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Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume V, Issue 22, 31 December 1858, Page 1

Time, which never stands still, whether we are industrious or indoleat, has again brought us to the close of the year. The " Karere" goes forth for the last time in 1858 with its message to the Maori public. What shall Us subject be ? An old friend is about to leave us; in what words shall our adieus be spoken? A new friend is on the point of arrival; what shall be the form of our welcome? To the old year our farewell shall be, " Go, and bear with thee the record of good and of ill, of sorrow and of joy, of successes and of failures, of wisdom and of folly, of Improvement and of declension, which thy sun has witnessed.; Many faces, Pakeha and Maori, which were bright when thou wast

new to us are now bidden for ever. Go to thy place, to be numbered among the year s that are past." To some of us the past year has brought prosperity, to others, loss and disappointment, to all, experience and to many, let us hope, wisdom for the future. To most of us it has given opportunities of improvementfnore than have been availed of. It has brought us genial seasons, sunshine and showers, seed time and harvest, summer and winter, and if these have been less beneficially productive than they might have been, the fault lies at our own door. Many of us might now be much belter off than we are bad we made the most of the advantages which Providence has placed within our reach or received them with grateful hearts and willing bands. On the whote, however, we think our old friend 1858 can testify to fair proportion of good. Among other things, to the growth of a friendly feeling between the Maori and his Pakeha neighbour as each becomes better acquainted with and learns to understand the other. We belie\e also that our Maori friends who have recently bad the means afforded them of attaining some knowledge of the laws of En* land evince a growing disposition to conform to these just laws, a disposition which must become universal before the truth can be realised that the Maori and the Pakeha are henceforth but one people. The year 4858 bas done its full share to hasten this consummation. The replacement of the flagstaff at Kororareka by the Ngapuhi was a deliberate and most unmistakable declaration to all New Zealand as to what that tribe think will be most to the advantage of the Maori people. The Ngapuhi have been and will be followed S»?i l,e r "£* ,n lbe ad °P tJon ° r opinions similar to their own. They have eenerallv taken the lead among the tribes TneT^K the ttrst to embrace Christianity. They were

also the first to try opposition to the Government which was found to be » great mistake and has been acknowledged by them as such in a manner which can leave no doubt of (heir sincerity. The past year has also witnessed the termination of several Maori feuds. We may hope that those who were engaged \n them have gained wisdom- by experfence and will be less disposed in future to attempt the settlement of their differences by an appeal to the musket. Other signs of improvement have appeared during the stay of our friend. In several places the Maori people have made considerable efforts towards the support of their teachers. This is well, and shows that some of our Maoii friends appreciate the advantages of instruction, and are willing la give their labour and money to secure them. We can also congratulate the Maori people on the decrease of drunkenness, among tbem during the past year. This evil, however, is far from eradicated, but we believe it la be growing less, and that many of the chiefs and leading men are set-! ting their faces against it wilh a determination | to p'U a slop-lo it. 1 heseefforts will, we doubt not, meet wilh encouragement from the Government which has done its best to place in ihe hands of the Maories means of protection against this and other evils introduced into I litis country by the Pakeha. The past year] has furnished many instances tending to shew that our Maori friends in observing the conduct and practices of iheir Pakeha neighbours, are learning to distinguish between that which is, and that which is not worthy of imitation; also that, in seeking to acquire the property of the European, they are learning to choose the useful rather than those things, the possession of. which was sought more to gratify vanity than to serve any beneficial purpose. > Upon the whole we think the year 1858 has seen an improvement in the circumstances of the Maori people generally which if not so marked as might be wished yet affords to their friends ground for hoping that they will continue to advance, and that each succeeding year may see them taking a higher and still higher position in the scale of civilization. The past year has been characterised by considerable activity in the Maori mind. Many of the thoughtful and I intelligent have beeu looking for a slraighter path than that which their fathers travelled. In several places attempts have beeu made to construct a new social system to supply Ibe place of the old Maori one which every year is more fully seen to be a wrong one, and nuntbe'rs fewer advocates. lu the search

after the right; path it is not to be wondered it if some mistakes are made, as toe ground is new and untrodden. Some of our Wafkato friends have talked about striking out a path for themselves the end of which no one can see, and in a direction quite imprac-j ticable. We doubt not they will yet become convinced that the right path is the one upon which they are invited to walk side by side with the Pakeba, and that safety will be best found by sitting down quietly with him under thesbadow of Ibe British flag and British law. Meanwhile we believe that most of them are earnestly in search of good and not of evil, and so far they are deserving of praise.fTbe man who opens bis-eyes and looks about bim is more : likely to find the truth than be whose eyelids are closed by indolence and sloth. We turn from the past to the future, from the parting to the coming guest, from the old to the new year. In-Maori stvle we welcome the new year 1859, "Welcome, unknown stranger, with thy store of months and days and hours, bringing us fresh opportunities of doing and of seeking good, or opposing and of vanquishing evil. We know not what thou bringest us, what good or ill our eyes shall look on during tby slay with us, or who among us may see thy close. Yet, Welcome." In Pakeha style, the " Karere Maori" wishes all its readers, "A happy new year."