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The Founders of Canterbury

C. B. Adderley, Esq. Reigate, 8th October, 1849

C. B. Adderley, Esq. Reigate, 8th October, 1849.

My Dear Sir,

—I have a miserable letter from Godley. His feelings are deeply wounded. And no wonder: for, some-page 121how or other, he finds himself in the position of having to manage and solicit for a paid mission to New Zealand: and this after his consent to the arrangement had been obtained only by means of the most careful pains-taking to impress him with a belief that you and his other friends wished him to go on account of his usefulness, and would settle the whole matter without his interference. So religiously did I act on this view, that I sent him away from Reigate when Mr. McGeachy came here, lest he should by accident become a party to our determination of the personal matter.

I am persuaded that any mezzo-termine, such as Godley's going to Italy with a view to New Zealand in the spring, would only harass him. It would only postpone a decision, which for his sake had better be come to now. If his friends and the friends of the colonial enterprize will send him pleasantly to New Zealand at once, without asking him to help them, I firmly believe that his life will be saved, and that his mission will provide for the success of the enterprize: if this cannot be done, it is far better to give up ostensibly, as in fact it must be given up, the attempt to go on with the Canterbury affair. For Godley's sake, many would work at it, and I am sure it could be got well through if his intimate connection with it remain. If he is severed from it, it will soon die. Better to kill it openly, and so save labour, money, and delusion.

I could not have had these thoughts, and kept them from you, without misleading, or almost deceiving you: though at the same time, I beg your pardon for speaking so plainly.

I do not allude to other matters; for till this vital affair for poor Godley shall be settled, I can have no heart for less interesting questions. Indeed, anxiety about Godley has made me ill.