CORRESPONDENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 166, 11 March 1854, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sir,-—Allow me through the medium of your journal to draw the attention of the Provincial Council to a subject of such general interest that I scarcely need apologise for requesting a brief space in your columns. Through the improved state of our Exchequer, and the gratifying prospect of still ampler means, the idea will naturally have occurred, and doubtless meet with universal approval, that a suitable house should be erected for the use of ihe Superintendent, and appropriated for the use of whoever may be at the head of affairs from time to time. I would suggest that the " Government Domain" would be a desirable locality, and be otherwise eligible as affording sufficient space of ground to attach to such a building. I have the honor to subscribe myself, Vikdbs. [Vindex does not seem to be aware that the revenue applicable to general purposes is not in the same flourishing, and progressive condition as that which, arising from the proceeds of the sale of land, is specially appropriated by undertaking with the General Government towards immigration and public works. No doubt an official residence ought to be supplied to the chief officer of Government in every Province, especially as his tenure of office must at best be of doubtful certainty. Apart from official reasons, there are others bearing on the social relations of the population of a Province, which render it desirable that a suitable residence should be provided for the Superintendent. But there are works of much more pressing importance, and of which the utility could by no one be called in question, to be pushed forward before we rush into building extravagances : Farms componeremagna, as the old Latin grammar has it; with the House of Commons and its profuseness in building before our eyes, we should be cautious.]

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sir, —The case of Alfred Barker against Henry Sewell calls to mind that more celebrated though not less tedious case of Peter Peebles against Paul Plainstaines. It resembles it in two respects. In the first place it is perfectly unintelligible, and in the second it is a good subject for a legal tyro to begin with, as he may get credit by it, though he can lose none. Now, although Dr. Barker is no doubt a most woithy man and a very excellent doctor, still I cannot agree with him that he is able to compete with a lawyer on his own ground. For this reason I cannot help suspecting that, he has been rather ill-advised in disclosing his name to the public as the author of the letters signed Z.Y.X. Omne ignotum pro miri/ico. Hr.d he preserved his incognito,

some, at least, might, have supposed that they had been written by one who had some knowledge of law; we now find that tiiey proceeded from the pen of out: versed in the far different art of healing. The object of these cabalistic letters was evident; they appeared just at the time of the elections and were no doubt very tolerable electioneering squibs. They must have impressed the constituency with the idea that there was some Daniel came to judgment " to teach our Senators" law, and to expose the illegalities of the Association. All the world (except those whom the said Daniel had put to sleep) looked forward expecting the physical appearance of the unknown quantity to help them out of their difficulties. In the midst of these speculations as to the authorship of the letters in question, Mr. Sewell came forward as one candidate and Dr. Barker as another ; the result was that Mr. Sewell was elected, and -Dr. Barker thought it more prudent to retire. He might have had better fortune if he had let the world know that he was the author of those admirable epistles. The object of last Saturday's letter is no less evident. People being rather doubtful as to the right of the Government to sell the Town Reserves a second time, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, struck with the brilliancy of the style of Z.Y.X., has no doubt retained Dr. Barker to convince intending purchasers of the security of the title. But it seems to me that even the legal'acumen displayed in the Z.Y.X. letters, to which Dr. Barker appeals as a sample of bis proficiency in that line, will be hardly sufficient to induce people to purchase with the certainty of a lawsuit. But the chivalrous Doctor does not do things by halves: he seems determined to support the schemes of h'"s fri'rid Mr. Brittan, good or b?,d, through thick and thin. In his lengthy letter he finds room for a parenthetical defence of the illegal detention of another's property, which he calls the " Battle of the Seal." In his declarations on this subject he has become almost as tedious to the public as the ' Antiquary' bee; me to his nephew, on the subject of the battle with the'phoca.' A junction between a sturdy stickler for Provincial rights and an (at present) humble follower of Sir G. Grey's, smacks of'an "unholy alliance." Mr. Brittan, amid the many expectations he may have nursed during his various changes of masters and of loves, can scarcely have dreamt of making an enthusiastic partisan of such an excitable purist as Dr. Barker. Inverting the order of the mysterious letters^ without any fear of exorcising any very awful or dsngerous spirit, I remain, Sir, Yours obediently, X.Y.Z.