New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, AUGUST 18.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4807, 18 August 1876, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, AUGUST 18.

We will giye one extract from the, memorial, which is simply baaed upon the •resolutions passed at the meeting:—“ It is notyouf petitioners’- intention to enter now into a detailed statement of their numerous ‘grievances, adocument expressing them haying been recently forwarded to your Lordship,'’’their present object being to make known thqimpbrtaht fact that they have now lost all confidence

in' Governor-Grey's policy, and all" hope of his making any beneficial changes therein; furtherj -that they have lohtrespect for his ofhciul character Wr veracity, on account 'of,the systematic misrepresentations of his despatches, some being filled with glowing descriptions of the prosperity of this colony, merely fictitious, while at other times they, contain calumnious strictures on the characters of individuals, compounded and, forwarded .with such complete secrecy and. such utter disof truth, that no One can venture to ,think himself secure, from being assailed, a grievance which your petitioners, feel the more keenly by: the conviction that they are entirely in the power of such' statements, being cut off from any official channel of communication with her Majesty’s Government, being denied the privilege of representative institutions, through the unfounded representations of his Excellency.” : Admitting, as Sir George Grey contends, that the letter was signed by Dr. Weekes while under the belief that certain objectionable expressions, which he had crossed out of the original draft, had been "omitted in the 'amended copy, what were those particular portions, whiohj after ten years, Drl Weekes desired to withdraw? And what, about the memorial which' accompanied the letter, signed by 443 of the most respectable settlers in Auckland?

Sm Geoegb Grey- has impugned our

veracity. In his speech in replying on the separation reaolutiona he accuaed ua of deliberate misrepresentation and f alsehood. We are therefore arraigned upon bur defence. The accusations which Sir George Gbey makes against us are based .upon certain extracts from official papers, lately published in these columns, respecting his action in withholding representative institutions from this colony. It was,not our intention to refer further to . those, matters. We had established our'case by official testimony, and further than that we had no desire to bear hardly upon Sir George Gbey personally. Our disagreement with-him was not on personal grounds, it. was the measures he, advocated that we condemned. Therefore 1 we cannot but regret exceedingly that he has adopted a course which compels us, while vindicating our claimtothe confidence and respect of our readers, at the same time to place our accuser in a position by no means enviable. Let ua see what we are accused of:—“He had been attacked in the columns of a Wei-, lingfcon paper, and amongst other charges that had been brought against him was that his official veracity was not to be trusted, (1) the charge being based- upon a letter which was a fraudulent, letter, (2) a fact which the writer of the articles no doubt had been aware of. A public meeting had been held at which his (Sir George Grey’s) conduct had been canvassed; (3) no resolutions were passed, but the chairman was authorised to forward a letter to the Secretary of State.” The above extract contains three statements which are diametrically contrary, to truth. The charge was based upon a memorial dat’ed November 9 th, 1849, signed by 443 of'the most respectable settlers in Auckland. The memorial was based upon resolutions unanimously passed at the meeting. Dr. Weekes," in forwarding the memorial to Earl Grey, accompanied it with' an explanatory and supplementary letter. In forwarding the memorial, Dr., Weekes stated :—‘ ‘ With this you will. receive a petition, signed by 443 of the . most, respectable settlers in Auckland, praying the recall of Governor Grey. . . Suffer me to call your Lordship’s attention to the remarkable unanimity of opinion that obtains among ns with regard to that request. A public meeting, has-bean-called, the larges*-ever held in the- province, summoned deliberately, ;the. notice purposely so worded as to invite the presence of his Excellency’s supporters, if any could be found ;"yet every resolution passed without a single objection being taken. We pledge ourselves, our characters, and our consciences, that his removal will be but an act of retributive justice to himself.” Dr. Weekes, in his letter covering the memorial,’ also wrote; as follows ‘ ‘ But the crowning charge of all is Governor Grey’s, utter want of official veracity; whether as regards the character of individuals, or the systematic misrepresentation of facts by which he attempts to. .disguise the illsuccess of his experimental schemes. Those very despatches on which’his reputation is based are composed in a deceptive : spirit throughout, . ; yet so nicely regulated as to be j without a parallel in colonial history; for they are in reality remarkable productions, much more so than,, those who read ; them in England only could readily be brought .to. suppose. . . For the art.of seizing on trifling facts, magnifying or perverting them to suit the purposes of the momehtj in conveying impressions where he ’dare not assert; seldom risking being convicted of direct falsehood, but contriving openings for future explanation’s, or pleas of misrepresentation to' fall back upon should his'veracity be called , in question ; in the guarded care with which he fortifies his statements by intermixing as much truth as, possible, consistently with working out his ends, yet not without the courage occasionally to hazard a bold assertion, where the gain is likely to bo commensurate with .the risk, ho has shown a talent which all must regret to see so ill-appliedi ”