THE PEACE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 190, 11 May 1861, Page 2

THE PEACE.

, [From the Auckland Register, April 15.]

i Thbottg-hout the past fortnight — indeed, ever fcsihee the suspension of hostilities — the public rmind'lias been labouring under a* state of the -most anxious and morbid excitement, a feeling Msrhich-worked itself into an excess of impatience -within' the last few days. Has the Pawn arrived ? >Any intelligence from the G-overnor ? These *iwere the hourly and feverish questions passed from mouth to mouth; — as if the Pawn were to be harbinger of the fate of New Zealand ; or as if the ill-judged visit of the Governor to the Waitara were to be the certain means of making straight the crooked paths in which we have too long been compelled to travel !

For ourselves, from the tame and truckling manner in which peace (bounce having failed) was sought to be clutched, we have had no great faith in the ultimate cessation of war 5 and none whatever in the ratification of either a apeedy, satisfactory, or permanent peace. Peace is usually granted by victors to the vanquished. Have we been victors ? Do the Maories confess to having been the vanquished ? — Have they deputed earnest and urgent ambassadors to us ? — Rather, have we not jumped, with craven joy, at their first expressed desire for a parley ? And, after having redoubted and sapped through a tedious seven miles of brake and bush (at the cost of many of our best and bravest,) until we had cooped them up like rats in a trap, from which there was no possible means of escape, it seems scarcely credible, at such a moment, when a crushing blow could have been so easily struck, that we should have lowered the red and hoisted the white flag, giving egress to the enemy who were so eager to profit by it that by sunrise of the ensuing day their position was vacated and they were far on their way from a post where, otherwise, their discomfiture would have been as crovraing as complete.

Well may the Maories chuckle . over the imbecility of the Pakehas, whose diplomacy they have never failed to over-reach, whenever their power of resistance was in peril. Much has been said of the incapacity exhibited before the §_ P a^ 5 but that affair sinks into insignificance when contrasted with that of Te Arei — where, at Maori bidding, in the hour of Maori extremity, the prison gates were thrown wide, and without pledge or hostage given, with arms and every honor of war, out marched the rebels to chuckle at their own dexterity and, very possibly, to move the scene of conflict to other and more assured fields.

We yield to none in anxious desire to restore peace and prosperity to New Zealand ; — to reestablish upon a just, secure, and honorable basis the amicable relations which for a length of time were as beneficial to us as they have been advantageous to the aboriginal race. We cannot, however, concur in the means that have been jumped at to attain that end. It is -you, say the natives, not we that are solicitous for peace j and they back out their assertions by keeping aloof, at the same time they make proof of our precipitate desire of accommodation by pointing to the reckless promptitude with which, on a very imperfect proposition, the Governor of a British Colony, the Representative of her Majesty, instead of treating with rebellious savages (if really 'desirous of peace) in the capital of the Colony, hurries off, at their first bidding, to be exposed to all the degradation of a Maori conference, at which the rebels, elated with exaggerated notions of their past prowess, if they should ever meet his Excellency at all, will meet him with all the confidence which a submissive compliance with their demands cannot fail to have engendered.

Never before wa3 British Governor dragged so miserably through the mire. If this. be. one of the fruits of Responsible Government, the sooner a change in the machinery takes place the better it will be for Q-overnor and governed. Te Arei captured, we should have been in a position to dictate - terms. And Te Arei could and should have been taken. They that know the natives best and appreciate them most, are unanimous in the assertiou that before a virtual peace can be made they must be taught to feel and to respect our power. At this moment they ridicule it. They laugh at our improved means of warfare — they compare their engineering skill, their system of tactics, their successes in action, and their general prowess with ours, — and balancing the respective losses who can wonder that they drawconclusions derogatory to us and highly complimentary to themselves ?

This is not the temper on which to lay the foundation of a permanent peace j and, therefore, we are in no way surprised at the reports which represent Wm. King (instead of treating with the Q-overnor) to be at JE-awhia; and "Wm. Thompson to be in the heart of the Waikato, taking counsel with the tribes on the question of their future movements. We have lost the bird we had secure in hand,, and we may probably experience much difficulty and danger if compelled to look after the two that we have so softly permitted to " take the bush."

The city has been troubled by reports during the week past — some of a colourable degree, and others too preposterous for a moment's consideration. "There has been a certain amount of anxiety, |but nothing, we rejoice to say, approaching tq a ; panic — nor is there any occasion for such. The trip of the Niger, which has harped some apprehensions, is altogether of a quiet character. She conveys a quantity of barrack, not warlike, stores for the convenience of the , soldiery. Such, at least, is the information we have received, and that from a reliable source.

v, A reoorded reply of old Lady Perth to a French gentleman is quaint and characteristic: They had been discussing' the respective merits of the cookery of each country. The Frenchman offended thß old, Scottish peeress by some disparaging remarks on Scottish dishes, and by highly preferring those of France. All she would answer was,—^ "Weel, weel, some fowk like parritch, and. some like paddocks." — Dean JRamsay.

A PBulctr two miles Long-, — An exchange describing the doings at Cleveland, in America, saya : — " The procession was very fine, and nearly two miles in length, as was also, the prayer of Dr. Perry, the chaplain," .T 1. ...'■ ...-.:. ... . *