The Treaty of Waitangi; or, how New Zealand became a British ColonyBuick, Thomas Lindsay
History
The Treaty of Waitangi; or, how New Zealand became a British Colony
Buick, Thomas Lindsay
New Zealand -- Politics and government; Treaty of Waitangi (1840)
When the Missionary saw the invalid in his cabin he took a more
optimistic view of the situation, and strongly urged Captain Hobson
not to determine so hurriedly to relinquish his office as Governor. He
further offered to find him comfortable quarters at the Mission
station where he could rest and have every care it was possible to
provide under the circumstances. These persuasions induced the
Governor to fall in with the Missionary's views; the _Herald_
returned to the Bay of Islands, and the patient was conveyed to the
house of Mr. Richard Davis at Waimate, where he was attended by the
ship's surgeon, Dr. Alexander Lane, and was for several months nursed
with the utmost solicitude by the Missionary's family.
During this period of forced inactivity Captain Hobson displayed the
greatest anxiety that the interests of his mission should not suffer
because of his misfortune, and so far as his energies would permit he
daily laid his plans for the carrying on of the campaign which had
thus been suddenly interrupted so far as he was personally concerned.
Fortunately he was surrounded by a band of men who were loyal, and
enthusiastic in the cause he had come to espouse, and he had no
difficulty in enlisting the services of those who were prepared to
continue the work where he had been compelled to lay it down. In this
respect the Missionaries, confidently relying on the traditional
justice of the British Government,[101] were particularly zealous, and
to them more than to any one else does the ultimate success belong.
Had they so much as whispered hostility, the treaty and all its
professions would have been rejected and despised. So far from this,
they not only lent it the influence of their word, but at this
critical stage, when the Governor was lying a stricken man, they
became the harbingers of its promises and the apostles of its
principles.[102]
To the north went the Rev. Mr. Taylor with Mr. Shortland; to the east
the Rev. William Williams, each bearing an authenticated copy of the
treaty, and authorised to treat with the principal native chiefs, at
properly constituted gatherings, for their signatures and their
adherence to the provisions of the national compact.
The meeting in the north, which must rank next in importance to the
gatherings at Waitangi and Hokianga, was that conducted by Lieutenant
Shortland at Kaitaia. Indeed it is questionable whether in some
respects it has not achieved a greater celebrity, for it was here that
the eloquent chief Nopera (Noble) coined the phrase which has been
more often quoted than any other in connection with the history of the
treaty: "The shadow of the land goes to the Queen, but the substance
remains with us."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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