PROGRESS TOWARDS CIVILISATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 15

PROGRESS TOWARDS CIVILISATION.

The fathers of the settlement scheme were not content to allow their proteges to lapse into a life of semi-bar-barism like that of the first white residents in Otago. The two men at the head of affairs were not likely to allow the settlement to lag behind in the march of progress for the want of the usual adjuncts to civilisation. An old soldier like Captain Cargill, who had marched under the great Wellington, and had won fame on rnaii)' a hard fought field, was not the man likely to be disconcerted at difficulties such as the pioneer settlers had to contend against. A man of the most sterling principle and highest in tegrity, the settlers would look up to him with respect and confidence. He was the agent of the New Zealand Company, and while doing the best he could for his employers, he did all that was possible under the circumstances for t/ie settlers. He was a man imbued with deep religious principle, which characterised him in all his dealings. He was well seconded by the Rev. Thomas Burns, the able minister who had thrown away a living worth a year at the time of the Disruption, in order to have freedom of conscience. He was a stern Puritan, who hated crooked ways, and dealt severely with open transgressors. There are those living who well remember having to submit to a severe catechising by the minister before he would baptise their children ; and young mothers weeping over the shorter catechism, the involved questions of which somehow their memories would not retain, was a common occurrence in the days of Burns' ministry. Captain Cargill, with his firm, soldierly tread, with his plaid thrown across his shoulder, and the Rev. Mr. Burns, with his white, flowing locks and reverend appearance, were notable figures in Dunedin, even after the town had grown to be a fairly populous city. They have been justly called