THE EX-GOVERNOR.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 67, 17 January 1846, Page 3

THE EX-GOVERNOR.

The egregious vanity and unexampled egotism of Captain Fitzßoy must wait upon him | to the close, making each act of his one purely sui generis, such as no other man in his senses would think of leaving upon record. What does Captain Fitzßoy delay here for ? He knows very well that his presence is contrary to all gubernatorial etiquette. It cannot be otherwise than an intolerable nuisance to His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and if Captain Fitzßoy himself were guided by those principles which sway the movements of highminded and honourable men, he also would severely feel the monstrous indelicacy of his position. There is no excuse in want of opportunity. If we may believe the Sydney papers, H. M. S. the Fly, at Sydney, offered Captain Fitzßoy and suite a free passage. The William Hyde sailed from here several weeks ago, in which Captain Fitzßoy and his family might have found abundant accommodation, and have been by this time two thousand miles on their way home. If he had had any desire to move, he might by a hundred opportunities have gone to Sydney, where at this season of the year, he might hare the choice of a London bound vessel once a week, : or thereabouts. Suppose, in charitable feeling, that it is not likely an interview with Sir G. Gipps at this time would be agreeable to his feelings, still the waters of the Derwent are open to him, The politeness of Sir Eardley

would doubtless.be more acceptable than th.c forbidding taciturnity of Sir G. Gipps. But no, here he remains, for how long may (as he says) be hereafter " a matter of history." We have hitherto studiously abstained from any remarks upon Captain Fitzßoy in his retirement, and should hare continued to do so, had we not reason to observe that his quondam Excellency is lingering here -for the purpose of scraping together some posthumous testimonials of his matchless- qualification. The first of these was an address from die Odd Fellows ; but as it was simply a matter of Odd Fellowship, it might as well have been addressed to Jack Nokes, or Tom Styles. It is a curious fact that Captain Fitzßoy's butler occupies one of the highest seats among the brethren of this order. The retiring Governor has no. doubt seen the letter of " Jewntus," which we laboured so earnestly to suppress. He may docket these two documents/ and make an averagt of their contents. ,But what has especially provoked us to speak, now, is, that one If r. M'Nair, Messrs. Monro and Coney, and 174 good men and true, doubtless,, but all to fame unknown, have roused themselves up to gratify the vanity and soothe the irritated feelings of Capt. Fitzßoy. We have theit address now before us, but we assure our readers that we shall not give space to such fulsome and contemptible trash in our columns. Our contemporary the New Zcalander (we hear) is likely to be more complaisant, and the curious may 100 k there for the full display of address- and reply. It is goodnatured of the New Zcalander to " propagate" their orthography, grammar, and attempts at argument. It is a task that we decline. Our principal . business is with the reply. We should have thought that any gentleman in Captain Fitzßoy's present position would have felt the acceptance of this address to be a deep humiliation, and would have passed it over accordingly with as little remark as possible. The loquacity and vanity, however, of our late Governor have stomach for anything, and he forthwith expresses his high gratification at an opportunity of babbling his "own opinion" upon the subjects contained in the address. His late Excellency says that he was not aware that " the purity of his motives had been impugned," and we never heard that they had been ; and on the contrary, we considered him all motive, and have more than once had occasion to remind him that good intentions, without reasonable foresight as to the result, can lead only to the M'Adamizing of his sable Majesty's dominions. The next passage of the reply we quote : " Most of the public prints in this colony are known to be the organs of a few, who have purposes to serve ; but the principal contributors to them, and their characters, though notorious here, have yet to be made public in England. The views and opinions of the best informed and ablest men, of unimpeachable habits and character, appear but seldom now in print." Captain Fitzßoy's blustering reply is all of the tv quoque character, but if he were ever so successful, which he is not, in bespattering others with his mud, he would himself only stick the faster in the mire. Does he think that M'Nair's tom-foojery will serve as a shield in the battle of Two Fitzes, or the three-and-twenty charges, which have yet to be produced in the House of Commons. Verily it is a strange thing to see a recalled Governor lingering gratuitouslyupon the spot to battle the watch with the public press, and to watch the battle of his successor. Poor man ! He only provokes additional disgrace. Every one would be glad to let him depart in peace, if he would be wise enough to do so ; but since he is determined to abide the hope of gleaning posthumous addresses and applauses, let him have enough of them. Our Southern contemporaries Tiave shown upon all occasions that they are quite able, and seldom backward in taking their part in defence of the public press thus assailed. For ourselves, we shall only say that Captain Fitzßoy's opinion of the Times has long been a matter of little, nay, less than little indifference ; and if we are asked to justify this insouciance of ours, we have only to look back to the incongruous fact, that after having been threatened with exportation on board a man- | of-warfor the free expression of our opinions, we very shortly heard afterwards that " in1 dependent opinions were valued too highly in certain high quarters not to make, the loss of ours a matter of regret." " The Times must be taken into favour again, for it was a pity that any slight political difference should be construed into personal feeling, and that where there existed only slight disagreement on a few poiots." Doubtless these memorable words will be recognized. As to the rhodomantade about "the views and opinions of the best informed and ablest men of unimpeachable habits and character," and their rare appearance in print, we presume that this is an allusion to the letters of "Amalgamator," and other spooneys in .the early numbers of the New Zcalander, which the general voice of public opinion attributed to

Captain Fitzßoy himself* The political articles of the Times, as that gentleman well knows, are uniformly written 1 by the avowed editor, and if contributions from others deserving of publication have been offered to him, they have never been rejected from any quarter. We refer this touchy critic of the press to our paper of the Bth of November fast, in which we so promptly displayed our desire to abstain from recrimination, and to hasten his departure in peace and friendship. But since he chooses to remain here, in defiance of all public usage and sense of decency, ■writing to Mr. M'Nair, he should have sealed his reply with the motto Übi lapsus, quid fed/ '< The pages of the JVes« Zealander .will doubtless travel home before Captain Fitzßoy, and ' his expositions to Mr. M'Nair will furnish a splendid avant courier to his own subsequent triumphant exculpation before the Colonial •Office in Downing Street. We have already set the Odd Fellows address in juxta position with JEwnius's letter. Captain Fitzßoy may, in like manner connect an article which we copy elsewhere, from the New Zealand Spectator with M'Nairs addTess. This will do to go as a counter-ba-lance against the nonsense of this address, and ■the greater nonseuse of the reply. He lingers in hope of gathering golden -opinions, surely any but a man beside himself, might see from the beginning how utterly hopeless such an attempt is, even if it were not out of all possible bounds of propriety to loiter for their presentation. His real friends have but one course — silence !! A proper barrier^ but one whteh Captain Fitzßoy's pertinacity and eccentricity has effectually broken down as far- as we are concerned. — Auckland Time&i December 13,