which some of the party have suffered from their repeated disappointments.
"I am, dear sir,
"R. Gouger."
Proposed Commissioners:
Lt.-Colonel Torrens, Chairman.
George Fife Angas, Esq.
William Alexander Mackinnon, Esq., M.P.
Samuel Mills, Esq.
Jacob Montefiore, Esq.
George Palmer, Esq.
John Wright, Esq.
"I gave Torrens, on a slip of paper, a familiar description of these gentlemen, so that, if required, he might not be at fault in relation to them. This he accidentally left with Hay—though in the hands of an enemy it can hardly do harm.
"With these documents in his hand Torrens went to Hay, and the following is an account of the interview, taken down from Torrens' dictation immediately on his return; it was given, at my request, in the presence of Brown.
"'After Torrens had read the list of names and their description, Hay remarked that it would be necessary to ascertain in what way the commissioners could be held responsible for the due execution of their duties—suppose they were to resign in the midst of their operations, leaving the colonists to shift for themselves. Torrens replied, that must not be considered as an absolutely impossible case, yet it must be nearly as improbable as that the Government of England should throw up its functions, leaving the country to shift for itself. That of the gentlemen who volunteered to act, some might look to honour, some to future emolument, some to the gratification of benevolent motives, and that these motives were as likely to be permanent as the motives which induced the Government itself to
