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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 2, Issue 65, 18 December 1858, Page 2

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To the JUditor of the Hawfte's Bay Herald.

Sir, — Tour paper for the week ending 4th Dec. inst., was highly seasoned by the letters of your correspondents 'Yeritas' and 'Alpha. 5 Your readers at once assigned to 'Veritas' the high distinction of being the reality of that fictitious tradesman whose wholesome injunction to his apprentice relative to the. adulteration. of certain pleasant articles for the domestic comfort of his customers, and the careful saying of his prayers thereafter, has become a bye-word and a proverb, amongst men. It is of a truth, quite astonishing to find, that a man possessed of such abundant Christian charity, who with such, a solemn and beatific appeal to the righteousness of the .people, should yet so far forget, and in fact totally lose sight of* the sublime judgment of-the Master whom we are to believe he humbly serves, as not to remember, that Hje said. "let he who is without sin amongst ,you first caat a stone."

Moreover, apart from the t earit > . of Veritas' lets ', ter, which is ridiculous, the appeal -which he has made to the 'fathers, husbands,- mothers^, and- so *>* oni "to the third and fourth generation, isjbad, to-« tally and radically bad, and has naturaUy failed * - in producing the slightest effebt \]dpbn. thosqs

fathers, mothers, &c, certainly those of the present generation, as he haß advanced no reason for asserting that Mi*. Domett is by any means an improperly conducted person, or a bad man, or a man in any way unfitted for the office of superintendent of thi3 province. All tho3e who know Mr. Domett personally will say that he is as amiable in his bearing towards, as he is upright in his dealings with all men. Veritas would have us believe that Mr. Domett is the embodiment of the spirit of cvil — that Mephistoplules is to be let loose amongst vs — that the honour of our wives will be assailed without remorse — that the purity of our daughters will be subject to the severest tegt, — -and that our sisters will be driven to the extreme pass of virtuous resistance by this dreaded individual.

Fortunately the fathers, husbands, mothers, and settlers of this province are too sensible and much too practical not to be able to tell the chaff from the grain, and vastly too well acquainted with the world and its ways generally not to know that the tares will come up with the wheat and must be gathered into the same garner ; and that if they can't manage their households, and keep the wolf from their flocks without being carefully assured that the superintendent of their political affairs is a saint, of a surety we are an ungodly race, and though that high dignitary should be Praise-God-Barebones himself and was married to a daughter of Captain Smite-them-hip-and-thigh, it would avail them naught ; and if the value of our property depends upon the length of our prayers, verily of a truth some of us will fare badly. Possibly, friend Veritas, having an eye to this happy conjunction, and measuring and valuing his own estate by the standard of his own sanctity, has determined to establish it as a political axiom that the property of none but the Svicked' shall increase.

Yeritas is right enougii in saying that the superintendent, under the new system, is not what he was under the old ; so much the better ; but that is but a poor reason -why a man of Mr. Domett's talents and integrity should not fill that office in this-province with great credit to us and to himself. One thing, however, is perfectly certain, and that is Mr. Domett, as Publicola has very faithfully said, has a horror of all humbug, which of itself would De quite sufficient to damn Mm in the eyes of that amiable Saducee Veritas. We all highly cstscm Capt. Newman, he is an excellent citizen and a worthy man, but that is neither here nor there, the question is simply ■whether he or Mr. Domett is the fitter man to be our superintendent. This question will be duly answered in the fulness of time. Ah! I had well nigh forgotten Alpha; clever, learned Alpha ; man of p3rts and letters ; c a man of New Zealand reputation, and sorry am I to say not a£ the best.' Sir, to be well favoured ii the gift of fortune, but to read and write well comes by nature. Unhappy Alpha ! from the land of dreams he awakes ; awakes, to what ? ' "To feel how awful goodness is, and see Virtue in her shape how lovely j See and pine his loss." Alpha being moreover ambitious of classical reputation,- and scorning to accept the assistance of the aphorisms engraved on the head of each page of Maunders dictionary and which 6aid aphorisms are looked upon with some awe and veneration by those who have difficulty in 'scanning' "Virgil should go yet a little deeper. Favor us with a quotation for instance from parts of the sixth satire of Juvenal, or try back as far as the writings of Cattulus, amongst which, I think, he •would find something that bears a very strong resemblance to the plain old English saying that 'he who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones.' However, some excuse must be made for Alpha, for he states himself he was but half awaks when he scribbled to you, and that he had regaled with divers cigars and helps of toddy, a refreshment highly esteemed alike by the gentle and simple, for I firmly believe that Alpha has got some blood in his veins, what sort is not for me to determine, he is so exquisitely gentlemanly and so refined in Ins tastes and habits, aud has that sweet air of placid languor which is quite refreshing tins hot weather, and which indicates at least being alive. But enough: in all the good sense which Alpha has brought to bear upon the subject of his letter, and for any reasons which he has advanced to show us why Mr. Domett should not be elected as the head of this province, he had better, far better, have remained asleep, thereby saving the extra expense of another cigar, with pens, ink and paper to match, and us with the trouble of reading the production of that combination of substances. When it is said that Mr. Domett was an indolent executor of the laws in this distx-ict, it should be remembered that he administered those laws under circumstances attended with great danger ; the natives defied them, and ho had no means of enforcing them ; and the Eurbpeans would just as readily have done, the same, although they can uphold those laws in the most confident manner and the bravest sort, so long as they keep away from their own doors. The present Resident Magistrate at Poverty Bay is just in the same case as Mr. Domett waa when he filled the like office at Ah'uriri, 'If he meets a thief he will bid him stand, but if he will not, why, lets him go, and gives God thanks he is rid of a knave' ; and for a very good reason ; if the thief will not stand he cannot make him.

I will conclude by directing the particular attention of your readers to Mr. Colenso's excellent 'tract,' published in the same number of your journal with the letter of Veritas and Alpha ; therein they will find much ' Christian charity' and avast fund of good sense, -which last bears upon the question at ißßiie, much more practically than the first. ' Thanking you for ypur courtesy in giving insertion to this long epistle in your well-conducted little paper, . :...'. ..lain, Sir, ., Tour humble servant, ■-'■: A "WEIJi IKTENTIONED Oll> LAI>T. ■ Napier, - ■ Deo. 9, 1858.