit the highest praise. Mr. Hursthouse intends to proceed to England immediately, and while there w ill publish his work. We hope it will have the effect of bringing our almost unknown self supporting settlement into notice, so that our rich furniture woods, whale fisheries, minerals, immeasurable plains of the greatest fertility, the practicability of making a harbour, by building a short breakwater, (an abundance of material seemingly placed by nature on the spot for the purpose), may become more generally known in the mother country; and also, by truly delineating the present state of the roadstead, contradict the dangerous character which has been widely circulated respecting it, by mentioning the fact of one vessel only being lost out of the numbers which have visited the settlement, during its eight years existence. — CommumiCATEn.

The Court Circular, of the 15th February, informs us that three seals, namely, for the provinces of New Ulster, New Minister, and the general government of New Zealand ; together with a like instrument for the island of Labuan, had been prepared by Mr. Benjamin Wyon, chief engraver of Her Majesty's seals, by whom they were submitted to the Queen in council, where they were approved of.