THE LATE MR. HENRY SEWELL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5720, 30 July 1879, Page 3

THE LATE MR. HENRY SEWELL.

By the last San Francisco mail private intelligence was received of the death of Mr. Sewell. The absence of any account of his death in the ordinary journals received in the colony is the sole reason why, in this, as probably in other local newspapers, no notice has a hitherto appeared of one who for many years occupied a foremost place amongst the founders of the colony. In Canterbury, at least, with whose fortunes he was more immediately connected, we should have expected to see a fitting tribute to his memory. Mr. Sewell came to New Zealand in 1853. He had previously been the managing member of the committee of the Canterbury Assooiatbtn, after the departure of the first colonists in 1850; and in 1852, when the Association had come to the conclusion that its work had been accomplished, and that it was desirable to transfer its property and powers to the settlement, which, under the Constitution Act recently passed, had become a province with a recognised form of government, Mr. Sewell was despatched to the colony to wind up the affairs of the association, and formally transfer all its powers and property to the new province. This, some of the old inhabitants of Canterbury will remember, was formally effected in 1855, the province undertaking the debt incurred by the late Lord Lyttleton and three other members of the association, and receiving the deeds by which all the property and powers of the association under their Act of Parliament were transferred to the province. These deeds were signed by their agent and formally accepted by the Superintendent in the presence of the Provincial Council. From the time when Mr. Sewell ceased to be agent ’ for the Canterbury Association, hethrew himself with all the energy of his character into the public life of the colony. He was member for Christchurch in the first House of Representatives, and continued amember sometimes of the House sometimes of the Legislative Council during the whole of his residence in the colony, which lasted with the two intervals which he spent in visits to England until the year when he finally returned to the mother country. He was a member of many Ministries, and was a long time in office. He joined with Mr. Fitz Gerald and Mr. Weld in the first responsible Ministry formed in 1851. He was Colonial Secretary in the Ministry under Sir F. Bell, in 1856, and then in Mr. Stafford’s Ministry from 1856 to 1859. He was Attor-ney-General under the successive Ministries of Mr. Fox, Mr. Domett, and Mr. Weld, from 1861 te 1865, Minister of Justice under Mr. Fox in 1870 and 1871, and Colonial Secretary in Mr. Stafford’s short Administration in 1872. It has been said that no one had so large an influence on the practical legislation of the colony as Mr. Sewell. His mind was creative and versatile in an unusual degree, and fertile fn expedients to meet unforseen difficulties. He was probably the beat debater who has appeared in this country ; devoid of impassioned eloquence, and not without some hesitation in his flow of language, he never failed to chain the attention of his audience by reasoning which was always acute and powerful, and illustration which was apt and amusing. As a lawyer his attention had been chiefly directed to constitutional law, in which he had probably no equal in these colonies. When the late Lord Grey attempted to recall the constitution which had been granted to the Cape of Good Hope, Mr. Sewell, who was then in England, was the principal adviser of the Cape delegates in their successful resistance to an illegal assumption of authority on the part of the Crown, which has no power to recall franchises once granted except by courts of law, for cause shown. In private life there was no more delightful companion—ever genial and pleasant, with a flow of playful wit, polished by classical learning, his love for which he retained to the last. His classical witticisms will long be remembered by all who knew them. It was known to some of his friends that for many years Mr. Sewell kept a journal of the passing events of the colony, chiefly in respect to public affairs. Should it ever see the light, no more interesting chapter of New Zealand history will ever have been published, and it is to be hoped that it may not be lost to the world.