NATIVE ADDRESS TO MR. HALL.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 254, 27 March 1860, Page 3

NATIVE ADDRESS TO MR. HALL.

On Saturday afternoon a large party of Mapries, comprising all the leading men of the different native settlements ia this province, to the number of about sixty, assembled near the residence of Mr. John Hall, ia Christchurch, to bid farewell to that gentleman, who for about four years has filled the office of Resident Magistrate, and has therefore been frequently brought into communication with the aborigines in the settlement of their disputes with one another and the whites. Mr. Hailf being about to return to England, the leading Maories seized the opportunity to express their obligations to him for his services, and.their regret at his departure. His Honor Mr. Justice Gresson and several other gentlemen were also present on this occasion ; and Mr. Walter Buller attended in the capacity of interpreter. . An address was read, of. y inch, the following is a full translation, with the exception of a native song at the close, the true rendering of which we have not been able to obtain. ADDRESS. Our beloved Friend, Mr. Hall, we greet youWe hear that you are going to a distant country; and on this account have we assembled that we may offer you our words of farewell. Friend, Mr. Hall, hearken! We are sorry to liear of your approaching departure: but we would not wish to hold you back. Go you and see your relatives, and then return to New Zealand, to this our common home. *ut we must caution you that if your friends^ entreat you to remain with them, you do not consent. If their regard for you is so great, then let them accompany you back, and seek a home in New Zealand. You can tell them of the good things of this land.

Friend, Mr. Hall, hearken thou to the sentiments of the 'rumanga' of Canterbury chiefs.

We have a reason for meeting you on this occasion. We are now reflecting on all your past doings as Magistrate, and they call forth our approval.

This is the- command of the Queen to her Governor in New Zealand—" Take care of my children, both Pakeha and Maori; let your concern for the Maori be equal to your concern for the Pakeha.

In our opinion this command applies equally to you: for by the autohrity of the Queen were you appointed Magistrate for this place. But our reason for thus expressing our regard for you is from a consideration ofjjou'r goodness during the years of you Magistracy.—-We mean your kindness to the Maori people. And now that you are going to a distant country, think not that the Maori will forget you, Think not that the heart of the Maori is a cold one; nay, it is a heart that remembers.

The forest fire continues to blaze till all the wood is consumed. So with the heart of the Maori when set on fire with lovo. Doath alone may quench the burning. When you are_gone to the distant country, we shall still remember you and your goodness to the Maori. The Warauroa (New Zealand Cuckoo) takes its flight with departing summer; but when the cold of winter has passed away, it reappears. And so with you. Your flight is like unto that bird's. The Warauroa has just left us and you are leaving too. But when the warmth of returning summer brings back the Warauroa, then, too, shall we look out for you t. return.

Farewell then, our friend, Mr. Hall. Visit thcu the land of thy forefathers! Tell the chiefs of that land that the European and Maori races in New Zealand are living together in peace and in the bonds of friendship, like elder and younger brothers; that the Maori has surrendered his lands for the settlement of the Pakeha, and that the Pakeha has in return enriched the Maori with Christianity and many other good things. . • Farewell, Mr. Hall, Farewell! May the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob—the God of the Maori as well as the Pakeha—protect you in all your journeyinga. [Maori sorg ] Faiwelll Fa.i«.vell! Signed by PaoraTau and 15 others, qteehurch, Uzttk iO, 1860, ;