Chav. XVI. PETITION — LORD RIPON'S REMARKS. 411 
them at the point of the bayonet ; and as such a 
result would have been of the most injurious effect, 
whether upon the natives or upon the settlers, we for- 
bore from proceeding any further in the matter. And 
the whole community, smarting under the insults 
heaped upon them and the marked distrust of their 
too enduring loyalty, forbore from any course beyond 
the old one of meeting, embodying their feelings in 
resolutions, and sending a manly petition, praying for 
the establishment of a permanent armed force for their 
protection. 
But the petition was, as usual, sneered at in Auckland 
and neglected in England. 
When it was presented to the House of Lords, by 
the Earl of Malmesbury, in April 1844, Lord Ripon 
said (according to the report in the Times), that " it 
" would be right to ascertain what the inhabitants 
** could do for their own protection, and how far their 
*' claims for the establishment of a permanent force 
" were well-founded. There certainly were means 
" within the reach of the colonists, which they might 
" adopt for their own safety. The Governor was 
" authorized to levy a militia, and to establish a con- 
" stabulary force, as in Ireland, for their safety ; and 
" when there were 10,000 inhabitants, he could not 
" see why such a course might not readily be adopted." 
Between these events and the arrival of Captain 
Fitzroy the new Governor, it was clear that the local 
Government had only sent the troops to keep the 
settlers in order, and because they considered such a 
protection necessary for the natives. 
Major Richmond's despotic proclamation was not 
the only public document which had come in the brig 
from Auckland. 
First and foremost was a proclamation from Mr. 
