THE LIFE OF MARSDEN: DR. HOCKEN'S RECORDS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 41, 18 February 1908, Page 4

THE LIFE OF MARSDEN: DR. HOCKEN'S RECORDS.

: THE STORY OF THE PAST. The history of the Rev- Samuel Marsden's _ lif«' in' Now" Zealand has a ve^y closa interest to ftie people-," of tne Dominion. " Probably no' one. T lias spent more time, pf 'taken mpre ' trouble, in tracing that history/ than Dr. Hbcken, oFDunb- 1 din, who" - has'" "for ' many " * yeara 'Been, patiently collecting" historical' facts fchd records -which Jhay.e, arty ,baacing "whatever on the goings of 'the' great ' preacher, wb.oseTn.ame will e.yer bo associated" with the Bay of Islands!" D,r. l I|ocken isf to i gublisli . ' this year" the result of, nis research 'conoeriing_ life anc] travels of Marsden," and "prior to J public'atl"on"he is making one more trip -to the Bay; of Islands' and tho Far North, which ho' ha^ '■ visited on so many occasions, iq the pursuit of records. ' " The. other day. a New. Zealand. Herald representative caught an interview with "him.' * ' ' ' "Yea," sai^ Dr.' Htjcken, "the, work is now in the hands of" the" printer,' aiul I h'avo been able to collate a very full history: The Rev Sairiuel Marsden was not merely $he introducer and 'supervisor of : missions in NgHf Sealant} in, 1814, but be. ■jfas alsoa great "traveller.' &nfl* explorer, and. to! him of 'ttq earliest discoveries of the' interior." of "the northern! country. "He it J "was* who " first ' entered the country round the TVlanuk^u, and' Wuit'emata Harbours, and found the narrow place , (now called " Tamaki), whgre the j Maoris "used to""3'rag l fheir' canoes across from one great inland 6ea to the other. He also went down the M.qnuUau. and. foiind it to^be a' bar-harbour. ' "T^h'en he ' asqenSed >Mo"uni Wellington, and yjtewed all the outstanding features of the coun- | try, such as" the WaitaUare'i ranges, Maungakiekie, (One-tree ' Hill),' Mount iSden, MfluniE' Albert, etc., afterward^going Up! | to the* headwaters of Waiteinata. ' It has been supposed That the French explorer D'P'rvilfe'' was pne' pf fche first to, look over thY country ,"but he was not here, till 1827, and it' was in 1819 Marsden" wa> over the 'country 1 "rpund about ~ wlier^ Auckland now" is. During" this journey- 1 mg, Marsdeix went up tb the Kaipurn. and then" to, Hok^anga",' and over to Whah'garei, and, of course, all through the Bay, oj Islands" country, because he exploT,ejl this country, I' shpu^d, "have to* haye 1 seen "the" Marsdeii cross erected in A'tfokland!" ""' '""" "^ ""' 'When reference was made to the wonderful collection of rpcoVbts" and ' curios Dr. Hockeh ■vva.s known to possess, he'said he had pte^sented, hi? colleqtio.n of records the pppple of the Dominion, a.nd it \vas"to b^' hVused in a 's,pecidlly.-4rocted wing of the QtagQ Mv«e,u"ro, i^' Dunedin". Fof'the erection of this^'wine "£pOoo had heen collected,," of" wHich £3000 repre'seniod subscriptions given" ii\ *ti;e 'South, unjj the balanoß the" Government 'subsidy, but th^EQj'was not yef sufficient "provision for the proper 'care, and use of the, collection, and it was ne,ces.sa,r,y ty> raise moro money. The* 'collection contained about 500 volumes of,- old nowapapers, some dating back fo 1825, wbe'n New Zealand waa a dependency of New South Wales, and Vhp old Bay of Islands papers, from 1840 omyards, were included, together with papers of the other provinces from their inception. Then the collection contained copieV of every book published ivhieh liad any rearing on Nqw Zoaland, and there were many hundreds of pamphlets, and the journals and letters of the Rev. Samuel Mars-den, of Hall, King, Kemp, Hamlin, George Clark, Colenso, besides later letters from Governors. Hob son and Fitzroy, and Willpughby Short land. In, addition, there wore alt the old documents published in the forties b> the New Zealand Company. All these journals and letters had been 'proporlj bound. Pr. Hocken possesses, a unique collec tion of Maori carvings and implements, uiapy of which are of priceless value This collection he intends to retain, 'foi the present a£ any rate. He had ahvayi opposed t^o n,arrow parochial spirit o! jealousy between the two islands, and curiously erjough, among tho records h'.< ".vas presenting to the people was a peti tion to the Queen, drawn up. on parch inent, asking for the separation of th< too islands in point of government. In stead of helping the people of the Nortl ■when they were lighting for their lives the peoplo who sighed the petition cool] m-opose.d to leave them in tho lurch Happily that-spirit had passed away, anc now all parts of Ihis bright Dominioi were workiDg for the common good.,