The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 413, 30 March 1850, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

Be just and fear not ; Let all the ends thou airas't at, be thy Country's. Thy God's, and Truth's.

SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1850.

We have received by H. M. Ship Fly, papers from the .Southern Settlements to the following dates :■— Wellington, the 16th inst. ; Nelson, the 2nd insl. ; and Otago, the 2nd inst. The Wellington papers contain very little local news. We have extracted, however, an interesting account of the recent visit of H. M. Ships Havannah and Fly to the Auckland Islands. We are also indebted to them for a copy of a very valuable article taken from the Remarks of the Havannah on the Passage from the Cape to Australia, which the Cape of Good Hope Shipping Gazette had published in connexion with its narrative of the wreck of the unfortunate Richai d Dart, with the recommendation that it contains " sound and judicious observations as to the best parallel of latitude to run down the easting" ; and that it deserves " the attentive perusal of commanders of vessels, who, by following the course which it points out, will not only avoid serious dangers, but probably have more favourable winds and weather than on any other course." We perceive that at the Cape this article was deemed so important that the Shipping Gazette by request, inserted it a second time, for more general information. In the Vice Admiralty Court, (Wellington) on the 2nd inst., two men named Jefferson and Jones were tried for piracy. The case was that of the seizure of the cutter William and James, on the 12th of January, by Jefferson, a sailor, and Jones, a passenger, who plotted to take her to California. As was stated in the New

Zealander of the 6th inst. After several witnesses had been examined for the prosecution, it was argued for the defence that as no proof had been offered of ownership by a British subject of either the vessel or cargo, the indictment could not be sustained ; and this objection having been allowed by His Honor, a verdict of Not Guilty was returned under the direction of the Court. This was the first case in which the Vice Admiralty jurisdiction was exercised by the Supreme Court in the Province of New Munster. In the Criminal Session of the Supreme Court, Christopher Martin and Charles Me Devitt, privates in the 65th regiment were convicted of breaking open the house of George P. Bates, a ship-wright at Porirua, and stealing thence forty -two sovereigns. They were sentenced to fourteen years' transportation. At the same sittings, John Smith, and Robert Johnston, both privates in the 65th, were also found guilty, — the former of an aggravated assault, and the latter of theft. They were respectively sentenced to imprisonment-* Smith, for two years, with hard labour, and Johnston, for six months. It is lamentable that the character of that brave regiment should thus be tarnished by three convictions from its ranks in one day, and for such disgraceful crimes. The Spectator of the 13th anticipates with pleasure the probability that the New Zealand Company is very near dissolution. As our contemporary's article on the subject is short, as well as pithy and substantially just, we subjoin it : — We are informed on good authority that the New Zealand Company cannot much lunger survive the atrophy with which it is afflicted, and there is every reason to believe that in the course of a tew months its precarious existence will be terminated. This intelligence cannot fail to gire general satisfaction in New Zealand, where the Company is felt to be a grievous obstruction to the progress of the Colony. During the three years in which its existence has been prolonged by Lord Grey, the Company has spent the whole of the money advanced by thu Government, has got more hopelessly and irretrievably into debt, itnd will be dissolved, possibly, without having confirmed to its purchasers by a secure title the land sold to them ten years ago. That one tithe of the money thus recklessly squandered would have sufficed for the aco » plishment of many objects of the greatest importance to the interests of the settlers there can be very little doubt. The land question might by this time have bsen ss« tisfactorily settled, aud the native title completely extinguished to all these lands in the Southern Province not required for their use. Steam might hive been introduced, connecting the separate and struggliugiet* tlenents formed hy the Company into one important and prosperous Colony, converting their present weakness into an element of strength aid infusing into them freih vigour and energy. But it is bootless to speculate on what might have been done for the benefit of the Colony, nince that does not seem to have troubled the Directors of the Company. Their last act is at once significant nnd characteristic, having spent the m. ney advanced by the Government and finding their dissolution inevitable, under the plea of compensation, a considerable portion of the land is granted lo the Absentees, depreciating theieby the value of the remainder, which under the terms of their agreement they are bound to surrender to the Government, and postponing indefinitely the prospect of raising any funds for immigration by tales of land, while the future sales of the Waste Lands will be burdened by a heavy debt to the Company with interest until the whole is discharged. There is no news of any interest from Nelson. The Examiner of the 2nd inst., in quite an optimist tone, thus describes the general condition and prospects of the settlement : — A steady increase has taken place m all industrial pursuits, which is now being accelerated by the final settlement ef all questions affecting land. From this cavie cultivation will receive a new impetus, and we expect to see a laree quantity of land broken up during the year. In stock the increase liai been considerable ; and our 53,348 sheep cannot fail in a few years of providing a large export of wool, and greatly enriching the settlement. Nelson now ttands at the head of the settlements in New Zealand in industrial wealth— in cultivation and stock it has far outstripped all the older ones» and we look with impatience to the early establishment of that educational institution, so wisely provided for when the settlement was formed, which we hope will give in that intellectual rank, without which our material advancement will be of little worth. From the Sub-Treasurer's statement it appears that the Revenue of Otago for the Quarter ending Dec. 31, 1849, was £636 17s. 4d., and the Expenditure, £463 7s. 3d A fresh seam of Coal, said to be of superior quality, had been found on Saddle Hill, and operations for working it had commenced j a dray-road from the place to the town was nearly completely A Dunedin Pioperty Investment Company, on the " Every man his own Landlord" principle, was in course of formation Preparations were in progress for the celebration of an Anniversary Fete on the 25th inst. .... The Settlers entertained an expectation that the Whaling Station at the Auckland Islands would prove a valuable market for their produce — that is. adds the News — " should we ever have an overplus in our own market."

It will be in the recollection of many of our readers that, more than a year since, an Address to Capt. Fitzßoy was prepared, and signed by a number of the inhabitants of Auckland and its vicinity, expressing gratification at Lord Stanley's vindication of the late Governor's personal character for honour, integrity, and disinterestedness, (as reported in the Lords' debates), and their good wishes for his future prosperity and happiness in life. The following Reply to this Address has been received by the Clara. It will be seen that in it, as well as in the Address which elicited it, there is a careful avoidance of every thing of a political or invidious a nature, — both the Address and the Reply having been, merely a gracefully

offered, and as gracefully acknowledged, tribute of personal esteem and good feeling. ' H. M. S. Arrogant, Lisbou, 15th October, 1849. Gentlemen, I have much pleasure in acquainting you that the expression »f your feelings owardi myself cony yed in the very gratifying Address by which you have honoured me,— has reached its destination. Permit me to thank you, in the most grateful manner, for this satisfactory testimonial. It is appreciated by my friends, an highly as by mystlf, and will be invaluable to my childrfn. I beg that you will accept my most sincere and cordial wishes for your own happineis and prosperity. Neither distance nor lapse of time has diminished the deep interest which I always felt in your community. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen; Your obedient humble serrant, Robert Fitzßoy, Captain, R.N. To the Resident! in the Northern part of New Zealand, who signed an Address to Capt. Fitzßoy, in 1848-9. Although the following letter which accompanied the above does not appear to have been designed for publication, we do not hesitate to avail ourselves of Mr. Rout's permission to insert it in our columns, as affording evidence of that studied abstinence from political allusions in the matter, to which we have just adverted, and also of Captain Fitz ßoy's continued kindly regard for his old friends here:— H. M. S. Arrogant, Lisbon, 15th October, 1849 S My dear Sir, It was a cause of additional gratification to me, in reading the Address to which I now send a reply, that your name should appear foremost among the numerous signatures, so well known to raysplf. I hops that you and your family are in health, and enjoying all the happineis that good consciences and. success can alone secure. In forbearing to enter into explanation, or any discussion of events so long gone by, and on which such difference of opinion existed— l trust that you and our friends will not disapprove of ra> course, I am anxious to express to them, and to yourself, my gratitude, and the be«t wishes of a sincere friend. I remain, my de».r Sir, Very truly your's Robert Fitzßoy. John Rout, Esq., Auckland.

Recent Deaths of Notable Persons. — Since our last summary under this heading, we find the following deaths recorded in the English p ipers: — in his 78th year, the Earl of Albemarle, formerly Master of the Horse to King WilliamlV., and also to our present Queen ; his lordship was well known as one of the staunchest Whigs of the old school, and one of the few remaining companions of Fox ; he was nephew of the celebrated Admiral Keppel : — Sir J. Hawkins Whitshed, the venerable Admiral of the Fleet ; he entered the navy in 1773, on board the Ranger sloop, on the Irish station, and subsequently served in the Kent, 74, on board which he was when an explosion took place which killed and wounded forty -two men ; in the Canada, in which he suffered shipwreck ; in the Diamond, in several hazardous enterprises during the war with our revolting colonies ; in the Amazon, and several other vessels ; from 1803 to 1807 he acted as Naval Adviser to the Viceroy of Ireland, planning various means of defending the coast of that country ; he afterwards succeeded Lord Gardner in the chief command at Cork, and commanded in chief at Portsmouth from 1821 till 1824 ; after various other eminent services, he became Admiral of the Fleet, January 8, 1844: — at Hong Kong, Rear Admiral Sir F. Collier, C. 8., Comman-der-in-Chief in the East Indies ; some months previously he had lost the use of one of his arms by a stroke of paralysis, and had purposed to pass the winter in the bracing air of Shanghai, but died suddenly a very few days after receiving an address from the merchants thanking him for his efforts to extirpate piracy in their seas : — in his 83rd year, Admiral of the White, Sir Edward W. C. R. Owen, G. C. 8., G. C. H., &c. ; he had served honourably for fifty years on full pay, and had been twenty two on half-pay : — General Sir George Anson, G. C. 8., Governor of Chelsea Hospital, and Colonel of the 4th Dragoon Guards ; he was born in 1769, and entered the Army in 1786, as cornet in the 16th Light Dragoons: — in Dublin, Sir John O. Vandeleur, G. C. 8., Colonel of the 16th Lancers; he was one of our most distinguished cavalry officers, and served in the army for the long peiiod of sixtyeight years, during which time he was employed in the West Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, the East Indies and the Peninsula ; he fought at Waterloo, and afterwards commanded the whole of the British cavalry from the time that the Marquis of Anglesey was wounded, till Louis XVIII entered Paris -.—aged 73, William Cunningiiame, Esq., of Lainshaw, N. 8., a gentleman well known for his writings on prophecy and Scripture chronology : — John Brooks, Esq., celebrated on account of his connexion with the Anti-Corn-Law League, and the prominent part which he took in local and general politics in Manchester : — William Ward, Esq., the eminent iron-master at Wolverhampton : — the French Military Surgeon — (we have not met with his name, and it merits nothing better than oblivion) — who tvas suspended by the Minister of War for having abandoned his post on the outbreak of cholera at Toulon, had fallen a victim to the disease fear of which had led him to his disgraceful desertioMJ of duty.— The musical world mourns the JaH of Strauss, the popular composer, -es^j^H

i of quadrilles, and waltzes ; and of Frederick Chofin, thee famous Pianist, who died at the comparative eaily age of thirty-nine.