At 10 o'clock the people--a motley and vivacious crowd--assembled on a large grass plot in front of Mr. Matthew's house, where they were addressed by the Colonial Secretary, with a solemnity befitting the occasion and a pomposity[103] which he deemed becoming his station. The illness of the Governor was touchingly referred to as a reason for the speaker's presence; the text of the treaty was read; the purpose of the compact explained; the machinations of the Queen's opponents were denounced, and a promise given that His Excellency would strictly perform all the solemn engagements which the treaty imposed upon him in the name of Her Majesty.
With this important difference, that there was but little opposition, there were few features to distinguish the debate from its predecessors. Several of the speakers boldly stated they had been told that the treaty was nothing but a cunning device to enslave them. There were also dark references to a Nga-Puhi plot to drive the _Pakehas_ into the sea, but to which they unhesitatingly declared they were not prepared to give their countenance,[104] the speeches as a whole breathing deeply the influence of the Missionaries.
The first speaker was a chief who had accepted the baptismal name of Taylor,[105] who appeared to scent trouble, but subsequently signed the treaty under the name of Reihana Teira.
"This is my speech. We have always been gentlemen; we do not want a shepherd. We will not be hindered getting wood; we formerly cleared any spot of land we liked, burnt the wood; then some once came and built a house on it, and then we quarrelled."
"The _Pakehas_ say the Governor comes to take the land," exclaimed a chief whose name has not been recorded. "This is the first time I ever heard the _pukapuka_ (the treaty). The _Pakehas_ explained it differently. Some people say plenty of _Pakehas_ are coming to buy our land, but not for our good. They say the soldiers are come to shoot us, and that the Governor will not be a shepherd for us.[106] They say Mr. Puckey and Mr. Matthew know what is to become of us, but will not tell us. These are my sayings."
WILLIAM (Wiremu Wirihana)--"They tell us you are come to murder all the Maoris, but if your works are good you will come to preserve us. If you are like the Missionaries that will be good. We fear the soldiers."