SUPERINTENDENCY OF CANTERBURY. (From the " Lyttelton Times."

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 696, 15 December 1852, Page 3

SUPERINTENDENCY OF CANTERBURY. (From the " Lyttelton Times."

On Wednesday a deputation consisting of the Key. 0. Mathiasj Captain Simeon, Messrs. Watts, Russell, Fitzgerald, J. T. Cookson, Hamilton, Wakefield, Spowers, Birch, Draper, Pritchard, Porter, and the Hon. J. £>, Wortley, waited upon Mr. Godley to present him with the following Requisition to allow himself to be put in nomination •as Superintendent of this Province. The Reqnisition was, with scarce an exception, signed by every individual in the settlement who had access to it. Canterbury, Oct. 27, 1852. Sir, —An Act having passed the Imperial Parliament, whereby this settlement is constituted a sepai'ate Province, and is invested with the privilege of electing its own Superintendent, we, the undersigned, request that you will allow yourself to be put in nomination for that office. The ability and uprightness which you have displayed, and the general confidence Avhich you have inspired in the public mind during the time you have administered the affairs of the Association, naturally point you out as the proper person to fill the post of principal officer of Govei*nment, in the settlement which you have mainly contributed to establish. We anxiously hope that the new aspect of public affairs may induce you to alter your determination of returning to*) England; at all events, until the constitution about to come into operation shall be firmly established, and the final relations between the Canterbury Association and the settlement snail be satisfactorily adjusted. • We have the honour to be, Sir, Your very obedient servants, To J. R. Godley, Esq. The Requisition was read and presented by Mr. Birch to Mr. Godley, who replied as follows: —

Gentlemen, — It would be most unbecoming and most ungrateful in me to answer such an address as the one before me, presented in such a manner, and under such circumstances, in the language of ordinary compliment. The relations between you and myself are, I hope and believe, of such a nature as to justify me in talking over the matter familiarly, as with intimate friends. I have lived among the people of this settlement now for two years, in habits of constant and unreserved intercourse ; lam acquainted with everybody, and everybody is acquainted with me ; they have had the most ample opportunities of knowing my character, public and private, as well as my views on almost every other matter of public j interest connected with the colony. When, there- j fore, having such knowlego of me, they come forward, literally as one man, and press me with an affectionate earnestness which evidently comes j from the heart, to remain among them, and to accept the highest civil appointment in their power to bestow, I might be pardoned if such a proposal i excited in tny mind pride and satisfaction of no ordinary kind. Yet, in truth, the feelings uppermost in my mind just now are not those cf pride and satisfaction ; they are much rather of grief at being compelled to decline your offer, and a ,half remorseful doubt as to whether I am right in declining it. This subject has engaged my most anxious and painful consideration for some time, and I feel it due to you, with the view of showing you that I have not arrived lightly or capriciously at ft determination inconsistent with your wishes, to explain, at the risk of appearing egotistical, my position and intentions with respect to it. I left England in 1849, intending to remain away two years at the utmost, and making all my private arrangements with that view. Well, I nave now been absent from England for three years, and am just entering on the fourth. This prolonged absence is extremely inconvenient to me as regards my private affairs, and is the subject of repeated and urgent remonstrance on the part of my family and friends. It would be quite different, of course, if I had deliberately determined to become a New Zealand colonist, and had made my arrangements and preparations accordingly ; but 1 have never as yet entertained any such deliberate intention. It is very possible, nay probable, that I may be compelled by the state of my health to return here, after trying the experiment of living in England, but I have always intended to live there if L can. And if I am to live in England, it is really time that my return should not be much longer delayed. A man cannot have two countries ; at least he will not give himself fair play in the performance of his duties in either, if

he has. Every year, every month that I spend here makes a i'rebh gap in my home sympathies and home interests, while from the precarious a id temporary nature of my position, 1 am i.nvible to take root and ft el settled here. I have now performed, to the best of my ability, one definite ta«k, that of managing the Colonial affairs of the Canterbury Association. By the last mail the Committee have informed me that they have no further occasion for my services, and the routine duties which must be performed until their successors are appointed, do not in any way require my presence. There comes, therefore, a sort of turning point or epoch when I may, I think, legitimately and properly fulfil my intention of returning home. If I stay, 1 must commence an entirely new career, th.it of a New Zealand politician, and holder of Government office ; and this I confess lam not prepared to do. I do not see so distinct and positive a call of duty as to deI rnand of me that I should radically alter, indeed abandon, my whole plan of life. * For if I undertook the Superintendency and j determined to stay four years and a half longer here, I might as well, and in fact would, give up all idea of England, and lay myself regularly to make New Zealand my home. I know it has been pressed upon me from every quarter with a friendly importunity which I can never forget, that I might allow myself to be elected Superintendent, and hold office for a few months, just to set the machine going. But I think the friends who made this suggestion Will see on reflection that such a course would not be advisable, hardly even proper, or consistent vath due respect for my successor or the office. The period assigned by law to the Superintendent's tenuie of office is quite short enough for maturing and carrying out anything deserving the name of a policy. To shorten it still further by subdivision, to make one man initiate plans and appoint officers, while another, immediately afterwards, would have the sole responsibility of carrying out the plans, and working with the men, would not be fair either to the former or the latter, and would, I am sure, be very detrimental to the public service. It seems, too, natural and appropriate that with the introduction of institutions of self-government, the direction of public affairs should pass into the hands of bona fide colonists, men who are thoroughly identified with the settlement in prospects and interests, and do npt look forward to leaving it more or less immediately for England. I had hoped until lately that I might be present at the first session of the Provincial Council, and assist at the transfer of the waste lands to that body. But in the first place I now find that there is no chance of the session taking place within such a period as would allow me to be present at it, and also to go to England next year, for it would be very imprudent in me to meet an English climate first in winter. And, besides, the intelligence lately received, has made it clear to me that the waste lands will not be transferred by the Association to the Provincial Council at all. On the whole then, gentleman, I have come to the determination or declining your offer, and persevering in my original intention of leaving the colony at the close of this year. Permit me once more to tender my most sincere and grateful thanks to you, and those who have deputed you, and to express a hope that you will not think the worse of me for what I have said to-day.