The New Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 269, 27 December 1848, Page 2

The New Zealander.

~~ Be just and fear not: Let all the ends tliou aims't at, be thy Country's, Tliv firm's, aiul Froth's.

WK UN E S DAY~ D E ell MB E R 27, 18 4 8

The barque " May Queen," and the brig " Louisa," arrived from Sydney, the foimer on Sunday morning, the latter on Sunday evening; having respectively sailed, the " Louisa " on the 7th, and the " May Queen " on the Bth instant. By the " Louisa," we have received our customary files of Colonial journals, which are unusually barren of intelligence, there having been no arrivals from Europe subsequent to that of the " General Hewitt." We shall, in our next, give the details of Sir Harry Smith's encounter with the rebel Boers, whose successful issue, we published in our paper of this day week. The affair appears to have been a tolerably sharp one, eight soldiers of the Queen's troops having been killed, and seven officers and thirty nine men wounded, whilst the enemy lost forty nine in killed, and upwards of one hundred and fifty in wounded. Sir Harry Smith is reported as having greatly exposed himself; so much so, that both man and horse were slightly hit. Lieutenant Colonel Buller of the Rifle Brigade, was severely, and Captain Murray of the same corps mortally wounded. Captain Armstrong and Lieutenant Mill of the Cape Rifles, were severely, and Lieutenant Salis and Ensign Steele, of the same force, and Ensign Crampton, of the 91st regiment, dangerously wounded. The enemy were effectually dispersed, having broken up into parties of twos and threes, which fled with the utmost precipitancy. In the absence of authentic information, an attempt appears to have been made to manufacture Irish intelligence for the Sydney market. A true bill had been returned against Duffy, the proprietor of the Nation newspaper, on the Bth of August, and he was to be placed upon his trial the following day. The Colonial Question opened up by the motion of Sir William Molesworth has proved subject matter of much anxious and energetic discussion to all the Colonial journalists, who are by no means sparing in their strictures of the Parthian specimen of defence exhibited by Mr. Hawes. Each rends the Under Secretary's sophistical web in the points where it strikes him as being the weakest. We, in our last, exposed the impudence of Mr. Hawes, in arrogating a claim of Colonial Office merit, for able administration of the affairs of Port Phillip, and, 10, here from the Melbourne Herald of the 23rd November, we copy corroborative testimony of our accuracy, and of their estimate of Mr. Hawes truth. It is an exquisite hit, and in beautiful keeping with the tone and temper ever evinced by Australia Felix, towards her elder sister, New South Wales. Surely when Mr. Hawei dared to produce the *' Colony of Port Phillip" in support of the " successful" policy of the Colonial Office, he must have been either beside himself, or more grossly ignorant of the affairs of his own official department, than we were inclined to bilieve, for a more inapt and unhappy illustration could not be (elected. " The colonial policy of the government, was by no means (he say*) to unsucoeufnl as had been represented. Take the colony of Port Phillip for instance, and lee how marked was iti progress." No doubt the " progress" of the colony of Port Phillip has been " marked" by more success than any other colony in the world, but she has little thanks to pay for that to either Downing«street or its politiiians. Her " progress" is the sole result of her own unbounded, though as yet almost undeveloped resources, and the industry and enterprise of her colonists. She never obtained a single boon from the Colonial Office; instead of this her revenues have been periodically plundered to maintain an adjacent impoverished settlement, which through the " policy of the Colonial Offico, still makes and administers her laws. Her establishment, unlike South Australia, New Zealand, and other colonies, never cost the British Government one far' thing ; and yet she has never even for t moment enjoyed the privilege of what are termed " pet" colonies. In fact, because she least troubled and com* plained, she is the most neglected and injmed. For years we have been promised a local legislature, with the right of electing our own law-makers, and expending our own revenues, but through some Colonial Ofjß.ce handicraft, when our hopes seem nearest realization, they are sure to recede— we have been transmitting our complaints until the pubic voice bai become hoarse, and notwithstandinu Mr. Hawei' confidential reference to Port Phillip, she has experienced treatment at once shameful and unprecedented. The hon. gentleman's speech, however, reveals, as it may be guessed from the following extract, that £ii 1 Grey's mongrel constitution has b*en abandoned : " It was said the bill sent oat to Australia had created the greatest dissatisfaction ; but it had only been sent out to elicit the opinions of the colonists. Those opinions were adverse, and there was an end of it ; but in all probability the resu't would be to establish a representative constitution in New South Wales, with lull provisions for altering and amending it from time to time, aB the colonists might see fit." (Hear, heir.) Hence it is most likely that the New, Constitution, when it does come, will be based upon the same principle, as at present, which with a more extended franchise, and enlarged powers, appears to us, to be at ■once the most simple and effective that can *fc present be applied to the condition of the colony. 1 here ran be no doubt that Sir Willian Molesworth's Mctiun, (the debate upon which was adjourned for a

fortnight) will produce a very strong interest for the Colonies, especially as it was supposed his proportion would be affirmed, and a Committee appointed to consider and mature the best plan of .subsequently working them out to the utmost effect. In the meantime, ws hope " the Colony of Port Phillip," as Mr. Hawes styles her, may be favoured with some, or any sort of a Constitution, for her cursed connection with New South Wales must be " cut" at all hazards. Steam communication with Australians said to have been definitively arranged, and the London October mail, if we may credit the Sydney Atias, was to be forwarded by the Peninsular Company's vessels, via Sincapore. We may shortly expect the arrival of H. M. Steam sloop " Medea," from China. She will prove, we fear, hut a sorry substitute for the " Inflexible," whose gap she is intended to stop. The following is from the Sydney Morning Herald of the 27th ultimo. H. M. Stramer Medea, 6 guns, commander T. H. Mason, is under orders tp proceed to New* Zealand, to succeed the Inflexible. The Medea is a second class sloop of 835 tons, and 200 horse power, she was bui tin 1833, from (he design of Mr. Oliver Lang of the Woolwich dockyard. She was at Singapore about four months lince.

Ordination. — On Sunday last, the Episcopal Church of New Zealand leceived an accession to its numbers ; Messrs. Thatcher and Ashwell, having that morning, at the Church of St. Paul, been admitted to the holy order of deacons. The church was greatly crowded ; and it was a matter of much interest, to all concerned for the civilization and intellectual welfare of the Maori race, to contemplate the clean and cultivated appearance, and the orderly and intelligent demeanour of the Native boys and lads, neophytes in the Bishop's College of St. John, who with their British fellow students, performed the duties of choristers, chanting the Psalms and Hymns in a highly creditable and pleasing manner, and contributing much to the solemn beauty of the sacred harmonies. Previous to the Litany, the ordination sermon was preached by the Bishop ; his Lordship taking his text from the eighth to the fourteenth verses of the second Chapter of St. Luke. Much as we admire the general eloquence of Dr. Selwyn we never listened to him with more undivided attention or more intense interest than upon the present occasion. He looked, and moved, and breathed, a living inculcation of godliness and virtue. His tones, his gesture, his language were all calculated to impress the heart with the sincerity of his purpose — with the awful responsibilities of those who, having elected to become the Ministers of God, prove false or feeble teachers of his mighty word. The dangers, the difficulties, the discouragements that attend the Minister on his heavenward path were, by His Lordship, forcibly pointed out — but, •' the good shepherd" was animated to " Fear not,'" but to go on his way rejoicing, for a little child might cany the word in season to subdue the soul of his godless parent ; and a new face, in the Sabbath meetings, might encourage the teacher, by showing that the good seed had not all been lost. We have neither time nor space to enlarge upon this subject ; but we feel convinced that the earnest and attentive congregation of Sunday last would have taxed us, and deservedly too, with an omission of duty had we passed that discourse without a syllable to record its excellence and its truth. It may not be amiss to call the attention of those upon whom the duty of maintaining silence in places of worship devolves, to the interruptions frequently experienced by preachers and hearers because of noisy infants. This was especially the case on Sunday last. Surely, when children in arms are excluded from all well regulated Theatres, they should not be permitted to drown the voice of the Minister of the Gospel in the House of God !

Total Abstinence Lecture. — Yesterday evening, a Lecture, (announced in our last,) was delivered in the Wesleyan School Room, by the Rev. F. Miller, of Hobart Town, on the subject of " Noah's Drunkenness." The audience was not so numerous as we could have wished j but, considering the shortness of the notice, a goodly number were present. — We cannot, owing to the lateness of the hour at which the lecture was concluded, pretend to give even an outline of it j suffice to say that the reverend gentleman traced the dangerous and insidious character of the vice, throughout its manifold Protean approaches, showing how now it lured to ruin under the guise of good fellowship, or anon seduced to misery as the pretended solace of lonely monotony, illustrating these various positions by anecdotes of pointed but painful interest. At the close of the lecture It was announced that in the event of the " Adelaide," (in which Mr. Miller returns to Ho bart Town) being detained until after Friday, a Tea Party, in connextion with the Auckland Total Abstinence Society, will be held in the Hall of the Mechanics' Institute on that evening.

We give publicity to the following extract, copied, from an English paper, into the " Sydney Morning Herald" of the 27th ult. The case of Lieutenant Seaver, (a gentleman at present vegetating amongst us) is indeed a hard one — probably as much so as that of any of the unrequited of the New Zealand campaigners. We can ourselves bear testimony to his merits, because we have heard

them repeatedly and warmly commended, here and elsewhere, hy officers of his own gallant profession, fully capable of appreciating his desert hoth as a seaman and an officer. He has not merely heen neglected, but he has been placed in a position of much difficulty, if not of distress, because of invaliding in this distant land, and because of the temporary stoppage of the petty half pay which he has so dearly, and it would seem so grudgingly, won. We trust, if one scruple of Justice be yet to be found within the walls of the Admiralty, that a full though tardy amende will be made to Lieutenant Seaver. Lieutenant Seaver. — "We give insertion to the subjoined statement, which, if correctly narrated, evidences an extremely hard case. We do not know sufficient of Lieutenant Seaver to justify our offering any remarks upon hit complaint; but it must be regretted that an Officer who has served to long should now be driven to become an exile from his native country :— " The hard and unjust case nf Lieutenant Seaver, late senior Lieut, of Her Majesty's ship Racehorse, | Next) Zealand. — He went to tea in 1811; was at the bombardment of Algiers, under Lord Eimoutb, 1816; has constantly been serving afloat for 25 years, and five yean in the Coast Guard, not being able to procure an appointment to a thip. Hai been senior Lieutenant of five ships, and commanded the Hornet, schooner. Wai senior lieutenant of Her Majesty't ship Racehorse during all the operations she was engaged on in New Zealand; but, in consequence of his seniority over the lieutenant! of Sir E. Home's ship (North Star) was ordered by that officer to take charge of the Racehorse, consequently, when the despatches went bomet his (Lieut. Sea vet's) name not appearing, he lost hit promotion. When Commander Hay invalided, it was expected Lieut- Seaver would have got an acting order to the ship; but no, Captain Graham, of the Castor, put his senior L'eut. (Otway) in command of the Racehorse, there a°;ain depriving him of ny chance of promotion. By this time his heal h be*an to fail him, from hard work, change of climes, and serving in small ships, and he was obliged either to invalid or becomes seitler in a warm climate. Choosing the latter, he applied to become a settler in New South Wales. In the mean time— in Nov. 1846— the Brevet came out, and again Lieut, Seaver was left out, although serving up to the Ist of April, 1847. And this is ihe reward Lieut. Seaver gets after thirty-fire years seivitude— to be allowed by the Hon. Board of Admiralty to settle down among the savages of New Zealand on his five shillings per day. Lieut. Seaver trusts this may reach the eye of some of his old Admirals under whom he hai had the honor of lerving,— Sir Charles Ogle, Sir N. Willoughby, and many distinguished Captains— and that they may judge of his unjust treatment after having served under the reign of three Kings and one Queen."

Programme.— On Thursday, 28th December, the Band of the 58th Regiment will perform the following pieces of music, within the enclosure of the government grounds, from half-past three to half»past five o'clock :— Oterture — Op " Masanielle " Auber Cay.— Op " 1 Capuletti c Monteechi " .Bellini Waltz " Ball Racketeii " Strauis CaT. — Op " Roberto Devereux '' Donizetti Quadrille "The Standard Bearer" Jullien Polka "The Carriole" Jullien