an account of the state of the colony
according to the latest advices received from thence; endeavouring to
show that the settlers and the natives generally were on good terms,
and that there was no fear of a collision between them. He concluded by
entering into a consideration of the resolutions, and by declaring that
government would not consent to them. The debate was then adjourned, and
on the following day it was resumed by Captain Rous, who brought some
grave charges against the New Zealand Company. He did so, he said,
for the purpose of giving the directors of that company, who had been
described as philanthropic gentlemen, an opportunity of replying to
those charges. Mr. Aglionby, in reply, protested against them; but
declined to enter into a refutation of them on the present occasion: the
details of them all had been inquired into in the previous session by
the select committee, and on every one of them a verdict of acquittal
had been given by that committee. Other members who took part in the
debate for the motion were Lords Howick and John Russell, and Messrs.
Ellice, Hawes, Mangles, Colquhoun, and Shiel; against it, Sirs Robert
Peel, James Graham, Robert Inglis, and Howard Douglas and Mr. Cardwell.
After a brief reply from Mr. Buller, the house divided on the motion,
which was negatived by a majority of two hundred and twenty-three
against one hundred and seventeen.

Towards the end of the session the New Zealand question again became
the subject of a lengthened investigation. Intelligence continued to be
received from New Zealand of the hostile disposition and violent
conduct of the natives, and the precarious tenure on which the lives and
properties of the settlers depended. Under these circumstances, on
the 21st of July, a petition was presented by the New Zealand Company,
praying the house "not to separate without taking measures calculated
to allay the apprehensions prevalent among the colonists of New Zealand,
and to revive confidence in the company, by which its usefulness would
be restored, the friendly communication between the colonists and the
aboriginal races renewed, and the prosperity of New Zealand secured."
On the same day Mr. C. Buller proposed a resolution to the effect, that
"the house regarded with regret and apprehension the state of affairs in
New Zealand, and that those feelings were greatly aggravated by the want
of any sufficient evidence of a change in the policy which had led to
s