1842 - Ward, J. Nelson, the Latest Settlement of the New Zealand Company - NELSON

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NELSON.

IT is now little more than three years since an expedition left these shores for the purpose of making arrangements for the settlement of New Zealand under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, and sanctioned by Government. This expedition has resulted in the establishment of two colonies, and the commencement of a third by the Company, besides the formation of other settlements under the especial care of Government. The names given to the two first of the Company's settlements are Wellington or Port Nicholson, in Cook's Straits, and New Plymouth, some 150 miles to the N.W. in the district of Taranake. These are on the S.W. end of the northern island. To each of these older settlements belongs its own peculiar history; it is sufficient for our purpose to remark generally, that they have succeeded, in the opinion of those best capable of judging--viz., the colonists themselves.

We therefore pass on to the consideration of the third of the Company's colonies now in the earliest stage of its progress, which is called Nelson, on a haven of that name situated in Tasman's Gulf, on the northernmost end of the southern or middle island. The plan of this settlement was arranged between the New Zealand Company and a body of private gentlemen early in 1841. On the 28th of April in that year, the preliminary expedition sailed for Nelson, consisting of two ships, the Whitby and Will Watch, which conveyed

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the superintendent of the colony, Captain Arthur Wakefield, Mr. Tucket, principal surveyor, and an effective surveying staff. These ships arrived at Port Nicholson, in New Zealand, in the month of September, and the site of Nelson was chosen early in November. The first body of emigrants sailed in September 1841, followed by others in each succeeding month. In the beginning of March of the present year (1842) seven vessels had arrived at Nelson, containing nearly one thousand colonists. The writer, among the recollections of a varied life, dwells with much pleasure and interest upon the departure of these expeditions; having friends in both, he witnessed the preparations immediately preceding the sailing of each. At Gravesend, in April, he was equally pleased with the leaders of the expedition, as with the cheerful, cleanly, and orderly appearance of the men.

In September he had the gratification of being present at the entertainment given by the Directors of the New Zealand Company to the colonists, their families, and friends; he participated in the delight communicated to many hearts by the proceedings of that day; he could not avoid being forcibly impressed by the respectability and intelligence of the colonists,--some of whom, judged by the sentiments uttered, would adorn any society, even the most polished and advanced: he was equally struck by the kind solicitude of each and all of the Directors for the general comfort and happiness; but, above all, he was agreeably surprised to find this interesting banquet graced by the presence of a distinguished member of the royal family, and several of the nobility and gentry, all of whom appeared to take a deep interest in the proceedings. It would be difficult to convey in words his sense of the memorable speech 1 made by his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, on that occasion, but he will say, fearless of contradiction, that it conveyed to the hearers, in a few words, sentiments that did honour to his Royal Highness' head and heart,--and that this was the general impression

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there can be no doubt. Many other speeches, from distinguished individuals, told of the deep feeling of sympathy and goodwill that attended the departure of this interesting band, all promising favourably for the continued and increasing desire of the friends in the old country to promote their interests and welfare, when arrived at their new home. The vessels, dressed in their colours, formed a sight calculated to give rise to pleasing anticipations on both these occasions.

The accounts already received from Nelson, accompanied by the pretty coloured-drawing by Heaphy, (in which our old friends, the Whitby and Will Watch, are again introduced to us, in their holiday clothes,) have realized much of what had been so rationally anticipated. There the ships lie, in a safe, snug harbour, after having successfully--nay, almost pleasurably--performed the semi-navigation of the globe, looking just as when seen at Gravesend, by the author, on the day previous to their sailing. 2 All private accounts accord in speaking favourably of the voyage,--as regards the weather experienced, the comforts, almost luxuries, partaken of, and the kind attentions from the officers of the ships; these, surely, are all matters of great encouragement, and lead naturally to the consideration of the subject taken in hand, which it is proposed to do, by arranging the matter under the following heads of inquiry:--

1. What are the natural advantages of climate, soil, productions, geographical situation, &c., belonging to New Zealand in general, and to Nelson in particular?

2. What have the assistance and influence of the New Zealand Company done towards its formation and settlement?

3. What advantages is Nelson likely to derive from the experience of older colonies,--their errors, success, or failure?

4. What conduct of the settlers themselves is calculated to forward the lasting interests of their own colony, and, by way of example, that of the neighbouring settlements?

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In taking up the first head of inquiry, it may be remarked, that one of the most striking peculiarities of these islands, from their northern to their southern extremity, (and they extend from 34 deg. to 48 deg. south,) is their moderate temperature, as shown by the range of the thermometer, which seldom rises above 75 deg., or falls below 40 deg. Fahrenheit: this equable temperature, caused by the medium latitude, and the certain return of moisture, resulting from insularity and elevated ranges of land, tend to produce the perennial verdure which constitutes the great natural charm of these islands.

Locality, particularly elevation, modifies climate; and it is, accordingly, found that some places in so wide a range of latitude will rise above, and some sink below, the average of moderate temperature spoken of; but this variation forms a great advantage,--increases the power of selection, fits the soil to produce the hardy as well as the tender productions of Europe, and makes this a home congenial to the feelings of people inhabiting a wide range of latitude in the northern hemisphere.

This happy constitution of climate, with its alternations of sunshine and moisture, is peculiarly fitting to the English constitution, and more particularly adapted to early and advanced age; the extremes of life requiring the fostering influence of happy skies,--and the colonist, who leaves his home after the period of middle life with a family of children, would here find them.

The healthfulness of such a climate is much enhanced by the frequent agitation of the air; and it is manifest that the high winds, spoken of by some as an objection, are in a high degree sanatory. Taken altogether, it would be difficult to find an assemblage of advantages so suitable to the feelings and preconceptions of Englishmen in any other part of the world ordinarily sought for by settlers. British America, the United States, Australia, all are open to objections as to climate; the colonist having to contend against frost and deep snow in the former, dry and hot summers in many parts

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of the latter,--both equally paralyzing his energies and staying his progress. The experience of many years, accumulated by the missionaries, and confirmed, during the last three, by some thousands of settlers, has fully proved what might have been theoretically inferred as to the extreme healthfulness of such a climate.

The vigour and freshness of vegetable life in these islands has been the theme of admiration from Cook's time to the present: his anticipations have been fully realized by the successful cultivation of all the ordinary vegetables and fruits of Northern with a fair promise of the same result to the more delicate productions of Southern Europe. The fields and gardens of the missionaries for many years, and those of the colonists, abundantly testify to this interesting fact; indeed such is the undoubted fertility of the soil,--so much may continue to be inferred of what it is capable of raising from what has already been produced as to justify the most pleasing expectations of its future returns. The object of the writer being to give a summary of facts, and state general results, and their probable future consequences, he does not stop to particularize, but has furnished a short Appendix, which may be consulted for details. 3

It would, however, be an oversight to omit mentioning the most important staples of the country, such as its various kinds of timber, suitable for economical and ornamental purposes, and its abundant supply of flax both promising to become articles of export (under proper care and management) on a grand scale to Europe, South America, and the neighbouring countries.

The geographical position of New Zealand is highly favourable to it commercially, politically, as well as agriculturally;--its relative situation with Australia, Van Diemen's Land, India, Ceylon, South America, Tahiti, 4 China, and the Spice Islands, affords it unusual facilities for the exchange of the

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productions of every variety of climate within a moderate distance. Well and happily has it been said that these islands are destined to become the Britain of the Southern Hemisphere. Can the probability be doubted when we observe the unabated, nay, increased and increasing colonizing energies of the English people, fostered by the aids of science in the rapid progress of the mighty power of steam, and greatly improved methods of forming settlements, with ample experience of past failures and success, the causes leading to the one and securing the other.

Such being some of the natural advantages general to New Zealand, those peculiar to Nelson remain to be spoken of. As far as is yet known, the most striking natural advantages of this place appear to be, its comparative freedom from the violent gales of the Straits, its possession of good anchorage--both in a safe harbour and an open roadstead outside, within a mile of the custom-house--and its command of an amply sufficient quantity of good easily cleared land for all the purposes of cultivation within a moderate distance of the principal town: to these may be added the commercial and social advantages of nearness to Wellington and New Plymouth, with whom it may fairly be expected that an intercourse will spring up advantageous to all, carried on in a spirit of fairness and generous rivalry, which will admit of each settlement looking to its own interests, at the same time advancing the progress of all. Much might be said upon so interesting a subject, even with the small amount of our present information about Nelson, but each post brings its startling note of rapid progress; every month produces so magical a change in the condition of a colony like this, that it is better to leave the story to be told by the march of events now going forward, with as much certainty as can be calculated upon in human affairs, than attempt a description of things that are varying as the ink dries. Suffice it to say, that without any invidious comparison with other settlements,

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those interested in this of Nelson ought to feel abundantly satisfied with its site and future prospects. 5

2. What has the New Zealand Company done for the advancement of Nelson? 6

The plan for the settlement of this place has been well digested, and gains much from the past experience of older colonies. A somewhat higher price has been demanded for the land, which has enabled the Company to make arrangements upon a more liberal scale; these arrangements consist of provision for religious and general education, surveying, and steam intercommunication with the other settlements, and the conveyance of capitalists and labouring colonists to the country; it is not so clearly expressed that any portion of the purchase-money will be devoted to the making of public roads, though it may be the intention of the Directors to instruct the surveyors on this head,--a stronger surveying staff having been sent to Nelson than to either of the former settlements. At all events, the increased strength of the surveying department will enable it sooner to prepare for the reception of the colonists, and allow them to "get on the land" and commence work upon their arrival, thereby saving time and capital, removing from them the temptations to embark in land jobbing and commercial speculations, which however calculated to enrich the few, must tend to retard the general prosperity of the colony, by withdrawing attention

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from agricultural and pastoral pursuits,--the first and most useful employments of a young people; indeed, as all history will prove, the happiest occupations of mankind. By whatever body the making of roads is undertaken, it cannot fail to be highly remunerative; the value of land will be so much enhanced by facility of communication as to command higher prices from the first purchasers, and do away with any objection to the levying an impost for their construction, which could not safely be undertaken by individuals, and every one would no doubt cheerfully subscribe to their necessary repairs.

It would appear, from the history of older colonies, that prosperity or adversity very mainly depend upon the existence of good or bad roads. Easy internal communications between all parts of this settlement, and regular means of conveyance for passengers and goods to and from the older ones, will be fully appreciated by the capitalist and settlers, and afford to each a strong motive for purchasing or settling.

A suitable district having been selected and surveyed, the site of the principal town chosen and laid out, the suburban and country lands marked off, the next valuable function of the Company commences, that of conveying the future inhabitants across the ocean with their varied capital, in the form of houses, furniture, merchandize, implements of husbandry and handicraft; in short, all the materials for the commencement of a young community. Apart from the consideration of the reasonable profits of such a Company is the view of its paternal character, which is really and substantially displayed in its fostering care of such early settlements until they are able to progress alone; the keeping up a due relation between capital and labour, and the selection of a healthy, moral, and useful population are among the foremost of these acts. In neither of the older settlements has more care been taken in all such respects than in this.

A considerable experience in nautical affairs convinces the writer that great care has been bestowed upon the selection of vessels and other arrangements for the safety, comfort, and

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happiness of the colonists in their journey over the waters. This praise is justly due to the Company. The recently passed Passengers' Act will greatly strengthen their hands in this department, so necessary to the well-being of voyagers on their first leaving home.

The higher price of land in Nelson has latterly given rise to some objectors to it, who argue that the rapid growth of the colony will be retarded thereby; they consider, too, that the allotments are unduly large, and that when 300l. necessary to purchase a compound section of town, suburban, and country land, consisting of 201 acres has been paid, there would, in ordinary instances, be little left for cultivation, and thus a body of pauper landowners would be created; but, surely when we consider the growing necessities of the middle classes in Great Britain, and the desire rapidly springing up to escape from them, it may very fairly be calculated that a constant supply of purchasers will be found who can command 300l. and enough more gradually to bring the land into cultivation: to build a comfortable house, lay out a garden, and cultivate as much land as will serve in the first place for sufficient subsistence, is as much as can be accomplished in the first year or two of a settler's life. To do this, in such a climate and soil, will not require a large capital; in the meantime it may confidently be expected that more capital will flow in, and arrangements be made to advance loans upon the security of land for its further cultivation. It is possible that rapidity of growth may be somewhat retarded by a moderately high price of land; but rapidity of growth is not necessary to stability, and as it can be shown that the nucleus of a future society has been formed at Nelson of the best materials, its advancement, slow or rapid, is secured beyond the shadow of a doubt.

By the majority of rightly-judging colonists, certainty of comfortable subsistence for the present, and a rational and well-grounded prospect of progression for the future, is the

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condition most sought for, rather than excessive gains from the speedy advance in the price of land, and a consequently over-excited and feverish state of things, only to be followed by langour and depression.

The number and respectability of the settlers gone out, now going, and preparing to go out in the course of a year or two,--the amount of capital subscribed--the happy choice of site for town and settlement, the steady and certain operations of the surveying staff; and last, though not least, the firm, yet conciliatory character of the Company's principal officer, Capt. A. Wakefield, all combine to secure the progress of this settlement in the natural order of society as it is found in England--composed of a gradation of classes, with full security for the rights and privileges of each. And this order of things is more likely to exist where property is kept together in a moderate state of division, rather than frittered away into minute subdivisions. Moreover, the purposes for which the increased price of land has been demanded, fully justify that increase, because it is very obvious that all the outlay for the advancement of religion, education, steam inter-communication, and surveying, is so much clear gain to the purchasers in the greater value and consideration bestowed upon the settlement in the eyes of those who are most desirable to secure as colonists, viz., the moral, intelligent, and practical part of the middle and industrious classes at home, with a large sprinkling of good settlers and visitors from the East Indies and neighbouring colonies, who, it is fairly presumable, will not be able to resist the temptations held out by such a climate, with such social advantages as will be secured by the arrangements before spoken of. The price of land, and size of allotment, are closely connected with a consideration of great interest to a new country, which is, how to avoid the creation of a class of landowners having capital without labourers on the one hand, and a body of labourers without capital, on the other. The avoidance of these two extremes has evidently been the object of the

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projectors of this and the other settlements founded upon the Wakefield principle;--whether they have chosen the happy medium, and made the land sufficiently, and not too dear, is the question to be decided. In the opinion of the writer, they will be found to have succeeded; at all events, in common justice to the principle set out upon, and to the first promoters of the plan and society of Nelson, it should be allowed the test of experiment; and he has no doubt a little patience will prove the result to be favourable to the price, size of allotments, and general plan of the colony, as they exist at present, in the steady, if rather slow, demand for land in this place. Be this as it may, the Company having adopted, and so far acted upon the plan agreed upon between them and the first promulgators of Nelson, will, no doubt, perceive the justice of securing the interests of such, and others afterwards associated with them, by not too hastily adopting contrary views, which are alike untried. Were the price of land extravagantly high, or the size of the allotments outrageously large, the arguments before stated would be without point; but such is not the case; and if it is hereafter found that sub-holding, or renting, should be necessary, the original proprietors can sell or let, in such quantities as will meet the views of those who have providently saved from their labour the means of becoming purchasers or tenants. 7

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3. What advantages is Nelson likely to derive from the experience of older colonies, their errors, success, or failure?

Two opposite modes of settling new countries have been tested by trial; the one, by way of illustration, may be called the expanded; the other, the condensed plan.

Wherever and whenever these two plans have been tried, the balance of success has been with the latter. By granting settlers too large possessions in the soil, it has invariably been found that general and individual prosperity has been retarded by the waste of isolated efforts over too wide a space. United efforts upon a smaller field of operation has generally been successful in a more certain and rapid way than is commonly imagined. It is admitted by all conversant with the subject, that our North American colonies have been thrown back in their course of prosperity by the system of large grants, and the consequently detached and isolated condition of the settlers from the want of roads, and means of communication for useful and social purposes.

The observations of the writer made during a three years' residence in Upper and Lower Canada, and repeated visits to Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador, have convinced him of the greater progress and superior comforts attained by men acting in community even under an imperfect system. In confirmation of this view, the instances were many and striking. Among them may be noticed the villages on each shore of the St. Lawrence, from the Isle of Bic upwards, settled on the Seignorial tenure, each with its church, its mill, manor-house, and comfortable dwellings of the farmers, either adjoining or moderately removed from each other,

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though these communities have not realized the idea of rapid progress, yet it will be found that the individuals composing them have enjoyed many of the comforts and conveniences of life, and been enabled to lay up some provision for the future. In this state, equally removed from luxurious ease on the one hand, and grinding poverty on the other, much substantial happiness seemed to be the result. Crimes of a serious nature were unknown, one execution having alone taken place out of a population of 450,000 in the course of three years.

The older French settlements in Lower Canada, and the newer ones formed by the English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, and American loyalists in Upper Canada on the St. Lawrence, Ottawa, the space between the two rivers and on Lake Ontario, all bore testimony to the greater advantages of settling in well-organized masses, and bringing people to act in concert. Within the range above-described, the writer had many opportunities of witnessing the retarding and demoralizing effects of divided operations. In the small amount of land cleared, its slovenly condition, the difficulty of communicating even with adjoining properties, the want of neatness in the manner of living, the neglect of the ordinary decencies and courtesies of life even in the case of officers who had served with distinction in the army and navy, and formerly been accustomed to the usages of the best society; in short, wherever people were found congregated within reasonable distances around a town or village, with attractions of church, courthouse, influential leading inhabitants, and favourable circumstances of locality, he saw the wilderness more or less rapidly assuming the form of smiling fields, corn and grass springing up on every side, with good roads, bridges, and all the means of intercommunication duly provided. On the contrary, wherever individuals attempted the task of settling and clearing much removed from each other, wherever the land was held in large blocks by absentees, nothing could be more unsatisfactory than the state of things forming the exact converse of what naturally proceeds from united exertions. Such results

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having been witnessed many years ago, the writer's mind was strongly impressed by them, and then quite made up to the superior advantages of settling in community. Since that time the formation of new colonies has made great progress, and they seem to have been successful or the contrary as their projectors followed the plan of combined or divided operations. The more or less rapid advancement of settlements commenced upon some well-considered principle of community of effort, being now established beyond doubt, and the pretty general success attending individual exertions in such communities being also established in so far as mere worldly and pecuniary prosperity go, it seems well worthy of a trial how to make each succeeding settlement more of a pattern for that which is to follow it.

The mere accumulation of wealth, and the acquisition of worldly grandeur (things easy to be done where nature is so bountiful and such free scope is given to energy, industry, and intelligence), are not by any means the greatest good; this is to be realised in a progressive improvement of the religious, moral, and physical condition of the many in every community in a condition equally removed from great prosperity or adversity, in a state where every individual finds something useful and advancing to do, and thus adds his mite to the general stock of comfort and happiness. Whether these are the happy prospects of the older American, or more recently formed Australian settlements, the writer is not competent to decide; but of the progress of the latter in merely temporal prosperity, there can be no doubt,--the proofs of which may be consulted in the reports hourly arriving in this country from each of them.

The earliest acts of the legislature of New Zealand, afford much promise of good to the colonists; the acts passed present themselves to the mind of the author as wise and well-considered adaptations of useful laws to the circumstances of the colony. Among these wholesome regulations, are the establishment of circuit courts to sit twice a year, and local courts to sit monthly, to try both civil and criminal causes;

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a registration court for the purpose of recording the exact state of the property of the country, thereby affording security for money advances on mortgage; the establishment of courts of request, in each settlement, for the recovery of small debts, is another useful measure; the passing of a municipal corporation act will prove of vast benefit in the power it gives for well-considered self-government to all towns with 2000 or more inhabitants. These are only prominent instances among many of useful legislation, the peculiar merit and value of which, consists in the wise adaptation of laws that have stood the test of experience in the old countries, to the altered state and condition of new ones. It is a great boon to the colonists of New Zealand, that its government has departed from the system of centralization, because its population, for a long time to come, must necessarily be collected in various centres, remote from each other; it is wise therefore to give to each of these foci the advantages of local government that in countries of easy and rapid communication have been confined to a common centre. It is fairly presumable that this power of local management will no more interfere with the functions of power at the seat of the provincial, than those do with the imperial government at home. In the case of Nelson a wise use of such powers under the direction of men, competent to carry them out, must be attended with good.

The provision set apart for church purposes in the original projection of this colony, leads the writer to remark upon this all-important subject; that it is fraught with the elements of lasting happiness to the people who may congregate there, and if used discreetly by clergymen of enlarged and truly Christian-like and tolerant views will tend to remove much dissent from the church. Devoutly is it to be hoped that where congregations of various denominations spring up, as they are most likely to do, in the progress of an infant society, removed from a parent stock where distinctions of many kinds prevail,--devoutly is it to be wished that these distinctions

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may exist without differences, and that the clergymen of the establishment may be the first to hold out the hand of Christian fellowship and brotherly love. The character of the newly appointed bishop of New Zealand, and of the clergymen who accompanied him, afford much ground of promise that this happy prospect will be realised.

An interesting account of the proceedings of the bishop 8 and his associates has already reached this country, which is well calculated to inspire the brightest hopes for the colony, because those proceedings afford evidence of the high standard of moral and religious example that is destined and prepared for the advantage of its people.

4. What conduct of the settlers themselves is calculated to forward the lasting interests of their own colony, and, by way of example, that of the other settlements?

Obedience to the laws of God and man takes the foremost rank among, nay, includes the sum and substance of the duties of a good colonist; out of this obedience arise,--the claims of religious observances, the claims of the civil magistrate, the duties of benevolence, general and particular, the force of example in all the ordinary duties of life, care for the proper instruction, harmless, and improving amusements of all classes, and a generous interest in neighbouring settlements. An integral portion of the British public, it is desirable that this community should retain all those good observances that tended to comfort and happiness at home, and discard all of an opposite tendency. Temperance in living, plainness and simplicity in dress and furniture, frugality rather than profuseness, should characterize its infant condition,--it would be well if they attended its growth and progress. Upon this subject there is room for much anxiety, since all history tells the tale of wealth and power, with their attendants luxury and ease, being the great aim and object of the struggles of men in the progress of society. Some few bright exceptions there are, and it is greatly to be hoped, that under such favourable circumstances, an addition will be made in

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the case of these new settlements. 9 The advice given by a late noble colonial secretary to the Governor of New Zealand, bearing on this subject, should be carefully read and duly considered, forming, as it does, a bright example for future legislators, and a sanction for the early adoption of simple habits, by the first in rank among the colonists. Never was there a better opportunity of casting off many of the effeminate and expensive observances of gentility that have crept in among us, of the old countries; where fine houses, large equipages, and dress, are too much thought of as among the principal claims to distinction. It is quite refreshing to know that many of the sons of our nobility and gentry have set the useful example of doffing kid gloves for a season, in order to carve future independence and distinction out of the prolific soil of this fine country; and there is, happily, no reason why an early day of moderate toil and exertion should not be followed by an evening devoted to social and refined enjoyments,--to countenance the observance of this happy routine of exertion and relaxation,--to define the objects and extent of labour, and point out the most improving kinds of pleasurable enjoyments, should be the earnest endeavour of every friend to virtue and happiness in these new countries, where heretofore, it is feared, that pleasure has been for the most part sought for in scenes of excess or vapid amusements, both equally tending to the waste of time and health, and ending in disappointment. There is solid ground for hope, that, in no case, will the excessive toil of body and mind be required to gain a decent and comfortable subsistence in this colony that has been found necessary at home; consequently, that much more time will be left for the cultivation of the mind: it will very much depend, then, upon the efforts of a few high-minded and energetic men to give a proper direction to this novel condition of an English society; and if a taste for high intellectual and moral pursuits could be once established, we should hear less of the half savage and demoralizing amusements of older countries.

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On the subject of the over-tasked condition, mentally and bodily, of a large and valuable portion of the people of older countries, and on the best means of advancing the true happiness of society, some extracts from the works of a distinguished philanthropist, of our own times, (Dr. Channing, of America,) may not be considered irrelevant. He says:--"We do not find that civilization lightens men's toils; as yet it has increased them, and in this I see the sign of a deep defect in what we call the progress of society. It cannot be the design of the Creator that the whole of life should be spent in drudgery for the supply of animal wants. That civilization is very imperfect in which the mass of men can redeem no time from bodily labour for intellectual, moral, and social culture. It is melancholy to witness the degradation of multitudes to the condition of beasts of burden. Exhausting toils unfit the mind to withstand temptation. The man spent with toil, and cut off, by his position, from higher pleasures, is impelled to seek a deceitful solace in sensual excess. How the condition of society shall be so changed as to prevent excessive pressure on any class is undoubtedly a hard question. One thing seems plain,--there is no tendency in our present institutions and habits to bring relief; on the contrary, rich and poor seem to be more and more oppressed with incessant toil, exhausting forethought, anxious struggles, feverish competitions. Some look to legislation to lighten the burdens of the poorer class, but equal laws and civil liberty have no power to remove the shocking contrast of condition which all civilized communities present.

"Inward spiritual improvement, I believe, is the only sure remedy for social evils. What we need is, a new diffusion of Christian, fraternal love, to stir up the powerful and prosperous to succour liberally, and encourage the unfortunate and weak, and a new diffusion of intellectual and moral force to make the multitude efficient for their own support, to form them to self-control, and to breathe a spirit of independence which will scorn to ask or receive unnecessary relief."

The same author asks in another place,--

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"How may moral strength, force of principle be communicated to the less prosperous classes of society? I answer first, the surest means is to increase it among the more favoured. All classes of a community have connexions, sympathies; let selfishness, sensuality, reign among the prosperous and educated, and the poor and uneducated will reflect these vices in grosser forms. The greatest benefactor to society is not he who serves it by single acts, but whose general character is the manifestation of a higher life and spirit than pervades the mass--such men are the salt of the earth. The might of individual virtue surpasses all other power. The multiplication of individuals of true force and dignity of mind, would be the surest of all omens of the suppression of intemperance in every condition of society. Another means is the cultivation of a more fraternal intercourse than now exists between the more and less improved portions of the community. Our present social barriers and distinctions, in so far as they restrict sympathy, and substitute the spirit of caste, the bigotry of rank, for the spirit of humanity, for reverence of our common nature, ought to be reprobated as gross violations of the Christian law. Those classes of society, who have light, strength, and virtue, ought to communicate these to such as want them."

Again, "To elevate and strengthen the more exposed classes of society, it is indispensable that a higher education should be afforded them. To educate is something more than to teach those elements of knowledge which are needed to gain a subsistence. It is to call out the higher faculties and affections of a human being. Education is not the authoritative, compulsory, mechanical, training of passive pupils, but the influence of gifted and quickening minds upon the spirit of the young. Travellers, in Germany, speak of a degree of culture, not generally supposed to consist with their lot among the most depressed classes in that country. This sense of the beautiful in nature and art produces much happiness in a portion of society, which among us is thought to be disqualified for this innocent and elevating pleasure.

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That the teaching in Sunday schools is, in some places, more various than here; and that a collection of books, and a degree of scientific knowlege, may be met with in cottages far inferior to the dwellings of our husbandmen. In short, there is abundant proof that intellectual culture spreads its light and comforts through a class generally supposed to labour under a degree of physical wretchedness inconsistent with such culture.

"A community, directing its energies chiefly to a higher education of its rising members to a generous development of human nature, would achieve what as yet has not entered human thought, and it is for this end we ought to labour. Our show and our luxury how contemptible in comparison with the improvement of our families, our neighbours, and our race!"

In the formation of our New Zealand Colonies, we should, from the first, endeavour to secure and send out the means of religious, moral, and intellectual instruction of the first order: moral and enlightened colonists to be acted upon, and take care that they departed hence with clear and comprehensive views of their new duties.

We should choose instructors who have been brought up in institutions for training them to train the young. "We want men of superior gifts, and of benevolent spirits, to devote themselves to the instruction of the less enlightened classes, in the great end of life, in the dignity of their nature, in their rights and duties, in the history, laws, and institutions of their country, in the philosophy of their employments, in the laws, harmonies, and productions of outward nature, and, especially, in the art of bringing up children in health of body, and in vigour and purity of mind. One gifted man, with his heart in the work, who should live among the uneducated to spread useful knowledge and quickening truth, by conversation and book, and by frank and friendly intercourse, by encourageing meetings for improvement, by forming the more teachable into classes, and giving to them the animation of his own presence and guidance, by

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bringing parents to an acquaintance with the principles of physical, intellectual, moral, and religious education, by instructing families in the means and condition of health, by using, in a word, all the methods which an active generous mind would discover or invent for awakening intelligence and moral life. One gifted mind so devoted, might impart a new tone and spirit to a considerable circle, and what would not be the result were such men to be multiplied and combined, so that a community might be pervaded by their influence. We owe much to the writings of men of genius, piety, science, and exalted virtue. But most of these remain shut up in narrow spheres. We want a class of liberal instructors, whose vocation it shall be to place the views of the most enlightened minds within the reach of a more and more extensive portion of their fellow creatures."

In aid of the higher influences so eloquently advocated, the first means of placing a young people beyond the temptations to intemperance and excess, is to furnish them with opportunities of enjoying innocent pleasures.

"By innocent pleasures are meant such as excite moderately, such as produce a cheerful frame of mind--not boisterous mirth; such as refresh instead of exhausting the system; such as occur frequently rather than continue long; such as send us back to our daily duties invigorated in mind and in spirit; such as we can partake of in the presence and society of respectable friends; such as consist with, and are favourable to, a grateful piety; such as are chastened by self-respect, and are accompanied with the consciousness that life has a higher end than to be amused. In every community there must be pleasures, relaxations, and means of agreeable excitement; and if innocent ones are not furnished, resort will be had to criminal. Man was made to enjoy, as well as to labour; and the state of society should be adapted to this principle of our nature. A man, who, after toil, has resources of blameless recreation, is less tempted than others to seek self-oblivion; he has too many of the pleasures of a man, to take up with those of a brute. Thus

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the encouragement of simple innocent enjoyments is an important means of temperance and general advancement in good living.

"Music would have great influence over the people of a young colony. It should be spread as an accomplishment through the community, regarded merely as a refined pleasure; it has a favourable bearing upon public morals; it is calculated to exert a higher influence, particularly in the strength which it may and ought to give to the religious sentiment, and to all pure and generous emotions. Let taste and skill in this beautiful art be spread among the colonists, and every family will have new resources. Home will gain new attractions; social intercourse will become more cheerful, as an innocent public amusement will be afforded to the community.

"Dancing is an amusement which has been discouraged by many of the best people, and not without reason; it is associated in their minds with balls; and this is one of the worst forms of social pleasure. The time consumed in preparation for a ball, the waste of thought upon it, the extravagance of dress, the late hours, the exhaustion of strength, the exposure of health, and the languor of the succeeding day; these and other evils are strong reasons for banishing it from a community. But dancing ought not, therefore, to be proscribed; on the contrary, balls should be discouraged, that dancing, instead of being a rare pleasure, may become an every day amusement, and may mix with our common intercourse. This exercise is among the most healthful;--the true idea of dancing entitles it to favour. Its end is to realize perfect grace in motion; and who does not know that a sense of the graceful is one of the higher faculties of our nature? It is to be desired that this accomplishment should be extended to the labouring classes of society, not only as an innocent pleasure, but as a means of improving the manners. The philanthropist and Christian must desire to break down the partition walls between human beings in different conditions; and one means of doing this is, to remove the con-

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scious awkwardness which confinement to laborious occupations is apt to induce. An accomplishment giving free and Graceful movement, though a far weaker bond than intellectual or moral culture, still does something to bring those who partake it, closer to each other.

"The Theatre, purified from its debasements, would be the noblest of all amusements, and would take a high rank among the means of refining the taste and elevating the character of a people. The deep woes, the mighty and terrible passions, and the sublime emotions of genuine tragedy, are fitted to thrill us with human sympathies, with profound interest in our nature, with a consiousness of what man can do, and dare, and suffer, with an awed feeling of the deep sympathies of life.

"There is another amusement having an affinity with the drama which might be usefully introduced among an infant society. It is recitation--a work of genius, recited by a man of refined taste, enthusiasm, and power of elocution, is a very pure and high gratification. Were this art cultivated and encouraged, great numbers now insensible to the most beautiful compositions, might be awakened up to a sense of their excellence and power. It is not easy to conceive of a more effectual way of spreading a refined taste through a community. Intellectual culture considered as a source of amusement, books regarded merely as a gratification, are worth more than all the luxuries upon the earth. A taste for literature secures cheerful occupation for the unemployed and languid hours of life, and how many persons in these hours, for want of innocent resources, are now impelled to coarse and brutal pleasures?

"In the formation of a young colony the discouragement of the sale and use of spirituous liquors should be strictly enforced from the commencement; ardent spirits are not an important comfort, and in no degree a comfort,--they give no strength, they contribute nothing to health, they can be abandoned without evil, they aid men neither to bear the burden, nor discharge the duties of life. Like other poisons they may occasionally benefit as medicines, but when used as

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a beverage by the healthy they never do good, they generally are pernicious."

It is much to be hoped that public opinion will set strongly in against spirit drinking in our New Zealand settlements, and that shops for their retail will be discouraged by law and custom. Can there be any doubt of the ease with which spirit drinking may be decried when we observe the remarkable revolution taking place in Ireland by the strenuous exertions of one good man? It is quite notorious that the Irish, a people heretofore the slaves of this degrading habit, are undergoing a great change, and that a very considerable portion of them cannot be induced by persuasion to taste ardent spirits.

There is another happy circumstance attending the formation of this and other settlements, "That the respect for labour is increasing, or rather that the old prejudices against manual toil, as degrading a man, or putting him in a lower sphere, are wearing away; and the cause of this change is full of promise, for it is to be found in the progress of intelligence, Christianity, and freedom, all of which cry aloud against the old barriers, created between the different classes, and challenge especial sympathy and regard for those who bear the heaviest burdens, and create most of the comforts of social life. The contempt of labour of which I have spoken is a relic of the old aristocratic prejudices that formerly proscribed trade as unworthy of a gentleman, and must die out with many prejudices of the same low origin, and the results must be happy. It is hard for a class of men to respect themselves who are denied respect by all around them. A vocation looked upon as degrading will have a tendency to degrade those who follow it. Away then with the idea of something low in manual labour. There is something shocking to a religious man in the thought that the employment that God has ordained for the vast majority of the human race should be unworthy of any man, even of the highest. If, indeed, there were an employment which could not be dispensed with, and which yet tended to degrade such

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as might be devoted to it, I should say that it ought to be shared by the whole race, and thus neutralized by extreme division, instead of being laid as the sole vocation upon one man, or a few. Let no human being be broken in spirit, or trodden under foot for the outward prosperity of the State. So far is manual labour from meriting contempt, or slight, that it will probably be found, when united with true means of spiritual culture, to foster a sounder judgment, a keener observation, a more creative imagination, and a purer taste, than any other vocation. Man thinks of the few, God of the many; and the many will be found at length to have within their reach the most effectual means of progress."

Another encouraging circumstance of the times in which we live is the creation of a popular literature, which puts within the reach of the labouring class the means of knowledge in whatever branch they wish to cultivate. Literature is now adapting itself to new wants, and there is little doubt that a new form will soon appear for the special benefit of the labouring body. The press is now groaning under the mass of cheap publications for the use of the people, the large majority of which it is to be feared are worse than useless, and were it not that the bane is accompanied by its antidote in many of a highly improving character, this would be a monstrous evil. It is greatly to be hoped that all who feel an interest in the colony now under our consideration will use their utmost efforts to provide it with a literature that shall be improving and advancing as well as amusing. It is to be feared that this all-important subject has not yet received due attention from those whose deep interest is involved in the consequences.

Dr. Channing suggests, "That as every trade has distinguished names in its history, it would be desirable to establish lectures to illustrate the history of the more important trades, the great blessings they have conferred on society, and of the eminent men who have practised them; and further, that the members of an important trade should set apart an anniversary for the commemoration of those who have shed a lustre

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on it by their virtues, their discoveries, or their genius." Such observances as these are surely well adapted for the colony of Nelson, whose very name is commemorative of the valorous and patriotic deeds of one who sprung from the people. In which place it is hoped all will have the time, if they should have the inclination, to assist each other in such improving and ennobling objects.

"Another circumstance encouraging the hope of progress among the labouring classes is to be found in the juster views they are beginning to adopt in regard to the education of their children. On this foundation, indeed, our hope for all classes must chiefly rest. All are to rise chiefly by the care bestowed on the young, not that I would say, as is sometimes rashly said, that none but the young can improve. I give up no man as desperate; men who have lived thirty or fifty years are not to feel as if the door were shut upon them; every man who thirsts to become something better than what he is, has in that desire given a pledge that his labour will not be in vain; none are too old to learn. The world, from our first to our last hour, is our school, and the whole of life has but one great purpose--education. Still the child uncorrupted, unburdened, is the most hopeful subject, and vastly more, I believe, is hereafter to be done for children than ever before, by the spread of simple truth, almost too simple, one would think, to need exposition, yet up to this day shamefully neglected, namely, that education is a sham, a cheat, unless carried on by able accomplished teachers. The dignity of the vocation of a teacher is beginning to be understood. The idea is dawning upon us that no office can compare in solemnity and importance with that of teaching the child; that skill to form the young to energy, truth, and virtue, is worth more than the knowledge of all the arts and sciences, and that of consequence the encouragement of excellent teachers is the first duty a community owes to itself. I say the truth is dawning, and it must make its way. The instruction of the children of all classes, especially of the labouring class, has as yet been too generally committed to unprepared,

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unskilful hands, and, of course, the school is in general little more than a name. The whole worth of a school lies in the teacher. You may accumulate the most expensive apparatus for instruction, but without an intellectual-gifted teacher it is little better than rubbish; and such a teacher without apparatus may effect the happiest results."

"The object of education is not so much to give a certain amount of knowledge as to awaken the faculties, and give the pupil the use of his own mind; and one book taught by a man who knows how to accomplish these ends is worth more than libraries, as usually read. It is not necessary that much should be taught in youth, but that a little should be taught philosophically, profoundly, livingly."

"What we want is a race of teachers acquainted with the philosophy of the mind--gifted men and women, who shall respect human nature in the child, and strive to teach and gently bring out his best powers and sympathies, and who shall devote themselves to this, as the great end of life."

"This good I trust is to come, but it comes slowly. The establishment of normal schools shows that the want of it begins to be felt. This good requires that education shall be recognized by the community as its highest interest and duty. It requires that the instructors of youth should take the precedence of the money-getting classes, and that the woman of fashion shall fall behind the female teacher. It requires that parents shall sacrifice show and pleasure to the acquisition of the best possible helps and guides for their children. Not that a great pecuniary compensation is to create good teachers; these must be formed by individual impulse, by a genuine interest in education; but good impulse must be seconded by outward circumstances, and the means of education will always bear a proportion to the respect in which the office of teacher is held in the community."

The foregoing views seeming to the writer in every way adapted to the circumstances of the newly-formed colonies of New Zealand, he has not hesitated to extract them from the original, feeling convinced that if these humble pages

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should ever meet the eye of the benevolent author of the article on "Temperance," and of "Lectures to the Labouring Classes," he will be well pleased to have his views taken up and extended in every possible direction. Wherever they are found to prevail, it is not too much to expect that the following anticipations will be realized:

"In the development of a more enlarged philanthropy, in the diffusion of the Christian spirit of brotherhood, in the recognition of the equal rights of every human being, we have the dawn and promise of a better age, when no man will be deprived of the means of elevation but by his own fault; when the great object of the community will be to accumulate means and influences for awakening and expanding the best powers of all classes. -- When men of uncommon gifts for the instruction of their race will be sent forth to carry light and strength into every sphere of human life, when spacious libraries, collections of the fine arts, cabinets of natural his- tory, and all the institutions by which the people may be refined and ennobled, will be formed and thrown open to all, and when the toils of life, by the wise intermixture of these higher influences, will be made the instruments of human elevation." Happily for the prospects of our Nelson colony a liberal provision has been made for religion and education; it only then remains for the colonists to be true to themselves and the interest of their children, in carrying out the intentions of the far-seeing and benevolent promoters of these great objects.

So much has been said, and well said, so much has been done, and well done, for these interesting islands, during the last three or four years, that such feeble efforts as the writer is able to put forth, must appear insignificant; yet notwithstanding, actuated by the laudable ambition of identifying himself with a great and good work, though in a humble way, he has ventured to throw in his mite towards its advancement, concluding with the fervent hope that all these newly formed settlements may grow up in amity and concord, and that Nelson may not be found last in the way of a good example.