Remarks Upon the Latest Official Documents Relating to New Zealand.

John Beecham

First published by Hatchards in 1838

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Epub © 2013 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927279-20-5

[TITLE PAGES]

REMARKS
UPON
THE LATEST OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO
NEW ZEALAND:

(ORDERED, BY THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, TO BE PRINTED, FEBRUARY 7, 1838:)

WITH
A NOTICE OF A PAMPHLET BY SAMUEL HINDS, D.D.,
VICAR OF YARDLEY, HERTS.
AND ONE OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE NEW-ZEALAND ASSOCIATION,

IN A LETTER TO A FRIEND.

BY JOHN BEECHAM .

SECOND EDITION .

LONDON:
HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY; SEELEYS, FLEET STREET;
AND
HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO., AND JOHN MASON,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1838.
Price 1s. 6d.

LONDON: – Printed by James Nichols, 46, Hoxton-Square,

CONTENTS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS RELATING TO NEW ZEALAND, REMARKED UPON IN THIS LETTER: –

1. Copy of a Despatch, from Governor Sir R. Bourke, K. C. B., to Lord Glenelg, dated Government House, Sydney, 9th September, 1837.

2. Enclosure (A.) – Letter from Captain W. Hobson, to His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Bourke, K.C.B., Governor, dated His Majesty's Ship Rattlesnake, Port Jackson, 8th August, 1837.

3. Enclosure (B.) – A List of all the Ships which have visited the Bay of Islands during the Six Months ending 31st December, 1836, with a Summary for the whole Year.

4. Enclosure (C.) – Letter from James Busby, Esq., British Resident at New Zealand, to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary of New-South Wales, dated British Residency, Bay of Islands, 16th June, 1837.

5. Enclosure (D.) – Letter from James Busby, Esq., British Resident, New Zealand, to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary of New-South Wales, dated British Residency, Bay of Islands, 13th July, 1837.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THESE Remarks were, in the first instance, printed for private distribution, but are now, on the recommendation of those to whose judgment the Writer defers, placed within the reach of all who are ready to use their influence in promoting a safe and philanthropic measure for removing the evils which some of our own countrymen, as well as others, have inflicted upon the New Zealanders, without exposing them to the risk which would be incurred by an attempt at Colonization.

REMARKS

REMARKS,

&c.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

I HAVE examined the Official Despatches respecting New Zealand recently laid before Parliament, with especial reference to the intimation which you gave me, that the New-Zealand Association would, it was expected, endeavour to derive from those documents an argument in favour of their scheme of Colonization. The first despatch of Mr. Busby, having been pointed out by you as that on which it was probable great stress would be laid, has particularly engaged my attention; but I confess that I am unable to discover by what mode of reasoning this despatch, any more than the others which accompany it, can be made to serve the cause of the Association.

The investigation to which, on a former occasion, I subjected their proposals led me to the conclusion, that a Colonization-Company, who are to carry on their operations chiefly by means of borrowed money, cannot furnish probable evidence, that, however benevolent may be then wishes, they will have either time or means at their command for the accomplishment of the arduous task of raising the New Zealanders to the enjoyment of the blessings of a Christian and civilized state. If (as, I have reason to know, many who are competent judges believe to be the case) this con-

clusion has been satisfactorily established, then the only remaining recommendation of the Association's plan to philanthropic individuals, who make the welfare of the New Zealanders the primary object of their solicitude, is, that it is intended as a remedy for a peculiar state of things which has long been deplored. The Missionaries have painfully to witness the evils inflicted by white men on these interesting islanders; those injuries constituted the question respecting New Zealand which was investigated by the late Parliamentary Select Committee on Aborigines, and to provide against which they suggested a plan in their Report submitted to the House of Commons; and the interference which the Missionary Societies have solicited from Her Majesty's Government has been sought for the very purpose of putting an end to this same class of evils. Of the occasion afforded by the agitation of this question, the Association have taken advantage; and claim the support of those who are anxious to secure protection for the New Zealanders, on the ground that one of their principal objects in proposing to colonize New Zealand is, "to repress the crimes of British visitors and settlers, and likewise to prevent the further emigration of convict refugees, and other desperate vagabonds." This part of their plan has been as clearly exposed as that which relates to the proposed civilization of the New Zealanders; but as the evils referred to yet exist, and loudly call for redress, it may still have an appearance of plausibility with some who see no other or more effectual remedy.

The question then for consideration is – Whether the plan of the Association, as proposing to deliver the New Zealanders from the wrongs and injuries which they are now suffering from British visitors and settlers, and runaway convicts, receives any recommend-

ation or support from the despatch of Mr. Busby, and the other accompanying documents. Now, I think it will be obvious to every reflecting person, that Mr. Busby cannot be introduced as the advocate of the Association, unless it should appear that he lays principal stress on those evils which they propose to remove, and urges, moreover, the adoption of a measure similar, at least, in principle, to that of the Association. But is this the case? To save the trouble of referring to the Parliamentary Papers, I will quote what he says on the subject of the evils resulting to the New Zealanders from their intercourse with white men: –

"It would, in relation to the subject on which I intend to enter in this despatch, be an interesting and important question, did there exist means of bringing it to a satisfactory solution, How far this depopulation of the country, which has at least been rapid in proportion to the increase of its intercourse with, the whites, was originated by the latter, and may justly be chargeable to them. My own opinion is, that all the apparent causes which are in operation are quite inadequate to account for the rapid disappearance of the people.

"The introduction of fire-arms is alleged as one cause, but there seems good reason to doubt whether their wars were less sanguinary before fire-arms were introduced. The use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco are less questionable evils; and though their direct influence cannot, I think, be stated as at all remarkable, they are, in all probability, the original causes of diseases with which their immediate connexion is not apparent.

"Venereal diseases are another means of undermining the constitution of the multitudes who, in one shape or other, are subjected to them: and besides these sources of disease and death, the abuse of the females who are sent by their masters or relations on board ships, and the murder of the fruits of this intercourse, which is believed by those likely to be best informed to be of frequent occurrence, are undoubtedly powerful checks to increase, and ought to be largely allowed for in estimating the causes which are in operation for the depopulation of the country. But, on the other hand, it must not be lost sight of that the mortality has not been

confined to those who have been the victims of violence, or who have been exposed to the effects of vices or diseases of foreign origin. Disease and death prevail even amongst those natives who, by their adherence to the Missionaries, have received only benefits from English connexions; and even the very children who are reared under the care of the Missionaries are swept off in a ratio which promises, at no very distant period, to leave the country destitute of a single aboriginal inhabitant.

"The natives are perfectly sensible of this decrease; and when they contrast their own condition with that of the English families, amongst whom the marriages have been prolific in a very extraordinary degree of a most healthy progeny, they conclude that the God of the English is removing the aboriginal inhabitants to make room for them; and it appears to me that this impression has produced amongst them a very general recklessness and indifference to life."

With reference to this exposition of his views, Mr. Busby adds, that he has thus, as impartially as he could, stated both sides of the question, and that he does "not concur in opinion with those who charge altogether upon their intercourse with British subjects, directly or indirectly, the present miserable condition of the New Zealanders."

In commenting upon this passage, I would request you particularly to notice, that the writer distinguishes between the condition of the natives, as affected by the vicious conduct of white men, and their circumstances in those cases where they derive only benefits from their English connexions; and that, strange as it may appear, he does in reality take the most discouraging view of the condition of the New Zealanders, where the influence of our countrymen is solely employed in endeavours to promote their welfare. It may be presumed that the Association will not think that this description can prove helpful to them. If it be true, that "all the apparent causes which are in operation, are quite inadequate to account for the rapid dis-

appearance of the people;" and that the natives are doomed, by some mysterious decree of Heaven, rapidly to waste away without any visible cause, in the presence of white men, who have gone among them with no other view than to do them good; the only course by which our Government or Parliament could hope to meet the case would be, not to found a Colony, but to banish henceforth every white man, good as well as bad, from the shores of New- Zealand.

The only part of this description which could possibly be made to strengthen the cause of the Association is that which relates to the vicious conduct of our countrymen; and I think you will agree with me, that, so far from presenting a more alarming picture, Mr. Busby does not place those evils in so strong a light as that in which we have previously regarded them. Every statement which he makes upon this subject has its drawback. If he admits that "the introduction of fire-arms is alleged as one cause of the rapid disappearance of the people," he also maintains, that "there seems good reason to doubt whether their wars were less sanguinary before fire-arms were introduced." If he allows, that "the use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco" is, "in all probability, the original causes of diseases with which their immediate connexion is not apparent," on the other hand he says, "their direct influence cannot, I think, be stated as at all remarkable." He gives it as his opinion, that diseases resulting from the vicious intercourse of white people with the natives "ought to be largely allowed for in estimating the causes which are in operation for the depopulation of the country;" but he qualifies this by the assertion, that "the mortality has not been confined to those who have been the victims of violence, or who have been exposed to

the effects of vices or diseases of foreign origin," – and that disease and death prevail to a still more fearful extent among those natives who derive nothing but benefits from their English connexions. On the alleged rapid depopulation of New Zealand generally, and especially the mortality which is stated to take place among the natives under the care of the Missionaries, I shall not fail to remark; but for the present I confine myself to the class of evils which more particularly occupies the attention of Mr. Busby, simply for the purpose of showing that his description of the effect of the vicious conduct of white men does not even come up to the views which were substantiated before the Aborigines' Committee, nor by any means equals that which is given in the book published by the Association.

The leading topic in Mr. Busby's despatch is obviously the misery which the New Zealanders inflict upon themselves by their own internal wars. The fact is, that the native wars form the principal subject of all the despatches comprised in this collection of papers. The occasion of their being written was the breaking out of a war between two of the principal tribes near the Bay of Islands. The first solicitude evinced by the writers in relation to this war has for its object, more especially, the protection of British subjects against the natives; and the measure recommended by Mr. Busby, as a permanent provision for the existing state of things, is framed with especial reference to the native wars. Thus, in the first of these despatches, Sir Richard Bourke informs Lord Glenelg, that, "in consequence of a war breaking out between two tribes near the Bay of Islands," he had requested Captain Hobson, commanding His Majesty's ship Rattlesnake, an experienced and judicious officer,

to repair to New Zealand, to afford British subjects resident there, and to British shipping, such protection as might be required." In the second despatch, Captain Hobson reports to the Governor his proceedings at New Zealand, for the accomplishment of this primary object, and the places which he had visited for the purpose of affording protection to the British against the violence of the natives. In the next paper, Mr. Busby, taking up the same subject, adverts with satisfaction to the measures adopted by Captain Hobson, but expresses, notwithstanding, great apprehension respecting the probable results of the war. He remarks: –

"Although the visit of His Majesty's ship Rattlesnake at this juncture is peculiarly important, as making it appear to the natives that a vigilant guardianship is maintained over His Majesty's subjects who are settled here, and that assistance is never at a great distance, should it be required; yet it is impossible to look to the continuance of this contest without the most serious alarm."

Mr. Busby further mentions several reasons for the solicitude which he thus expressed respecting the future, and then proceeds to the consideration of some permanent remedy for the evils which afflict New Zealand. This was a subject to which, it appears, the attention of the Governor had been previously directed. Lord Glenelg had announced to him an intention of resuming a measure "for the parliamentary regulation of the intercourse between British subjects and New Zealand;" and he informs his Lordship that he had proposed to Captain Hobson to make known to him, on his return from the mission on which he was sent, "the opinions which his observation, whilst there, might lead him to form upon the present state of New Zealand, and the means of securing, with the least pos-

sible overt interference, the common interests of the natives, and of the British settled amongst them." It appears, moreover, that the Governor had communicated with Mr. Busby on the same subject, and had mentioned to him the proposed Act of Parliament. In reply, Mr. Busby expresses himself to the following effect: –

"Under these circumstances," (circumstances connected with the war and arising out of the prospect of its continuance,) "his Excellency will be prepared for my entire concurrence in his opinion that any additional expenditure, with the view of giving increased efficiency to my office as at present constituted, would be altogether fruitless; nor would the Act of Parliament to which, his Excellency refers, if the powers it was intended to impart should be limited to the controlling of British subjects, be of much service, in the state to which the affairs of this country have arrived. What is wanted is a paramount authority, supported by a force adequate to secure the efficiency of its measures.

"Without the establishment of such an authority by some civilized State, I cannot, after a full consideration of every circumstance connected with the actual condition of this people, see the least prospect of any permanent peace being established amongst them whilst there remains a stronger man to murder his weaker neighbour. There are few persons so insignificant as not to have it in their power, at any time, to plunge the country into war. The crime of an individual involves his most distant connexions, as each of them is a legitimate object of retaliation to the connexions of the injured party. It is in vain to represent to them that the criminal alone should suffer; their answer is ready, and it is perfectly consistent with the dictates of natural justice, namely, that his tribe will not surrender him to suffer for his crime, and by standing up in his defence they have become participators in it; while, on the other hand, provided the criminal be not a slave, his connexions are never without a grievance, more or less ancient, which they bring forward as a justification of his crime. Thus, by every attempt to administer the law of retaliation – the rude justice of nature – the breach is made wider. New deaths involve more distant connexions. Tribe after tribe becomes a party to the contest; and peace, or rather an intermission of murders, can only be procured when one of the parties becomes too weak to continue the contest,

or when the loss on both sides happens to be so nearly balanced, that neither party has an advantage over the other.

"In this way has the depopulation of the country been going on, till district after district has become void of its inhabitants, and the population is, even now, but a remnant of what it was in the memory of some European residents."

From this passage it is obvious, that the Governor had dwelt upon two schemes for meeting the existing state of things in New Zealand. The first was to strengthen the position of Mr. Busby, with the view of giving increased efficiency to his office, of which the Governor did not approve; the second was the Act of Parliament, of which Lord Glenelg had made mention: and the reason which Mr. Busby assigns for his conclusion, that neither of these plans would meet the case, is worthy of special remark. The principal object of his own appointment was to protect the natives from the aggressions of British subjects, and he appears to have understood that the leading design of the proposed Act of Parliament was somewhat similar; but he tells the Governor, this will not "be of much service in the state to which the affairs of the country have arrived," and that what is especially needed is the introduction of a permanent authority, "which should reconcile the differences among the natives, and put an end to their devastating internal wars.

This being the character of Mr. Busby's despatch, how it can be made to subserve the cause of the New-Zealand Association, I cannot conceive. They dwell upon the evils inflicted on the New Zealanders by "British visitors and settlers," and "the emigration of convict refugees, and other desperate vagabonds;" and they tell the public that the repression of those evils is "one of the main grounds on which they have built

their plan for colonizing New Zealand:" whereas Mr. Busby insists especially upon the native wars, and emphatically declares, that a measure framed merely for controlling British subjects, and protecting the natives from the consequence of their ill conduct, will not by any means meet the case; and argues that the remedy particularly needed is, a measure that shall have for its primary object to put an end to the internal wars, and thus prevent the New Zealanders from destroying each other.

Under this view of Mr. Busby's despatch, I think I am warranted in concluding, that it only serves to furnish additional evidence that the Association have not proposed the remedy required by the existing state of things in New Zealand. If Mr. Busby has not dwelt so forcibly upon the evils introduced among the New Zealanders by British subjects, he has called attention to others of a most affecting character; and has thus shown that the case is more complex and difficult than many persons had been previously led to imagine. I must here, however, remark that I cannot altogether agree with this gentleman in his statements respecting the alleged rapid decrease of the native population. I am still doubtful whether the vicious conduct of the whites has as yet produced any considerable or very sensible diminution of the native inhabitants; and I am of opinion that the native wars, although their destructive tendency is unquestionable, are not now actually effecting such a decrease in the number of the inhabitants as Mr. Busby imagines. Let us glance at the calculations which have been made respecting the population of New Zealand. This, as you are aware, has been variously estimated; but Murray, in his standard work, "The Encyclopaedia of Geography," adopts the calculation of Nicholas. On referring to

the Narrative of that gentleman, I find him expressing himself to this effect: – "Doctor Foster, who has computed the population of the different islands in the South Seas, has fixed that of New Zealand, through the whole extent, at one hundred thousand souls; but though I conceive this estimate to be fully equal to the number of the inhabitants, yet I will suppose them at present one hundred and fifty thousand." It thus appears that although the writer, in order to place in the strongest light the argument he was pursuing, was disposed to admit that the population might amount to one hundred and fifty thousand persons; yet he believed that the number of native inhabitants throughout the whole extent of New Zealand did not actually amount to more than one hundred thousand. Here, then, we have the calculation, adopted by Murray, of what was the entire population of New Zealand in the year 1814, a period when the visits of British vessels to those shores were only of rare occurrence. For a computation of the number of native inhabitants which the Northern Island now contains, I shall give that which has been furnished by the Rev. W. Williams of the Church Missionary Society. On adding together his estimates of the number of natives in the several districts, it will be found that he makes the native population of the Northern Island alone to amount to one hundred and five thousand four hundred persons. If these calculations are to be relied upon, it follows that the aggregate of the population is equal at least to what it was twenty years ago. I shall only further remark, that Mr. Williams – having, after twelve years' residence among them, obtained a somewhat intimate knowledge of the people; and having, moreover, made this calculation on independent grounds, without any reference to the present inquiry

– must be regarded as an authority fully entitled to a hearing upon the subject.

Mr. Busby has evidently overlooked some important considerations, tending greatly to qualify the sweeping statements which he has made. He has truly described the savage character of the native wars; but he has not adverted to the meliorating effects of Christianity. Where that is not felt, the wars are as sanguinary and destructive as formerly; but the influence of the Christian natives is now so great that they are enabled very considerably to check the course of war, or mitigate the severity of its character. With regard to the alleged decrease in the number of the natives at the Mission Stations, it may be remarked, that the transition-state from barbarism to civilization is not favourable to the health of Aboriginal people. The Chippeway Chief from Upper Canada, to whom I referred on a former occasion, has informed me, in a conversation on this subject, that his people, who had embraced Christianity, suffered much while they were in a half-civilized condition, – that the blending together of some of their old roving habits with the customs of civilized society, learned from their Christian teachers, introduced among them consumption and other maladies; which, for a time, so fully counterbalanced the effects of other beneficial causes, that it has been only within the last two or three years that the population at his settlement has begun to increase. That the transition-state should generally be attended with similar unfavourable circumstances, is what all who regard the subject with a philosophic eye would be led to expect. After barbarous people have adopted European clothing, and enjoyed some of the comforts of civilized life, they cannot, in the nature of things, expose themselves to the weather, and sleep upon the

ground in wet clothes, according to their former course of living, without injury to their health. There is reason to believe, that the effects of such imprudence are experienced among the natives of New Zealand who have embraced Christianity, and are making some advances towards civilization. One of our Missionaries at the Hokianga, in a letter received within the last few days, thus glances at the subject: –

"The daughter of one of our most respectable Chiefs, named Nene, or Thomas Walker, (after Thomas Walker, Esq., of Stockton-upon-Tees, the friend of Missions,) has been ill for some time; and we fear she will not recover. She was a fine, healthy, robust young woman; and was lately married to an interesting young-Chief, named William: but her illness was brought on by sleeping in damp clothes upon the ground; and we fear consumption will be the consequence of her imprudence. Chiefs and their people remain in their wet clothes for some time; and we have had to entreat them to change, to avoid sickness and death. Coughs are very common at this time, brought on by cold and exposure."

It is, therefore, no more than reflecting persons would expect to hear, that that portion of the native population of New Zealand now under the care of the Missionaries, which is at this very juncture in the transition-state from barbarous life to civilization, do not appear to be in so healthy and thriving a condition as the Missionaries themselves, and their families, whose constitutions have not been subjected to the severe test of passing from one mode of life, to another the very reverse. But there is a fact mentioned by both the Church and Wesleyan Missionaries, which of itself sufficiently accounts for the "disease and death" among the Christian natives to which Mr. Busby refers. Mr. Woon, writing from the Hokianga, thus adverts to it: –

"Could you associate with the natives as we are called to associate with them at this time, September 20th, 1837, you would

weep over their distresses. An influenza which affects the head and chest is spreading on every hand, and hundreds are looking to the Missionaries for medicine and nourishment. The Mission families are all more or less affected."

This was written only a few weeks after the date of Mr. Busby's Despatch, and had he stated that the "disease and death" among the Christian natives resulted from an occasional visitation – an epidemic to which our own and other civilized countries are subject, there would not have been any necessity to resolve the whole into some mysterious decree of Heaven for effecting the destruction of the Aborigines of New Zealand.

It is easy, however, to make excuse for the tone of despondency in which Mr. Busby indulges. Considering his circumstances, – that he has been left without adequate support or means to carry the benevolent object of his appointment into effect, and that he has had to contemplate the evils which prevail around him, without the ability effectually to prevent or control them, – it is not to be wondered at that he should be led to indulge in gloomy views, and to make the dark shades of the picture which he draws deeper than the circumstances of the case do really warrant.

While, however, I cannot adopt the conclusion, that the depopulation of New Zealand is going on at so fearful a rate as the description of Mr. Busby would seem to intimate, that gentleman's despatch, with those of the Governor and Captain Hobson, does certainly afford a more comprehensive view of the state of things in New Zealand than has usually been presented to the public; and tends to impress the mind more deeply with the complexity and difficulty of the question respecting a suitable remedy. The evils which afflict New Zealand may be classed under three heads: –

Those which are inflicted upon the natives by British subjects, must first be noticed. With this part of the question, a degree of familiarity has been obtained, by means of the inquiry instituted by the Parliamentary Aborigines' Committee. That the wrongs which the New Zealanders suffer from our countrymen are great, and that some preventive measure is indispensably necessary, cannot be doubted; more especially as the probability exists, that the native wars will be aggravated by the increasing number of British residents. Captain Hobson, while he dwells on the effect of the wars of the New Zealanders in devastating their beautiful country, and also maintains it to be the duty of Government to protect our countrymen from the violence of the hostile natives; at the same time shows, that, as the number of British residents has been so considerably augmented, the danger has consequently increased; that the irregular conduct of the lower order of the settlers will tend to promote war, by inflaming "the natural turbulence of the native population," "which heretofore the great and powerful influence of the Missionaries has done much to check."

In the next place, the injuries which are done to the New Zealanders by Americans and other foreigners come under review. The official return of vessels which visited the Bay of Islands in the year 1836, furnished by Mr. Busby, and printed with the despatches, states that out of one hundred and fifty-one reported, ninety-three only were English and Colonial vessels; the remainder were American and other foreign ships, – namely, fifty-four American, three French, and one Tahitian. And the last half-year's return, I have been informed, shows that the number of American vessels visiting New Zealand was very nearly equal to that of English, Now, as the conduct

of the American seamen is not superior to that of our own, the evils which the natives suffer from that class of visitants become a very prominent feature in this painful and perplexing case.

Lastly. The misery in which the New Zealanders involve themselves by their own internal wars, as described in the documents now under consideration, is a subject calculated deeply to affect the benevolent mind, and demands very special consideration.

- - - - - - -

The inquiry which now naturally arises is, What is to be done to meet this complex state of things? What is the remedy for these various and complicated evils? This is a question of very difficult solution; and it is a much more easy task to show what will not meet the case, than to point out the course which ought to he pursued. Since the publication of these despatches, we have had at least four distinct plans before us; and although I do not undertake to say that any of the four will fully meet the existing emergency, you will allow me to occupy a few minutes of your time in comparing their various pretensions.

1. Colonization is proposed as a remedy. "Send out emigrants," say the New-Zealand Association, "and found a colony." How this scheme should meet the case, I was unable to discover when I published my examination of their proposals; but its utter insufficiency has been clearly proved to me by the despatches now put into our hands.

To protect the New Zealanders from British visitors and settlers, the Association tell us, is one of their main objects: but how does it yet appear that they will be able to accomplish even this? They might, to some

extent, "repress the crimes of the British" within the Colony which they propose to establish; but it is most probable, that the more vicious characters would generally retire beyond the boundary of the Colony, and thus withdraw themselves from its direct control. For the purpose of dealing with those who may be placed without the jurisdiction of the Colony, the Association, however, propose that treaties shall be made with the native Chiefs, to aid in bringing to justice such British subjects as may injure and oppress them. This is plausible enough; but I wish to be informed how a Colonization Company, who avowedly have "purposes of their own to serve," can possibly give a guarantee, that they will be able to devote either time or means to the accomplishment of such an object. Should they, according to their first proposal, form their settlement in the Southern Island, how is it to be expected that they could keep a vigilant watch over the whole of the Northern Island – along the many hundreds of miles of coast beyond their own territory, – -and that they would maintain throughout this whole extent the apparatus necessary for suppressing, in conjunction with the native Chiefs, the crimes of British subjects? It may easily be conceived that a Government-arrangement, formed on high public principles, solely for the accomplishment of such a purpose, might be made to answer; but I cannot believe, until I see it done, that a Company, with whom this object, according to their own showing, would be only a secondary consideration, could pay sufficient attention to it. Unless human nature and the course of things in New Zealand be very different from what they are on this side of the globe, it would certainly happen, that the commercial interests of the Association, and the interests of the

natives as jeoparded, by British subjects, would sometimes interfere with each other; and their own commercial interests, as being confessedly their primary care, would engross the attention of the Association, to the neglect of the endangered interests of the natives. Were the proposals of the Association to be sanctioned by Parliament, and a Colony to be established, I should therefore expect, that all the New Zealanders beyond its limits would, notwithstanding, be left, as now, to endure the wrongs inflicted upon them by British subjects. After a time, the Association would have to confess, that they could not prevent this; and their failure would be urged as a reason why the Colony should be extended so as to embrace those localities where our vicious countrymen might be carrying on their depredations, and thus bring them effectually under colonial jurisdiction. In this way, for the ostensible purpose of protecting the natives from oppression, the whole tendency of the plan of the Association would ere long be worked out, and New Zealand be wholly reduced to the condition of a British dependency. To say nothing of the probability, that some of the emigrants who might be sent out to form the Colony would be found quite as ready to embrace every opportunity of injuring the natives as many of our vicious countrymen who are already there, (for it would be absurd to argue upon the supposition that the proposed Colony should be formed exclusively of virtuous and benevolent persons,) it is, as I think, most obvious, that the Association will fail to accomplish that which has constituted one of the main recommendations of their plan to the philanthropist, and will not be able to protect the New Zealanders from the violence and injustice of British subjects, except by pushing out their

plan of Colonization to such an extent as would make the remedy worse than the disease.

If then the scheme of Colonization is not likely to meet this part of the case, how will it afford protection to the natives from Americans and other foreigners? What have the Association proposed in order to remedy the evils originating in the vicious conduct of those visitants, – evils which have evidently occupied the attention of our Government for several years, and which, it now appears, have so considerably increased as to be only less than the mischief resulting from the improper conduct of our own countrymen? The Association do not so much as recognise this important feature of the New-Zealand case. They have absolutely nothing to offer upon the subject. It would follow, of course, that they would be able to control the Americans within the Colony, should one be formed: but they would have no right to interfere with them beyond its limits; and for any thing that the Association could do, the natives, without the boundaries of the Colony, would continue to suffer as much as ever from the Americans and other foreigners. Were a settlement once formed by the Association, their inability to deal with this class of persons would soon be clearly demonstrated, and a new argument would probably be derived from this very consideration in favour of the extension of their plan. We should shortly hear of the necessity of colonizing the whole of New Zealand, for this among other reasons, – that the natives might be rescued out of the hands of the Americans.

But, to proceed: How is Colonization calculated to prove a preventive to the native wars, – that class of evils on which such principal stress is laid in the despatches under review, and more especially in the

despatch of Mr. Busby? Could the Association impart Christianity and civilization to the New Zealanders, they would thereby put an end to the internal wars which originate so great an amount of suffering; but unless they adopt a very different plan of procedure from that which they have already published, and exhibit an array of means vastly superior to those on which they have heretofore dwelt, we may safely conclude that their proposed civilizing process would not terminate the wars of New Zealand. It may then be argued, that the Association will not accomplish this desirable object in any way; for, separate from their general plan of civilization, they offer nothing specific to meet this part of the case. It is to be feared, indeed, that the native wars may be increased, rather than diminished, by their scheme of Colonization. Captain Hobson dwells upon the danger resulting from an increase in the number of licentious white people; and it is not unlikely that some of the emigrants whom the Association might send out would be as disposed to quarrel with the natives, and provoke them to war, as any of our countrymen who are already there. Disputes between the natives and Colonists would probably be more serious in their consequences than those in which the natives and the present settlers become involved. Mr. Coates has well remarked, that if an Englishman now offends the natives, they destroy his property, and perhaps force him to fly for his life, and there the matter ends; but if the Englishman were a Colonist, this would not be the ease. Did he belong to a Colony having its "militia," "regulars," and a "marine," it might be deemed necessary to avenge his cause; and the consequences might prove very serious, A case in point occurs to me, which so

clearly illustrates my meaning, that I shall give it at length from A Personal Narrative of Two Visits to New Zealand in His Majesty's Ship Alligator, A. D. 1834, by William Barret Marshall, Surgeon, R. N.

"March 12. – The anchor was weighed again this morning, and the ship removed to an inner harbour, at the confluence of the Waikadi and the Kaua-kaua rivers, it being deemed expedient to bring her broadside to bear upon the Pa of a Chief named Pomare, between whom and an English trader a dispute had arisen, the decision of which was referred by the latter to the British Resident; and the case, in that gentleman's opinion, being one of lawless rapine and unprovoked aggression on the part of the native, who, in all the wild-spiritedness of a savage independence, laughed Mr. Busby to scorn, and set his authority at defiance, the intervention of Captain Lambert was sought, to obtain restitution of a large schooner-rigged boat, which Pomare was said to withhold feloniously from its rightful owner. The crew of the Alligator were got under arms accordingly, the ship cleared for action, guns shotted, and the pinnace fitted with a small howitzer, to recover, if necessary, by force, what it was supposed had been procured by injustice. In order, however, if practicable, to avert hostilities, an application by letter and verbally was forwarded to the Rev. W. Williams, urging him to seek an interview with the Chief, and endeavour to effect an amicable adjustment of the difference. The letter and message were no sooner delivered than complied with; and the Rev. W. Williams and Wyate set off for the Pa, which occupies a strong position on the top of a height at the extremity of the peninsula, whose rocky base is laved by the twin rivers, until they unite to empty their waters into the Bay of Islands, and in that vast basin wed themselves as one river to the waves of the great Pacific Ocean. After the lapse of about half an hour, a salute of two guns, with which he has been enabled to strengthen his abode, announced the setting off of the Chief. A little longer, and he strode with the air of a Monarch along the quarter-deck of the frigate, a tall and athletic young man, his eye scarcely deigning a glance at 'the pomp and circumstance of war,' which met him there. Being invited below, he hesitated, but it was only for a moment; the next saw him descending into the cabin, with the same undaunted air by which his previous bearing had been marked, and he remained there in close conference for nearly two hours; at the

end of which Mr. Bushy came on deck, apparently much pleased, and confessedly glad to have discovered that Pomare, who by his manners had prepossessed every one in his favour, was not the aggressor, but the aggrieved. The facts of the case as now ascertained were these: – He had sold to an European trader, a quantity of timber for exportation; the trader resold it before paying for it himself, and decamped in the New Zealanders debt, who, finding the timber removed, the original purchaser gone away, and the assignee of the purchase about to quit also, demanded payment of the latter, and, being refused, retaliated by seizing on the schooner. An equitable adjustment has been the consequence; Pomare consenting to leave it with the Missionaries to fix the amount due to him for his timber, and promising, on payment of that amount, to give up the boat. The sum proved to be twenty pounds sterling; and the hero of the day took his departure, but not before he had stipulated for a complimentary salute similar to that with which he had greeted the British flag. The successful issue of this affair confirms the testimony of Mr. Clindon to the salutary influence possessed by the Missionaries over the minds of the natives; and exhibits somewhat of the mode by which it has been acquired; namely, the due administration of justice between man and man, without respect of persons, in the cases submitted to their arbitration. And the circumstances under which Pomare consented to visit the ship when he did, illustrate very forcibly the strength of his confidence in the Ministers of peace, and the greatness of his distrust in the good faith, of those whom he was to meet on board: he could only be prevailed on to trust his person in the hands of the King's officers by W. Williams offering to make the Mission families and property at Paihia the guarantees of his safety, and placing them at the disposal of his tribe, as hostages and security for the good faith he was to experience at our hands."

A fact like this speaks volumes. Here is the case of an Englishman, who had so completely misled the British Resident, as to make him believe that he had been seriously injured by a native Chief, who in reality was only seeking his right; and had it not been for the wise precaution of engaging the Missionary to act the part of mediator before His Majesty's ship should open its destructive fire, the injured Chief and his people might have been involved in one common

destruction. What had so nearly happened in this instance, would doubtless soon occur, should a Colony be founded; and we might expect to hear of such and such a Chief and his people having been severely chastised for the injuries which they had inflicted on individual Colonists, when, if the truth could be ascertained, those alleged injuries, as in the case now quoted, would probably be found to have been only retributive visitations in self-defence.

I shall not dwell longer on the proposed plan for colonizing New Zealand, but pass to the consideration of the other measures which have been suggested, by remarking, that if Mr. Busby's despatch has strengthened any one of my previous convictions more than the rest, it is the conclusion, that the plans proposed by the Association are altogether inadequate to meet the existing state of things in New Zealand.

2. The plan of Mr. Busby is TO TAKE NEW ZEALAND UNDER BRITISH PROTECTION. "What is wanted," he says, "is a paramount authority, supported by a force adequate to secure the efficiency of its measures." "Without the establishment of such authority by some civilized State, I cannot, after a full consideration of every circumstance connected with the actual condition of this people, see the least prospect of any permanent peace being established among them." Mr. Busby further states, that, in his judgment, "unless the country should be taken under the efficient protection of Great Britain, or some other foreign power should interfere," the natives will go on destroying each other; that the British will continue to suffer the accumulating evils of a permanent anarchy; and that the nature of their pursuits, the distance of their habitations, and, above all, the

character of the majority of them, would prevent them from making common cause against the natives with any prospect of promoting general security. He then proceeds as follows to develope his plan: –

"I have in former communications detailed so fully the relative situation of the British and the natives, and the frequent causes of contention existing between them, that I will forbear to enter upon the subject in the present despatch. For the same reason I will avoid any reference to the importance of British interests, and the necessity for their protection, irrespective of the condition either of the natives, or of the British who have actually settled in their country. But I will proceed at once to submit the outline of a plan of government, which I humbly venture to think would give as great a degree of peace and security to all classes of persons in this country, as is enjoyed by the inhabitants of the majority even of civilized States.

"The plan which I would now more fully submit was suggested in my despatch 26th of January, 1836, No. 85. It is founded upon the principle of a protecting State, administering in chief the affairs of another State in trust for the inhabitants, as sanctioned by the treaty of Paris, in the instance of Great Britain and the Ionian Islands, and as applied, I believe, in various instances, on the borders of our Indian possessions.

"All my experience, subsequent to the date of that suggestion, has strengthened my belief that the principle is peculiarly applicable to this country; and that the details could be arranged with a degree both of efficiency and economy which at first sight might appear far from probable.

"The Chiefs who were parties to the Articles of Confederation and Declaration of Independence, in October, 1835, together with those who have subsequently adhered to it, include, with very few exceptions, the whole of the Chiefs of influence in the northern parts of the island, and the adhesion of the remainder could at any time be procured.

"Whatever acts approaching to acts of sovereignty or government have been exercised in the country, have been exercised by these Chiefs in their individual capacity as relates to their own people, and in their collective capacity as relates to their negotiations with the British Government, – the only Government with which the Chiefs or people of New Zealand have had any relations of a diplomatic character. Their flag has also been formally

recognised by the British Government as the flag of an independent State.

"The Articles of Confederation having centralized the powers of sovereignty exercised both de jure and de facto by the several Chiefs, and having established and declared the basis of a constitution of government founded upon the union of those powers, I cannot, I think, greatly err in assuming that the congress of Chiefs, the depository of the powers of the State as declared by its constitution, is competent to become a party to a treaty with a foreign power, and to avail itself of foreign assistance in reducing the country under its authority to order; and, this principle being once admitted, all difficulty appears to me to vanish.

"The appearance of a detachment of British troops, in fulfilment of a treaty with the confederated Chiefs, would not be a taking possession of the country, but a means of strengthening the hands of its native government; while, in return for this subsidiary force, it might be stipulated that the British settlers should be subject to the operation of no laws but such as should emanate from, or be consented to, by their own Government, and exercised under the control and directions of its officers; and that the revenues of the country should be made applicable, in the first instance, to the support of a civil government, to be established by the protecting power, and the maintenance of the quota of troops stipulated for by the treaty.

"In theory and ostensibility, the government would be that of the confederated Chiefs, but in reality it must necessarily be that of the protecting power. The Chiefs would meet annually or oftener, and nominally enact the laws proposed to them; but in truth the present race of Chiefs could not be entrusted with any discretion whatever in the adoption or rejection of any measure that might be submitted to them, – moral principle, if it exist amongst them at all, being too weak to withstand the temptation of the slightest personal consideration. The congress would, in fact, be a school in which the Chiefs would be instructed in the duties required of them, and the authority confided to them as conservators of the peace in their separate districts, to which they would also carry the knowledge of the laws enacted during its sittings.

"As conservators of the peace, a small salary would be given to them; and this, together with the distinction conferred by the employment, would secure beyond all doubt the entire devotion of the Chiefs to the wishes of the Resident. A medal containing the name of each Chief, and of the district over which his authority extended, would be another highly-esteemed distinction.

"To complete the means of establishing an entire control over the population, it would be only necessary to establish a school in each considerable village, with a schoolmaster paid in proportion to the number of individuals he should have under his tuition during the year. Schoolmasters already exist in many villages, and could, without difficulty, soon be procured for the whole by the aid of the Missionaries. An annual examination of these schools, and a distribution of prizes of trivial value, would bring the whole population under the supervision of the government; while a periodical newspaper might, at the same time that it conveyed the news of the day, be made the means of instructing the natives in those relative duties of the people and their rulers which are familiar to all ranks of the population under established governments, but of which the New Zealanders have scarcely as yet conceived an idea.

"So simple and primitive are the arrangements which, with entire confidence in their efficiency, I would propose for the government of the native population; nor could the expense of these arrangements, for several years at least, exceed £1,000 a-year, allotting a more considerable salary to certain leading Chiefs, to be elected by the congress, with the sanction of the Resident, for the purpose of acting with him as a native council and executive authority, and providing also for the accession of more distant tribes, who would hasten to join the confederation when its objects should become understood, and whose adherence it is indeed, under any circumstances, highly necessary to procure, as a bar to the interference of any foreign power.

"The influence of the government amongst the tribes south of the present confederation would of course be more limited than nearer to the seat of government. But there also the intercourse of British subjects, and the evils for which they are responsible, are less felt. As these extended, the occasion and the means would arise for making the government efficient throughout the island. But, even from the first, the existence of a power which would claim the right of deciding disputes and maintaining peace, would be most beneficially felt."

This quotation contains the outline of the plan. In enlarging upon it Mr. Busby dwells at some length on the importance of securing the assistance of the Missionaries, for the reason that without their concurrence and support no measure which may be adopted

can possibly succeed; he calculates the number of troops which it would be necessary to maintain, and shows how the expense of the entire system might be met by a duty on shipping and certain articles of trade.

In this scheme, there is certainly much that is plausible. It professes to recognise the national independence, and proposes to meet the whole case, – to place British subjects and other foreigners under control, and to repress the internal wars, by raising up a native government, under the protection of this country.

How far British legislation can contribute towards the formation of an enlightened native government, which shall effectually control the turbulence of the people, and repress their destructive wars, is a question of great difficulty. I do not think that much can be done by this means directly to control or restrain the heathen natives. Those who are well acquainted with the character of the New Zealanders know, that their wars are intimately connected with their superstitions, and that their notions of religion impel them to revenge the insults and injuries, real or imaginary, which one individual or tribe receives from another. Until, then, their minds shall become disenthralled from the tyrannizing influence of superstition by the application of a higher power than a British Act of Parliament, I should despair of any legislation on our part being brought to bear directly upon the heathen natives, so as to repress their wars, or subdue the violence of their natural character. But with the Christian natives something might possibly be clone. Few subjects occasion greater solicitude in the minds of Missionaries, whose labours among uncivilized heathen tribes and nations have been attended with

success, than the introduction of a native government suitable for a people emerging from Heathenism, who need other laws than those which were originated by their former ignorant and superstitious notions. It is desirable that Missionaries should not assume, to any considerable extent, the character of politicians and legislators; and yet they deeply feel the want of enlightened laws and government for the people, whose religious character has been formed anew by means of their teaching, and who are now anxious to devote themselves to the pursuits of civilized life. The late Aborigines' Committee bestowed some attention on this subject, and recommended it to the serious consideration of Parliament; and if some judicious measures could be devised for fostering an enlightened native government among the Christian natives of New Zealand, an important object would be accomplished. Their moral influence would thus be brought to bear more effectually upon the population in general, and their powerful mediation would be beneficially employed in preventing and repressing the heathen wars. This is no vague supposition, or extravagant expectation. I possess conclusive evidence that the very war which is the subject of these recent despatches, – the contest which was regarded of such importance as to render it necessary to send a ship of war from the Colony for the protection of British residents, – and which Mr. Busby, after the Rattlesnake had returned to the Colony, still continued to contemplate with such alarming apprehensions, as almost precluded the hope of its termination until New Zealand should become depopulated, – even this war was actually brought to an end through the interference of the Christian natives. Captain Hobson, as the sequel shows, formed a truer estimate than Mr.

Busby of the influence of Christianity in New Zealand, In his despatch, he says: –

"The quarrel between the Bay of Islands' tribes is supposed by the best-informed to be in a fair train for adjustment...... NENE, a powerful Chief from Hokianga, who has embraced Christianity, has brought his tribe across the island with the full determination to compel the contending parties to make peace; and as he is known to possess both courage and power to turn the scale on either side, his mediation is not likely to be slighted...... The gentlemen of the Mission maintain a constant intercourse between the parties, and are received by both with the greatest respect. Their efforts to promote peace are unremitting, and of late they have felt confident of eventual success."

Nor were they disappointed in their expectations. The Rev. Nathaniel Turner, the principal Missionary at the Wesleyan Station on the Hokianga, in a letter which now lies before me, written shortly after Captain Hobson had left New Zealand, states the gratifying fact, that the differences between the contending parties had been adjusted, by the mediation of the Christian natives, under the immediate care of himself and the other Missionaries at that Station. From this letter it appears, that the Chief to whom Captain Hobson refers, in company with others, applied to Mr. Turner and his colleague, Mr. Whiteley, to accompany them to the contending parties; partly on the ground, that the presence of their religious teachers would impose upon themselves a salutary restraint, and partly for the reason, that their influence would be beneficially employed in the endeavour to negotiate a peace. To this application the Missionaries acceded; and, after an absence of ten days, returned to their families with the unspeakable satisfaction, that the war was brought to an end and peace happily restored. 1

Such a fact, as illustrative of the powerful influence

of the Christian New Zealanders, and of its beneficial effects in repressing the desolating wars of their countrymen, requires no comment. Nor is it necessary to enlarge further upon the importance of rendering them assistance in remodelling their laws and government, and thus enabling them to exert their influence more systematically and extensively upon the affairs of New Zealand generally. But how this assistance is to be afforded by British legislation, is the question. However plausible the plan which might be devised, so much would depend upon its administration as to render its success extremely problematical. To speak plainly, almost every thing would depend upon the character of the persons who should be selected to carry it into effect. When the question of extending the plan of Residency in the South-Sea Islands was under consideration in the Parliamentary Aborigines' Committee, I could not concur in recommending it on any other ground than that the individuals who might be appointed as Residents should be possessed of those special qualifications which, in my judgment, would be necessary to enable them to promote the welfare of the natives; and my remarks on that occasion apply with still greater force upon this subject. If our Government or Parliament should interpose for the purpose of forming a suitable native government for the Christian part of the population, that interference must be made on truly Christian principles, or it could not possibly succeed. It is the teaching of the Missionaries which has produced that important change in the views, character, and pursuits of the people under their care which would encourage the attempt to aid them in improving their political regulations: and, however unwilling the mere worldly politician may be to admit such a conclusion, it must,

notwithstanding, be maintained on the principles of the truest philosophy, as well as those which Christianity inculcates, that, in order to render probable the success of any Parliamentary scheme which might be adopted for the furtherance of this object, the scheme itself must not only be framed in perfect harmony with those instructions of the religious teachers which have made the New Zealanders what they are; but the individuals appointed to carry it into effect must be persons whose own hearts and lives are duly controlled and regulated by Christianity, and who would act in friendly co-operation with the Missionaries in endeavouring to work out the plan confided to their management.

On the whole, I am disposed to conclude that the scheme suggested by Mr. Busby would not answer. Though it has the recommendation of being a public measure; though it proposes to meet, under every view, the existing state of things in New Zealand; and professes, moreover, to make recognition of its national independence; still it is impossible to divest one's mind of the impression, that, if, through the improper choice of agents, or for some other cause, the plan should not work well, our proposed temporary direction of the government for the benefit of the natives would become a permanent assumption of the sovereign power, and New Zealand would as certainly be brought into the condition of a British Colony, as though the proposals of the Association should be carried into full effect.

3. AN IMPROVED PLAN OF RESIDENCY is that which the Parliamentary Select Committee on Aborigines has recommended. In considering the various schemes which are now before us, I have carefully examined.,

for the sake of comparison, the instructions given to Mr. Busby, on his appointment as British Resident in New Zealand; and have been greatly impressed with the enlightened views which are developed in that document, and in the letter addressed by Lord Goderich to the New-Zealand Chiefs, explaining to them the reasons for Mr. Busby's appointment. As you may possibly not have those papers at hand, I subjoin copies of both for your reference. You will perceive that the respected nobleman who originated the office of British Resident, evidently had the case of the New Zealanders fully before him, and intended to make provision for protecting them from the outrages committed against them, both by British subjects and Americans; and that he also designed to foster and give efficiency to an enlightened native Government. After reading those documents, one is naturally led to inquire, Could such an appointment have so completely failed, had proper means been employed to carry it into effect? Probably some will be disposed, from Mr. Busby's remarks, to ascribe his failure to the Missionaries; but fairness requires that the whole case should be properly understood before condemnation be passed upon them. Their advocates may very properly ask, Do the Missionaries "assume" too much, in regarding themselves as "guardians of the natives?" Are they not recognised as such by the natives themselves? And is it not simply because the natives view them in this light, that they are enabled to protect their own countrymen from violence, and make New Zealand a safe residence for Englishmen and other foreigners? The respectable gentleman, previously quoted, (Mr. Marshall,) has borne conclusive testimony

upon this point. He was anxious, on his late visit to New Zealand, to ascertain what was the character and conduct of the Missionaries; and made several inquiries with this view, which fully convinced him respecting the beneficial tendency of the influence they exert. One of the settlers remarked to him, "But for the Missionaries, Sir, no Europeans could live in this land." "Let even their greatest enemies say what they may, all such are equally indebted, with myself, to the general respect felt for the Missionaries, for the safety of their lives and properties in time past." The settler further stated, that his own place had been frequently surrounded, and his personal safety threatened, by a host of armed natives; and that at such times he had only to send a message to the Mission settlement, and procure the attendance of a Missionary, who never failed by his mediation to divert the invaders from their purpose, they being ashamed to perpetrate an outrage in the presence of a Missionary. On these statements, the inquiring traveller thus remarks: –

"Facts like these, witnessed too by a man like this, speak volumes, and supply a text too intelligible to require any comment. They prove the moral influence of the Missionaries beyond all possibility of doubt – they prove the beneficial purposes for which that influence is employed – and they prove too, that, but for the Missionaries, no settlers could have fixed themselves in New Zealand, Commerce with it must have failed, and the trade in its produce have been abandoned."

All candid persons, I think, must admit, that, – after the Missionaries have, at the risk of their own lives, in the first instance, settled among the New Zealanders, and, by a course of kindness and disinterested benevolence, have gained such influence as to enable them to secure protection and good treatment for their coun-

trymen who have followed them, – it would be very ungracious on the part of any one, while enjoying the advantages which have thus been obtained for him, to call in question the right of the Missionaries to the title of guardians and benefactors of the natives, when it is so certain that their being recognised as such by the natives themselves is the true cause of all the influence which they possess.

Once more: – The Missionaries do not aspire to "the government of the country," either in whole or in part; neither can I believe that they would in any circumstances "conceive it to be their duty to use their influence in opposition to the measures" of the British Resident, for the sake of embarrassing him: but surely the exercise of their own judgment is not to be wholly denied to them. Mr. Busby admits that "it is impossible that men could be found whose opinions and sentiments in general are more in accordance than those of the Missionaries and his own;" yet he complains, that, on one occasion especially, they declined to co-operate with him in promoting a measure which he deemed would be beneficial to the natives. On all ordinary occasions, I doubt not, whether they have exactly thought with Mr. Busby or not, he has had their co-operation; but the whole question is evidently brought to this point, – whether they ought to co-operate with the British Resident in the active furtherance of such measures as they are convinced cannot fail to prove seriously detrimental to the interests of the natives? This is really the question, and will have such an important bearing upon the working of whatever plan may henceforth be adopted by this country in reference to New Zealand, that it ought to be fairly met and settled. The question comes simply to this, whether, if the British Resident should propose

plans for the management of the natives, which the Missionaries, from their thorough knowledge of the native character, are confident cannot fail to irritate them, excite collisions, and finally involve them in suffering and loss, they are to be bound actively to forward such plans? It is the fact, that the Christian natives look to their religious teachers for direction in all their affairs. They do nothing of moment without consulting the Missionaries: and are the Missionaries to be required to abuse the confidence thus reposed in them, and use their influence in persuading their people to accede to proposals, which they know will eventually prove injurious to them? He would be a bold individual who would dare to answer this question in the affirmative. But the very case specified by Mr. Busby was, from his own statement, evidently one of this serious character. He desired the Missionaries to use their influence "to induce the Chiefs to take the opportunity afforded by the delivery of the King's message, to petition His Majesty for assistance in reducing their country to order, and establishing in it an efficient government." It thus appears, from his own words, that the Missionaries had not refused to assist Mr. Busby in the discharge of the duties of that office to which he had been appointed; but that his complaint against them is, that they declined to use their influence with the natives in persuading them to ask for some new appointment, some new plan, which, under the notion of reducing their country to order, and establishing in it an efficient government, the Missionaries no doubt foresaw would endanger the national independence of the New Zealanders, and probably reduce their country, ere long, to the condition of a British Dependency.

I may here remark by the way, that this reference

to the Missionaries, made by Mr. Busby, has an untoward bearing on the statements of the Association relative to their alleged views and wishes. By the publication of letters, resolutions, petitions, &c, which have emanated from the Missionaries, the Association appear very solicitous to prove that the Missionaries ask for some such colonizing plan as is now proposed. That they are anxious that the Europeans in New Zealand shall be placed under the restraints of government, and that well-disposed British subjects, as well as the Aborigines, may thus obtain protection from the outrages and insults of the abandoned characters who infest New Zealand, is sufficiently clear. The petition of the Settlers and Missionaries, addressed to His late Majesty, had this object in view, They state that "when complaints have been made to the British Resident of these acts of outrage, he has expressed his deep regret that he has not yet been furnished with authority and power to act, not even the authority of a civil Magistrate to administer an affidavit;" – they add, "that it has been considered that the confederate tribes of New Zealand were competent to enact laws for the proper government of this land, whereby protection would be afforded in all cases of necessity; but that experience evidently shows that in the infant state of the country this cannot as yet be accomplished or expected;" – and they therefore implore His Majesty to afford, in some way or other, sufficient protection to the well-disposed classes of the community, against the aggressions and violence of lawless British subjects. But that they have not contemplated, in any expression of their wishes, such an interference, for the accomplishment of this object, as would bring the New Zealanders under a foreign government, and reduce their

country to a British Colony, is morally certain from the complaint now made by Mr. Busby – that they declined to further such measures as, they evidently feared, would be followed by those disastrous consequences.

But, to proceed: – While it appears that the Missionaries did decline to promote some new plan, no proof is offered that they have ever refused to aid Mr. Busby in the performance of those duties which belong to his office as British Resident. If, then, he has failed to accomplish the object of his appointment, it has not been the fault of the Missionaries. Neither does the failure appear to have proceeded from any unwillingness on the part of the native Chiefs to afford him clue co-operation and assistance. In reference to this point, Mr. Marshall observes: –

"The recent decision of the Chiefs, on occasion of the attack made on Mr. Busby's house, proves their willingness to render that 'assistance and support,' which His Majesty 'confidently expected' at their hands."

The question then recurs: How is it that an office, originating in the spirit of such an enlightened policy, and which was, in theory, well adapted to meet the whole of the New-Zealand case, should have so completely failed; and the British Resident be left to make such an humiliating confession of his utter powerlessness as that which I have already quoted in his reply to the petitioners? A remark in the despatch of Captain Hobson reminds me of its having been alleged that Mr. Busby has wanted support in other quarters than those to which I have already referred. Captain Hobson says, –

"I intended to have called at Entry Island and Marra.... but the boisterous state of the weather prevented my anchoring, I stood

close in to both islands, and feel convinced that the very appearance of a man-of-war in that quarter will have considerable weight, from the terror in which we were held by the natives, in consequence of the severe chastisement inflicted on them by the Alligator, and the detachment of His Majesty's fiftieth regiment, in 1835."

And well the natives might view with terror another British ship of war, if the testimony of Mr. Marshall, who witnessed the severe chastisement mentioned by Captain Hobson, is to be depended upon. That Gentleman, on his return to this country, published his Book, as he tells us, principally for the purpose of bearing his testimony against the wrongs then inflicted upon the Cape-Egmont tribes to whom Captain Hobson refers. On that painful transaction, I shall, at present, offer no comment. I refer you to the Extracts which I give in an Appendix, 2 to enable you to understand the case; and confine myself to the points for the sake of which I am led, by Captain Hobson's remark, to select it for the purpose of illustration. The matters of complaint alleged by Mr. Marshall are, that, – on the application of an individual who had been shipwrecked near Cape-Egmont, and who stated that some of his companions had been murdered by the natives, and his wife and boy detained by them, – the Alligator had been sent from the Colony, and that, instead of upholding the authority of Mr. Busby by making him the medium of application to the offending tribe, Mr. Busby was not at all consulted, nor applied to for an interpreter, or for any assistance in the way of mediation or inquiry; but the work of destruction was commenced and prosecuted in circumstances which certainly furnish the presumption that, if such an inquiry had previously been instituted in

this case, as, on the first visit of the Alligator, in the case of Pomare, it might have appeared that the Cape-Egmont tribes were not so blamable as had been represented.

I shall not dwell longer upon this topic. In referring to it, I have no personal feeling to indulge. I entertain no other sentiments towards Mr. Busby than those of respect; and the satisfactory manner in which the enlightened views of Lord Goderich are embodied in the instructions given to Mr. Busby by the Governor of New South Wales, has tended to prepossess me in his Excellency's favour. But as there has been such an eagerness manifested by the Association to magnify the failure of the British Resident, apparently in order to make way for the introduction of their own plans; and as Mr. Busby's despatch may seem, on a superficial view, to throw the blame of that failure on the Missionaries; – it becomes a duty to call attention to the fact, that it has been publicly alleged that the British Resident in New Zealand has not been duly supported by the Colonial Authorities, on whom he was especially dependent for means to enable him to sustain the influence, and perform the functions, of his important office. Whether this has been the case or not, I undertake not to decide; but I must say that, pondering well the instructions given to the British Resident, I cannot conceive why his failure should have been so complete, had he been supported according to the intentions of the noble Lord by whom the office was instituted. And I cannot relinquish the hope, that such a plan of Improved Residency as has now been proposed by the Select Committee on Aborigines might answer the end contemplated, and apply a remedy, so far as British legislation can meet the case, to the existing evils in New-Zealand society.

4. One more measure remains for brief consideration. It is A SYSTEM OF FACTORIES, as proposed by Captain Hobson. The recommendation of this scheme is, that it appears as well calculated "to repress the crimes of British visitants and settlers" as that of the Association, and contemplates, what theirs does not, the fostering of a native Government; while at the same time it is free from some of the great objections to which the plan of the Association is liable. The Association argue that the New Zealanders are suffering from the English, who treat them ill, and propose to remedy the evil by sending out a Colony; that is, by increasing the number of Englishmen, many of whom will perhaps behave as improperly as those who are there already. Captain Hobson goes upon the principle of placing under the restraints of government the English whom he finds now settled in New Zealand. Their number may possibly increase; but he does not, like the Association, make it an essential part of his plan to secure that increase.

Similar to this plan is Mr. Busby's second proposition. He thinks that when it becomes known how great a proportion of the lands in New Zealand is already in the hands of British subjects, "His Majesty may be advised to grant a charter of Government to the Colony of British subjects who are established in it, leaving the natives in the full possession of their abstract rights, so far as they have not conceded them them to the Colonists, and providing only against their suffering injustice at the hands of the latter." This, like Captain Hobson's measure, possesses the recommendation of simply providing, that the English who are already in New Zealand shall be brought under the control of government; and this is really a great recommendation, if so large a portion of New Zealand

as Mr. Busby speaks of has already passed into the hands of English settlers. He says, –

"If I am rightly informed, the whole coast from Cape Bull, including the noble harbour of the Bay of Islands, and extending as far as Wangaroa, forty miles to the northward of the bay, has, with trivial exceptions, passed from the possession of the natives into that of British subjects............... Most of the valuable forests in the interior have changed their ownership; and on the western coast, an extensive territory is also claimed by British subjects."

If this be the actual state of things, – if the forests and lands of New Zealand have to so great an extent become the property of our countrymen, it would be extremely undesirable to increase their number, by sending out a large body of emigrants to form a new Colony.

I must, however, hasten to a close. The conclusion which I have been led to adopt, after a careful perusal of the Despatches published by order of Parliament, is two-fold –

First. I am more fully convinced than ever of the utter inadequacy of the plan proposed by the Association to remedy the evils which afflict New Zealand. Any one of the measures which have passed under review has stronger recommendations, and is liable to fewer objections, than theirs.

Secondly, My conviction, that the ease of New Zealand would not be met by any mercantile speculation whatever, is greatly strengthened. The complexity and difficulty of the question are such, and so much delicacy and care in the management of it are necessarily required; that it will be impossible for any commercial company, however its affairs might be administered, to deal with it effectually. The peculiar state of things in New Zealand can only be provided

for by a Government-measure, to be entrusted, as to its execution, to public officers whose sole business it shall be to carry it into full effect; and it is due to our national character, that the question should be taken up and determined on high public grounds, apart from all considerations dictated by a narrow-minded and selfish policy. Only let justice first be secured for the New Zealanders, and I doubt not that measures will afterwards easily be devised for promoting a healthful commerce between them and this country.

I remain,
My dear friend,
Yours very sincerely,
JOHN BEECHAM.
February 26th, 1838.

1 See Appendix A. Page 64.

2 See Appendix C. Page 70.

POSTSCRIPT.

POSTSCRIPT.

JUST as I was concluding this letter, I received a copy of a pamphlet entitled, "The Latest Official Documents relating to New Zealand, with Introductory Observations, by Samuel Hinds, D.D., Vicar of Yardley, Herts., and one of the Committee of the New-Zealand Association." From this production I learn that your apprehension was well-founded, and that the Association are endeavouring to make those despatches subservient to their own purposes. Dr. Hinds gives them at length, and from thence argues generally the necessity which exists for Colonization; but as he does not attempt to explain how this proposed remedy is to meet every part of the New-Zealand case, there is nothing in his observations relating to the despatches which calls for additional remark. I shall not go again at length into the general question in reply to the reverend Doctor's animadversions on my former publication, as well as that of Mr. Coates. I had no party purpose to promote, but endeavoured, at least, honestly and impartially, on public grounds, to examine the proposals of the Association; and the manner in which my remarks have been noticed by the periodical press encourages me to hope, that I have not in reality, any more than in intention, transgressed the rules of honourable controversy. By the decision of the candid public I am willing to abide; and shall merely dwell on a few particulars for the sake of explanation.

1. Dr. Hinds cannot conceive how it is possible that the presence of such a Colony as they propose to form in New Zealand should, as I have shown would probably

be the case, prove a hinderance to the Missionaries in their work of Christianizing the natives, "That religion and morality should be actually exposed to danger from it, this," he says, "does seem to be inexplicable." As I was prevented, by the great number of topics which I had to notice, from enlarging in my former pamphlet on this view of the subject, a few additional remarks, for the purpose of explaining more fully the grounds of our apprehension, may not be unnecessary. We have stated our fears, that, were a Colony formed in New Zealand, the Missionaries might become involved in the disputes which would probably arise respecting the sale of lands; and that the feelings created by such disputes in the minds of the natives would indispose them to listen to the instructions of the Missionaries. In thus expressing ourselves, we were not indulging mere chimerical fears. In the course of the very last year only, several of our native teachers, and others, have been shot, and the very existence of our principal Station at Mangungu endangered, by a dispute which had arisen in consequence of one party having sold a tract of land to which the other laid claim. What has thus so recently happened might, and, we think, probably would, happen again. The Association may calculate that they could introduce such regulations respecting the purchase of land, as would prevent disputes; but those who are best acquainted with the tenure on which the New Zealanders hold their land, are of opinion that if would be a task of much more than ordinary difficulty for any Colonial Court or authority to harmonize the various claims which many parties are often found to have on the same property. Nothing would be more easy than for the Colonial Courts to pronounce many of those claims frivolous and unfounded; but would the parties who, according

to New-Zealand law, or custom, might urge them rightfully, be willing to renounce them on the decision of the Colonial Courts? Unless we can be assured of this, we must still indulge the apprehension, that, were a Colony formed, such disputes would again occur as that which so recently nearly led to the destruction of our Mission on the Hokianga,

We have further expressed our fears, that when the natives should see their lands and forests, their harbours and facilities for commerce, rapidly passing into the hands of the Colonists, suspicions would be awakened in their minds that the Missionaries themselves had proved their betrayers, and invited their own people to come and possess themselves of the country. And neither, in this instance, were we indulging in conjecture, but were repeating the lessons of sober experience. It is a fact, that a suspicion of this kind was actually excited in the minds of the New-Zealand Chiefs who invited and accompanied the first Missionaries that visited their shores. They were made to believe by some one, before they embarked at Sydney, that the Missionaries would lead the way for their countrymen to follow and take possession of the land. Mr. Nicholas, to whom I have already referred, as accompanying the Rev. Samuel Marsden and the first Missionaries to New Zealand, states, that, for some time, the conduct of the Chiefs under the influence of this persuasion was such as to induce Mr. Marsden to propose to turn back to Sydney, and abandon the project of commencing a Mission at New Zealand. Nor is this the only case to which we can refer. Very recently, a Chief in the neighbourhood of the Hokianga, refused to sell the Missionaries a plot of ground for the erection of suitable Mission premises; lest, if he should begin to sell land, he might

be tempted, as others of his countrymen had been, to part with so much as to injure himself and his people: and all the arguments which Mr. Turner, the Missionary, could employ, were not sufficient to move the Chief from his purpose. He was willing that the Missionary should re-purchase a piece of land which had formerly been sold to a European, "before," as the Chief said, "their eyes were opened;" but he would not sell any of his own. It is, therefore, not without good reason we apprehend that injurious suspicions against the Missionaries would be excited in the minds of the natives, by purchases of land made on so large a scale as is proposed by the Association. By the way, it may be remarked, that this latter fact has a very important bearing on the general question of colonizing New Zealand. It shows that the natives are getting "their eyes opened" as to the consequences which must result from the sale of their possessions; and that they will not be found so willing as the Association anticipate, to make any further extensive transfer. If they are now manifesting a jealousy lest the Missionaries, whom they hail as their best friends – as benefactors who have gone among them for no other purpose than to do them good – lest even they should obtain any considerable portion of land, how much more unwilling will they be to dispose of large quantities to any other description of persons whatever!

Once more: The obstruction to Missionary labours arising out of the evil example of many of our countrymen and other white persons, is of itself sufficient to awaken the most serious apprehensions respecting the formation of a Colony. This is the most formidable obstacle with which the Missionaries have to contend in the islands of the South Sea generally. The Missionaries in New Zealand complain loudly of it. One

if them, writing from the Hokianga, on the 1st of June, last year, says, "The religious public at home are perhaps in a great measure ignorant of the trials to which Missionaries are exposed, from the wicked example of white people, who seduce the natives into sin, and thus frustrate the exertions of the Missionaries." In another communication, written a few weeks previously, he remarks: – "A wicked New Zealander will turn on one sometimes, when reproved, and say, in reference to our own countrymen, 'Physician, heal thyself.'" He further adds: – "I could write facts which would make a modest person blush for our countrymen. This should not be concealed, but made known to the friends of the Heathen, that they may be acquainted with the stumbling-blocks in the way of the diffusion of Christianity."

Such is the strain in which the Missionaries write upon this subject. It remains to be seen whether the formation of a Colony would not, in all probability, increase this obstruction to Missionary exertions, rather than remove it. I would ask, Do the Association intend to put down immorality? They propose to protect the natives in their persons and property from the violence and injustice of our countrymen; but will they protect them from the ruinous example of the licentious and immoral conduct of the whites? Will the colonial laws be so framed as to repress immorality more effectually than the laws of our own country? To what an awful extent sabbath-breaking, profane swearing, intemperance, debauchery, and such like vices are practised among ourselves with impunity, is matter of general observation; and I see no reason whatever to conclude, that the colonial laws will be stricter than our own against that immorality which does not immediately

disturb the public peace. Suppose, then, the establishment of a Colony should succeed far better than I anticipate in shielding the natives from violent outrage, they would, notwithstanding, remain exposed as now to the corrupting influence of that immoral example which so many of our countrymen place before their eyes. But this would not be all. Things in this respect would not remain as they are. The hinderances to Missionary endeavours arising out of the bad example of our countrymen would, if we are to judge from experience, be increased by a Colony. The Missionary whom I have already quoted is well acquainted with all our Missions in the South Seas, and he thus states the result of his personal observation: – "It is a lamentable fact, that where European society increases, there is in proportion also a laxity of morals among the Heathen with whom they reside." We are not, then, indulging in unreasonable alarm, when we express our apprehensions, that the influence of a Colony would probably counteract Missionary teaching, and injure the morals of the natives. This has hitherto been the effect of an increase of European society in the islands of the South Sea; and what guarantee have we that the same effect will not follow the formation of a Colony in New Zealand? We know what class of persons do actually emigrate to our Colonies. We see that they are not by any means all truly religious persons; and I see no reason to conclude, that, after the utmost care which might be taken in their selection, the average character of the Colonists who should go out to New Zealand would be better than the average character of the parent community at home. It would then, as I think, inevitably follow, that the evil examples which our countrymen now unhappily furnish to the New Zealanders would be very considerably multi-

plied on the arrival of the new Colonists. Many of them would, no doubt, be persons who, although just and upright in their dealings, would, by their open immorality, or neglect of religion, and worldly-mindedness, increase the difficulties of the Missionaries, in their endeavours to spread Christianity among the natives. Nor would their pernicious example be sufficiently counterbalanced by the good conduct of the better class of Colonists. The presence of the most virtuous Colony which could be formed is not needed to aid the Missionaries in their undertaking. All they want is, to be protected from the intrusions of their own lawless countrymen, and other whites, and to be allowed to prosecute their work of philanthropy without hinderance or interruption.

These remarks are made with reference to the Colonization of New Zealand generally; for, although Dr. Hinds says, "It has been proposed to fix on a site for the Colony somewhere in the Southern Island, in the neighbourhood of Cook's Strait," there are, in the official publications of the Association, strong indications of an intention to commence in the Northern Island, in the vicinity of the Missionary Stations. Should, however, the Association be allowed to plant a Colony on the Southern Island, in Cook's Straits, they would even there be almost in immediate contact with the Wesleyan Missionaries; for there is reason to expect, that ere this they may have commenced a Mission at Taranake, at the opposite side of Cook's Straits, in the Northern Island. And were they to commence in the Southern Island, would they remain there, and not seek to occupy the "million of acres" which, according to one of their own number, they already have at their disposal at the Hokianga and the Bay of Thames, in the very centre of the Missions of

both the Church and Wesleyan Missionary Societies? It would be easy to enlarge on this subject; but perhaps enough has been advanced to show that the danger to which the cause of "religion and morality" would be exposed by the introduction of a Colony into New Zealand is not a subject so "inexplicable" as Dr. Hinds imagines.

2. In replying to Mr. Coates, Mr. Wakefield animadverted upon that gentleman's remark, – that gain or mercantile profit was the leading object of the Association; and appeared to think, that he had shown the incorrectness of such remark by referring to that part of the plan which provides that the affairs of the Association shall be managed by a Committee, who are to have no pecuniary interest in the undertaking. This did not appear to me to be any answer to Mr. Coates; and I consequently argued upon the same principle respecting the solicitude or distrust which must naturally be cherished respecting the philanthropic professions of persons who are avowedly associated together for mercantile purposes. To this Dr. Hinds refers, as "a mis-statement" which ought not to be persisted in; and says, "It is asserted both by Mr. Coates and Mr. Beecham, that the administrators of the Colony are to have some pecuniary interest in it." Indeed, I have not yet said any such thing. In the very passage which the Reverend Gentleman quotes, I remark, "If the Association were a number of gentlemen, united together on the same principle as that on which Missionary Societies are based, having no purposes of their own, but aiming solely to promote the welfare of the natives, their arguments in favour of Colonization, as the only remedy for the evils inflicted by our countrymen upon the New Zealanders, would deserve most serious consideration." In thus speak-

ing of the Association, I referred to it in the same sense as to the Missionary Societies. By the Missionary Societies I did not mean merely their respective Committees of Management, but literally and truly the Societies themselves. In like manner, I had no particular reference to the Committee or Administrators of the Association: I spoke of the Association itself. Now, does Dr. Hinds really mean to say, that I have made any "mis-statement," in representing the Association itself as avowedly formed for mercantile purposes? Will he deny that the Association, with the persons who are to find the money for carrying on the undertaking, do not merely calculate on deriving from it pecuniary profit, but make the mercantile part of then plan the leading object, and give to philanthropy only a secondary place? I have read with care the book published by the Association, explanatory of their "Principles, Objects, and Plans," and certainly understand this to be the case. They do not commence by enlarging upon the necessity of exertions for imparting to the New Zealanders the blessings of Christianity and civilization, and then state that they have determined to found a Colony solely for the purpose of accomplishing this philanthropic object. No: this is not the order of the book. The first chapter commences with Colonization, and it is dwelt upon as the source of national greatness and wealth. The argument runs thus, – "Ships, Colonies, Commerce! It is to these that England is chiefly indebted for her pre-eminent wealth, and even for the greatness of her domestic numbers. The old fashion of colonizing was, therefore, a very good one for this country." 3 They next proceed to sketch out what I

may call the mercantile part of their plan; and it is not until we reach the following chapter that we hear any thing of the philanthropy of their scheme. Then we find it referred to in such language as the following: "This, however, is not a plan of mere Colonization: it has for its object to civilize as well as to colonize." Now, if all this does not show that the mercantile projects of the Association occupy the first place in their plan, and their civilizing objects only the second, I know not what language means. But if I understand aright the Association's own statements, then is my former reasoning sound and unobjectionable. Though it should prove correct, that the Managing Committee or "Administrators" are to have no pecuniary interest in the undertaking, yet they will, of course, be bound to conduct the affairs of the Colony according to these fundamental principles; and thus, even with a disinterested Managing Committee it will necessarily follow that they will have to look first at the mercantile part of their plan, and to subordinate to this the philanthropy of the undertaking: and it will moreover follow that when the mercantile interests of the Colony shall clash with the interests of the natives, (and clash they inevitably will, if the voice of experience is to be heeded,) the mercantile interests will naturally preponderate, and the interests of the natives, being subordinate in the plan, will, in consequence, suffer. Sound philosophy teaches, that the stronger principle must ever triumph over the weaker; and it is thus to be concluded, that in this case the leading and, consequently, the stronger principle of mercantile interest will prevail over the secondary and weaker principle of philanthropy.

I am aware that this explanation will prove unsatisfactory to the Association, who appear unwilling that

objections to the proposed Colony should in any way be directed against themselves. Another of its members, who has read these "Remarks," in the first impression, pronounces me "profoundly in error," and expresses his astonishment that I should so thoroughly misunderstand the nature of the Association and their plan. He states, that they are not a private trading Company, – they are only a temporary Association, formed for a public purpose, in which they seek no advantage for themselves over any other of Her Majesty's subjects; – that they have acted provisionally, for the purpose of collecting information about New Zealand, and of devising a plan for its Colonization; – that if this plan be adopted by Parliament, the New-Zealand Association, having done all that it proposed, will ipso facto expire; – and that there will remain a Board of Commissioners responsible to the Crown and Parliament, tied down by an Act of Parliament more sweeping and stringent in favour of the Aborigines than any thing ever before dreamed of, – a purely Government measure, without any trading characteristic whatever, acting under an Act of Parliament and through a Board of Commissioners, &c. Be it so; but at present, he will admit, this Board of Commissioners, and the Colony which they are to manage, have no separate existence: the whole concern is as yet included in and represented by the Association. Now, although my objection lies against the proposed Colony, yet as the Association are the only persons before the public, and include in their own body the elements of the future Colony, in order to make myself understood by the general reader, I argue against the Association as the representative of the Colony, – in fact, the Colony itself in embryo: and I am justified in this by the Association themselves. In their "Statement of the

Objects of the New-Zealand Association," at page 8, they say, –

"In order to carry these views into effect, a Bill has been prepared, which will be submitted to His Majesty's Government and the legislature, as soon as the Association shall be satisfied that the indispensable funds will be forthcoming when required. It is thought desirable that the greater part of such funds should be advanced by persons intending to emigrate, and therefore most deeply interested in the success of the undertaking. The foundation, in short, of the whole measure must be a body of intending settlers possessed of a sufficient capital for carrying their own purposes into effect. A considerable number of such persons have already joined the Association: they invite others to co-operate with them."

What can be plainer than this? The Association thus explicitly identify with themselves the persons who are to compose the Colony: "A considerable number of intending settlers," they say, "have already joined the Association" and they invite others to imitate the example. From their own "Statement" it is thus evident that they who now object to the formation of a Colony must, in order to make themselves intelligible, speak of and deal with the Association as representing the projected Colony. When the Association shall cease to exist, and a Colony shall be actually formed, the "Colony" and its "Administrators," or "Board of Commissioners," will then be before the public, and can be dealt with in their own proper and distinctive character. But even then the same objections which are now urged against the Association will lie against the Colony, whatever may be the character of the Board of Commissioners, or the principles of their Administration. It is the Colony proposed to be planted in New Zealand, and not the character of its Administration in this country, to which we object. What we dread is, not so much the "Board of Commissioners" in London, as that which the

Association represent to be the foundation of the whole measure, that body of intending settlers possessed of a sufficient capital for carrying their own purposes into effect, who are to go and fix themselves in New Zealand; and who, for the reason that they have advanced the greater part of the indispensable funds, will be most deeply interested in the success of the undertaking. This is the thing we fear. We are afraid that the Colonists who have embarked their capital, perhaps their worldly all, in the undertaking, will be so intent on carrying their own purposes into effect, that it will not be in the power of the most virtuous and public-spirited Board of Commissioners, on this side of the globe, effectually to watch over the rights, and promote the interests, of the Aborigines.

I have entered into this explanation, in order that we may not dispute about words. I must, once for all, say to Dr. Hinds, and to his friend whom I have last quoted, that when I speak of the Association, I neither intend the future Administrators of the Colony, nor refer to the temporary character of the present Association. The "intending settlers" being, as yet, "joined" to, and one with, the Association; and one of its most distinguished members having long been a large landed proprietor in New Zealand, and another appearing as a candidate for the Governorship of the Colony; I invariably contemplate the Association in its collective capacity, and speak of it as the only existing representative of the Colony, indeed, the embryo Colony itself.

3. If, however, I have made no "mis-statement" respecting the future "Administrators" of the Colony, on another point Dr. Hinds has certainly greatly misstated my meaning. Referring to their proposal

respecting the appointment of a Bishop, he says, "It seems, indeed, to have been almost converted into an occasion for reproach." "'What,'" it is said, "'can a Bishop do? Must he not depend on the Societies established in this country to furnish his means and his instruments?'" And this question is given in inverted commas as though it were a quotation from my pamphlet. I am sure Dr. Hinds is incapable of intentional misrepresentation; but if he will turn again to the pamphlet, he will discover that I have said nothing like this. I have put no such question: and my argument goes upon the principle, not that the Bishop could do nothing, as he must depend upon others for means and instruments, but that the Association do not mean to make provision out of the funds of the Colony for the instruction of the natives; and, to prove this, I quote their own words respecting the appointment of a Bishop, to show that they, not the Bishop, were depending on the Societies established in this country to furnish the means and the instruments for instructing the natives. I refer to this misstatement, because I am unwilling to be thought capable of viewing with indifference, or something worse, the zealous labours of a Christian Bishop.

4. I would briefly advert to one more point. Dr, Hinds does not approve of the reference, in my concluding appeal, to the distracted affairs of Canada; and remarks, that "to point to the disasters of individuals or of nations, and authoritatively to pronounce that they are judgments and signs from heaven, is surely a presumptuous use of the doctrine of Divine Providence." I think with the Reverend Gentleman, that to regard the disasters of individuals as judgments from heaven would be presumptuous in a high degree. But the consideration of God's providential dealings

with nations, is quite another thing. Many divines who have been the ornaments of the church to which Dr. Hinds belongs, as well as sound theologians of all orthodox communions, have argued, that as the Sovereign Judge will not, at the future general judgment of mankind, deal with men collectively, but individually; his displeasure at those public sins which men commit in their collective or national character is generally indicated in the present life, in his providential dealings with them as nations: and it is further understood, that one great end of those Scripture histories which describe the judgments of Heaven against guilty nations is, to furnish an illustration of that rule of retribution which he applies to them in His providential administration of the affairs of our world. That a hasty and presumptuous application of this rule is not to be made in any particular case, I readily admit. But if the avenging visitations of the Almighty upon the sinful nations of antiquity have been expressly recorded for our admonition and warning; and if it be a duty which Christ has recognised and enforced upon his people, that they should observe and study "the signs of the times;" then must I conclude that when a nation has been employed, during successive generations, in carrying out a system of Colonization which has invariably involved the hapless Aborigines in suffering and ruin, – that nation will do well to pause and think upon its ways, when such unnatural contests and troubles arise in its Colonies, as have just passed under review in Canada, and will act wisely and scripturally by listening to the admonitory lesson, and resolving, from henceforth, "to cease to do evil, and learn to do well."

In conclusion, I would observe, that my apprehensions respecting the proposed Colonization of New Zealand have been greatly strengthened within the last few weeks. At the date of the latest communications from that country, it appears that the natives are already beginning to show considerable jealousy respecting the advances made by the whites. A Baron de Thierry, who, some years ago, purchased forty thousand acres of land at the Hokianga, for thirty-six axes, (!) had recently arrived with a number of attendants, to take possession of it, and exercise his alleged sovereign rights; but the Chiefs peremptorily rejected his claims both to the land and to the sovereignty. The natives, generally, who had formerly parted with their lands to English purchasers, it is stated, are now saying, " We have eaten the tobacco, and worn out the blankets, we received for our land; and now we have nothing left. " It is further said, that three or four of the principal Chiefs, of whom Nene, whose influence, it has been seen, was sufficient to put an end to the recent alarming war near the Bay of Islands, was one, were proposing to retire towards the north, on account of the encroachments which the English are making upon the lands in the neighbourhood of the Hokianga and elsewhere. In this state of things, it must be obvious that the introduction of a Colony would be a hazardous experiment. Were the feeling of jealousy and alarm which is already evinced by the New Zealanders to receive such additional excitement as could not fail to be occasioned by the arrival of a few ships filled with emigrants, it can scarcely be doubted, that, at a period much earlier than we at first anticipated, a crisis would arrive such as cannot be contemplated by the friends of humanity without the most serious alarm.

Let every one now ponder well the circumstances in which it is proposed to colonize New Zealand. It is not yet three years since the New Zealanders made a formal declaration of their national independence. 4 In the same year that this was announced, (1835,) the British Government recognised their independence, and gave them a flag. How easily they may be influenced practically to assert their independence, appears from the reception which they have given to the Baron de Thierry; how reluctant they will be to make any extensive surrender of their lands may be concluded from the dissatisfaction which they are already manifesting with respect to the encroachments of the English! And yet, alike regardless of the danger which must attend the experiment, and of our plighted national faith to maintain the independence of New Zealand, the Association are calling upon the Government, the Legislature, and the public, to support a measure which has for its object to alienate, on a large scale, the lands and sovereign rights of the New Zealanders, and to reduce them to the condition of British subjects.

3 "The British Colonization of New Zealand," page 4.

4 See Appendix D. Page 74.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX A. PAGE 33.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE REV. NATHANIEL TURNER, DATED MANGUNGU, HOKIANGA, JULY 26TH, 1837. 5

THERE have been very serious disturbances amongst the natives For some months past, not only at a distance to the southward, but amongst our immediate neighbours in the Bay of Islands, and the adjacent tribes; but I am happy to say, that their differences are now adjusted, and that peace is again restored. It is also gratifying to me to inform you, that, in effecting this restoration, the Christian natives under our immediate care have been the principal instruments. We were successful in using our influence to prevent their joining either party, to destroy each other; and in this they nobly withstood every temptation. But when a favourable opportunity offered for successful mediation, the principal Chiefs came to us, and expressed a wish to go over in a body as peacemakers, at the same time requesting myself and Mr. Whiteley to accompany them; – assigning as a reason, that we should not only assist them in accomplishing their object, but be the instruments of withholding themselves from evil. We could not but approve of their proposition, and accompanied them accordingly; and though it kept us ten days from our families and regular engagements at home, we returned thankful to the Giver of all good that the demon of discord was again banished from our neighbours, and peace and harmony restored.

In the affair alluded to, the Christian natives have given us and the world decisive proof that Christianity has effected a considerable change amongst them; for, had this occurred a few years ago, there was scarcely a man among them who would not have joined one or the other of the contending parties, and clamoured for his brother's blood. The latest accounts Ave have received from the southward state, that peace is restored there also, where war had been raging dreadfully for many months.

APPENDIX B. PAGE 36.

I.

LORD VISCOUNT GODERICH, ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATE TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, TO THE CHIEFS OF NEW ZEALAND.

"FRIENDS,

"I am commanded by the King to acknowledge the receipt of the letter which you addressed to His Majesty, and which you entrusted to the Missionaries to forward to England.

"The King is much gratified to find that the cause for alarm, which appears to have existed at the time when your letter was written, has entirely passed away; and he trusts that no circumstances may occur in future to interrupt the internal tranquillity of New Zealand, which is so necessary to the maintenance of a close commercial intercourse between its inhabitants and those of Great Britain.

"The King is sorry for the injuries which you inform him that the people of New Zealand have suffered from some of his subjects. But he will do all in his power to prevent the recurrence of such outrages, and to punish the perpetrators of them according to the laws of their country, whenever they can be apprehended and brought to trial; and the King hopes, that mutual good-will and confidence will exist between the people of both countries.

"In order to afford better protection to all classes, both natives of the islands of New Zealand, and British subjects who may proceed, or be already established, there for purposes of trade, the King has sent the bearer of this letter, James Busby, Esq., to reside amongst you as His Majesty's Resident, whose duties will be to investigate all complaints which may be made to him.

"It will also be his endeavour to prevent the arrival among you of men who have been guilty of crimes in their own country, and who may effect their escape from the place to which they may have been banished, as likewise to apprehend such persons of this description as may be found at present at large.

"In return for the anxious desire which will be manifested by the British Resident, to afford his protection to the inhabitants of New Zealand, against any acts of outrage which may be attempted against them by British subjects, it is confidently expected by His Majesty, that on your parts you will render to the Resident that assistance and support which is calculated to promote the object of

his appointment, and to extend to your country all the benefits which it is capable of receiving from its friendship and alliance with Great Britain. I am,

"Your friend,
"GODERICH
"Colonial Office, Downing-street,
14th June, 1832."

II.

INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE GOVERNOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES, TO JAMES BUSBY, ESQ., BRITISH RESIDENT AT NEW ZEALAND, DATED APRIL 13TH, 1838.

(EXTRACT.)

"To check as much as possible the enormities complained of and to give encouragement and protection to the well-disposed settlers and traders from Great Britain and this Colony, it has been thought proper to appoint a British subject to reside at New Zealand, in an accredited character, whose principal and most important duty it will be to conciliate the good-will of the native Chiefs, and establish upon a permanent basis that good understanding and confidence which it is important to the interests of Great Britain and of this Colony to perpetuate.

"It may not be easy to lay down any certain rules by which this desirable object is to be accomplished; but it is expected, by the skilful use of those powers which educated man possesses over the wild or half-civilized savage, an influence may be gained by which the authority and strength of the New-Zealand Chiefs will be arranged on the side of the Resident, for the maintenance of tranquility throughout the islands.

"It will be fitting that you explain to the Chiefs the object of your mission, and the anxious desire of His Majesty to suppress by your means the disorders of which they complain; you will also announce your intention of remaining among them, and will claim the protection and privilege which you will tell them are accorded in Europe and America to British subjects holding in foreign States situations similar to yours. You will find it convenient to manage this conference by means of the Missionaries, to whom you will be furnished with credentials, and with whom you are recommended to communicate freely upon the objects of your appointment, and the measures you should adopt in treating with the Chiefs.

"The knowledge which the Missionaries have obtained of the

language, manners, and customs of the natives may become of service to you.

"Assuming, however, that your reception will be as favourable as has been anticipated, I will endeavour to explain to you the manner of proceeding, by which I am of opinion you may best succeed in effecting the object of your mission; you will at the same time understand that the information I have been able to obtain respecting New Zealand, is too imperfect to allow of my presenting you with anything more than a general outline for your guidance, leaving it for your discretion to take such further measures as shall at any time seem needful to arrest British subjects offending against British or Colonial laws in New Zealand.

"By the 9th of George IV. chap. 83, sec. 4th, the Supreme Court in New South Wales and Van Diemen's-Land have power to inquire of, hear, and determine all offences committed in New Zealand by the master and crew of any British ship or vessel, or by any British subject living there: and all persons convicted of such offences may be punished as if the offence had been committed in England. The law having thus given the Court the power to hear and determine offences, it follows as a necessary incident, that it has the power of bringing before it any person against whom any indictment should be found or information filed for any offences within its jurisdiction.

"I would here observe that I can propose no other means by which you can secure the offender than the procuring his apprehension, and delivery on hoard some British ship for conveyance to this country, by means of the native Chiefs, with whom you shall be in communication. It is well known that amongst those Europeans who are leading a wandering and irregular life at New Zealand, are to be found transported felons and offenders escaped from this colony and Van Diemen's-Land. It is desirable that opportunities for the apprehension and transmission of those convicts to either Colony should be promptly embraced.

"The Chiefs are, it is said, well acquainted with the descriptions of the different Europeans residing in their country, and will be found able and willing to point out and secure at a convenient time those whom they know to be fugitives from the Australian colonies. You will be furnished from the office of the principal Superintendent with the names and descriptions of those convicts from New South Wales who are known or suspected to be concealed in the islands of New Zealand, and you will use your own discretion as to the fittest time for causing the apprehension and removal of such as may be within your reach, or are guilty of any offence

against the peace and tranquillity of the country. You will of course take every precaution to avoid the apprehension of a free person in mistake for a convict, as an action for damages would probably follow the commission of such an error. This Government will indeed be disposed to save you harmless in all such cases where becoming circumspection has been used.

"When any of His Majesty's ships are off the coast, you will request the Commander to receive the convicts or other persons arrested by your means for conveyance to this place.

"I would further observe, that, by means of the information which you are likely to receive from the Chiefs, you may become acquainted with the criminal projects of Europeans before their execution, and by a timely interference you may be able altogether to prevent their mischievous designs or render them abortive.

"In the character which you hold, you will be justified in addressing any British subject, to warn him of the danger to which he may be exposed by embarking or persevering in any undertaking of a criminal or doubtful character.

"In the manner I have now described, and by proceedings of a similar character, it may be possible to repress the enormities which have heretofore been perpetrated by British subjects at New Zealand.

"It may also happen that this salutary control will not affect British subjects only, but that the knowledge of there being a functionary stationed in New Zealand, through whom offences committed by the subjects of any other State against the people of that country will be made known to the British Government, and through that Government to the other European and American powers, may induce the subjects of those powers to adopt a less licentious conduct towards the New Zealanders and other inhabitants of the South-Sea Islands,

"There is still another form in which the influence, it is hoped, the British Resident may obtain over the minds of the New-Zealand Chiefs, may be even more beneficially exhibited. It is by your official moderation, the evils of intestine war between rival Chiefs or hostile tribes may be avoided, and their differences peaceably and permanently composed.

"It is also possible that at your suggestion, and by the aid of your counsels, some approach may be made by the natives towards a settled form of Government; and that by the establishment of some system of jurisprudence among them, their Courts may be made to claim the cognizance of ail crimes committed within their territory, and thus may the offending subjects of whatever State he

brought to justice by a less circuitous and more efficient process than by any which I have been able to point out.

"If in addition to the benefits which the British Missionaries are conferring on those Islanders by imparting the inestimable blessings of Christian knowledge, and a pure system of morals, the New Zealanders should obtain, through the means of a British functionary, the institution of courts of justice, established upon a simple and comprehensive basis, some sufficient compensation would seem to be rendered for the injuries heretofore inflicted by our delinquent countrymen.

"Having thus explained to you generally the course of proceeding by which I think your residence in New Zealand may be made conducive to the suppression of the enormities which British subjects and those of other States have been in the habit of committing in these islands, I have only further to observe, that it will be your duty to assist by every means in your power the commercial relation of Great Britain and her colonies with New Zealand. It would indeed be desirable that you become the medium of all communication between the New-Zealand Chiefs and the masters of British or colonial vessels frequenting the coasts, and the merchants and settlers established in the islands. This arrangement will probably grow out of your residence in the country, and you should keep it in view as an important object. You will be pleased to forward by every opportunity a shipping report, setting forth the names, masters, number of crew, tonnage, and countries, of vessels arriving at the Bay of Islands or other ports of New Zealand whence you can obtain correct accounts, with the cargoes of such vessels, their objects in touching at New Zealand, as far as you are informed, and any other particulars concerning them that may be worthy of notice.

"I beg to call your attention to the strange and barbarous traffic in human heads, which certainly did exist to some extent, but which I am given to understand is now nearly abandoned. Should it be found to continue or revive, some legislative enactment may be necessary to prohibit in this Colony the crime and disgrace of participating in so brutalizing a commerce.

"Having already mentioned the assistance which I anticipate you will receive from the Missionaries, I have now only to impress on you the duty of a cordial co-operation with them in the great objects of their solicitude – the extension of Christian knowledge throughout the islands, and the consequent improvement in the habits and morals of the people.

"Signed RICHARD BOURKE

APPENDIX C PAGE 42.

EXTRACTS FROM A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TWO VISITS TO NEW ZEALAND, IN HIS MAJESTYS SHIP ALLIGATOR, A.D. 1834; BY WILLIAM BARRETT MARSHALL, SURGEON, ASSISTANT SURGEON R. N., LONDON, 1836.

I.

WHAT are the instructions of the British Resident at New Zealand, I have not been able to ascertain. All that it has been in my power to learn of his duties, has been gathered from a letter of introduction from Viscount Goderich to the Chiefs of New Zealand, of which, he was the bearer. What is the character of his authority, or what the extent of his powers, I am altogether ignorant of. He receives his appointment from the Home Government, and his salary from the Colonial Treasury of New South Wales. Lord Goderich's letter, and Mr. Busby's address to the Chiefs on his appointment, will be appended to this Narrative, and found to breathe a kind and gracious spirit towards the inhabitants. Time will more fully develope, and in language of a more definite character, the nature of the Resident's duties, and the benefits reciprocated between the natives and their British and Australian visitors, in consequence of his settlement in the country. There can be no doubt, in the meanwhile, that the presence of an English gentleman of intelligence, possessing an official sanction, and an independent salary, and instructed generally to afford protection equally to all classes, whether natives or foreigners; to prevent the influx into a country, just emerging from the darkness of Heathenism into the light of Christianity and civilization, "of men who have been guilty of crimes in their own country, and who may effect their escape from the place to which they may have been banished," and "whose duties will be to investigate all complaints which may be made to him," must, unless counteracted by local and other opposition, operate beneficially upon the general interests of New Zealand. In order, however, to the efficiency of such a person, he must not be introduced to the Chiefs by a recommendatory letter from one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, and be at the same time treated with contumely by any person to whom his Majesty may confide the government of either of his Majesty's Australian Colonies. It must not be enumerated among his duties in a letter from the throne, the investigation of all complaints which may be made to him, if the government of New South Wales be competent to decide upon

any ex parte statement against the natives, without reference to him at all; and, without investigation of any kind, to act upon that decision, and threaten the natives with not only "the destruction of all their vessels, houses, and settlements near the coast," but in very deed to put that tyrannical threat into literal execution in three cases with the sanguinary accompaniment of an unnecessary sacrifice of human life. Unless there be an extension of the principles of international law to all our intercourse with New Zealand, the erection of that country into a British Residency is an act of inexplicable policy at best, and the appointment of a British Resident, ostensibly to "foster and maintain" a "friendly feeling between the King's subjects and the native inhabitants;" to prevent, as much as possible, the recurrence of those "misunderstandings and quarrels," as Mr. Busby minces what outspeaking truth would call "robberies and murders;" robberies the most barefaced! and murders the most wanton! – to give a greater assurance of safety and just dealing between both countries in their commercial intercourse with each other, is, to say the least of it, perfectly useless. Unless the executive government of our Australian Colonies be instructed to do justly, and to love mercy, and compelled to take counsel with Mr. Busby, and grant a hearing to the New Zealanders when complained of, as well as to the parties who complain of them, His Majesty's representative may be effectually superseded by a figure of stone or wood, set up as an effigy to scare the vultures who would prey upon New Zealand; and the colonial treasury might transfer the amount of his income towards defraying the incidental expenses of a military expedition against the innocent as well as the guilty portion of the inhabitants. (Pages 55-58.)

II.

In the preceding narrative, I have endeavoured to relate events in the exact order of their occurrence; leaving facts to speak for themselves, and principally solicitous of putting facts on record; for all facts are not true, seeing that some things are said to be facts, that never had an existence at all, except in the imagination of the narrator, or in the credulity of the retailer. And some facts are so stated, as to be what Dr. Cullen calls false facts, either, by the omission of something that happened, which, if added, would alter their character; or by the addition of something that never happened, which, from being added to that which did happen, changes truth into falsehood; the one producing the effect of wrong

perspective, the other of faulty colouring, or distortive caricature. In reviewing the whole affair, it is impossible, however, to close one's eyes upon the errors of judgment which attended our expedition, any more than upon the complete success by which its operations were rewarded.

The first question which obtrudes itself is obviously this: Why was His Majesty's Ship Alligator, assisted by a detachment of soldiers, sent to New Zealand to act at all against the natives, without reference to, or the counsel of, His Majesty's accredited representative in that country? And this too in the teeth of the Secretary of State's official letter to the Chiefs, introducing Mr. Busby, concerning whom Lord Goderich writes thus: – "In order to afford better protection to all classes, both natives of the Islands of New Zealand, and British subjects who may proceed or be already established there for purposes of trade, the King has sent the bearer of this letter, James Busby, Esq., to reside amongst you as His Majesty's Resident, whose duties will be to investigate all complaints which may be made to him" &c.

Again, it cannot fail to be matter of deep surprise, as it ought ever to be a subject of sincere regret, that the expedition, when sent, was so inadequately provided with interpreters. Mr. Battesby's only knowledge of the tongue in which he was appointed to communicate on a question of life and death, had been acquired on Kororarika Beach; while his qualifications for the delicate office of an interpreter, both moral and literary, had been obtained while filling the somewhat different situation of a retail spirit-seller and a marker of billiards at the same place!!

Thirdly. Having a Resident in their country; having provided the people with a flag; having paid national honours to that flag as the standard of an independent nation, albeit a nation of savages; ought we not in our national capacity to have respect to the laws and usages of the New Zealanders, for they are indisputably not without laws of their own, and usages of which they exact the observance among themselves? and prior to making a peremptory demand for the release of their, it might be, lawful prisoners, and that, too, without the ransom they affirmed themselves entitled to; a demand becoming well our power, but of very doubtful propriety if taken in connection with our right to make it, and to make it too at the point of the bayonet; ought not some negotiation to have been entered into; some inquiry to have been made, as to the right of those natives, agreeably to their own laws, to demand such ransom, even when too weak to enforce its payment? "'Tis well to have the giant's power, but tyrannous to use it like a giant."

The British Resident ought to have been applied to, to become the organ of communication between the Government of New South Wales and the New Zealanders at Cape Egmont. A competent interpreter, of unimpeachable veracity, might have been obtained, either from Mr. Busby's own immediate neighbourhood, Paihia, or from the settlement of the Wesleyan Mission at Hokianga; and, if not for the ungracious, undutiful, and hardly loyal purpose of acting under the King's authority, in direct contradiction of the King's word, pledged to the Chiefs of New Zealand, a purpose which I am far from attributing to the Colonial Government of New South Wales, it is difficult to understand why there was nothing like inquiry or preliminary negotiation, unless the ex parte statement of John Guard be inquiry, respecting the particulars attending the loss of the Harriet, seeing that such inquiry might have elicited some truth necessary to be known, and that such negotiation might have placed any ulterior proceedings, however severe, upon the sure basis of justice and moderation. In Lord Goderich's letter, before cited, the natives are led to expect as much: why their right to it, founded upon the promise contained in that letter, should have been so recklessly thrown out of sight altogether, let the local government answer to God and their own conscience; to their King and the country at large they are responsible for involving the national faith in suspicion, and bringing distrust upon the royal word, by a proceeding utterly at variance with a declaration like this: – "The King is sorry for the injuries which you (the native Chiefs,) inform him that the people of New Zealand have suffered from some of his subjects, But he will do all in his power to prevent the recurrence of such outrages, and to punish the perpetrators of them according to the laws of their country, whenever they can be apprehended and brought to trial; and the King hopes that mutual good-will and confidence will exist between the people of both countries."

Of the errors committed in the execution of the affair, I have occasionally made mention in the course of my narrative. The} consisted, mainly, in exacting too much from the natives, and yielding too little; in acting rather according to momentary impulses, than upon a set of fixed principles; in treating the New Zealanders as savages, and forgetting that they were, notwithstanding, men; in inflicting wrong upon them, and making no reparation, while suffering neither actual nor imaginary wrong from them without inflicting summary vengeance. (Pages 234-237)

APPENDIX D. PAGE 63.

DECLARATION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF NEW ZEALAND

1. WE the Hereditary Chiefs and Heads of the tribes of tin northern parts of New Zealand, being assembled at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, on this 20th day of October 1835, declare the independence of our country, which is hereby constituted and declared to be an independent State, under the designation of "The United Tribes of New Zealand."

2. All sovereign power and authority within the territories of the United Tribes of New Zealand is hereby declared to reside entirely and exclusively in the Hereditary Chiefs and Heads of Tribes in their collective capacity; who also declare that they will not allow any legislative authority separate from themselves in their collective capacity to exist, nor any function of Government to be exercised within the said territories, unless by persons appointed by them, and acting under the authority of laws regularly enacted by them in Congress assembled.

3. The Hereditary Chiefs and Heads of Tribes agree to meet in Congress at Waitangi in the autumn of each year for the purpose of framing laws for the dispensation of justice, the preservation of peace and good order, and the regulation of trade; and they cordially invite the southern tribes to lay aside their private animosities, and to consult the safety and welfare of our common country, by joining the Confederation of the United Tribes.

4. They also agree to send a copy of this Declaration to His Majesty the King of England, to thank him for his acknowledgment of their flag: and in return for the friendship and protection they have shown, and are prepared to show, to such of his subjects as have settled in their country, or resorted to its shores for the purposes of trade, they entreat that he will continue to be the parent of their infant state, and that he will become its protector from all attempts upon its independence.

Agreed to unanimously, on this 28th day of October, 1835, in the presence of His Britannic Majesty's Resident.

[Here follow the signatures or marks of thirty-five hereditary Chiefs and Heads of tribes, which form a fair representation of the tribes of New Zealand, from the North Cape to the latitude of the river Thames.]

ENGLISH WITNESSES,

SIGNED
HENRY WILLIAMS, MISSIONARY, C.M.S.
GEORGE CLARKE, C.M.S.
JAMES C. CLENDON, MERCHANT.
GILBERT MAIR, MERCHANT.

I CERTIFY that the above is a correct copy of the Declaration of the Chiefs, according to the translation of Missionaries who have resided ten years and upwards in the country; and it is transmitted to His Most Gracious Majesty the King of England at the unanimous request of the Chiefs.

Signed
JAMES BUSBY,
British Resident at New Zealand.

THE END.

LONDON: – Printed by James Nichols, 46, Hoxton-Square.

5 Copied from the MISSIONARY NOTICES, for the month of May 1838, published by the Committee of the Wesleyan Missionary Society; in which number will be found a lengthened account of the successful exertions of the Missionaries to restrain their own people from engaging in the war, and in promoting by their means a general peace.

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