Out of Parliament, Colonial affairs have occupied a prominent at-
tention; for two public dinners, of a rather remarkable character, have been devoted to the service of the Colonies.
The return of Mr. I. R. Godley from his mission in founding Canterbury, the youngest settlement of New Zealand, induced several of his friends to testify their strong personal regard by in- viting him to a banquet ; and the welcome home to the indivi- dual was also an opportunity for placing the affairs of the settlement right with the public—for they have been much misrepresented. Mr. Godley made an admirable statement, plain and clear, from which it is evident, that if the most imaginative ex- pectations of the founders have not yet been realized, a solid basis has been laid, and a large share of practical success has been accom- plished. A British colony exists, with a well-constructed society, with lands already yielding an exportable surplus, and a future of success not problematical but certain. The felicitations of the even- ing were marked by a candour which appeared conspicuously in Lord Lyttelton's avowal, that there had been mistakes, not in the principles upon which the settlement was established, but in the management of those gentlemen who undertook its foundation as amateurs, with no interested motives. Such mistakes, indeed, as he might have explained, fell upon those gentlemen in the shape of large pecuniary sacrifices to preserve the good faith and the good chances of the settlement. That the truth is well understood was testified by the presence of a distinguished circle, repre- senting most of the parties in Parliament, and practically ac- quainted with the official conduct of our public affairs. The dinner to the parting guest, Sir Henry Barkly, was, in some respects, more important; since it relates, not to congratula- tions in founding a successful settlement, but to efforts for re- trieving the broken fortunes of an ancient possession. Sir Henry, however, has ample knowledge of Jamaica ; he is well supported; and he spoke with a hopefulness which is shared by the West Indian proprietors in London, and Which will, no doubt, be reci- procated by the colonists in Jamaica.
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