THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1872.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 182, 9 May 1872, Page 2

THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1872.

To-day will be observed as a thanksgiving day for the restoration to health of the Prince of Wales after his recent dangerous illness. Divine Service will be performed at the several churches and chapels in the district, and indeed throughout the Colony. We have, in former articles, pointed out how strong a feeling of loyalty exists in these colonies towards the present reigning family of Great Britain and her dependencies. It is very generally felt that the present system of Constitutional Government combines the greatest amount of personal liberty, with general security and respect for law and order. So far as the population of the Thames is concerned, it furnishes an example to any portion ol the World as an industrious and law-abiding community, and the majority of the residents will look upon to-day being set apart as a day of thanksgiving as a very proper tribute of respect to the Queeu, and an acknowledgment that we desire no severance of the bond which still binds us to the mother country. Various nationalities are here gathered together under the British flag, and whatever they have to complain of in the manner in which we are governed, it certainly does not arise from our connection with England, but from internal

management here. With an able Governor, and an economical set of Ministers, New Zealand’s future cannot be other than a most prosperous one. Great Britain is not to blame for thfc immense taxation under which the country is now suffering, whatever may have been the case in former times. The rejoicing which is to take place today may be cordially joined in by all. A rational loyalty is . quite compatible with the fullest love of freedom. We should have been sorry if New Zealand had been behind the sister Colonies and other British dependencies in displaying her loyal feeling on this occasion. The Parsec has lit his fires in remote India, and the Jews have held solemn thanksgiving in Jerusalem on the occasion, to say nothing of the grandeur with which the auspicious event lias been hailed in England, Ireland, and Scotland. New Zealand, one of the youngest and fairest of England’s possessions, and destined at rio distant day to be one of her most thriving possessions, would not have been true to herself had she not done her part in celebrating the joyful , event. It is not so much for the Prince of Wales individually that we are called upon to make thanksgiving, but for him as the representative of the Royal line which has held the Crown of the Crown of England for some centuries, and is interwoven with her history, and of which we form a part. It may be that, in the fullness of time these colonies may be separated from the mother country, and when the severance takes place, should it ever take place, it will in all human probability be in peace and amity instead of blood and discord. But we believe the day is far distant before such an event will take place. We believe it to be the wisest policy for the colonies to adhere as integral portions to the British Crown for many years to come, and it is equally the duty and policy of the Crown to foster the colonies. The observance of a general day of thanksgiving in the colonies on the recovery of the Prince of Wales is certainly commendable from whatever point of view we look upon it, and we have no doubt it will be observed at the Thames as generally as elsewhere throughout her Majesty’s dominions.