THE Wellington Independent. Tuesday, January 24, 1860. THE ANNIVERSARY.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1400, 24 January 1860, Page 2

THE Wellington Independent. Tuesday, January 24, 1860. THE ANNIVERSARY.

We have now entered on the year of our majority. In January next wo shall have come of age. In 1861 we shall celebrate the twenty-first birth day of the colony's existence, for the Wellington Anniversary, unlike those of the other portions of New Zealand, is not merely the celebration of the particular settlement, but also of the foundation of the colonization of New Zealand. When on the 22nd of January 1840, the Aurora sailed into our noble harbour, she brought the first body of men and women that had emigrated to these shores. The inheritance that was thus rightfully ours, was afterwards given to a younger sister in the North. Had we been willing to have accepted the mess of pottage that has heen so frequently offered to us in its place, we might perhaps have led a quieter life. But we have always refused to receive less than our birthright. From our cradle we have had to struggle and fight, sometimes for our very existence, and have thereby acquired a character for petulance which we do not justly deserve ; although perhaps our disposition may, insensibly to ourselves, have become somewhat soured by the everyday mementos of the wrongs of the past and the rights to be obtained in the future. Are we not allowed to hope, that as ere long our nonage shall have been completed, we may speedily enter upon the inheritance which properly belongs to the first born. The people of Wellington seemed deto make holiday yester day, for, though times are dull, the promoters of the various sports &c, usually set on cot for the celebration of the day, had ound their efforts liberally supported.

programme which the committee and pirivate enterprise were able to offer, was more varied than on any other occasion. Regattas, sailing matches, and steam excursions to Soames' Island and the Heads, afforded ample pastime for those who are fond of the water. Rotermund'a grounds many, attractions to the lovers of "what are called " Old English sports," "and from the number of persons assembling there during the day, this class of amusement may be considered as possessing considerable favor. MansilPs teagardens presented " a day and . night fete," which appears to have possessed sufficient inducements to make some determine riot to "go home till morning," for, while We tioW write, the sounds of the fiddle may "be heard as it passes down the street, followed by a few fast young gentlemen,, whose " tights " and " pumps," give , evidence of their having been engaged on t]ieir fantastic. toes all night long. Wilkinson's secluded and quite gardens were also visited, and the gathering of Sunday School children, which' ttookplace on the Botanical reserve in tlie Karo^i-rOad, continues to be better every year, both by those for whom it was' originally designed, as well as .by the *• children of larger growth," whose recollections cluster around similar joyful occasions in their oWn history. Altogether, yesterday was a very successful day, only to have been heightened [by a little greater display of Sol's beam- 1 ing countenance, and a little lesß exercise j of tliose very unpleasant powers which ; Boreas,^ — rude Boreas as the ladies pettishly call bini — takes so great delight •in. I