A.—No. 1

82

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OF

everywhere kept as a close holiday; and that appropriate services were held in the churches of all the religious communions, and attended by crowded congregations. 4. The general sentiment of the people of this Colony is accurately stated in the annexed leading article of one of the principal newspapers. I have, &c., The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley. G. F. BOY/EN.

Enclosure 2. Daily Southern Cross, 9th May, 1872.

Enclosure 1 in No. 64. (i.s.) G. P. Bowen, Governor. A Pboclamatioit. Whebeas it has pleased Almighty God to restore to health His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales from dangerous sickness, and it is fitting that Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects in the Colony of New Zealand should manifest their sympathy with Her Majesty and the Royal Eamily, and should unite with the rest of Her Majesty's subjects in testifying their thankfulness to the Almighty for Hia merciful interposition in sparing the life of His Royal Highness : Now therefore, I, the Governor of New Zealand, in exercise of all and every the powers vested in me in this behalf, do, by this my Proclamation, appoint Thursday, the ninth day of May next, as a General Holiday and Day for a Public Thanksgiving ; and do hereby invite the Clergy and Ministers of religion of all denominations, and all other Her Majesty's subjects in New Zealand, to observe Thursday aforesaid as a Day of Special Thanksgiving to Almighty God accordingly. Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same; and issued under the Seal of the said Colony, at Wellington, this twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two. W. Gisboene. God sate the Queen !

Enclosure 2 in No. 64. Extkact from Daily Southern Gross, of 9th May, 1872. To-dat the people of New Zealand unitedly record their gratitude to the Disposer of all events for the mercy vouchsafed to the nation in the recovery of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. In common with all other portions of the Empire, the tidings of the convalescence of the royal sufferer were received by the people of this Province with unmingled satisfaction; and we believe the sentiment uppermost in every breast was one of thankfulness to the Giver of all good, that the hope of the nation had been rescued from peril and death, and that he was spared to his family, and to the people over whom he is destined to reign in the future, we trust, for many a year. We may hope that this event will be overruled for the best and wisest ends to all sections of the Empire, and to all classes of the people, from the Queen on the Throne to the meanest of Her subjects. As a family, the Royal House of England has been visited with a heavy affliction —as a nation, we have been threatened with a great calamity. The people of New Zealand are this day called upon to recognize the obligation for deliverance from the late impending evil, and it is to be hoped that the chastisement and the mercy following so closely upon it will not be without their salutary practical effect on all concerned. In this part of the world, and with our limited means and population, our rejoicings for the recovery of the Prince of Wales from his recent dangerous illness may not be so loud and ostentatious as in older and larger communities ; nevertheless, the expression of our thankfulness on this occasion is nothing the less sincere. Under the benign reign of the Monarch now sitting upon the throne, and the Family under which for generations the people have lived in peace and security, the Empire has extended its influence for good to the remotest corners of the earth. These are legitimate grounds for pride and exultation to every true lover of his race and country. They can be understood by every one, and must be appreciated by all. As for the Queen herself, we are sure there is not a person in all her dominions who will refuse to rejoice with her at a time like this. The " Letter " Her Majesty addressed to the nation under her own hand on the occasion of the recovery of her son from his recent illness, and. which we here subjoin as a fitting conclusion to our remarks, though in substance it has before appeared in our columns, speaks more loudly for her as a mother, a woman, and a Queen, than anything we could write :— " Windsor Castle, 2Gth December. " The Queen is very anxious to express her deep sense of the touching sympathy of the whole " nation on the occasion of the alarming illness of her dear son the Prince of Wales. The universal " feeling shown by her people during those painful terrible days, and the sympathy evinced by them " with herself and her beloved daughter the Princess of Wales, as well as the general joy at the im- " provement in the Prince of Wales's state, have made a deep and lasting impression on her heart, which " can never be effaced. It was, indeed, nothing new to her, for the Queen had met with the same " sympathy when, just ten years ago, a similar illness removed from her side the mainstay of her life, the " best, wisest, and kindest of husbands.