10 FEBRUARY 1838, Page 10

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' The course of the British troops in Canada was marked by desola- -1 lation and slaughter. They shot flying peasants, and set fire to private dwellings and churches, careless whether or not living men perished in the flames. The British soldiers are civilized beings ; their officers are accomplished gentlemen, whose humanity, gallantry, and careful observance of the laws of honourable warfare are vouched for by Whig Ministers. The New Zealanders are savages and cannibals. Con- tmst their conduct during the excitement of a civil war with that of the British soldiery. Ali enclosure in a despatch to Lord GLENELG from Sir RICHARD BOURKE at Sydney,* will afford the reader the means of instituting a comparison between the savages and the civilized warriors. The " factions" alluded to are tribes of New Zealanders of the Bay of Islands-

" Reverting to the position in which our countrymen stand in regard to these factions, it is a remarkable fact, and worthy of imitation by more civilized powers, that the hostile forces have repeatedly passed through the very enclosures of the missionaries at Pahia, on their way to and from the field of battle, with• out molesting a single article belonging to the Whites ; and in one instance the two parties, by mutual consent, removed the scene of action to a greater dis- tance from our settlements, lest a White man should by accident be injuied. How long this feeling may continue, it is impossible to say: I only know that thine who have every thing at stake—their lives, their families and their pro- perties—entertain not the slightest apprehension of any change."

• Return to an Address of the house of Commons, delivered yesterday; Purl. Paper, No. 192, p. 3.