MONGONUI.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1379, 1 March 1861, Page 4

MONGONUI.

Speech of hi« Excellency the Governor to the Barawa tribe, on Saturday, Feb. 16th, 1861, at Maugonui. Friends, the Chiefs of the Rarawa, — It affords me much pleasure to make your acquaintance, and to hear such * good account of you from your Resident Magistrate, Mr. White, and your other European friends. I regret that I have not had an earlier opportunity of leeing you; but the various accounts of your conduct and proceedings have been so satiifactory that I felt sure that you, ai a tribe, did not require my presense to ensure your loyalty to the Queen. Ido not forget the aid you afforded the Government in past times, and I fully recognise the fact that you as a people have never shed the blood of an European. It -was the constant injunction of one of your good old chiefs — noble Panakareao — that you should live in peace with the 'pakeha.' This was a wise injunction, which I feel assured will always be borne in mind by hii people and descendant!. No doubt, you hear many reports of my intentions toward you j but you may feel assured that my desiro is to see you enjoy peace and the fruits of your industry, Irving with the English as a happy and united people. I regret to hear that many deaths have taken place among you. I trust that, by adopting habits of industry and cleanliness, by building better houses, using more wholesome food, and wearing better clothing, you .Mill avert many of the diseases incident to your present condition. I am glad that I can always look to this, the most northerly part of the island, as one in which the people are really well disposed and friendly ; in whose words I can place full reliance and confidence. I may further add, that if all the New Zealand tribes were to act as you do, there would be no neoessity for war in this island. I am informed by Mr. White that you refer your disputei and differences to the Courts of law. You could not afford a better proof of your own advancement than this obedience to the l»w is the first great step in the right road. The law protects the weak from the aggressions of the strong, and extend* equal justice to all. You must, yourselves, perceive how much wiser it is to resort to law for a settlement of disputes than to have recourse, as of old, to war for redre«s of wrongs, involving frequent loss of life. England would never have been such a great nation as you know it is, if its people were not subject to law and order. Hoping that you will not relax in the observance of your religious duties — which, after all, are of the highest importance — I bid you farewell, and sincerely trust that I may hear of your continued well-doing and prosperity.

In these days of wars and rumours of war it is an agreeable change occasionally to 1 evert to subjects of less thrilling interest, but of no less social and political importance. We allude to our public institutions, literary and scientific, and do so &2>ropos of the Mechanic's Institute, the annual report of which appears in this day's issue. Everywhere in the British Colonies a strong desire is manifesting itself on the part of the leading men of all classes to prove to the rest of the world that the work of colonization does not necessitate a neglect of the more elegant pursuits and avocations of civilized life. More particularly, however, is this the case in New Zealand, where men in their hours of relaxation find themselves depending entirely on their own resources for rational occupation and amusement, and are often actually obliged in selfdefence to cultivate some favourite taste. A colonial life has converted many a man into a good musician, who in London would probably have been unable to devote the necessary time to his instrument, and the country round Auckland, which would disgust an American hunter or a Norfolk fanner by the total absence of any thing worthy of the name of game, has been to the botanist a rich field for exploration, in which many a fern has been run to earth after a chase of years, in some out of the way corner where no one but the delighted finder would have dreamed of looking for anything worth picking up. A man requires a hobby in New Zealand, and though the fox-hunter may at first laugh at the fern-hunter's enthusiasm, he will soon begin to envy him the power of extracting pleasure and profit from materials thrown away upon himself. One taste however, more than any other, it is necessary to cultivate. We refer to a taste for reading, and considering that it is one, the power of cultivating which is common to all, we look upon all literary institutions as more peculiarly entitled to be considered public property than any others. Few of us comparatively perform on any instrument ; some even do not care for music : many are totally devoid of any taste for science : — but everybody reads and likes reading. Every man has his book which gives him pleasure, and the only difference between men is that they prefer different books; but whether it is Paley or a French novel, McCulloch or Lallah-Rookh, Strauss or Newman, Blue books or Tom Cringle's Log, everybody reads something and enjoys it. This it is which renders it so necessary in a community like Auckland to have public institutions which shall to some extent furnish what one may call the " improving" generation with wholesome intellectual food. They will read,

but if unable to have access to the writings of really able men, they -will be obliged to content themselves with garbage, and a depraved taste for garbage in literature is hardly to be got rid of, when once established. We see from the Report we publish that it was thought probable that a sum of money would be granted by the Provincial Government in aid of the Mechanic's Institute, and we are glad to see that the only reason assigned on the part of his honor the Superintendent for not recommending a vote for this purpose was the absence of funds available for the purpose. When better days dawn on this province, we trust that we shall see a recognition, on the part of whatever may be the Government then ruling our destinies, of the importance of institutions which though not strictly political, still have a great effect in moulding the political future of the country. On the rising young men of the Province depends the future of the Province. Something however, onght to be done to render the Institute more what it ought to be : less of a reading room, more of a place for interchange of thought. Lectures delivered once a fortnight during the winter season will never have the effect of guiding public opinion. What is wanted is a literary " Chamber of Commerce." The members of the Mechanic's Institute have a status, a position, from which they may work effectively, and we trust that we shall soon hear of their availing themselves of it. They may, we believe, depend on the co-operation of all interested in the welfare of the Province and of the city of Auckland.— Febr. 12-