BREAKFAST ON RANDOLPH

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26266, 10 November 1950, Page 2

BREAKFAST ON RANDOLPH

REENACTMENT LAST EVENING

SPEECHES FROM TOAST LIST The farewell breakfast aboard the Randolph, a| which the Canterbury Association entertained colonists who came to New Zealand in the First Four Ships, was a faithful and impressive re-enactment. Once it began the crowd of 3000 watehed and listened with stjch rapt attention that they might well have been sitting in at the actual ceremony. The awning over the lower deck, so familiar from the historical drawing, immediately transformed the scene, and masts, rigging, and the background of the poop completed the illusion. Colonists and their friends who had come to sav farewell were promenading with tne elegant manners of the time. Ladies in swaying crinolines and intriguing, little bonnets had elegant escorts: dandies in top hats and frock coats displaying vigorous sideburns to disguise their youth, chivalrous old greybeards, and a sprinkling of colourful military men. Nearby the Coldstream Guards Band, in jaunty red tailcoats and white trousers, were playing popular airs of the day. The ship’s bell striking was the signal for a general movement from the poop. A colourful procession descended to K the lower deck where long tables were laid with graceful old silver candlesticks and attractive settings. • And so the formal business of speech-making began. The stentorious voice of the toastmaster demanded attention for a succession of distinguished personalities. Original records of the occasion had been carefully searched to give excerpts from the exact speeches. The scene moved easily into an engrossing fragment of the breakfast. The pleasant buzz of conversation was punctuated by clink of glasses and laughter at a sudden jest. During the singing and acclamation after speeches little girls excitedly climbed on their chairs. Grace being said by the Bishop of Norwich, Lord Lyttelton proposed the loyal toast, emphasising "once more the affectionate attachment to the Throne that is the mark of all the peoples in our colonial possessions,” •nd that of the Navy and the Army. “Wherever danger may arise in our Colonial Empire the forces of the Mother Country would hasten to ?the assistance of our people,” he said. Lord Nelson and Colonel Campbell responded. "An Heroic Undertaking"

The Bishop of Norwich, in a toast to “The Departing Colonifts," said: “'Phis is an heroic undertaking, and it is a great day for England and the English Church. I foresee the time when the saplings may be greater than the oak itself. ... In future ages of our church we can \vish for no greater and purer consolation, not merely in that thor" to whom her power and her glory have been transferred are her children. but that she dedicated them to God?’

Lord Wharncliffe, who was sending his son, said: "The departing colonists are going to found a state in that far distant part of the globe which may revive the glories of their native country. You are, as it were, the infants of a new social life, but your children’s children will look upon you as the fathers of a great colony.” "It has been said that if Wakefield was the head of the Canterbury settlement, Godley was the heart," said Mr J. Simeon. M.P., in praise of the founder. "I ask you to trust him, to co-operate with him, and, above all, do not overtask that wise head and noble heart.” Mr J. E. Fitz Gerald paid a tribute to the chairman, Lord Lyttelton, “who with Mr Simeon and *Lord Richard Cavendish advanced very large sums of money to rescue this project from disaster.” Since Mr Godley’s departure, Lord Lyttelton had guided operations “with conspicuous ability and fervent enthusiasm.” To him the Canterbury settlement owed “its happy beginnings and this auspicious embarkation.” In his response Lord Lyttelton remarked that Mr Fitz Gerald was "a man of ability and culture who will make the press of the new colony a model in the be»t British newspaper tradition.’’ (Fitz Gerald became founder and first editor of “The Press.”) "As long as I live on earth it will be a source of genuine satisfaction that beyond the Atlantic, beyond the Pacific wave, in a corner of a lonely island, has been planted, partly by my hand, .the seed of a great English people; and that the port town of the colony of Canterbury, the first human dwelling place that greets the emigrant on his reaching the land of his promise and his hope, is called by my name,” he added.

“I wish you to drink in bumpers/ to my toast ‘Success to Canterbury,’ ” said Lord John Manners. . . . "We are entering a new epoch of colonisation, but it must be observed that success will entail considerable labour, difficulty, and hazard. May I wishs you all the utmost happiness and the utmost prosperity.” Mr w. G. Brittan made a simple reply. "The hour is late and I can only thank the Minister, my noble lord, for his gracious references to our enterprise. We' shall uphold the honour of our Motherland and remain true to her august tradition. We shall give of our best, do our best, I can say no more. ..." * •