people were so afraid of their old enemies, the Ngatimaniapoto branch of the Waikatos, that the tribes came to an agreement among themselves, that, for the sake of mutual protection and defence, they should all live together on the south bank; that, in consequence of that agreement, they all had lived there since 1848; that their pas were all built so close together on the south bank as to be in fact, for defensive purposes, one pa; that King's people, to the number of 150 to 200, had lived there twelve years, and that they had cultivated the land on the south bank in common. He is said further to have added, when Mr. Bell asked him how it was, under such circumstances, that he (Teira) offered the land for sale without the consent of the tribes, when it was with the consent of the the tribes that it was originally occupied, that he had no reply to make that question. Now it is of importance to know the precise meaning of those words; in ordinary parlance the meaning to be attached to them is, that Teira was "stumped." We have, however, heard, with what truth we cannot pretend to say, that he meant no such thing, but simply that he would not answer that question then, but would take some other opportunity of so doing. The conversation did not end here. Mr. Bell once having begun, seemed determined to go on; that wonderful politician, who did his best by long interminable talking and writing to set up Governor Browne's case, seems now equally desirous of knocking it down, and having got Teira in a loquacious mood determined to pump him dry. Teira it seems then went on to relate that there were a number of other claimants besides himself to the block which he offered for sale, and that the reason he was anxious that the surveyors should. measure the ground was, that each owner's piece should be laid off; that it was a great mistake to suppose that he ever intended to sell the site of the pas at the mouth of the river, or the cultivations; and that he had always bargained for a reserve of 200 acres there. To make the whole story more wonderful, in spite of Governor Browne's formal proclamation in the Gazette that the purchase money for Waitara had been paid, and that the land was the Queen's, he had received only £100 on account of the £600, which Parris had agreed to pay for this block. One is positively bewildered by this story. Ones first impulse is to say at once it must be false. Yet, on the other hand, the writer in the Press is a member of the General Assembly; he may be supposed to be in communication with, and to possess the confidence of the Government he called into being, and he himself vouches for the accuracy of the story in the main. Hints mixed up with party animadversions have appeared to the same effect in the New-Zealander. No contradiction to our knowledge has appeared in any journal, in any shape or form. Men who are supposed to be in the secrets of the Government, whisper mysteriously that it is all true; and we must confess, though too young and possibly too insignificant to have a "friend at court from whom hints can be occasionally gleaned, that we are fully prepared to find the official documents bearing out the facts as stated. It seems almost incredible that the Government could have gone to war in 1860 about a purchase of which so little was known. But then it will be answered, they never went to war about land at all, it was a question of jurisdiction of her Majesty's sovereignty, and not at all a question about land. If this were so, why did the very same party who so applauded Governor Browne, shriek so loudly when the Waitara, about which they said so much blood and treasure had been expended, was given up? These questions involve such nice distinctions, that we had rather not discuss them here. If all this, or the greater part of this, is true, is William King a martyr, or Hampden a self-sacrificing patriot, or is he the contumacious Maori we have so long believed him to be? Supposing every syllable of this story as detailed in the Canterbury Press to be literally true, William King would still be, in our opinion, a rebel and thoroughly bad fellow. When Governor Browne, at Taranaki, asked him to come and meet him, to talk of the matter of the Waitara, he refused; and when Teira offered the block for sale, instead of stating what his (King's) claims were, or what reasons he had for opposing the sale, nothing could be got out of him but that he would not let the land go. The Waitara to William King formed a good excuse, an excellent excuse, for resisting the Queen's authority; and to have explained the complications of the title would in no way have suited his purpose. He knew, and no one better, that if the Government became aware that the purchase of that piece of land would compel 200 people to abandon, against their will, their homes and their cultivations, and that the title was complicated beyond all conception by innumerable individual owners of pieces within the boundary, who would object to the sale, that the Governor would give up all intention of completing the purchase and have told Teira to be off about his business. That the Governor and his Ministers knew nothing of all this, we cannot but believe; at the same time, we cannot acquit them of blame in not being perfectly satisfied of all the facts of the case before they took so decided a step as that of making war; and especially culpable will those be held to be who must have kept back much from their superior officers, or have been utterly unfit for the position of Land-Purchase Commissioners which they held. In all this apparently inextricable jumble and confusion, what was the present Government to do when these facts came to their knowledge? They find the very preliminaries of the Waitara purchase unsettled. Reserves bargained for, but undefined and unknown. Many proprietors claiming, where it was believed only a few existed. The most precious part which was supposed to be bought and on which the former Government proposed to lay out a town is the very spot which the seller declares he never intended to dispose of, and 200 persons formerly expelled from their locations must be prevented from returning by force. Complicated in this way beyond all possibility of unravelment, there were still greater complications in another direction. Both races looking on, anxious to see what steps would be taken with reference to Waitara; and the Maori race ready as ever, or even more so, to get another good excuse for war. Any attempt on the part of the Government to what is called "complete" this purchase, would have been, there can be no doubt, the signal for war in all directions. Waitara could only have been secured by another Waitara war. The fighting could not have been confined to Taranaki, but would have been general throughout the North Island. Prior to the murders on 4th May, the case stood thus :-If the Waitara purchase had been gone on with, war was certain, on the worst possible ground-a land quarrel. If the Natives were really sincere in their desire for peace, provided the Government would not attempt to acquire land in opposition to their custom and against their will-peace would have been cheaply bought by giving up Waitara. If, on the other hand, the Natives meant to force on a war, no excuse should have been afforded them; but by giving up Waitara, they should have been placed, as they have been absolutely and completely in the wrong, in the face of their own people and the whole Colony-Church Missionaries included. It is said, with what truth we know not, that the abandonment of Waitara was determined on before those murders were committed; if so, we state it as our deliberate opinion that the Government then came to a wise conclusion that they were fully justified in the course on which they had determined. To the reason why that determination was not at once carried into effect we can obtain no clue. For this we must wait in patience till the session. We should be sorry to condemn the Government unheard, but no sufficient reason has been given for abandoning the Waitara after those murders were committed; for after that time all hope was gone of the pacific solution of the native difficulty. There may be political reasons of which we know nothing. It may have had such an effect on the mind of the better disposed Maoris, that we owe at this moment peace at Wellington, Hawke's Bay, and Wanganui, to the fact that all claim upon the Waitara has been publicly renonnced. If this can be clearly shown, the justification of the Government will be complete. The question, however, now is one of existence; it is simply narrowed down to that. All men who reflect at all must be thankful that Waitara is out of the way-that no disputed title, that no doubtful purchase is now the cause of war: that blood is not shed nor treasure expended to increase the limits of a settlement, but that we fight, and fight we will, against the barbarous tyranny of the Maori, that civilisation may spread and peace be secured throughout the length and breadth of the land. HER EPITAPH. THE handful here, that once was Mary's earth, "Not here! not here!" to every mourner's heart Shouldst thou, sad pilgrim, who mayst hither pass, Should spring come earlier to this hallowed grass, Know that her spirit to her body lent MRS. SIMPKINSON'S PARTY. A Tale of the Garotters. [CONCLUDED.] CHAPTER IV. MRS. SIMPKINSON's first troubles were over; the drawing-room carpet was up, and the floor French-chalked to a nicety; the marquee had been put up with no further damage than running the poles through the bed-room windows, the ices had come, the pastry cook had, in the supper, fallen not far short of what he had promised, the waiters for the occasion looked almost as if they belonged to the house; Weippert's band had been secured; and the mistress of the house, after being dressed, sat down for the first time that day, waiting for her guests, and feeling much more fit to go to bed than to talk platitudes till three in the morning, Presently the two young ladies came down, and very pretty they both looked, Arabilla the brunette, and Fanny the blonde. Both wore plain white tarlatan dresses, looped up and trimmed with natural holly; the only difference being in the head-dresses; that of Fanny being, like the trimming, of holly; while a solitary crimson rose set off the dark tresses of her sister. Presently a knock was heard, and the usual speculations hazarded in as to who might be the first arrival. Mrs. Simpkinson took a last glance around the room, and, seeing every thing in its place, put on her best smiles to welcome the ladies who now came ballooning into the room. The rat-tats became more frequent, and carriages kept rolling up to the door, much to the disgust of the next-door neighbours in No. 13, who, not having received an invitation, wondered very much how people could make such fools of themselves by attempting to cut a figure in the world, and hoped that poor Mr. Simpkinson would not suffer from his wife and daughter's extravagance. Meanwhile the waiter stationed at the dining room door was rapidly getting hoarse, and making a series of gigantic blunders in ushering in the visitors. Lucky were the guests whose names were called out with anything like their proper pronunciation. Mr., Mrs., and Miss Winks; Mr. 'Olfus Winks." These were Fanny's friends, the De Vincks. "Mr. and Mrs. Fizzleton!" and in sailed the dreaded Mrs. Fitzhammerton, whose verdict was so anxiously looked for by the hostess. Apparently there was every chance of its being favourable, as she was graciously pleased that evening to be in high good humour, and gladdened Mrs. Simpkinson's heart by praising the appearance of her daughters. "Who shall I say, Sir ?" inquired the servant of a foreign-looking gentleman. "Monsieur de Botteribelli." "Monseer Pot-belly," shouted the domestic, much to the amusement of Redford and Framwell, who were close behind. Dancing had now commenced, and Mrs. Simpkinson began to feel alarmed at the nonappearance of Soppleton. He had promised to be early. Could anything have happened to him? Just then Mrs. Holmeswell was announced, and, after the usual common-places, enquired after Mr. Simpkinson. "Oh, such a dreadful thing, my dear Mrs. Holmeswell; the poor man can't appear; he was attacked last night by some wretches, and has got a shocking black-eye! I really do not know what would have happened had it not been that your nephew and Mr. Framwell were passing by and rescued him." "Dear me ! I had not heard of it," said Mrs. Holmeswell. "I hope they secured the ruffians." "I am sorry to say they escaped; but the police are set on their track." "I do hope they will be able to apprehend them ;" and some fresh arrival put a stop to the conversation. A short time afterwards, Soppleton made his appearance, looking rather pale. He was not much accustomed to late sittings and brandy-punch, so that last night's amusements had told on him. Part of his vision of the previous evening was realized, for, as he entered the room, the first couple of waltzers he perceived were Fanny and Redford. "Confound the fellow," thought he "Wish I'd been earlier:" and he made his way to Mrs. Simpkinson. That lady was delighted to see him, but commiserated his pale looks. "I hope you are not unwell, Mr. Soppleton," said she. "Thank you, no," drawled out Augustus; "but, fact is, I was garotted last night, and I have not yet got over the shock." Mrs. Simpkinson was just going to condole with him, and had got as far as "I am so very sorry"-when a servant whispered that her presence was required elsewhere. So Soppleton was left to recount his adventure to the ladies who happened to be standing near the hostess. "Pray tell us the particulars, Mr. Soppleton," said Miss Singleton, putting on a look of the deepest sympathy. "Why, fact is, I was walking down the St. John's Wood Road last night, and I was assaulted by a huge ruffian, armed with a bludgeon, who attempted to throw his arms round my neck, but I was too quick for him, and knocked him down. However, we had a tussle, which was luckily decided by some friends of mine coming up." "How fortunate!" simpered Miss Lovetin, and did you receive no injury?" "None whatever, thank you. May I have the pleasure?" and Soppleton and Miss Lovetin started off at score to the music of the night-Bell Galop. Dancing was the only exercise Augustus was fond of, and as he was a good performer, and was besides a most eligible partner in other respects, he always could command the market. Each young lady he danced with requested him to give an account of his "garotting," and each time it was related, something was added to it. The only partner from whom he got but little sympathy was Fanny |