loyalty and goodwill to the Queen, and he had performed the mission in an earnest and graceful manner. When he stepped on to Jervois Quay at Wellington he saw a great crowd which had gathered to greet him. Members of the legislature, clergymen of all denominations, trades organisations and citizens formed a procession, which accompanied him to the Parliamentary Buildings, and as he alighted from his carriage the strains of “Home, Sweet Home” fell upon his ears. It was a great national welcome.
He inaugurated his “foreign policy” in September, 1900, when he moved in the House that the colony’s boundaries should be extended so as to include the Cook Group and other islands. He had thought out his scheme and had gone into its details at length. He had studied the history of the islands, and of the movement for an extension of the colony’s boundaries. He had had the advantage of many discussions with Sir George Grey, Sir Julius Vogel, Sir William Fox, Sir Robert Stout, and other statesmen who had taken up the same idea, but had failed to adopt it as a practical policy to be applied to the circumstances of the day. He was prepared for much criticism and opposition to his proposals, and he knew that the personal element had been brought into the discussion, statements having been made that he was seeking self-glorification more than anything else.
The whole modern movement in favour of annexation had been described as another phase of “Seddonism.” He had been cartooned as a savage monarch, dressed in mats, with a murderous club in his hand, and with the words “Kingi Tiki” (King Dick) tattooed across his naked chest. It was suggested by other critics that when annexation took place the islands ought to be re-named, and they asked what better name could be given than “Seddonia,” and the wit of one joker ran in the direction of comparing Mr. Seddon to Sancho Panza when he became possessed of the idea of governing the Island of Barataria.
These pin-pricks irritated him somewhat, and he complained that although he was conscientiously and earnestly endeavouring to improve the colony’s status, and to promote unity of interest, he received very little assistance from
