The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-19 00:00:00

A NEW ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY.

A most important step in the advance of railway
extension in this country has been taken from the visit
recently paid to this country by the Directors of the
Great Western and the South Wales Railways, to
test the working of the:atmospheric principle on the
line now at work between Kingstown and Dalkey.
This project has for its aim the connexion of the
ports of Waterford, Wicklow, and Wexford, with
Kingstown and Dublin on this side, by means of an
atmospheric railway; and the port of Wexford with
Fishguard-harbour, in the south of England, by
powerful steam-boats. The inland communication
with the great metropolis, bymeans of an atmospheric
railway of 120 miles, to join the Great Western at a
given point, and from thence by this now available line
to London.

The harbour of Wexford to be rendered fit for the
reception of steam-vessels of suitable tonnage. The
distance, it is ascertained, can be readily accomplished
in thirteen harbours, and thus the Irish traffic to Lon-
don by the Liverpool and Birmingham and Grand
Junction will be fairly divided, and any unjust mono-
poly defeated.
The directory, it is intended, will consist of a cer-
tain number of the Directors of the Great Western,
the South Wales, and the Dublin and Kingstown
Railways.
This is the merest outline of the intended project.
On the 19th instant a deputation from each of the
directions intend to meet at Swansea, to adopt mea-
sures towards the furtherance of this great undertak-
ing, and to facilitate the passing of a Bill for the pur-
pose in the next session of Parliament.—Dublin paper.
EVICTION OF TENANTRY.

The Cork Examiner publishes the following "facts
for Lord Devon :"—" In the parish of Drumtariff,
within half a mile of Kanturk, in this county, 16
families, numbering 96 individuals, have been turned
off the land which they held fur several years—many
of them for 40 years and upwards. This took place
on the 25th of March last. This land, held by such
a number of tenants, is now in the possession of one
individual, and that individual, shall we add, is a
Protestant. The landlord is Richard Longfield, Esq."

THE WAIRAU MASSACRE.

tiltarn the Southern Cross, New Zealand paper, of
the 23d of March.)

',IATERVIEW BETWEEN HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR
AND RAUPARAHA, THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF PRESENT

AT THE WAIRAU MASSACRE.
On Monday, the 12th of February, his Excellency
Governor Fitzroy, accompanied by Sir Everard Home,
Captain of her Majesty's ship North Star, Major
Richmond, Mr. Commissioner Spain, Mr. Hamilton,
Mr. Forsaith, and several officers belonging to the
North Star, landed at Walkanae.
His Excellency and suite were received on shore
by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, Messrs. Symonds and
Clarke, and a large body of natives, who, to the num-
ber of 400 and upwards, soon assembled in a large
open inclosure within the pah.
His Excellency commenced by reading the follow-
ing address :—" I salute you, chiefs and elder men.
Health to you. Peace be among you. I am glad to see
you. I rejoice to meet you here. I have much to say
to you—many important things. I have heard of all
that has been done—some things good, but some
very bad. When I see your church, the work of
your own hands, and when I hear from your true
friend, Mr. Hadfield, what progress you have made
in Christian knowledge, I rejoice greatly; but when
I hear of the evil that has been done by some, I can
hardly believe it can have been done by the same peo-
ple ; so bad is it in my sight. I have heard of all that
happened at the Wairau, according to the English
account, and it has grieved my heart exceedingly.
I now ask you to tell your story, that I may
compare the two and judge fairly. When I
have heard your account of that dark day, I
will reflect, and then tell you what I shall do. The
had news I have heard about killing the English so
cruelly at the Wairan, after they had ceased fighting,
and had trusted to your honour, has made my heart
/rev dark, has filled my mind with gloom. Tell me
your story, that I may compare it with the English
and know the whole truth. When I first heard of the
death of my friends, of the English who fell at Wei-
rau, I was very angry, and thought of hastening here
with many ships of war, with many, many soldiers.
and several fire-moved ships (steamers). Had I
done so your warriors would have been killed,
your canoes would have been all taken - and burnt,
your houses and pahs would have been all destroyed,
for I should have brought with me from Sydney and
other, places an irresistible force. But these were
hasty, angry, unchristian thoughts—they soon passed
away. I considered the whole case; I saw that the
English had been very much to blame, even by their
own account, and I saw how much you had been pro-
voked. Then I determined to put away my anger
and come to you peaceably. Let me now hear your
story."
Rauparaha then rose, and several voices from
among the crowd of his countrymen urged him to
speak out, that they might all bear. He said—
" There we, evil intended in the commencement of
the affray. Land is the foundation of all our trou-
bles. The Europeans say it is theirs, but 'who says
so besides themselves ? The Tory came to Port
Nicholson, and that was the commencement of
the evil. We heard of the sale of that place
by Warepori and Puni. Warepori was smoking
his tobacco and wearing his blankets alone ;
we never agteed to it ; payment was made, but
we never received it ; thus grew the seeds of evil.
Who authorised Warepori to receive his payment ?
Who authorised him to do it privately ? Why did he
not call the people together, and pa them all ? The
Tory anchored off Kapiti, Colonel Wakefield wanted
to buy all the land (here Rauparaha mentioned the
names of several places), but all which I sold was
Blind Bay and Massacre Bay: I and Tungia
sold these places, and Warepori and Puni . sold
Port Nicholson. The land which I sold to
Colonel Wakefield I sold myself; I did not
consult anybody. Colonel Wakefield then went to
Taranaki, and when he returned he laid claim to all
the land ; nothing was said concerning Wairau,, until
now he claims it. There was sufficient payment
made ; all I received was—(here he commenced enu-
merating articles, but was told that he need not go
into those details)." Rauparaha continued—" I wished
to enumerate them, because Col. Wakefield says the
Maories are holding back the land which I have been
paid for. Porirua also is claimed by Col. Wakefield,
but Rangihaeata will never consent to sell it.
Now I come to Wairau. Wairau was taken away
b Thompson and Wakefield (meaning Captain
ekefield.) When we heard they were surveying
tie land we went to Nelson to forbid them doing so.
We went to Captain Wakefield's house. He said,
' I must have Wairau ;' I said, ' No.' He replied,
' I must have it.' I answered, ' No, you shall not
have it.' He said, ' If you do not give it up,
you shall be tied in this manner.' (Here Raupa-
raha, to explain his meaning of the threat held
out by. Captain Wakefield, put his hands in the
position of a person handcuffed. Rangiha,eata said,
I will not give up Wairau, neither will I be
taken prisoner by you. Captain Wakefield then
said, ' We will shoot you." Well, what matter if you
do ? we shall lose our life, hut Wairau shall not be
taken.' After this interview at Nelson, Captain
WSkefield sent over more surveyors, amongst them
was Mr. Cotterell. We heard that the survey of the
Waken was nearly finished; Puaha went to tell them
to desist, but they would not. Puaha returned to
Porirua, and told us so. We then arose. The chiefs
and old men went on board a schooner, and the
young men in canoes to Cloudy Bay; we stayed at To-
tara-nui (Queen Charlotte's Sound) some time, and
then went to Wairau ; we pulled up until we saw Mr.
Cotterell ; we then brought all their goods, &c., down to
the mouth of the river. Our slaves and the Europeans
avere.imgaged in moving the things. Then we pulled
up to the wood and saw Mx. Barnicoat ; told him we
had' come to fetch him. Ile had no boat; so
we took him and his things on board my canoe, and
coiaseyed them to the mouth of the river, having
burned the huts which they had erected. The Eu-
ropeans then left Wairau for Cloudy Bay, thence to
Nelson ; we were up the river planting. After this
Mr.Tuckett arrived with some people to survey ; I sent
to him and said, ' Come, Mr. Tuokett, you must
go!' He said, ' I must survey the land. I replied
`No, you shall not,' and brought him down to
the mouth of the river. I asked Mr. Barnicoat to
retain with me till the boat came for him ; the boat
with Mr. Tuckett had gone to Nelson. We con-
tinued our planting, till one morning we saw the Vic-
toria (Government brig) ; then were our hearts re-
lieved, for we imagined that Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke
had come to settle the question of our lands. Being
scattered about at different places on the river, we
took no further notice, expecting a messenger to arrive
from Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke ; but a messenger came
up to nay that it was an army of English, and that they
were busily engaged cleaning their arms and fixing the
flints of their guns. They met Puaha, and detained
him prisoner. They said, ' Where are Rauparaha and
Rangihaeata? Puaha said, ' Up the river.' They
answered, ' Lit us go.' Puaha was glad to hear them
say this, as he was afraid they would kill him. He
afterwards watched his opportunity, and ran away
and came to us. A - messenger had before come
to tell me that Puaha and Rangihaeata had been
caught by the Europeans. Afterwards Puaha
and Rangihaeata arrived, and we consulted
what we should do. I proposed going into the
bush, but they said, ' No, let us remain where we
are; 'what have we done, that we should be thus
beset?' The Europeans slept some distance from us,
and after they had breakfasted, came on towards us
in two boats. We remained on the same spot, with-
out food ; we were much alarmed. Early in the morn-
ing we were on the look-out, and one of our scouts, who
caught sight of them coming round a point, called out,
' Here they come, here they come I' Our women had
kindled a fire and cooked a few potatoes that we had re-
maining:, and we were hastily eating them, when they
care° in sight. Cotterell called out ' Where is Puaha ?'
Puaha answered, ' Here I am, come here to me '
They said again, ' Where is Puaha ?' Puaha again
saluted them. Cotterell then said, ' 'Where is a
canoe for us to cross ?' (Rauparaha here described
the
manner of their sitting down, some one side, some
on the other). Thompson, Wakefield, and some other
gentlemen, crossed over to us with a constable
to take me, but. tbe greater number stopped on
the other side ofthe creek. Thompson said.
' Where is Rauparaha Pi I. answered ' Here.'
' Come, 7ou must come with' in e I replied,
On, Where ? He said, , , board the
replied, `What for?' He an ard the ship. I
answered, ' To talk about
the houses you burned down; I said, 'What house
was it I burned ? Was it a tent belonging to you,
that you make so much ado about it? You know it
was not, it was nothing but a hut of rushes • the
materials were cut from my own ground, therefore I
will not go aboard, neither will I be bound if , • you
ate angry about the land, let us talk it quietly
Over ; I care not if we talk till night and all
to-morrow, I will settle the question about the land.'
Mr. Thompson said, ' Will you not go ? I said.
' No,' and Rangihaeata, who had been called for, and
who had been speaking, said so too. Mr. Thompson
tliep called for the handcuffs, and held tip the warrant,
saying, ' See, this is the Queen to make a tie Raupa-
rahe I said, ' I will not listen either to you or to
your book.' He was in a great passion ; his eyes
rolled about, and he stamped his foot. I said, ' I had
rather be killed than submit to be bound.' He then
called for the constable, who began opening the
handcuffs and to advance towards me. Mr. Thompson
laid hold of my hand. I pushed him away, saying,
' What are you doing that for ?' Mr. Thompson then
called out Fire !' He called out once, and then
Thompson and Wakefield called out together ' Fire.' "
On being asked which of the gentlemen it was who
gave the command to fire, Rauparaha answered,
" Thompson gave the word f command, but Wake-
field recommended him to do so. The Europeans I
began to cross over the creek, and as they were
crossing they fired one gun. The women and chil- I
dren were sitting round the fire. We called out,
' We shall be shot: After this one gun they fired

a volley, and one of us was killed, then another, I
and three were wounded. We were then closing
fast. The English guns were levelled at us. (Here
he described by comparison the distance between the
contending parties.) I and Puaha cried out, 'Friends,
stand up and shoot some of them in payment.' We
were frightened, because they were very close ; we
then fired, and three of the Europeans fell. They
fired again, and killed Rongo, the wife of Rangiha-
eata. We then bent all our energy to the fight, and
the Europeans began to fly. They all ran away,
firing as they retreated. The gentlemen ran too.
We pursued them, and killed them as we over-
took them. Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thomp-
son were caught by the slaves, who brought
them to me. Rangihaeata came running to me,
crying out, What are you doing ? Your daugh-
ter is dead. What are you doing, I say ? Upon which
some heathen slaves killed them. (Rauparaha here
particularly mentioned that those who killed the
prisoners were, to use his own literal expression,
devils, not missionaries, meaning heathen natives, at
the instigation of Rangihaeata, neither Puaha nor the
Christian natives being present.) There was no time
elapsed between the fight and the slaughter of the
prisoners. When the prisoners were killed the rest
of our people were still engaged in the pursuit ;
when we arrived at the top of the hill, Mr. Cotterell
held up a flag, and said, That is enough, stop fight-
ing.' Mr. Thompson said to me, Rauparaha, spare
my life !' I answered, A little while ago I wished
to talk to you in a friendly manner, and you would
not, now you say save me. I will not save you.'
Rauparaha continued, ' It is not our custom to save
the chiefs of our enemies ; we do not consider our
victory complete, unless we kill the chiefs of our op-
ponents ; our passions were much roused, and we could
not help killing the chief.'"
Rauparaha then sat down. His Excellency the
Governor said—" I thank you for the relation you
have given me. I shall now calmly consider the
whole matter, and give my decision in a short time."
After a silence of about half an hour, his Excel-
lency rose and addressed the natives as follows :
" Now I have heard both sides ; I have reflected on
both accounts, and I am prepared to give my deci-
sion. I, the representative of the Queen of England,
the Governor of New Zealand, have made my decision,
and it is this :—Hearken, 0 chiefs and elder men,
to my decision :--In the first place, the English were
wrong; they had ao right to build houses upon lands
to which they had not established their claim—upon
land the sale of which you disputed, on which Mr.
Spain had not decided. They were wrong in trying
to apprehend you, who had committed no crime.
They were wrong in marking and measuring your
land in opposition to your repeated refusals to
allow them to do so, until the Commissioner had
decided on their claim. Had you been English-
men you would have known that it was wrong
to resist a magistrate under any circumstances,
but not understanding English law, your case was
different. Had this been all, had a struggle caused
loss of life in the fight, wrong and bad as it would
have been in the sight of God, I could not have
blamed you so much as the English. The very bad
part of the Wairau affair, that part where you were
so very wrong, was the killing men who had sur-
rendered, who trusted to your honour as chiefs.
Englishmen never kill their prisoners ; English-
men never kill men who have surrendered. It is the
shocking death of those unfortunate men that has
fOled my mind with gloom ; that has made my heart
Bog dark—that has filled me with sorrow. But I
know how difficult it is to restrain angry men when
their passions are roused. I know that you repent
of your _conduct, and are now sorry that those men
were killed. As the English were very greatly to
blame, and as they brought on and began the fight,
and as you were hurried into crime by their miscon-
duct, I will not avenge their death. In future let us
dwell peaceably without distrust. I have told you
my decision, and my word is sacred. I will punish
the English if they attempt to do what is unjust or
wrong. Your chiefs must help me to prevent
the natives from doing wrong, so that we may
live happily in peace, helping and doing good to one
another, no man injuriag or encroaching on his
neighbour, but buying and selling freely as each
may desire, with the consent of the other, but not
unwillingly. By such measures, we shall receive
mutual advantages. The natives must not interfere
with Englishmen who have settled on land fairly
purchased ; the English shall not encroach upon
land which the natives have not fairly sold. No
path, nor cultivation, nor burying-ground, shall be
taken or encroached upon, by any Englishman, except
by the general desire of the natives to whom it belongs.
Where there is any mistake or doubt about boun-
daries of purchase, appeal must be made to the law.
The law will see justice done, and I will be respon-
sible for its execution by properly qualified persons.
Recommending you to the advice of your best
friends, the missionaries, the protectors, and officers
of Government, I now bid you farewell, and wish
you all health, and the blessing of God."

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
YROX TER EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.—The proceedings of the weekly meeting
of the Repeal Association, held on Monday at the
Conciliation Hall, will be found detailed in another
column. Mr. O'Connell was present. The desire to
tee him was as stro9., and his entrance to the meet-
ing elicited acclamations from the assembled thou-
sands as enthusiastic, as on his first appearance
after his liberation from prison. The chair was
taken by the Honourable G. Hely Hutchinson,
whose rank confers importance on his junction
with the repealers, which the leaders appear to
appreciate, and will know how to employ. The
accession of such men will naturally influence those
of humbler station. The manifestly-powerful ad-
vantage to any popular movement which is con-
ferred by the presence and active aid of the aris-
tocracy, is obvious. The impolitic proceedings of
the Government has thus contributed to confer ad-
ditional ecliit on repeal agitation. The Repeal As-
sociation has thus acquired an importance, and its
meetings are invested with an interest too ele-
vated and extensive, to admit of their being re-
garded with indifference. Every public journal, of
whatever political party, now reports the proceedings
of its meetings to an extent equal to what would be
appropriated to the proceedings of the Imperial Par-
liament, were it in session. The sayings and doings
of Mr. O'Connell and his subordinates in the move-
ment, at each successive meeting of the Association,
draw to it increased numbers, wealth, and influ-
ence. Even in this country, the meetings are now
regarded with new and more lively emotions ;
such as were never experienced by Englishmen
at any previous period in the history of repeal.
For this obvious advantage to the repeal project,
by the immense accession to its power which
the sympathies of England must necessarily impart
to everything that pertains to Ireland, O'Connell,
and those who take a prominent part in the agitation,
are indebted to the Government more than to them-
selves. The State prosecution, with its monstrous
perversions of right, employing the machinery
of law to deprive the prosecuted parties of the
substantialities of justice, roused the public mind
in this country against the Government ; and enlisted
the innate sense of right which is characteristic of
Englishmen in favour of the accused. Every unfair
advantage was manifestly taken to embarrass the de-
fendants while preparing to answer the charges pre-
ferred against them by the Crown lawyers, in the
" monster indictment" they were called upon to meet.
From the moment that issue was joined between the
Crown and the defendants, the verdict was as certain
as though it had been already recorded. This know-
ledge was derived—not from the facts of the case,
but from the pre-arrangements of the Crown lawyers,
and the disposition manifested by a majority of
the judges to secure a conviction. This scandal-
ous departure from the ordinary administration of
law, as the minister of justice, deprived the trial of
all moral dignity. The verdict of the jury and the
sentence of the court derived no sanction from public
opinion—it, therefore, exercised no salutary influence
upon the people, whom it designed to awe and control,
nor upon the agitation it was intended to suppress.
The conviction of the repealers was a source of
embarrassment, rather than of triumph to the Govern-
ment. O'Connell was at once raised from an agitator
into a hero—from a hero into a martyr. His liberation
has invested him with a still higher character. The
reversal of the judgment pronounced upon him has
elevated him, in the view of the Irish population,
to the rank of a conqueror, who comes forth from a
prison—to which an unjust sentence, pronounced by a
partisan court, the result of a verdict delivered by a
partisan jury, had consigned 4im—to conduct them to
the cherished object of their excited hopes—a separa-
tion of their country from English connexion. They
have been taught to ascribe all the evils of their condi•
tion to the union. A sense of those bitter evils has
induced them to listen, with credulous avidity, to any
scheme, whatever be its name or form. However it
remove
ybe fraught with fraud or folly, if it promises to
or mitigate the miseries of their lot, it finds fa-
vour in their eyes.
They join its ranks, subscribe to
swell its funds, and lift up their voices in praise of
the men who
place themselves in theits
aggregate m
van ofitaent - pro-
cessions, and take a leading part in t
imp. The enthusiasm which YConnell's
liberation
from
will •
prison has excited throughout Ireland, require his
acknowledged tact and influence to keep it within
hounds. This is manifest from his recent speeches.
Interlarded as they are with personal vituperation,
still a tone of moderation pervades them.- A disposi=',
tion to parley, rather than to commit himself to the
extreme course which heads less cool would counsel,
and hearts more ardent would devise, is discoverable
throughout his Monday's address. The reversal of
the judgment has touched a chord of sensibility in
O'Connell's bosom. This would be responded to in
kindred strains by the bulk of the Irish people,
were any indication of a design to enter upon a more
conciliatory system of administrative policy to be

given by the Government. Hitherto the policy of
Sir Robert Peel's Government in Ireland has been
only provocative of the worst feelings in the people ;
and has led to results equally embarrassing to the
executive, and mischievous to the country. A re-
trospective view of what has taken place in that
country will explain our meaning, and establish the
imputation which we deliberately cast upon the Ad-
ministration.

STANDARD.—The termination of the war in
Morocco has evidently taken most of our Contempo-
raries by surprise, but it is for the readers of the
Standard to say whether they have been early and
fully prepared ifor the event. The 'Whig-Radical
journals have moreover a twofold occasion for wonder
—they are astonished that the war has been so
promptly concluded, and also that it has been con-
cluded without any territorial aggrandisement to
France. From this perplexity the Morning
Chronicle tries to extricate itself by first
treating as a Ministerial journal the Times (which on
the alternate days it claims with better reason as an
ally in its war against Ministers), and asserting that
the non-fulfilment of all the violent threats of its
boisterous Contemporary is proof of a victory ob-
tained by France over the British Government ;
secondly, by assuming that France, having in-
flicted great injury upon Morocco, and shown the
power and disposition to repeat that injury when
again provoked, must henceforth exercise an
uncontrolled influence over the Moors. 'We are
at issue with our Contemporary upon both these
points. We deny that the British Government is in
any respect responsible for the language of any pub-
lic journal, least of all for the language of a journal
like the Times, bitterly hostile to it, and certainly not
less bitterly hostile because that homage which the
Times always pays to the will of the majority for-
bids an open declaration of war. Surely the Go-
vernment is not responsible for the libellous letters of
the penny-a-liners on board the Warspite, Sir Ed-
ward. Owen's just censure upon whom our Contempo-
rary this morning resents by inserting a trumpery
paragraph from a weekly paper, though it (the Times)
admitted these libellous letters to be, as in good truth
they were, " indefensible." The Morning Chronicle,
indeed, goes the length of making her Majesty's Mi-
nisters responsible even for these contemptible
libels. The Morning Chronicle knows, we fear, the
utter falsehood of its assertion that the Times
developed Lord Aberdeen's conduct (a strange phrase,
by the way), and the equally gross falsehood that
the Times is " a Ministerial organ," yet, as we
fear, with a full knowledge of both these
falsehoods, and with an avowed knowledge
that these falsehoods give to ithe fabrications and
other follies of the Times all their power to irritate
the French people, the Morning Chronicle deliberately
publishes these falsehoods. Is not this to provoke
ill-will by the moat unjustifiable means ? Upon
the second point—the influence over Morocco ob-
tained by France through her late operations
against that empire—we hold an opinion very differ-
ent from that professed by the Morning Chronicle.
The expedition against Morocco was really forced
upon France, contrary to both her interests and
her wishes ; and we have no doubt that the wisest
French statesmen feel that, honourable as its results
have been, and conducive as they are to present
peace, they are the reverse of promising as
regards the future. The case of the Russian
march to Adrianople, which the Morning Chro-
nicle cites in support of its views, is by no
means analogous. The fact proved by the
Russian invasion of the central dominions of the Porte,
contrary to the will of all Europe, was this, that
Russia possesses local opportunities of overwhelming
the Ottoman power, which would place Constantinople
at her mercy, despite of all Europe. Neither a British fleet
nor a French army could by possibility arrive in time,—
indeed the fleet would be always insufficient to prevent
the passage of 100,000 Russians over the Balkan,
and if Turkey was to be saved, all the Powers
of Europe must engage in a doubtful struggle
with the Q'zar. Is this the case of Morocco ?
Is there anything in the late events to prove that
Morocco, aided by one first-rate European Power
of equal naval strength with France, could not
tindicate its independence in case of an attack ? We
will not pursue the question into details, because we
dislike the contemplation of such hypotheses; but the
matter comes to this—Has the Emperor of Morocco the
same reason to fear instant and irremediable mischief
from France that the Porte has to fear such mischief
from Russia. The truth is, that the operations against
Morocco were what from the first they professed to
be, purely defensive, and, their purpose being accom-
plished, they have been concluded with loyalty and
good faith. This it is which puzzles our Contem-
poraries, who saw more than a defensive purpose in
the expedition. As we have before said, the war
was a necessity ; but a necessity drawing after it a
rain of evil to those upon whom it was imposed, and
no imaginable benefit.