REWI'S MONUMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9493, 24 April 1894, Page 4

REWI'S MONUMENT.

There is no question that Rewi means his monument at Kihikihi to be somewhat more than a personal affair. It is a sign that the old state of things with the Maoris has passed away, and that all things have become new. Rewi claims in the inscription to have been an upholder of good between the European and Maori nations, and "a constant supporter of the seal of the Treaty of Waitangi." There is no allusion to the great event of Rewi's life, namely, the prominent part he took in the hoisting of the King's flag, and in the maintenance of the war which stretched over several years in Taranaki and Auckland. But he means to convey that in all he did he still adhered to the Treaty of Waitangi. The Maoris thought there was nothing in-

compatible between the Treaty ,of Waitangi and the King movement. They all see now, however, that they must obey the law, which they fully participate in making. Rewi, in the mists and confusion of old age, dimly perceives* that the world around him is very different from that which he saw as a boy. In 1810 occur the massacre of the Boyd, but at that time Europeans were only known at the Bay of Islands and Whangaroa, and the Ngatimaniapoto and Ngatiraukawa had only seen an occasional European, and never dreamt that at one day they would dispute with them the supremacy of the island. The early recollections of Rewi would be of the invasions of Hongi, which took place in 1822 and 1823. After that came the halcyon time, when the missionary influence had put an end to wars and to slavery, and it was proclaimed in Exeter flail that " a nation had changed their gods, which are yet no gods." But,_ alas, that time passed away, and Rewi saw the King movement and Hauhauism, and the Pai-Marire revival of barbarism.