A.—No. 1a

56

DESPATCHES EROM THE GOVERNOR OP NEW

condition of life, closely united in the bonds of charity and truth, and of attachment to the Queen's Government. My efforts may, I trust, always be devoted to the attainment of such noble ends, and I shall always feel grateful to yourselves and all others who may, by your individual and united exertious, aid me in working out these great objects. G. Gret. Mat it please Your Excellenct, — We, the Members of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, have the honor to offer to your Excellency our hearty welcome on this your visit to Otago, and to convey to you, as the Bepresentative in this Colony of Her Majesty the Queen, the assurance of our loyalty to Her Majesty, her Throne, and Government. We feel assured that the rapid progress of settlement in all parts of the Colony since the commencement of your Excellency's rule, must be to your Excellency a source of great satisfaction, and we are happy in being able to point especially to the extraordinary development of commerce, industry, and wealth, in the Province of Otago. Eight hundred thousand acres of freehold have been acquired and settled by a prosperous population. Two millions of sheep and numerous cattle graze over the hill country which a few years ago was unexplored. The mineral produce brought to market exceeds in value fifty thousand pounds a month, while the foreign commerce of the Province, now representing two millions six hundred thousand annually, attracts to our harbour ships from all parts of the world. The misfortunes of our fellow-colonists in the North Island have not been without their detrimental effects upon this community; but we trust that the measures which your Excellency's Government are using, will have a speedy issue in the permanent restoration of peace, and that the time is not far distant when the burden of our taxation shall be materially lightened. For and by direction of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, James Battrat, Chairman. To His Excellency Sir George Gret, K.C.8., &c. Mat it please Your Excellenct, — On behalf of the Members of the Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute, we desire to express our devoted loyalty to our Most Gracious Queen, and our profound respect for your Excellency, as Governor of this Colony, and Her Majesty's representative in our midst. Your Excellency will be glad to learn that, notwithstanding the excitement incident to the discovery of new gold fields, and the material progress and prosperity consequent thereupon, we have not, as a people, been altogether unmindful of higher and more intellectual objects and pursuits. Of this fact we venture to submit the progress made by our Institution as one of the many proofs that will present themselves to your Excellency's notice. We rejoice to be able to inform your Excellency that we have now nearly six hundred enrolled members; that our library contains about five thousand volumes; and that our yearly issue of books for home perusal and study amounts to nearly twenty-five thousand volumes. We regret to inform your Excellency that tho want of a suitable freehold site upon which to erect a building commensurate with our requirements, has hitherto prevented us from attempting the full realization of the objects of our existence as an Institute in the matter of lectures and classes ; and that, notwithstanding the fact that our predecessors in office, in their address to His Excellency Governor Gore Brown, in 1859, alluded to the " liberality of the Town Board of Dunedin" in putting the Committee " into possession of a most valuable site," &c, we have, up to this time, been unable to obtain more than a short-dated lease. We are, however, not without hope that ere long your Excellency may be asked to assent to an Ordinance giving us such a title to the site in question as may warrant the erection of a suitable building thereon. His Excellency Governor Gore Brown, during his visit in 1859, was graciously pleased to allow his name to be inscribed as Patron of our Institute, and we avail ourselves of the present opportunity to ask a like favour of your Excellency. Trusting that your Excellency's visit may be productive of much personal pleasure aud enjoyment, and that it may result in great benefit alike to this Province and the Colony at large,— We are your Excellency's most humble and obedient servants, Thos. Dick, President. Bichard Oliver, Vice-President. Chas. Smith, Hon. Secretary. Beplt. Gentlemen, — It is most gratifying to me to learn from your address that the people of the Province, in the midst of the trials and excitement which invariably attend the first settlement of a new country, have not been altogether unmindful of higher and more intellectual objects and pursuits. The facts stated in your address on this subject are most interesting. I regret that you should suffer from the want of a freehold site on which to erect a building suitable to your requirements. My Besponsible Advisers are ever most anxious to advance all undertakings which may promote the intellectual improvement of the people of New Zealand. I feel confident, therefore, that, within the scope of their constitutional powers, they will recommend for my adoption all measures which may foster so desirable an object. If it is your desire that the Governor for the time being should be your Batron, I will gladly acquiesce with your wishes in this respect. Your Queen will learn with pleasure how fervent have been the expressions of loyalty and attachment to her person to which utterance has been given in this Province. On my own part, I thank you most sincerely for the welcome you have given me, and for your kind wishes for my welfare and happiness. G. Gret.