MR. EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1716, 20 August 1862, Page 5

MR. EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD.

[From the "Canterbury Pre»i."J Thera ore some men whose lives can never be wrii and whose actions and character posterity wi *4r rightly estimate. It will probably remai So. ever a puzzle, how it happened that one wh «* so close a reasoner, so clear a thinker, an ** haRPy a writer upon political and economic* "Vests one who at the same time was ever labourin; a?tarry' into practical action the speculations of th MflyJ-how such a man should have lived and die* «Tmooratively unknown as a statesmen of his age Sony of the qualities requisite for a practical statesmai {St Wakefield possessed in a pre-eminent degree. H K 8 n amazing fertility of design, an inexhaustibl «o«er of inventing expedients, and a most resdlut. tenacity in pursuing his ends. Though not ' mucl 'accustomed to speaking in public, his language wa powerful and impressive; though never fluent, he wai Sever tedious; and when roused by passion he displayet Lent powers which early cultivation and exercist mijjht have raised to those of a commanding orator. Apart from those passages in his life which cast t veil over his subsequent career, Mr. Wakefield, whils he possessed the singular faculty of fascinating so manj of those with whom he camo in contact, seemed tc possess the apparently opposite quality of filling other*! with a feeling of suspicion and mistrust which amounted to dread. The result was that, during a great part oi his life, he was working behind the scenos, and allowing others to reap the fruits of his labours. Whethei this habit of concealment arose from a consciousness that his name was the signal with so many for an irreconcilable dislike and suspicion, or whether it was the character of his mind to enjoy tho consciousness of power without its display, we cannot say; but it is probably the fact, that more matter has issued from his brain, to which when printed other names have been appended, than from that of any other man. To give anything like a connected story of his life is out of our power: the data are wanting to us. Wo can but touch on one or two of the most prominent features in his career. His first work was a small book called a"ALettcr from Sydney by Robert Gouger," so happily written that it was generally received as the bona fide work °f one w h° bad been long resident in the country it professed to describe. In this publication Mr. Wakefield first propounded those theories with which his name has ever since been connected. He was the first writer who attracted public attention to the peculiar phases displayed by certain political problems under the conditions of society existing in new and half-settled countries. He deduced and expounded tho laws by which labor is related to land, as no writer had hitherto explained them; and, followin" out his conclusions, he proposed that the waste lands of Colonies, instead of being given away by free grants, shotdd bo disposed of in such a manner as to populate those lands themselves. In a work called " America and the Americans," and in his " Art of Colonization," tho same theory is further propounded, and illustrated with a wonderful profusion of fact and argument. But it was not only in these his known works that his peculiar views were expounded; in letters, public and private, in pamphlets, in the daily press, and above all, in evidence before Parliamentary Committees, ho laboured hardly and successfully to impress his doctrines on the public mind. But perhaps the great failure of Mr. Wakefield's life—for with such powers his life cannot bo called other than a failure—arose from the fact that he never had the opportunity—never was allowed—to carry into operation his own views and his own schemes. It may fairly be said that nowhere, except in Canterbury, has the Wakefield theory had any thing like a fair chance. In South Australia no scheme could have withstood tho folly of the first Governors. In Nelson, Wellington aud New Plymouth, the difficulty of getting the land, and the hostility of the local Government, would have frustated the operation of any scheme whatever. In ' Canada, to which he proposed to apply his high price system, in spite of the difficulty of half the lands having gone into the hands of private individuals and having been left waste and uncultivated, the Government shrank from the experiment. In New South Wales and Victoria, the Government introduced tho Wakefield idea of the high price, but failed to realise the co-relative idea, namely that the money received for the land should be expendod in colonizing it. In Otago and Canterbury alone, tho system was tried under favourable conditions, and was worked by men who were friendly to the experiment. In Canterbury alone was the system retained and allowed to realise its results. Mr. Wakefield's first great practical work was the share he took in Lord Durham's mission to Canada. The Canadas at that time were in a very disturbed and revolutionary state, and the Earl of Dmhnra was sen* with a special commission to inquire into and report on their grievances. He was accompanied by Mr. Wakefield and by the late Mr. Charles Buller. The great change recommended iu Earl Durham's report was the union of Upper and Lower Canada under one Governor aud in one colony. So unpopular and so unexpected was this proposal that Lord Durham's secretaries were even accused of having taken advantage of his failing health to procure his signature to a j report of the contents of which he was ignorant. Lord i Durham's death prevented his reply to such a charge, but Mr. Charles Buller gave it a triumphant refutation. There can bo no doubt that Mr. Wakefield and Mr. Buller were the main authors of that celebrated document, and that some of the recommendations it contained differed w> far from Lord Durham's supposed opinions, as to sanction the idea that his lordship's views had been greatly influenced by his assistants in the embassy. The union of the Canadas and the introduction of responsible government into that colony must be regarded as a work in which Mr. Wakefield had a great share; and the experience of now a quarter of a century has fully established the soundness of his views. It is impossible to afford the same praise to his conduct under Lord MetcalPs government. Lord Metcalf was one of those great statesmen who "lave been raised from time to time in the school of India. Having risen to the highest ranks in the Indian Government, he was, on returning to England, appointed to the governments successively of Jamaica and Canada. He succeeded to the latter government just at the moment when the ministerial system was on its trial, and he very soon quarrelled with his ministers on the matter of the right of making certain appointments. Tho ministry comprised two men who are now themselves in the enjoyment of colonial government: Mr. Hincks, the late Governor of the Windward Islands, and now we believe of British Guiana, and Sir Dominic Daly, the Governor of South Australia. There was at tho same time a split in the ministry itself, which resulted in the resignation of the latter. We need pursue the history of these times no further than to state that Mr. Wakefield took the part of Sir Charles Metcalf against bis ministers, and against, as was thought at the time, all the principles and opinions of which he had been the advocate and representative. The Governor-Gene-ral carried his point so far as to obtain a majority in the next Assembly, after a struggle which convulsed the colony from one end to the other. Mr. Wakefield returned to England in the midst of this turmoil, and it wa3 thought that a pamphlet which he published immediately on his return, stating the Governor's case with singular skill and power, was tho principal means of preventing Lord Metcalf s recall, which would otherwise have taken place, Taking the story as told in &>rd Metcalf s life, we can have no hesitation in condemning his conduct. His education in tho Indian system of Government had obviously incapacitated eveu his great mind from grasping the position which a Governor ought to fill in a country administered on the English system. But no such excuse can be urged for Mr. Wakefield, whose vigorous support of the Governor against the ministry is unaccountable and iaconsistcnt; and his own defence fails to produce a contrary impression. It is certain that his Canadian career, whilst it enlarged the public opinion of his varied powers and great capacity, did not increase the small sphere within which he was regarded with confidence or admiration. Mr. Wakefield's next ftepwas to engage in the colonization of New Zealand; and he was for some years tho moving spirit in '«e Hew Zealand Company ; a body which exhibited during its career the most opposite qualities—patriot's"! and courage and undaunted enterprise, together with duplicity, disregard of engagements, and recklessness as to the interests of others. Wo shall not enter upon the history of this company. The curious may find it written in the books of the chronicles of the corporation : in other words, in the yoluminous reports which during seven or eight years issued annually from the directors. The war between the Company and tho Government is a matter of history, and wo believe that in that long and angry correspondence, almost the whole of the letters bearing the signature of the Governor or Deputy-Governor of the Company were the work of Mr. Wakefield's pen. IJ ut no amount of ability could save tho Company from r jin ; and in despair at the failure of all their schemes they determined to appeal to Parliament for vengeance on the Government to whose opposition they attributed their downfall. A Select Committee of the House of Commons was moved for and obtained and it became of importance to lay before the Committee all the documents which would explain their case. The directors resolved to print the whole case, and those of our readers who arc familiar with New Zealand literature, remember a certain very fat volume entitled, "additional papers" appended to the annual Te P»rt, Mr. Wakefield undertook, the task of preparing, arranging, nnd correcting theso papers, and Posing ftom though. ty f preS 3 j wtf tty voluma

SKfwhLT- UUWn L^ the enormouß amount of Sola IT hj hu} ? ower ™ mind was capable. The whol& volume was commenced and published in a verv • jeajfi H ovLtSe d hj? ( P°wers, and before the Committee met he was sinitt™ with apoplexy; Absolute rest, silence, and3HS for nearly two years, enabled him gradually to S agam upon ;th6 work of his life. The padiameSv | wiV,the New Zealand (S^ffi S^ ec w eBU r tofth u e Commi "ec, were made during, of them I 8$ the W ° rld - He alwa y s ' ot them; but they tore mainly the work of hit afwahlT^r 1 COl ' CagUe ' Charles Buller! f and Ss&ras 1 * co , uld expect or *** wi Zfi«? Wakefield's introduction to Mr. Godley don £ h e Sh VBn i W J ,I S h BUCCe ? ded his P artial I non to health. And by the time the scheme of the Canterbury Settlement was ripe for execution! he wm able to afford the aid of his sagacious coansels and vaß expenence. Jn 1849 he sustained a severe loss in the SSLS S' Charlc ? Bu J ler ' who had noUong before ?Sftf3S2ft the G °y crnment - In l85 "th« SDrinTof a h« / U " 7 eXpl t lned and In the 2fS! / f am ° he S avo his active co-operation to the formation of the Colonial Reform Society, a confederation of members of Parliament of every shade ot political opinion, whose object was to destroy the despotism of governors and the oligarchies of officials which were spreading disaffection throughout the whole b™ a lT Pir^%, SuCh a , leagUo was to ° formidaSc to be resisted, and the result was the passing of the new constitutions for the Australian Colonies in the spring of that year. The New Zealand constitution™! delayed two years longer, and Mr. Wakefield's last work m England was the part he took, in concert with Mr. jjox and some other colonists who were in England at the time, in urging upon the Government the pass&e of that measure.- In 1853 Mr. Wakefield arrived in Wew Zealand, to spend the remainder of his days amidst the settlements his genius had mainly contributed to form. He resided at Wellington, and was returned as a member for the Hutt, in the first House ot Representatives, in 1854. We cannot now write the History of the session; one remark is sufficient, namely that tho scenes of Canada, under Lord Metcalf, were repeated in Now Zealand under Colonel Wynvard A second time in his life he threw the weight of his genius on tho side opposite to that which he had previously advocated. It was solely owing to his counsels that the establishment of the responsible government was delayed for another year. But there was not in this case any pamphlet to paint in a favourable light the conspicuous incompetence of tho Governor, and Colonel Wynyard, less fortunate than Lord Metcalf, was superseded in the Government. But there was one other feature in the session of 1854 which ought to be mentioned, because it has exercised a wide influenco on the fortunes of New Zealand. On the passing of tho act for settling the management of the waste lands, Mr. Wakefield brought forward the schemo which was called tho " working settlers clauses," and which form tho basis of the land regulations at present in force at Auckland. This is not the occasion on which to argue the wisdom of that proposal, but it is impossible to pass over the fact that they are a direct denial of the Wakefield theory. It is a remarkable fact, which no biographer can fail to notice, that the last act of Mr. Wakefield's life was, to overthrow the whole system which he had been labouring for thirty years to establish. Having advocated in theory the necessity of selling land at a price sufficient to realize certain objects; having argued the necessity of keeping the labouring classes from the possession of land, until they had realized sufficient capital to employ it beneficially; when called on to make a practical scheme for the disposal of waste lands in New Zealand, he proposed to give it away in small allotments to the laboring classes. Shortly after reluming from the stormy session of 1854, Mr. Wakefield experienced a recurrence of his former illness, and was compelled once more to retire from active life. He lived for seven years in entire seclusion, and died without suffering at the age of sixty-six. It is not unlikely that Mr. Wakefield may have left behind him much interesting matter which may some day seo the light. His correspondence was very largo, and he was accustomed to retain copies of all his letters of any importance. Considering the persons with whom he was in communication, and the subjects of his correspondence, we should imagine that his private letters would form a volume of great interest, tor he was a most admirable letter writer. But his great forte was his power of conversation. In that he was ' indeed without a rival; not that he possessed the ordinary powers of a talker. His qualities were neither convivial nor social, was in tho private interview, [ seated by his own fire, with his magnificent bloodhounds at hia ioofc, -nrhot* K« had «* j>o»«* *«. *-*.»« j , ui « wiusv .~ * serve, that his singular powers of facination had full play. Few men could resist his influence except those, and they were not a few, who resolutely refused to submit to a seance. Those who remember the cottage at ; Regate where statement used to come for counsel, and ministers have sought advice, can never forget the rare enjoyment of an evening spent in the company of this most remarkable man., Nor can they cease to mourn over that sad excentricity in his moral sense, which seemed to hang like a heavy chain around the neck of his genius, and which alone prevented his rising to the highest positions open in a free country to those who ' combine the speculations of a theoretical politician with the sagacity of a practical statesman.

CRAVATS AND CRINOLINE. The new generation is becoming self-conscious in dress as in all other matters, and instead of admitting changes as of old, without reference to any law* higher than caprice or convenience, is trying to introduce all at once great reforms based on some ideal standard of grace and principle. Paris, not making much of politics just now, has declared war on men's evening dress, while the attacks on the women's crinoline, never long intermitted, have recently become still more fierce and malignant. As usual, under such circuniitnnces, all kinds of experiments are being tried, and most of them attended with very little success. Society hat*, it appears, decreed that evening dress is ugly, fantastical, and expensive, and decided on change, but without any very distinct idea of the direction iu which change will be successful. One citadel, indeed, has been carried by a coup d« main, but the victors seem inexpressibly puzzled "hit to do with the conquest which has illustrated their social heroism. The white neckcloth, ugliest of integutneuts, which made every hindsome man look like a priest, and everybody else like a waiter, which it took such trouble to tie, and which when tied seemed alwavs as if it had been alept in, has been formally sent to Coventry. Nobody is to rejoice any more in a spotless neckcloth ; but that glorious leat achieved, the conquerors pause. What is a man to wear! "The want is a bit of colour," remark thn youngsters, greatly influenced by artists, and pink and lavender ties aro for the hour the rage. They are not bad-looking at all on very tall aud very florid young raen, whose colour is only " toned" by the bright ribbon under the chins, but the innovation cannot last. It is the old who bare rule, and a man ol sixty with a bare n-ck and a pink tie, looks as ridiculous as a dowager of the same a ß e in a decolletee dress, and peticoats of sixteen. The colours do not suit psllid men, and Parisians are pallid, while in their violent contrast to chat and waistcoat they offend principle to good taste, " Ob, but we will alter the coat also, breams Paris, delighted at a change so violent, so picturesque, and affording such scope for non-political gossip ; so behold the elegant in pink neck-ribbon, light waistcoat, and blue flowing coat with gilt bultona, differ, ineonly in cut from the costume which was fashionable when ''Tom and Jerry" was the The innovation is bold, but it will never do. I eople in these days will not lay themselves up in lavender, and conomy enters into every calculation. A dress coa a'not kept to be taken out once a year, and for habitual wear, blue clotb, which is spoilt by the slightest stain, ruined by a drop splashed from tbe coffee-cup, oj^ useleas when a glass of claret has been carried a little too ".kit i in olerably expensive. Besides, none but hj se who look -I. i an/thing real.;, succee injWuj, and the mass of young men, concei ed as their sis trs may think them, are generally conscious of .o much o Hi requires the palliative of a " gentlemanly' attire The colours most pleasing loan artist's eye rake mediocrity too conspicuous. The result of reform will therefore, we may fairly begin to hope, be acomZp « which, while banishing tbe white cravat and °„3ta the abomination called a drew-coat-which theffii must have originally copied from the crows will leari our garments sad-coloured, and our necks aTb c«. cSate and Eng.idi prejudice w 11 admit lie black tunic, made much looser, and there ore more Jowioe in outline, with an inappreciable collar and a black cravat which only defines the throat, i. the hand-sotn-Bt most convenient, ana on the whole, most econoS dress tbe tailor has yet succeeded in manufacturing too, of equality in dress, which no other costume does, and there is scarcely a tendency l re observable than that towards the extinction of forworn are >n dress seldom the victims of abatract nrbWDl but even here there appears some danger o EH■ froS the absence of moderation. The capital eutet.ee On crinoline recently passed by a ladies sentence, ou P i au dim of everybody, except <"**« and-impracicble ffiS offending garment r» i been worn Mig enough to

with a sudden conviction of the disappearance of taste. Bad or excessive crinoline, toe garment which looks as if its wearer had an inverted umbrella under her dress, ■ or. which swells till the; form it was meant to adorn looks like the fat toy which rocks hut never turns over, we may abandon to the fate it deserves. But crinoline in modermion rounds every outline, consequently lends grace to every figure. Let any husband who doubts the fact, and.sighs angrily over the limited space now left in his brougham, ask his wile to come to brnukfdSt, Or worse still, to appear in full dress without it. If the word *' draggle tailed'' does not rise to his lips, its repression will Kpeak much for his courtesy. The excessive expense, so much talked about, is a figment based on an abstract irritation at milliners' bills. It is convenient to abuse the fashions instead of scolding one's wife, and the paymaster gladly avails himself of an opportunity for a good hearty grumble without any personal application. Nobody railed at the expense of six flounces, which required as much silk, were opposed to every conceivable principle of and "scratched" all the am ill women out of the social race. The danger of tire is imaginary, as three half-pence a yard will nmke aoy muslin fire proof, aud though Angelina with her dress falling to pieces might look a little 100 much like the new picture of Cinderella, she would bo in no danger of life. As to the impropriety of the dress of which caricaturists and photographers make eo much, it is the merest conventionalism. It is certainly a little unlucky that crinoline and short petticoats should have been introduced together; but alter all, what were ankles made for except to be seen? Herring's idea of "feet which, like little mice, peeped in and out," was a pretty conceit, but there are older texts than Herring's, written by men who understood beauty at least as well as the old rhymster. And alter all within the limits of civilised and English decorum, beauty is the coin rule for women's dress, and though we trespass on the forbidden ground, we supposed, as we write in defence of the beloved institution, we may be allowed to say that the crypto-Blooraeriarn which came in with crinoline restrained it within those limits. Virtuous letter-writers and irresistible John Leech have alike forgotten the discussion which preceded crinoline, Mrs. Jamieson's clever papers, and the oversugge«iive paragraphs strong-minded ladies used to print anent ladders, cold wind*, and feminine costume. Tbe dress is proper enough, if it in properly worn, and the edging —is that the right word ? not made quite so transparent, and the " frills"— that is right certainly —not quite so obtrusively visible, »nd the stocki 'gs some colour a little less prononcc than criuu „ People can dress for show if they like, in any costume, and though we prefer long petticoats on the principle that dress should be drapery, still London mud puts in a protest not to be disregarded. The real annoyance of crinoline lies in the room it demands, and if it induces us to widen our doorways, make the sides of cabs convex instead of straight, enlarge the chairs at the opera, and kick down the rabbit pens called pews, why, so much the better for us all.— Spectator.

Fouoeuy at Melbouknk.—At Bow-street police court, on the 26th of April, a young man named Duncan Cathcart Paterson was brought before Mr. Corrie on a warrant issued by Mr. C. P. Hackett, a magistrate at Melbourne, Australia, charged with forging a receipt for 186/. 4s. 6d. for money pretended to have been paid into the Bank of Victoria upon the Government account, aiid with other forgeries and embezzlements to the amount of 400/., committed by him as a clerk in the office of the Commissioners of Roads and Bridges at Melbourne. The prisoner was brought up in custody of sub-inspector llyall of the Melbourne police. Mr. Ryall produced an authenticated copy of the depositions taken at Melbourne with reference to the specific charge of forgery on which the warrant was issued, from which it appeared that the prisoner was discharged from, his employment as a clerk of the Commissioners of Roads and Bridges in December last. While in that service it had been part of his duty to collect every month the money paid for tolls to various toll-collectors, and to pay it into the Bank of Victoria. After his discharge he received from Mr. Shennick, the toll-collector at Kilburn-gate, near Melbourne (who supposed him to bo still in the service), the sum above stated, and returned to the office a document purporting to be the bank " slip," or receipt, acknowledging the payment of that sum into the bank. Ho then left the colony and returned to England in the Great Britain, travelling under the name of Clarke, and accompanied by a woman who passed as his wife, The fraud was discovered immediately after the vessel sailed, and a telegraphic message was sent to Liverpool to provide for his apprehension on the arrival of the Great Britain at Liverpool. The prisoner, however, eluded the vigilance of the police at Liverpool. He was still at laiw urhftt»-M» Uvall. •" u - u -''" J \—- from Melbourne to apprehend him, arrived in England by the next packet, and succeeded in tracing and apprehending him. Upon being brought to Scotlandyard the prisoner stated that the woman who passed us his wife had in her possession an order from the Bank of Victoria upon a London bank for 700/., of which 200/. was part of the proceeds of the forgery. He was committed to the House of Detention to await Sir George Grey's warrant for his removal to Victoria to take his trial. The Sadleir Frauds.—The name of the notorious John Sadleir has just turned up again in connection with a final decision in a case arising out of one of his frauds. He mortgaged certain estates in Ireland to a Mr. Eyre, and subsequently sought to borrow 95,000/. on security of the same estates from the London nnd County Joint Stock Bunk. The directors of, the bank lent him a large portion of the money, but learning afterwards of the mortgage to Mr. Eyre they refused to complete their advance unless he could obtain a release from that gentleman. He did so, giving Mr. Eyre in place of the securities which he had held a number of shares in the Royal Swedish Railway and a promissory note of Mr. Dargan's lor 12,000/. On Sadlier's death, both the shares and the promissory note were found to be forgeries. The question then arose whether Mr. Eyre of the hank was entitled to the proceeds of the sale" of the estates which had since uiken place. The Irish Court of Chancery decided in favour of the Bank, but the House of Lords has now reversed that decision, and declared in favour of Mr. Eyre. How Vast is CiUnomnb.—The production of crinoline isgtoingon ata flourishing rate in Sheffield. One firm alone sendsoutho less than 20 tons weekly oi the delicate material, total weekly " make" of the cutlery capital amounts to no less than 150 tons. This rate of manufacture has been maintained throughout tho whole of the past winter, and promises to increase as the summer advances. A Iready enough crinoline has been manufactured at Sheffield to encircle the globe a;ain and again.