ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 641, 24 September 1851, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor qf the New Zealand Spectator. Wellington, September 22, 1851. Sir, —Mr. Godley’s career as a political agitator, since his arrival in New Zealand, must by this time have proved very unsatisfactory both to himself and his admirers, for it must be very evident that he has rapidly lost, in this and the neighbouring settlements, the reputation he had established in England among a few of his immediate friends ; indeed the sense they entertained of his public character must, it is believed, have been misplaced, for it is difficult to conceive that one who really deserved the character ascribed to him,

could so readily have divested himself of all right feeling, and commenced in an unscrupulous and hostile manner to abuse the Local Government and misrepresent Sir George Grey’s policy in administering the affairs of the colony. By a pharisaical show of delicacy and correct demeanour, shrinking as it were from contact with the coarser materials which he cunningly succeeded in shaping into puppets, Mr. Godley attempted to deceive the Government as to his true intentions, but finding this impossible he was compelled to commit overt acts of hostility, and to intrigue with Mr. Fox, hitherto the leader of a factious opposition to the Government; from thus acting a double part, he incurred the contempt of both parties; for the little respect he had awarded to him by the intelligent part of the community he entirely forfeited by the dishonesty of his conduct, and he disgusted Mr. Fox and his myrmidons by affecting to despise the mediocrity of their position with regard to intelligence and status in society ; this certainly galled the persons styling themselves the Settlers Constitutional Association exceedingly, but still so slavish were they, that they continued to fawn upon Mr. Godley and were submissive to the opinions which he dogmatically propounded, for they vainly imagined that his presence and countenance added much to the respectability of their proceedings, though in their hearts they both disliked and distrusted him.

History teaches us that the greatest tyrants are those who talk loudest about liberty, and affect to be guided in their actions by a holy zeal for bene- ' fiting mankind, and releasing the minds of the people from a state of bondage. Men stamped with this character are found existing in every age, ever i striving by unscrupulous means to raise themselves ■ to a position which may enable them to exercise for a while, despotic control. They first bring themselves into notice by constantly crying out against grievances which in reality do not exist, by misrepresenting facts, by throwing out unworthy insinuations against the views and principles of their opponents, and thus, by creating discontent, do they insidiously gain over to their support those who through folly or want of forethought have not kept pace in prosperity with their neighbours; and whose minds, morbid through ill success, are readily impressed with the idea that the evils entailed on them result entirely from the faults of Government. Now Mr. Godley is one of those men who, affecting to be imbued with principles of the most liberal kind, is in reality an oligarchist. The public should know—those persons whom he has been deluding into a belief of his sincerity should know—that I Mr. Godley’s whole aim is for selfish reasons only, i to prevent, if it were possible, the introduction into New Zealand of that system of Representative Government proposed by Sir George Grey. The Free Institutions which would thereby be bestowed on the country would, Mr. Godley well knows, be fatal to his ambitious projects ; for his desire is to have that form of Government which would deprive i the mass of the settlers of a voice in the choice of I their rulers, and place in the hands of a few all lei gislative powers. Mr. Godley cannot deny that tn Ai* opinion the I Provincial Councils Ordinance is far too liberal a • measure to bring into operation; he cannot deny that in his opinion it is far too liberal to have such a low rate of franchise, and that he dreads seeing so much power given to the people. He cannot deny that it is his desire to see established an oligarchy as tyrannical as that which oppressed the Venetians of old. When the Bill was first received in Wellington, those “ persons styling themselves the Settlers Constitutional Association” expressed their satisfaction at the very liberal measure; but Mr. Godley, unable to conceal his alarm, and forgetting the presence of others, said “ this must not be accepted, it is jfar too liberal.” Thus, actuated by unworthy motives, he set to work to make every effort to induce the Wellington settlers to refuse their acceptance of the measure; —not because it was too liberal (for he took pains to keep in the background his real motives) but because, as he said, the Bill did not give them political power. This, with Mr. Godley, is a favorite expression, and no doubt wins for him applause from the weakminded and ignorant; at the very time he uses it, he burns with the desire to set himself high above other men, and to hold in his grasp despotic power. His disappointment must be bitter when he con-

siders the impossibility of his gaining, at least in. New Zealand, his end : he soon discovered that there were men who would not be dazzled by the deceptive glare with which he tried to captivate the public. As an ex-Director of the New Zealand Company, as a writer in the Morning Chronicle, as the author of the absurd letter to Mr. Gladstone on the political position of the colonies, and lastly as Agent of the Canterbury Association, Mr. Godley imagined that as soon as he set foot in the colony, a magic change, through his influence, would be wrought in the minds of the settlers, that one and all, from the Governor downwards, would bow and worship him as the great mind able and willing to bestow lasting happiness on the country. What a violent check his excessive vanity must have received when he found that he had landed among men, many of whom surpassed him in intelligence and learning, and all, with few exceptions, in real practical experience. The settlers, it is to be hoped, have such respect for themselves*, and regard for the interest of their adopted country, as not to be led away from the correct path of duty by the sophistry of Mr. Godley, and the machinations of those slavish followers who are ready to assist him in his attempts to subvert their happiness. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Detector.