MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Daily Times, 23 March 1935, Page 4

MAORI MEMORIES

(By J.H.S. for “The Daily Times.”) GOVERNOR GREY. On the 31st December, 1853, after ruling New Zealand firmly but tactfully for eight years, Sir George Grey sailed for England. His departure was looked upon with varying feelings at the different centres, though from most places came testimony of the worthy service to the colony. Just as it is to-day, so was it then —no truly great man really arrives until after he has departed, and we still justify the advice of the cynic who declared that “men say naught good, but of the dead.”

From Maori Chiefs who had fought for or against us, and from tribes living near our settlements or far inland, addresses came breathing a spirit of confidence and regard. Many valued family and tribal Heitikis were given him, songs of sorrow were composed, and eloquent speeches were made in his honour. Two days before he sailed, Hone te Paki said: /‘The unanimous wish of the Maori is to keep Governor Grey. The ashes of our fathers are buried, and he has seen them die. Te. Reipa, Mare, Takiwaru, Wetere, and other Waikato Chiefs are gone. Oh Governor Grey, come back to us when you leave in your grief and in theirs.’ ’ One hundred and seventy leading men of Auckland farewelled him at dinner. The Lord Bishop of New Zealand, and the head of the Wesleyans were there. Dr. Pompallier, Catholic Bishop, and Chief Justice Martin sent apologies. Patuone, brother of Waka Nene, Waikato chiefs, and the superintendent of Auckland came and expressed sincere sorrow at his departure. With reverent affection and superstitious awe, the Maori looked upon the huge block of pumice stone beside the path from Taupo to Kotomahana on which Sir George had carved his initials “G.G. 1850”; but he needs no monument to keep his memory alive in a country he had rescued from pending disaster. In 1935 the Maoris still know him as the capturer of Ruapekapeka and Rauparaha, also the man who subdued Heke and Rangihaeata, for the Maori schools and hospitals he built and endowed, and more than all, for his having forbidden the sale of liquor and gunpowder to their people. The settlers honour liim for the peace and prosperity brought to them by despotic rule deftly hidden by the silken garment of moderation. On arrival in England he was made a Doctor of Commons Laws by the University of Oxford, when the undergraduates gave three hearty cheers for “The King of the Cannibal Islands.” He was honoured by the House of Lords and the Commons, and Her Majesty appointed him to the then turbulent Cape of Good Hope as Governor.