The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 437, 22 June 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, JUNE 22, 185 0.

Private letters from California are read with peculiar interest, especially when they come from parties known as trustworthy by those to whom they write here. Some of these have been kindly placed at our disposal for the information of the public. We have two written to friends in Auckland by Captain J. M. Gill, who is sufficiently known to many of our readers to render his statements secure of receiving attention. Indeed, however, their own inherent character of truthfulness and impartiality would command consideration. We find in his accounts, perhaps, on the whole, the most strikingly saddening descriptions of Californian adventure which we have met with. We glean a few specimens. He says — " Dear Captain R., I intended many times to have written to you sooner, but such is the dreadful state of things here that it is difficult to get one's mind into a writing train ; for you cannot form the slightest conception of the general commercial ruin of this place. Goods are sold for less than the duty charged by the Customs, let alone the expense of landing, which is heavy." In faithful accordance with this is the same evidently honest writer's description

in another letter which begins, — Dear G , what a most fortunate [thing] you were not lured with the gold mania of this wretched country. There is nothing hut one general commercial wreck. Such is the dreadful sacrifice of ships and cargoes that we are half mad. There is no gold in the city (San Francisco) nor money, no employment, though plenty at the diggings. But we cannot all go to dig." We are told by the same writer in these letters of a splendid French ship of 900 tons sold for sixteen hundred dollars ; of many vessels in the harbour of San Francisco in debt, and therefore unable to get away ; of ships seized and sold at the Sheriff's sale at one twentieth part of the value ; — these are illustrations of the facts of the case which will not fail to make their impression on the minds of business men. But there is more-tr-much more — than this. The same writer says, — " In the present state of things, a ship-load of timber, bricks, and lime, will not sell for the amount of duties and conveyance on shore. And it is very little that will. It is altogether a most astonishing country. The Gamblers, Lawyers, and Doctors net all the money." Without concuiring in the writer's classification of the gold- sharks, we regard this sailor-like expression of senti - ment as very significant. The Gamblers have their large share in mulcting the Californian dupes : the Lawyers, now that, as a sure concomitant of increasing population, litigation is increasing too, have their share. : and the Doctors, in a country where disease is so rife, have their share. The morals of California seems to be at a a low ebb indeed. We can see this in the tone of the newspapers, which — while they do not absolutely repudiate religion, — yet sneer at it, and seem to regard the Bible as no better than a jest-book, or, at most, a book to be re« ferred to, for some reference to point an editorial bit of wisdom or witticism. Captain Gill says, in one of the letters before us, " Sunday is the great day here for gambling, riot, and amusement, — although there is very little money in town, or expected till next rainy season (December) brings the diggers from the mines." In another letter, we are informed that, in one of the places of worship in San Francisco, " the sermon made the congregition laugh, as the Pieacher was laughing most of the time." The writer may well add, as he does, that though they might be religious men, they had " a singular manner" of showing it. An additional indication of what Sabbath observance is taken for in San Francisco, is found in the statement that on the Sunday they have " music, gambling, boat-races, and such like, and the house carpenter's hammer going alongside the church." And this is the state of things into which Christian men, led on by the love of gain, plunge themselves ! And next comes out information respecting supplies of food. " Talk of sending bread here ! Some of the finest American bread has been sold at two cents per ib. In the wet weather you might see bread of first quality shot out into the pathway to improve the road, with quantities of bullock -hides to improve the muddle of the roads." Again, there may be seen " ironmongery lying in all directions in the mud, with carts, gigs, and nails to ballast ships with. The whole place is literally loaded with the goods of all nations. No one has the slightest notion of this place until he arrives here. When the anchor is down, the trouble begins. Whole cargoes are swamped in the ships' expenses — duties, labour, conveyance on shore, &c. Some do not clear at this, and all nations are involved in the general wreck. We leave these statements to speak for themselves — intending, however, to return to the subject. But we trust that the California fever has passed its crisis in Auckland, with every prospect of the restoration of all concerned to health both of body and of mind.

By the arrival of the barque Monarch, we have Wellington Papers to the 12th instant. The Criminal Sittings of the Supreme Court commenced on the morning of June 1. The case of engiossing importance was that of the men charged with the murder of the lad Ellis, the ship keeper of the General Palmer. The trial, as might have been expected, excited much interest, and the Court was crowded in every part. The indictment as explained by the Attorney -General, charged Good as principal in the first degree, and McAusland and Jones as principals in the second degree by aiding and abetting Good. The case occupied the Court during the whole of Monday the 3rd and Tuesday the 4th instant. The verdict was " Guilty against Good, and Not Guilty against McAusland and Jones." As to Good's guilt, the evidence seems to have been of the most conclusive character. As the Attorney - General expressed it — " the whole weight of the evidence pointed to him." The remarks of the Spectator on this subject are so much in accordance with our own views that we introduce them here : — In this instance it is to be observed that ai often happens in similar cases, by a speciet of infatuation on the part of the criminal the principal evidence against him, the body of the murdeied man, was left on board the vessel, when it might have been so easily otherwise dupoied of to bear nitness against the murderer, and it is important to note this, since it would

have been difficult, if not impossible under the circumstances, to prove a murder had been committed unless the body had been found. Thus, by an inscrutable Providence, are the evidences of guilt often unwittingly furnished by the criminal himself, so surely, sooner or • later, does puuislunent follow on the 1 eels of Clime, Raro anteeedentem scelcstum Deseruit pede Pcena claudo. The present case furnishes another illustration, if any were wanted, of the evils of convictism, and the state to which this colony would have been reduced if the lettlers had not unanimously resisted Lord Grey's proposal for the introduction of convicts into New Zealand. Good was a runaway convict from Van Diemeu's Land. He had previously been charged with robbery in Wellington, he had only been liberated from gaol a fortnight when he closed his career by the commission of this barbarous and revolting murder. The records of the Supreme Court shew that the great proportions of ciimes committed in this settlement are by eicapeil convicts from the neighbouring p-nal colonies, and, if we suffer so much from their proximity, we can readily imagine what the social condition of this colony would have been, if it had become the receptacle of the outcasts and felon of the mother country. Monday the 17th inst., had been fixed upon for the wretched man's execution. He was attended by the Rev. J. J. P. O'Reily, but had not made any confession of his crime that reached the public. A note not unworthy of copying appears in the Spectator of the 12th from Mr. Pulham, then Master of the Government Brig Victoria. It has reference to a Letter published in the Independent in which sharp comments were made on t\ie General Management of the Brig. To the Editor of the New-Zealand Spectator. Wellington, Ist June, 1850. Sir,— Will you be good euough to insert the fact I here tuiounce to you, which surpasses all my experience. Mr. Chapman the Judge, Mr. Fox the Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company, and Mr. Woodhouse, whilst they acknowledge my courtesy to them, absolutely refuse to pay for their passage. I must fetd, and my family also, upon their empty compliments. I am, lir, Your obedient servant, William Pulhaj*, Master Govsrnment brig Victoria, Upon the whole subject then raised, the Spectator has the following remarks which we deem by no means unworthy of a place in our columns : — We publish to day a short note from Capt. Pulhavn, commander of the Government brig Victoria referring to a letter in the Independent, on which we wished to make a few observations, but have been prevented until now, from the press of more important matter. The letter in the Independent, whit h is intended as an attack on the Government, supplies the list of pusien— gers in the brig, and we shall not err, from its style, and the spirit that animates it, in conjecturing its author to be Mr. Fox, the Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company, who seems to fill up his "spare halfhours " for waut of better employment, in inditing these diatribes for the columns ot the Independent. We are told in the letter that the Government brig left the harbour of Nelson about eight o'clock on the morning > of Friday the 24th, " the wind bting fresh and fair for Wellington,'' but, that owing to the detention occasioned by taking on board a valuable horse belonging to one of the passengers, and the delay of the passengers in getting on board, the vessel did not sail till about noon. It ii stated " that had the Government bten worth stunsails," the brig should bate made Cape Terawiiiby mid-day on Saturday, and been snug at an anchor in Port Nicholson by sunset ; but that " meeting with a south-paster before rounding the Cape, the passage was prolonged four days, the vessel not «^ arriving at Wellington until Thursday morning at < nine o'clock. It is clear, however, from Mr. Fox's own showing, that if the passengers had been more punctual,—but for the delay in getting ou board the hone, (which belonged to Mr, Fox, »nd for which no freight was charged.— the four hours of "a wind fr. sh and fair," thus trifled with and lost would, without the aid of stunsails, have brought the brig into her destined port on Saturday evening, and have made the passage a short and prosperous one. We then have a bitter lamentation on the short-commons and meagre fare * provided for the passengers, the fault of which, (of course) is laid to the Government. A short explanation will set this right both as regards the Government and the Commander of the brig. As far as ihe Government was concerned, Mr. Fox and his family received their passage free, being charged by the captain 7s. 6d. a day for their diet, which it is the exclusive province of the latter to provide, and with which the Government have no concern. Shortly after the arrival of the brig at Nelson we are informed a pleasure trip was projected to Astolabe Roads (Mr. Fox, we. believe, being one of the • proposed party), and the captain being desirous on his part of rendering the trip agreeable to his pasien* gers, laid in a good supply of fresh meat ; the intention was, however, afterwards abandoned, and the captain was obliged to give the fresh meat to hit crew, the affair proving a dead loss to him. To secure himself against a similar loss, and not knowiug what delays might aiise from his passengers, the captain had, on hiu departure for Wellington, arranged that the fresh provisions should be brought off to the vessel on d her leaving the harbour of Nelson. Owing to some " delay or neglect on the part of the person from whom, the provisions were ordered, this was not done, and. the vessel sailed without them. We cannot help sus« pectiug, however, a good deal of exaggeration in the highly wrought picture presented to us of the cabin accommodations, for although Mr. Fox indulges in a sly chuckle about killing the Lieutenant- Governor's^ turkey, if the fare was as indifferent as he describes it to have been, how little soever he might have cared about keeping himself in good case, we can hardly believe that his regard (or Mrs. Fox's comfoit, which must have been an object of greater consideration to him than his own, would not nave induced him to try and " ootain a wholesome meal" even though it should have been at his own expense ; but whatever became of the Lieuteuant-Goveraor'B turkeys, Mr. Fox's es- , caped scot-free,— lix turkeys were put on board the brig by him at Nelson, and six were duly landed at Wellington. The sneer at the albata plate is natural enough for one who, no doubt, was burn with a silver spoon in his mouth, and expects to be served with no counterfeit, that nothing but solid silver should come " betwixt the wind and his nobility." Most persona will be inclined to think that a decent substitute "foi» silver answers well enough in a colony, particularly at sea, that Mr. Fox would in this respect have been an advocate for economy, and have commended a frugal expenditure ; at all events, had silver instead of albata plate been found on board the brig, it would no doubt have furnished him with another topic on which to

expatiate, — another illustration of Government extrava. gance. Captain Pulham complains, with reason, that while Mr. Fox withholds from him his due, be loads him with empty compliments, thus adding insult to when he talks of giving the amount to some public institution, it would be well if he learned to he just before he is generous. To sum up all, Mr. Fox receives from the Government (as far as they ore concerned) a free passage foi himself and family, his home and six turkeys—his letter, we presume, must be taken as a " retort couiteous," a slight acknowledgment on his part of the civility that has been shewn him.

Mechanics' Institute. — It was only by a circumstance which we could neither have foreseen nor over-ruled that a notice did not appear in our last respecting the Lectuie given on Tuesday night, in the Hall of the Mechanics' Institute, by Mr. T. S. Forsaitii. The subject — " Oliver Ctomwell and his Times" — was treated by the Lecturer with his usual ability, and with a felicitous maintenance of his own views, without giving cause of any just offence to those Avho thought differently He, however, had left his theme unfinished, and the Committee of the Institute have requested him to complete it at an early day. We learn with much regret the probable loss of the Gazelle, with three persons on boaid, one being our respected townsman, Mr. John Matthews, brother of Dr. Matthews. The little, and we fear very crazy vessel, having been out for ten days, without any intelligence having been received of her, Dr. Matthews sent out another vessel on a sort of voyage of investigation. The result has been, however, to confirm the fears previously entertained. Tokens of a wreck on the reef of Rangitoto have been seen, which leave little doubt of a melancholy tale to be told.