OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 13, 22 April 1871, Page 16

OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

It is always painful to see an old friend for the last time. We feel something akin to this pain even in the case of inanimate objects. Few old Wellingtonians can view the removal, now in progress, of the cottage so familiarly known to them for many years as Government House, without a pang of affectionate regret. Small as it is, now dwarfed into insignificance by its palatial substitute, that modest cottage i 8 rich in historical records, and in cherished associations. Twice have additions been made to it—once by Lieut-Go vernor Eyre in 1847, and again, on a greater scale, in 1865, by Governor Grey ; but still our oldest inhabitants could recognise in the midst of those modern' enlargements the original " form and pressure" of Colonel Wakefield's house, which has now for thirty years crowned the gentle eminence whence "the monarch of all it surveyed" it watchfully overlooked the infancy of Welling* ton, and sympathised in the hopes, the fears, the* disappointments, the trials, the straggles, the perseverance, and the success of early colonisation. We have said that twice that little building was subjected to the transformation of enlargement, and that it still retained its old identity—but alas ! the third ordeal is a clean sweep " an improvement from the face of the earth." It has lived a human generation ; it was imported, we Relieve, by the New Zealand Company, which it has outlived; it was transferred to the paternal rule, which it has survived, of Downing street, and it has lived to see the rise and progress of real self-government. Within I its walls have dwelt many rulers of men, and many political schemes have been conceived and ushered into life for weal and woe ; —there the reticent astuteness of Wakefield, the garrulous pen of impulsive Eyre, the oblique statesmanship of Grey, and the constitutional rule of Bowen have, from time to time, affected the fortunes of New Zealand, and contributed to its political vicissitudes. Many important chapters of its history have there been written. The contest between the New Zealand Company and the Colonial Office; the. Native war of 1845-6, the recall of Governor Fitzroy, the suspension of the charter of 1846, the conception of- the Constitution and Land Regulations of 1853, their inauguration, the war on the West Coast, the discord between the Colonial and Imperial Governments, aud the withdrawal of the Imperial troops, are all events closely connected with, and forming integral parts of, the life and being of that small tenement. It saw the birth of provincialism, but has not lived to see its hearse. During the violent contests here of provincial parties it was, however, uninhabited, and true to its vice-regal character, preserved a state of dignified neutrality. It has also had its social triumphs. Its small rooms have often echoed to "the sound of revelry by night" and to the music of twinkling feet. Warriors,statesmen, bishops, peers, and even royalty have feasted there. Nor has barbarism been unrepresented by savage guests. Well, peace be to its ashes, or rather strength to its scantlings, wherever'they may, in the transmigration of wood, eventually reappear. The place which knew it will never know it more. " Farewell, a long farewell to all its greatness," moral, not material, greatness. Le Boi est mort, vive le Moi. We bow to the fallen structure, and forthwith salute its risen ' successor. " Let the dead (not wretched) past bury its dead." In this" practical world we must look to the present and the future, and therefore we hope the best for the handsome, and commodious edifice, which is now Government House at Wellington. We give it our hearty welcome; we wish it a long and useful life, and health and happiness to its illustrious inmates.