THE BRYCE BANQUET.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXIV, Issue 141, 4 July 1888, Page 2

THE BRYCE BANQUET.

We are not of Mr Bryce' s party, hut with us candour is above partisanship, and for that reason we rejoice at the success j which attended the demonstration m honour of him, a* Wangauui, on Saturday last. New Zealand can boast of the possession of one or two men within her borders who are of the ancient Roman type,— men like Grey, Rolleston, and Bryce. These have voluntarily quitted ease at the call of duty, and entered the i political arena (an arena m which there is much to do m this Colony, and little to : get), and. having discharged that duty, have, Cincinnatus-lilce, gene back to private life, Men of this stamp leaven the whole lump of political society, and afford models of pure patriotism for succeeding generations,— all the more admirable by contrast with the usual type of colonial politicians. Plain John Bryce deserves well of the Colony, and those who think so should stand ' by him m the hour bf need, for he has been very severely tried, lmd very grossly maligned. He has had to vindicate his character against statements, wilfully or carelessly made and circulated all over the world, which alleged that he was neither more nor less than a licensed butcher of aboriginals, who thoroughly enjoyed his work, and all this followed hard upon the howl which the Exeter Hall party had got up against him, which (to his everlasting discredit) Sir Arthur Gordon encouraged if he did not originate, and m which even a Bishop was not ashamed to hft up his voice. We have but one thing to say about the persecution (for persecution it was) of Mr Bryce by the evangelical party, — it was disgraceful, and it was inspired by prejudice and ignorance combined. In the case of the Governor and the Bishop ignorance cannot be pleaded, and they stand for ever charged with disingenuousness and the narrowest prejudice. If this is the reward our real patriots are to get for their services, there is little to encourage the virtue m succeeding generations. Only think of the land-jobs, the District Railway mysteries, the placehunting, and a hundred other things that stilly the pages of our political history, — only think of the scores of men who have traded on politics, and lived on thc country honored and. respected — while true men have served the Colony, suffered, for her, only to receive abuse and execration ! It was fitting that the manly section' of our politicians should do honor to Mr John Bryce, and they have done ft worthily. For it must be remembered, John -Bryce saved New Zealand at a crisis. . There is no question about it. Ths promptitude with which the Parihaka movement was made saved tliis Colony from an episode of bloodshed. The best way of averting war is to prepare for it, and Mr Bryce when the emergency arose, prepared to crush the rebellion m the bud. Had the Snivellers been m power there would have been some parleying, and then a bloody engagement or two ending with the patching up of a hollow peace. John Bryce dared and did. With a noble courage he stood at the helm and got the ship out of the breakers, and then with a still nobler fortitude, he endured calumny reproach, and unjust treatment from those he had saved. And, be it observed, Mr Bryce is no boaster, no afterdinner braggart, but a man with high principle, and a stem sense of duty. There are no tricks about him, no rhetorical bouquets, he is just a manly politician, one of those robust men on whom people lean, and upon whom m an emergency all eyes are turned as upon a saviour. When the emergency did arise, Mr Bryce was at hand, and with an iron nerve and unfaltering resolution he undertook to save the colony ; — and save it he did. And now having passed through it triumphantly, he retires into well-earned repose (still ready but not anxious for another cail of duty), knowing, — Rusden and the Snivellers notwithstanding,— that he* has the respect and regard of all true colonists, as a brave and strong-hearted man.