Reception of the Governor in Auckland.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4460, 21 April 1883, Page 1 (Supplement)

Reception of the Governor in Auckland.

Auckland, April 6tb; The Governor and his suite accompanied by the, Hon. the Premier and the Native Minister, arrived from Onehunga by special train at 11 o'clock, when the battery fired a salute of 17 guns.. The shipping and streets were decorated with flags. Owing to its being market day,a>d no holiday having 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, which had been erected and decorated. The Mayor (J. M. Clark, Esq.) welcoroedHis Excellency to Auckland in a brief speech, and 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 ou their hats) said : Mr Mayor and gentlemen,—l thank you most heartily for the address with which you have just now presented 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- have 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 bis 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 an orator, however, he stood up and said, " Colonel, there's the jug ; " upon which the colonel—the major having sat down—got up and said with equaly 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 which you have presented to me as a mere matter of conventional seutiment. 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 reigns 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 Been 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 have given us, and I can assure you that it will be a great pleasure to me 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 Jervois, 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 His Excellency 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 Ge-man warships and present. Then folio wed~ the car riages of members of the City Council, the. Harbor Board, the foreign consuls, &a. The route lay through the principal streets of the city to Government House. 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 mag* nih'cent.