OUR NEW GOVERNOR'S MAIDEN SPEECH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2124, 2 May 1889, Page 3

OUR NEW GOVERNOR'S MAIDEN SPEECH.

The following, as being the maiden speech, m the oolony of Governor Onslow, will be read with Interest. It was delivered on the oco»slon of the laying of the foundation stone of the Ooatley Home at Auckland a few days Bgo : —

Hii Excellency, after tapping the atone i with the trowel end mallet, eald : I deolare this stone to be well and truly laid. Sir Altkln, Mr Mays, ladies and gentlemen,—You have tightly interpreted my feelings In this matter. It is a great pleaiare to me to be able to ome here to-day to assist In commemorating the munificent liberality of Mr Oostley to the poor of the province of Aaokland. (Hear, hear.) That I should have had to make some slight alteration m my arrangements is bat a small matter compared with the pleasure of performing this doty. (Hear, hear.) You have spoken much of the pride the people of Aaokland feel In their institutions. Pride is of two kinds. One is almost a vice when it is the pride of self-esteem and egotism, but there Is another kind of pride— that which a man feels m his fatherland, oolony, or city. That is the pride which actuated Mr Ooetley wben he left this magnificent bequest, and that 1b the pride we like to see, and which we find bo widely distributed throughout the Anglo-Saxon raoe. Tn fact you may Bay there Is hardly a town where this affection for one's home and country has not Influenced the public spirit of our wealthier citizens to contribute to the welfare and htpplneas of their poorer fellow subjects $Jr Oostley no donbt had the means of enjoying himself In this life, but he ohose rather to eDJoy himself In a self denying manner, which enabled him to give more enjoyment to those who came after him, the poor, suffering, and needy. (Cheers ) I have bad some experleopa at home of Institutions of a similar character* I A benevolent ancestor of mine founded a Home for aged poor m one of the most unlovely parts of the Esst End of London. 1 was enabled to dispose of the site on whloh these. houses stood, and erect and endow double the number, and one of the pleai«n,test experiences tn my Ufa has been to Bee these aged people sitting In the gardens before their little houses enjoying the pure sun and elr of the country. Here, m beautiful New Zealand, you have a similar Institution, a splendid olimate, beautiful scenery, and lovely air —(cheers) — and I doubt not that maDy of those present will have tha same feelings on seeing these aged people enjoying themselves In the winter of their llres, owing • debt of gratitude for all they possess to the munificence of Mr Oostley. (Loud oheers.)