Hocken. — Early New Zealand Literature. 113 



siderably tarnished thereby. Accordingly, armed with a 

 hawser, a large number of sailors belonging to the warships 

 in Auckland Harbour unexpectedly appeared at the door 

 of the New- Zealand 'er office in Shortland Crescent, through 

 which they passed their rope to the back and then over the 

 roof. A full retractation was demanded, failing which the 

 building would be overturned. The beleaguered inmates, 

 Messrs. Williamson and Wilson, yielded the point. But how, 

 again the question may be asked, could such things be? 

 What a liberty, or license, has been granted the Press during 

 the last sixty years ! 



These two papers, comprising as they do more than a period 

 of twenty years each, and dealing with the great transition 

 period of New Zealand history, are laden with interest. 

 Time forbids me just now to prolong this sketch of Auckland 

 papers, and of even referring by name to several others which, 

 though of less note, are yet old. 



The next section in point of order is that of Nelson, 

 like Wellington, a settlement of the New Zealand Company ; 

 like it, too, in that the first settlers came well provided with 

 type and press, and, still further, with men of great literary 

 ability. Hence it is that the Nelson Examiner and Neiv Zea- 

 land Chronicle must be considered as by far the best and most 

 literary of all the early journals, at least in its early existence. 

 It was the property of Messrs. Charles and James Elliott,, 

 who had been previously engaged on the Morning Chronicle. 

 The first editor was Mr. George Ry croft Richardson, a 

 lawyer, who was afterwards killed at the Wairau massacre in 

 June, 1843. The first number of the paper appeared on the 

 12th March, 1842, at the usual price of Is., or £2 per annum. 



Mr. Alfred Domett, that eminent New Zealand settler, 

 succeeded to the editorship, and it is needless to say that in 

 his hands the paper assumed a still higher character. The 

 leaders can be read to-day with pleasure and profit. One is 

 tempted to introduce extracts from some of them, but this is 

 not the time or place to do so. Suffice it to say that they 

 aimed higher than merely discussing the position and require- 

 ments of the settlers. Such important matters were never 

 neglected, but they were discussed with a freedom from 

 dogmatism and a respect for the opinions of others which 

 conferred on them a power and force of conviction which 

 belonged to no other paper in the colony. Always the readers 

 were kept in touch with the important questions of politics 

 and progress in the home which they had left. This was 

 only what might be expected from one of Mr. Domett's 

 ability. As we know, he was the friend of Browning, and 

 the " Waring " of his well-known poem. Perhaps we know 

 him better as the author of that New Zealand day-dream 

 8 



