SUPREME COURT.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 20, 7 October 1842, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

On Tuesday, the 4th instant, His Honor Chief Justice Martin, held his first Circuit in Wellington. The Registrar having opened the Court by reading the Supreme Ordinance and Proclamation, Mr. Hugh Ross and Mr. Blathwayte were enrolled as Solicitors and Barristers, in addition to those previously in practice. On the Jury being sworn, His Honor delivered the following short but admirable address: —

Gentlemen Jurors—Before we proceed to the business of the day, I would wish to address a few words to you: and, in speaking to you, I desire to be understood to speak to all who may be called upon to act as Jurymen in this court. You have listened to the Ordinance and Proclamation which have been publicly read. It cannot be necessary for me to enlarge upon the importance of .the Institutions which are thereby brought this day, for the first time, into operation in this place. Much less can it be requisite, in speaking, to intelligent and educated men, to dwell upon the solemn and responsible nature of the duties to be discharged by the Jurymen of this court. I am sure that your own reflec-

tions will bring that matter home to you with a > power which can never belong to, apy words of mine. I will therefore content myself with congratulating you on the complete establishment, in this land, at so early a period in the history "of its colonisation, of the free legal institutions of Great Britain; and this, gentlemen, is indeed a just ground: of rejoicing, not merely because we are adopting the usage and tradition of Britain, because we are coming into possession of a part of our British heritage, (though it may well be our pride, as it is our privilege, to look to Britain for an example and a guide,) nor even because of the furtherance and aid which must be given to the material prosperity of this country by the regular and settled administration of the law of England. We should remember that, beyond all this, there belongs to these Institutions a high and inestimable value in the moral effect which they produce. For it cannot be doubted that, by the admission of the great body of citizens to a share in and a control over the administration of justice, they have greatly tended to create and keep alive that wholesome spirit of reverence for the law, and of confidence in its practical working, by which our raefe- is so happily •characterised, and which have mainly sustained and strengthened amongst us the great principle of the full, and public, and impartial, investigation of all questions which may effect us in the course of our civil life. That beneficial effect which they have had upon the character of the people amongst whom they have existed so long, they will doubtless have upon the character of the nation which shall hereafter dwell within this noble island of ours. What they have done for our fathers, they will do fork's. It remains for us, gentlemen, to show our sense of our priviliges, to bring with us into this court a fitting spirit, for the work we have to do% and, in order that the work may be well done, to be especially mindful of the difficulties which lie in our way. My chief object in addressing you, has been to direct your attention to the one main difficulty, which arises inevitably out of the circumstances which surround us. We are living in the midst of a young, and consequently, a small community. Very many of the things whit h occupy the thoughts and words of the members of older societies are wanting here. Hence it comes to pass, that local occurrences supply almost all the topics of conversation, and that rumours of local doings are listened to with a ready welcome by many, and indolently assented to by some. And so it is, that whilst the juryman in England takes his seat, and then, for the first time, hears Anything of the case to be tried, a juryman here can hardly escape the influence of the rumours which float arofmd him. This is an evil, which; we all see, and of which it becomes my duty to; remind you. You should be earnestly and practically mindful, gentleman, of the obligation which is laid upon you, to cast, from the moment of your entering into the court, every prepossession which may have place in your minds’, respecting the business to be done here. The law, whilst giving you great powers, warns you not to use them lightly. In the discharge of the solemn trust reposed in you, you may not listen to or be influenced by the words of any man, unless they be uttered under the most solemn sanction which the mind of man can conceive—that of an appeal to the judgment of the Almighty, and subject to the most effective test which the wit of man has devised—the scrutiny of cross examination. Gentlemen, you are well aware of all this, and the duty to be done is a very plain one but it is needful I should warn you, that' for the reason I have mentioned, it is a less easy duty here than elsewhere. Be assured, gentlemen, that I speak in no spirit of distrust or misgiving, but I know that it is well for all of us to be, on fitting occasions, reminded of duties even the most obvious and undoubted, and therefore I have now spoken. — o —

From unavoidable circumstances, we are unable, in this number, to give the result of the trials, which will appear in our next publication.

Summary of the Shipping List kept at the Exchange, for the month of September, since the establishment of the settlement.

Of the above tvventy-four vessels entered in September 1842; seventeen have been coasters, five from Sydney, and two from London. The stock imported during the month has been considerable, and of fine quality; it has consisted of 24 horses ; 177 head of cattle, 1140. sheep. The coasters have brought a limited quantity of maize, potatoes, and a few tons of oil, &c., from the whaling stations. The exports have chiefly consisted of provisions and stores for the Company’s settlements. Our readers will no doubt recollect that it was in the month of September 1839, that the Tory first entered and anchored in Port Nicholson. Three years have, now elapsed, during which period, as appears from the Exchange Shipping List, no fewer thari 500 vessels have entered the harbour. We now only want a small tug steam-boat to render the harbour of Port Nicholson one of great commercial importance.— New Zealand Gazette .

Date. Number. Tons. Sept. 1839 1 380 1840 9 1118 1841 18 2271 1842 24 2078