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  to countenance him in the schemes of territorial aggrandisement in New Zealand which had filled his mind since meeting Hongi. Earl Bathurst's reply, given in 1823, was that New Zealand was "not a possession of the Crown." Foiled in England, the Baron asserted his French citizenship and applied for aid to the French Government. Offended by his prior application to England, they in turn gave him the cold shoulder. In 1826 he opened an office in London for the reception of applications from would-be colonists. This move, too, proved a failure, and he went to America with the, as it proved, unavailing view of securing countenance in that quarter. In 1835 he got as far as Tahiti, and proclaimed himself sovereign chief of New Zealand and King of Nuhuhera, one of the Marquesas islands. As a counterblast, Busby, the British resident in New Zealand, induced some of the leading chiefs to declare their independence under the name of the "United Tribes of New Zealand." He also appealed to all British subjects to resist the Baron's pretensions. Thierry replied denying British rights of interference, and put himself forward as "the humble champion of the present and future liberties of New Zealand." Of this declaration he sent a copy to Sir, the Governor of New South Wales. In 1837 he visited Sydney, and offered to lay down his sovereign title, if Bourke would guarantee him protection, professing to rely merely on moral suasion for the advancement of his claims. Bourke, whilst declining to recognise or protect him, took no active steps to suppress his proceedings. Gathering together a motley crew of "subjects" in Sydney, he at last landed at Hokianga in Nov. 1837. Here he was equally derided by the white and Maori residents, the latter calling him "King Pukanva," i.e., "a king unrecognised." The Rev. James Buller wrote, "I was present at a conference he had with the native chiefs at Otararau. They smiled at his demands. It ended in the cession of about three hundred acres of good forest land to him on the part of Tomati Waka and Taonui. They said they were sorry they had not a good house to offer for the accommodation of himself, the Baroness, and their retinue. He built some fragile houses and began the making of a road, which was, he said, to be extended to the Bay of Islands. But ere long the poor Baron was deserted by all his followers. He afterwards took up his abode at Auckland, where he obtained a scanty living as a teacher of music, and died in great poverty in 1864, at the age of seventy-one. Fantastic as his scheme was, his claims were recognised by the French Government. Their ships of war that touched at Auckland had orders to pay him great respect." When the French Roman Catholic bishop, Pompallier, landed at Hokianga in 1838, he brought letters of recommendation to the Baron from the French Government, and it is certain that Thierry's claims and their quasi-recognition by the French authorities had a good deal to do with hastening the British annexation in 1840.

Thomas, Hon. James Henry, M.L.C., M.I.C.E., formerly Director of Public Works and Commissioner of Railways, Western Australia, was the fourth son of William Thomas, of Berners Street, Oxford St., London, and was born on March 2nd, 1826. He was educated at University College School, London, from 1848 to 1854, and was engaged as superintending engineer in the royal arsenal of Spain, and on railways and other works in England, France and Belgium. In 1853 he became Engineer to the Fitzroy Dry Dock, Sydney, upon which he was employed from the laying of the first stone to its completion. At various times subsequently he held the offices, under the New South Wales Government, of Assistant Engineer for Roads and Bridges, Assistant Engineer for Railways, and for six years was Chief Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent of existing lines of railways. During his residence in New South Wales he surveyed the roads to Braidwood and Queanbeyan, with special reference to the laying down of a horse tramway from the city of Goulburn to those townships. In 1876 Mr. Thomas was appointed Director of Public Works and Commissioner of Railways in Western Australia, and subsequently became a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils. Mr. Thomas, who was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on Jan. 14th, 1879, died on July 16th, 1884.

Thomas, Julian, LL.D. ("The Vagabond"), a native of Virginia, U.S.A. took to journalism on the conclusion of the 462