"DR. EVANS TO THE SECRETARY OF THE COMPANY. "44, Hans-place, May 23, 1845.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 57, 8 November 1845, Page 3

"DR. EVANS TO THE SECRETARY OF THE COMPANY. "44, Hans-place, May 23, 1845.

" Sir, — I have been requested to make to you in writing, for the information of the court of di rectois of the New Zealand Company, a statement which J have airpacly made verbally to seTeral membeis of that com t, respecting the manner in which tli^ir interests and thos>e of the settlers have been spoken of lately, in my hearing, by the gniernor of the colony. " During the last visit of Captain Fitzroy to Wellington which took place in the month ol October, 1844, I entered a room at Barrett's Hotel, where I found his excellency surrounded by a deputation of settlers, to whom he was explaining the contents of a large map lying on the table. It purported to contain all the lands ol the absentee proprietors, coloured black, and he was proposing some scheme which he had come

provided with for taking possession of the whole of those lands, and dividing them among the resident claimants. As this excited a good deal of surprise and utdignririmi amongst several of that class of gentlemen present, as well as nmong the agents for absentees, he seemed much disappointed, and afterwards when strongly expostulated with as to the ruin which would soon overtake us if ihe land question was not settled, he recommended us ' to obtain redress br bringing action* a-fdin-'t the company.' This also called fonh s>>me remonstrances from the deputation, and he finished by saying, ' We know that the New Zealand Company has stopped payment, and I am in daily expectation of rereceiving dispatches 'rom Lord Stanley, informing me that the affairs of the company have all fallen into the hands of the government. As S"on as I receive this information, I shall be enabled to carry out my gteat object of concentration.' " We inquired what this meant, and he said tha* he would give land in the neighbourhood of Auckland to the company's settlers, and dilated at some length on the advantages of this scheme, which he proposed as the government remedy for the difficulties of the colony. We pointed out to him the absmdi y and even the cruelty of proposing to transfer to another place a whole community, after they bad sunk their capital in improvements at Wellington; and asked him how he could give an equua'ent in land, when he had *by his own measures 1 educed the value of hind at Auckland to Is. 6d. per acie. He said this miirht be settled by arbitration, awarding in each case a quantity of land at Auckland equivalent in value to the land abandoned in the company's settlements. Some of us then pointed out to him the impossibility of uprooting in that manner a population of 10,000 people, who would resist to the last extremity; and showed him that if they were willing to remove, the government could no f find one-tenth pait of the land requisite in the north. The meeting then broke up, with a declaration on the p.irt of the setileis that they would hold fast by the selections of laud they had made, and confide m the honour of the compiny to main'<xu\ their cause with the home government. " I am, sSir, &c, " Gl OKGE SAMUEL EvANS. " T. C. Haiington, Esq., Secretaiy of the New Zealand Company." Major-General Briggs said, he had great pleasure in seconding the proposition. He was iatiified the piopnetors had never heard a report fiom the directors so satisfactory as the cue that had just been laid before them, nor one more honourable to the directors. The resolution of the board not to flinch from (he assertion of their rights was what might have been expected from a body of gentlemen who had so zealously exerted themselves for the interests of the proprietors and the welfare of the colony, (Cheers.) He was in the highest degree satisfied with the course the committee had pursued in their negotiations with the Government, for he was con~ vinced from a very long servitude in the East India service, having, duiing 16 or 18 years, tilled high and important stations, that this Company would never thrive, considering its present condition and its position with the Government, till some plan similar to that which existed for the government of India thiough the East India Company was adopted. At an early period, and when the committee ol the House was about to sit, became down to this office and stated such to be his opinion. He was also much gratified at the relusal of the committee to compromise the Company by the bale ol its interests. It was true that a money consideration might have been had ; but would such a course have been ju»t to the individuals who had been induced to go out t> the colony? (Hear, hoar.) Would it have been just to tho.se who were connected with the Company ? (Hear.) Would it not have been deserting them ? (Hear.) Would it not have been abandoning the natives themselves, and handing them over to a Government, which, from the eatly period oi' Captain Hobson up to this moment, had so mismanaged the affairs of the colony as to bring the European and native population into constant collision 1 But it w*is not to be believed that 10,000 Europeans would, notwithstanding their reverence ior the laws and their desire for a state of peace, cot tinue to submit to such injuries as had been inflicted upon them. (Hear.) There was no other nation in the world that would so long have acted with the patience and forbearance that had been shown by the colonists of New Zealand. But it was too much to suppose that this forbearance would last for ever. We had befoie us the example of the separation from us of an immense colony — America, in consequence of the unjust exactions of this country upon the colouis>ts> ; and although New Zealand was not in a position to withstand a military force from England, or to avoid submission to any law we might think fit to impose on them, yet he believed there was in this country a sense of justice and good feeling which would prevent a mi'itaiy interference calculated to place the colonists in such a state of subjection, (Cheers.) — He did say that, if they should not succeed in their endeavours to uphold the New Zealand Company and the rights ot the colony (and he was certain no exertion to effect tins would be wanting), he was ai v aiij that much misery and misfortune to the colony would result; that a rising of the natives might take place, and some hundreds be sacrificed, &s was the case on a former occasiou ; but be

was satisfied that in tbc end the white population would prevail (hear), and that the injuries inflicted by both parties wouli bring on a collision that would result in the destruction of those natives whose preservation they weie all so anxious to secure. (Hear.) The motion was then put and carried unanimously. Dr. Evans, who has recently returned from New Zealand, then rose to address the meeting, and was loudly cheered. He said he felt much gratified by the opportunity afforded him of addressing the meeting, but perhaps they would excusr- him if he introduced the few remarks he wa« about to make by reading a letter which he had addressed to the directors of the New Zealand Company. It ran as follows i — " 44, Hans-place, May 27, 1845. " Sir, — I consider it due to the directors of the New Zealand Company, as well ns to my fellowcolonists af Pott Nicholson, to enclose to you, for the information of the general meeting, which I believe is to be held the day after toinoirow, copies of a correspondence which has passed betwpp-i myself and the Right Hon the Secrotaiy of State fnr the Colonies. "I have a're.uly placed in jour hands the copy of a memorial which was agreed upon by the landowners before my departnie from Port Nicholson. YoU are aware also, that it was necessary, accord; ng to the rules of the Colonial Office, that such an application to the home government should be made tluough the governor. My first letter to Lord Stanley will inform you as to flic' grounds on which it was justifiable by us to seek for an exemption from that rule, under the special circumstances of the case. And the second one will show what were my impressions after the interview which I had with Mr. H«pe, «he Under-Secretary for the Colonies. Indeed, I luve not in that leiter expressed so strongly as I might have done my surprise at Mr. I 'ope having detained me a full hour without directing or allowing the conversation to be directed to the only subject on which I was desirous of communicating with him — namely, the i ontents of the memorial. The letter fioni Lord Stanley, as you will pprceive, closes the correspondence, and leaves me without the hope of any ipdrcs, or any further communication fnm the Colonial Office. My only resource, thei*efoie, is to submit the whole pv< ceedings to the directors of the New Zeaiand Company, feeling a»sured that they will estimate the va->t importance of the subject of the memorial to their inteiests as well as to those of the settlers They will likewise sympathise with my disappointment, when they recollect that I have performed so long a voyage in the hope of obtaining justice from the government; and that, in reply to the earnest applications I h.i\e made lo Lord Stanley, the only answer I can obtain is, that his lordship will give such instiiictions as he ma\ think right to the new governor. Which means that I may wait twelve months in order to learn, by way of New Zealand, what must already have been determined upon, and might have bvcu communicated to me last week in Downing-street. " I forward these documents in confidence that the New Zealand Company will interpose, and endeavour in some way to procure thatjustice for the settlers which has never yet been accorded to them by her Majesty's government. " I have, Sic, (Signed) " Geo. Samuel Evase. "ToT. C. Harinqton, Esq., Sec. New Zealand Co. " P.S. — As the interests of the eolonis's whom I lepresent is, on the subject of this correspondence, so completely identified with that of the shaieholders and the company, may I beg to be informed whether there will be an\ objection to my attending the meeting on Thuisday?" The object of the first application he had made to the Colonial-office was to obtain an interview with the Colonial Sccretaty, for the purpose of presenting to his lorJship the copy of a memorial which had been agreed to by the landowners at Poit Nicholson shortly before his (Dr. E.s) departure from the colony in December ; and the hope was that his lordship would be pleased to take into consideration the subject of the memorial, without waiting to receive it through the ordinal y channel of communication, as required by the Colonial Office. To make Lord Stanley fully understand the grounds on which they solicited tt is deviation from the practice of that office he had addressed the following letter to las lordship: — " Bletchingley, Surrey, May 6, 1845. "My Loid — I have the honour to acquaint your lordship that I arrived within these few days from New Zealand, having been deputed to convey to }'our loidship the copy of a memo rial from a body of my fellow-colonists. "As this document which I have the honour to enclose speaks for itself, I will not trouble your loid&hip with any remarks upon it; but it is necessary that I should explain what became of the original, and why it was deemed expedient that a copy should leach your loidship's lu.nda by the vessel which bi ought me directly from the residence of the memorialists to England. " We were perfectly aware of that rule of your lordship's office, which requires that any complaint against a governor made by colonists to the Co onial Minister should be transmitted thiough the governor, in order to give the officei complained of <m opportunity of placing before his superior, at the same lime with the chaige, any defence which he may have to u:ge against it. "The memorial itself, at the period of my departuie from New Zealand, was prepared for t> dismission, to the seat of government; but there wheie circumstances which appeared to justify us in seeking a direct communication with your lordship, and which we trust will induce you to take the subject into consideration with.out waiting for the memoiial itself. " In the firs.t place we cannot suppose that any governor would fail to submit to his princi*

pal without delay all that he could possibly say in justification of a proceeding so extraordinary, or consequently that his remaiks on our memorial will throw any new light upon the subject. Indeed, as respects matter of fact, there can be no difference between Governor Fitzroy anil the memorialists. That he issued the proclamation there can be no manner of doubt, and it is of this act only that we complain. "In the next pKine, while it was obvious that the most disastrous consequences must ensue if your lords 1 ips authority did not interpose to prevent Governor Fitzroy from carrying the proclamation into effect, the memorialists, impoverished as thpy are by the cruel policy which the local government has pursued towards them for several years, could not afford the expense of chartering a vessel for the express purpose of sending their complaint to Captain Fitzroy, at Auckland, distant 600 miles by sea ; and even if they could have defrayed this charge, it was doubtful whether months or even a year might not elapse before the governor would be able to forward the document direct to your lordship, while the delays of transmitting coriespondence through Sjdney are perfectly notorious. " But our piincipal reas' n for availing ourselves of one of the many opportunities of direct communication between the company's settlements and England \\ as of a 3et graver nature. Besides wishing to make your lordship aware of the dismay occasioned among the real colonists of New Zealand by this proclamation (however agieeab'e it may have p;oved to every class of expectant landbhaiks) months sooner, probably, than yon will hear of it horn the governor, we were influenced by a deliberate opinion that am dependence upon the treatment which the rnemoiial might receive at Captain Fazroy's hands, that any leliance upon its being transmitted, however taidily, sull without fail into 30111- lordship's hjnds, might prove altogether delusie. We have, as your lordship will readily conceit c, watched the whole course of Captain FitziO3's conduct, as Governor of New Zealand, with the most anxious attention; and it has become a settled opinion among vs — an opinion gradually foiced upon usb3' a long series of his acts, as well as by his personal demeanour on numerous public occasions, that his mind ia in such a sate as to preclude any reasonable conjecture as to what his conduct will be in any given circumstance". We think it quite as likely that he may thiow our memorial into the fire, or send it back to us with an insulting message, as that he should transmit it to your lordship. We therefore trusted that your lordship would consider the present case a fair exception from that general rule of your office to which I have before alluded. " We deeply fee!, my lord, that in using such expressions concerning agentleman, ouceofhigh character and reputation, and who kas s>o largely enjoyed your loidship's confidence, it is a duty which we owe to your lordship as well as to ourselves to state distinctly the grounds of our opinion. " Before Captain Fitzroy arrived among us, letters had been received by the agents of the Na>v Zealand Compatn, and by many of ourselves, which were written for the avowed purpose of impressing us with a favourable opinion of Captain Fitzroy's ability and dispositions. Any piejudices, therefore, with which we met him, were altogether in his favour We understood that he had been selected by your lordship for the express object of remedying, by means of wisdom and steadiness, the grievous state of things which had been inflicted upon both races in New Zealand by the blunders and vagaries of his predecessors. We were assured that he had gained the coufidenee of the New Zealand Company, who had planted us in New Zealand, and whom we regarded as our best friends, by moans of impressing them with n belief in the gentleness of his chniacter a>id the soundness of his political opinions, as the future ruler of the colony. We accoulingly received him with every demonstration of lespect. Our fhst oppoitunity of observing his excellency took place at d levee which he held immediately after landing at Wellington. After we had been in his presence for a shot t time, waiting to be presented in the usual, w-s^', his excellency perfectly astounded us by breaking out into a scolding, not to say abusive condemnation of our conduct, and by singling out a gentleman by naiie, whom he bitterly reproached with the ciime of having wiitten letters in a newspaper. This gentleman was Mr. E. J. Wukefield, who happens to be distinguished among us for his attachment to the natives, and for theirs to him, as well as for the pecuniary sacrifices which he had made for their advantage. Him Captain Fitzroy thus publicly accused of being an enemy of the natives. The gross injustice of the reproach, therefore, surprised us, not less than the strange want of decotiim and self respect exhibited by Captain Fitzroy in the whole scene. Even then, people said that it appeared aa if he were not master of his own act ous. " Since then he has enacted a similar seen* at the settlement of Nelson, when he publicly and grossly insulted one of the leading colonists, the son of a peer, a gentleman of undoubted honour, by charging him with falsehood, though theie was not a shadow of foundation for the charge. " He has, with an infatuation which looks like a total loss of judgment, publicly caressed the perpetrators of the massacre of Waiiau, and reproached the memory of his countrymen who fell there, pretending to found his opinion of the conduct of bo f h parties on a speech delivered to him by one of the murderers, but actually read* ing that opinion from a paper which had been got read;/ for his use before the speech of the savage commenced. " He has suddenly destroyed the currency of the colony, and exposed every man in it to ruin by isMiing a paper money in very small amounts, and making jt v legal tender by ordinance — and act contrary to the most positive instiuctions, and performed by Captain Fitzroy, I beg your lotdship to observe, not on the plea of 3ome urgent necessity which, as such, might perhaps have been admitted, but for the reason, as expi esscd by his excellency in council, that he had witnessed the beneficial operation of such a currency in Chili and Brazil, and was desirous of conferring its advantages on New Zealand. "He has saddled the colony with the expense, and exposed his own authority to the ridicule, of having sent to Sydney^ for a military force, for the purpose of punishing the authors of a»

outrage against the government at the Bay jof Islands, whom having first sent away the troops, he rewarded by abolishing all customs duties at that place for the avowed purpose of gratifying , the rioters. . " He has, on discovering the impossibility of ]ev}in^ customs duties generally, while pprmittins? the duty-free importation of goods anywhere, suddenly abolished all duties of customs itt New Zealand, thu<* destroying nearly the whole public revenue of the colony, at the same time ihdt he destroj ed its currency. " He has, in pursuance of rtcent and precise instructions from your lordship, brought into the council a draught ordinance for establishing a militia, has encouragedUhe Attorney-General, and the other exojficio members of council, to negative the same, and has then declared^ in council, that if they had carried your lordship's instructions and his own recommendation into effect, by passing the ordinance, he would have rectified their obedience to your lordship and himself, ps p/esident of the council, by the exercise of his veto, as governor. "He has resorted to a mode of taxation w.hich may be described as a fantastic combination of a tax on property and a tax on income, and has declared that he relies wholly upon this property and income tax, for raising the public revenue of a community in which such a mcde of taxation is contrary to reason, and must be almost wholly unproductive. "He has never taken the slightest notice of the instructions which your lordship gave to him before his departure from England, whereby he was directed to make to the company without further inquiiy or question a prima facie grant uf the lands claimed by them, but has, on the contrary, arbitrarily adopted modes of proceedingwith respect to land tnles in the company's settlements which are directly contrary to the said instructions, and of which the adoption has been imposed on the company's agents by instructions they received at the same time, directing them to submit in everything to the governor. " He has, with the intention, no doubt, of benefiting the natives, made laws so greatly to their disadvantage as to render impossible commercial intercourse and almost eveiy kind of legal bargain between them and the colonists, and thus to preserve them in a state of social inferiority. " He has frequently and solemnly engaged to settle without delay in the company's -ettlemenN the all-important question of tides to land, and has afterwards invaiiabl) conducted himself as if his having made such promises had p issed from his memory. " He has, on various occasions, exhibited him•elf in public to the native* as the representative of her Majesty, whose name he constancy uses, even on the most trifling occasions, till his phrase, ' My Royal Mistress,' has become a bye-wo-d of ridicule among both races, issuing grandiloquent threats and promises, which every body knew it was out of his power to perform, and which only exposed him to the laughter of the shrewd savages whom he addressed. "He has been so himple as to give grave and emphatic utterance in council and to the public to his own undoubted opinion that ' Magna Chnrta does not extend to the colonies.' " He has angrily threatened to break up the company's settlements, which are the only real settlements in New Zealand; and to remove the people to Auckland, saying that ' he only waits j for a word from your l»rdt»hip, in order to oarry the cruel threat into execution.' " He has angrily threatened to confiscate lands, the property of absentees, and to give them to the settlers, although the latter have had the benefit of the outlay for public purposes of the purchase-money of such lands to the amount of at least £100.00). " Finally, he has exhib ted in his intercourse with the sertlers a degree of inconstancy of purpose and inconsistency in action, of suspicion, of inordinate self-esteem, and contempt for otheis — of fretful variability at one time, and i inexplicable self-complacency at another — oi forgetfulnessof his own re< ent acts or promises, and of a general infirmity of apprehension or conception, such a<? I am well awaie that your j lordship will find it hard to credit, because you have not witnessed the gestmes nor heard the. tones by which his passions were expressed. " I have the honor to be, my Lord, " With the greatest respect, '* Your lordship's most obedient humble servant, (Signed) "Gto. Samuel Evans. " P.S.- Being a total stranger to your lordship, I veil tine to acquaint jou that I am a member of the English bar, and of Li n coin 'sinn. and to refer you for any further information concerning myself to Mr. Evans, the Commissioner of Bankrupts." The proclamation of Governor Fitzroy, of which they complained, had reference to an alteration in the mode of acquiring and disposing of the waste lands in the colony. That proclamation was dated on or about .he 10th of October last, and stated that after the receipt of certified copies of the surveys and deeds of sale, grants would be made on the payment, as a fee to the Government, of a penny per acre. (Hear, hear.) About a fortnight prior to that time his Excellency had issued a proclamation, by which he gave notice that in future the Government would waive the right of pre-emption as regarded the natives, in favour of persons who would conform to ceitain rules laid down in another part of the proclamation. The most important condition on which land was to be acquired was that the purchaser, subject to the approval oi the protector of the aborigines, should, after satisfying the natives, pay a registration fee of 10s. per acre to the local Government, The proclamation did not satisfy the gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Auckland — ' gentlemen who formed what was called the landshark interest. (Laughter.) They were exceedingly desirous of having the price reduced still lower — in fact, abolished altogether. These gentlemen accordingly seemed to have prevailed on a considerable body of patives in the north part of the island to take

the matter *p" in tne way" WKicli the^ h£3 latterly found to be usefil, and which was then becoming the established mode of proceeding as between the natives of New Zealand and the local Government ; that was to say, that on this occasion about 200 native-, armed with tomahawks and muskets, walked do*n to the Governor's house about a week after the first proclamation was issued, and informed his Excellency that they vety much disappioved of the proceeding; that they could not consent to such regula.ions ; and that it was necessary, quite necessary, he should allow white men to purchase land from them, and be put in } ossession oi land by them, without the intervention of the Go\ernment or the payment of any ice whatever, and they wished him to undrrs and that this proclamation should be rescinded. The consequence was, that the registration fee abolished. (Hear, hear.) If he had not cime from the colony and wituessed tht-se transactions, he .should, he candidly confessed, feel some difficulty in reporting them ; but the plain fact was, that so soon as the nutives uetit to the Governor's house, the Governor issued a pioclamatiou abolishing the registration fee of 10s. per acre, and allowed any person to buy land of the natives, subject to the approval of the Government and the protector of aborigines ior the time being. hear.) It occurred to the settlers that this was a virtual repeal of an act of the Imperial Parliament. (Hear, hear.) They lad understood that the act oJ' Parliament which passed under Lord Stanley's name, and which embodied the principles of colonisation acted upon by the Company, was in force in New Zealand, and that, come what would, the Government would take Ccie, by upholding the minimum price ol land at £1 per acre, that, so lar as the acquisition of waste land was concerned, the landowners would hiveuo reason to tear that their property >\cu!d be depreciated. (Hear, hear.) But they must say that the proclamation last issued was a virtual reduction ol the price o the Crown lands to a penny per acre, and that, in point of fact, it put a stop for ever to the colonisation oi New Zealand, and would destroy the property of tne colonUts if permitted to he carried into practice. (Hear, hear.) As far as they knew, this proclamation had been acted upon, and was being acted upon at this moment; and, because he had not had an intelligible answer — il any answer at all — from Lord Stanley, he had taken the liberty of presenting himself before the shareholders, to imploie of them not to relax in their exertions, but to urge on the Government the indispensable necessity of telling them what they were going to do, and whether they intended to destroy the colony and ruin every man in it. (Hear.) Let the Government declare what the.r intentions wre, so that the people of this country might not go to the colony under the delusive expectation tint they would have anything to look for from the consistency or integrity of her Majesty's Government. (Hear.) In consequence of bis application to Lord Stanley, he received a note from Mr. Hope, tequesting him to attend at the Colonial Office. Pie accordingly went to Dowmng-street and saw that gentleman, but he found it impossible to dtaw his attention to the subject-matter of the memorial. He seemed very much interested in getting information that might go in corroboration cf the statement which he (Dr. Evans) had made in his letter to Lord Stanley. It struck h*Hi as rather extraordinary, but the impression was one that was quite unavoidable, that the object Mr. Hope had in sending for him was not to discuss the subject to which the landowners had addressed themselves in the memorial, but to put him in the position of a witness, who was being examined by an attorney in order to get e\idence for the preparation of a brief. Under these circumstances, he thought it his duty to address Lord Stanley agaiti (not having had the opportunity of conversing with his lordship), with a view to obtain from him some distinct and definite answer on the subject of the disposal of the waste lands. He accordingly addressed the following letter to Lord Stanley : — (Copy.) " 44, Hans-place, May 22, 1845. "My Lord, — I trust that I shall not be deemed wanting in respect to your lordship in now requesting that you will have the' goodness to favour me with an answer to my letter of the 6th mat. " The receipt of that letter was acknowledged by Mr. Hope in a note, by which he requested me, by your lordship's desire,, to call upon him at the Colonial Office. 1 accordingly waited U|ion him, on Friday the lOih, when he favoured me with a \ery long conversation. In the whole of this interview, however, Mr. Hope never made the slightest allusion to the memorial to which my letter to your lordship alone related, but on tne contrary, whenever I attempted to press that subject on his notice, directed the c ( on versation to other topics. Amongst these, only one ujjou which Mr. Hope seemed to me to wish to obtain information, was the misconduct of Governor J*'itzroy. I imagined during the time that Mr. Hope was earnestly drawing from me minute particulars of the strange behaviour of Captain Fitzroy on various qccasiuns, that his object was to see whether it 4 was. in.)'ny.power to fortify those statements cojxcerofng Governor Fitzroy which I had made to

ybur lordsnip, and on which 1 grounded the expression of a hope that you would take the eop\ of the memorial into considers ion, withou waiting for the transmi ei «ion of the onginal kj yon by the governor. That this was Mr. Hope 1 ' wish I was the more disposed to believe, because thp recent announcement of Cap'ain Fit* roys recall showed that his fitness to be Governor »f New Zealand wa* not a question undet your lordahiu's consideration, concerning which you desired to obtain evidence. I felt myself to be placed in, the position of a witness whom an attorney was examining for the purpose of preparing a brief for the plaintiff, Captain Fitzroj being the defendant. There was an earnestnev in Mr. Hope's manner during his examination ot me, Bnd a zeal in the pursuit of every detai which affe ted Captain Fitzioy injuriously, which satisfied me at the time, and has left a fixed impression, that Mr. Hope intended to encunage me to make out against Captain Fitzroy the stionjrest case that it wa« in my power to establish. Your lordship will, therefore, jutl-re of my disappointment, when I state that Mr. Hope put an end to the inteiyiew without even mentioning that memorial which I had supposed that it was his aim to justify jour lordship in noticing, by inviting me to strengthen the grounds on which I had requested \ ou to notice it, against a general rule ot jour office. " This conclusion of the inter* ieu has left me completely in the daik as tojonr loidship's motives in desiring that I should wait upon Mr. Hope. lam ready, if it be your lordship's pleasure, to furnish in wri'ing, and to substantiate by the evidence of respectable peisotis, now in England, those additional purticulais concerning Captain Fitzroy which Mr. Hope obtained from me ; and if it be 3 our lordship's purpose to take themeino'ial into consideration, piovided the new fiicts bhall be deemed to strengthen the ground on which I have ventuied to beg that you «ill (teat this case as an exccp ion from geneial rules, I pledge myself to establish them. 11 1 have the honour to be, &c, (Signed) " Geo. Samuel Evans. " The Right Hon. Lord Stanley, &c." To that letter he received the following answer :—: — (Copy) " Downing-atreet, May 26, 1845. " Sir, — I am directed by Lord Stanley to acknowledge the receipt of your letteis to him of the 6ih and 22d instant, and of the primed cop\ of the memorial enclosed in tbe first of those letters. tf Lord Stanley having, as you are aware, determined to appoint a sn -cessor to Captain Fitzroy in the government of New Zealand, it is his intention to reserve lor him whatever instructions he may tlii-ik it right to give, as well upon the question brought under his notice by the memorial you refer to, as on others. " T take this opportunity of adding that the construction which from 3 our letter of the 22d, 3'ou appear to have placed upon my language and demeanour during our interview on the 16th, is a construction which they were not intended, and which I "conceive they were not calculated to convey. " I have the honour to be, Sir, *' Your most obedient servant, (Signed) " G. W. Hope. "Dr. Evans." Now he could only state that he left the Colonial Office with the impressions he had stated, I >at he communicated his feelin s to several gentlemen of the company at the first oppoitun'.ty, and that he still retained those lmpresssjns. With respect to the memorial itself, 1)2 would observe that his sole obiect in addressing the meeting was to call their earnest attention to the present very melancholy circumstances of the colony, under,, if he might u>e the term, the company's superintendence, a colony which looked to them as the only body ot persons existing from whose eiertions it had any hope of obtaining justice. When he left the colony the effect of the proceedings which hdd taken place during the preceding four years, on the part of the local government, the missionaries, and the protectors — he said the effect of all these proceedings on the minds of the New Zealanders was apparent, in the almost complete alienation of them from the Europeans (hear, hear). There was a degree of mistrust, and coldness, au.i jealousy manifested by them throughout the country, which convinced him ttiat in all probability the colony was on the eve of some very serious catastrophe (hear). He had no fear for the inhabitants who were settled in the towns; but for those who were scattered in the remote parts of the country, he did con less that he entertained the most serious apprehensions (hear). It would be impossible for him to make the meeting understand the ground of the apprehension felt by him un'ess he could take'them where he had been, unless he could show them the native sharpening his tomahawk,' and prepar ng himself in the spirit of moody revenge for an exterminatory inroad upon 'the Europeans — unless he could take the meeting where'he had been, into the cabins of the while settlers, who slept now with' loaded aims by their* siile, prepaied at any "moment for an attack ; he "said that, unless he could show them what he had lately witnessed, it would be impossible they could have an adequate idea of what he believed to be the danger which threatened both the European and native inhabitants of the colon/. He believed tlidt," without the most judicious and energetic proceeding on the part ot her Majesty's Government, something would, ere long, take place in New Zealand which might be recorded in history as inferior only in its magnitude, and its deplorable consequences, to the Sicilian Vespers. (Hear, hear.) He spoke deliberately when he said this. (Hear.) The natives were no longer 'on those friendly iems with

the settlers which, in the early period of the Society's operations, justified tlie latter in puo'lshing to the proprietors the favourable ac- < ouuts of the colony's prospects. D-legjtes were now traversing the country in all directions, reconciling hostile tribes ; they were accumulating arms and ammunition ; and this not, he should say, for any clearly defined purpose, nor from having any distinct and intelligible ground of quarrel. (Hear.) Now, this fact he looked upon as one of the most melancholy features of the case. (Hear). The mind of the natives was in a state of ignorance, and, wrought upon by extraneous influence, it was made to brood over unintelligible wrongs — wrongs of which it possessed only a dim and cloudy consciousness ; so that they were brought into that state of re««ilfcs»ness and excitement which often obtained among the ignorant pupuktion of great cities previous to the breaking out of som^ pestilence or other grievous calamity. (Hear, hear.) They felt themselves in danger o! something utterly umiefinaulp, utterly incomprehensible by them, and that the calamity might come upon them suddenly and irresistibly ; and on the slightest sug«e tion they were ready to break out into acts of the most revolting crut-lty, as the only relief which naturally fUgyested itsell lrom so terrible and unendurable a state of mind. (Hear, hear.) The older people among them were evideu'ly recalling to recollection former s^-nes of war and cannibalism. Many of the young men were sinuiuly disposed to coniiliain>n, and to be friendly with the Europeans ; and he knew it had been frequently said, that in the event o( an outbre; k the natives under the influence of the missionary teachers would be sure to join for the protection of the white men. This was a most delusive expectation. It was quite true that the missionary natives had exerted themselves to maintain Ireindjy relations between tne two parties, but it was equally true that, after the first violent step was taken, they were themselves among the most ruthless perpetrators of the atrocities committed upon the white population. (Hear.) During the la:t two years the New Zealanders had retrograded in civilization and religion ; they had to a great extent abolished their religious observances, and a large portion of Christianised natives had openly apostatised to heathenism (hear), and they had lost nearly all the respect they once entertained for her Majesty's Government. (Hear.) He did not propose to go through the whole of the humiliating events which had happened in New Zealand since the arrival of Governor Fitzroy. He believed that as late as the previous day they received by way of Sydney accounts of an alarming nature as to the proceedings in the Bay of Islands, and in the neighbourhood of Port Nicholson. Alter going into some of the details of the news received through the New Zealand papers referred to, and speaking at some length on the treaty ol Waitaugi, and declaring that the natives, in ceding the soveieigiity of the country, gave to this country the appropriation < f the public domain, he contended that such was the opinion of the natives themselves before a different interpretation of the treaty was suggested to them. The natives originally had no idea of being possessed of millions of acres of waste land on which no human foot had ever trod. — If this land were sold at the minimum price o( \l. per acre, the aborigines wonld be benefited, the roads and btidges of the colony provided for, and emigration promoted. If, on the other hand, the opposite course was adopted, then he was sure they would be prevented from permanently benefiting the aborigines, and it would be impos-t-sible that roads, or bridges, or o'her public works could be constructed in the colony. If it were true — which he did not believe — that such alterations had been made in the treaty of Waitangi as would deprive her Majesty of the most important functions she could exercise lor the benefit of the colony, then there had been treachery, most shameful treachery, on the part of those who had acted in her Majesty's name ; that her Majesty's hands were tied up, and she must look silently on while the whole territory was jobbed away-undcr the»pretence of protecting the aborigines. (Hear.) After some further observations, he coucluded by thanking, on the part of those by whom the memorial had been presented, the directors for the honourable and disinterested manner in which they had negociated the proposals made to them by the Government. The directors retiring by rotation were then re-elected. The auditors were also le-elect-ed, and, a vote of thanks having been ,given to the Chairman, the meeting broke up.