NEW ZEALAND TO THE SECRETARY OE STATE.

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A.—No. 1

The times are such that in addition to the duties which we are now called upon to perform in the serene and passionless atmosphere of the temple of justice, there are others, not less important, though fortunately extraordinary duties, for the performance of which, in a very different arena, it behoves us to prepare and nerve ourselves without delay. Boasting, as we do with reason, of free and liberal political institutions, we shall, at so critical a conjuncture as that which is now imminent, be called upon to give practical proof that we are fit for such institutions, and they for us ; to show, by the careful formation and emphatic assertion of public opinion, and by the cheerful and manly contribution of our individual personal exertions towards the common weal in its hour of need, that we are no unworthy descendants from those patriots whose wisdom and valour, in the course of generations, raised our mother land to so high an eminence among the peoples of the earth, and made her little islands of the Northern Sea the last safe refuge of the outraged liberties of the world. The task which the Government and the people of the Colony are now called upon to perform is, doubtless, an arduous and critical, though a noble one, and one of nearly unparalleled difficulty; for a single false step might lead to irretrievable consequences. Unless at such a time there exist sympathy and harmony in feeling, principle, and design between the governing and the governed, there can be no safe augury of real and permanent success. O that the spirit of true wisdom, therefore, may descend both on the people and its rulers, that all class and party prejudices, all personal jealousies and grudges, may be banished from their hearts and minds ! that they may, in common, schooling themselves to humility and self-distrust, seek for and adopt the wisest counsels (whether agreeable tn their prejudices or not), and be guided by the good Providence of God, to act with forethought and vigour, with firmness and forbearance, so that their efforts may deserve and be crowned by success, and the peace of the land may ere long be established on the surest and broadest foundations ! One word I would add, prompted by my own recent personal observation in another Province. If it be true that the atrocities and horrors, the recitals of which have but lately made our blood run cold, have been perpetrated by fanatics of the aboriginal race of this country, it is not less true, and I trust it will never be forgotten, that we owe very much in our present emergency, as in respect of former difficulties, to the assistance of other portions of the same race. "When, at the moment of our deep humiliation, discomfiture, and dismay, we were looking around us, almost in vain, for present help from our own people, I witnessed the prompt, zealous, and gallant manner in which the friendly Natives of the neighbourhood, leaving behind them their families and possessions, and abandoning tho profitable employment of the shearing floor, and overlooking annoyances which had but recently galled them, flocked to the port to embark for the scene of action, to assist in defending our countrymen against their murderous foes, and in cutting short the career of those inhuman fiends. When I hear how vigorously they have since acted on our behalf, and when I am informed that the recent conduct of the fanatics appears, in the estimation of many of the Maori people, a scandal to their race, I cannot help fervently hoping, and emphatically expressing the hope, that tho European colonists and their rulers will always appreciate and honour the services of our Native friends, and abstain from any such course of action as might seem a justification for their hostility or defection. Gentlemen, I most sincerely trust that ere I have occasion again to address a Grand Jury in this place, the Government of the country, backed by the opinion of the people, will have devised and brought into operation reasonable means for restoring-tranquillity throughout the Island; and that the disturbers of its peace will have practically learned that though we may, for want of due preparation, have been comparatively powerless and helpless for a time, we shall not long permit such a state of things to continue ; and that, at all events, there is a power behind us never unprepared, which once invoked and evoked in our emergency, will be both willing and able to tread out the last smouldering embers of fanatical rebellion and crime, even here amongst the most distant of all its countless subjects.

No. 2. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G. (No. 68.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord, — New Zealand, 18th June, 1869. In continuation of my Despatch No. 65, of the sth instant, I have the honor to report that, as I felt unwilling to be absent from the Seat of Government during the Session of the Colonial Parliament for a single clay more than was absolutely necessary, and as I found that there would not be a steamer from the Manukau Harbour for another w reck, I abandoned, for the present, my proposed visit to Taranaki and the West Coast of this Island, and returned to Wellington by the East Coast. I landed here yesterday, the 17th instant, after a very stormy and protracted voyage of five days from Auckland. 3