where the Treaty had been signed, and spoke also of the great importance of the Treaty, and the spirit of the Treaty, saying that it was ‘the very core about which our life together on these islands has been and must always be shaped … ‘It is fitting that each year men and women should gather here to do honour to those whose agreement 123 years ago laid the foundations of our national life. ‘It is all the more appropriate that we do so here tonight on the eleventh anniversary of the accession of our beloved Queen to whom, in the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi and as one people, we offer our respect, our loyalty and our devotion.’ The loudest cheers of the day greeted the Queen, when, in her reply, she made specific reference to the subject. ‘Today, before you all, I want to renew those pledges and to assure my Maori people that the obligations entered into at Waitangi go far deeper than any legal provision in any formal document. ‘Whatever may have happened in the past and whatever the future may bring, it remains the sacred duty of the Crown today, as in 1840, to stand by the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi, and to ensure that the trust of the Maori people is never betrayed.’ The Queen said she would do her part. ‘But remember,’ she added, ‘that these pledges are given on behalf of the self-governing people of New Zealand, and her democratically elected Government. Therefore each one of you bears some responsibility to maintain the provisions and foster the spirit of the treaty.