Reception of the Governor in Auckland.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4448, 7 April 1883, Page 2

Reception of the Governor in Auckland.

(Pkb Pbbss Association.)

Auckland, Yesterday. The Governor and his suite accompanied by the Hon. the Premier and the Satire Minister, arrived from Onehunga bj special train at 11 o'clock, when the battery fired a salute of 17 guns. The shipping and streets were decorated with dags. Owing to its being market day,and :ao holiday baring been proclaimed, the assembly was not so large as on previous occasions of the kind. His Excellency was received by the Mayor and Councillors and a number of leading citizens at the platform adjacent to the station, whioh had been erected and decorated. The Mayor (J. M. Clark, Esq.) welcomedHi^ Excellency to Auckland in a brief speech, aad the Town Clerk read an address from the Council, in which a hope was expressed that his Excellency, Lady Jervois, and family would frequently honor Auckland with their presence. His Excellency (after remarking that; as the sun was rather hot he thought they might venture to put on their hats) said : Mr Mayor and gentlemen,—l thank you moit heartily for

the address with, which you hare jast nowpresented me. Owing to some accident I only received a copy of your address a few-moments ago, and therefore I trust you will kindly excuse any shortcomings on my part in replying to it. Travelling about, as I hare been for some time, in different parts of New Zealand it has been my good fortune to. receive many ad* dresses; so many, indeed, that I find very often my vocabulary almost exhausted in varying the expressions that are suitable to the occasion. lam reminded of an address that was once, I am told, presented by a distinguished major of a Scotch regiment when ..his colonel was about to leave that corps, 'they were neither of them gifted in speech, and on the occasion of the departure of the colonel, who was to be pre» sented with a piece of plate, .it was/the major who was deputed to present it. Not being, ant-orator, however,he stood up and said, "ColoneJ, there's the jug; " upon which the colonel—the major having sat down-—got up and said with equally diffuse oratory—"Aye, Major, and is that the jug." (Laughter.) I should myself like to adopt that language of brevity on some occasions; but one like this, gentlemen (my first appearance in Auckland;, I feel I cannot treat an adddress of the sort i, which you have presented to me as a mere matter of conventional sentiment. I look upon it as coming from a body, of, gentlemen representing the city that I see before me; as an address that breathes loyalty to Her Majesty. (Hear.hear.) Loyalty to a Queen who rejgns over the greatest Empire that the ■ world has ever beheld ; loyalty to a Queen who lives in the devotion of- her subjects* and who is the symbol of a constitutional monarchy such as the world has never seen equalled ; and one under which you, gentlemen, who are New Zealanders, are able with perfect freedom to develop your resources and manage: your affairs (Hear.) Gentlemen, I will not detain you any longer here, for I see that the. crowd is waiting. On behalf, then, of Lady Jervois and myself, I beg to thank you for the very kind and flattering welcome that you hare given us, and I can assure you that it will be : a great pleasure tome during the time lam in New Zealand to visit this splendid city of Auckland. (Loud cheers). The Mayor then called for three cheers for His Excellency, and three more for! Lady Jervpis, which were very heartily given. A procession was then formed of Volunteers, who formed a guard of honor, and followed the Governor's carriage (with four grays), containing HisJExcellency and Lady Jervois; the Premier and Mayor were in the second carriage; Miss Jervois, the Native Minister, and the Governor's suite in the next; the officers of the English and -German warships and present. Then followed the carriages of members of the City Council, the Harbor Board, the foreign consuls, <tc. The route lay through the principal streets, of the city to' Government Home.' 1 On alighting at the Government House, His Excellency inspected the Volunteers before their dismissal. An undress levee was held at Government House in the afternoon, and was largely attended. The Weather was magmficent: '' ' ■■ '■'■-■ ■'■'■' ' '••• -■