Therefore you, Waka Nene and Te
Puni, shall join in the acceptance, in proof that the Queen forgets none
of her subjects, no matter who they may be, or where they may dwell.'
This was a sprig of the policy which he felt must be pursued by an Empire
called to boundless limits. Did it rest its control of the nations,
successively adopted into it, upon their fears, upon a compelled
obedience? Why, it would but grow the weaker as it spread, until
eventually a time must arrive when, from its very vastness, it would fall
into fragments. On the other hand, if, as it spread its dominion, it also
spread equal laws, the Christian faith, Christian knowledge, and
Christian virtues, it would link firmly to itself, by the ties of love
and gratitude, each nation it adopted. Thus, it would grow in strength as
it grew in area, its dominion being an object sought for, rather than
submitted to impatiently.
Go into the engine-room of administration, and listen to the clatter of
yon modest pinion in a corner! That is, follow the avoidance of a peril
in New Zealand, which might easily have sown more seeds of race warfare.
There had been a mysterious, deadly tragedy on the outskirts of Auckland,
a retired naval lieutenant and his family the victims. The affair
profoundly moved the young community, having regard to the unrest which
had been rife in the land.
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