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between the merely political colonising objects of the principal founders of the Commnv and the necessities of the pecuniary position of the Company, arising from the perpetual conflict with the Government in which the Company had been engaged down to that time It will be recollected that a condition of the arrangement in question, w£ wa" insisted upon by the Government as a so* nev of Mr Pennington's intended award, was an addition by the Company o! JUO,UUU . to their subscribed capital. In this way there grew up a condition of mutual engagements and obligations of a pecuniary kind, between the Government and the Company. However Lord John Russell, by whom the arrangement was forced upon the Colonial Office soon quitted that department of the Government and was succeeded by Lord Stanley, when the old war between Downing-street and Broad-street Buildings was revived and carried on with increased animosity. Upon the Company, 'he effect of that war was ruin. That at ljast is my own opinion- and it will be found to have been the opinion ot a Committee o( the House of Commons, which, in 1844, was appointed to examine into a complaint made by the Company to the House of Commons, of the losses which had been indicted upon it by the proceedings of the Colonial Office, and of the local Government of New Zealand That enquiry was led and principally managed by Lord Howick, who was the '-hair man of the Committee, and who in the House itself had taken a very prominent and active part in the discussions which led to its appointment. Ihe Committee contained a considerable majority of adherents of the Government of the day, besides one or wo members who especially represented Lord Stanley as Colonial Minister. Nevertheless the Committee, after the most elaborate enquiry, reported substantially, that in their opinion the Company had been deeply Wronged by the Government, and were entitled to redress. The report was written by the Chairman, Lord Howick. II was not laid upon the table of the House of Commons till the very close, I think, of the Session of 1844, and was not printed for general circulation till long afterwaids. During the session and year of 1845, the Company, resting upon the report in question, adopted various means of pressing upon the Government its claim for pecuniary redress. In consequence of a peculiar slate of parties, and of the anticipation of a change of Ministry, those efforts by the Company proved of no avail. But in 1846, Lord Howick having succeeded his 4 ather as Lord Grey, became the Colonial Minister of a Whig Administration ; and one of the most active champions of tiie Company in the House, next to Lord Howick. namely, Mr. Hawes, became Under Secretary of Slate for the Colonies. , ~ . It was then confidently supposed by every body who knew and cared anything about the matter, as well those who had supported, as those who had opposed the Company's claim for redress, that snch redress would obtained ■without delay. Within a very short time, however, of Lord Grey s accession to power, it became known through private channels that he was indisposed to maintain in office the view of which he had been so warm an advocate in opposition. Many efforts were made to touch his sense of justice and honour. There are two whtch, as I recollect them very distinctly, it may be as well to state. Amongst Lord Howick's coadjutors in the House of Commons as advocates of the Company's claim, had been Mr. Charles Buller, a Director of the Company, and their principal legal adviser and organ of communication with the Government. Under the new administration, Mr. Buller became Judge-Advocate-General. He was conspicuous among British statesmen for a comprehensive and minute knowledge of Colonial affairs, and for eloquence and skill in the advocacy of those principles of representative and responsible Government for Colonies, which have now, at last, their day of complete triumph. In that character Mr. Buller was, though unofficially, yet in a formal and acknowledged manner, associated with Lord Grey and Mr. Hawes in the Colonial Office, as a person to be consulted by the Colonial Minister on matters of importance, and to take a leading part in the House of Commons in the management of Colonial business for the Government. It was Mr. Buller principally, who informed the Company that Lord Grey was inclined to forget and betray himself as an advocate of the Company's claims. Upon one occasion, after he had made to some members of the Company a very unfavourable report of that description, he was induced by earnest persuasion return to Lord Grey, and once more urge upon him the considerations which in this matter seemed to be dictated by a regard for consistency, truth, and personal honor. He came back from the interview to report what had passed, but instead of speaking, he laid his head upon the table, and exhibited strong emotions of disappointment and shame, and became so seriously ill, that he was excused from going into the subject at all at that time.
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