THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

Press, Volume XVI, Issue 2184, 19 April 1870, Page 3

THE SUPERINTENDENCY.

(Per favor of the " Press.") To W. S. Moobhouse, Esq —Dear SirHaving received your circular soliciting my vote in your interest for the office of Superintendent, I take the liberty of publicly stating my reasons for not doing what ray private feelings towards you would have otherwise led mc to do; and I hope that you will not in any sense be annoyed at mc for so familiarly treating the subject. I am unfavorable to your emotion in the first place, because you so lightly and inconsiderately resigned, two years ago, the position you now seek —and why ? It was not because your services were not required !—nor was it because the position of the province was out of the reach of danger. Then why did you desert us ? This is the light iv which I look at the unfortunate circumbtauce to yourself; that instead of remaining at your poet of duty in the time of trouble- like any prudent captain or head of a family would do —you took offence at your family—the unruly Provincial Council —and, unsUteeman«like, threw up the reins ; which act makee mc reluctantly draw conclusions politically unfavorable towards you. You should then have shown the pluck that you would have us believe you possess. The period of this, to you, unfortunate break down in the political race happens at a time when few men capable were willing to assume the duties of Superintendent. At last Mr Bolleston wae induced to accept office, and who can truthfully deny to him that he has not faithfully carried out the wishes of the Provincial Council and the people of this province ? Then comes the momentous question —if Rolleeton haa done his duty, could Canterbury be so ungrateful to the man who came to her rescue when you deserted her ? No, no; 1 will not make one to mppUut him.

He has his work to accomplish ; he is willing, he is capable of doing it! and he must be allowed to do it. Gratitude, Mr Monrho'tm* ! i'ou have in resrs pone l>y receive! the people's gratituio. then have fir the feelings of others! W(»eji the season come.* round for uu ajain to !i«k yon for your servuvs fitb.* rin t>ii =* or any other h.montblo niViro !o ?er vp yoi:r country, lam sure will t! , n give a willing nt.d hiuid to further our pr ; v\ ] .mi pi :i«>d Miva i y-v.ir f t-it ■.*- ---lrw-ut tlmt you l,opi> to pi.le by si.'o \\.:h Mr Koiieaton either in lin. , Couririls of i>. r own province, or in thut of tlu; Gt'tier:'.l AsMMiibiy. You di*i>'fiy in remarks •» return to that good sound siiuo, that the people of thia province gnve you credit for pressing —and who iiuw f r el toward* Mr Roi lesion as being worthy of their nr.iif>«\ — and look upou him now as tiicy did youin 1802, and again in 1866, and will yt-t again if you will but do reasonable things—and in eensnn. 1 hopo, whatever may be the result of this election, that iv.en in the prime of life will refrain from giving themselves, politically, the hoppy dispatch. However men possessed of so much vigour and young in years could gravely put on ti face to tell tho public that they had retired from public life, worn out, iiv , ie, and then have tho cheek—like Jack in the Box—to put in a real living turbulent appearance afterwarda, is enough to make one almost uncharitable enough to utter, " Who can you believe ? M Iβ this statesmanship or politics, or can they see something that glitters iv the distance? I don't fcnnw —do you ?

If I have failed to convince you that I rersonaMy espouse another's ranee, I should then be sorry for having written this letter, hut I feel convinced th it if you do not now acknowledge I am right, you will do so in tho future.

I rpmair, dear sir, ■ Your well-wisher and truly obliged, Thomas T">. JoNiiS. Christchurch, April 16, 1870.

TO THE KDITOH OF Til E PRESS. Sir, —In yours of the 11th inst you hare a parojiraph from your Auckland correspondent to the effect that W. Wetheral " has recovered from his insanity induced by tho attempted mesmerism of Dr Carr." Permit mo to state in reply that your correspondent is in either complete ignorance of the whole matter concerning Wetberal, or is guilty of deliberate misconstruction of factß. It is true that a man named Wetheral presented himself m a subject for mesmeric experiment while 1 was lecturing on the Thames. It is also true that owing to hie intense nervous and mental excitement, combined with the objections of his friends, he was sent from the stage without being It is true that, some fix weeks after ho became a helpless lunatic. But it is also true that for several weeks prior to his presentation on my stage that he hud been suffering from incipient madness. When my friends mouthed this strange scandal, the brother and uncle of the young man called on mc and expressed their regret that I should be so annoyed, and said tha£ they could not account by what method my name had become associated with the young man's insanity. Those gentlemen also wrote to the press to contradict the rumour that connected mc with the brother's unfortunate condition. I made it my duty to visit the Auckland Lunatic Asylum to institute inquiries, when I was informed by Dr. Aitken, resident physician, that in the entry book of the asylum, containing the names of thn paUents admitted, with the nat ure of their diseases and the causes by which they were induced, that my name (or mesmerism) was not mentioned, or asssociatcd in*any way with tho cause that induced the insanity of Wetheral; and Dr Aitken, who at least ought to be a judge of these matters, further affirmed that " mesmerism bad nothing to do with the young man's insanity." By tho permission of Dr Aitken we visited the young man together, when I found some fifty or sixty others suffering from similar maladies, induced by similar causes. These facts, with many others, were communicated by mc to the "Thames Times," in the month of November last. I would remind your correspondent that if it is necessary to report, it is also necessary, just and honorable, that he should report truthfully, and not glean the calumnies of idle tongues, to damage the interests of science, or place its exponents in a false position. I have the honor to be, yours, T. Guthbie Case. Collins' hotel, April 15,1870.