THE COLONIAL TRAGEDY-A Fragment. [NOT BY THE AUTHOR OF "DON CARLOS."]

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 265, 13 December 1848, Page 3

THE COLONIAL TRAGEDY-A Fragment. [NOT BY THE AUTHOR OF " DON CARLOS."]

[NOT CARLOS."] Scene I. The Colonial Office. Hawes discovered with a huge mass of Paper and Maps be/ore htm. I am not well. Accursed be the hour When first I left my own paternal trade, To wallow in the vat of politics I I was no bondsman then. No daily post, From tour diitracted quarters of the globe, Peiplexed my soul and drove my sleep away! 0 never more shall come those halcyon dayi, Wi c i, free as air, I wandered through my halls An idst the odours of my unctuous toil, Now, friend and foe beset me in my walkStern Grey emandt the latest new despatch From Demeraraand Jamaica's sea, AnJ other places which I know not of, Not being skilled in base geography, Cold-blooded Fu sell holds me for his thrall, And aye ap etli, amidet the fierce debute, To me, for figures touching »ugar dues, Which, as I have not, I must etiatght invent. Tuen. in the House, grim Benuutk's eagie eye For ever scans me, watching for a swoop; And keen Diiraeli, with his scoffing sneer Appall my very soul! That cursed dtspa eh 1 How could I know I had it ? Forti-firee Came in that morning from.Colonial ports, Whereof I never even heard the names, And how could I diicern among them all ? Now, to my task—heigho! I think 'twere well, If, after all, we hauded o'er these isleu, Or to the Yankee, or the hungering Gctul. Cuba it ours, I thmk—no, no —not Cuba— Tia: ippertaineth to <he Dutch or Dane— 1 mean Bermuda, whereof Shaktp are lung,

And which ii very potent for its rum, Some question will be asked, I know to-night, And I must answer. Let me see the map, It should be here, beyond Honduras Bay— [Enter Lord John Russell.] Lord John-- H.»wes ! Haivea— My good Lord I Lord John—' I come to tell you Hawes, You'd hardly better play that trick again! Why, what the fiend, man. Was it well in you To keep the same desp.nch so long concealed, Oi having kept it, so to give it up ? Now, by the eoul of my t;reat auces'or, Who wrenched all Woburn Abbey from the Church, I will not twice pass over such misdeed ! Why should they have thee, Hawes, upon the hip ? Hawes— My Loid— l swear, I did conceal no writ, "f was but an oversight. My brain was vexed, And see'ng hut a paltry dooumenr, Filled with complaints, as usual of starvation, Ruin and disaffi ctton, and what not. With some protective hints, which nev-.r could Meet with approval from the sovereign eye Of our beloved Cobden, I did but Into the basket shovel the despatch ; Why, what a coil alnut a colony ! Loid John—Ay, but it is not with us as before, The times crave waiy walking. Let me tell thee I do distrubt tlut keen and slippery Peel, Last night I watrhed his eye. He did not benJ His head approvingly, and made no si^n When I talked lightly of the mail for sluves. 1 do not like rhUbe things: und therefore, Hawes Be thou prepared to-night. If any ask For information touching foreign parts, Answer them btraiyht. There'i something in the wind. Thus bad begins, butwjrse remains behind. [Exit Lard John. ) Halves—" Answer them straight!" — '1 is easy said, I trow 1 I'll to the map betimes, and study how. (Voice from Inner Cabinet)— Ha»e- ! Hawes — Speak on ! I hear. Voice— I pray thee, tell me Hawes, Is aught of rum in Demerara made ? How much of coffee conies there from Ceylon ? I may be questioned in the House of Peen ! Hawes— Then, to be fiank, my Loid, I do not know, Voice— \. pretty Under- Seciciary tbou ! Harves (aside)-— As good a» he who holds the upper place ! Now to my work — [Enter C erk.] Cleric— I crave your gracious pardon, But here are twenty «weating messengers, Wailing for answers to the last despatch. The packet tails, to-night, the seamen all Group round the helm, and watch the veering vanes, Muttering low curses on the fond delay, Whilst the dull captain— Hawes— Fellow 1 art tbxu mad ? This comes of having poets at the boardLet them go sail — I care not ! Clerk — But Jamaica I I pray you, pnrd^n my uiitVdntoned zeal— But there are ugly rumours of its state: May not Jaunaic a ha\ c one little line ? Hawes— Not one, I tell thee! vannh \—[ExH Clerk.] O, 1 hope, Britain carts less for sugar than for soap ! Scene 11. The House of Commons. The Speaker in the Chair. Cobdsn addressing the House. TJ>ere f ore, I tay, our Jabuuivis ought to starve. Wherever anything is cheapest bought That be our markef. If our friends the French, Than whom a kinder, more affectionate, Yea, and domestic people do not live, Can undersell our fellows here at home, Be theirs our custom ! Do not speak to me Of waat or rum. Want can never come Within the factory's encii cling wall?, Or near our bales of punted calico. Let small trades perish. We shall see the time When inyriud chiinn y sticks shall taint the air With their rich fragiance, throughout England* bounds, And in the reign of cotton all le bleieed. Talk not to me of Christianity ! Cheapneis, I say, is all and everything, Though it be bought by perished pauper's bones ! [Hear ! hear ! frum Bright, $-c. — Enter Hawes.] L* Member— Now in good time, here comes Colonial HaAves ! I have a question. Prj thee, answer me. Is aught determined in this strange dispute Between the Judges of Van D emen's Land? Hawes — Dispute ! I beard not ot it — what dispute ? They were at peace, methinks, not long apo, Ist Member— At peace ! 'Tis very strange ! They've been at war Six months at least— Hawes— About the sugar question ? lit Member— l pray the Honourable Member's don—They grow no sugar in Van Diemni'i Land. Hawes-- Ay true— l meant molasses. 1 will look— ' I U not discreet at present to reveal The progress of that teud. Ist Member— But there's the Governor— What say you, Sir, to his uncouth delay ? Hawes — Why this— th it if delay bain, taken pace It is Hot well. Hume— Anothrr word with you— Is justice there administered or no ? H&ue,—l cannot tell. Hume— Not tell ? Hawes— I cannot, Sir ; I have no knowledge of the state of justice Or anything that may be doing there, Hume'— This ii a case of plain and gross neglect. Why, I have letters rampant on the point, And yet no word hath reached the Government. Gladstone— lt would, I think, be right desirable Thai certain information should belaid Belore the House, of any news ihit may Oicur to Ministers about the Cape. Hawes — Such news there are, but uot as yet matured, To-m">now I shall answer as to this. Id MewbtT-+k* to Hung Kong I Hawes— To-morrow 3d Member — Demerara ? Hawes— To-morrow. 4th Member ** l Malta? Hawes — In the name of Heaven Am I the Atlas that supports ihe world ? sth Member— But one word more— Mauritius — Hawtt— I am lost \ mv brain ii whirling like a potter's wheel ! Lord John (aside J— H \ oreakinij down 1 (Aloud)— I think this is n )t fair ! The»e r ore I mote the Speaker leave thechai, 1 (Much laughter, an(( the scene clo.et.)