A.—3

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XXII. -And we do hereby declare our pleasure to be that the Lieutenant-Governor for the time being of each of the said provinces (whether so appointed by such a direct commission from us as aforesaid, or by such a commission as aforesaid from the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand, shall have, exercise, and enjoy all powers, privileges, and authorities hereby or by the said Instructions hereinbefore mentioned, or otherwise howsoever vested in the Governor for the time being of any such province, save only that the temporary and provisional administration of the office of Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand), on any such vacancy by death, absence, or incapacity as aforesaid, shall pass to and become vested in the Governor of the Province of New Munster, in preference to the lieutenantGovernor of the Province of New Ulster, and in the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of New Ulster in preference to the Lieuteuant-Governor of the Province of New Munster ; and such provisional administration of the said office of Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand shall, on any such vacancy by death, absence, or incapacity as aforesaid, pass to and become vested in such chief military officer as aforesaid, in preference to any Lieutenant-Governor who may hold the office of LieuteuantGovernor, not in virtue of a commission issued directly by us, but in virtue of a commission so issued as aforesaid in our name and behalf by any such Governor-in-Chief. XXIII. And we do further reserve to ourselves full power and authority in our discretion to appoint one and the same person to occupy at the same time the said several offices of Governor-in-Chief and of Governor of each of the said respective provinces, or any two of those offices, and in our discretion to appoint one and the same person to occupy at the same time both of the said offices of Lieutenant-Governor of the said respective provinces. XXIV. And whereas it is by the said recited Act further provided, that it shall be lawful for us from time to time to amend, and for that purpose to add to, or if necessary to repeal, any such Letters Patent or Instructions as therein mentioned: Now, we do hereby reserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, full power and authority from time to time to amend, and for that purpose to add to, or if necessary to repeal these presents, and the said Instructions hereinbefore mentioned. XXV. And we do hereby further declare our will and pleasure to he, that these presents shall not take effect or come into operation in the said Islands of New Zealand until the same shall have been published and made known to the inhabitants of the said Islands by a Proclamation to be for that purpose issued by the person commissioned by us to be Governor-in-Chief for the time being of the said Islands. In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness ourself, at Westminster, the twenty-third day of December, in the tenth year of our reign. By Writ of Privy Seal, Edmunds.

The Queen's Instructions undbe the Eotal Sign-Manual and Signet, accompanying the New Zealand Chabteb. Wheeeas by an Act made and enacted in the Parliament holden in the ninth and tenth years of our reign, intituled "An Act to make further Provision for the Government of the New Zealand Islands," it is amongst other things enacted that it shall bo lawful for us, in and by any Letters Patent thereafter to be issued under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from time to time to constitute and establish within any district or districts of the Islands of New Zealand, one or more Municipal Corporation or Corporations, and to grant to any such Corporations all or any of the powers in the said recited Act mentioned : And it is thereby further enacted that it shall be lawful for us, in and by any Letters Patent thereafter to be issued under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom aforesaid, from time to time to divide the said Islands into two or more separate provinces, and to constitute and establish within the same two or more separate Assemblies : And it is thereby further enacted that it shall be lawful for us, in and by any such Letters Patent as aforesaid, to constitute and establish Assemblies in and for the respective provinces of New Zealand, and a General Assembly in and for the Islands of New r Zealand: And it is thereby further enacted that it shall be lawful for us, by any such Letters Patent as aforesaid, to make provision for the maintenance of certain of the laws, customs, and usages of the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand, within particular districts of the said Islands : And it is thereby further enacted that it shall be lawful for us, by any such Letters Patent as aforesaid, to make and prescribe all such rules as to us shall seem fit for determining the extent and boundaries of the districts to be comprised within any such Municipal Corporations as aforesaid, and for regulating the choice and election of the various officers of any such Corporations, and of the members of the governing bodies thereof, and for ascertaining the qualifications of the members of any such Municipal Corporations, or Assemblies, or General Assembly, as aforesaid; and for determining the length of time for which every such Assembly or General Assembly shall be holden from the time of the election of the members of the Houses of Eepresentatives in the said Act mentioned, and how and by what authority the same shall be dissolved or prorogued; and for prescribing the oaths to be taken, or the affirmations to be made by the members of the said Corporations, Assemblies, or General Assembly, or any of them, before entering on the discharge of the duties of their respective offices ; and for prescribing the course of proceeding to be followed in the said respective Assemblies, and in the said General Assembly, in regard to the enactment of laws, statutes, and ordinances therein ; and for determining in what cases the Governor-in-Chief for the time being of the Islands of New Zealand, or the Governor for the time being of any other such separate provinces as aforesaid, shall, in the name and on the behalf of us, assent to any such laws, statutes, or ordinances, or reserve the signification of our pleasure thereon, together with all such rules as shall be necessary for determining the effect of the disallowance by us of any such law, statute, or ordinance, although not so reserved as aforesaid, together with all such other rules, not being repugnant to the said recited Act, as it may seem to us necessary to make and establish, for carrying into full effect the purposes and objects thereof; and whereas it is by the said recited Act further provided that it shall be lawful for us to execute any of the powers thereby vested in us, not by means of such Letters Patent as aforesaid, but by Instructions under our Signet and Sign-Manual, approved in our Privy Council,