Number in Series. DESPATCHES FROM THE RIGHT HON. EARL GREY- continued. SCHEDULES referred to in foregoing Ordinance 8 Sept. 15, 1851 (687.) Acknowledging PETITION FROM INHABITANTS 9 OF SOMERSET on present state of the Legislature of Sept. 19, 1851 (689.) Acknowledging PETITION FROM COMMISSION- 94 95 95 95 95 96 96 10 11 Nov. 12, 1851 (703.) Sept. 22, 1851 (691.) Acknowledging PETITION FROM CAPE TOWN for 96 97 12 Nov. 13, 1851 (704.) Acknowledging PETITION OF BEAUFORT against 97 FURTHER PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY No. 1. (No. 121.) COPY of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir H. G. SMITH, Bart., G.C.B., to Earl GREY. King William's Town, July 8, 1851. MY LORD, The Right Hon. Earl Grey, I have, &c. (Signed) H. G. SMITH. not CAPE OF GOOD No. 1. No. 2. (No. 125.) COPY of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir H. G. SMITH, Bart., G.C.B., MY LORD, to Earl GREY. King William's Town, July 18, 1851. Answered by No. 687, September 15, 1851, p. 96.) I HAVE the honour to forward to your Lordship a letter from Charles Beamish, Esquire, of Somerset East, accompanied by a memorial addressed to your Lordship by a number of the inhabitants of that district, on the present state of the Legislature in this colony. The gentlemen who have attached their signatures to the memorial desire to convey the expression of their deep gratitude for the succour and support afforded to them at a time of imminent danger, and of their loyal feelings towards Her Majesty's person and Government. They are also prepared to co-operate with Her Majesty's Government in any and every measure connected with the subject of the removal of the seat of government or for the common welfare. These gentlemen advert strongly to the mission of Mr. John Fairbairn and Sir A. Stockenstrom to England, and to their object there. They deny any connexion whatsoever between the above-named persons and the loyal inhabitants of Somerset East, and they repudiate in toto their mission, as well as the form of government proposed by them. They are desirous that the seat of government may be removed to the eastern portion of the colony, or that that province may be formed into a separate and independent government. The sentiments expressed by the memorialists are of great value and importance from the number and respectability of the signatures, and of the For No. 627, vide Papers on Representative Assembly, presented to Parliament by command, 19th May 1851. 24th June 1851. 31st May 1851. HOPE. CAPE OF GOOD large extent of landed property which is thus represented, but especially from the significant fact that this district contains the vast possessions of Sir A. Stockenstrom, whose mission they so fully repudiate, and who for years has lived amongst them. I have, &c. (Signed) H. G. SMITH. Encl. in No. 2. Enclosure in No. 2. SIR, Charles Street, Somerset East, June 24, 1851. I AM instructed by the inhabitants of this town to forward to you the Memorial addressed to Earl Grey which was unanimously adopted at one of the most respectable meetings ever held at Somerset, and to request that you will honour the memorialists by forwarding the same to his Lordship at your earliest convenience; and by so doing you will confer an everlasting obligation on the loyal inhabitants of this town. The Honourable John Montagu, Esq. I have, &c. (Signed) CHARLES BEAMISH. To the Right Honourable Earl Grey, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Memorial of the undersigned Residents of Somerset East, assembled in Public RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH, THAT the condition of this province, suffering from a third barbarian inroad, augmented by extensive disaffection and open rebellion on the part of a large portion of the coloured classes within the colony, calls for the appliance of a remedy alike prompt, efficient, and permanent. Such a remedy being, they conceive, presented either by the establishment of a separate and independent government on the frontier, or the removal of the seat of the existing executive to the same locality. That this meeting do not hesitate to attribute the Kafir inroad of 1834-5, the costly Kafir war of 1846-7, and the lamentable warfare and treacherous rebellion from which this province is now suffering, to the absence of local government, by which aggression might have been dealt with as it arose, as well as some uniform and consistent principles applied to the intercourse of the colonists with the Kafir and other native tribes, pursuant to the recommendation of an Imperial Commission of Inquiry to this province in 1824. That memorialists, in adverting to the deplorable state of this province, for the third time within sixteen years overrun and in great part laid waste by the adjacent Kafir tribes, aggravated by a lamentable and wicked rebellion to Her Majesty's Government by Hottentots of the Kat River settlement, and in other parts of this province, deem it their imperative duty to express to Her Majesty the Queen and to Her Majesty's Government their deep sense of and heartfelt gratitude for that succour and support which have been afforded to them at a time of imminent danger, strengthening the tie which attaches them to their father land, and giving a warmer glow to that feeling of loyalty which it has ever been no less their pride than their duty to cherish for Her Majesty's person and Govern ment. That memorialists have learned with great satisfaction that the project of a removal of the seat of government from its present most inconvenient position is seriously contemplated, if not definitely settled by Her Majesty's Government; and they take this opportunity of giving assurance of their cordial co-operation in any and every measure which may be adopted consequent thereupon, or that may best aid the public service, and promote the common welfare. That memorialists deem it important not to permit this present opportunity to pass away without adverting in strong terms to the mission to the parent country of Mr. John Fairbairn and Sir Andries Stockenstrom. They desire to bring under the notice of your Lordship that these two persons claim consideration on the ground of having been delegated by the whole colony to submit a form of representative government for the approval of Her Majesty's Government, but to which form of government the memorialists are not parties; nor do they for a moment admit that the gentlemen named have been delegated by them, or with their concurrence; or that they have any ground whatever for representing themselves as having their mission sanctioned, or any portion of its expenses defrayed, by the loyal inhabitants of this town and district. That memorialists, therefore, earnestly but respectfully pray, that no representation which may be made by either of the persons above named may be considered as having the sanction or approval of the people of this district,--all of whom, with trifling exception, repudiate in toto the mission upon which they have gone, and the constitution or form of government which they propose should be adopted for the whole colony. They pray, on the contrary, that Her Majesty's gracious intention of removing the seat of |