New Zealand.–On Wednesday a public meeting was held in the Guildhall of the city of London, pursuant to a requisition to the Lord Mayor, for the purpose of petitioning her Majesty and both Houses of Parliament ” to adopt prompt and efficient measures for preserving from invasion or abandonment the longestablished sovereignty of the British Crown in the islands of New Zealand, at present endangered by foreign pretensions, and by the acts of the Executive Government ; also for stopping the course of lawless emigration and settlement, which has not only proved deeply injurious to the native people of the country, but threatens their speedy extermination ; and, lastly, for establishing the most beneficial system of colonization, and the protection and restraints of British law, under a distinct colonial government, in place of the state of anarchy which now prevails among both races, and all other classes of her Majesty’s subjects, and others inhabiting or resorting to New Zealand, as a distant independency of the territory of New South Wales.” Including the gentlemen of the hustings, the entire number might be calculated at 400 individuals. The Lord Mayor took the chair. Resolutions in accordance with the object of the meeting were moved and seconded by Mr G. Palmer, M.P., Mr F. Baring, M.P., Mr Hawes, M.P., Mr G. F. Young, Mr Ward, M.P., and others. On the motion of Mr G. Robinson, seconded by Mr Donaldson, a petition was adopted by the meeting, to be presented to the Queen by the Earl of Devon, to the House of Peers by Lord Ashburton, and to the Commons by Lord Eliot.
Citation: Scotsman (Edinburgh, United Kingdom), 18 April 1840, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/290.