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 3 1924 087 994 269 
 

THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924087994269 
 

 , r^Of/^^ly S/^- 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B. 
 
 WILLIAM LEE REES 
 
 [Member of the House of Representatives, New Zealand) 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "SIR GILBERT LEIGH," "FROM POVERTY TO PLENTY," ETC., ETC. 
 
 AND 
 
 L. REES 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 HUTCHINSON & CO., 
 
 25, PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 
 1892 
 
LONDON 
 
 PRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, 
 
 CITY ROAD. 
 
TO 
 
 ISHBEL, 
 
 COUNTESS OF ABERDEEN, 
 
 WHO ADDS THE FORTITUDE OF CORNELIA 
 TO THE CHARITY OF DORCAS, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED AS A TOKEN 
 OF RESPECT. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The two great events which have taken place during 
 the nineteenth century, and which must, beyond all 
 others, influence the future of the world, are the rapid 
 progress of the United States of America, and the 
 foundation and growth of the great system of colonies 
 belonging to the British Empire. All other matters 
 recorded — the relative power of the nations of Conti- 
 nental Europe ; the story of their wars and rivalries — 
 cannot alter the future course of human progress, but 
 the marvellous development of a few communities 
 scattered along the eastern sea-board of the North 
 American Continent into the mightiest and most 
 wealthy nation that the world has seen ; the exten- 
 sion of the colonies of the British Empire over such 
 considerable portions of the whole surface of the 
 habitable globe ; and the establishment of numerous 
 free and prosperous states in Canada, in South 
 Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Polynesia, in 
 which the surplus population of European nations, 
 especially of the English-speaking races, may find 
 homes and subsistence for centuries to come, are the 
 real factors of history for this period. 
 
 All events happening in the early period of this 
 rapid expansion of free nations ; all purposes formed 
 by those connected with their establishment, the 
 
VIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 hopes which animated the leaders of this great move- 
 ment, their actions, their triumphs or defeats, the 
 methods by which they met and overcame all diffi- 
 culties, and the destiny towards which they worked, 
 should all be of surpassing interest to the student, to 
 the politician, to the philosopher, to the Christian, 
 and to the patriot. 
 
 The childhood of history beheld the sceptre of 
 dominion swayed by the Eastern nations. Civiliza- 
 tion, progress, and knowledge were confined to Asia. 
 For more than two thousand years Europe has led 
 and ruled the world. The nineteenth century of the 
 Christian era has seen the nations of the future spring 
 into existence. The one portion of Europe destined 
 to exercise influence upon succeeding generations is 
 comprised in the British Islands, and that only as a 
 member of a great federation of the English-speaking 
 peoples. As the Western immigrations of many, 
 tribes laid the foundations of those new states which 
 distanced the Asiatics in knowledge and power, so 
 the world-wide colonies of Britain have, within the 
 memory of living men, reached a magnitude of 
 commerce and attained a fulness of liberty before 
 unparalleled. 
 
 Boastful though such a statement may appear, it 
 is, humanly speaking, certain that in the lifetime of 
 multitudes now born into the world, the English- 
 speaking race will dominate and control the earth. 
 
 Regarding the development of the United States, 
 the writers of these pages do not propose to speak, 
 and comparatively but little notice will be directed 
 to the great group of colonies forming the Dominion 
 of Canada. 
 
 The life and times of Sir George Grey are more 
 particularly identified with those vast colonial posses- 
 sions which loom below the Southern horizon, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 are spread out in their boundless plenitude beneath 
 the Southern skies. 
 
 The reign of Victoria, auspicious beyond precedent 
 in history, has witnessed and encouraged the growth 
 of the family of nations now resting beneath the 
 shadow of the English flag. As will be seen, the 
 connection between Sir George Grey and this im- 
 mense Colonial Empire is absolutely contempora- 
 neous with the period of the reign of Victoria. There 
 are in the world two human beings, and two only, 
 who from the month of June, 1837, till the present 
 day, have been ceaselessly and intimately connected 
 with the progress and development, the happiness 
 and welfare of the colonial portion of that Empire 
 upon which the sun never sets ; whose interest in the 
 colonies has never ceased, and who have occupied, 
 without intermission, positions of trust and responsi- 
 bility in relation to them. The first is Her Most 
 Gracious Majesty the Queen — the second is her 
 servant, Sir George Grey. 
 
 To the student of colonial history, and to all those 
 who desire to acquire knowledge as to the destina- 
 tion and probable happiness of future generations, 
 the records of a life spent in the service of humanity, 
 and intimately associated with the foundation and 
 establishment of many colonies, must necessarily be 
 full of interest as well as instruction. It is impossible 
 fully to portray the vast series of circumstances, to 
 reproduce the volumes of correspondence, or to par- 
 ticularize the innumerable incidents, which have gone 
 to make up the busy history of over fifty years of life 
 identified with exploration, with politics, with wars, 
 and social life in the colonial world. A task so gigantic 
 would require time and means of access to innumer- 
 able sources of information, so wide and extensive as 
 to preclude the possibility of a successful result. But 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to sketch the main features of early colonial life, to 
 give the outline of wars between different races, of 
 the establishment of settled government and social 
 institutions, of religion, of commerce, of learning, 
 and of other leading and more prominent events 
 which have transpired in a varied and wonderful 
 career, is an end which may be attained, although, 
 perhaps, not so successfully, or with such precision of 
 outline or truth of colouring, as might be desired. 
 
 But even though imperfectly attempted, yet the 
 record of such a life and of the great principles which 
 have been its motive power in laying wide and deep 
 the foundations of future civilization, must possess 
 intrinsic value and substantial worth. 
 
 In that portion of this volume which deals with Sir 
 G. Grey's administration in South Australia, we have 
 been hampered by want of information. Many in- 
 teresting papers relating to that period were either 
 lost in the fire at Government House, in Auckland, in 
 1 846, or presented by the Governor, together with his 
 private library, to the people of Cape Colony. 
 
 Much that would have been deeply interesting in 
 the records of social life, of explorations, of public 
 works and political events, is thus beyond our reach, 
 and our sketch of the main features of Sir G. Grey's 
 Government of that Colony will doubtless appear to 
 many who lived there at the time, in many respects 
 bare, meagre, and devoid of colour. In one case — 
 that of Mr. Angas — we have unwittingly given a false 
 impression by appearing to endorse the harsh opinion 
 which he expressed of his colonial agent. As a 
 matter of fact, time has fully vindicated the judgment 
 and actions of that gentleman, which resulted in 
 an immense increase in the value of the estate he 
 managed for Mr. Angas. 
 
 Throughout his life Sir George Grey has felt a 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 peculiar affection for the colony which he first 
 governed— for its climate, its scenery, but above all, 
 for its people, who presented a marked contrast to 
 the usual type of settlers in a new country. To his 
 mind there has ever appeared great similarity in 
 character between the Puritan founders of the New 
 England States and the early colonists of South 
 Australia. 
 
 Conscious of many imperfections, of the omission 
 of much that should find a place, and the admission 
 of some things which, perchance, critics may say 
 should have been relegated to obscurity, the writers 
 of these pages acknowledge only two considera- 
 tions : — One, to give in a connected form the inci- 
 dents, the adventures, and the achievements of a life 
 at once noble and beneficent ; the other, to preserve 
 the record of principles, of actions, and of aspirations 
 which are likely to influence for good the youth of 
 this and of succeeding generations. To every heart 
 which hopes for the reign of peace and happiness 
 upon the earth, to every mind which looks forward 
 to the ultimate dominion of the English races in the 
 world, and the peaceful solution of those great ques- 
 tions which now agitate humanity, Sir George Grey's 
 biography will be welcome. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 BOOK THE FIRST. 
 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS, 1812— 1840. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. Life's Commencement ...... i 
 
 n. First Commission and Early Service in Scotland 
 
 and Ireland 4 
 
 III. Appointment to Conduct Explorations in Western 
 
 Australia 9 
 
 IV. First Outward Voyage — Forecasts of Future Life 12 
 V. First Exploration . 16 
 
 VI. Second Exploration 28 
 
 VII. Grey Resident at King George's Sound — Method 
 
 of Dealing with Native Races .... 46 
 
 BOOK THE SECOND. 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 
 1841—1845. 
 
 VIII. Unhappy Position of Colony —Change Effected by 
 
 Grey 53 
 
 IX. The Summons to New Zealand . . • • 73 
 X. Review of Grey's Life in Australia — Correspon- 
 dence and Scientific Pursuits . . • ■ 79 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK THE THIRD. 
 
 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND, 
 1845—1854. 
 
 CnAP. PAGE 
 
 XL Grey's Arrival at Auckland — Sketch of Previous 
 
 History of the Colony 88 
 
 XII. Speedy and Triumphant Conclusion of the Maori 
 
 War 96 
 
 XIII. Short History of the New Zealand Company . 104 
 
 XIV. Maori Policy — Proposed P'ederation of the Pacific 
 
 Islands 118 
 
 XV. New Zealand Constitution of 1846 .... 133 
 
 XVI. The Despatch of July, 1849 H7 
 
 XVII. Land Regulations and Constitution of 1852 . . 152 
 
 XVIII. Constitution for the Church of England . . 173 
 
 XIX. Karaitiana and Hapuku 178 
 
 XX. Gray's Departure from New Zealand — Feelings 
 
 of both Races 182 
 
 XXI. Sir George Grey's Vindication — Honours at 
 
 Oxford 194 
 
 BOOK THE FOURTH. 
 
 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY, 
 
 1854—1859. 
 
 XXII. Sketch of Previous South African History . . 203 
 
 XXIII. The Governor and Mr. Shepstone's Proposed 
 
 Kingdom 2n 
 
 XXIV. Subjugation of Kafir Chiefs and Witch Doctors . 224 
 XXV. The Grey Hospital 232 
 
 XXVI. The Kafir Prophetess and the " Wonderful Pro- 
 phecy" . 239 
 
 XXVII. The Indian Mutiny and the China Army . . 246 
 
 XXVIII. The German Legion 257 
 
 XXIX. The Governor Recalled 271 
 
 XXX. Dismay of South Africa 290 
 
23ooli tije jpfrst. 
 Birth and Early Years, 1812-1840. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 life's commencement. 
 
 " Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, 
 Now green in youth, now withering on the ground, 
 Another race the following spring supplies ; 
 They fall successive, and successive rise." 
 
 Po-pe. 
 
 Early in the second week of April, 181 2, several 
 English ladies, wives of officers on active service 
 with Lord Wellington, were sitting together in a 
 balcony at Lisbon. They were talking of the last 
 news from headquarters, when they became aware, 
 from conversations in the street beneath, that the 
 town of Badajoz had been, for the third time, assaulted 
 by the English forces. One of these English women 
 was Mrs. Grey, whose husband, the Colonel of the 
 30th Regiment of Foot, was at the scene of active 
 operations. Anxiety and eager interest were at once 
 aroused, and each one listened with intense expec- 
 tation to any sounds which arose from the street 
 beneath. 
 
 A group of officers rode slowly by. " We have 
 suffered terrible loss," said one, " in the storming of 
 Badajoz. Poor Grey is gone at last ! " 
 
 No sooner were these words heard than Mrs. Grey 
 sank fainting from her seat. The statement was all 
 
 VOL, I. B 
 
2 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 too true. Colonel Grey, who, at Alexandria, had led 
 his regiment in the first bayonet charge against the 
 revolutionary troops of France, had volunteered to 
 lead the storming party at Badajoz, and, at the head 
 of his column, had fallen in that terrible breach. 
 
 A few days afterwards, on the 14th of April, his 
 son was bom. 
 
 While it was natural that the lad should be trained 
 to the profession of arms, several circumstances during 
 childhood and early manhood served to give a decided 
 tendency to the character and life of George Grey. 
 
 When staying, as a child, with a relative of his 
 father, a banker in London, whose place of business 
 was in 'Change Alley, his attention was often attracted 
 to the tropical fruits exposed for sale by an aged 
 woman, who, from long usage, had acquired a species 
 of prescriptive right to keep her stall at the entrance 
 of the alley. The child's imagination wandered away 
 to the lands from whence the pineapples, the bananas, 
 the oranges, and the cocoanuts had come, and he 
 silently resolved that when he became a man he 
 would travel to those distant regions which produced 
 such treasures. 
 
 In early boyhood he was brought much under the 
 notice and care of Dr. Whately, afterwards the cele- 
 brated Archbishop of Dublin, and from constant 
 intercourse with that distinguished scholar he most 
 probably received that logical and exact method of 
 thought, as well as the ardent love for all scientific 
 studies, which characterised him in after life. 
 
 Destined to follow in his father's steps, he was duly 
 entered at Sandhurst, and achieved at that military 
 college singular and unusual distinction. 
 
 George Grey gained the affection and esteem of his 
 tutors, and kept up a regular correspondence with 
 some of them during many years. They were pleased 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 3 
 
 to find the promise of his earlier years more than ful- 
 filled in his colonial career, and were deeply interested 
 in the results of his labours. There are in the Public 
 Library in Auckland several very affectionate letters 
 to Captain Grey from his former mathematical master 
 at Sandhurst, Professor Narrieu, the author of a His- 
 tory of Astronomy, who evidently took the warmest 
 interest in his former pupil's honourable and success- 
 ful career. In a letter dated the 15th May, 1843, he 
 expressed great pleasure at having received a com- 
 munication from Captain Grey, and says he is much 
 gratified by his appreciation of the course of studies 
 pursued at Sandhurst. He says that it is very diffi- 
 cult to keep up the standard of proficiency in mathe- 
 matics, as many think it unnecessarily high, but he 
 has tried to do so; and adds, "You will not, therefore, 
 be surprised to find that the number of officers who 
 have carried away our highest class certificate — such 
 as that which you had — is but few." 
 
 Nor was George Grey a favourite with the authorities 
 alone. A clever, studious lad, more occupied and 
 interested by books than out-door sports and games, 
 is often regarded as a prig by his contemporaries ; 
 but there is no trace of this feeling towards Grey at 
 Sandhurst. His superiority was frankly admitted, 
 and always displayed in a way that challenged admi- 
 ration certainly, but did not arouse jealousy or dislike. 
 
 We have a pleasant picture of the young military 
 student at this time, given thirty-four years afterwards 
 by a college mate, who recalled gratefully the days 
 when Grey, " a bright, rosy-cheeked young subaltern 
 of the 83rd Regiment, ' Ai ' in mathematics, fortifica- 
 tions, military survey, languages, and general know- 
 ledge, so kindly led ray tottering steps over the 'Asses' 
 Bridge.'" 
 
 B 2 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FIRST COMMISSION AND EARLY SERVICE IN SCOTLAND 
 AND IRELAND. 
 
 " Poor houseless wretches, wheresoe'er you are, 
 That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, 
 How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides. 
 Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you 
 From seasons such as these ? ' ' 
 
 King Lear. 
 
 In the year 1830, George Grey, then aged eighteen, 
 was gazetted ensign of the 83rd Regiment of Foot. 
 Entering upon active service, he was quartered with 
 his regiment, first at Glasgow, and afterwards at 
 Dublin. In the latter city he was again brought into 
 close contact with Dr. Whately. Endeared by old 
 associations, and in a remote degree connected by 
 marriage, the young soldier was a great favourite with 
 the Archbishop, and had every opportunity of profiting 
 by the wise counsels of his illustrious friend. 
 
 During four years' service in Ireland, his duty called 
 him to various parts of the country, and brought him 
 into contact with all classes of the people. At that 
 time Ireland was in a most disturbed condition. The 
 struggle for Catholic emancipation was indeed over, 
 but the victory gained in the previous year had left 
 a desire in the minds of the Irish for still greater 
 freedom. After Daniel O'Connell had succeeded in 
 forcing the Catholic Relief Bill through both Houses 
 of Parliament, he began to clamour for the repeal of 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 5 
 
 the Union. Discontent, riots, murders perpetrated in 
 the broad light of day, and crimes committed under 
 cover of the darkness, were rife. 
 
 The spirit of the age, displayed on the Continent by 
 the second French Revolution, and the rebellion of 
 the people of Belgium against the union with Holland, 
 led in Great Britain to a widely spread desire for 
 Parliamentary Reform. Lord John Russell intro- 
 duced a bill with this object. Being defeated in Com- 
 mittee, the Ministry appealed to the country. The 
 elections throughout the United Kingdom were at- 
 tended with serious riots and great tumult. The 
 horrors of cholera added to the general misery and 
 disorder. 
 
 The scenes of wretchedness which the young officer 
 witnessed were never forgotten by him. Fifty years 
 later, in reviewing the changing scenes and the many 
 great affairs in which the active years of his life have 
 been spent. Sir George Grey thus speaks of the in- 
 fluence which this first experience — the opening of 
 his public life — exerted upon his future destiny : — 
 
 " I saw enough there to give a bias to my mind for 
 ever as to the necessity for change and reform. It 
 was really from a desire to find relief for that misery 
 that I went to Australia. In all my walks on deck, 
 on my first voyage, my mind was filled with the 
 thought of what misery there was in the world, the 
 hope there was in the new lands, and the greatness 
 of the work of attempting to do something for the 
 hopeless poor. The effort to get lands, made by 
 single individuals, seemed to me a wrong to humanity. 
 To prevent such a monopoly in the new countries has 
 been my task ever since. Even in the case of the 
 missionaries I found the same desire for selfish gain. 
 Sent out by the contributions of many whose gifts 
 involved self-denial, I found them living in good 
 
6 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 houses, enjoying a competence and an assured posi- 
 tion, with pensions for their wives and children. It 
 seemed to me a dreadful thing that they should have 
 come out on purpose to gain great estates for them- 
 selves and their families, and to use their influence 
 over the natives — and the influence which a missionary 
 has over a converted native can scarcely be imagined 
 — to make them agree to all this ; and my heart sank 
 still more when I found the missionaries, as a class, 
 opposing with all their power, and with bitter perse- 
 cution, all those who dared to make a stand for fair 
 dealing — to uphold those principles of eternal justice 
 which the missionaries themselves were sent to 
 teach." 
 
 The condition of the majority of the Irish people, 
 and the terrible distress apparent in so many parts 
 of Great Britain, made an indelible impression upon 
 young Grey's mind. The desire of childhood to travel 
 and explore distant lands had never weakened. The 
 charm which imagination had thrown long since over 
 the far-off countries beyond the sea still dwelt upon 
 his mind and influenced his hopes. To this desire for 
 travel and discovery was now added a motive power 
 which never abated in its force throughout his life. 
 
 " He started in the race with a definite purpose — 
 that of opening a new future and a new hope for 
 Anglo-Saxondom and humanity in the boundless 
 colonies of England. In those vast territories, washed 
 by the waves of every sea, and canopied by every con- 
 stellation, he trusted to see communities arise, un- 
 trammelled by the ancient prejudices, unhampered by 
 the hoary superstitions and tyrannies of the past, free 
 in the fullest sense ; communities in which the facilities 
 for success in life should be vastly increased, and 
 where all talent, virtue, and worth, should have free 
 play, and a fair field in every condition of life. 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. ? 
 
 "Beholding, with sincere sympathy, the hopeless 
 condition of the increasing multitudes of the poorer 
 classes at home, he saw, on the other hand, a vast 
 world, spreading its arms, and unfolding its boundless 
 wealth for their acceptance. Food for the million- 
 mouthed hungry, equal freedom and liberty for the 
 down-trodden myriads were thus easily to be obtained. 
 From the crowded hives of the United Kingdom — 
 from the fields of Norfolk and Devonshire, from the 
 hills of Scotland, and from the Green Isle of the West 
 — a continual exodus of nations could wander forth to 
 till the mighty solitudes, and gather the harvests of 
 the world. And each nation, so planted on the fair 
 bosom of the silent wastes, would be a home of liberty, 
 where freedom would reign secure. With prophetic 
 eye he saw the continents and islands of distant seas 
 so rich and prosperous, so virtuous and free, so great 
 and powerful, that no future Alexander or Napoleon 
 could threaten the liberties of humanity. 
 
 " Thus, as it were, the master of a new school, he 
 taught that from the giant oak of England, trained 
 and hardened into strength and beauty by the toils 
 and storms, the prayers and sufferings of a thousand 
 years, there should be carried out into every region 
 where man could dwell young seedlings to grow up 
 for the protection and comfort of mankind. It may 
 be that in youth he had heard that theory argued 
 which traces the Anglo-Saxon race back to the loins 
 of Abraham, and proves it heir of those glorious pro- 
 mises which God himself made to the far-off descend- 
 ants of the Chaldaean Seer. Perchance in this way he 
 formed the lofty ideas which filled him of the future 
 dominance of his kindred, and which revealed to him 
 their destiny as one of solitary grandeur and unap- 
 proachable greatness. As the years rolled on he saw 
 them anchoring deeper and deeper in every quarter of 
 
8 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 the earth, claiming and holding nearly all the habit- 
 able globe, every sea whitened by the sails of their 
 commerce, every land ringing with their glorious 
 tongue ; and at the last, as if preparing in the provi- 
 dence of God for the final consummation of all things, 
 he beheld that day dawn which shall herald the advent 
 of peace from sea to sea, and from the river to the 
 ends of the earth. For, even judging by moral argu- 
 ments and human logic, he believed that the united 
 Anglo-Saxon powers would be so strong as to quell, 
 by their mere existence, all warlike opposition, and 
 constrain the families of mankind to decide their 
 quarrels, not by the arbitrament of war, but by a 
 congress of the nations. 
 
 " In the future of the race which he fondly loved he 
 saw the possibility of a golden, a wonderful prosperity 
 — a prosperity not merely material, but intellectual, 
 scientific, moral, and religious. He looked forward to 
 times and states in which free and happy nations 
 should govern themselves by the most perfect and 
 equal laws ; and he hoped also to behold the young 
 children of the mother of nations calmly solving many 
 of the vexed questions of all time, and showing to the 
 world how communities of free men could, without 
 violence and without hate, become wise, and great, and 
 good beyond all the examples of history."* 
 
 * " The Great Pro-Consul." Appendix to " Sir Gilbert Leigh." 
 pp. 234, 235. ByW. L. Rees. Sampson Low. 1878. Note. — 
 This extract is taken from a short sketch of Sir George Grey, 
 written as an appendix to a novel, in 1878. The twelve years 
 which have passed between that time and the penning of the 
 present work have only shown Sir George Gre^s actions to be 
 consistently influenced by the same hopes and ambitions which 
 inspired him in early youth. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 APPOINTMENT TO CONDUCT EXPLORATIONS IN 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 " This morning, like the spirit of a youth, 
 That means to be of note, begins betimes." 
 
 Antony and CleoJ>atra. 
 
 Perceiving no immediate prospect of employment in 
 the colonies, Lieutenant Grey, together with a brother 
 officer, also anxious to explore the wonders of the 
 new lands — Lieutenant Lushington of the 9th Regi- 
 ment of Foot — offered his services to the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society for the exploration of North Western 
 Australia. On the i6th of November, 1836, they 
 received a favourable reply, and on the 28th the 
 President of that Society brought before the Council 
 the application of these two young officers. It was 
 decided to approach Lord Glenelg, then Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies, with a view to the co-operation 
 of the Government in the proposed plan of exploration. 
 
 Lieutenant Grey was already acquainted with Lord 
 Glenelg, whose brother, William Grant, was one of 
 Grey's friends. The Government were, themselves, 
 most anxious to become better acquainted with that 
 vast and unknown portion of Australia which Grey 
 and Lushington proposed to visit. No difficulty, 
 therefore, was experienced in obtaining not only per- 
 mission, but assistance from the Government. 
 
 The opinion was held by celebrated navigators, 
 
10 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 among whom were Dampier and King, that a great 
 river or a large inlet would be found to give access to 
 the interior of Australia from the north or north-west 
 coast. It was chiefly with the hope that such a dis- 
 covery might be -made that the exploring expedition 
 was formally decided upon by the Government. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1837, two years' leave of 
 absence, dated from the Horse Guards, was granted 
 by Sir J. Macdonald, to Lieutenant Grey, for the pur- 
 pose of exploration in New Holland. Four months 
 later the two young officers received their instructions 
 from Downing Street. They were informed that 
 H.M.S. Beagle had been appointed to survey the 
 north-west coast between Dampier's Archipelago and 
 Cambridge Gulf, and that they had been appointed 
 to explore the interior of the same part. The pur- 
 pose and conduct of the expedition are summarised 
 in the following short quotations from this despatch. 
 " The immediate object of this exploration is that of 
 gaining information as to the real state of the interior 
 of North Western Australia, its resources, and the 
 course and direction of its rivers and mountain 
 ranges, as well as familiarizing the natives with the 
 British name and character." .... "Lieutenant 
 Grey, the senior military officer, is considered as 
 commanding the party" (despatch signed "Glenelg"). 
 
 Thus, at the early age of twenty-four, Lieutenant 
 Grey was selected to proceed upon a dangerous and 
 important mission, and immediately after his twenty- 
 fifth birthday, was regularly commissioned by His 
 Majesty's Government to take charge of the expedi- 
 tion. The days following the ist of June were spent 
 in taking leave of friends. The parting between the 
 young explorer and his mother must have called 
 vividly to her mind the fact that she had given her 
 husband to the service of her country, and might 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. II 
 
 possibly now, after the lapse of a quarter of a century, 
 be called on to resign her son. 
 
 The two comrades proceeded to Plymouth for the 
 purpose of joining H.M.S. Beagle. A day or two 
 after their arrival at Plymouth, and while they were 
 waiting for their ship to start, William IV. died, and 
 they were eye-witnesses as well as auditors of the 
 proclamations issued by the Mayor of Plymouth, on 
 the accession of Victoria as Queen of England. Their 
 commissions were nine days old at this time. 
 
 A fortnight passed away before all necessary stores 
 and equipments had been shipped on board the 
 Beagle. Then, finally, farewell was bidden to the 
 friends who had come to Plymouth to see them de- 
 part, the anchor was weighed, and the Beagle, passing 
 beyond the breakwater and the Eddystone, sailed on 
 her southern voyage. 
 
 The hopes and ambitions which, since childhood, 
 had grown up in the mind of George Grey thus 
 seemed to be in a fair way of attainment. It is a 
 strange and peculiar coincidence that the commence- 
 ment of his career, as directly connected with the 
 colonies, is contemporaneous with the reign of Vic- 
 toria; It could not, by any possibility, have suggested 
 itself to the mind of the voyager, that for upwards of 
 half a century the young queen should sit upon the 
 throne of her fathers, and that he, as her servant, 
 should be engaged in many ways and in many lands 
 in the public service of the Empire, and in direct 
 connection with the colonies. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FIRST OUTWARD VOYAGE. —FORECAST OF FUTURE 
 LIFE. 
 
 " Adieu ! Adieu ! My native shore 
 Fades o'er the waters blue." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 As the ship left the shores of his native land, and 
 gradually won her way towards the tropics, the hopes 
 and purposes which had before been shadowed in 
 Grey's mind began to assume more definite shapes 
 and proportions. Often pacing the deck alone at 
 night beneath the quiet stars of the tropics, or when, 
 in colder latitudes, the rounded sails were gleaming 
 in the moonlight, and the ship, with a fresh breeze 
 behind her, was impatiently mounting the white- 
 crested waves and winging her way to the new lands, 
 plans for the future of his own work and toil, and for 
 the benefit especially of the poorer classes of his 
 countrymen, moulded and worked themselves out in 
 George Grey's mind. He determined not merely to 
 prosecute explorations and to discover great terri- 
 tories, but to devote the energies of his life to the new 
 purpose of ameliorating the condition of the masses 
 of his people. His mind, though not enthusiastic, 
 was always characterized by excessive strength of 
 opinion and determination of purpose. A plan once 
 formed was never relinquished. A determination once 
 taken, no vacillation was allowed. No hesitation 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 1 3 
 
 stayed his hand or foot in the accomplishment of the 
 end he had proposed to himself. Cut off from the ordi- 
 nary circles of friendship in England, started upon the 
 voyage which meant the commencement of an active 
 life, he could not avoid continuous thought upon the 
 great purposes which he desired to accomplish. 
 
 The first break in the journey after leaving Ply- 
 mouth was at Teneriffe, on the 19th of July. An- 
 choring off the quaint city of Santa Cruz, the Beagle 
 stayed till the afternoon of the 23rd. This time was 
 pleasantly spent by young Grey in expeditions across 
 the island to various interesting spots, in taking a 
 series of magnetic observations, and in collating a 
 vocabulary of the language of the Guanches — a race 
 who held possession of the Canary Islands about 
 fifteen hundred years ago, but who passed out of 
 existence within the century. He was much interested 
 in noting other evidences of the occupation of the 
 islands by these people, particularly an inaccessible 
 cave, the opening of which was filled with their bones. 
 Grey could only account for their being there by the 
 supposition that they had gained the cave from the 
 interior of the country or by a winding path on the 
 face of the cliff, which had afterwards been destroyed 
 and their retreat cut off. The stay here was accom- 
 panied by the usual di£&culty experienced by a 
 foreigner in making himself understood. This was 
 peculiarly noticeable in Grey's case when it was to 
 the interest of the residents not to understand. 
 
 The voyage from Teneriffe to Bahia was uneventful, 
 though very pleasant. The anchor was dropped in 
 the harbour of the latter place on August 17 th. The 
 beauty and luxuriance of the vegetation, the bounti- 
 fulness of nature, awakened in the young explorer's 
 mind " those wild and indescribable feelings which 
 accompany the first entrance into a rich tropical 
 
14 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 country." Speaking of a walk on the evening of his 
 arrival, he says, " The luxuriant foliage, expanding in 
 magnificent variety, the brightness of the stars above, 
 the dazzling brilliancy of the fireflies around me, the 
 breeze laden with balmy smells, and the busy hum of 
 insect life making the deep woods vocal, at first 
 oppress the senses with a feeling of novelty and 
 strangeness, till the mind appears to hover between 
 the realms of truth and falsehood." 
 
 On the 25th the Beagle left the shores of Brazil and 
 set sail for the Cape of Good Hope, which they reached 
 on the 22nd of September. Finding that a vessel 
 could be procured here more readily and economically 
 than at Swan River, where they had previously in- 
 tended to hire one for the expedition, they engaged 
 the Lynher, a schooner of about 140 tons. From this 
 time till the 12 th of October every moment was occu- 
 pied with preparations for departure, engaging a few 
 additional men of good character, embarking live 
 stock (sheep and goats and dogs), collecting useful 
 plants, vegetables, and fruits that would be likely to 
 thrive in the new land, laying in necessary stores, 
 and making all business arrangements. 
 
 The party consisted of twelve, besides the captain, 
 mate, and crew of the schooner. The plan resolved 
 on was to proceed to Hanover Bay, to select a good 
 spot there for a temporary encampment, and, having 
 landed the stock, to send away the schooner, under 
 Lieutenant Lushington's command, to Timor for 
 ponies. Embarking on the evening of October 12th, 
 the Lynher hove anchor, and sailed away early next 
 morning. 
 
 Lieutenant Grey very briefly speaks of his feelings 
 and plans in the following passage : — " Great, then, 
 was my Joy when all my preparations were completed 
 and I felt the vessel gliding swiftly from Table Bay 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 1 5 
 
 into that vast ocean at the other extremity of which 
 lay the land I so longed to see, and to which I was 
 now bound, with the ardent hope of opening the way 
 for the conversion of a barren wilderness into a 
 fruitful garden. 
 
 "Part of my plan was not only to introduce all 
 useful animals that I possibly could into this part of 
 Australia, but also the most valuable plants of every 
 description. For this purpose a collection has been 
 made at Teneriffe by Mr. Walker, under my direction, 
 and another in South America, including the seeds of 
 the cotton plant.. From the Cape and from England 
 I had also procured other useful plants, and had 
 planned that the vessel, on quitting Timor with the 
 horses, should be filled in every vacant space with 
 young cocoanut trees and other fruits, together with 
 useful animals, such as goats and sheep, in addition 
 to the stock we conveyed from the Cape." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FIRST EXPLORATION. 
 
 " O'er mountain routes 
 And over wild wolds clouded up with brush, 
 And cut with marshes perilously deep — 
 So went they forth at dawn ; at eve the sun, 
 That rose behind them as they journeyed out, 
 Was firing with his nether rim a range 
 Of unknown mountains that like ramparts towered 
 Full in their front ; and his last glances fell 
 Into the gloomy forest's eastern glades 
 In golden gleams." 
 
 Charles Har^ur. 
 
 Lieutenant Grey landed near Hanover Bay on 
 December 3rd, 1837. He and a small party went 
 ashore to find water, but the nature of the country 
 made it so difficult to proceed, and the heat was so 
 terrible, that they lost three dogs, two of whom died 
 on the spot where they fell exhausted. After stagger- 
 ing on over rocks, that seemed like ruined mountains, 
 for a whole day and a great part of the night, the 
 men came to a halt on the sea beach. 
 
 Grey and Corporal Coles followed the coast for 
 some distance further, but were stopped by an arm of 
 the sea, about 500 yards wide. It was necessary for 
 the safety of the party that this should be crossed, as 
 the ship was to meet them further along the coast. 
 The tide was ebbing out to sea with tremendous 
 swiftness. At this place the difference between high 
 and low tide is 38 feet, and many portions of com- 
 paratively high land are completely submerged at 
 flood tide. Coles was unfit to attempt the swimming 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 1 7 
 
 of the stream. The presence of hostile natives on 
 the opposite shore made it an extremely dangerous 
 undertaking. But the lives of all the party were in 
 peril, and Grey plunged into the current, at first 
 holding his pistol above the water with one hand, 
 but was soon obliged to use both hands in making 
 way against the rushing water, which would have 
 carried him out to sea. He reached the other side, 
 exhausted, naked, and wounded from clambering over 
 the sharp rocks. He heard the shouts of the savages, 
 as they answered each other, from every side. Taking 
 refuge from the natives in a cave, he was overcome 
 with exhaustion, and fell asleep. Finally, he was 
 awakened and taken off, towards morning, by a boat's 
 crew who were searching for him. 
 
 The rest of the month was occupied in forming a 
 camping ground, as headquarters and base of opera- 
 tions. After landing a large supply of provisions, 
 the schooner, which had brought them, sailed for' 
 Timor, to fetch horses and fresh stores. Meanwhile, 
 Grey, with three or four men, explored the country to 
 some distance from the Prince Regent river, but in 
 an almost parallel course. 
 
 Finding indications of the proximity of large num- 
 bers of natives, they took all possible precautions to 
 avoid being surprised. Grey thus writes of the 
 situation : — " In the event of anything happening to 
 one of the three, our return to the main party might 
 be considerably impeded, if not altogether prevented ; 
 and although from the superiority of our weapons 
 over theirs, I entertained but little doubt of the issue 
 of any contest we might be forced into, the calls of 
 humanity as well as of personal interest, warned me 
 to do my utmost to avoid an affray."* 
 
 * " Journal of Two Expeditions in North-West and Western 
 Australia." Vol. I., p. loj. By George Grey. 
 VOL. I. C 
 
1 8 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 The first actual meeting with these savages occurred 
 a few days later. No further signs of the natives had 
 been seen, and the three Englishmen had somewhat 
 relaxed in their watchfulness. Compelled by a 
 sudden and violent storm to seek shelter they doubled 
 back about a hundred yards to the left of their former 
 track. What followed is best described by another 
 quotation from the work just mentioned : " Scarcely 
 had we reached these rocks, and sheltered ourselves 
 under the overhanging projections, when I saw a 
 savage approaching with a spear in his right hand, 
 and a bundle of similar weapons in his left ; he was 
 followed by a party of thirteen others, and with them 
 was a small dog — not of the kind common to this 
 country. The men were curiously painted for war, 
 red being the predominant colour, and each man 
 carried several spears, a throwing stick and a club. 
 Their chief was in front, and distinguished by his 
 hair being of a dark red colour from some compo- 
 sition with which it was smeared ; the others followed 
 him close, noiselessly, and with stealthy pace, one by 
 one, whilst he, crouching almost to the earth, pricked 
 off our trail. 
 
 " We remained concealed and motionless until they 
 had all passed, but the moment they came to where 
 we had turned off, they discovered our retreat, and 
 raised loud shouts of triumph, as, forming themselves 
 into a semicircle, they advanced upon us, brandishing 
 their spears, and bounding from rock to rock. It was 
 in vain that I made friendly signs and gestures, they 
 still closed upon us, and to my surprise I heard their 
 war-cry answered by a party who were coming over 
 the high rocks in our rear, which I had flattered 
 myself protected us in that direction. 
 
 " Our situation was now so critical that I was 
 compelled to assume a hostile attitude. I therefore 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. ig 
 
 shouted in answer to their cries, and desiring the men 
 to fire one at a time, if I gave the word, I advanced 
 rapidly, at the same time firing one barrel over their 
 heads. This had the desired effect. With the excep- 
 tion of one more resolute than the rest, they fled on 
 all sides, and he, finding his efforts unavailing, soon 
 followed their example. 
 
 " Feeling, however, that the neighbourhood we 
 were in was a dangerous one, and being anxious to 
 know whether the party I had left at the encampment 
 — only six in number — had seen these natives, I 
 hurried our march, although the rain fell in torrents 
 all day, and we that night made the camp." 
 
 Christmas Day was spent at the camp, all dining 
 together "in a little booth made of boughs, which 
 we dressed up as gaily as we could. I could not but 
 feel considerable pleasure in seeing the happy coun- 
 tenances of the men ranged round the rough plank 
 that formed our table." 
 
 On New Year's Day a ceremony like that which 
 marks a similar festival in China took place. With 
 the first ray of light Grey commenced to plant, in 
 favourable situations, seeds of all the most useful 
 vegetables and fruits he had brought with him — a 
 valuable New Year's gift to the country. When the 
 schooner returned with the horses, great difficulty 
 was experienced in bringing them to the camp, owing 
 to the steep and broken nature of the country ; and 
 the undertaking was not without its perils. On the 
 29th of January we can picture Lieutenant Grey 
 sitting on the head of a pack horse which had been 
 knocked down by a projecting rock, while passing 
 along a narrow track on the face of a cliff, at the edge 
 of a precipice 1 50 feet deep. Those who have had no 
 acquaintance with such perils read with wonder that 
 even at that moment of anxiety and personal danger 
 
 C 2 
 
20 BIRTH AND EARI.Y YEARS. 
 
 Grey found leisure to appreciate the beauty of the 
 scene around, and the romantic situation. Happily, 
 the adventure led to no serious results. By cutting 
 the girths of the saddle, and allowing the pack to 
 fall over the precipice, a chance to recover itself was 
 given to the pony, which then regained its footing. 
 
 When the depot had been stocked, the party set out 
 on the serious business of the expedition. The map 
 accompanying Grey's account of the explorations 
 shows very little progress at first, for the ponies were 
 weak from exposure and unaccustomed food. On 
 February 4th two miles was the distance accom- 
 plished. The rainy season had set in, and the gullies 
 and passes of the hills were flooded. The conse- 
 quence was that, after ten days of most fatiguing 
 journeys, during which seven ponies died, and several 
 of the remaining nineteen became weak and suffered 
 injuries, the party had only just reached the high 
 lands on the other side of the stony ranges, not more 
 than a day's march if the proper route could have 
 been taken. 
 
 On February i ith, when they were in high hopes of 
 reaching a tolerably level country. Grey, Coles, and 
 another man were attacked by a large body of natives. 
 The explorers were totally unprepared for the on- 
 slaught, although vague cries had resounded from 
 different points, and been echoed from great distances 
 earlier in the day. These sounds were so indistinct 
 in character that the little party decided they were 
 not human voices. One of the men being absent 
 rather longer than usual on his task of notching the 
 bark of certain trees to serve as a land-mark, Grey 
 grew slightly anxious. To quote his own words : — 
 
 " I called loudly to him, but received no answer, 
 and therefore passed round some rocks which hid the 
 tree from my view to look after him. Suddenly I 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 21 
 
 saw him close to me, breathless, and speechless with 
 terror, and a native with his spear fixed in a throw- 
 ing-stick, in full pursuit of him. Immediately num- 
 bers of other natives burst upon my sight ; each tree, 
 each rock, seemed to give forth its black denizens, as 
 if by enchantment. 
 
 " A moment before the most solemn silence per- 
 vaded these woods ; we deemed that not a human 
 being moved within miles of us ; and now they rang 
 with savage and ferocious yells, and fierce armed men 
 crowded round us on every side, bent on our destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 " There was something very terrible in so complete 
 and sudden a surprise. Certain death appeared to 
 stare us in the face; and from the determined and 
 resolute air of our opponents I immediately guessed 
 that the man who had first seen them, instead of 
 boldly standing his ground, and calling to Coles and 
 myself for assistance, had at once, like a coward, run 
 away, thus giving the natives confidence in them- 
 selves, and a contempt for us ; and this conjecture I 
 afterwards ascertained was perfectly true. 
 
 " We were now fairly engaged for our lives ; escape 
 was impossible, and surrender to such enemies out of 
 the question. 
 
 " As soon as I saw the natives around me I fired 
 one barrel of my gun over the head of him who was 
 pursuing my dismayed attendant, hoping the report 
 would have checked his further career. He proved to 
 be the tall man seen at the camp, painted with white. 
 My shot stopped him not ; he still closed on us, and 
 his spear whistled by my head ; but whilst he was 
 fixing another in his throwing-stick a ball from my 
 second barrel struck him in the arm, and it fell 
 powerless by his side. He now retired behind a rock, 
 but the others still pressed on. 
 
22 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 " I now made the two men retire behind some 
 neighbouring rocks, which formed a kind of protect- 
 ing parapet along our front and right flank, whilst I 
 took post on the left. Both my barrels were now 
 exhausted ; and I desired the other two to fire sepa- 
 rately whilst I was reloading ; but to my horror. Coles, 
 who was armed with my rifle, reported hurriedly that 
 the cloth case with which he had covered it for pro- 
 tection against rain had become entangled. His ser- 
 vices were thus lost at a most critical moment, whilst 
 trying to tear off the lock cover ; and the other man 
 was so paralysed with fear that he could do nothing 
 but cry out, ' Oh, God ! sir, look at them ; look at 
 them ! ' 
 
 "In the meantime, our opponents pressed more 
 closely round ; their spears kept whistling by us, and 
 our fate seemed inevitable. The light-coloured man, 
 spoken of at the camp, now appeared to direct their 
 movements. He sprang forward to a rock not more 
 than thirty yards from us, and posting himself behind 
 it, threw a spear, with such deadly force and aim, 
 that had I not drawn myself forward by a sudden 
 jerk, it must have gone through my body, and as it 
 was, it touched my back in flying by. Another well- 
 directed spear, from a different hand, would have 
 pierced me in the breast, but in the motion I made to 
 avoid it, it struck upon the stock of my gun, of which 
 it carried away a portion by its force. 
 
 "All this took place in a few seconds of time, and 
 no shot had been fired but by me. I now recognized 
 in the light-coloured man an old enemy who had led 
 on the former attack against me on the 22 nd of De- 
 cember. By his cries and gestures he now appeared 
 to be urging the others to surround and press on us, 
 which they were rapidly doing. 
 
 " I saw now that but one thing could be done to 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY TEARS. 23 
 
 save our lives, so I gave Coles my gun to complete 
 the reloading, and took the rifle which he had not yet 
 disengaged from the cover. I tore it off, and stepping 
 out from behind our parapet, advanced to the rock 
 which covered my light-coloured opponent. I had 
 not made two steps in advance when three spears 
 struck me nearly at the same moment, one of which 
 was thrown by him. I felt severely wounded in the 
 hip, but knew not exactly where the others had struck 
 me. The force of all knocked me down, and made 
 me very giddy and faint, but as I fell I heard the 
 savage yells of the natives' delight and triumph. 
 These recalled me to myself, and roused my momen- 
 tary rage and indignation. I made a strong effort, 
 rallied, and in a moment was on my legs ; the spear 
 was wrenched from my wound, and my haversack 
 drawn closely over it, that neither my own party nor 
 the natives might see it, and I advanced again 
 steadily to the rock. The man became alarmed, and 
 threatened me with his club, yelling most furiously ; 
 but as I neared the rock, behind which all but his 
 head and arm was covered, he fled towards an adjoin- 
 ing one, dodging dexterously, according to the native 
 manner of confusing an assailant and avoiding the 
 cast of his spear ; but he was scarcely uncovered in 
 his flight, when my rifle ball pierced him through the 
 back, between the shoulders and he fell heavily on 
 his face, with a deep groan. 
 
 "The effect was electrical. The tumult of the 
 combat had ceased. Not another spear was thrown, 
 not another yell was uttered. Native after native 
 dropped away, and noiselessly disappeared. I stood 
 alone with the wretched savage dying before me, and 
 my two men close to me behind the rocks, in the atti- 
 tude of deep attention ; and as I looked round upon 
 the dark rocks and forests now suddenly silent and 
 
24 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 lifeless, but for the sight of the unhappy being who 
 lay on the ground before me, I could have thought 
 that the whole affair had been a horrid dream. 
 
 " For a second or two I gazed on the scene, and 
 then returned to my former position. I took my gun 
 from Coles, which he had not yet finished loading, 
 and gave him the rifle. I then went up to the other 
 man, and gave him two balls to hold, but when I 
 placed them in his hands they rolled upon the earth. 
 He could not hold them, for he was completely 
 paralysed with terror, and they fell through his 
 fingers ; the perspiration streamed from every pore ; 
 he was ghastly pale, and trembled from head to foot ; 
 his limbs refused their functions ; his eyes were so 
 fixed in the direction in which the natives had dis- 
 appeared, that I could draw his attention to nothing 
 else, and he still continued repeating, 'Good Gpd, 
 sir ! look at them — look at them ! ' 
 
 "The natives had all now concealed themselves, 
 but they were not far off. Presently the wounded 
 man made an effort to raise himself slowly from the 
 ground. Some of them instantly came from behind 
 the rocks and trees, without their spears, crowding 
 round him with the greatest tenderness and solici- 
 tude. Two passed their arms round him, his head 
 drooped senselessly upon his chest, and, with hurried 
 steps, the whole party wound their way through the 
 forest, their black forms being scarcely distinguish- 
 able from the charred trunks of the trees, as they 
 receded in the distance. 
 
 "To have fired upon the other natives, when they 
 returned for the wounded man, would, in my belief, 
 have been an unnecessary piece of barbarity. I 
 already felt deeply the death of him I had been com- 
 pelled to shoot; and I believe that when a fellow- 
 creature falls by one's hand, even in a single combat. 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS, 25 
 
 rendered unavoidable in self-defence, it is impossible 
 not sincerely to regret the force of so cruel a neces- 
 sity." 
 
 In these days, when the world rings with the fame 
 of explorers whose progress through savage lands has 
 been marked by havoc and desolation, we hear little 
 about their poignancy of regret at shedding a fellow- 
 creature's blood. All Christendom bows down and 
 worships adventurers, whose hands are red, not with 
 the blood of one naked savage, but of hundreds — and 
 these slain not under the " cruel necessity " of self- 
 defence, but with mere brutal disregard for human 
 life. Grey wished to win the confidence and the 
 goodwill of the native tribes, to teach them to wel- 
 come Europeans as friends, and to bring benefits and 
 prosperity to all the uncivilized races with whom he 
 came in contact. He strove to inspire affection, 
 gratitude, and trust towards the invading white man. 
 Modem pioneers of civilization too frequently succeed 
 in arousing in barbaric hearts the sentiments of fear 
 and hatred. So anxious was Captain Grey to show 
 the natives that he felt no ill-will towards them, that, 
 weak and wounded as he was, he saw that the spears 
 and other native weapons, which were lying about in 
 abundance, were left untouched. The only one he 
 took was that which had wounded him in the thigh. 
 
 With the assistance of his comrades. Grey managed 
 to get back within two miles of the main party, whom 
 he had left in order to find a path suitable for the 
 horses to follow. 
 
 In crossing a stream, the leader strained his wounded 
 hip severely, and, on reaching the opposite shore, fell 
 heavily, and was unable to rise again. Coles went on 
 alone to the encampment. Within an hour Mr. 
 Walker had reached Grey's side, and very shortly 
 after the rest of the party arrived, bringing tents and 
 
26 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 Stores. The mind of the young explorer, during that 
 hour of loneliness and pain, was filled with memories 
 of home and the realization of the vivid contrast pre- 
 sented by his present circumstances. "I sat upon 
 the rocky edge of a cool, clear brook," he says, " sup- 
 ported by a small tree. The sun shone out brightly; 
 the dark forest was alive with birds and insects. On 
 such scenery I had loved to meditate when a boy, but 
 now how changed I was — wounded, fatigued, and 
 wandering in an unknown land. In momentary ex- 
 pectation of being attacked, my finger was on the 
 trigger, my gun ready to be raised, my eyes and ears 
 busily engaged in detecting the slightest sounds, that 
 I might defend a life which I, at that moment, believed 
 was ebbing with my blood away. The loveliness of 
 nature was around me, the sun rejoicing in his cloud- 
 less career ; the birds were filling the woods with 
 their songs, and my friends far away and unappre- 
 hensive of my condition, whilst I felt that I was dying 
 there." 
 
 For more than a fortnight he was unable to proceed 
 any further. During the first night, while he was 
 lying awake, and suffering from his wounds, more 
 than the pain and weariness he felt the mournful 
 cries and wailing with which the unseen natives filled 
 the air, lamenting their chief, the strong and the 
 brave. 
 
 When he was a little better they proceeded on their 
 course. Grey being carried by one of the ponies. This 
 mode of travel was very exhausting, and his anxiety 
 to be on his feet once more, and able to seek for the 
 best track, no doubt retarded his discovery. Follow- 
 ing a westerly direction, they soon sighted a noble 
 river, which Grey called the Glenelg, after his friend 
 the Secretary of State. This was on the 3rd of March. 
 From that time till the end of the month their way led 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 27 
 
 through marshy and swampy ground, and they often 
 had to retrace their steps in order to avoid the 
 numerous streams which poured into the river. 
 
 On March 26th they discovered some remarkable 
 paintings in a cave, and during the next few days 
 found several similar works of savage art. On the 
 31st Grey decided to turn back, as the men's strength 
 was rapidly diminishing, the stock of provisions get- 
 ting very low, and his own state of health becoming 
 critical. A small party, led by Lieutenant Lushing- 
 ton, was, however, sent forward on foot to see if it 
 were practicable to proceed. They returned on April 
 3rd with the report that the country was perfectly im- 
 passable for horses. The original camp in Hanover Bay 
 was reached again on April 15th. They found H.M.S. 
 Beagle on the coast, and the narrative of their adven- 
 tures was eagerly listened to. Turning the different 
 animals still alive loose, to wander into the bush, the 
 explorers sailed away in their little schooner to Perth. 
 
 After the lapse of more than fifty years it is not easy 
 to realize exactly what we owe to the first explorers of 
 new territory. The earliest information of the exist- 
 ence of mountains such as the Stephen Range and 
 Mount Lyell, of rivers such as the Glenelg, of fertile 
 districts and stony deserts in North-Western Aus- 
 tralia, was given to the world by Captain Grey. The 
 facts he observed and published in connection with 
 the nature of the soil ; the characteristics of the 
 rivers ; the peculiarities of the climate ; the various 
 forms of animal and vegetable life ; the language, 
 customs, and achievements of the natives — all these 
 were of vivid interest at the time, and of enduring 
 value as reliable contributions to the sum of human 
 knowledge. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SECOND EXPLORATION. 
 
 " Ah God ! what fierce extremes encompass life ! 
 Note yon plump Sybarite, whose noons are feasts, 
 Whose midnights dainty banquets ! Hedged with gold 
 He sucks abundance from earth's shores and seas ; 
 
 ; He drains the wine of life from jewelled cups. 
 And fattens well for grave-worms ! 
 
 Different fares 
 Yon child of pain that treads dry fumaced tracts, 
 Above stretch skies of fire ; around him plains, 
 Bare, moistureless ; beneath him, earth — his grave ! 
 For him no rich looms play with curious skill ; 
 No menials crook and cringe ; no tempting cates, 
 Nor rare wines glisten ; at Fate's Sibyl-hands 
 He plucks desire, mistrust, hope, fear, and death. 
 Ah God ! what fierce extremes encompass life ! 
 
 4k « # * 
 
 Through night's long hours Paul trod that hopeless land, 
 Nor neared the peaks till dawn. Grim hills were they 
 Whose huge piled blocks seemed poised by giant hands 
 In high perpetual menace of mankind ! 
 Athwart their base rough gorges stretched, and past 
 Precipitous steeps, one large, dry, gum creek, paved 
 With smooth round boulders and worn gravel stones ; 
 Its banks were loose and blistered. Noon's strong heats 
 Had sucked the streams that once hummed hereabout 
 True desert music." 
 
 P. J. Holdsworth. 
 
 Not having discovered any such large stream as he 
 believed must exist, Grey was very anxious to start 
 on a fresh expedition. He spent a few months at 
 Mauritius, recovering from his wounds, and studying 
 the resources of the country. During this time he 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 29 
 
 also learned sufficient of the different dialects to be able 
 to converse with the natives, and to form a vocabulary, 
 which was afterwards transmitted to England. He 
 returned to Swan River on the i8th September, 1838, 
 but owing to many unforeseen difficulties, was com- 
 pelled to give up the idea of an expedition at that 
 time. After one or two short explorations in the 
 neighbourhood of Perth, Grey decided on a new plan, 
 namely, to follow the coast, both north and south of 
 Shark Bay, in whaleboats, landing at different points 
 and making short trips into the interior. 
 
 The little party consisted of twelve men, five of 
 whom had been through the trying experiences of 
 the former expedition. With three whaleboats and 
 provisions for five months, they were conveyed to 
 Shark Bay in a whaler, and landed on Bernier Island 
 on the 25th of February, 1839, where it had been 
 decided to form a depot for the stores. Two days 
 later one of the boats was wrecked while being 
 launched in order to search for fresh water, as none 
 could be found on the island. Next day, having 
 tburied the bulk of the provisions, the whole party 
 went to Dorre Island, where they found a small 
 quantity of water. 
 
 In the night a furious gale rose suddenly, and Mr. 
 Walker, Mr. Smith, and Grey had to swim out 
 through the surf to reach the two boats, which were 
 found nearly full of water. One of them soon broke 
 from her moorings, but was hauled safely up the 
 beach. Grey, writing of this night, calls it " one of 
 the most fearful I have ever passed." The storm 
 raged all the night, and a temporary lull at daybreak 
 was followed by an instantaneous change of direction, 
 whence the tempest blew for some hours with the 
 greatest violence, tossing the second boat on shore. 
 By pulling her far up she also was secured without 
 
30 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 being much damaged. There were no trees on the 
 island, but the bushes were all dragged from the 
 ground, and stalwart men could not keep their feet. 
 
 At two p.m., during the short calm, the leader of 
 the party sent men in all directions to collect water 
 from holes in the rocks. Even thus early in the expe- 
 dition the explorers were placed in desperate circum- 
 stances. The perils which menaced them are summed 
 up in an entry in Lieutenant Grey's journal : — 
 
 "The men who had gone out for water soon returned 
 and reported that they had been able to find very 
 little which was not brackish from the spray having 
 dashed over the island. I, therefore, again reduced 
 the allowance to one pint a day, and proceeded to 
 inspect damages. Yesterday we had started in good 
 boats, with strong men, plenty of provisions, every- 
 thing in the best order. To-day I found myself in a 
 very different position, all the stores we had with us, 
 with the exception of the salt provisions, were spoilt ; 
 our ammunition damaged ; the chronometers down ; 
 and both boats so stoved and strained as to be quite 
 beyond our powers of repairing them effectually. V- 
 Moreover, from want of water, we were compelled to 
 make for the main before we could return to Bernier 
 Island, to recruit from our ample stores there." 
 
 Two days having been spent in repairing the boats, 
 the party once more set out for the mainland, and on 
 March 4th, reached it. After a few hours' toilsome 
 walking they found a welcome pool. Coasting along 
 the shore they discovered a river, which they called 
 the Gascoyne. The bed of the river was so choked 
 with shallows and sandbanks that navigation soon 
 became impossible. The explorers, therefore, set out 
 on foot to discover the nature of the country on its 
 banks. To his delight, Grey found it a most fertile 
 district. The rich alluvial soil was, in his opinion, 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 31 
 
 " well adapted for either agricultural or pastoral pur- 
 poses, but especially for the growth of cotton and 
 sugar." His chief object in braving the perils and 
 privations of these expeditions was to throw open 
 large tracts of unknown territory for human habita- 
 tion. His feelings at this important discovery are 
 recorded in these words : — 
 
 " I felt conscious that within a few years of the 
 moment at which I stood there, a British population, 
 rich in civilization and the means of transforming an 
 unoccupied country to one teeming with inhabitants 
 and produce, would have followed my steps, and be 
 eagerly and anxiously examining my charts ; and 
 this reflection imparted a high degree of interest and 
 importance to our present position and operations." 
 
 A little further to the north, where they had landed 
 to avoid heavy weather, they were attacked by about 
 thirty natives. These were frightened away by firing 
 guns over their heads, but they stole two bags con- 
 taining the journal and several useful articles which 
 the explorers could ill spare. They were detained at 
 this spot for some time as the surf was too high for 
 them to get out. Every day they became more anxious 
 to leave the place, as their flour had been spoilt by 
 the salt water, and the men were not only becoming 
 weak, from insufficient and bad food, but were getting 
 demoralised by inactivity. 
 
 The picture drawn by the young officer of their 
 situation at this time, presents the first suggestion of 
 despondency : " Day after day did we sit and wait 
 for this favourable moment, until the noise of the 
 hoarse breaking surf had become a familiar sound to 
 our ears ; but the longer the men watched, the more 
 dispirited did they become ; each returning day found 
 them more weak and wan, more gloomy and petulant, 
 than the preceding one ; and when the eighth day of 
 
32 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 constant and fruitless expectation slowty closed upon 
 us, I felt a gloomy foreboding creeping over me." 
 
 Grey spent that night in walking up and down the 
 beach, "anxiously looking out seaward." About day- 
 break the longed-for opportunity presented itself, and 
 the two boats were safely launched. 
 
 When they reached Bernier Island again, on the 
 2oth of March, they discovered that a terrible calamity 
 had befallen them. Seeing that the land-marks had 
 been altered, and that evidences of the fury of the 
 hurricane were everywhere visible, Grey took with 
 him only two of the party whom he thought he could 
 trust implicitly, and of whose good sense, fidelity, and 
 courage he was sure. He went to visit the depot of 
 provisions. His worst fears were realised, for the sea 
 had reached and destroyed it, and all the stores were 
 gone. A cask of salt provisions and half a cask of 
 flour were found on the top of a rock, more than 
 twenty feet above the reach of ordinary high tide, and 
 this was all that remained of their ample stores. 
 
 It is impossible for anyone who has not been in a 
 similar position to comprehend, or even in a slight 
 degree to enter into, the feelings which oppressed the 
 leader of the little band when his suspicions were so 
 terribly confirmed. Of them all he was the most alive 
 to the gravity of the situation — he could foresee dan- 
 gers and sufferings of which the rest would never 
 think. Accustomed to command, and a profound 
 student of human nature, his heart sank as he con- 
 templated the difficulties of preserving discipline and 
 courage amongst the men. Whatever evils he fore- 
 saw he could not allow himself to dwell on them. The 
 whole party looked to him for wisdom to guide, for 
 courage to sustain, and for cheerfulness to inspire. 
 While considering every contingency which might 
 arise, and preparing to meet it, he could never look 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 33 
 
 downcast or appear to expect misfortune. The lives 
 of all depended, under the providence of God, on his 
 coolness, discretion, personal influence, and example. 
 It is not wonderful to read that in such crises of anxiety 
 his greatest comfort was derived from the perusal of 
 a New Testament, which he always carried with him, 
 and ever found a source of strength and encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 The plan he decided upon was to proceed down the 
 coast towards Perth, in the whaleboats, as far as pos- 
 sible, and if anything happened to the boats, to con- 
 tinue on foot in the same direction. The remaining 
 provisions were spoilt by salt water, and really unfit 
 for food, but they were carefully weighed, and equal 
 amounts allotted to each of the party. No time was 
 lost. By noon on the 22nd all preparations had been 
 made, and the explorers set forth on their desperate 
 homeward journey. 
 
 In pulling down the coast they were frequently in 
 danger. On the 31st of March they were compelled 
 to make the shore to procure water. Choosing what 
 appeared a most favourable spot, they pulled through 
 the surf. Grey thus describes the catastrophe which 
 followed : " For one second the boat hung upon the 
 top of a wave, in the next I felt the sensation of 
 falling rapidly, then a tremendous shock and crash 
 which jerked me away amongst rocks and breakers, 
 and for the few following seconds I heard nothing 
 but the din of waves, whilst I was rolling about 
 amongst men and a torn boat, oars, and water kegs 
 in such a manner that I could not collect my senses." 
 The men regained their feet and beached the boat 
 without any loss of life. The second boat, misunder- 
 standing the signals which Grey made to them not 
 to venture at the same spot, had some of her timbers 
 shattered from stem to stern. Neither boat was fit to 
 VOL. I. D 
 
34 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 put to sea again, and the party found that they had 
 to walk the rest of the way to Perth, a distance of 
 about 300 miles as the crow flies. 
 
 The men were in high spirits. Indeed, their leader 
 had to impress upon them the difficulties of the march 
 which lay before them, in the hope of inducing them 
 to abandon some portion of the loads which they 
 intended to carry. Each member of the party bore 
 his own share of the provisions, one pound of salt 
 meat and twenty pounds of flour — which, with its sour, 
 fermented taste and brown colour, would have been 
 uneatable in less desperate circumstances. Besides 
 these burdens, the men encumbered themselves with 
 " canvas, and what else they thought would sell at 
 Perth, and some of them appeared to be resolved 
 rather to risk their lives than the booty they were 
 bending under." Lieutenant Grey, in addition to his 
 rations, carried his own papers, several charts, a large 
 map which he filled in as they journeyed, and a number 
 of instruments. Kaiber, a native who accompanied 
 the party, relieved him of his gun. Chronometers, 
 sextants, and sketching materials were borne by 
 other individuals. 
 
 The new mode of travel commenced on April 2nd. 
 The entry in Grey's journal runs thus : — " Our loads 
 having been hoisted on our shoulders, away we moved. 
 I had before chosen my line of route, and the plan I 
 resolved to adopt was to walk on slowly but con- 
 tinuously for an hour, and then to halt for ten minutes, 
 during which interval of time the men could rest and 
 relieve themselves from the weight of their burdens, 
 whilst I could enter what notes and bearings I had 
 taken during the preceding hour." 
 
 For a few days the little party pressed onwards 
 intolerably good spirits, despite toilsome journeys, 
 rough ways, nauseous and scanty food, heavy burdens, 
 
BIRTH AUD EARLY YEARS. 35 
 
 and constant exposure to the weather. They passed 
 through a fertile and beautiful region, but the presence 
 of hostile natives added to their troubles. Grey's 
 humanity in firing over their heads soon taught the 
 blacks contempt for his weapon. " Then," he writes, 
 "I was compelled to act promptly, or blood would 
 undoubtedly have been shed. I therefore took my 
 rifle from Coles, and directing it at a heap of closely 
 matted dead bushes which were distant two or three 
 yards to the right of their main body, I drove a ball 
 right through it. The dry, rotten boughs crackled 
 and flew in all directions, whilst our enemy, utterly 
 confounded at this distant, novel, and unfair mode of 
 warfare, fled from the field in confusion, the majority 
 of our party rejoicing at the bloodless victory." 
 
 Before long, the men began to sink beneath their 
 self-imposed burdens, and to rebel against the con- 
 tinuous progress insisted on by their leader. The idea 
 took possession of their minds that they were wasting 
 their strength by long marches, and that it would be 
 far wiser to rest frequently and recruit, " utterly for- 
 getting that most of the party had now only seven or 
 eight pounds of fermented flour left, and that if they 
 did not make play whilst they had strength, their 
 eventually reaching Perth was quite hopeless." 
 
 When the majority "not only adopted these views 
 in theory, but doggedly carried them into practice," 
 Grey was forced to separate from the advocates of 
 short journeys and frequent rests. Dividing the party 
 into two, he went forward as quickly as he could, 
 leaving the others, under the guidance of Mr. Walker, 
 to follow at their leisure. 
 
 This separation occurred on April loth. Three 
 days later Grey shared the last morsel of his damper 
 with Kaiber, the native who accompanied the expe- 
 dition. He had still three spoonfuls of arrowroot in 
 
 D 2 
 
36 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 his wallet, but no water to cook it with, and suffered 
 intensely from hunger and thirst. His misery and 
 longing for food were aggravated by seeing the men 
 preparing their evening meal. He was much touched 
 by the action of one of his companions, who offered 
 him a morsel of damper about the size of a walnut. 
 Next day they found a native store of nuts in several 
 holes, one of which only they emptied, the leader 
 holding that they were only justified in taking as 
 much as was absolutely necessary to support life. 
 Grey shot a hawk during the day, and was able libe- 
 rally to repay the lad who had so generously given 
 him a portion of his scanty store the previous evening. 
 
 The sufferings of the little party became almost in- 
 tolerable. Water could not be found, for although the 
 country was intersected by large river beds, yet they 
 were all dry, and only occasionally were a few muddy 
 pools discovered, where, in the rainy season, immense 
 bodies of water rushed to the ocean. On the 17th 
 they had been three days without either food or water. 
 They could not sleep that night, but roamed wearily 
 about seeking vainly for what they so much needed. 
 Still pushing on, they came to a small mudhole, 
 beside which the men sank on the ground with cries 
 of weariness and rapture, and their leader had great 
 difficulty in inducing them to move on again. 
 
 They were now passing through a fertile and pro- 
 mising country, and game was plentiful, but weakness 
 and exhaustion had so told upon them all, that even 
 Grey found his hand shaking so much that he could 
 not for an instant cover a bird with his gun. Watch- 
 ing where a flock of cockatoos went to roost, he 
 followed them, and firing into their midst, killed one. 
 Next morning they found some mussels on the bank 
 of a stream. Much as he needed food, Kaiber could 
 not be induced to taste one of these, declaring they 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 37 
 
 were under the protection of a powerful spirit. His 
 master, however, insisted on his procuring some for 
 the rest of the party. A torrent of bitterly cold rain 
 falling that night, gave Kaiber the intense satisfaction, 
 even to an uncivilised mind, of saying, " I told you 
 so." Grey's wrath was kindled by the monotonous 
 chant in which the native indulged through the long 
 hours of the wretched night. 
 
 " Why should he eat the mussels ? " was the burden 
 of his lay, and although he introduced slight varia- 
 tions they in nowise disturbed its monotony. Irritated 
 beyond endurance, the young officer peremptorily 
 forbade any further mention of the mussels. Kaiber 
 knew and respected a tone which did not encourage 
 trifling, and lamented in a much lower key, although, 
 even then. Grey heard a subdued murmuring at 
 intervals. 
 
 After a few more days of starvation and fatigue, 
 toiling wearily onward with blistered and bleeding 
 feet, and enfeebled frames, none of the party seemed 
 to feel any desire to carry on the unequal struggle 
 against death, buc showed an inclination to lie down 
 and succumb at once. Only the consideration that 
 they might yet save the lives of the other half of the 
 expedition, by sending assistance to them from Perth, 
 urged them to continue. On the 20th they fell in 
 with a party of natives, some of whom were known to 
 Kaiber, and these men supplied them with food. Next 
 day they reached Perth, and Grey immediately went 
 to see the Governor. The latter did not at first recog- 
 nize the visitor, but when he heard his story showed 
 great kindness to the six who had successfully per- 
 formed such a long and trying journey, and sent 
 immediate assistance to those who had been left 
 behind. 
 
 The hardships of that terrible three months had so 
 
38 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 greatly changed the young explorer, that friends 
 hearing of his return, and hastening to congratulate 
 him, passed him unrecognized in the street. Not one 
 of the men who had pushed forward upon his advice 
 and under his guidance was lost. 
 
 The rescuing party, setting out from Perth, found 
 four of the other detachment still alive. The youngest, 
 Frederick Smyth, a lad of eighteen, had perished by 
 the way, and three others when discovered had sunk 
 on the ground in the last stages of exhaustion, unable, 
 as they asserted, to proceed a step further. They had 
 been without food or water for several days. Mr. 
 Walker had left the others and reached Perth by 
 himself in order to send help back to them. 
 
 These two years of adventure, of hardship, and of 
 peril, were sufficient to develop those qualities which 
 enabled George Grey to fill with wonderful ability 
 the varied and dangerous positions of his after life. 
 Always surrounded by great difficulties — every sense 
 of comfort sacrificed — facing death in many ways, 
 with a despairing following, and under singularly 
 adverse circumstances, his courage never failed, nor 
 did he ever yield to despondency. 
 
 When hope had abandoned every other heart, and 
 his followers lay down to die, he kept resolutely on. 
 The same invincible determination which charac- 
 terized his after life, was brought into prominence thus 
 early. Bearing patiently with weaker men and with- 
 out bravado, he kept upon his course with a will of 
 iron. Under the stress of danger and perplexity 
 was developed that lofty faith, which sustained him 
 through all the trying ordeals of his later career. So 
 far as regards this world, his creed was the simplest 
 possible. He believed that the Maker of all had 
 placed every man in a position where the performance 
 of duty was incumbent, and expected that duty to be 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 39 
 
 well done. Following this as a necessary consequence, 
 came the consciousness of a duty to man, only less 
 sacred than the other. The trying circumstances of 
 these expeditions — the necessity ever present for self- 
 control, patience, endurance and self-sacrifice — fore- 
 shadowed the greater events and more important 
 deeds of later years. 
 
 In this school George Grey learnt to rule himself, 
 his followers, the savage tribes with whom he came 
 into contact, and even the forces of nature. In no 
 scene of his subsequent history — remarkable as that 
 history has been — did he fail to draw encouragement 
 and confidence from his explorations in Western 
 Australia. 
 
 Never afterwards was he likely to be called upon to 
 face danger so imminent or circumstances so ap- 
 parently hopeless. A heart which had borne up 
 against the privations and disasters of those terrible 
 explorations would scarcely be disturbed or beat more 
 quickly under any possible conditions of peril. The 
 foresight which had enabled him in some measure to 
 anticipate every contingency which could arise would 
 not be likely to fail in any future difficulty ; and the 
 patience which could bear with the harassing and 
 despairing petulance of men who wished to be allowed 
 to lie down and die could scarcely give way under 
 any future pressure. 
 
 That faith in the mercy and power of an unseen 
 God which enabled him, when suddenly confronted 
 with the loss of all the provisions of the party on 
 Bernier Island, to commit himself and his party con- 
 fidently to the guardianship and care of the Almighty, 
 and which sustained him when in the midst of the 
 waterless desert he had shared his last remaining 
 piece of damper with the native, would not be after- 
 wards greatly staggered by any difficulties, however 
 
40 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 insurmountable they might appear to be. The re- 
 markable passage in which he describes his feelings 
 in the second of these appalling situations deserves 
 quotation. 
 
 "We halted at noon for about two hours, during 
 which I made my breakfast with Kaiber, sharing my 
 remaining portion of damper between us. It was 
 almost a satisfaction to me when it was gone, for, 
 tormented by the pangs of hunger, as I had now been 
 for many days, I found that nearly the whole of my 
 time was passed in struggling with myself as to 
 whether I should eat at once all the provisions I had 
 left or refrain till a future hour. Having completed 
 this last morsel, I occupied myself for a little with my 
 journals, then read a few chapters in the New Testa- 
 ment, and having fulfilled these duties, I felt myself as 
 contented and cheerful as I had ever been in the 
 most fortunate moments of my life." 
 
 The history of these explorations was not published 
 till 1 84 1 , when Captain Grey was performing his duties 
 as Governor in South Australia. He wrote to Lord 
 Glenelg, requesting permission to dedicate the record 
 of his travels to him, receiving the following little 
 note in reply: — 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am not a little gratified and flattered by your kind 
 wish, and can only say that I shall feel it an honour to be asso- 
 ciated with the history of your expeditions— an honour which I 
 appreciate the more on account of the motives which have induced 
 you to offer it. 
 
 It will be always to me a source of sincere satisfaction that I 
 was in any degree enabled to assist your early efforts in the public 
 service, and witness your entrance on a career which is, I trust 
 destined to be long and honourable. The new year opens auspi- 
 ciously for you. I offer to you the best wishes of the season. 
 May a kind Providence be your guide and guard.— I am, dear Sir, 
 yours very faithfully, 
 
 Glenelg. 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 41 
 
 The book met with great success, and strengthened 
 the reputation which its writer had already obtained. 
 In itself it is a simple narrative of the facts and cir- 
 cumstances of Grey's two expeditions, to which are 
 added dissertations upon several scientific subjects. 
 The style is clear, the narrative continuous. There 
 are indications in many places of the leading features 
 of the author's character and purposes. The pre- 
 dominant idea as to the future of these unoccupied 
 territories repeatedly manifests itself. 
 
 Upon the banks of rivers, or the shores of the sea, 
 he beheld, in anticipation, great towns arising, filled 
 with commerce and with plenty. Upon the boundless 
 pastures he heard the bleating of the flocks, and the 
 lowing of the cattle. The wealth of nature, which 
 spread itself out before his delighted vision to satisfy 
 the wants of multitudes, and to give homes to the 
 poor and needy, became the possession of the strug- 
 gling masses, who, in the mother country, were on 
 the brink of starvation. Hope pictured to him, in 
 the future, not far distant, the realization of his 
 brightest dreams. 
 
 The love of children, ever a striking feature in his 
 character, was displayed on many occasions. Once, 
 the natives, believing him to be a friend come back 
 from the dead, compelled the little children of the 
 tribe to sit upon his knees, and submit to the touch 
 of his hand. At first this process was accompanied 
 by cries of terror, but so potent and gentle were his 
 caresses, that at last the children strove together to 
 get nearest to him, and to obtain the most of his 
 attention. 
 
 Humanity, fortitude, foresight, and determination, 
 were all displayed by him in the arduous circum- 
 stances which surrounded both expeditions. Grey 
 made no secret of his intense belief in the overruling 
 
42 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 providence of God, and of the certainty of His inter- 
 position on behalf of those who put their trust in His 
 mercy. On returning to Bernier Island, he found that 
 the awful succession of hurricanes, lashing the sea 
 into unbounded fury, had swept away all their pro- 
 visions, and brought them face to face with death. 
 His own words will best describe the position, and 
 his feelings. 
 
 " The safety of the whole party now depended upon 
 my forming a prompt and efficient plan of operations, 
 and seeing it carried out with energy and persever- 
 ance. As soon as I was out of sight of Mr. Smith 
 and Coles, I sat down upon a rock on the shore, to 
 reflect upon our present position. The view seawards 
 was discouraging ; the gale blew fiercely in my face, 
 and the spray of the breakers was dashed over me ; 
 nothing could be more dismal and drear. I turned 
 inland, and could see only a bed of rock, covered with 
 drifting sand, on which grew a stunted vegetation, 
 and former experience had taught me that we could 
 not hope to find water in this island. Our position 
 here was, therefore, untenable, and but three plans 
 presented themselves to me : — First, to leave a notice 
 of my intentions on the island, then to make for some 
 known point on the mainland, and there endeavour to 
 subsist ourselves, until we should be found and taken 
 off by the colonial schooner; secondly, to start for 
 Timor or Port Essington ; thirdly, to try and make 
 Swan River in the boats. I determined not to decide 
 hastily between these plans, and, in order more fully 
 to compose my mind, I sat down and read a few 
 chapters in the Bible. 
 
 " By the influence these imparted I became per- 
 fectly contented and resigned to our apparently 
 wretched condition, and, again rising up, pursued my 
 way along the beach to the party. It may here be 
 
BIRTH AI^D EARLY YEARS. 43 
 
 remarked by some that these statements of my attend- 
 ing to religious duties are irrelevant to the subject, 
 but in such an opinion I cannot at all coincide. In 
 detailing the sufferings we underwent it is necessary 
 to relate the means by which those sufferings were 
 alleviated ; and, after having, in the midst of perils 
 and misfortunes, received the greatest consolation 
 from religion, I should be ungrateful to my Maker 
 not to acknowledge this, and should ill perform my 
 duty to my fellow-men did I not bear testimony to the 
 fact that under all the weightier sorrows and suffer- 
 ings that our frail nature is liable to, a perfect reliance 
 upon the goodness of God and the merits of our 
 Redeemer, will be found a sure refuge and a certain 
 source of consolation."* 
 
 After having been attacked by the natives, and 
 hedged in by the surf on the mainland, they sat day 
 and night upon the lonely beach watching the waves 
 until some favourable moment might enable them to 
 embark. When the whole party was plunged in 
 gloom and despondency, Grey thus writes : — 
 
 " It may be asked if, during such a trying period, I 
 did not seek from religion that consolation which it is 
 sure to afford ? My answer is. Yes ; and I further 
 feel assured that but for the support I derived from 
 prayer and frequent perusal and meditation of the 
 Scriptures, I should never have been able to have 
 borne myself in such a manner as to have maintained 
 discipline and confidence amongst the rest of the 
 party ; nor in all my sufferings did I ever lose the 
 consolation derived from a firm reliance upon the 
 goodness of Providence. 
 
 "It is only those who go forth into perils and 
 dangers, amidst which human foresight and strength 
 
 * "Two Expeditions in North-West and Western Australia," 
 PP- 393. 394- 1841. G. Grey. 
 
44 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 can but little avail, and who find themselves, day- 
 after day, protected by an unseen influence, and ever 
 and again snatched from the very jaws of destruction 
 by a power which is not of this world, who can at all 
 estimate the knowledge of one's own weakness and 
 littleness, and the firm reliance and trust upon the 
 goodness of the Creator which the human breast is 
 capable of feeling. Like all other lessons which are 
 of great and lasting benefit to man, this one must be 
 learnt amid much sorrowing and woe ; but having 
 learnt it, it is but the sweeter from the pain and toil 
 which are undergone in the acquisition." 
 
 And when the advance party had triumphed over 
 every difficulty and arrived near the town of Perth, 
 and meeting friendly natives received a plentiful 
 supply of frogs and nuts, eating as they had not eaten 
 for weeks before, knowing that the next day they 
 should be able to reach Perth — Grey writes : " We 
 all lay down to sleep, and in the silence of the night 
 I rendered fervent thanks to my Maker who had again 
 brought us so near the haven where we would be." 
 
 The enterprising explorer did not deceive himself 
 as to the value and suitability for settlement of the 
 lands he traversed, although the first attempts to 
 discover the fertile territory which he described were 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 A letter, written nearly half a century later, by 
 Commodore Coghlan, who speaks of himself as " one 
 who has read your journals many times, and is per- 
 sonally acquainted with much of the ground described 
 (having seen in Vansittart Bay similar buffalo tracks, 
 or spors, to those seen by you in Prince Regent Inlet, 
 and having also seen the spot where brave Frederick 
 Smyth lies buried)," says : — " Since that day there 
 have been many Australian expeditions, but, to my 
 mind, none in which so many personal hardships were 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 45 
 
 endured, as during that memorable journey you made 
 by sea to Gantheaume Bay, and thence, on foot, to 
 Perth. To-day, Gascoyne is comparatively a flourish- 
 ing place. It is the outlet for sheep stations, some of 
 which are as far back as four hundred miles from the 
 coast. Steamers call frequently, carrying men and 
 stores, en route to the newly discovered Kimberley 
 goldfields." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 G]<.p;r APPOINTED RESIDENT AT KING GEORGE'S 
 SOUND— HIS METHOD OF DEALING WITH NATIVE 
 RACES. 
 
 " The proper study of mankind is man." 
 
 Pope. 
 
 " 111 can he rule the great, that cannot reach the small." 
 
 Spenser, "Faerie Queen.'" 
 
 While recruiting, after the close of the second expe- 
 dition, George Grey received his commission as Cap- 
 tain of the 83rd Regiment. Soon aiterwards, he was 
 requested by the Governor of Western Australia to 
 assume the position of Resident at King George's 
 Sound. This he readily assented to, as it provided 
 him with employment, and afforded further opportu- 
 nities of becoming acquainted with colonial life, and 
 with the character and adaptability of the native 
 races. His appointment was dated August 31, 1839. 
 While occupying this position, he determined to 
 ascertain, by practical experiment, the possibility of 
 engaging the settled attention of a nomadic savage 
 race in the employments of civilized life. Carrying 
 out the ideas which he had already formed during his 
 travels, he commenced the task of employing the 
 Australian natives in the simplest work which the 
 public service could offer. A number of the aborigines 
 were set to work at roadmaking. In dealing with the 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 47 
 
 child-like minds of these people, utterly unused to the 
 idea of waiting for reward, he found it necessary to 
 present the incentive of prompt and immediate pay- 
 ment. Twice every day were his native workmen 
 paid. When half the day's toil had been accom- 
 plished, they received sixpence each, and, when the 
 dinner hour was past, they knew that, if they recom- 
 menced their labour, at the end of the day they would 
 receive the further sum of a shilling. 
 
 The work being simple, the task being lightened 
 by the good temper and good management of over- 
 seers, chosen by the Resident with due regard to their 
 necessary qualifications, and the reward given being 
 adequate to supply the wants of savages, little diffi- 
 culty was experienced in utilizing the labour of one 
 of the least intelligent amongst uncivilized races. 
 
 The plan which Captain Grey definitely adopted, 
 while Resident, as the best method of dealing with 
 savage tribes, he never forsook, and never found to 
 fail. To give employment suited to the natural or 
 acquired capacity of the persons employed ; to bestow 
 a sufficient reward for the work accomplished, in a 
 speedy and certain manner, and to hold out the pros- 
 pect of some further reward in the future, as the 
 consequence of continued industry and good conduct, 
 seemed theoretically, as it proved in practice, to be a 
 reasonable and successful method of dealing with 
 barbarous peoples. 
 
 Believing that a great portion of his life would be 
 spent in the management of the aboriginal inhabitants 
 of the colonies. Grey devoted his time, attention, and 
 study, to the habits of life, and the methods of thought 
 of these races. His experiment was entirely success- 
 ful. The natives worked steadily, and worked well. 
 The two payments daily provided for all their require- 
 ments, and were always certain. They were not 
 
48 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 overtaxed ; they were treated kindly, and with a 
 certain amount of respect. Thus, during the first 
 short apprenticeship which he served, before assum- 
 ing the actual duties of a Governor, Grey ascertained, 
 from personal experience, a certain and efficacious 
 method of peaceful settlement, and peaceful employ- 
 ment of native races. 
 
 The few months during which Captain Grey filled 
 the position of Resident at Albany swiftly passed. 
 Receiving notification that Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment did not think it expedient to prosecute further 
 the exploration of North-Western Australia, he re- 
 turned to England. 
 
 The series of experiments which he had conducted, 
 in dealing with the natives, and the knowledge which 
 he had obtained of their character, found expression 
 in a memorandum, which he transmitted to the Secre- 
 tary of State for the Colonies, as a report, on the 
 4th of June, 1 840, upon the best means of promoting 
 the civilization of the Australian natives. This report 
 attracted considerable attention, and copies of it were 
 sent to the various Governors of the Australian 
 Colonies, for their consideration and guidance. 
 
 Grey arrived in England in September, 1 840. At 
 this time he was preparing his book, " Explorations 
 in Western and North- Western Australia," which 
 was published in 1 84 1 , after his return to Australia. 
 The end of his employment by the Government in 
 the work of exploration left him without a tangible 
 connection with any of the colonies, or with the 
 Government. He had not long, however, to remain 
 in doubt as to his future career. 
 
 The despatches which he had forwarded to the 
 Colonial Office ; the able memorandum, before men- 
 tioned, on the civilization of the Australian natives ; 
 the remarkable courage and capacity which he had 
 
BIRTPI AND EARLY YEARS. 49 
 
 shown through the fearful ordeal of the two expedi- 
 tions, had all been noted at headquarters; and, 
 although he was himself unaware, from official inti- 
 mation, of the feelings held towards him by the 
 Colonial Office, it was an understood fact in that 
 department that in Captain Grey they possessed an 
 ofScer, whose presence of mind, firmness of character, 
 and genius for command, would authorize Her 
 Majesty's Government in placing him in any position 
 which the colonial exigencies might require. 
 
 Within a month of his landing, on October 20th, 
 when he had scarcely ceased telling his mother and 
 many friends of the strange adventures and the 
 wonderful scenes through which he had passed, he 
 received a most flattering letter from Lord John 
 Russell, then principal Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies. The letter opened with these words : — 
 " The high opinion which is entertained of your 
 ability and energy by those who have had to tran- 
 sact business with you, regarding the affairs of 
 Australia, induces me to propose to recommend you 
 to the Queen for the Government of South Australia, 
 in the place of Colonel Gawler." 
 
 This intimation, not merely of the esteem in which 
 he was held by those high in office, but of the pro- 
 bability of the fulfilment of his loftiest hopes, filled 
 the heart of George Grey with delight and gratitude. 
 To that of his mother it must have brought a feeling 
 of sorrow and anxiety, mingled with the pride which 
 she felt in her son's success. 
 
 South Australia had been, from the day of its foun- 
 dation, gradually, but surely, drifting into perilous 
 circumstances. Colonel Gawler, though an excellent 
 officer and a man of great courage, did not possess 
 those qualifications which were necessary to guide the 
 destinies of a young settlement. The affairs of the 
 
 VOL. L E 
 
50 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 colony were in a desperate condition, and ministers 
 had resolved to recall Colonel Gawler, and to appoint 
 some man of position and of character, who would be 
 able, far removed from the assistance and the autho- 
 rity of Downing Street, to retrieve and to carry on 
 successfully the affairs of the infant colony. 
 
 Sir Charles Napier had been requested by Lord 
 John Russell to undertake the task. Sir Charles 
 was eminently a soldier. His main idea, correct in 
 itself, was that Government must rest on force. He 
 was informed of the mutinous and insubordinate state 
 into which the colonists had passed, and after accept- 
 ing the position of Governor of South Australia, he 
 requested that he should be permitted to take troops 
 with him to Adelaide. 
 
 To this Her Majesty's Government demurred. That 
 feeling of anxiety, which, ever since the American 
 Revolution, has so powerfully influenced the colonial 
 policy of Great Britain, at once compelled ministers 
 to refuse this demand to land an armed force in a free 
 colony. Thereupon Sir Charles Napier resigned the 
 Governorship. 
 
 With these circumstances Captain Grey was made 
 acquainted. Conscious as he was of the dignity of 
 the position oifered, and the high appreciation thus 
 shown of the work he had already accomplished, he 
 naturally regarded with some doubt the responsi- 
 bilities of the proposed task. He repaired to Lon- 
 don, there sought and received advice from a states- 
 man well acquainted with colonial questions, and 
 with the colonial policy of successive Governments. 
 This revered friend expressed his opinion that Sir 
 Charles Napier was wrong in refusing the Govern- 
 ment because he could not take with him the troops 
 he required. " Do not," said he, speaking to Captain 
 Grey, " do not refuse this great opening for usefulness 
 
BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 5 I 
 
 in the public service because you cannot take troops 
 with you, to preserve order, and to enforce the laws. 
 When you have assumed the command, if you find 
 it to be necessary to employ force, you will be the 
 master of the situation, and forces must be placed at 
 your disposal. Sir George Gipps, an able man, is the 
 Governor of New South Wales. He will listen at 
 once to your request, and you can avail yourself of his 
 assistance, and of some of the troops which he has 
 under his command." 
 
 His only doubt thus removed. Grey answered the 
 letter from Lord John Russell. While expressing 
 his sense of the high honour sought to be conferred 
 upon him, he alluded with diffidence to his own age 
 and comparative inexperience, but trusted that the 
 advice and counsel of Her Majesty's Government 
 would enable him to cope successfully with whatever 
 difficulties he might meet, and that ministers would 
 be lenient in their judgment of his actions. 
 
 His acceptance of the offer gave satisfaction to the 
 Cabinet. Her Majesty was advised to appoint Cap- 
 tain Grey as Governor of South Australia, to succeed 
 Colonel Gawler ; and, at the close of the year, on 
 December 29th, Grey received a letter from Lord 
 John Russell, enclosing his commission as Governor 
 of that colony. 
 
 After the receipt of his commission, it took but 
 little time for the new Governor of South Australia to 
 arrange all business matters in England, and to start 
 upon his second voyage to Australia, not now as 
 a young officer and adventurer, about to explore 
 unknown countries, but to assume the important 
 position of a Colonial Governor — a position, the re- 
 sponsibility of which was greatly added to by the un- 
 fortunate series of mistakes and blunders which had 
 characterised the administration of the colony since 
 
 E 2 
 
52 BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 its commencement. Once more he had to bid fare- 
 well to his mother, this time, finally, for when Sir 
 George Grey returned to England, from New Zealand, 
 in 1854, his mother was no more. 
 
 Thus, at the age of twenty-eight, George Grey left 
 England as the ruler of her youngest colony, himself 
 the youngest Governor ever appointed to a similar 
 position. 
 
33oofe tftz ^mnti. 
 Government of South Australia, 1841-1845. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 UNHAPPY POSITION OF THE COLONY — CHANGE 
 EFFECTED BY CAPTAIN GREY. 
 
 " I have done the State some service, and they knoVt." 
 
 Othello. 
 " Rich in saving common-sense, 
 And, as the greatest only are, 
 In his simplicity, sublime." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 In May, 1841, Captain Grey arrived at Adelaide. On 
 this, his second journey to the Antipodes, his mind 
 often reverted to that voyage in the Beagle, four 
 years earlier, when, under the auspices of the Geo- 
 graphical Society and the Government, he, having 
 chosen his career, had entered upon it. His rapid 
 promotion, the varied circumstances through which 
 he had passed, the knowledge of men and things 
 which he had obtained, the approval of his superiors, 
 the trust and affection of his fellow toilers, had all 
 tended to strengthen his determination as to the 
 course of his fiiture life. He was resolved to enter 
 upon the duties of his Government, and his new 
 ofi&cial position, with the fixed purpose of increasing 
 the happiness of all who came within the sphere of 
 
54 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 his administration, and of laying the foundations for 
 future prosperity in these new lands. 
 
 His arrival in the colony was the signal for some 
 little manifestation of welcome. The circumstances 
 of South Australia, however, were so confused and 
 desperate, that they precluded the possibility of any 
 great excitement in the public mind on any other 
 subject. To understand the position of the colony, it 
 will be necessary to give a short sketch of its founda- 
 tion and history. 
 
 The statement made by Captain King, in 1822, that 
 the south coast of Australia was barren and unfit for 
 settlement, seems to have prevented any serious ex- 
 ploration of its capabilities until 1829, when Sturt 
 proceeded from Sydney to explore the Murrumbidgee. 
 This entailed a journey of nearly one thousand miles 
 along an unknown stream, running through a country 
 inhabited by hostile tribes. Reaching the coast 
 successfully, Sturt and his party, threatened with 
 starvation, had to return — a much more difficult 
 operation than going down with the current. The 
 voyage up the Murray took nearly three months, 
 amid such exertions and privations, that, when the 
 adventurers again reached Sydney, one of the party 
 had lost his reason, and the intrepid leader was in 
 darkness — Sturt had lost his eyesight. The report 
 they brought back was very different to the verdict of 
 Captain King. " My eye never fell on a region of 
 more promising aspect, or of more favourable posi- 
 tion," were the words of Sturt. 
 
 Attention being drawn to this part of the colony, 
 a plan of settlement, embodying the views of Mr. 
 ■Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was formed in London, 
 and an Act passed in the English Parliament, by 
 which the district was proclaimed a British Province, 
 to which no convicts were to be sent, the upset price 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 55 
 
 of the land being fixed at 12s. per acre. The province 
 was to be self-supporting, by the sale of its lands, 
 and a company was formed, which made large pur- 
 chases, appointing commissioners to manage the 
 affairs of the new settlement. 
 
 The first emigrants arrived in the colony on the 
 9th of November, 1836. Captain Hindmarsh, one of 
 the commissioners, was appointed the first Governor. 
 His recommendations for the position seem to have 
 been chiefly his distinguished services as a naval 
 officer, but he was not well qualified for a Governor 
 of a new colony. Disputes with the official autho- 
 rities under him were constant, and he was soon 
 recalled. Colonel Gawler being appointed in his 
 place. 
 
 Finding the revenue very low, and the resources of 
 the country almost untouched, the new Governor 
 should have encouraged agriculture and settlement 
 on the soil, but, instead, he launched the colony on 
 an extravagant public works policy, forming expen- 
 sive roads, and erecting large and handsome buildings 
 in the town of Adelaide. For a time labour was well 
 paid, and apparent prosperity reigned, but it was 
 artificial, and soon came to an end. In 1840, Colonel 
 Gawler was recalled, in consequence of having drawn 
 bills upon the Lords of the Treasury, in excess of the 
 authority received from the commissioners. 
 
 Under his administration, while the revenue was, 
 at the outside, not more than ^30,000, the expenses 
 of keeping up the different departments of Govern- 
 ment alone amounted to ;^ 94,000, and at the same 
 time the land sales fell off. Lord Stanley, comment- 
 ing on Gawler's administration, stated that the 
 building of Government House and the formation of 
 an unnecessary road had each cost more than a 
 year's revenue ; that land in the unformed town of 
 
56 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Adelaide fetched prices which would hardly be given 
 for the same amount of land in Liverpool ; and that 
 not two hundred acres of soil in the colony were 
 under tillage. In the face of these facts, he con- 
 tinued, it was evident that " a profligate waste of 
 money had taken place in a manner utterly incon- 
 sistent with the success of the colony." 
 
 Captain Grey's local knowledge of South Australia, 
 and his administrative capacity, pointed him out as 
 the best person to undertake the difficult task of re- 
 storing the credit of the new colony, greatly damaged 
 by the refusal of the British Goverment to honour the 
 bills drawn by the late Governor. Grey's position in 
 the colony differed from that of his predecessors in 
 the fact that he was directly responsible to the Im- 
 perial powers, and owed no authority to the commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 Grey was thus, in his first Governorship, brought 
 directly into contact with the Wakefield system of 
 colonization. Here he fought his first battles against 
 the land monopolists, and commenced the struggle 
 which has continued throughout his life. His ad- 
 ministration in New Zealand was continuously 
 marked by determined opposition to the theories of 
 Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the practices of his 
 supporters. 
 
 The two men regarded the question of emigration 
 from opposite points of the compass. Grey looked 
 upon the colonies as the rightful heritage of succeed- 
 ing generations and the future home of millions of the 
 British poor. Wakefield regarded them as mines of 
 wealth, to be exploited by the powerful governing 
 classes for their own benefit. Grey's chief aim in life 
 was to extend the blessings of these new lands as 
 widely as possible, and to lay the foundations of the 
 young communities in justice, wisdom, and constitu- 
 
GOVERKMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 57 
 
 tional freedom. Wakefield's object was to reproduce 
 in the nascent states the class distinctions, the in- 
 equalities, and the social barriers which fetter popular 
 liberty in older countries. 
 
 It is impossible to understand the varying phases 
 of colonization and of the internal conflicts which 
 took place in the young states of Australasia without 
 some general knowledge of the plans of Mr. Edward 
 Gibbon Wakefield, which have left their mark for 
 good or ill upon the modern history of British settle- 
 ment. Mr. Wakefield, in a series of letters, pro- 
 pounded a system founded, like modern political 
 economy, upon human selfishness and the domination 
 of capital over labour. 
 
 In " The Three Colonies of Australia," by Samuel 
 Sidney, the author observes : — " Mr. Wakefield con- 
 tended that colonial land should be sold at a ' suffi- 
 cient price,' at a uniform rate, so high as to prevent 
 labourers from buying it. That it should be sold in 
 large blocks, and the purchase money expended in 
 bringing to the colonies healthy and capable young 
 men and women of the labouring class, who, being 
 debarred from becoming land-owners themselves, 
 should continue to work for wages, and thus guaran- 
 tee a perpetual abundance of cheap labour for the 
 benefit of the capitalist." This theory of colonization 
 did not appeal to the best sentiments of human 
 nature. 
 
 " But Mr. Wakefield had to assist him in propa- 
 gating his tenets, not only the charm of ' style,' but of 
 personal fascination, with a more than Protean adap- 
 tiveness which rendered him a friend and bosom 
 adviser of Republicans and Radicals, Whig and 
 Conservative peers, Low Church and High Church 
 bishops. Five Secretaries of State for the Colonies — 
 Lords Glenelg and Stanley, Monteagle, Aberdeen, 
 
58 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 and Grey — have been more or less his pupils ; the 
 influence of his writings, even quotations from them, 
 are to be found in their despatches ; while so late as 
 1850 he led, or rather sent captive, to Canterbury, 
 New Zealand, a crowd of educated victims. 
 
 " Energetic, tenacious, indefatigable, unscrupulous, 
 with a wonderful talent for literary agitation, for 
 simultaneously feeding a hundred journalists with the 
 same idea and the same illustrations in varying lan- 
 guage, for filling eloquent but indolent orators with 
 telling speeches — at one time he had rallied round 
 him nearly every rising man of political aspirations, 
 and secured the support of nearly every economical 
 writer of any celebrity. He had shaken a Ministry, 
 founded and distributed the patronage of at least two 
 colonies, and left the seeds, after nearly exciting open 
 rebellion, in a third." 
 
 Under the regulations which the powerful company 
 that founded the colony had made, any person could 
 deposit ^4,000 and take up all the best parts of a 
 block of twenty-eight thousand acres. This Captain 
 Grey opposed and repealed. Then a block of twenty 
 thousand acres could be purchased for cash by any 
 one or more persons. 
 
 A very valuable deposit of copper ore was dis- 
 covered. A number of speculators, seeing an oppor- 
 tunity for making a fortune, applied to purchase a 
 twenty thousand acre block, including the new copper 
 fields. The Governor was averse to granting such a 
 huge monopoly, but the law was imperative. When, 
 however, the purchasers came to pay for their grant, 
 it was found that the bank could not spare so mucji 
 specie as ;^20,ooo. They therefore brought bills 
 drawn upon London houses endorsed by the bank. 
 
 Captain Grey realised the position. He refused to 
 take the bills. Legal advice was taken, and he was 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 59 
 
 told that they were as good as cash, and he was bound 
 to receive and execute the grant. He deliberately 
 refused to do so. Then the people of Adelaide, in- 
 cluding tradesmen, artisans, clerks, workmen, and 
 others, recognising the importance of the opportunity 
 presented, clubbed their savings together and were 
 able to produce ten thousand pounds in cash. The 
 wealthier syndicate also procured ten thousand 
 pounds in cash. They joined together, and the land 
 was taken up. 
 
 This land comprised the Burra Burra copper mines. 
 The ownership was thus distributed amongst a very 
 large number of deserving people, who, with their 
 families, enjoyed considerable benefits from these rich 
 mines for many years. This effort to spread as widely 
 as possible the advantages arising from the ownership 
 of lands or mines — or indeed any of the forces of 
 nature — was typical of Grey's life-long desire. 
 
 Another abuse which Captain Grey encountered in 
 New Zealand, but first met in South Australia, was 
 that of Church endowments. The price of all colonial 
 lands, under the actual or legislative control of sup- 
 porters of the Wakefield theory, was increased in 
 order to pay a fixed sum to the Church of England. 
 Whatever denomination the purchaser might belong 
 to, he was forced in this way to contribute to the 
 Established Anglican Church. This matter will be 
 more fully discussed in the history of Captain Grey's 
 government of New Zealand. It is sufficient here to 
 mention that he successfully opposed the system in 
 South Australia. 
 
 Grey found matters in the colony almost as bad as 
 they could be. Troubles with the natives had arisen, 
 and the first executive act of the newly- appointed 
 Governor was to despatch an expedition to quell the 
 outbreaks of the blacks upon the Murray. 
 
6o GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Far more difficult to deal with were the monetary 
 depression in the colony, the loss of credit, and the 
 problem of restoring prosperity. Enterprise was dead, 
 and all the sources of revenue seemed barren. The 
 land sales had fallen off greatly. The claims left 
 unsettled by his predecessor were clamorously pressed 
 upon him. ;^3,ooo due from the last quarter demanded 
 immediate payment, and the estimated expenses of 
 the next quarter would be ;^3 2,000, while the Trea- 
 sury only contained ;^7oo. He was forced to sell 
 the Crown lands, but it was not easy to find pur- 
 chasers. 
 
 Captain Grey set about the task of retrenchment 
 immediately. The costly Government works which 
 had been begun were finished only as far as was 
 necessary to prevent them falling into dilapidation ; 
 the labourers were encouraged to turn to agricultural 
 pursuits, or else were treated as pauper emigrants. 
 The Government expenditure in 1841 was ^100,000; 
 in 1842 it was reduced to ^34,000. 
 
 The Governor borrowed money from another colony, 
 and renewed some of the bills drawn by Colonel 
 Gawler on the British Treasury. These drafts were 
 at first dishonoured by the Home authorities, and 
 there was some doubt as to whether Captain Grey 
 could be held individually responsible for them. A 
 private despatch from Lord Stanley, dated June 21st, 
 1843, states that the reasons which led to their being 
 dishonoured in the first instance by the Lords Com- 
 missioners "did not in any degree impugn the motives 
 which had induced you to issue them. ... It would, 
 indeed, be an ill return for the essential and most 
 effective services which you have rendered in reduc- 
 ing the expenditure and re-establishing the finances 
 of South Australia, if you should be left to discharge, 
 from your own private fortune, a debt originally con- 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 6 1 
 
 tracted, not by yourself, but by your predecessor, for 
 the public service of that colony." 
 
 During the days of artificial prosperity the settlers 
 had found life very pleasant, enlivened with continu- 
 ous feasting and merrymaking. The time was filled 
 with a round of garden-parties, balls, dinners, morn- 
 ing rides and drives. The records of that period 
 present the picture of an idle, happy people, revelling 
 in the pure air and bright sunshine of what seemed 
 to be "the land where it is always afternoon," and 
 lightheartedly believing that they were making for- 
 tunes for themselves and others, while in reality the 
 apparent prosperity was a mere bubble resting on 
 wild and foolish speculation. No one attempted 
 the production of fresh wealth, all being satisfied 
 to import necessaries, as well as luxuries, at enor- 
 mous expense from New South Wales and other 
 places. 
 
 The reduction in wages, and the return to the real 
 price of things from the fictitious values which had 
 attached to them, woke the colonists from their plea- 
 sant dreams. Many became absolutely destitute, 
 bankruptcies were alarmingly numerous, and very 
 few indeed they were who did not suffer by the col- 
 lapse. The measures taken to retrieve the past, and 
 to open a future of sound prosperity, were by many 
 blamed for the natural results of former improvidence. 
 Governor Grey had not only to meet the difficulties of 
 the situation, but also to resist " the clamorous de- 
 mands made by tumultuous bodies of men, using 
 seditious language and marching in organized array 
 to Government House, threatening the representative 
 of their sovereign, whom there was no military to pro- 
 tect. But these and other unjustifiable proceedings 
 did not prevent the Governor contributing ;^400 in 
 one year to charitable purposes out of his limited 
 
62 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 income of ^i,ooo."* At an early period of his 
 government nearly two thousand men, women, and 
 children were dependent upon him for support as 
 absolute paupers. The young officer must have found 
 it a difficult matter to supply the needs of such great 
 numbers of destitute persons. And yet one historian 
 says that of him " real poverty and distressed merit 
 never in vain sought relief." 
 
 The measures he took were approved and endorsed 
 by the Home Government, and in a despatch to Lord 
 Stanley, dated the 26th of April, 1842, the Lords of 
 the Treasury stated that the Governor had acquitted 
 himself " in an able and satisfactory manner of the 
 important trust which had been reposed in him." 
 
 When Governor Grey received a slight rebuke for 
 drawing upon the Government for the bills which 
 they had once dishonoured, he pointed out that Par- 
 liament had voted ;^ [55,000 to liquidate those bills. 
 
 By the beginning of 1843 prosperity upon a safe 
 basis commenced for the colony. Everyone was at 
 work upon his own land. The revenue was increas- 
 ing. A splendid harvest, the abolition of the port 
 dues (imposed by Captain Grey at the beginning of 
 his administration to provide ready money), and the 
 settlement of some heavy liabilities by grants of land, 
 made the improvement more noticeable. The high 
 price {£ i per acre) fixed by the British Government 
 on all land in the colony prevented much being sold ; 
 but the discovery that copper was abundant gave a 
 fresh impetus to land sales, and the crisis in the life 
 of the colony was passed. 
 
 The introduction of legislative institutions in South 
 
 Australia dates from Captain Grey's government. 
 
 One of his earliest acts was to nominate the first 
 
 Legislative Council. Of the members appointed at 
 
 • Martin's " British Colonies," p. 646. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 63 
 
 the time, one, Sir John Morphett, still sits in that 
 Assembly. The Governor also issued an order that 
 the proceedings of this Chamber — then the only one 
 — should be thrown open to the public and the press. 
 
 A series of letters written by Mr. George Fife 
 Angas to Captain Grey, during the term of the latter' s 
 government, throw valuable light upon the condition 
 of South Australia at this time, the causes of that 
 condition, and the sincere and patriotic efforts made 
 by some who loved the colony well. 
 
 It is impossible to give, from Sir George Grey's life, 
 any adequate idea of the communications between 
 himself and individuals or associations, having refer- 
 ence to the work of colonisation in its widest scope. 
 But the correspondence with Mr. Angas may be 
 regarded as typical of the magnetic influence exer- 
 cised by Sir George Grey throughout his life, in 
 attracting to himself the confidence and esteem of 
 those who devoted time, intellect, and wealth to the 
 amelioration of the condition of their fellow-men, and 
 the building up of Greater Britain. 
 
 The friendship of these two men commenced when 
 the young explorer was in England, in 1840. Anxious 
 to learn the views of a man so interested and expe- 
 rienced in questions of colonisation on the Govern- 
 ment project of founding a colony on the north coast 
 of Australia, Grey sought and obtained an interview 
 with Mr. Angas. The latter strenuously opposed 
 the plan, foreseeing many difficulties and disasters. 
 Years afterwards he raised his voice in the Legisla- 
 tive Council of South Australia against the proposed 
 settlement being made, except as a purely tropical 
 colony with aid from Calcutta and London. 
 
 Mr. G. F. Angas was one of the most sincere and 
 untiring friends a young colony ever had. A director 
 of the company, under whose auspices South Aus- 
 
64 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 tralia was founded, he lost no opportunity of doing it 
 a service, sparing neither time, money, nor personal 
 effort in its cause. At the same time, he strongly 
 disapproved of the extravagance which characterized 
 the new community. No words can be more decided 
 than those he used on this subject in writing to Cap- 
 tain Grey, in 1843. 
 
 " You know my views as to the absolute necessity 
 of settlers in a new colony adopting the most rigid 
 economy in all their establishments and expenditure. 
 A neglect of this has been the curse of South 
 Australia, and the ruin of its best interests, and 
 nothing has made it greater enemies at home and 
 abroad." 
 
 These letters are remarkably interesting. They 
 contain an account of the formation of the South 
 Australian Society and its first prospectus. They 
 form a record of what was done by this one man 
 during the term of Captain Grey's governorship and 
 residence at Adelaide. He was, indeed, helped and 
 cheered by the co-operation and sympathy of the 
 Governor, who furnished him with statistics and other 
 information concerning the colony ; but, in the details 
 of his work, he was practically single-handed. 
 
 He wrote pamphlets, publishing and circulating 
 them at his own expense ; he obtained interviews 
 with Cabinet Ministers and other leaders of pubJic 
 opinion ; he delivered lectures in every town through 
 which he passed in travelling about Great Britain ; 
 he appointed agents, who were, he wrote, " Men of 
 influence and devoted to South Australia," to per- 
 form the same duties ; he kept up an active corres- 
 pondence for over three years with the owners of six 
 or seven hundred American ships engaged in the 
 South Sea whale fisheries with the object of inducing 
 them to put into South Australia for their supplies. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 65 
 
 He was also in constant communication with Euro- 
 pean States, with commercial houses in China, Mau- 
 ritius and Bombay, and with the various missionary- 
 societies ; approaching the latter with a plan for 
 establishing colleges in Adelaide, at which young 
 men might receive a suitable training for future work 
 amongst the heathen of the Pacific Islands. 
 
 In every direction from which prosperity might 
 flow to the colony, Mr. Angas thus laboriously made 
 a channel for its passage, turning up the sods of igno- 
 rance and apathy. He met with discouragements 
 which would have caused one, who had the real 
 interests of the young community and of humanity 
 less at heart, to give up the weary struggle in despair. 
 But, foiled at one point, Mr. Angas only turned with 
 fresh energy to another. 
 
 Thus he wrote : " When I found our Government 
 resolved upon doing nothing for us, I commenced an 
 active correspondence with the Continent, and I do 
 confidently expect that we shall get out one hundred 
 Germans this spring to Adelaide. Often enough my 
 spirits sink under my incessant labour, on the one 
 hand from the shameful, cruel, and ungrateful treat- 
 ment I have met with from many persons in the 
 colony, who have thereby amply repaid me for having 
 been their best and most generous friend ; and on the 
 other hand from the utter apathy which universally 
 exists in this country towards the colony. Still I 
 will never abandon the work as long as God enables 
 me to continue it. I began it with the best of inten- 
 tions, and I shall not leave it in this extremity." 
 
 In February, 1844, he wrote that if his resources 
 had not been crippled by the dishonesty of agents 
 in South Australia, he would have been able to send 
 out from one to two thousand Germans as settlers. 
 " But," he added, " beaten down as I am with all my 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 troubles, I will not rest until you have emigration 
 renewed from this country." 
 
 Mr. Angas was successful in his introduction of 
 German colonists, and at his own expense settled 
 large tracts of agricultural country. Many of these 
 communities still retain their Teutonic character. 
 This experiment worked so well that years afterwards 
 Sir George Grey, when Governor of Cape Colony, 
 carried it out on a larger scale, under somewhat 
 different conditions, and with still more marked 
 success. 
 
 Captain Grey was able to give valuable assistance 
 to Mr. George French Angas, the talented son of his 
 correspondent. Hardly past boyhood, the young 
 artist author determined to prepare a great work 
 which should make the colony, for which his father 
 had so long and so unselfishly toiled, better known to 
 the British public. With this object he visited South 
 Australia and travelled throughout its length and 
 breadth, collecting information, writing and taking 
 sketches. Before Grey left for New Zealand, Mr. Fife 
 Angas, disappointed in the action of the South 
 Australia Company, crippled in resources by his own 
 efforts in the cause of the colony and by the dis- 
 honesty of his agents, retired from the directorate and 
 sent some of the younger members of his family to 
 try their fortunes in a humble way in the new lands. 
 They also experienced great kindness at the hands of 
 the Governor. Eventually Mr. Angas himself left 
 England, and cast in his lot completely with the 
 young community. 
 
 It is a mournful criticism upon the justice of human 
 judgment to find that after the lapse of a quarter of a 
 century, when Mr. Angas was upwards of eighty 
 years of age, his claims to the gratitude of South 
 Australia and the South Australians were treated with 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 67 
 
 contempt, his long years of faithful service depre- 
 ciated, and his lavish expenditure of money and zeal 
 turned into derision. 
 
 In 1869, Sir George Grey, himself smarting under 
 unmerited coldness and neglect, received from his old 
 fellow-worker in South Australia, a pathetic letter 
 claiming his sympathy, and asking Sir George Grey 
 to bear testimony to the unselfishness of his efforts 
 for the well-being of the colony, for which, in years 
 long gone by, they had worked so zealously together. 
 The answer given must have done much to soothe 
 the wounded feelings of Mr. Angas, and to vindicate 
 his undoubted services to the colony. 
 
 The instability of human affairs was thus strikingly 
 exemplified. Mr. Angas had served the people with 
 a loyal and unswerving faith, and the people had 
 forsaken him. Sir George Grey had served the 
 Government of Great Britain with unexampled vigour 
 and success, and as a reward was dismissed contemp- 
 tuously. Yet history will record the deeds and 
 achievements of both when the names of their detrac- 
 tors are forgotten. 
 
 During the whole of his official career. Grey, like 
 other men of original character and decided views, 
 experienced that opposition which so frequently rises 
 against departures from the ordinary courses of life, 
 and discoveries in science or exploration. The first 
 striking illustration of this principle which he met 
 with arose from the reports made by him concerning 
 the suitability for colonisation of the country which 
 he had traversed in his explorations. 
 
 The records which, amid hunger, thirst, and weari- 
 ness, had been kept of his memorable journey from 
 Shark Bay to Perth, revealed the existence of land 
 well suited for colonisation. The Western Australian 
 Company, who were then sending a special settle- 
 
 F 2 
 
68 GOVERKMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 ment to the colony, obtained permission of the Colo- 
 nial Government for the employment of the Beagle, 
 under the command of Captain Stokes, to verify or 
 refute the statements made by Grey as to the suit- 
 ability of the district before finally selecting it as the 
 site of their projected settlement. 
 
 On the i2th of December, 1841, three years after 
 Grey's explorations, the Beagle left Gage Roads for 
 the purpose of fulfilling this duty. It might have 
 been supposed that, with all the advantages at his 
 command, Captain Stokes would have been able to 
 give a more complete description of the country, and 
 form a truer estimate of its suitability for colonisation 
 than his harassed and worn predecessor had been 
 able to do. 
 
 Captain Stokes drew up a report upon the district, 
 which stated that the fertile country described by 
 Grey, had no existence ; that two rivers mentioned 
 by him, were, in fact, only one ; that the points and 
 sites upon his charts were wrongly placed ; and that, 
 generally speaking, the whole of his report was in- 
 correct and misleading. 
 
 The whole official record of Stokes' survey is emi- 
 nently unfavourable to Grey, and entirely discredits 
 his accuracy and capacity. A few quotations from 
 Captain Stokes' report, and a short summary of its 
 effect will show the extreme bitterness of the attack 
 which it made upon Grey's reputation. 
 
 On the 15th of December, 1841, Captain Stokes and 
 Mr. Clifton, the Chief Commissioner of the Western 
 Australian Company, landed to explore the country 
 round Champion Bay. They absolutely condemned 
 it as unfit for settlement, and as being utterly defi- 
 cient in the three most essential requisites for human 
 occupation, namely, timber for building, water for 
 consumption and use, and food for stock. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 69 
 
 " It was not until it became apparent to my own 
 eyes that I could believe anyone could be so reckless 
 as to induce a large number of individuals, including 
 women and children, by false or at least exaggerated 
 representations, to sever the ties of friendship and of 
 kindred, and become voluntary exiles to a far country 
 in search of a new and more prosperous home ; whilst 
 in lieu of the promised streams and fertile plains, 
 nothing in reality awaited them but sterility — the 
 certain loss of property, and the imminent risk of 
 their lives." * 
 
 Upon the receipt of this official intelligence the 
 Western Australian Company refused to found a 
 settlement in what was, according to Captain Stokes' 
 report, a sterile desert, "absolutely a mass of bare 
 ironstone." 
 
 Western Australia has ever since had reason to 
 regret the so-called survey made by Captain Stokes. 
 Seven years afterwards, Mr. Gregory, the Assistant 
 Surveyor- General of the Colony, conducted an official 
 expedition through this very country, for the purpose 
 of ascertaining its capabilities. His decision, as well 
 as that of subsequent explorers and settlers (for that 
 country is now well settled), is clear and distinct, and 
 substantiates every statement made by Grey. The 
 district is now only second in population, wealth, and 
 importance to that in which Perth, the capital of the 
 colony, is situated. 
 
 The place selected by the Western Australian Com- 
 pany ultimately proved unfit for settlement, and the 
 colony itself a lamentable and complete failure, caus- 
 ing ruin, disappointment, and in some instances 
 death to the unhappy colonists. Had it been placed 
 upon the site originally intended, and on the lands 
 
 • Stokes' " Discoveries in Australia." Vol. ii. p. 390. 
 
70 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTPLiLIA. 
 
 described by Grey, it would certainly have been suc- 
 cessful — a still more prosperous and flourishing 
 settlement than that now in existence. It would 
 have opened a field for colonisation, and brought 
 people and money to that part of Australia at a much 
 earlier date than was the case. 
 
 In September and October, 1849, a series of articles 
 was published in the Western Australian Enquirer, 
 which discussed the whole subject both as regards 
 the different accounts given by Grey and Stokes, and 
 the intrinsic value to the colony of the locality re- 
 ferred to. The following extract will show what 
 the public opinion was when the facts were fully 
 known : 
 
 "We do not expect to exonerate Mr. Grey from 
 the charges so ruthlessly laid against him. We do 
 not presume to attempt it. We merely wish to draw 
 a comparison between his statements and those of his 
 successors, being confident that he will not suffer by 
 the ordeal. Captain Grey does not require any advo- 
 cate to vindicate his conduct ; an answer to the mis- 
 representations that have been heaped upon him has 
 already appeared in the published report of Assistant- 
 Surveyor Gregory. He has been tried in the furnace 
 of popular opinion, and has come forth unscathed. He 
 endured every toil and danger that could fall to the 
 lot of any traveller. He bore in silence the taunts 
 and sneers of his opponents, for he knew that sooner 
 or later the truth would appear. And it has appeared, 
 and future explorations will make it more apparent ; 
 and then will he receive the reward, the long-delayed 
 tribute, so justly due for his past services. He will be 
 happy in the congratulations of his friends, the con- 
 viction of his enemies, and, better far, the approving 
 voice of his own heart, which prompts him to feel as 
 an honest man that, though the judgment of contem- 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 71 
 
 poraries lias been long withheld, yet it was not the 
 less acceptable and not the less deserved." * 
 
 At the close of the last article on October loth, 
 1849, the editor, after apologising for the length of 
 his review, but justifying his prolixity by the import- 
 ance of the subject itself, and the just claim which 
 Captain Grey had upon the colonists, thus writes : — 
 
 "We trust that our object has been attained, and 
 that for Captain Grey there will henceforth exist a 
 feeling opposite to that which has hitherto, at least in 
 this colony, prevailed. He is a man who has done 
 much and endured much for Western Australia. Let 
 us not, then, be wanting in common gratitude. Let 
 us no longer withhold from him what he has so hardly 
 earned, what he so richly deserves — the character of 
 an intrepid and successful explorer, a veracious and 
 painstaking narrator, and an upright, impartial, and 
 honest man." 
 
 In this case, as in others in after life, Grey did not 
 attempt to defend himself from attacks made upon 
 him or accusations made against him. In this parti- 
 cular instance he knew that nature itself must prove 
 that he was right. Yet often his silence has been 
 mistaken as an admission of error, while, in truth, 
 it was but the unconcern of a mind conscious of its 
 own rectitude, and indifferent as to the passing 
 appreciation of the moment. 
 
 For such a silence he gave a valid reason. He ever 
 maintained that it was the duty of a servant of the 
 Crown to go on in the performance of the public 
 service without devoting time and energy to the refu- 
 tation of attacks made upon him. He held that such 
 attacks would always be made when public duties 
 were faithfully performed, and that they would meet 
 with adequate and proper judgment when time had 
 * Western Australian Enquirer, September 26, 1849. 
 
72 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 afforded the evidence upon which public opinion could 
 be justly expressed. And he considered that the 
 energies of those to whom had been committed great 
 responsibilities were too valuable to be wasted in 
 useless apologies, or lengthened arguments, and 
 should be applied exclusively to useful and beneficial 
 purposes. 
 
 It was upon this principle that he acted through 
 life. The only exceptions which he would allow arose 
 when he was directly called on to vindicate his con- 
 duct, or when the exigencies of the public service 
 demanded an explanation. 
 
 Time has long since settled the dispute between 
 himself and Captain Stokes, as it has settled many 
 others which are not alluded to so fully. The words 
 formerly quoted as having been recently written by 
 Commodore Coghlan,* which so completely confirm 
 the statements made by Mr. Gregory, are the latest 
 testimony to the absolute correctness of the state- 
 ments made by Captain Grey. 
 
 * See page 44. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SUMMONS TO NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 "A man, he seems, of cheerful yesterdays 
 And confident to-morrows." 
 
 TVordsworih. 
 
 The circumstances in which Captain Grey received 
 the first intimation that the English Government 
 desired him to proceed to New Zealand and assume 
 the government of that colony was somewhat pecu- 
 liar, and gave a spice of adventure to the new step. 
 A man-of-war, commanded by an old friend of the 
 Governor, was at Port Adelaide when the first news 
 came from New Zealand of the burning of Korora- 
 reka, the attack on Ohaewai, and the slaughter of our 
 men. The news affected the two friends deeply. 
 Their hearts were filled with sorrow and the determi- 
 nation to help the New Zealand Government in its 
 extremity. In a conversation with the commander 
 of the man-of-war. Grey said, " The only thing for 
 you to do is to go as quickly as you can to New Zea- 
 land, taking with you all the Government arms and 
 everything useful that we have here." 
 
 This fell in exactly with Captain Hay's own wishes, 
 and no time was lost in setting off. 
 
 Three or for days later, as the Governor and his 
 step-brother were out riding they met a man driving 
 a tax-cart at a furious pace. He pulled up on seeing 
 
74 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 them, and said, " Have you heard, sir, that the 
 Elphinstone has come in r " Captain Grey enquired 
 what she, an East Indian man-of-war, was doing in 
 those waters. " She brings the most important news, 
 sir, and I have all the despatches here in the cart for 
 you." Upon hearing this the two gentlemen dis- 
 mounted, and sitting down on a bank under a hedge 
 by the roadside, opened the letters, which contained 
 the information that the Home authorities had sent 
 out Colonel Holt Robe to take the government of 
 South Australia for a time, while Captain Grey pro- 
 ceeded to New Zealand to take command there. The 
 following extracts from Lord Stanley's despatch are 
 sufficient to give an idea of the tone of the whole 
 communication. It was dated June 13th, 1845, and 
 began : — " After the repeated testimonials I have 
 borne to the value of your public services in admini- 
 stering the government of South Australia, it would 
 be very gratifying to me to prove my esteem for your 
 capacity and your public spirit by proposing to you 
 some other office of higher rank and of increased 
 emolument. 
 
 " Still I am convinced that I shall give you a yet 
 more welcome proof of the confidence which Her 
 Majesty reposes in you by inviting you to undertakie 
 public duties more arduous and responsible than those 
 in which you have hitherto been engaged, though 
 recommended to your acceptance by hardly any other 
 consideration. The urgent necessity which has arisen 
 for invoking your aid in the government of New Zea- 
 land is the single apology I have (to a man of your 
 character it will be an ample apology) for calling on 
 you, with no previous notice, to incur the sacrifices 
 and inconveniences of proceeding thither with the 
 least possible delay after your receipt of this 
 despatch." 
 
 After alluding to the Wairau massacre and to the 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 75 
 
 burning of Russell, it pointed out that the colonisa- 
 tion of New Zealand was not undertaken voluntarily 
 by the English Government, but forced upon Ministers 
 to prevent the evils which seemed to threaten the 
 previous inhabitants from unauthorised settlement, 
 and declared it had been " the anxious and unremit- 
 ting desire of Her Majesty's Government to avoid, if 
 possible, any actual conflict with the native tribes." 
 
 It went on to show that the colony was involved in 
 " financial difficulties of the most serious kind." After 
 regretting the circumstances which precluded him 
 from personally talking over matters with Captain 
 Grey, Lord Stanley writes : — " I am happy in the 
 assurance that that disadvantage will in your case be 
 in great measure compensated by the experience you 
 have gained in the conduct of affairs not altogether 
 dissimilar, and by the energy, capacity, and circum- 
 spection which you have exhibited in the conduct of 
 them. 
 
 " I devolve on you a responsibility which it seems 
 impossible for me to narrow, and of which I am per- 
 suaded you will acquit yourself in such a manner as 
 to enhance your claims to the approbation of the 
 Queen and the gratitude of Her Majesty's subjects." 
 
 In the event of Captain Grey being unable or 
 unwilling to undertake the responsible task on such 
 short notice, the Secretary for the Colonies requested 
 him to communicate with Sir George Gipps, who it 
 was believed would not hesitate to accept the posi- 
 tion. The appointment was only regarded as tem- 
 porary, and provision was made for supplying Captain 
 Grey's place in South Australia during his absence 
 "in New Zealand. 
 
 As the two brothers read the despatches, including 
 the letter of Lord Stanley to the Governor of South 
 Australia, with its terms of high appreciation and 
 unmeasured confidence. Grey felt that a portion of 
 
76 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 the reward of public labour faithfully performed was 
 being meted to him with no niggard hand. 
 
 The struggle in South Australia had been some- 
 times wearisome and monotonous. The accusations 
 which had been made against him, the animosities 
 which he had aroused in many quarters by his bold 
 and unswerving policy, had tended to discourage him 
 as to the ultimate result of his efforts. Those results, 
 nevertheless, had been on the whole marvellously 
 successful. He had seen the people subside from a 
 mutinous crowd into a well-ordered and thriving 
 community. Roads had been driven into regions 
 comparatively distant, fertile lands opened for settle- 
 ment, and over thousands of square miles of territory 
 com lands and pasture yielded to the prevailing 
 industry of once-idle factionaries the harvests of 
 wealth and toil. The revenue had steadily increased, 
 keeping pace with the growing commerce. " Over- 
 landers" had come from New South Wales with mobs 
 of cattle and flocks of sheep, and had developed fresh 
 country upon the banks of great rivers and on the 
 plains which intervened in the course of their 
 journeys. 
 
 Besides the success which had attended his efforts 
 since 1841, the life itself had been one of almost con- 
 tinual enjoyment. The brilliant climate, the ever- 
 fresh scenery, the discoveries of new territories fit for 
 human habitation, the conscious moulding of the 
 institutions of a new community, the freehanded and 
 generous hospitality of colonial life, the constant 
 change and freshness of character with which in all 
 classes of this strange society he was bt ought into 
 contact, the ardent and successful pursuit of many 
 branches of science — all aided in giving to his four 
 years' tenure of office a charm and fulness which 
 could not be forgotten. 
 
 Yet the summons to a different and a wider sphere 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 77 
 
 of action was not unpleasant. The work in South 
 Australia which he had been sent to do was in fact 
 accomplished. The finances of the young colony had 
 been put in proper order, her social and municipal 
 government regulated, and she was started upon a 
 fair and safe career of prosperity. The work was 
 finished, and he felt a sentiment of pride and joy on 
 this new call to duty in a land where courage and 
 capacity would equally be demanded to deal with the 
 strange and v/onderful circumstances by which he 
 must be surrounded. 
 
 As, sitting by the roadside, he read Lord Stanley's 
 despatch, his cheek coloured, and his eye glowed 
 with a new fire. He felt that the second chapter in 
 the active history of his life was finished. In the first 
 he had had to deal with exceptional conditions of 
 danger and privation. In the second he had been 
 called upon to exert talent and power in different 
 directions in the management of men and the adap- 
 tation of circumstances. Now he was requested to 
 depart upon a different course and meet the savage 
 tribes of New Zealand; to control the passions of 
 many men, gathered from different parts of the earth 
 and from many callings, who had settled in the 
 southern islands of romance ; to watch over the safety 
 of widely scattered communities, surrounded by foes 
 considerable in number, desperate in courage, cun- 
 ning in attack. This was indeed a duty likely to task 
 to the very uttermost all the powers of which he felt 
 the conscious possession. 
 
 Fully alive to the difiiculties and responsibilities of 
 the new position, Captain Grey was yet not daunted 
 by them. His decision was immediately taken, and 
 no time was lost in making all preparations for de- 
 parture and leaving Adelaide in the Elphinstone. 
 
 The people in South Australia had been much 
 annoyed when their supplies and arms were previ- 
 
78 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 ously sent to New Zealand, and when they heard that 
 their Governor was about to follow, they believed 
 that he had known from the first, and had planned to 
 take these away for his use in another colony. After- 
 wards, finding by the despatches that they were wrong 
 in their suspicions, they began with pleasure to take 
 credit to themselves for being the first to send help to 
 New Zealand. No remnant of the undeserved un- 
 popularity against which he had had to contend at 
 first marred the heartfelt gratitude and esteem or the 
 deep and universal regret of the South Australians at 
 his departure. 
 
 During the four years of his Governorship, Grey 
 did not relax the discharge of those minor but gentle 
 duties to society which have in every land been asso- 
 ciated with his presence. Advice and assistance to 
 Christian churches, to schools, and to students were 
 always given on proper occasions ; and when want 
 pressed heavily on considerable numbers of the 
 labouring population of the colony, he gave with a 
 free and liberal hand to their necessities. In such 
 a work as this it is impossible to give due prominence 
 to what Wordsworth called 
 
 " That best portion of a good man's life — 
 His little, nameless, unremembered acts 
 Of kindness and of love." 
 
 In matters more intimately affecting his own life 
 and feelings, the eight years Grey spent in Australia 
 were fraught with mingled happiness and sorrow. 
 They brought him love and marriage. There a son 
 was born to him, and hopeful affection drew bright 
 pictures of the child's future. But when Captain and 
 Mrs. Grey left Adelaide for New Zealand in 1845, 
 they took with them the memory only of that young 
 life. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 REVIEW OF grey's LIFE IN AUSTRALIA, CORRESPON- 
 DENCE, AND SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS. 
 
 " How charming is divine philosophy ! 
 Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose ; 
 But musical as is Apollo's lute, 
 And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets, 
 Where no crude surfeit reigns." 
 
 Milton's " Comus.'' 
 
 " To him who in the love of Nature holds 
 Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
 A various language." 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 Eight years had passed since Grey, then an ardent 
 young explorer, had landed in Australia. His career 
 as a colonial governor and a founder of new states in 
 new lands had actually commenced. To suppose, how- 
 ever, that the mere duties of government, difficult as 
 they were, had occupied the whole of his attention, 
 would be far from the truth. His love of science 
 never wavered, and his application to the study of 
 nature was constant. The troubles inseparable from 
 the position which he had voluntarily taken did not 
 exhaust the energy which he devoted to the business 
 of life. To intense admiration of all natural beauties, 
 and a keen perception of the new and surprising 
 visions which everywhere met his eyes, he added the 
 close attention which the student gives to the objects 
 spread out before him. 
 The languages of the tribes, the natural products of 
 
8o GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 the island-continent, the trees, the plants, the ani- 
 mals — all new, not merely to him, but to the scien- 
 tists of Europe — claimed his attention. As in his 
 short stay at Teneriffe he had made observations and 
 collected the phrases and vocabulary of an extinct 
 native tongue ; as in his explorations he had studied 
 the manners, customs, and dialects of the Australian 
 blacks — so, during his Governorship of South Aus- 
 tralia, he devoted sufficient time and energy to the 
 study of its natural history as to enable him to send 
 contributions to the British Museum and to the Royal 
 Conservatory at Kew, which called forth the admira- 
 tion and gratitude of those who occupied a leading 
 position in the scientific world. 
 
 Many acknowledgments of valuable contributions 
 were received by him from the Royal Library at 
 Berlin. A letter from Professor Owen, from the 
 College of Surgeons, dated May, 1839, contains the 
 following paragraph : — 
 
 " All the specimens you sent were new to us, or of 
 great rarity ; and, what is more to the purpose, of 
 great utility. I shall soon commence a monograph 
 on the muscles and other parts of the hooded lizard. 
 Your note on the action of the hood is a new and 
 interesting fact in its history." 
 
 In December, 1840, at the close of his second expe- 
 dition, and after his return to England, he made his 
 first donation to the British Museum, consisting of 
 mineral and zoological specimens from Australia. 
 This gift was followed up in January and February, 
 1 84 1, by two valuable collections of fossils and shells 
 from the same land. 
 
 During his residence at Albany, he sent to London 
 a collection of specimens of various sorts, for which a 
 letter of " especial thanks " was sent by the Council 
 of the British Museum, dated April 23, 1842. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 8 1 
 
 On his return to Australia in 1841 he started busily 
 to work in the same direction, and in July, 1843, the 
 Museum in London received another donation from 
 him, comprising three hundred and seventy-four speci- 
 mens of birds, three eggs, and a snake, followed in 
 October of the same year by two hundred and sixty- 
 seven specimens of birds, and thirty of mammals. 
 So valuable and numerous were the collections which 
 he thus transmitted that, in addition to the usual 
 letters of thanks by the trustees to contributors, in 
 October, 1844, Mr. Forshall, Secretary to the Board of 
 Trustees, despatched a letter to Captain Grey, con- 
 taining the following acknowledgment : " We really 
 feel our obligation to you, and that your contributions 
 are some of the most interesting which we can boast 
 in the department of zoology." This accompanied 
 the formal acknowledgment of the receipt of a pre- 
 sent of fifteen specimens of mammals, twenty-eight 
 birds, four reptiles, seven fish, and one crustacean 
 from South Australia. 
 
 In 1845 the stream of his contributions still flowed 
 in from South Australia to enrich the national collec- 
 tion. Three donations were acknowledged by the 
 trustees during the year, comprising two hundred and 
 sixty-five species of plants, a series of rock speci- 
 mens and minerals, two hundred and ninety in num- 
 ber, and a large number of skins of mammals and 
 birds. The last gift of South Australian specimens 
 was acknowledged on March i8th, 1847, after Captain 
 Grey had gone to New Zealand. 
 
 The British Museum was not the only recipient of 
 the results of his untiring energy and scientific know- 
 ledge. In 1 840 and 1 842 he contributed to the Royal 
 Geographical Society copies of the vocabulary of the 
 dialects of South-western Australia, with a map 
 of Western Australia, and his "Journal of Two 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Expeditions in Western and North-western Aus- 
 tralia." 
 
 Early in 1841 the Horticultural Society of London 
 tendered him their thanks for a present of fifty-two 
 papers of seeds from Australia, and a year later the 
 Geological Society of London gratefully acknow- 
 ledged a collection of fossils from the cliifs beyond 
 the north-west bend of the Murray. 
 
 It would be impossible here, as in the other period 
 of Grey's life, to describe minutely the numerous dona- 
 tions made by him to museums, libraries, schools, and 
 other centres of public thought and education. From 
 time to time it will be proper to glance at some of 
 his principal benefactions ; but it must be always 
 understood and remembered that no attempt is made 
 to give in detail, or with any completeness, their full 
 enumeration. Gathered with immense care, at con- 
 tinual expense both of time and of money, with won- 
 derful discrimination, and incomparable variety of 
 knowledge, the museums and libraries of every country 
 in Europe, and of most of the great colonies have been 
 enriched by the munificence of Sir George Grey. 
 
 With this earnest longing for fuller information on 
 all matters connected with Australia, there mingled 
 no petty jealousy of the discoveries made by other 
 men. Grey was animated, not by the desire to have 
 his name associated with some great discovery, but 
 by the hope that he might be of use in adding to the 
 sum of general knowledge, and making that know- 
 ledge accessible to thousands outside the narrow circle 
 of scientific students. So long as the results of his 
 observations and the logical deductions which his 
 own readings and researches enabled him to make, 
 were published to the world, he cared little or nothing 
 that those who benefited by his labours should be 
 impressed by his attainments. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 83 
 
 Thus we find that while the foremost men of the 
 day in many different branches of learning unhesi- 
 tatingly acknowledge their indebtedness to him, and 
 ask for his opinion and advice in formulating their 
 own theories, yet the general public is quite unaware 
 that he ever attained any special excellence in these 
 directions. 
 
 Both the fact of his generous friendship and assist- 
 ance towards explorers, discoverers, and struggling 
 literary men, and that of the deference paid to his 
 opinion by men of high scientific attainments, are 
 clearly proved by many acknowledgments. While 
 Captain Grey was Governor of South Australia he 
 kept up a large and interesting correspondence with 
 all parts of the world. 
 
 Nor was Sir George Grey forgetful in later years 
 of the labours and merits of those who had braved the 
 perils of an unknown continent to open the way for 
 the peaceful settlement of men. In March, 1869, he 
 and Sir Henry Young, successive Governors of South 
 Australia, addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, 
 urging the claim of Sturt to knighthood as the earliest 
 of living Australian explorers, and on other grounds. 
 Their request was granted, but Sturt died btfore the 
 honour could be conferred upon him. 
 
 A monument at the summit of Stamford Hill, over- 
 looking St. Vincent Gulf, was erected by Sir John 
 Franklin to the memory of Captain Flinders, during 
 Captain Grey's Governorship of South Australia. The 
 spot was chosen by Lady Franklin as being not only 
 suitable in itself, but also because (as Sir John Frank- 
 lin wrote to the Governor when asking his co-operation 
 in the work) " the ports and islands bear the names 
 of his native country, and of the places in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of that of his birth." 
 
 Although Captain Grey and Sir John Franklin 
 G 2 
 
84 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 never met they carried on a correspondence, opened 
 by the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, who wrote on 
 October 3rd, 1841, congratulating Captain Grey on 
 his appointment to South Australia, and forwarding 
 a copy of the first number of a Tasmanian journal 
 of science, edited by the Governor's private secretary, 
 their purpose being " to give and invite accurate 
 information on some portions of the natural history 
 of the Australian colonies, and to show that even in 
 a penal colony there are persons who can direct their 
 attention to other subjects than chains and convicts." 
 
 That Sir Charles Lyell, the eminent geologist, en- 
 tertained a warm friendship for Grey as a man, and a 
 high admiration for his knowledge and opinions, is 
 shown by his letters, one or two extracts from which 
 may be of some interest. 
 
 In one letter, dated January, 1843, he thanks Cap- 
 tain Grey for a box of fossils, and states that the 
 Geological Society and Professor Owen entirely 
 agreed with the opinion Governor Grey had formed 
 of some interesting cetacean remains which he had 
 sent home. " No small sensation was created by 
 Owen discovering about a month ago for the first 
 time a non-marsupial mammiferous bone in some 
 fossil sent, I think, ninety miles inland from Moreton 
 Bay. He refers it to some pachyderm allied to 
 Demotherium. So the kangaroos had not your word 
 all to themselves." 
 
 In a letter written in 1 862 he writes : " I am com- 
 ing out with a volume on the ' Geological Evidence of 
 the Antiquity of Man,' and shall treat of many sub- 
 jects we talked over together. Although several of 
 your presents sent to the Zoological Gardens from the 
 Cape were lost, your donations make a great show 
 there at present." He also expresses a firm belief 
 that England would have been spared the loss of 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 85 
 
 more than a million sterling if Sir George had gone 
 to New Zealand a year or two earlier. 
 
 Writing to Sir George in March, i860, he speaks in 
 a rather regretful tone of the fact that he had received 
 an invitation to dine with Her Majesty on an evening 
 which he had previously intended to devote to receiv- 
 ing Sir George at the Geological Society Club. 
 
 Sir John Lubbock was indebted to Captain Grey 
 for some valuable information sent in reply to the 
 following little note : — 
 
 My dear Sir George, — I am working at a book on " Modern 
 Savages," and am very anxious to know your views as to the 
 religious dogmas of the Australians, especially with reference to 
 the Kobongs. I know that they are regarded with much mystery, 
 but are they looked on and worshipped as actual gods ? My 
 impression is that they are not, but I am anxious to know your 
 opinion on the subject. — Believe me to be, dear Sir George, yours 
 most sincerely, John Lubbock. 
 
 The Governor was never too busy to attend to such 
 requests. The web of his life, while presenting a bold 
 and consistent pattern throughout, will yet repay a 
 close and minute scrutiny, the seemingly trivial 
 details being wonderfully perfect and complete. The 
 innumerable threads of purpose, knowledge and prin- 
 ciple — some thick and strong as cables, some delicate 
 as gossamer — may be traced with unbroken continuity 
 through the whole fabric. 
 
 It is given to but few men to exercise so great an 
 influence in so many different spheres of action and 
 of thought, as Captain Grey was privileged to do. 
 
 Considering the number and variety of his pursuits, 
 remembering the thoroughness with which he entered 
 into all, and taking into account the fact that his 
 health still suffered from the effects of his exploring 
 expeditions, we feel that a sentence from one of 
 Arnold Forster's letters expresses a simple truth : " I 
 
86 GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 have often wondered how, with such delicate health 
 as I thought you had when in Adelaide, you could 
 get through such hard work." 
 
 When from the deck of the Elphinstone, steering 
 south-east, he saw the Australian shores sink beneath 
 the horizon, the history of the last eight years came 
 vividly enough to his mind. The landing in Hanover 
 Bay, his first day's adventure, with its imminent perils 
 from the sea, from the sun, and from the natives ; the 
 wounds which he received from the spears of the 
 savages, the destruction of the stores at Bernier 
 Island ; the terrible march from Shark Bay to Perth ; 
 his appointment to the Governorship of South Aus- 
 tralia, and the four years of his administration there 
 — were past, but certainly not forgotten. He neither 
 knew nor thought that his connection with Australia 
 was ended. He was only enjoying leave of absence 
 from South Australia in order that he might perform 
 a great public work in the more southern colony. 
 He expected to return and resume his duties in 
 Adelaide as soon as his work in New Zealand was 
 accomplished. 
 
 Events, however, do not transpire as they are ex- 
 pected. Grey was not to return to Australia, but 
 again to be relieved by another Governor, and shifted 
 to another part of the earth, to undertake a still more 
 arduous task. He looked his last, therefore, upon the 
 great island-continent as the Elphinstone sailed 
 towards the Britain of the South.* 
 
 Grateful to his Maker for the guidance and protec- 
 tion which he had enjoyed, rejoicing at the successful 
 accomplishment of the work which had' been com- 
 mitted to him so confidently by Lord John Russell, 
 he looked forward to the difficult task which lay before 
 
 • When this was written, Sir George Grey's visit to Australia 
 as a member of the Federal Convention was not thought of. 
 
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 87 
 
 him with equal confidence and delight. He had read 
 of New Zealand ; he had met men who had landed 
 upon its shores and mingled with its aboriginal in- 
 habitants ; he had heard of its glorious climate, of its 
 tangled forests, its noble harbours, its snow-tipped 
 mountains, its rushing torrents, its peaceful lakes and 
 smiling plains. It was with no slight anticipation 
 that he looked forward to his arrival in the new scene 
 of duty, and tlie unfolding of a new chapter in his 
 life's work. 
 
 In South Australia he had found discontent, mutiny, 
 want, despair ; he had left, after four years of patient 
 and unremitting toil, contentment, peaceful industry, 
 and prosperity. What new scenes of trouble and of 
 danger he had to face he knew not, but relying on the 
 Hand which had guided and defended him through 
 dangers and troubles during the last eight years, and 
 gratified beyond measure at the confidence displayed 
 by Her Majesty's Government in his capacity and 
 courage, he went forward without a single fear as to 
 the ultimate result. 
 
First Government of New Zealand, 1845-1854. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CAPTAIN GREY'S ARRIVAL AT AUCKLAND. SKETCH 
 OF THE PREVIOUS HISTORY OF THE COLONY. 
 
 " Oh ! pitiless race of the fierce pale face ! 
 Hadst thou a warrant from God, 
 In the cold s^rey north to come south and drive forth 
 The peaceable people who trod, 
 By right of their birth, their own spot of earth ? 
 Was there not room under heaven 
 For thy people and mine, that my people by thine 
 To death and destruction were given ? 
 You came unsought, and the gifts you brought, 
 As Christians from over the wave, 
 Were greed for land, and a merciless hand, 
 And the fire-drink that digs the grave." 
 
 Australiafz Writer. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1845, the Elphinstone, after 
 beating down the coast of the North Island of New 
 Zealand, sailed across the Hauraki Gulf, and landed 
 Captain Grey at Auckland. With intense interest the 
 new Governor of the young colony beheld the striking 
 features of this portion of New Zealand rising into 
 view. When the ship passed by the Barrier Islands, 
 with the bold headland of Cape Colville in sight ; and 
 when coming past Kawau (in future years to be his 
 residence), Rangitoto, Mount Eden, and the shores of 
 the Waitemata rose slowly above the horizon — the 
 cloudless sky above and the blue waters of the Pacific 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. fig 
 
 beneath — he easily understood the enthusiasm with 
 which travellers had spoken of the scenery of New 
 Zealand. 
 
 It was not publicly known in the colony that Cap- 
 tain Fitzroy was to be superseded, although rumours 
 of such a change had gained circulation. The Gover- 
 nor was in Auckland. The assistance he had asked 
 was indeed being given, but was to be used by 
 another. No trace of disappointment appeared in his 
 demeanour. On the contrary, he treated his successor 
 with great kindness and consideration during the 
 short time they were together in New Zealand. 
 
 The four days succeeding the 14th were spent by 
 Captain Grey in obtaining all possible information as 
 to the position of affairs in the colony. Captain Fitz- 
 roy laid before him all means of access to the know- 
 ledge he required. The Government of&cers, and 
 Government papers as well, tended to throw light 
 upon the causes which had led to the position then 
 occupied, and pointed to the dangers ahead if prompt 
 measures were not taken. 
 
 Captain Hobson had in 1840 assumed command 
 under his commission, although New Zealand for the 
 first year of its existence as a colony was a depen- 
 dency of New South Wales. For a time there had 
 been no difficulties with the natives. 
 
 The anxiety of the first Governor was aroused by 
 the action of the European colonists, especially that 
 of the officers and emigrants of the New Zealand 
 Company. In November, 1840, a patent or charter 
 had been granted freeing New Zealand from its de- 
 pendence on New South Wales, and creating it into 
 a separate colony. Captain Hobson was appointed 
 Governor, and a Council, composed of various officials 
 and some colonists nominated by himself, was ap- 
 pointed to aid him in the government. 
 
90 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 A fatal error was, however, committed by the Eng- 
 lish Cabinet in connection with the creation of the 
 Colon}'- of New Zealand. The New Zealand Company 
 was formally recognised by a despatch from Lord 
 John Russell, and an arrangement was made by 
 Ministers that the directors of the Company in Lon- 
 don should co-operate with the Government in New 
 Zealand in advancing the settlement of the colony. 
 This step led to most of the complications, and to 
 much of the ill-feeling which afterwards arose in the 
 administration of public affairs. 
 
 The native wars are distinctly traceable to the great 
 power exercised, and the boundless ambition dis- 
 played by the Company and its officials. The colonists 
 who had arrived at Port Nicholson found that the 
 natives still claimed the land of which the Company 
 were the alleged purchasers. The idleness and dis- 
 content which naturally followed their futile efforts to 
 obtain land for settlement soon made them dangerous. 
 They appealed to Captain Hobson to enforce the sales 
 which they declared the natives had made. He re- 
 fused. They complained of the Government being in 
 Auckland, at a great distance from the place of their 
 location. Some moved to Wanganui to get land ; 
 another party was sent, under the auspices of the 
 Company, to Taranaki ; and although Hobson issued 
 a proclamation forbidding settlement in a place well 
 known to be filled with warlike and quarrelsome 
 natives, the Company's settlers landed at New Ply- 
 mouth and began to build. 
 
 In 1 84 1 lands were sold in Auckland, and a system 
 of customs and of police made a rude commencement 
 of political and financial institutions in the new 
 colony. Disputes, meanwhile, arose in London be- 
 tween the Company and the Colonial Office, which 
 were paraphrased in New Zealand by conflicts be- 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 91 
 
 tween Captain Hobson, as Governor, and Colonel 
 Wakefield, with the Company's settlers at his back. 
 Clamorous demands were still made that the Governor 
 should place these settlers upon the land they claimed 
 by force. It was useless to argue that the Treaty of 
 Waitangi bound him to respect the rights of the 
 Maoris ; that it would be an act of tyranny and op- 
 pression to take the tribal lands from the possession 
 of the natives without the decision of a competent 
 tribunal; and that at all hazards justice must be done. 
 The new colonists were idle. They had paid their 
 money in good faith in London, and they saw the 
 land they claimed lying unoccupied and unused. 
 
 The position of Captain Hobson was most difficult. 
 The colonists in Wellington established a Govern- 
 ment for themselves, and it was not until Lieutenant 
 Shortland with a company was sent to Wellington to 
 assert the authority of the Governor with a high hand 
 that order was restored, and a properly conducted 
 administration settled in the future capital. In 1841 
 the Company in London had issued a fresh prospec- 
 tus, and sold another 200,000 acres of land. In 
 August the new settlers arrived under the leadership 
 of Captain Arthur Wakefield. 
 
 Hobson met the Wakefields in Wellington. He 
 wished the settlers to go north to Whangarei, and 
 promised help in the obtaining of land there. The 
 Wakefields objected. A species of compromise was 
 made, and Blind Bay, on the other side of Cook's 
 Straits, was fixed upon by common consent as the 
 seat of the Company's settlement. When the sur- 
 veyors left Wellington in October but little was 
 known of the South Island, and they were favourably 
 impressed with the extensive fertile country at Wai- 
 rau, and the green hills around it. A site for a town 
 was fixed upon, and called Nelson ; the Wairau was 
 
92 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 explored ; and favourable reports forwarded to head- 
 quarters. This led to the first serious conflict between 
 the two races. 
 
 Rauparaha and Rangihaeta on hearing of the 
 Wairau survey asserted their claim to the land, stat- 
 ing that it had never been sold with the exception 
 of a small piece given to Captain Blenkinsop. The 
 Wakefields, however, would not give way. They 
 insisted on the survey being completed. A commis- 
 sioner had been sent from London to inquire into the 
 land claims of the New Zealand Company, and Rau- 
 paraha, alleging his willingness to submit to the 
 decision of a proper court, demanded that nothing 
 should be done till Mr. Spain arrived. At the end of 
 the year Mr. Spain landed in New Zealand, but before 
 entering upon his duties proceeded to Auckland to 
 gather information. 
 
 Ultimately the Wakefields declined to wait for the 
 decision of Mr. Commissioner Spain, a conflict en- 
 sued, and thirty of the Europeans were killed. This 
 is the historical "Wairau Massacre" which commenced 
 the native troubles in New Zealand. 
 
 Colonists had now begun to arrive in considerable 
 numbers. Everywhere the discontent between the 
 Maoris and Europeans was increasing. The Com- 
 pany's settlers, by petition and in various ways, 
 violently attacked the administration of Captain 
 Hobson, who, weak from illness, was overwhelmed 
 with his anxieties. On the loth of September, 1842, 
 the first Governor of New Zealand died. The address 
 sent by the Maori chiefs to the Queen shows the 
 esteem they felt for Hobson's character. They asked 
 that the Queen would send them another Governor, 
 " a good man like the Governor who has just died." 
 Before his death Sir William Martin and Bishop 
 Selwyn had arrived in the colony. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 93 
 
 A short interval, during which Mr. Willoughby 
 Shortland became acting Governor, occurred between 
 the death of Hobson and the arrival of his successor. 
 Disputes at this time grew in intensity between the 
 natives and the Europeans. The colonists asserted 
 their rights to land, and put up fences and houses. 
 The Maoris destroyed them. These disputes culmi- 
 nated in one locality, as we have seen, in the Wairau 
 massacre. Troops were sent for. The colonists were 
 in a state of fear as to a general Maori rising. The 
 morning of New Zealand's history was clouded over, 
 and the country was in a condition of unrest and 
 terror when Captain Fitzroy landed at Auckland as 
 Governor in December, 1843. 
 
 No man ever plunged into a more veritable hornet's 
 nest than Fitzroy entered in New Zealand. He quar- 
 relled with the Europeans ; he quarrelled with the 
 natives. Eminently desirous to carry on his Govern- 
 ment in the best interests of both races he armed 
 them both against himself with invincible hostility. 
 A man of great justice of character, of considerable 
 reputation as a scientific man, clever in his own pro- 
 fession, he yet left the impression that he was a 
 partizan, and unable even to control himself. 
 
 The officials gradually fell into the general oppo- 
 sition against him. Nor did he fail to arouse an 
 enmity as deep if not deeper than that felt for Captain 
 Hobson in the directors and officers of the New 
 Zealand Company. To add to his difficulties, the 
 Colonial Office, anxious about New Zealand affairs, 
 and apprehensive of grave troubles arising there, 
 complained bitterly. 
 
 Captain Fitzroy seemed destined to misfortune 
 from the very commencement of his Governorship. 
 The Treasury being empty he commenced the issue 
 of debentures, and in so doing created without 
 
94 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 authority of law a new currency. Following upon the 
 disaster at Wairau, in July, 1844, Hone Heke, son- 
 in-law of the great Hongi (well known in New Zea- 
 land story), cut down the flagstaff at Kororareka, 
 believing that so long as the English flag waved on 
 New Zealand soil, that soil itself would be claimed by 
 the pakeha strangers. The flagstaff was indeed put 
 up again, and several chiefs undertook to restrain 
 Heke, but within six months, in January, 1845, the 
 young and fiery chief had returned, and once more 
 cut down his old enemy. 
 
 On this occasion prompt measures were taken to 
 punish the offenders. A man-of-war and a military 
 force were sent to Kororareka, and the flagstaff, now 
 plated and shod with iron, was again erected. Heke, 
 joined by Kawiti and other chiefs, attacked the town, 
 cut down the flagstaff, iron-shod as it was, for the 
 third time, took Kororareka, and drove the military 
 and marines, with severe loss, on board their ships. 
 The town was plundered and burnt by the Maoris, 
 but so chivalrous were these people in the conduct of 
 their warfare that they not only permitted the Euro- 
 peans to take away papers and any property or 
 jewellery that they desired, but they guarded the 
 public buildings and the churches, and helped the 
 townspeople to carry the things they wished to save 
 down to the boats. 
 
 Bishop Selwyn and the missionary, Henry Wil- 
 liams, were permitted to search for the wounded and 
 the dead without molestation. Selwyn, in after life, 
 telling of the sack of Kororareka, never forgot to 
 narrate how when he found a party of natives pre- 
 paring to broach a cask of rum which they had 
 secured, they nevertheless permitted him to turn the 
 tap, and allow all the spirits to run down into the 
 gutter. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 95 
 
 The people of Auckland had been credibly in- 
 formed that Hone Heke intended to attack that town 
 and that he had two thousand resolute and well- 
 armed natives at his back, but they also knew that 
 Waka Nene and the friendly chiefs had stated openly 
 that if he attempted such a step they would meet him 
 with even superior forces, and drive him back to the 
 forests of the north. 
 
 Reinforcements were sent from Sydney, but this 
 only led to a still more serious disaster. After a 
 decided repulse which our troops received in their 
 attack upon Okaihau, in May, a force of between six 
 and seven hundred men under Colonel Despard of 
 the 99th, besieged Hone Heke in his pah at Ohaewai. 
 On the first of July, in spite of the earnest warnings 
 of the friendly Maoris, and against the opinions of 
 his own officers, Colonel Despard ordered an assault 
 on the pah by a storming party two hundred strong. 
 
 Tamati Waka Nene, a chief whose fidelity was 
 never doubted, and whose courage no man dared to 
 question, denounced the assault as madness. It was, 
 he said, sending brave men to death, and he refused 
 either to join in it himself or to allow any of his 
 people to take part in so hopeless an undertaking. 
 
 Beneath an afternoon sun the men, headed gal- 
 lantly by their officers, rushed at the pah. A few, led 
 by Lieutenant Philpott of the Hazard — himself a great 
 favourite of the natives — did actually surmount the 
 first of the three rows of defences, only to be shot 
 down in front of the second. The predictions of 
 Waka Nene were swiftly fulfilled. It is said that in 
 ten minutes half the attacking force was killed or 
 wounded. Hon-ified by the carnage. Colonel Despard 
 ordered the bugles to sound a retreat. One hundred 
 and three men out of the two hundred of the attacking 
 party were killed or wounded. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SPEEDY AND TRIUMPHANT CONCLUSION OF THE 
 MAORI WAR. 
 
 " Unbounded courage and compassion joined, 
 Tempering each other in the victor's mind, 
 Alternately proclaim him good and great. 
 And make the hero and the man complete." 
 
 Addison. 
 
 When, five months after the repulse at Ohaewai, 
 Captain Grey arrived to take over the Government of 
 New Zealand, assistance was coming to the colony 
 from many quarters. From India, from China, and 
 from Australia, ships of war had been sent with men 
 and military material. The money and munitions of 
 war which he himself had forwarded from South Aus- 
 tralia were especially useful. He found everything 
 in confusion — finance. Government, military, natives, 
 settlers. It would hardly be possible to imagine a 
 more tangled skein than that which the new Governor 
 was called upon to unwind. In addition to the disas- 
 ters which had already been made public in England, 
 were the reverses which our arms had sustained at 
 Okaihau and Ohaewai, with the consequent increase 
 of confidence among the disaffected Maoris, and dis- 
 may and confusion of the few and scattered European 
 settlers. 
 
 No time was lost in regrets or ceremonies. In a 
 few days Grey had decided as to the course to be 
 taken. With the treasure brought from South Aus- 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 97 
 
 tralia he called in, and partly paid, the debentures 
 issued by Captain Fitzroy. These were payable at a 
 fixed date, bearing interest at six per cent., and 
 amounted to _£37,ooo. He put a stop to the sale of 
 firearms to the Maoris, in the face of a bitter opposi- 
 tion, and after a desperate struggle in the Council, by 
 an Order. When Grey left in 1854 this was repealed, 
 and the natives then bought the arms with which our 
 people were slaughtered in the great wars. He also 
 prohibited the purchase of native land by private 
 individuals. He organised a body of native armed 
 police, under European officers. He entered into 
 negotiations with friendly chiefs, with a view to 
 appoint them magistrates under the Crown, at small 
 salaries. He arranged with Waka Nene, who was in 
 command of the friendly natives, that all his fighting 
 men should receive regular rations. He publicly 
 broke off negotiations with Heke and Kawiti until 
 they should ask for peace and forgiveness. He issued 
 a proclamation to the natives, warning them that he 
 should treat as hostile those tribes which did not 
 render assistance when it was in their power. Within 
 a week of his arrival in the colony he had proceeded 
 in the Elphinstone to the Bay of Islands. Within 
 five days of his landing at Auckland he had written 
 and transmitted to Lord Stanley a despatch, in which 
 he described the state of affairs then existing, and the 
 measures which he intended to adopt. 
 
 He saw at once that the native mind had become 
 impressed with the superior prowess and skill of their 
 own race. The old belief in the superiority of the 
 white man, rudely shaken by the conflict at Wairau, 
 further weakened by the sack of Kororareka and the 
 repulse at Okaihau, had been for the time destroyed 
 by the slaughter and defeat of the English at Ohae- 
 wai. In New Zealand there were at that time at least 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
98 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 one hundred and twenty thousand Maoris, while the 
 European residents numbered only from ten thousand 
 to twelve thousand, scattered over distant settlements, 
 without means of co-operation for defence. The 
 natives were a race born for military undertakings, 
 and, in some of the characteristics of soldiers, unsur- 
 passed by any people on earth. The Europeans were 
 untrained to military service, unaccustomed to the 
 use of arms, and eminently wishful for a life of peace 
 and quiet. 
 
 Although the disaffected natives were yet in a 
 minority, their numbers had rapidly increased with 
 the successes of Heke and Kawiti, and Grey saw that 
 he must strike an immediate and successful blow. 
 One or two more defeats would ensure the destruction 
 of the infant colony and the expulsion of the Euro- 
 peans from New Zealand or their destruction in it. 
 
 The speed and energy which the new Governor 
 exhibited in the measures which have been already 
 detailed suffered no abatement in his subsequent pro- 
 ceedings. Ohaewai had been abandoned by Hone 
 Heke, and a new pah, still more strongly fortified and 
 in an almost impregnable position, had been built at 
 Ruapekapeka (The Bat's Nest). At this point, strong 
 as it appeared, Grey determined to deliver a blow 
 which should be felt throughout both islands. Heke 
 himself had been wounded in a skirmish with Waka 
 Nene's people, and was stationed at Kaikohe, twenty 
 miles from Ruapekapeka, of which strong fortress 
 Kawiti was in command. 
 
 Within five weeks of his arrival in the colony, the 
 Governor put eleven hundred men in motion against 
 the Maoris at the Bat's Nest. A camp was formed 
 near the Kawakawa river, and the troops were set to 
 work on making that first military necessity, a prac- 
 tical road to the scene of intended operations. Mac- 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 99 
 
 quarie, a friendly chief, was despatched to hold Heke 
 in check, in case he should attempt to advance from 
 Kaikohe to relieve Ruapekapeka. 
 
 In a fortnight the road was completed sufficiently 
 to enable the men to draw the guns on carts to the 
 front, and the siege commenced. Within the pah 
 Kawiti raised his flag. Frequent sorties were made 
 by the Maoris, but they were repulsed and driven 
 back on every occasion. Meanwhile the artillery 
 which had been brought by the new road was playing 
 continuously upon the palisading of the pah. So 
 strong and ingenious were the fortifications that ten 
 days elapsed before any apparent effect was produced 
 by the cannon shot of the besiegers. During this 
 time the wily old chief Kawiti and his people used 
 every means to provoke a repetition of the assault 
 which had proved so fatal at Ohaewai. The natives, 
 however, had not here to deal with an impulsive 
 military of&cer who undervalued the strength of the 
 place he was attacking and the courage of the men 
 who defended it. They were opposed now by a man 
 who had learnt patience in a good school, whose 
 courage was always cool, and who was determined to 
 succeed in the task which he had set himself to per- 
 form. A letter from Sir Everard Home, written early 
 in January, 1846, to Captain Grey, then at Ruapeka- 
 peka, gives a graphic description of Kawiti pressed 
 for want of water in his pah, and of the old Maori 
 women fetching it. 
 
 In another letter, written in the preceding month. 
 Sir Everard exhibits a fine scorn for any difiiculties 
 of government save those involved in the native war. 
 "You know," he writes, "that all New Zealand de- 
 pends upon the result of the work now in hand. Never 
 mind the debentures, but come here as soon as you can. 
 Come." 
 
 H 2 
 
lOO FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 On the loth January, 1846, two small breaches were 
 seen. On the nth (Sunday), the garrison, anxious 
 at once to celebrate Divine service (for they were 
 Christian natives), and to be safe from the missiles of 
 war, retired from the interior of the pah to a slight 
 valley in its rear. Waka Nene's brother, Wi Waka, 
 noticing the silence within the pah, and hearing the 
 sound of hymns, immediately surmised what had 
 taken place. Communicating his belief to the Gover- 
 nor and Sir Everard Home, an assault was at once 
 ordered. The pah was entered. The Maori garrison, 
 rushing back, met the troops ; a smart hand-to-hand 
 fight took place. Outnumbered and outgeneralled, 
 the Maoris were completely defeated. 
 
 At a loss of twelve killed and thirty-one wounded 
 the Bat's Nest was taken, and Hone Heke's power 
 and prestige destroyed. So well had Macquarie 
 performed his duty, that Hake had been unable to 
 reach Ruapekapeka till the eventful Sunday, during 
 the time of the conflict, and then only with sixty 
 followers. The fighting chief was too late. His men 
 were swept away among the defeated garrison, and 
 he and Kawiti made head no more. A complete 
 record of the Maori loss was not attainable, but it was 
 severe. Bravely following gallant leaders, they did 
 all that men could do ; but discipline, arms, and 
 numbers were against them. 
 
 Military visitors to the great Exhibition in 1851 
 were struck by the ingenuity and strength displayed 
 in a model of a Maori pah, made and exhibited by 
 Colonel Balneavis. That model was roughly taken 
 from the pah at Ruapekapeka. Even yet the student 
 of military fortification finds his interest awakened 
 by another model of the same fortress, presented by 
 Colonel Wynyard to the United Service Museum. 
 
 The blow had been fairly delivered. Its importance 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALA^'D. lOI 
 
 and weight were fully appreciated by the Maoris. 
 They confessed themselves beaten. Within a fort- 
 night the Governor's trusted ally, Waka Nene, came 
 to Auckland, whither Grey, with most of the troops, 
 had returned, bringing a letter from Kawiti requesting 
 peace. 
 
 Waka Nene, wise in council as he was brave in war, 
 supported the request made by his grim old foeman ; 
 and, equally generous as he was wise and brave, 
 voluntarily offered to forego the claims which he and 
 his people might allege to land taken from their 
 beaten enemies. 
 
 With sincere pleasure and gratitude the Governor 
 acceded to the prayer for peace set forth in Kawiti's 
 letter. The noble unselfishness displayed by Waka 
 Nene gave him unqualified delight. Determined to 
 meet these native chiefs in their own spirit of frank- 
 ness and generosity, he immediately issued a procla- 
 mation, stating that the chiefs having submitted 
 themselves to the Queen's authority, the war was 
 ended. Pardon was granted to all who had been in 
 arms. They were to return to their kaingas, culti- 
 vate the ground, fish in the rivers and sea, and live at 
 peace. 
 
 Once only did the Governor and Heke meet. In 
 1848, when visiting the Waimate, the Governor met 
 the redoubtable chief at the hospitable board of the 
 Rev. Mr. Burrows. They talked together cordially, 
 but the flagstaff was not alluded to, nor were the 
 names of Okaihau, Kororareka, Ohaewai, or Ruape- 
 kapeka mentioned. They, however, corresponded, 
 and Heke, by will, left his lands to Governor Grey. 
 It is needless to say that the Governor gave his rights 
 to Heke's relatives. 
 
 Two years afterwards Heke, still a young man, fell 
 a victim to consumption. After his defeat at Ruape- 
 
102 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 kapeka he became despondent as to the future of his 
 people. He saw them, as he said, " as in a vision, 
 drying up as a river when there is no rain." When 
 sinking into his last slumber he spoke pathetically of 
 that time, not far distant, when the missionaries 
 would ring their bells for the Maoris, but there would 
 be none to answer. 
 
 Kawiti lived four years longer than his comrade. 
 He was a very old man, being upwards of seventy 
 when, on that fatal Sunday morning, he had led his 
 intrepid followers in the attempt to recapture the 
 Bat's Nest. 
 
 Two months had not yet passed since Captain 
 Grey's arrival in New Zealand, but the whole aspect 
 of affairs was changed. The war which threatened 
 the extinction of the infant colony was brought to an 
 abrupt and triumphant ending ; the prestige of the 
 European was again established ; terms of peace, 
 neither derogatory to the Crown nor to the natives, 
 were agreed upon ; while the strength and weight of 
 the new Governor's hand was felt and acknowledged 
 by all the tribes. They believed, also, that while it 
 was the hand of a strong ruler, it was the hand of a 
 faithful friend. 
 
 This successful termination of the war, coupled with 
 reforms and remedial measures adopted in regard to 
 finance, the purchase of native lands, the sale of fire- 
 arms, and the organization of a native police force, 
 placed the colony in a condition at once safe and 
 hopeful. The trust which Her Majesty's Government 
 had so generously placed in Captain Grey had been 
 abundantly justified. Colonists were jubilant ; the 
 natives filled with admiration of the skill, promp- 
 titude, and kindness of the new Governor. 
 
 When the despatches recording the transactions of 
 his first eight weeks' Governorship of New Zealand 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. I03 
 
 reached London, Her Majesty's Ministers, as well as 
 the public press, spoke loudly in approval. Even the 
 most sanguine friends of Captain Grey — men who, 
 like Lord Glenelg and Sir James Stephen, had 
 watched his course with unmingled pleasure — had 
 not dared to hope that such swift success would have 
 crowned his first efforts to restore peace, order, and 
 safety to such a scene of confusion and danger as 
 New Zealand presented. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SHORT HISTORY OF THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. 
 
 ' ' 111 fares the land, to hastening woes a prey, 
 Where wealth accumulates and men decay. 
 Princes and lords many flourish, or may fade, 
 A breath can make them, as a breath has made, 
 But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. 
 When once destroyed, can never be supplied." 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 The difficulties which were presented by the Maori 
 war, and the necessity of acquiring a knowledge of 
 the native language, religion, and literature, were not 
 the only obstacles to peaceable and successful govern- 
 ment which Captain Grey had to encounter. The 
 cupidity and ambition of his fellow-countrymen, the 
 restless and adventurous spirit of the first colonists of 
 New Zealand, gave rise to continual conflicts and 
 continual dangers. Taking the tide of public opinion 
 on his system of colonization at the flood, Mr. Edward 
 Gibbon Wakefield and a large circle of friends and 
 admirers had registered a joint stock company des- 
 tined to become famous, or rather infamous, as the 
 New Zealand Company. 
 
 This corporate body was formed for the purpose of 
 colonizing New Zealand upon Mr. Edward Gibbon 
 Wakefield's plan, and to make money. At that time 
 New Zealand was a free and sovereign power. It 
 owned allegiance to no authority beyond its own 
 shores. Its tribes were free to deal with intending 
 
FIRST GOVERjSTMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 105 
 
 settlers as they chose. No law but that which the 
 chiefs chose to make, and which they had power to 
 enforce, existed from Cape Maria Van Diemen to 
 Stewart's Island. To this land— fertile, beautiful, and 
 waste — the longing eyes of Mr. Wakefield and his 
 friends were turned. In defiance of the warnings of 
 the British Government, numbers of people were 
 attracted by the hopes held out by the Company, and 
 joined in the adventure. Money flowed in swiftly, 
 because intending emigrants and speculators had to 
 pay in London for the land they were to own in New 
 Zealand. Colonel Wakefield was hurriedly despatched 
 to obtain land from the natives. Purchasers flocked 
 to the London office. In a short time upwards of 
 one hundred thousand pounds was received as pur- 
 chase money. 
 
 Without waiting to hear that a spot sufficient even 
 to land upon had been purchased, the Company sent off 
 several ships filled with emigrants to find a home, if 
 possible, among the savage and warlike Maoris. This 
 "highly irregular and improper conduct" (Select 
 Committee of the House of Commons, 1844) was con- 
 sistent with the purposes for which the Company was 
 formed. "The New Zealand Company was founded 
 for two objects : the one was to put in practice certain 
 views with regard to colonisation ; the other was to 
 make money" (Sir W. Molesworth, speech on New 
 Zealand Bill, 1852). 
 
 As English subjects were thus being carried to New 
 Zealand from Great Britain, and as from Australia a 
 stream of colonisation had previously set in, Her 
 Majesty's Ministers were driven to adopt the only 
 effectual measures for establishing in these islands a 
 settled form of government. Captain Hobson, who 
 had been officially sent to New Zealand and had made 
 a very able report, was appointed to undertake the 
 
Io6 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 negotiations. The meeting called by him was held 
 at Waitangi, and there, under the most solemn pro- 
 mises that their titles to their lands should be secured 
 to them by the Crown, the famous treaty was signed 
 by the native chiefs, by which the Britain of the South 
 became incorporated in the empire. Great fears were 
 expressed by the chiefs present at the meeting that in 
 ceding sovereignty they would be held as giving up 
 their lands. The project was nearly defeated. Many 
 leading men wavered. At last Tamati Waka rose. 
 To him, equally renowned in the field and the council, 
 the assembly listened attentively. He spoke with 
 great earnestness and ability. When he had con- 
 cluded he turned to Captain Hobson, and with pa- 
 thetic confidence said, " You must be our father. You 
 must not allow us to become slaves. You must pre- 
 serve our customs, and never permit our lands to be 
 wrested from us." Tamati Waka's speech was de- 
 cisive ; the treaty was signed, the aid of the mission- 
 aries of the different churches was invoked, and many 
 other influential chiefs not present at Waitangi joined 
 in the movement. But the same promise was always 
 exacted and was always made. The Maori was to be 
 guaranteed, on the faith of England, all his rights in 
 the lands of his fathers. On the 6th of February, the 
 first forty-six signatures were appended to the treaty. 
 At that time the first settlers of the Company at Port 
 Nicholson, who had been landed at Petone some 
 sixteen days before, were wondering where they were 
 to get the land for which they had paid before leaving 
 England. On the 21st May the sovereignty of the 
 Queen was proclaimed, and the i6th of November 
 created New Zealand a separate colony. So great 
 was the influence which the New Zealand Company 
 had by this time acquired that when the colony was 
 declared independent of New South Wales Lord John 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 107 
 
 Russell formally recognised it, and made arrange- 
 ments with its directors in order that the colonisation 
 of New Zealand should be carried on conjointly by the 
 Government of the colony and the Company. 
 
 The agitation for what was afterwards called "local 
 government" commenced with the landing of the 
 Company's settlers at Petone. They formed a govern- 
 ment of their own, with courts and of&cers, and acted 
 as if they were invested with the authority of the 
 Crown. From the first it became evident that the 
 agents and officers of the Company were determined 
 to exercise sovereign rule. Their idea of constitu- 
 tional and representative government was, and 
 always has been, continuing imtil the present time, 
 that New Zealand was made especially for them, that 
 they had or ought to have the right to rule, to legis- 
 late for their own benefit, to acquire great estates in 
 land as their own inheritance, and, under the name 
 of constitutional or representative government, to use 
 the public money, the public credit, and the public 
 patronage for themselves and their friends. The 
 same struggle is being maintained now as commenced 
 between Captain Hobson and the Wakefields in 1 840, 
 continued between the Wakefields and Captain Fitzroy 
 in 1843, and afterwards between Sir George Grey, 
 aided by Bishop Selwyn and Sir William Martin on 
 the one side, and Sir William Fox, Sir Charles Clifford, 
 Dr. Featherston, Mr. Weld, and the whole host of 
 land speculators and land jobbers who sided with 
 them. 
 
 The immediate consequence of the Treaty of 
 Waitangi was the creation of courts by the authority 
 of Government, which, after due deliberation, declared 
 that the pretended purchases of native land made by 
 the Company were nearly all invalid. The Company 
 at once set itself by its agents and members to destroy 
 
I08 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 the principle on which the Treaty of Waitangi was 
 based, namely, the rights of the Maoris to their lands. 
 Those rights were denied. They were assailed with 
 ridicule. They were stated to be in antagonism to 
 the rights of civilised humanity. No effort was 
 spared to induce the Government of England to 
 adopt this view, and although for some time these 
 efforts were unavailing, at length, in 1844, they suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining a resolution from a Committee of 
 the House of Commons, recommending the Crown to 
 take possession of all lands not actually occupied by 
 the natives ; and in 1 846, not only did Earl Grey 
 deliberately set out his opinion to this effect in his 
 despatch to the Governor, but in the Royal instruc- 
 tions, which accompanied the Act of 1846 and the 
 Charter, provisions were made for registration of 
 native lands, which, had they been carried into effect, 
 would have absolutely despoiled the natives of the 
 great bulk of their ancestral territories. 
 
 From its iirst existence, the Company commenced 
 its work of colonisation openly in direct antagonism 
 to the English Government. Its first detachment of 
 settlers reached New Zealand and disembarked at 
 Wellington on the 22nd of January, 1840. 
 
 These settlers had been allured by the prospects 
 held out to them, and had paid large sums of money 
 in London for the lands which they were to occupy 
 in New Zealand. At the time of these sales the 
 Company had no land, nor did it, until the period of 
 its dissolution, ever place a solitary settler upon a 
 single acre of land with a good title acquired by it 
 from the natives. It sent a fleet with emigrants to 
 Wellington, and it had no land there on which to 
 place them. It then located them at the Hutt and 
 other places upon disputed lands, which led to a 
 long series of sanguinary conflicts and murders. It 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. IO9 
 
 despatched a large party to Nelson, and its efforts there 
 to take the lands of the natives by force ended in 
 the conflict in Wairau, where, after a smart skirmish, 
 in which our people were defeated, the prisoners taken 
 by the Maoris were killed by one of Rangihaeata's 
 natives, the chief being maddened by the death of 
 his wife, the favourite daughter of Te Rauparaha. It 
 attempted to locate a body of settlers at Wanganui ; 
 but there also it had no land. It sold the Chatham 
 Islands, having no title or claim to them, to a German 
 firm, and when threatened by the English Government 
 with the loss of its charter for so doing, attempted 
 to escape from the consequences of its own acts by 
 evasion and falsehood. It covenanted to give employ- 
 ment to its settlers, if available land was not found 
 for them, and when these men applied at Taranaki 
 for this employment under what were called their 
 " Embarkation Orders," its agent in his own words 
 " endeavoured to evade the promise made by the 
 Company, by sending the applicants for employment 
 a long distance from home, making no allowance for 
 time spent on the journey or for time lost in bad 
 weather. The necessities of the men and their 
 families were such as compelled them to submit for 
 several weeks to these conditions, but many came 
 home sick and claimed the promised medical aid; 
 and others commenced the trade of pig and sheep 
 stealing, not having yet had time to raise potatoes for 
 themselves."* 
 
 It deceived Lord Stanley and attempted in vain to 
 obtain his assent to its denial of the rights of the 
 Maoris ; and when Lord Howick, having become 
 Earl Grey, was invested with authority in the Colonial 
 Office, and another of its great champions, Mr. Hawes, 
 
 * See Appendix to Twelfth Report. 
 
no FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 became Under Secretary in the same department, 
 and its legal adviser and organ of communication 
 with the Government, Mr. Charles BuUer, became 
 Judge-Advocate-General, it deceived the Government 
 and the House in order to further its nefarious plans. 
 Immense sums, upwards of _^23o,ooo, were placed at 
 its disposal by the English Government, of which but 
 a small proportion, less than £ 30,000, was, it is said, 
 expended by it in emigration.* " A considerable 
 sum was lent by the Company to its own shareholders 
 and lost. Other large sums were laid out ostensibly 
 in the purchase of private estates, but really to buy 
 up troublesome claims for compensation, and further 
 sums of considerable magnitude were appropriated 
 by the directors of the Company amongst themselves 
 on account of past fees."t Finally, taking advantage 
 of a very favourable arrangement (under the Act of 
 1847) which had been made by Mr. Charles BuUer, 
 who drafted the letters for the Colonial Office, and then 
 drafted the letters for the Directors of the Company in 
 reply, which letters, on both sides, embodied the 
 terms of the arrangement which he had prepared, it 
 " surrendered its charter, and, as a colonising asso- 
 ciation, ended its career without having given a 
 single legal title to a single individual of a single 
 piece of land, leaving the whole of its engagements 
 in respect of the disposal of land during a period of 
 twelve years unfulfilled and uncompleted, and leaving 
 the whole colony burdened with a debt of ;^ 2 68,000." J 
 When an Imperial guarantee was sought for a loan 
 of ^200,000, which the Company agreed to take in 
 
 * Report on New Zealand Company's Debt Paper. — Sessions 
 I. and 11. 
 
 + See Lord Grey's speech on the second reading of the New 
 Zealand Bill. 
 
 \ " New Zealand and its Colonisation," p. 145, William 
 Swainson. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. Ill 
 
 full of all demands, it was stigmatised by men like 
 Sir J. Trelawney as "nothing but hush-money, in 
 order that all discussions about past transactions may 
 be put an end to," while Sir James Graham regretted 
 that it was no longer advisable to debate the question- 
 able transactions of which this Company had been 
 guilty. Its own settlers, overwhelmed by disappoint- 
 ment and woe, " afflicting the directors with their 
 complaints of disappointment and ruin,"* thus 
 addressed them while claiming compensation : " We 
 address you not as supplicants for your bounty, not 
 as men suing for favour at your hands, but as parties 
 deeply and grievously injured by you, and as such 
 demanding redress. And to what cause are the 
 disasters which have befallen us attributable ? You 
 cannot and dare not deny that the immediate and 
 proximate cause of our ruin has been the non-fulfil- 
 ment by you of a contract formed with us seven years 
 ago."t 
 
 Alarmed by these and other threats from the 
 victims of their cupidity and selfishness, the directors 
 took legal advice as to their liability. The counsel 
 who advised, a member of their own company, and a 
 man of character and standing, gave his opinion that 
 the Company was not only liable for the original 
 money paid by the settlers, with interest, but could 
 also be made to pay compensation for all their losses. 
 True to its character, the Company suppressed this 
 opinion, obtained more favourable advice from a more 
 pliable lawyer, but little known in his profession, and 
 sent out this second opinion to the settlers, thereby 
 entrapping these unhappy people into making com- 
 promises disadvantageous to themselves. Upon this 
 
 * Mr. Charles A. BuUer to the Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies. 
 
 t Swainson's "New Zealand," p. 125. 
 
112 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 it was charged before Parliament with deceiving 
 its own New Zealand colonists by means of a 
 deliberate suppression of the truth. So tortuous and 
 disingenuous were the proceedings of this Company 
 that Sir James Stephen, then permanent Under- 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies, requested Lord 
 John Russell, then principal Secretary of State in 
 the department, " to relieve him from the duty of 
 ever again receiving any of the directors of that body 
 at any interview relating to their affairs." 
 
 This significant request, which showed clearly that 
 Sir James Stephen feared to trust himself at an inter- 
 view with unscrupulous men, was granted without 
 hesitation by Lord John Russell. 
 
 Prior to the advent of Captain Grey the Company 
 had ruined hundreds of settlers ; brought about the 
 massacre at the Wairau ; it had harassed the gallant 
 Captain Hobson to death, and driven Captain Fitzroy 
 well-nigh into lunacy; it had deceived the English 
 Government and a Committee of the House of 
 Commons, and had commenced a civil war in New 
 Zealand, which, but for the inflexible determination 
 and great sagacity of Governor Grey, might have 
 ended in the total extermination of the white popula- 
 tion of these islands. 
 
 The report of the Committee of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives of New Zealand upon the matter of the New 
 Zealand Company's debt is most damaging. And 
 with respect to the debt generally, resolutions were 
 agreed to by both Houses to the effect that the charge 
 on the land fund of the colony was an oppressive 
 burden on its resources ; that it appeared to have 
 been created by Parliament in ignorance of the real 
 facts, and to have been obtained by the New Zealand 
 Company by means of the suppression of material 
 circumstances, and that the colony was entitled to 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. II3 
 
 obtain from the British Parliament a re-consideration 
 of the case. 
 
 Prior to the advent of Governor Fitzroy, who landed 
 in Auckland on the 23rd of December, 1843, the native 
 mind had become strongly excited by statements in- 
 dustriously promulgated, having reference to the deter- 
 mination of the English Parliament and the English 
 Government, moved by the New Zealand Company, to 
 deny the Treaty of Waitangi, and the rights of the 
 Maoris to any lands upon which they had not bestowed 
 labour and been at one time in personal occupation. 
 
 The fight and massacre at Wairau had destroyed 
 the fear which had long existed in the minds of the 
 Maoris regarding the superior prowess and warlike 
 skill of the Europeans. On the gth of July, 1844, 
 Hone Heke, a son-in-law of the famous Hongi, as 
 before stated, asserted the rights of the Maoris and 
 their determination not to submit to spoliation, by 
 cutting down the flagstaff at Kororareka, and the flag 
 of England which it carried. In January, 1845, this 
 was repeated, and on the nth of March Kororareka 
 was taken, the block-house burned, and all the Eng- 
 lish people driven away. 
 
 It has been stated that Hone Heke's war did not 
 arise through the Maoris' fears about their land, but 
 the concurrent testimony of all competent authorities 
 affirms the fact.* Bishop Selwyn distinctly states it 
 in his answer to Earl Grey. Even the chairman of 
 the Company, when writing to the Secretary of State, 
 speaking of the difficulties which the Company had to 
 face, says : " These difficulties must, we think, be 
 ascribed to one cause, namely, the disputes respecting 
 the Company's title to land. This is the one thing 
 that appears to have led to all the bad blood between 
 
 * Bishop Selwyn to Eari Grey, August ist, 1848, " New Zea- 
 land Papers," Imperial Parliament, July, 1849, p. 37. 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 FIRST GOVERNIIENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 the natives and the settlers. It was the direct cause 
 of the unhappy business at Cloudy Bay (the Wairau), 
 and of the subsequent disastrous state of feeling." * 
 
 Indeed, it was only when the recommendation of 
 the Parliamentary Committee before alluded to was 
 communicated to the natives in the North that Hone 
 Heke and his people rose to protect themselves against 
 what they considered to be a gross intended violation 
 of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
 
 Governor Fitzroy was recalled. The Company 
 meanwhile made propositions to the Government in 
 London, the knowledge of which tended still farther 
 to alarm the natives. The position of affairs in New 
 Zealand was the subject of a five days' debate in the 
 House of Commons. 
 
 The Company continually desired the English 
 Government to disregard the Treaty of Waitangi, 
 and to confiscate the whole of the lands of New Zea- 
 land nominally to the Crown, but really for the benefit 
 of the New Zealand Company. It had gone so far as 
 to approach Lord Stanley, then Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies, urging upon him that the Treaty of 
 Waitangi was simply a device for the purpose of 
 amusing naked savages, and inducing them to behave 
 in a friendly manner until the British power should 
 be permanent in these islands. 
 
 With Lord Stanley the leaders of the Company met 
 with no success. His reply to them, at once noble 
 and dignified, stated that he, as Her Majesty's repre- 
 sentative, held all treaties assented to by the Crown 
 of England as solemn and deliberate transactions ; 
 that he should in no wise assent to the doctrine pro- 
 pounded to him that such treaties were merely devices 
 to amuse naked savages, and that he held, on behalf 
 
 * Swainson's " New Zealand," p. 126. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 15 
 
 of Her Majesty, that the Crown of England and the 
 people of England were bound by their solemn obliga- 
 tions to the native people and chiefs of New Zealand. 
 
 The promoters and leaders of the Company were 
 not to be rebuffed. No sooner had Lord Stanley 
 quitted his position of authority in Downing-street 
 than they repeated their attacks upon Earl Grey, who, 
 as Lord Howick, had been interested in the formation 
 of the Company. In Earl Grey, for a time, Mr. Wake- 
 field and his coadjutors found a more willing listener. 
 Under his auspices, and with his assistance, they 
 obtained, in 1846, the passage of an Act through the 
 English Parliament providing for a so-called Consti- 
 tutional Government of New Zealand. Immediately 
 subsequent to the passing of the Act it was trans- 
 mitted with a long despatch from Earl Grey to the 
 Governor, in which his lordship sets forth, with great 
 circumstantiality, his beliefthat the Treaty of Waitangi 
 cannot be held to be binding upon the British Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 So strenuous were the efforts made by the Company 
 to obtain complete control of the colony that it was 
 believed by many that Captain Grey was about to be 
 recalled, and an agent of the Company made Governor 
 in his stead. In anticipation of such a step a public 
 meeting was called, and held at Nelson, on the 30th 
 January, 1847, the Honourable Constantino Dillon 
 being chairman. The first resolution expressed the 
 deep regret of the people at the reported removal of 
 Captain Grey from the office of Governor. The second 
 was thus worded: "That we view with feelings of 
 alarm and regret the proposed delegation of the powers 
 of Government to the New Zealand Company." Three 
 other resolutions in the same direction were also car- 
 ried, the last being : " That the twentieth report of 
 the directors of the New Zealand Company lately 
 
 I 2 
 
Il6 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 received, the letter of Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield 
 appended to it, and the report of the Committee upon 
 that letter, are all characterised by a most extra- 
 ordinary ignorance of the state of the colony, and of 
 their own settlements in particular, by predictions of 
 which the subsequent course of events has shown the 
 absurdity in the most striking manner, and by the 
 suggestion of a course of policy for the future based 
 upon error — visionary and impracticable."* 
 
 One of the former resolutions states the opinion of 
 the meeting that " The administration of the affairs 
 of this settlement (Nelson) by the New Zealand Com- 
 pany has convinced us of its incapacity, and destroyed 
 all confidence on our part either in the wisdom of its 
 measures or in the integrity of its conduct." The 
 speakers at this meeting represented the entire public 
 feeling of the community. Besides the Hon. Con- 
 stantine Dillon in the chair, Dr. Monro and Mr, David 
 Monro, J.P. ; Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Fell, Mr. C. P. 
 Withers, J.P., Mr. Seymour, Mr. Saxton, Dr. Renwick, 
 Mr. Budge, Mr. Moore, Mr. Greaves, and Mr. Dartnell 
 all spoke to different resolutions. Copies of the reso- 
 lutions were sent by order of the meeting to the 
 Governor, to Earl Grey, and to the Court of Directors 
 of the New Zealand Company. 
 
 In Auckland at about the same time and while the 
 Constitution was on the way, the people of Auckland 
 signed an address to Captain Grey eulogising his 
 efforts for the public good. Auckland and its people 
 were bitterly opposed by the New Zealand Company. 
 This address states : " When it was found that Auck- 
 land could not be deprived of its natural gifts, and 
 that in spite of all attempts to retard its progress and 
 destroy its very existence it still advanced steadily 
 
 * New Zealand Parliamentary Papers, Imperial Parliament, 
 December, 1847, p. 10. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. I17 
 
 but slowly, and that when compared with the settle- 
 ments of the Company which sought its extinction, it 
 rose superior to them all, then the attempt is made 
 to defame and malign its settlers, and no misstate- 
 ments, however gross, no fabrications, however out- 
 rageous, are left untried to effect this purpose. . . . 
 As an apology for the introduction of these remarks, 
 and for praying your Excellency to represent our in- 
 terests at Home, and disabuse Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment of any false impressions with regard to us as a 
 community, we may mention that so entirely is the 
 influential portion of the press in the mother country 
 enlisted in advocating the cause of the New Zealand 
 Company, that the friends of this settlement now in 
 England have found themselves totally unable to cope 
 with their more powerful opponents, and like our- 
 selves have been obliged to sit down in patience, 
 trusting in the power of truth and time eventually to 
 obtain us justice." * 
 
 * Enclosure in Despatch, Governor Grey to Earl Grey, February 
 4th, 1847. Pari. Papers, June, 1847. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MAORI POLICY. — PROPOSED FEDERATION OF THE 
 PACIFIC ISLANDS. 
 
 " The primal duties shine aloft. like stars ; 
 The charities that soothe and heal and bless 
 Are scattered at the feet of man, like flowers." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 " Down the dark future, through long generations, 
 The echoing sounds grow fainter, and then cease. 
 Till like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, 
 
 I hear once more the voice of Christ say ' Peace ! ' 
 
 " ' Peace ! ' And no longer from its brazen portals 
 The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies. 
 But, beautiful as songs of the immortals, 
 The holy melodies of love arise." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 The records of New Zealand for some time after the 
 end of Heke's war exhibit the difficulties and dangers 
 to which the early colonists were continually exposed. 
 The native Chiefs, fearing the growing influence of the 
 pakeha, and smarting under the rapacity of the earth 
 hunger so constantly shown by Europeans, carried on 
 a scattered and desultory war. But the Governor 
 proved himself more than their equal. He utilised his 
 forces in making military roads, and in this way 
 gained easy access to many of the Maori strongholds. 
 His plans in this respect were submitted to the Duke 
 of Wellington, by whom they were highly approved. 
 He swooped down like a hawk upon the great chief 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. I I g 
 
 Rauparaha at Porirua and carried him off in the 
 Driver to Wellington, where the grim old chief was 
 sent on board H.M. s. Calliope as a state prisoner. 
 His swift strokes, falling like bolts from the clouds, 
 paralysed the native warriors. Incidental outrages — 
 sometimes murders — still happened, followed always 
 by punishment. At length, in 1847, the colony for 
 the first time felt the blessings of complete peace. 
 
 Other matters, however, called for attention besides 
 war with the Maoris. In the interesting preface to 
 his " Polynesian Mythology," Sir George Grey says : 
 — " I soon perceived that I could neither successfully 
 govern nor hope to conciliate a numerous and turbu- 
 lent people with whose language, manners, customs, 
 religion, and modes of thought I was quite unac- 
 quainted. In order to redress their grievances and 
 apply remedies which would neither wound their 
 feelings nor militate against their prejudices, it was 
 necessary that I should be able thoroughly to under- 
 stand their complaints. And to win their confidence 
 and regard, it was also requisite that I should be able 
 at all times, and in all places, patiently to listen to the 
 tales of their wrongs or sufferings, and, even if I could 
 not assist them, to give them a kind reply, couched in 
 such terms as would leave no doubt in their minds 
 that I clearly understood and felt for them and was 
 really well disposed towards them. 
 
 " Although furnished with some very able interpre- 
 ters, who gave me assistance of the most friendly 
 nature, I soon found that even with their aid I could 
 still only very imperfectly perform my duties. I could 
 not at all times and in all places have an interpreter 
 by my side ; and then often when waylaid by some 
 suitor, who had, perhaps, travelled on foot two or 
 three hundred miles to lay before me the tale of his 
 or her grievance, I was compelled to pass on without 
 
120 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 listening, and to witness, with pain, an expression of 
 sorrow and keenly disappointed hope cloud over 
 features which the moment before were bright with 
 gladness, that the opportunity, so anxiously looked 
 for, had at length befcn secured. 
 
 " Again I found that any tale of sorrow or suffering, 
 passing through the medium of an interpreter, fell 
 much more coldly on my ear than it would have done 
 had the person interested addressed the tale direct to 
 myself; and in like manner an answer delivered 
 through the intervention of a third person appeared 
 to have a very different impression upon the suitor to 
 what it would have had coming direct from the lips of 
 the Governor of the country. Moreover, this mode of 
 communication through a third person was so cum- 
 brous and slow, that, in order to compensate for the 
 loss of time thus occasioned, it became necessary for 
 the interpreters to compress the substance of the 
 representations made to me, as also of my own replies, 
 into the fewest words possible; and as this had in 
 each instance to be done hurriedly and at the moment, 
 there was reason to fear that much that was material 
 to enable me fully to understand the question brought 
 before me, or the suitor to comprehend my reply, 
 might be unintentionally omitted. 
 
 "Lastly, I had on several occasions reasons to 
 believe that a native hesitated to state facts, or to 
 express feelings and wishes to an interpreter which 
 he would most gladly have done to the Governor, 
 could he have addressed him direct. 
 
 " These reasons and others of equal force made me 
 feel it to be my duty to make myself acquainted, with 
 the least possible delay, with the language of the New 
 Zealanders, as also with their manners, customs, and 
 prejudices. But I soon found that this was a far more 
 difficult matter than I had at first supposed. The 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 12 1 
 
 language of the New Zealanders is a very difficult one 
 to understand thoroughly. There was then no dic- 
 tionary of it published (unless a vocabulary can be so 
 called) ; there were no books published in the lan- 
 guage which would enable me to study its construc- 
 tion ; it varied altogether in form from any of the 
 ancient or modern languages that I knew, and my 
 thoughts and time were so occupied with the cares of 
 the government of a country then pressed upon by 
 many difficulties and with a formidable rebellion 
 raging in it, that I could find but very few hours to 
 devote to the acquisition of an unwritten and difficult 
 language. I, however, did my best, and cheerfully 
 devoted all my spare moments to a task, the accom- 
 plishment of which was necessary to enable me to 
 perform properly every duty to my country, and to 
 the people I was appointed to govern." 
 
 Suddenly a new and unexpected difficulty presented 
 itself to the Governor. The rebel chiefs were among 
 the oldest and least civilized of the natives. In their 
 speeches and letters they often quoted fragments of 
 ancient poems and proverbs in support of their views 
 and contentions. The interpreters were ignorant of 
 their meaning, as were the young Christian natives. 
 To a man of great determination this mystery com- 
 mended itself as a question to be solved. The 
 Governor set to work to acquaint himself with the 
 customs, mythology, language, and traditions of the 
 Maoris and their cognate races in the South Pacific. 
 He had worked steadily on at this great task for seve- 
 ral years, when Government House at Auckland was 
 burnt to the ground, and all the fruits of his toils in 
 this and in other subjects were consumed. Nothing 
 daunted, he began it all once more. For six years he 
 laboured indefatigably in the intervals of other duties, 
 and at last, having mastered his subject, published 
 
122 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 his " Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional 
 History of the New Zealand Race." 
 
 From the first day of his arrival in the colony, 
 Captain Grey became involved in contentions with 
 European settlers on the question of the acquisition 
 of native land. A long and bitter controversy ensued 
 between the Governor and the majority of the old 
 settlers and missionaries, which formed the text of 
 despatches, enquiries, and commissions for several 
 years. Then and since some of the missionaries 
 declared that the information given to the Governor 
 was false, and that there had been no complaints ever 
 made by the Maoris against them or any of their 
 number concerning the purchase of land. In addition 
 to the abundant evidence given by Captain Grey in 
 his despatches, an account published recently by the 
 Rev. Mr. Colenso, of Napier, of the proceedings 
 before Captain Hobson when the Treaty of Waitangi 
 was signed, proves conclusively that on that occasion 
 several Maori chiefs accused missionaries then present 
 of unfair and improper land transactions. Mr. Colenso 
 speaks with authority, for he was present and made 
 notes at the time, from which his book is written. 
 
 The first eighteen months of Captain Grey's ad- 
 ministration were thus filled with arduous labours. 
 The great events which have been alluded to did not 
 prevent his attending to other duties. The interior 
 administration of a young colony, with many settle- 
 ments scattered far and wide, threw upon him great 
 responsibilities, and constantly taxed his care and 
 attention. The control of the Maoris when reduced 
 to peaceable subjection demanded the most delicate 
 treatment and his own personal supervision. 
 
 He perceived that the power of the chiefs must 
 either be broken or enlisted on behalf of the Govern- 
 ment, if the peaceable control of the islands was to 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. I 23 
 
 remain with the Europeans. Not only did he enrol 
 young native chiefs in the constabulary, he also ap- 
 pointed the heads of the Maori tribes to be magistrates 
 in their different districts, with fixed pay. 
 
 Nor did he confine himself to general principles 
 of action. The peculiar characteristics of individual 
 chiefs, and the circumstances of different tribes, gave 
 to him opportunities, which were never neglected, of 
 strengthening his government. One great chief re- 
 fused to allow roads to be made in his territory. To 
 a young and favourite wife of this stubborn Maori the 
 Governor presented a horse and carriage, at the same 
 time conveying, with assurances of his friendship, the 
 intimation that the use of the carriage would add both 
 to the health and comfort of his dusky bride. With- 
 out hesitation the husband entered upon the making 
 of roads which as a chief he had absolutely refused 
 to sanction. To utilise the present made by the 
 Governor and to please his young wife, the old Maori 
 warrior made a passable road through country before 
 inaccessible. 
 
 He established schools, at which the sons of chiefs 
 were to be educated, and made endowments for their 
 support, which in many instances still exist. For 
 the rapidly increasing European population he was 
 anxious to provide all means, not only for safety, but 
 for success and happiness as settlers. The powers 
 conferred upon him were sufficient to enable a wise 
 and vigorous policy of settlement to be established. 
 Measures calculated to promote public prosperity 
 were passed by him with the sanction of his Council. 
 The law of England was in many respects, especially 
 in regard to the holding and transfer of land, altered 
 and simplified. 
 
 In June, 1848, a great calamity happened which 
 destroyed the fruits of years of Sir George Grey's 
 
124 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 labour, and inflicted severe loss in many ways upon 
 him. Government House at Auckland was destroyed 
 by fire. Scarcely anything was saved from the flames. 
 Manuscripts, correspondence, works of art, data of 
 various sorts upon many subjects, compiled by him- 
 self, and by willing friends in all parts of the earth, 
 were completely destroyed. In some instances things 
 thus lost were of priceless value, because they could 
 not be replaced. In others it meant the re-imposition 
 of years of laborious toil. 
 
 Without hesitation and without delay Sir George 
 Grey commenced afresh the works upon which he had 
 been employed at the time of this disaster. Messages 
 of sympathy and condolence were received by him 
 from many quarters. The English Parliament ex- 
 pressed sympathy, and passed a money vote to replace 
 the value of plate, furniture, etc., this being the Gover- 
 nor's own loss. Sir Everard Home, in writing upon 
 this subject, uses the following words : " Owen (Pro- 
 fessor Owen) considers the burning of your house, 
 with the collections in Natural History, as a national 
 loss." But it was from the humble native workmen 
 whom he had employed in the Government quarries, 
 and who had been instructed under his orders in 
 skilled stone-work, that he received the most charac- 
 teristic and, perhaps, most welcome sympathy of all. 
 In the kindly feelings of their hearts they wrote prof- 
 fering assistance. The letters translated ran thus : — 
 
 Auckland, June the 24th, 1848. 
 
 Friend, the Governor, — Salutations to you. Great is our love 
 and sympathy to yourself and Mrs. Grey because your dwelling 
 has been destroyed by fire. Had we been awake at the com- 
 mencement of the fire we should have come to your aid, but we 
 reached the place when the fire was in full vigour. Our object 
 was to save your property. There are forty of us working at the 
 barracks, and this is the love of us people at the barracks for you, 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 125 
 
 because you are the directing, upiiolding, controlling, or parent of 
 all the people. Do you hearken ? With yourself is the thought 
 relative to our building a new house of stone for you, as we have 
 been instructed in this good work, and we know how to perform 
 it, as we have learnt the art of building. If you consent to this 
 will you write to us, and we will talk to the chiefs about it. — From 
 your loving children. Written by Te Taranu for the workmen 
 of the barracks. Concluded to our father the Governor. 
 
 Auckland, June 24th, 1848. 
 
 Friend, the Governor, — Salutations to you. Great is our love 
 to you. We have heard of your distress (or loss) by fire. Friend, 
 this is the love of the people of the quarry to you. Friend, we are 
 here pleased with you. We are willing (or anxious) that the 
 stones of the quarry should be taken by you, so that a stone 
 house may be built for you. It will not take many weeks to build 
 it — perhaps one, perhaps two. This is our thought relative to the 
 stones for you : but there must be no payment given us. This is 
 a token of affection from the people of the quarry to our Governor. 
 Enough. 
 
 In this year Captain Grey received from Her Majesty 
 the distinction of the Order of the Bath. At his in- 
 stallation the esquires chosen by himself were his old 
 friend Tamati Waka Nene and the great chief Te 
 Puni, of Port Nicholson. 
 
 As may be judged by the past occurrences of his 
 life. Governor Grey was strongly imbued with that 
 religious feeling which has controlled many of the 
 great men who have left England to found empires 
 in distant lands. In New Zealand, as afterwards in 
 South Africa, he was the friend, the protector, and 
 adviser of the missionaries and ministers of all the 
 Christian Churches. 
 
 The name of Bishop Selwyn is indelibly written in 
 the early pages of New Zealand history. In 1842 he 
 came to the colony as its first Bishop, and commenced 
 his connection with New Zealand, being then thirty- 
 
126 FIRST GOVERJ>fMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 three years old, exactly the age of Captain Grey when 
 he arrived in Auckland three years later as Governor. 
 George Augustus Selwyn and William Ewart Glad- 
 stone were schoolfellows in the same form at Eton, 
 and there commenced a life-long friendship. Equal 
 in literary power and scholastic attainments, the main 
 contributors to their .school magazine at a time when 
 Eton flourished, they were the leaders of the leading 
 school in England and the world. Together they 
 roamed through the playing-fields, and together drove 
 tandem to Sandhurst. The genius of Gladstone turned 
 towards politics and learning ; that of Selwyn to reli- 
 gion and athletics. Lacking, perhaps, something of 
 the polish and erudite research which have since dis- 
 tinguished Gladstone, Selwyn excelled in all manly 
 sports and in his bold defiance of wrong-doing and 
 oppression. 
 
 When Captain Grey was appointed Governor of 
 New Zealand, Mr. Gladstone wrote to him, using the 
 highest terms of appreciation regarding the ability 
 and "ardent piety" of Bishop Selwyn. The letter 
 concludes thus : — " I must express my earnest hope 
 that you may be able to obtain from him assistance, 
 not perhaps the less valuable from the circumstance 
 that he has been very careful (as I believe) to keep 
 the Church aloof from politics, and it will increase 
 my confidence and satisfaction in the transaction of 
 business respecting the colony if I should find that 
 there is a general concurrence of judgment, in rela- 
 tion to questions more or less falling within the pro- 
 vinces of both, between two persons whom I m_ust 
 esteem so highly, the one from experience and the 
 other from reputation." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone's hopes were fully realised. The 
 two young men, both animated by the loftiest ideas, 
 became firm friends and allies. They were one in 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 27 
 
 their hatred of tyranny and love of justice, and both 
 felt the most sincere interest in the real welfare of the 
 Maoris as well as that of the European colonists. As 
 we shall hereafter see, the Governor took counsel with 
 the Bishop concerning the control and government of 
 the natives, while the Church of England in New 
 Zealand owed the original draft of its Constitution, 
 not to Bishop Selwyn, but to Governor Grey. 
 
 The friendship of these two great men lasted until 
 the death of Selwyn. In later days, each took the 
 same interest as of old in the aims of former years. 
 An extract from a letter written by the Bishop to 
 Sir George Grey in 1863 expresses the stimulating 
 advice and consolation which had so often cheered 
 him in times past, when the struggle against wrong- 
 doing and oppression seemed a very unequal and 
 fruitless one : 
 
 "You may reflect," he writes, "that after all the 
 best use of time and pains, the life most fruitful in 
 the cause of God and of human advancement, the best 
 for man's own nature, is that of upholding the right 
 calmly and firmly against the selfishness, the impa- 
 tience, arid the ignorance of men." The personal 
 intimacy which existed between the Governor and 
 the Bishop, founded upon mutual esteem and respect, 
 continued undiminished until Sir George Grey re- 
 turned to England at the end of 1853, while their 
 friendship endured till Selwyn's death. They tra- 
 versed the North Island of New Zealand on foot 
 together, from Wellington to Auckland, more than 
 once. Together they scaled the mountains, and 
 wended their way through the forests, swam danger- 
 ous rivers, became guests of the native chiefs, and 
 influenced the tribes in the cause of Christianity and 
 of loyalty to the Queen. Together they prosecuted 
 scientific researches and discoursed in the solitude of 
 
128 FIRST GOVERKMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 the Maori kaingas upon forms of Government, and 
 the plans and aspirations of men in many ages for 
 the happiness of their fellows. 
 
 Nor were their journeyings confined to the shores 
 of New Zealand. As fellow- voyagers they traversed 
 portions of the great Pacific, and visited many of 
 those islands where, amid all the beauties of tropical 
 nature, the most savage nations of the human family 
 are found. To many tribes and races did Selwyn and 
 Grey go forth as ambassadors — one the teacher of a 
 pure and exalted faith to the benighted heathen, the 
 other tendering the sovereignty, guidance, and pro- 
 tection of the mighty power of England to these 
 savage peoples of the South. And beneath the tropi- 
 cal skies of the Southern Hemisphere, borne upon 
 the long, sleepy waves of the Pacific, the kindred 
 enthusiasm of their hearts pictured a future of peace, 
 both spiritual and temporal, in those wide regions in 
 which they had been sent to labour. 
 
 Like Heber in India, like Paul in Macedonia, like 
 Augustine in Britain, Selwyn, in Australasia, looked 
 forward with hope and joyous anticipation to the 
 conversion of the heathen and the triumphs of the 
 Cross. The aspirations which filled the heart and 
 the mind of Grey had scarcely a prototype in recorded 
 history. To his mind the future of the South Pacific 
 presented a new possibility in the history of nations. 
 The long recurrence of old-world wars and conflicts, 
 the perennial harvests of ruin and death which had 
 marked every page in the history of the far-off lands, 
 might here be forgotten and unknown. It was, he 
 believed, possible to exclude from these seas the 
 intervention of any foreign Power, and the intrusion 
 of any Government other than that of Britain. To 
 unite the islands and the people of this great archi- 
 pelago under the flag of England would probably 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 29 
 
 insure a continued state of peace and safety. The 
 children of the kings and chiefs might be educated 
 in New Zealand, and sent back to their island homes 
 to rule their people wisely beneath the control of 
 English law and English power. Thus civilisation 
 would spread its humanising influence over these 
 vast stretches of the mighty ocean. Christianity, 
 taught and exemplified by noble and good men, such 
 as the one beside him, would reform the character 
 and enlighten the consciences of the islanders. Com- 
 merce with its ample blessings, would enrich not 
 merely Australasia but Britain, and the din of war- 
 fare and the crash of arms would only be heard afar 
 off, and with sounds as subdued as the wash of the 
 ripple on the coral reefs. 
 
 The native races of large groups of Islands, includ- 
 ing amongst others Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, 
 Tahiti, and the Loyalty Islands were willing and 
 anxious to come under the English flag. They agreed 
 to receive officers appointed by Great Britain who 
 should collect customs duties on a common tariff with 
 New Zealand. These duties were to be applied to 
 the payment of salaries for the officials needed, and 
 to the maintenance of other necessary but modest 
 Government establishments. The principal chiefs of 
 the islands had become Grey's personal friends, and 
 many of their children were being educated in New 
 Zealand. 
 
 The New Zealand chiefs were delighted with these 
 arrangements. They willingly gave endowments of 
 land for hospitals and schools for the benefit of the 
 children of the people of the islands. In Auckland, 
 Parnell, the North Shore, Three Kings, Taranaki, 
 Wellington, Nelson, Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, and 
 other places such endowments were set apart. 
 
 The hopes of both Selwyn and Grey were destined 
 
 VOL. I, K 
 
130 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 to be unfulfilled. The innate savagery of the native 
 character, the evil example of many of the traders 
 frequenting those seas, and the entrance of French 
 and German influence, always bitterly opposed to 
 British missionary effort, defeated the plans of 
 Selwyn. Grey's imperial views met with no favour 
 and scant courtesy in London. Downing Street, with 
 its usual incapacity and narrowness of view, scoffed 
 at the idea of an island empire in the Southern Ocean, 
 and allowed France, Germany, and Spain to get a 
 footing there, which is now a continual cause of 
 alarm — a perpetual source of disquiet. They looked 
 upon Sir George Grey's plans as dreams — beautiful 
 indeed, but fantastic, impracticable, and useless. It 
 is of such dreams great histories are born ; but to the 
 Colonial Office such dreams as these were distasteful, 
 and those who dreamed them were madmen. 
 
 The course of history has compelled England to 
 carry out some of those plans, while the neglect to 
 adopt them all has caused bitter regret. Napoleon, 
 taking advantage of his position in regard to Russia, 
 obtained possession of New Caledonia ; and the 
 Foreign Office and Colonial Office gave orders that 
 he should not be interfered with. 
 
 Although the Imperial Government, with a blindness 
 and want of foresight difficult to comprehend, had 
 placed its veto upon the plans which Sir George Grey 
 proposed, and which he had practically carried into 
 effect, in relation to the annexation and government 
 of the islands of the South Pacific, he never ceased to 
 represent to the Colonial Office and to the Secretary 
 for War the perils which must menace the British 
 Empire in Australasia from the presence in those 
 latitudes of settlements belonging to other European 
 nations. He could not understand the denseness and 
 stupidity which enabled Downing Street to treat such 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 13 I 
 
 vital questions with indifference and with contempt. 
 His sense of duty compelled him again and again to 
 direct the attention of Her Majesty's ministers to 
 what he considered imminent dangers to the growing 
 colonies of Australasia, and it was one of the charges 
 against him in the official mind, reserved for the day 
 of retribution, that, despite the ridicule of the Colonial 
 Office and its positive opposition. Grey had continu- 
 ally directed attention to the necessity which existed 
 for preserving the peace of the Southern seas and the 
 security of the Southern colonies. 
 
 He fired his final shot in this warfare only a fort- 
 night before leaving New Zealand. In a despatch to 
 the Duke of Newcastle, dated from Auckland, Decem- 
 ber 15th, 1853, he stated that information had been 
 received a few days previously from the Isle of Pines 
 that some French men-of-war had taken possession of 
 that island and also of New Caledonia, hoisting the 
 French flag and establishing depots for war steamers. 
 He then pointed out that owing to the excellence of 
 the harbours in these islands, and from their com- 
 manding position in regard to the colonies — lying 
 directly in the line of communication between Aus- 
 tralia and America, commanding in great measure 
 the routes from Australia to Great Britain, and from 
 New Zealand to India — their occupation by the French 
 would prove very harassing to British trade and to 
 the colonies. He asserted that it would be impossible 
 to find any other points in this part of the world which 
 would enable France, in the event of war, so effect- 
 ually to embarrass our commerce and distress our 
 colonies ; and that, as she had no colonial trade to 
 protect, it was probable that the French were pur- 
 suing a line of policy founded upon the advantages 
 mentioned above. Sir George communicated also 
 with the senior naval officer on the Australian station, 
 
 K 2 
 
132 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 acquainting him with these facts, and pointing out the 
 claims of Britain to the possession of the islands. 
 
 All his efforts were in vain. The occupation by 
 France and Germany of points of vantage in the 
 Southern Archipelago has already caused disastrous 
 consequences, and may yet provoke a European war 
 or detach the Australasian colonies from the British 
 Empire. 
 
 It so happened that Sir George Grey was in New 
 Caledonia three days after the French had taken 
 possession. He remonstrated with the French com- 
 mander, who replied that his orders were specific, and 
 he was acting in obedience thereto. Ultimately, in 
 deference to Sir George Grey's position and strongly 
 expressed wishes, the French officer consented to 
 erect no buildings and to incur no large expenditure 
 of money until a reference had been made to London 
 and Paris, and a final decision arrived at between the 
 two Governments. This was done, but, as Sir George 
 Grey feared, without avail. Napoleon, confident in the 
 hold which he had obtained upon English sympathy 
 by his alliance with England against Russia, was 
 pertinacious in the matter of New Caledonia, and 
 that great island, with its smaller dependencies, 
 finally passed under French rule. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 NEW ZEALAND CONSTITUTION OF 1 846. 
 
 " Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law." 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 In the midst of these great labours and incessant 
 toils, Governor Grey received a despatch from Earl 
 Grey, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, enclos- 
 ing the Constitution for New Zealand, which had been 
 passed by the Imperial Parliament in 1846. Lord 
 Grey's despatch covered three documents: — i. The 
 New Zealand Government Act, 1846. 2. Charter of 
 1846. 3. Royal Instructions of 1846. 
 
 Taken altogether, these provided as follows: — i. 
 New Zealand was to be dividfed into two provinces — 
 New Ulster and New Munster — having a Lieutenant- 
 Governor and Provincial Assembly over each. 2. 
 Each Provincial Assembly was to consist of two 
 chambers — one composed of representatives, the 
 other, the council, composed of persons directly nomi- 
 nated by the Crown. 3. The representatives were not 
 to be immediately chosen by the people, but elected 
 by the Mayors, aldermen, and common councils of 
 the municipal bodies which were to be created 
 throughout the country. 4. To elect the municipal 
 bodies who were thus to elect the Houses of Repre- 
 sentatives, those only were eligible who (i.) had been 
 holders of any tenement in the municipalities for six 
 
134 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 months prior to each ist January; (ii.) subjects of the 
 British Crown ; (iii.) of good fame and character, and 
 not paupers ; (iv.) whose rates were paid or not more 
 than six months in arrears ; and (v.) who could read 
 and write English. 5. For the whole colony a General 
 Assembly was to be appointed, to consist of the 
 Governor-in-Chief, Legislative Council (directly ap- 
 pointed by the Crown), and House of Representatives 
 (to be appointed by Provincial Houses from among 
 their own members). 6. In each of the two provinces, 
 and in the whole colony, a civil list, controlled directly 
 from Downing Street, was provided for, the salaries 
 for which and the appointments to which were entirely 
 independent of the Provincial or General Assemblies. 
 7. Native land registries were to be opened in the 
 different districts, and all lands not registered as 
 native lands by of&cers appointed, not by the natives, 
 but by the Government, were to be deemed waste lands 
 of the Crown, and this would include all lands claimed 
 by natives save those actually used and occupied by 
 them " by means of labour expended thereon." 8. 
 The dissolution of the Assemblies included Councils, 
 so that the Governor could get rid of obnoxious 
 members even of the nominated bodies. 
 
 This so-called Representation Act was in reality 
 a cast-iron frame of political bondage from which the 
 people of New Zealand could not have escaped with- 
 out the consent of the Company, which never would 
 have been given. 
 
 The total number of persons who would have been 
 qualified to vote for the mayors, aldermen, and 
 councils of the different municipalities would have 
 amounted to only a few hundreds, and the great 
 majority of votes would have been cast in the interest 
 of the Company. All natives were at once shut out 
 from having any voice in the government of the 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 135 
 
 country, the disposal of their own lands and the 
 revenues derived from their taxation. So were all 
 foreigners, and the vast majority of those settlers 
 who, like the pensioners, though of English, Irish, 
 and Scotch birth, were uneducated, and therefore 
 unable to read and write English, their mother tongue. 
 No power of alteration existed save in the Imperial 
 Parliament. 
 
 Under the A.ct, Charter, and Instructions, the in- 
 habitants of New Zealand would have been utterly 
 powerless to direct their own affairs or to control their 
 own destiny. The Governor and Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nors were to be appointed directly by the Crown — 
 that is, by the Secretary for the Colonies for the time 
 being. The Council for the General Assembly and 
 both Provincial Councils were also to be nominated 
 from Downing Street ; while the pretended represen- 
 tative institutions were a mockery and delusion. 
 There was not, nor ever could there be, any direct 
 representation of the people. The power to make 
 laws, to levy taxes, to expend public moneys, to dis- 
 pose of the public lands, and to bestow public 
 patronage, would have remained for ever nominally 
 with the English Government, in reality with the 
 directors and agents of the New Zealand Company. 
 
 Not only were the Europeans disturbed by the 
 proposals contained in the Imperial legislation ; the 
 friendly native chiefs were seriously alarmed. The 
 Governor was continually receiving questions from 
 them as to the meaning of the rumours which were 
 freely circulated among them, and as to the real 
 intentions of the English Government. 
 
 The native chiefs did not limit their anxiety to 
 making inquiries of the Governor, but sent petitions 
 also to the Queen, which ultimately, in May, 1848, 
 produced an answer to Te Wherowhero and the other 
 
136 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 chiefs solemnly disclaiming on the part of the Queen 
 any intention or desire to violate the Treaty of Wai- 
 tangi. The Wesleyan Missionary Society also, in a 
 long and elaborate memorandum, prayed that all 
 doubts regarding this question might be set at rest, 
 as the honour of their missionaries, who had aided 
 largely in obtaining the assent of many chiefs to the 
 treaty, was at stake.* 
 
 Earl Grey's despatch itself closed somewhat omi- 
 nously. A shadow of distrust passed over the heart 
 of the Secretary for the Colonies. He saw that the 
 granting of this Constitution would be attended with 
 at least one serious danger : — " It is the danger that 
 the powers conferred by this great franchise on the 
 representatives of the people may be perverted into 
 an instrument for the oppression of the less civilised 
 and less powerful races of men inhabiting the same 
 colony. . . . Such a society exists, and consequently 
 such a temptation will arise in New Zealand." 
 
 The receipt of this despatch and of the Act of 
 Parliament and Orders-in-Council accompanying it 
 brought the difficulties under which Captain Grey 
 laboured to a head. He had always previously in- 
 formed the natives that the Treaty of Waitangi would 
 be respected by the Crown and by the English people. 
 He was now called upon to enforce an Act of the 
 Imperial Parliament which destroyed the rights of 
 the natives in their lands, and practically abrogated 
 the Treaty itself. He was the representative of the 
 English Government and of the English Parliament 
 which had brought this law into existence and com- 
 manded him to see to its administration. He was 
 bound to obey the lawful commands of the Queen. 
 He now found himself for the first time placed in this 
 most difficult of all positions : either he must obey 
 
 * New Zealand Papers, Imp. Par., August, 1847, page 144. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 137 
 
 the mandate of the Parliament and Crown of Great 
 Britain, and in so doing break the solemn treaty 
 made with the natives, and destroy for ever the 
 reasonable hopes which the Maoris had founded upon 
 the good faith of England and of Englishmen ; or he 
 must refuse to carry out the commands of his Sove- 
 reign and the law pronounced by the Parliament of 
 his country. 
 
 With great anxiety he weighed the matter in his 
 own mind before arriving at any decision. On the one 
 hand it might be urged that he was not responsible ; 
 that if the Crown and Parliament were pleased after 
 due deliberation to legislate in a certain way, that he 
 was but a servant, bound to administer the law as 
 declared by his superiors. On the other hand, he 
 remembered that he was the agent and representative 
 of a great monarchy ; that through him promises had 
 been made by the Queen and Parliament of England 
 to the natives of New Zealand, and that even before 
 he had set foot within the colony solemn treaties and 
 engagements had been entered into, in which the 
 good faith of England was involved, and which he, 
 as the representative of the Crown, was bound to 
 acknowledge, and that his promise of obedience ex- 
 tended only to the carrying out of lawful commands. 
 If he fulfilled the immediate and positive duty imposed 
 upon him he might be blameless, but the fair fame of 
 England would be tarnished. If, on the other hand, 
 he refused to put in force the Royal and Parlia- 
 mentary mandate he might ruin his own prospects, 
 but he would give time for reconsideration of the 
 subject and the rise of wiser counsels. 
 
 Very grave and momentous local considerations 
 also weighed upon the mind of the Governor before 
 arriving at a decision. He was called upon suddenly 
 to consider the position and probable conduct of the 
 
138 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 native race should the Act of Parliament be carried 
 into execution. The newspapers under the influence 
 of the Company, both in Great Britain and the colony, 
 had published the Royal instructions and the partial 
 disavowal on the part of Her Majesty's Government 
 of the provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi. At that 
 time we were engaged in a conflict with many great 
 chiefs, and with large sections of the native tribes. 
 Fighting under the standard of England were found 
 many other great chiefs, and a large and powerful 
 following of their people. With great loyalty and 
 persistent honour, Tamati Waka Nene and his 
 brothers had adhered to the Crown. The great rea- 
 son which had animated Tamati Waka in his oppo- 
 sition to Hone Heke had been his disbelief in the 
 statement made by Hone that the British Govern- 
 ment was determined to take the land of the Maoris. 
 " If I believed " — said Tamati Waka Nene — " if I 
 believed with you that the Queen intended to take 
 our lands, I should be found fighting at your side. 
 Because I do not believe it, I will fight against you 
 to preserve order and to keep good faith with the 
 Queen." 
 
 They had acquiesced in the dictum of Captain 
 Grey that they should not receive, as they had been 
 promised, the lands of the rebel natives confiscated 
 in war. They had voluntarily shared with Hone 
 Heke for public purposes presents of money made to 
 them by the Government, in order to convince the 
 rebel natives that they were not actuated by the 
 desire of gain. Captain Grey had stood side by side 
 with these men upon the field of battle. At the final 
 struggle of Ruapekapeka, where Hone Heke's tnana 
 and influence were destroyed, some of their chiefs had 
 been killed and others wounded. Tamati Waka's 
 brother William had been there shot through the 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 39 
 
 body. While lying wounded on the ground he asked 
 the Governor whether his wound was fatal. Then, 
 taking the Governor by the hand, he asked him 
 whether in his opinion he (Wi Waka) had done his 
 duty to the Queen. The Governor, in answer, said 
 that he had proved himself to be a brave and gal- 
 lant soldier and a true man. Then the Maori, 
 addressing the chiefs who surrounded him, said that 
 after the words of the Governor it mattered little to 
 him whether he lived or died. 
 
 At the Council of Chiefs at Wanganui, nearly all 
 the great leaders of the North had given their promise 
 to support the Government, and named the number 
 of men that they would bring into the field. When 
 each chief had finished his statement he left the room, 
 until at last Captain Grey was left alone with Te 
 Wherewhero, many years afterwards Potatau, the 
 first Maori king. When no ear was there to listen, 
 Te Wherowhero said, " Oh, Governor, you have this 
 day disgraced me before the chiefs of New Zealand. 
 I am the greatest chief of the North Island. All these 
 who have spoken to-day acknowledge my supremacy. 
 You have received promises from them of great 
 numbers of warriors. I have but one man whom you 
 brought with me from my tribe. But though I am 
 not able to lead a great taua (war-party) to the field, 
 yet to show my faith to you and loyalty to the Queen, 
 I will serve as a private warrior under one of these 
 other chiefs." 
 
 The Governor had received innumerable instances 
 of self-denial, devotion, and confidence from both 
 chiefs and people, and he was now asked or rather 
 commanded to tell them that all the promises which 
 had been made for years were to be broken, and they 
 and their children were to be despoiled of the heri- 
 tage which had been assured to them as the condition 
 
I40 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 of their allegiance by the Treaty of Waitangi. Not 
 only was the Governor oppressed by this feeling of 
 ingratitude and breach of faith, but he was bouiid to 
 recognise the danger of such a proceeding to the 
 European inhabitants of the colony. Twenty thou- 
 sand Europeans, men, women, and children, were 
 scattered far and wide in many settlements without 
 means of communication or possibility of concerted 
 measures of defence, everywhere surrounded by 
 savage tribes, prompt in action, fearless in battle, 
 unsparing in revenge. A few soldiers unused to 
 Maori warfare, a few men capable of bearing arms 
 but mostly untrained to military service, were all on 
 which he could have depended against a combined 
 onslaught by the Maoris. The probabilities were all 
 in favour of a war of extermination arising should the 
 provisions of the Act of Parliament and the Royal 
 instructions be carried into effect. Within three 
 months it was not only possible, but probable, that, 
 save in one or two fortified places, no white people 
 would have been left alive in these islands. 
 
 Still further and most important considerations 
 weighed upon his mind and influenced him very 
 greatly. Captain Grey had conceived the belief that 
 the period in which he had been called to administer 
 the affairs of South Australia and New Zealand was 
 the turning point in the history of the colonial policy 
 of Great Britain. Foreseeing the vast extent of 
 populated territory which would hereafter be subject 
 to the Crown of England, contemplating as though 
 already in existence the "unborn millions" of God's 
 creatures, and of his own race, who were destined, in 
 the mighty colonial empire, to change or modify the 
 history of the world, he was determined that in all 
 constitutions or charters of government given to any 
 one or more of these, so far as his ability allowed. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 141 
 
 those constitutions should be as perfect and free as 
 the mind of man could make them. He knew how 
 difficult it would be, if a faulty constitution were once 
 brought into existence, to amend or to alter it. 
 
 The charter which had been granted to New^ Zea- 
 land was not, in his opinion, a charter for the people, 
 but a charter simply for speculators, for the hungerers 
 after land, and the shipowners desiring freights and 
 passengers, who helped so largely to form the New 
 Zealand Company, and he believed it would perpetu- 
 ate in this new land the worst abuses of the feudal 
 system. He at once perceived that to bring this new 
 Constitution with all its imperfections and proposed 
 tyrannies into existence would in no sense give the 
 power of self-government to the people of New Zea- 
 land, either of the few thousands already in the colony 
 or of the millions who were destined to occupy it 
 hereafter. During his ten years of official life he had 
 become convinced that the Colonial Office was so 
 little criticised or controlled by public opinion that 
 every Minister of an hour was able to perform illegal 
 acts without detection and without punishment. He 
 did not know to what extent these personal illegali- 
 ties might be carried. Holding extreme views upon 
 the importance of the colonies to Britain and their 
 probable influence upon the future welfare of the 
 world, he had determined from the first to oppose 
 every wrongful act where opposition was possible; 
 for he saw that a day might come when, under some 
 sudden pressure or political exigence, the integrity of 
 the Empire might be impaired, and its existence 
 threatened, without the consent of Parliament or 
 people. He believed that the only hope for the Old 
 World would be found in the New. And he dreaded 
 the establishment in the colonies of those worn-out 
 and efiete institutions and class distinctions, and that 
 
142 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 military rule, which threatened even yet the nations 
 of Europe with universal destruction. To his mind 
 the human regeneration of the world must come from 
 the United States and the colonies of England. To 
 him, therefore, the proposed Constitution was, in 
 many respects, not only devoid of attraction, but 
 absolutely repulsive. 
 
 Deeper than all, and more sacred and powerful in 
 its force, was the sense of duty to himself and to his 
 Maker. A sentiment of abhorrence to injustice, false- 
 hood, and oppression made him shrink even at the 
 command of Queen and Parliament (especially as he 
 knew them to be misled), from the performance of an 
 act which, while gratifying for the moment the clamour 
 of powerful and unscrupulous opponents, would in- 
 volve the disgrace of his country, the disappointment 
 of the noblest hopes, and the suffering of many inno- 
 cent and unoffending people. 
 
 There were at that time in New Zealand, besides 
 Captain Grey, two men of more than ordinary great- 
 ness of character and capability of intellect, George 
 Augustus Selwyn, the Bishop of New Zealand, and 
 the Chief Justice, Sir William Martin. These gentle- 
 men, equally with the Governor, felt outraged by the 
 promulgation of the principles contained in Earl 
 Grey's despatch, and were indignant at the attempted 
 breach of faith contained in the Imperial Act and the 
 Orders-in-Council. They made no secret of their 
 opposition to the whole proceedings. The Chief 
 Justice drew up a strong and indignant protest which 
 was immediately forwarded to Her Majesty through 
 the Colonial Office. The strongest of all grounds 
 were taken in this remarkable letter of remonstrance. 
 It consisted of three parts, which respectively urged 
 — I. That Earl Grey's instructions involve a breach of 
 the national faith of Great Britain. II. That Earl 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 143 
 
 Grey's instructions involve a breach of established 
 law. III. A protest against the general doctrine put 
 forth by Earl Grey as the principle upon which colo- 
 nization should be henceforth conducted by Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Perhaps no more vigorous and outspoken denuncia- 
 tions of a proposed wrongful Act intended by a great 
 Power were ever penned than those which were trans- 
 mitted by Bishop Selwyn to the Governor in 1847 
 and 1848. In 1847, Selwyn had joined with the Chief 
 Justice in protesting against the propositions con- 
 tained in Earl Grey's first despatch, and united with 
 the Chief Justice and many others in pointing out the 
 great and imminent dangers which would surround 
 the Europeans in New Zealand if the Act and instruc- 
 tions were enforced. In answer to that protest, Earl 
 Grey had transmitted a vigorous animadversion both 
 upon its manner and the matter contained in it. On 
 August ist, 1848, Selwyn, in a long letter to Governor 
 Grey, enclosing a copy of the pamphlet written by 
 the Chief Justice, deals in a most masterly manner 
 with the statements made by Earl Grey and the posi- 
 tion taken up by the Imperial Government. The 
 Bisljpp's letter is unanswerable. With plain and 
 forcible logic he exposes the weakness and incon- 
 sistency of the case made out by the Secretary for the 
 Colonies, and disproves, by historic quotations and 
 the expressed opinions of the greatest jurists, living 
 and dead, the statement made by Earl Grey as to the 
 rights of savage tribes to their lands. He cites the 
 history of colonization in America. Quoting the 
 writings of Sully, Blackstone, and Kent, he shatters 
 the weak and illogical deductions of Earl Grey, and 
 destroys without hope of rehabilitation the arguments 
 which the Earl had used in defence of his remarkable 
 despatch. Without hurry or impatience, but with due 
 
144 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 regard to the gravity of the occasion and the import- 
 ance of the issues involved, the Governor weighed 
 the arguments upon both sides with impartiality. A 
 great trust had been committed to his care, and Lord 
 Stanley had already forewarned him as to the re- 
 sponsibilities which would attach to his governorship 
 of New Zealand. Neither had anticipated the exact 
 form in which this responsibility would come. The 
 issue showed that Lord Stanley had not miscalculated 
 the courage of the young officer so suddenly pro- 
 moted, and that the character of Captain Grey was 
 equal to the task imposed upon it. 
 
 His resolution was soon taken. He determined to 
 suspend the operation of the Act, and decided also in 
 his own mind that if the Imperial Government per- 
 sisted finally in introducing it they must seek some 
 other agent than himself for that purpose. His refusal 
 to obey the orders of ministers in London was not 
 based upon the same grounds as animated the angry 
 correspondence between Bishop Selwyn and Earl 
 Grey, or the impressive remonstrance made by the 
 Chief Justice. Jealous of the honour and reputation 
 of his superiors, Governor Grey determined to see 
 nothing in his instructions but that which was con- 
 sistent with law and with the good faith of the 
 Empire. He therefore answered Earl Grey as if no 
 infraction of the Treaty of Waitangi had been in- 
 tended, and he assumed that whatever might be the 
 abstract reasoning in the noble Earl's letter as 
 regards the rights of savage nations to their lands, 
 this was not intended to refer to those lands of the 
 natives which, under the Treaty of Waitangi, had 
 been assured to the Maori tribes.* The other reasons 
 upon which he justified his action were set forth 
 
 * Governor Grey to Earl Grey — May 3rd, 1847, New Zealand 
 Papers, Imperial Parliament, December, 1847, pp. 42 to 46. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEAXAND. 145 
 
 clearly in his answer to Lord Grey's despatch. The 
 principle which actuated him he declared in his me- 
 morandum in reply to a letter from Lord Lyttelton on 
 his return to England in 1854. "When Parliament, 
 from want of sufficient information, legislates wrong- 
 fully or unjustly for a distant nation subject to its 
 laws, unless the high officers of the Empire will take 
 the responsibility of delaying to act until they re- 
 ceive further instructions, the Empire cannot be held 
 together. For the moment such an Act of Parliament 
 arrived in the country, the people, hopeless of that re- 
 dress which ought to be afforded to them, would break 
 out into revolt : whilst, could they have hoped that 
 their complaints would have been listened to before 
 the law was enforced, they would have continued 
 loyal and dutiful subjects. In declining, therefore, to 
 break promises which I made as Her Majesty's repre- 
 sentative, and in endeavouring to obtain a further 
 consideration of the course which I felt certain 
 Parliament had unadvisedly taken, ... I feel that I 
 did my duty as a faithful servant of my Queen and 
 country, and will cheerfully undergo every risk and 
 punishment which may follow from my having 
 adopted that course." * 
 
 Happily as it ended, the danger to which Captain 
 Grey exposed himself was of a nature to have overcome 
 a mind of ordinary character and a courage of ordi- 
 nary firmness. He was not only taking upon him- 
 self to bid defiance to the Queen and Parliament in a 
 matter which had been solemnly discussed for weeks 
 within the walls of St. Stephen's, but he was well 
 aware that he was raising a host of enemies in all 
 classes of the State who would pursue him with bitter 
 and unrelenting hatred for the remainder of his life. 
 He knew the characters, the power, and influence of 
 * Memo, by Sir George Grey, July 6th, 1854. 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 many of the persons whose path he thus crossed, and 
 whose plans he deliberately frustrated. 
 
 As in the early days of his explorations, as amid 
 the storms of disapprobation which he had been com- 
 pelled to meet in South Australia, and as in after 
 years, both in South Africa and in New Zealand, he 
 steadfastly and silently faced insult, accusation, and 
 injury, in what he believed to be the performance of 
 his duty, so he now determined, at all cost and hazard, 
 to pursue the straight path of righteousness and 
 justice. He was confident that the truth was mighty 
 and would prevail, and he was sustained not merely 
 by his own conviction, but by the warm sympathy 
 and vigorous aid of Bishop Selwyn and Sir William 
 Martio. 
 
 So strong and convincing were the arguments and 
 reasons adduced by the Governor, that the English 
 Government immediately passed a Bill — not to im- 
 peach the Governor of New Zealand for contumacy, 
 nor to dismiss him from the public employment be- 
 cause he had practically ignored the commands of the 
 Parliament and the Crown, but to suspend its own 
 Act for five years, during which period full power was 
 given to the Governor to raise such a Constitution as 
 he might deem proper in the interests of the mother 
 country, and of both races in the colony of New 
 Zealand. 
 
 This was the first, though not the last, time that 
 Sir George Grey brought himself into direct collision 
 with the Government of England and the Imperial 
 Parliament. His disagreements with the Home 
 Government had not always so complete a vindica- 
 tion, nor so happy a result ; but it will be seen, as we 
 proceed, that that opposition, whenever called into 
 existence, sprang from the same lofty motives and 
 the same intense determination to do right, whatever 
 might be the consequences. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE DESPATCH OF JULY, 1 849. 
 
 " Beneath the rule of men entirely great 
 The pen is mightier than the sword," 
 
 Lyiton. 
 
 In July, 1849, Sir George sent a long and elaborate 
 statement of the history and condition of the colony 
 to the Secretary of State. His communications from 
 all the colonies to the Government in England were 
 singularly clear and well ordered. They form in 
 themselves histories of the progress of the commu- 
 nities committed to his care. 
 
 It would be manifestly impossible to give at length 
 the full text of documents which fill volumes of printed 
 reports. Parliamentary papers, and official corre- 
 spondence. Ministers of the Crown never complained 
 either of want of information or of prolixity. All 
 that was required to give full information was sup- 
 plied : nothing superabundant or trivial was intruded. 
 
 This despatch of July 9th, 1 849, was indited for the 
 purpose of fully informing the Colonial Office of the 
 difficulties and possibilities presented to the Govern- 
 ment of New Zealand. In its opening paragraphs the 
 numbsrs of the European and native population were 
 contrasted. Twenty thousand European settlers un- 
 armed and unused to military service were scattered 
 in places far removed from each other over islands 
 
 L 2 
 
148 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 stretching through eight hundred miles of latitude. 
 No roads or methods of communication except by sea 
 existed. Such places were, in truth, separate colo- 
 nies. Between and around the European settlements 
 dwelt a bold and turbulent race, passionately addicted 
 to war, and well armed, numbering one hundred and 
 twenty thousand, a large proportion of whom were 
 fighting men. 
 
 Peculiar difficulties existed in carrying on warlike 
 operations against these tribes, while for the purpose 
 of offensive warfare against Europeans, they could 
 unite with overwhelming numbers,, and secretly, at 
 any given point. But the native character was sus- 
 ceptible of great improvement. The Maoris were 
 ambitious for advancement, and intensely desirous to 
 acquire weath. Successful in war, even against the 
 English troops, and alarmed by the evident determi- 
 nation of the European settlers to acquire their tribal 
 lands, great difficulties existed in producing amicable 
 relations between the two peoples. 
 
 The revenue had almost ceased, while public debts 
 had been incurred, and the nicest care became neces- 
 sary to prevent a war of races, which must have 
 ended in signal disaster. Such a war would have 
 entailed great loss. The Governor had to consider 
 the wisest course to be pursued. 
 
 "Mercy, justice, and prudence all appeared, there- 
 fore, to point to delay as the general rule on which 
 the Government should act. This line of policy has, 
 therefore, been in all instances unswervingly pursued, 
 and the result has quite equalled the anticipation that 
 might reasonably have been formed, for whilst the 
 rebellion which existed and the disturbances which 
 naturally sprang from that rebellion, have in all in- 
 stances been crushed, the total loss of all ranks 
 sustained on our side, through so long a period of 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 149 
 
 time, has amounted to only twenty-eight killed and 
 fifty-three wounded, and in so far as human judgment 
 can form an estimate of such matters, no probability 
 exists of any extensive rebellion ever hereafter break- 
 ing out in the country; and even should such dis- 
 turbance again unhappily break out, our knowledge 
 of the country is now so much more accurate, our 
 alliances with the natives have become so much more 
 numerous, our military roads have already been so 
 far completed, the number of persons acquainted with 
 the native language and customs so increased, and 
 the natives' supplies of arms and ammunition have 
 been so diminished, that we should enter on such a 
 contest with infinitely greater advantages than we 
 formerly possessed." 
 
 Sir George then proceeded to describe the measures 
 he had taken in regard to the revenue to make the 
 Government of New Zealand self-supporting, and the 
 remedial legislation adopted in regard to land claims 
 and disputes. 
 
 Passing on, then, to the active measures, he pro- 
 ceeded — " But little would, however, have been 
 accomplished if the Government had confined itself 
 simply to an attempt to remove the various evils 
 under which these islands were labouring. It was 
 necessary that active measures should at the same 
 time be taken, without delay, for the amalgamation 
 of the two races, that the confidence of the natives 
 should be won, that they should be inspired with a 
 taste for the comforts and conveniences of civilised 
 life, that they should be led to abandon their old 
 habits, that the chiefs should be induced to renounce 
 their rights of declaring peace and war, and that the 
 whole of the native race should be led to abandon 
 their barbarous modes of deciding disputes and ad- 
 ministering justice, and should be induced for the 
 
150 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 future to resort to our Courts for the adjustment of 
 their differences and the punishment of their offenders. 
 
 " To attain these ends the Resident Magistrates' 
 Ordinance was passed, and mixed courts were consti- 
 tuted for the settlement of disputes betwixt natives. 
 At the same time a considerable number of their 
 young chiefs and most promising young men were 
 enrolled in an armed police force, and thus habituated 
 to act as actual administrators in the lowest offices of 
 the law, and were made acquainted with the practical 
 administration of the law in our inferior courts. This 
 latter measure, at the time it was introduced, excited 
 unbounded ridicule, yet probably no measure has 
 been so totally successful in its results. The native 
 armed police force has furnished gallant men who 
 have led our skirmishing parties, and who have fallen 
 like good soldiers in the discharge of their duty ; and 
 it has furnished intelligent, sober, and steady con- 
 stables, whose services under various circumstances 
 have been found of great utility." 
 
 The Governor then went on to describe the plans 
 which he had adopted for the civilization and educa- 
 tion of the native race, — and here he gave credit in 
 no stinted degree to the different missionaries labour- 
 ing in the colony. " Fortunately, the task of the 
 Government in this respect has been an easy one. 
 There existed in this country three missions, estab- 
 lished by different Christian denominations, amongst 
 whom there is, perhaps, an emulation as to which 
 should do the greatest amount of good ; and it may 
 reasonably be doubted whether at any period of the 
 world there has existed in one country, amongst so 
 large a number of men who had devoted themselves 
 to the holy calling of a missionary, so many persons 
 who were eminently qualified by piety, ability, and 
 zeal to discharge the functions of the office upon which 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 5 I 
 
 they had entered. The result has been that these 
 gentlemen, scattered throughout the country, have 
 exercised an influence without which all the measures 
 adopted by the Government would have produced but 
 little effect. Won by their teaching the natives have 
 almost as an entire race embraced Christianity, and 
 have abandoned the most revolting of their heathen 
 customs. Instructed by their missionaries probably 
 a greater proportion of the population than in any 
 European country are able to read and write ; and 
 encouraged by the precept and example of the same 
 gentlemen they have in all parts of the islands' made 
 considerable progress in the rougher branches of 
 civilized life." 
 
 Entering still more at length into the questions 
 under consideration he showed how, in the face of 
 opposition from many quarters, and of difficulties 
 which at first seemed insurmountable, the measures 
 which had been adopted had proved themselves suc- 
 cessful beyond his hopes. He closed the retrospect 
 of the past with a forecast of the future, and outlined 
 those plans for the government and security of the 
 colony which afterwards found expression in the Con- 
 stitution Act of 1852. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LAND REGULATIONS AND CONSTITUTION OF 1 85 2. 
 
 "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, 
 and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, 
 shall not perish from the earth." — Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The despatch which accompanied the Act suspending 
 the Constitution gave to Sir George Grey the fullest 
 powers, and threw upon him the gravest responsi- 
 bilities. His discretion was left unfettered. " I am 
 fully aware," writes Earl Grey, "and much regret 
 that the course which I have taken, both in introduc- 
 ing this measure and in the instructions which I have 
 given upon it, imposes upon you a great amount of 
 responsibility. It may be necessary for you to refuse 
 to exercise to such an extent as the settlers may 
 desire the powers which you will be known to possess 
 of extending to them the advantages of representative 
 government." 
 
 The land laws in New Zealand and the disposition 
 of the waste lands of the Crown exercised the mind of 
 the Governor greatly. The Australian law as to the 
 purchase of waste lands had been continued in New 
 Zealand when that colony severed its connection with 
 New South Wales. The Otago and Canterbury settle- 
 ments had charters regulating the disposal of large 
 areas of Crown lands granted to them. All land held 
 by the Crown beyond the limits of the Canterbury 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 53 
 
 and Otago grants was subject to the ordinary Austra- 
 lian law. 
 
 To promote small settlements, Sir George Grey- 
 caused the Hundreds Ordinance to be passed, under 
 which Crown lands could be proclaimed, and, being 
 laid off in small and moderate allotments, made avail- 
 able for persons of limited means. The inhabitants 
 of the hundred formed a municipal body. Wardens 
 were to be elected by them, whose duties and powers 
 were sufficiently comprehensive to afford an efficient 
 system of local self-government to the community. 
 
 The Hundreds Ordinance was only brought into 
 force in localities and districts by proclamation, which 
 proclamation also extended to certain lands surround- 
 ing the hundred to such an extent in area as the 
 Land Department deemed advisable. All other waste 
 lands of the Crown were subject to depasturing 
 licenses, which gave their holders a right to depasture 
 sheep and cattle upon the Crown lands, but afforded 
 no fixed tenure. Such licenses could be recalled on 
 notice. 
 
 No fixed regulations had been made for the general 
 management and sale of the waste lands of the 
 Crown. One pound per acre was the nominal price 
 of the fee simple of all such lands. 
 
 The Canterbury Association and the Free Church 
 Settlement in Otago were established with a view to 
 the endowment of the Church of England and the 
 Free Church of Scotland respectively within the 
 colony. The Free Church of Scotland had the right 
 to appropriate ten shillings per acre of the price of 
 Crown lands sold within a certain district of Otago ; 
 while in Canterbury the English Church was endowed 
 by Act of the Imperial Parliament with power to 
 levy one pound per acre on 2,500,000 acres of land 
 in that province. 
 
154 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 The following is Sir George Grey's own statement 
 on this subject : — 
 
 "Early in the year 1851, I became alarmed at 
 reports which reached me that it was contemplated 
 by the members of the Canterbury Association to 
 inflict a serious wrong upon the inhabitants of New 
 Zealand in reference to the public lands of this colony. 
 I feared from what I heard that a state church with 
 vast endowments was about to be established in this 
 country without the local Government or the inhabi- 
 tants of New Zealand having received any informa- 
 tion upon the subject, and without their wishes having 
 been in any way ascertained. 
 
 " If this was done, it might take a long period of 
 time before the public could free itself from an incum- 
 brance of this kind, and the system under which 
 this wrong act was to be perpetrated was one which 
 was designedly contrived to throw difHculties in the 
 way of the poor in their efforts to secure lands for 
 themselves and their families. 
 
 " This system, moreover, secured to an absentee 
 body and their agents in this country the means of 
 disposing of the funds, obtained from the sale of 
 public lands, almost at their pleasure, by removing 
 from the control of the local Government and the 
 people of this country (New Zealand) all power of 
 interference regarding the salaries of the officers of 
 the Land Department or of the agents of the Com- 
 pany. Indeed it was difficult to see how any form of 
 free government could be established or exist in New 
 Zealand while such powers over the most prolific 
 source of revenue in the country could be exercised 
 by a distant body of absentees, who would have had 
 this vast fund at their disposal, subject only to what, 
 in fact, were worthless limitations. 
 
 "Whilst I was thus alarmed by rumours which 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 55 
 
 seemed to indicate that undoubtedly what has been 
 above mentioned was likely to be accomplished, 
 although no intimation on the subject had reached 
 me from Great Britain, the Resident Agent of the 
 Canterbury Association waited upon me and read to 
 me the draft of letter which, in so far as he under- 
 stood, contained a recommendation to the noblemen 
 and gentlemen who formed the Canterbury Associa- 
 tion that they should apply to the Home Government 
 and to Parliament for an extension of the block of 
 2,500,000 acres of land which was already, by Act of 
 Parliament, made subject to the Regulations of the 
 Canterbury Association, one of which was that no 
 rural land should be sold for less than three pounds 
 per acre. One-third of this purchase-money was, by 
 arrangement, to be expended for Church and school 
 purposes. 
 
 " Thus the arrangements existing with the Associa- 
 tion in 1 85 1 provided that a sum of ;^ 2,500,000 should 
 be expended upon religious and educational pur- 
 poses. 
 
 "Being asked to give my assent to the recom- 
 mendations as contained in the letter, I declined to 
 do so, and stated that I would, by all means in my 
 power, oppose the carrying of such recommendations 
 into effect. Accordingly, upon the meeting of the 
 Legislative Council of New Zealand, in June, 1851 (of 
 which Council I was by law constituted the Presi- 
 dent), I made a speech upon the iBth of that month, 
 the intention of which was to make manifest my 
 objections to the designs of the Canterbury Associa- 
 tion and of the New Zealand Company. I also hoped 
 that so strong, and, as I believed, so just an expo- 
 sition of my views on this subject, would have the 
 effect of detaching from the Canterbury Association 
 influential friends of my own who had joined it. 
 
156 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 " My great difficulty was that I appeared to have 
 no objection to what was being done, for I represented 
 the British Government, and that Government was 
 aiding the Canterbury Association, although I was 
 left in ignorance of the steps that they were taking. 
 
 " It was fortunate I adopted the course I did. At 
 the very time I made this speech an Act of Par- 
 liament was being passed with the full assent of the 
 British Government, upon the provisions of which I 
 had not been consulted. Indeed I was quite ignorant 
 of them. This Act provided as follows : — 
 
 " ' Sect. II. And if at any time during the continu- 
 ance of the powers of the said Association, Her 
 Majesty, her heirs or successors, shall authorize the 
 Governor, for the time being, of the Colony of New 
 Zealand, to grant under the Public Seal of the said 
 colony any other waste lands in the said colony, or 
 shall otherwise declare such declaration to be sig- 
 nified by writing under the hand of one of Her 
 Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, that any 
 other lands therein situate shall be added to the lands 
 comprised in the said settlement, all such lands shall 
 thereupon become part and parcel of the said settle- 
 ment ; and the said Association shall thenceforth 
 have over all such lands the same disposing, and all 
 other powers and authorities, as they shall have over 
 the lands then comprised in the said settlement, and 
 all such lands shall be thereupon dealt with and dis- 
 posed of by the said Association in the same manner 
 and under the same restrictions, and considered in all 
 respects as if the same had originally formed part of 
 the settlement, and had been included in the pro- 
 visions of the said recited Act and of this Act.' 
 
 " My speech was received by my friends in England 
 and by some of them at once acted upon." 
 
 Towards the end of 1852 Sir George Grey received 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 157 
 
 the Constitution Act as it had passed the English 
 Parliament. At this time the Canterbury Associa- 
 tion was selling land at £i per acre. The theory pro- 
 pounded by Mr. Wakefield of the " sufficient price " 
 still prevailed. Land was made dear that labour 
 might be made cheap. It became evident to Sir 
 George Grey that an oppressive system of exclusion 
 from the public lands was brought into operation in 
 Canterbury, and might possibly be extended through 
 the whole colony at the will of any Secretary of State 
 in England who could be influenced by the selfish 
 arguments of interested parties. 
 
 Accompanying the Constitution and Charter of 
 1852, Sir George Grey received a delegation of Her 
 Majesty's powers to form regulations for the sale 
 and disposal of the waste lands of the Crown in New 
 Zealand. Instructions, imperative and distinct, were 
 forwarded to him to frame such regulations without 
 delay. The affairs of the New Zealand Company 
 were finally wound up, and it became necessary that 
 the Crown itself should take the management and 
 disposal of its own lands. 
 
 And now the Governor found himself in posses- 
 sion of the power which he coveted to throw open 
 the waste lands of the Crown to all the people, to 
 destroy that monopoly which prevented men without 
 capital from becoming freeholders, and to break down 
 the oppressive system of Church establishments and 
 Church endowments in New Zealand. 
 
 He did not fail to see that the effects of such blows 
 would be felt far beyond the limits of these islands, 
 but he rejoiced at the probability of a wide-spread 
 reform, which might possibly reach to the most distant 
 parts of the Empire. 
 
 With great care the Governor proceeded to frame 
 the regulations. He reduced the price of public land 
 
158 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 at one stroke from three pounds to ten shillings, and, 
 in the case of inferior lands, five shillings per acre. 
 All lands were divided into three classes — first, the 
 hundreds ; second, the rural proclaimed lands sur- 
 rounding the hundreds; third. Crown lands unpro- 
 claimed. Rights of pasturage were conferred both 
 within and without the hundreds on the inhabitants ; 
 and the rural lands surrounding the hundreds were to 
 be divided into allotments of not less than eighty acres 
 nor more than six hundred and forty acres in extent. 
 These lands were to be sold by auction under fixed 
 regulations. But where squatters who had held de- 
 pasturing licenses were dispossessed, in order that 
 their lands might be thrown open for settlement, 
 such persons had the right to purchase an allotment 
 at ten shillings or five shillings per acre according to 
 value. 
 
 The unproclaimed Crown lands could be applied 
 for under certain conditions, but when so applied 
 for they were to come under the general provisions 
 of the proclaimed rural lands. Wherever land was 
 fit for agricultural settlement, the Hundreds Ordi- 
 nance could be proclaimed, and such land be settled 
 in accordance with its provisions. 
 
 These regulations were gazetted on the 14th of 
 May, 1853. They raised a storm of disapprobation 
 from that class which desired land speculation and 
 not land settlement. During the eight months in 
 which they were in force prior to Sir George Grey's 
 departure from New Zealand, the small-farm settle- 
 ments of Greytown, Masterton, and Cartertown, were 
 successfully established ; and in the province of Auck- 
 land lands were dealt with in the interests of the 
 great body of the people. 
 
 Not only did the regulations themselves, properly 
 interpreted, ensure the hond-fide settlement of the 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 59 
 
 lands, but Sir George intended, as a part of his plan, 
 to impose a land-tax, to prevent the acquisition of 
 large areas of unoccupied land. But he had no 
 power to frame such an Act, and could but leave it 
 with his recommendation to public men in New Zea- 
 land. 
 
 As soon as Sir George Grey's back was turned his 
 intentions were frustrated and his wishes neglected. 
 The Hundreds Ordinance was never brought into 
 existence by proclamation ; the Regulations were 
 altered ; the General Assembly gave over the control 
 of the waste lands to the provincial bodies ; and the 
 provincial bodies framed such ordinances and regula- 
 tions as enabled those in power to possess themselves 
 of large portions of the public estate in different 
 places. Dr. Feathers tone did indeed propose a land 
 tax to the Wellington Provincial Council, but it was 
 not pushed. 
 
 It has been said that Sir George Grey's Regula- 
 tions are responsible for the acquisition of the large 
 estates which now exist in New Zealand. Satan can 
 quote Scripture to prove his own case to be correct. 
 Only in this distorted and untruthful sense is it pos- 
 sible to charge Sir George Grey's Regulations with 
 the giving of large estates to speculators and mono- 
 polists. 
 
 The following is the account given by Sir George 
 Grey himself of the motives which actuated him : — 
 
 " Parliament, acting on reports of Committees got 
 up by the New Zealand Company, had identified itself 
 fully with the system of selling land at such a price 
 as to place it beyond the reach of the poor — £^ per 
 acre — and had established churches with enormous 
 endowments, making the poor contribute as much as 
 ^i per acre to the endowment of a Church which 
 might be hateful to them. They then authorised the 
 
l6o FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Secretary of State to make a land law. He lawfully- 
 delegated, his powers to me, and required me to issue 
 a land law. I never sought these powers ; but, being 
 ordered to execute them, determined to do it in a way 
 beneficial to my fellow-men. I, therefore, issued 
 Regulations, and made a law, which gave to all a 
 privilege from which they had been shut out, that 
 is, of acquiring homes for themselves and their 
 families such as had never been offered to them 
 before. 
 
 " I raised a host of enemies who persecuted me 
 through life ; but I knew the true mind of the British 
 Parliament. Both Houses of Parliament adopted my 
 action, and tyrannical land laws were put an end to. 
 It should be borne in mind that the New Zealand 
 General Assembly which was to meet was not the 
 Assembly I had intended. A nominated Upper 
 House destroyed the glorious fabric which I had been 
 privileged to frame. 
 
 " Having received my orders, and being endowed 
 with powers which perhaps no single man had before 
 exercised, I used them for the benefit of the poor of 
 every European nation. And having thus done my 
 duty, Australia was benefited as much as New Zea- 
 land. 
 
 "An opportunity had been given me of largely 
 benefiting mankind. I accepted it. An end was put 
 to closing the lands against the poor, and established 
 churches, with numerous endowments, were got rid 
 of. Because of the cruel system of land laws which 
 prevailed being broken down in one part of the 
 Empire, all other places would necessarily follow ; 
 and indeed they did. 
 
 "The British Parliament endorsed what I had 
 done, thus showing that they did not wish to per- 
 petuate injustice. My work being accomplished I 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. l6l 
 
 went forth to meet the enemies I knew I had to 
 encounter." 
 
 During the five years for which period the English 
 Government had suspended the operation of the Con- 
 stitution Act, Sir George Grey proceeded to initiate 
 reforms, all of which had for their object and their 
 tendency the increase of the popular voice in the 
 government of the country, and the steady extension 
 of popular rule. During that period he was in con- 
 stant though confidential communication with Earl 
 Grey upon the terms of the new Constitution which 
 he proposed to grant to this colony. Although 
 desiring to give complete power into the hands of 
 the people. Sir George Grey was at this time pecu- 
 liarly fettered by the existence of contemporaneous 
 facts. 
 
 In the early days of English colonization, when 
 as yet there was no separate Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies, various questions regarding colonial 
 matters of importance both to Crown and people had 
 from time to time arisen. To advise upon all such 
 matters a body had been created within the Privy 
 Council called " The Committee of Council for Trade 
 and Foreign Plantations." To this Committee were 
 relegated all important matters relating to the colo- 
 nies. When, however, the colonial questions had 
 become so grave as to necessitate the existence of a 
 Minister responsible for their management, the func- 
 tions of the Committee fell into disuse. The failure 
 of the New Zealand Constitution in 1846, and the 
 clamour arising in all the great dependencies of the 
 Empire for constitutional and representative govern- 
 ment, directed the attention of British statesmen to 
 the existence and possible utility of the almost for- 
 gotten " Committee for Trade and Foreign Planta- 
 tions." Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
I 62 FIRST GOVERNMENT 0¥ NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Zealand, but especially Australia, were upon the eve 
 of great constitutional changes. While in the great 
 North American Dominion confederation of separate 
 colonies then in existence seemed imminent, in the 
 vast territory of Australia the breaking up of the 
 great colony of New South Wales was almost an 
 accomplished fact. 
 
 The six years from 1846 to 1852 formed the period 
 of transition in which the power of government was 
 practically transferred from Downing Street to the 
 capital cities of the great colonies. 
 
 In 1848 Earl Grey revived' the "Committee for 
 Trade and Foreign Plantations," and submitted to 
 that Committee the consideration of the best mode of 
 making constitutional changes in Australia. In re- 
 constructing the Committee, to the members of the 
 Board of Trade — who formed, in fact, the old Com- 
 mittee — were added Lord Campbell, Chancellor of the 
 Duchy of Lancaster, Sir James Stephen, formerly 
 Permanent Under-Secretary for the Colonies, and Sir 
 Edward Ryan. On the first of May, 1849, their report 
 on the Australian Constitution was presented ; they 
 then proceeded further to consider the proposed Con- 
 stitution for South Africa, and reported upon that on 
 the 30th January, 1850. These reports form exhaus- 
 tive and luminous dissertations upon the questions 
 submitted, worthy of the great names appended to 
 them, and sufficient to supply the historical founda- 
 tions on which should be built up the political consti- 
 tutions of free nations. It is worthy of remark that 
 the New Zealand Constitution was not submitted to 
 this Committee, nor was the question of Canada 
 considered by it. The form of Government for New 
 Zealand, as left perfect and complete by Earl Grey on 
 his retirement from office in 1852, was the work of 
 Sir George Grey, and to his correspondence and his 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 63 
 
 suggestions some of the best features of the Canadian 
 Constitution owe their existence. 
 
 While, therefore, the Committee of the Privy- 
 Council was deliberating upon the form of repre- 
 sentative constitutions to be granted to the Australian 
 colonies. Sir George Grey felt himself bound by every 
 sentiment of honour to Her Majesty's Government 
 not to propose publicly any measure of government 
 for New Zealand which might seem to extend the 
 limit of popular power in these islands beyond that 
 which the English Parliament was granting to the 
 Australian colonies, lest dissatisfaction might there 
 have been created at the superior advantages enjoyed 
 by the colonists of New Zealand. In a despatch from 
 the Governor to Earl Grey, dated August 30th, 185 1, 
 he clearly points out the position which he con- 
 sidered himself to hold, and the reasons which actuated 
 him.* 
 
 " I judged, therefore, that it was my duty as an 
 officer of a great empire, entrusted with high powers, 
 not to attempt rashly to set up my judgment against 
 the opinions of the majority of the great Council of 
 that empire, and by legislating in a manner different 
 from that which they thought proper to pursue in 
 immediately neighbouring colonies, create perhaps 
 great embarrassment and much discontent. But I 
 thought it rather my duty in any ordinances which 
 I might pass for the creation of local legislatures, 
 to act, in as far as the circumstances of the country 
 would permit, in perfect accord and harmony with 
 the system which Parliament might pursue ; and 
 then, in reference to any other changes I might 
 deem necessary, to make recommendations on 
 the subject to your Lordship, in order that they 
 
 * Quotation from Constitution Act and Correspondence, pp. 34 
 and 35. 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 might be submitted for consideration of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 " In all proceedings, therefore, which I have taken 
 in reference to the changes I have introduced into 
 the Constitution of this country, I have held the two 
 foregoing principles in view; although I have still 
 so framed my measures as to make gradual advances 
 towards what, in my own opinion, would be the 
 most perfect form of Constitution which could be 
 bestowed upon New Zealand." * 
 
 Sir John Pakington, who succeeded Earl Grey, 
 found the heads of the Bill already prepared. The 
 new Secretary for the Colonies immediately invited 
 Mr. (now Sir William) Fox, then in England, to 
 wait upon him at the Colonial Office, and to confer 
 and advise with him upon the proposed Constitution. 
 Mr. Fox gladly consented. And it must be pre- 
 sumed that it was upon Mr. Fox's advice that the 
 perfect character of the Bill as left by Lord Grey was 
 destroyed and its whole nature altered for the worse. 
 
 In preparing his recommendations for the govern- 
 ment of New Zealand, which should form, as he fondly 
 hoped, a constitutional model for the government of 
 a free country. Sir George Grey had studied, with 
 deep and eager interest, all forms of government 
 which the world had seen. The latest development 
 of a popular system — that of the United States — 
 naturally claimed his closest attention. The weak- 
 ness of that great confederation he foresaw fifteen 
 years before the links in the chain broke under the 
 pressure of the question of slavery. Sir George Grey 
 recognised in the Constitution of the United States 
 of America the fact that each state was free, sove- 
 reign, and independent, and that the only powers 
 
 * Despatch from Sir George Grey to the Right Honourable 
 Earl Grey, August 30, 1851. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 65 
 
 properly claimed by the Union were such as were 
 given to it by the legislatures and popular voice of 
 the component States. He saw, therefore, that if 
 ever the Union should claim jurisdiction in a question 
 in which jurisdiction had not been given to it by the 
 voice of its members, either that disruption must 
 follow, or the rule of force prevail and the weaker 
 party submit to the compulsion of an armed power. 
 He aimed, therefore, at achieving a different result by 
 assuming a different position. He desired to grant a 
 Constitution the provinces and provincial govern- 
 ments of which should not give (as in the case of 
 America] power and authority to the Central Govern- 
 ment, but should receive from the Central Government 
 that jurisdiction and that legislative authority over 
 certain matters which the central power thought 
 proper to bestow. But seeing that the central power 
 might from various causes desire to usurp authority 
 over the inferior legislatures, he provided a safeguard 
 in the appointment of a second chamber, the electoral 
 colleges for which should be the Provincial Councils 
 themselves. By this method the provinces and Pro- 
 vincial Councils would have been safe from aggression 
 by the federal Government, because they would have 
 been directly represented in the second chamber, 
 which would therefore have guarded their privileges 
 with greater jealousy, and yet a minority of the 
 province could not have prevented advisable reforms. 
 He had advocated the existence of legislatures of a 
 single chamber in the Provincial Councils, and the 
 bi-cameral system he proposed for the federal Govern- 
 ment, giving to the second chamber the distinct and 
 direct representation of the provincial assemblies. 
 For the loss of this the colony has to thank Sir John 
 Pakington and his adviser Mr. Fox. Their action 
 has entailed upon New Zealand innumerable troubles, 
 
1 66 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 including the abolition of the provinces, the profligate 
 borrowing and expenditure of nearly ^35, 000,000, and 
 the growth of a huge central civil service, located in 
 Wellington, which dominates the country ; as well as 
 the extreme difficulty in carrying any measure for 
 the extension of public liberty, for the levying of 
 just taxation, and for the settlement of the people 
 upon the land. 
 
 New Zealand was saddled with a debt of ;^ 268,000, 
 in favour of the New Zealand Company, a claim which 
 the Crown Commissioner on the Company's Board, 
 Mr. Cowell, states was, in the first place, established 
 " ^y gross frauds, concealments, and misrepresenta- 
 tions, practised chiefly on Earl Grey and Sir Charles 
 Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer." * 
 
 It was only Sir George Grey's loyalty to the Im- 
 perial Government and Parliament that prevented 
 him from bringing his Constitution into force earlier. 
 As far as he thought he could properly go, he went. 
 Then, making recommendations for still further steps 
 to Her Majesty's Ministers, he desired them to gain 
 the credit and renown which would have followed 
 the adoption of his wise counsels and the results 
 of his matured judgment. During the debates in 
 Parliament which resulted in the passage of the 
 Constitution Act, it was admitted on every hand 
 that the Constitution as proposed by Sir George 
 Grey was the most liberal system of government in 
 the empire. 
 
 Other great advantages were proposed by Sir 
 George Grey, such as the creation of hundreds and 
 boroughs, which were, unfortunately, never properly 
 adopted, by reason of the ignorance or misapprehen- 
 sion as to their advantages which existed in the minds 
 both of English and colonial legislatures, and through 
 
 » Mr. Cowell's letter, June 8th, 1854. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 167 
 
 the selfishness of those who desired to use political 
 power for their own advantage. 
 
 Doubts having been on many occasions suggested 
 as to the authorship of the New Zealand Constitution 
 proposed by Earl Grey, it may be well to summarise 
 the whole of the evidence upon the subject which is 
 to be found in the despatches, blue books, and public 
 speeches of the parties concerned. The only claimant 
 to the responsibility of having framed that Act is Sir 
 George Grey. Not one of the many antagonists who 
 opposed him in New Zealand and in London, nor all 
 combined, assert that they framed this measure, that 
 they developed its principles, or that they submitted 
 it for the consideration of the Imperial Government. 
 
 It is difficult to understand how any doubt can be 
 entertained on this question after the perusal of Sir 
 George Grey's despatch to Earl Grey of August 30th, 
 1 85 1 .* Sir George Grey has never ceased to claim the 
 original Constitution as his own work, his expression 
 of ideas and of hopes for the self-government of a 
 free people. 
 
 Earl Grey, having finally determined upon the form 
 which the Bill should take, wrote in answer to the 
 despatch of Sir George Grey just quoted : 
 
 " Sir, — I have to acknowledge your despatch, No. 
 121, of August 30th last, transmitting the Provincial 
 Council Ordinance in the form in which it passed the 
 Legislative Council, and explaining with great clear- 
 ness and in much detail your views with respect to 
 the system of government best adapted to the exist- 
 ing conditions of New Zealand. I have to thank 
 you for the valuable information contained in this 
 despatch. 
 
 "It has been of great service in preparing the 
 
 * New Zealand Constitution Act, together with correspondence, 
 Wellington, 1853. 
 
1 68 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 enclosed heads of a Bill which it is the intention of 
 Her Majesty's Government to introduce into Parlia- 
 ment in the present session for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing the legislative institutions of New Zealand on 
 a permanent footing." * 
 
 Before Earl Grey's Government could pass this Bill 
 they were ousted from office. Sir John Pakington 
 became Secretary for the Colonies in the new Minis- 
 try. As we have seen, the elective Council became a 
 nominee body, and a debt of;^268,ooo in favour of the 
 New Zealand Company was saddled upon the colony 
 of New Zealand. How far Sir William Fox may be 
 responsible for either or both of these it is impossible 
 to say, but it is certain that the colonists of New 
 Zealand had no opportunity of being heard on either 
 of these points, and that great indignation was felt in 
 the colony at the large debt with which it was 
 burdened for the benefit of the New Zealand Com- 
 pany. 
 
 On the ist of July, 1852, the Constitution Act as 
 passed was transmitted by Sir John Pakington to Sir 
 George Grey, with a despatch containing the follow- 
 ing paragraph : — 
 
 "Her Majesty's Government have had abundant 
 opportunities of recognising in the correspondence 
 which has taken place on this subject between your- 
 self and their predecessors your strong attachment to 
 liberal institutions, and the able manner in which you 
 and your Council have both prepared the way for 
 their introduction, and urged upon the Imperial 
 Government the necessity of speedily creating them 
 as soon as the temporary difficulties which induced 
 you at first to advise the suspension had passed away. 
 They are, in fact, fully aware that the measure itself, 
 
 * Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Sir George Grey, 
 February, 1852. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT CF NEW ZEALAND. 1 69 
 
 now reduced into a law, owes its shape in a great 
 degree to your valuable suggestions." * 
 
 Thus Sir John Pakington, Secretary for the Colo- 
 nies, adds his testimony to that of Earl Grey, the late 
 Secretary, as to the authorship of the Constitution 
 Act. 
 
 In the debate upon the second reading of the Bill 
 in the House of Commons, Mr. Gladstone spoke of 
 the measure as having been recommended by the 
 Governor, Sir George Gre}', and proceeded to eulogise 
 the wisdom which had appealed to the American 
 Constitution for an example of a Federal Upper 
 Chamber elected from provincial assemblies. Mr. 
 Gladstone spoke of this Act also as " an Act which 
 conceded a larger measure of freedom than had 
 hitherto been granted to the colonies." 
 
 While Sir George Grey was in confidential corre- 
 spondence with Earl Grey upon the proposed Consti- 
 tution, his lordship, who was deeply interested, wrote 
 to the Governor, asking whether he had considered 
 the method in force in the United States as to the 
 election of the Second Federal Chamber, and, if he 
 thought that plan advisable, whether it would not be 
 wise for him to propose it formally to Her Majesty's 
 Government as a proper provision for New Zealand. 
 So great was the encouragement given by Earl Grey 
 to the Governor upon this subject, and so evident his 
 desire to afford all assistance towards framing the 
 most liberal form of government, that it is difficult to 
 limit the extent of participation in the final result 
 which can fairly be credited to his lordship. 
 
 Sir F. Peel, Under-Secretary of State, speaking in 
 reply to Mr. Adderley, when that gentleman attacked 
 Sir George Grey, said " he was astonished to hear Sir 
 
 * Despatch from Sir John Pakington to Governor Sir George 
 Grey, July 16, 1852. 
 
170 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 George Grey represented as having been accustomed 
 to exercise undivided rule, and become wedded to 
 autocratic power, and as having consequently en- 
 deavoured to prevent the colonists of New Zealand 
 from getting the benefit of free institutions. Was the 
 honourable gentleman not aware that the Bill which 
 was passed through Parliament to give them free 
 institutions was framed, except in one particular, by 
 Governor Grey himself, and that it was to him that 
 the colonists were indebted for the Constitution which 
 Parliament had granted them ? " * 
 
 On Sir George Grey's arrival in England he re- 
 ceived letters from Sir John Pakington and Lord 
 Lyttelton, warning him of intended attacks in Parlia- 
 ment, while notice was given in the House of Com- 
 mons by Mr. Adderley that he should bring before 
 the House several points of complaint against the 
 Governor of New Zealand. A part of Lord Lyttel- 
 ton's letter is as follows : — 
 
 " I also feel it my duty to inform you that I have felt bound to 
 give notice of my intention to bring under the notice of the House 
 of Lords, on the 13th inst., the same points (generally) which Mr. 
 Adderley recently brought before the House of Commons." f 
 
 In his reply, dated July 6th, 1854, Sir George Grey 
 fully stated and answered the various charges brought 
 against him. So triumphant was his vindication of 
 himself, and so complete the answer given by the 
 papers and despatches as known to the Colonial 
 Office and Parliament, that Sir John Pakington with- 
 drew his attack ; Mr. Adderley's motion in the House 
 of Commons failed to find a seconder ; and Lord 
 Lyttelton's in the House of Peers only drew from the 
 Duke of Newcastle, among other refutations of the 
 
 * English "Hansard," June — July, 1854, p. 710. 
 
 t Letter from Lord Lyttelton to Sir George Grey, June, 1854. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 171 
 
 charges against Sir George, the following state- 
 ment : — 
 
 " It is somewhat hard to charge Sir George Grey 
 with culpability in leaving the colonies at the time he 
 did. What were the circumstances under which he 
 asked for leave of absence ? Seventeen years of 
 colonial service he could show, out of which he had 
 been in England three months only — thirteen years 
 and a-half of continual service, during which he had 
 never re-visited this country. He had left a mother 
 in England, and he was desirous of coming home to 
 see her, and for that purpose, and that alone, he 
 applied for leave of absence. Sir George Grey knew 
 that she was in an infirm state of health, and that 
 every month was precious. He, nevertheless, fulfilled 
 the duties I had imposed upon him. He remained 
 twelve months to carry out the Constitution, in a 
 manner which I confidently anticipate will be most 
 advantageous. He remained to his own bitter cost. 
 If he had come away earlier he would have attained 
 his object. Sir George Grey arrived in England to 
 hear before he landed, that that mother, whom he 
 had come sixteen thousand miles to see, lay on her 
 death-bed, and before he reached her residence she 
 had departed this life ; and is it not cruel he should 
 be accused of coming home at an inopportune mo- 
 ment, when he remained and fulfilled all the duties 
 imposed upon him, knowing he was running the risk 
 of the sad event which occurred ? " * 
 
 The New Zealand Constitution, left perfect as it was 
 by Earl Grey, forms an epoch in the history of colo- 
 nial governmeet. The old system could never be 
 restored ; the new principles of liberty and repre- 
 sentative government became fixed and immovable in 
 
 * English "Hansard." Speech of the Duke of Newcastle, 
 June 14th, 1854. 
 
172 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 the relations between Britain and her colonies. It is 
 for future history to say whether the conduct of Sir 
 George Grey in delaying the establishment of such 
 institutions until the most perfect form could be 
 obtained was the course of wisdom, or whether he 
 would have been wise and patriotic in hurrying on an 
 imperfect scheme which might have pacified the 
 clamours of the moment, but have utterly failed to 
 accomplish the great ends which he had in view. 
 The verdict of posterity must be in favour of that 
 procedure which waited for the corn to ripen before 
 the sickle of the reaper was used. Sir George Grey 
 never attempted to argue upon questions of his own 
 conduct in this matter. He was content to allow 
 time to give its verdict, and in relation to the New 
 Zealand Constitution, affecting as it does so largely 
 the destinies of many great nations of the future, as 
 in other incidents which have happened in the course 
 of his life, his actions will be admired, his arguments 
 approved, and his name venerated when his antago- 
 nists of an hour and his contemporary assailants are 
 forgotten. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CONSTITUTION FOR THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 " Order is Heaven's first law." 
 
 Essay on Man. 
 
 In 1850, busied with the preparation of the Constitu- 
 tion and the harassing cares of government, Sir 
 George Grey was confined to his bed by sickness at 
 Taranaki. He seized upon this brief period of invo- 
 luntary relaxation to place in tangible shape an idea 
 which had for some time exercised his mind. 
 
 A member of the Church of England, though unob- 
 trusive and retiring in his membership as in his 
 ordinary Christian character, it had been forced upon 
 him that the position of that Church within the colony 
 needed an organisation and a framework fitted for the 
 altered circumstances of a new country. As, years 
 afterwards, when in enforced idleness in England, he 
 framed a Constitution for the local self-government of 
 Ireland, so now — when for the moment laid aside 
 from the performance of his ordinary duties — he 
 framed the Constitution for the Church of England in 
 New Zealand under which that Church now lives and 
 acts, and which seems destined to supply the neces- 
 sary powers and functions for a long and successful 
 existence. 
 
 When Bishop Selwyn was finally leaving the colony 
 in 1867, he delivered a farewell address in the Bruns- 
 
174 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 wick Hall, in Auckland. For a quarter of a century, 
 Selwyn had been identified with everything that was 
 good and noble in the Southern Hemisphere. His 
 apostolic labours had extended over regions more 
 remote, and to congregations more varied, than those 
 of the Apostle Paul. He was now returning under 
 the order of his Mother Church, to end his days in the 
 diocese of Lichfield. 
 
 It had been said that in framing her Constitution 
 the New Zealand Church had departed from her 
 allegiance to the Church of England, and that Selwyn 
 himself might have some apprehension that his 
 conduct would be severely commented upon, if not 
 condemned. Upon these points the Bishop thus 
 spoke ; — 
 
 " I certainly have no fear in going to England. I 
 go there simply as an obedient son of the Church of 
 England, and the more so, perhaps, because it has 
 been said that I was an advocate for the severance of 
 the Church of New Zealand from the Mother Church 
 — to make her entirely independent of the Mother 
 Church. I desire to show no such feeling at all. I 
 desire to carry an expression of your opinion that we, 
 as a body of English Churchmen, are as united in 
 feeling to the Mother Church as we should have been 
 if we had remained in our native country. That we 
 have not separated from her in any respect ; that we 
 have done everything we could to carry out the 
 liturgy of the Church ; and that we have not deviated 
 in any respect from the doctrines of the Church of 
 England. I would now say a few words with regard 
 to the Synod and the Constitution. The speakers 
 who have referred to that subject have mentioned me 
 as the originator of that Constitution. I have the 
 pleasure of saying to you all that there was something 
 more touching in the origin of that Constitution than 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 175 
 
 persons are generally aware of. The first draft of the 
 present Constitution was drawn by Sir George Grey 
 on a sick-bed at Taranaki, and it was the fruit of 
 those feelings which come upon the mind in sickness, 
 when a man sets aside thoughts of government and 
 the care of this world, and knows, as a Christian man, 
 that he has something better to think of than the 
 perishable things of this life. His Excellency has 
 produced what has been of great spiritual benefit to 
 the Church in this country, by giving them at least 
 the outward framework, which is as necessary to in- 
 ward spiritual life as the body of a man is necessary 
 to contain his soul. And so far are we against set- 
 ting ourselves against the authority of the Queen, that 
 it was the Queen's own representative who drew out 
 the first draft of the Constitution ; and I believe I 
 have now in his handwriting that upon which the 
 Constitution is framed." 
 
 Though not mentioned in the Bishop's speech the 
 original draft of the Constitution, when forwarded to 
 him by Sir George Grey from Taranaki, was, with the 
 letter enclosing it, the subject of deep and prayerful 
 consideration. In reply, Selwyn, as the Bishop of 
 New Zealand, finally stated that he was prepared to 
 adopt the proposed Church Constitution if it were 
 deemed desirable by a large number of the members 
 of the Church of England within the colony. 
 
 Upon receipt of this answer Sir George wrote the 
 following letter : 
 
 "My Lord, — We the undersigned members of the branch of the 
 Church of England existing in the New Zealand Islands, beg with 
 great respect, to offer the following remarks for your Lordship's 
 consideration. 
 
 " Upon reviewing our present position, we find that we form the 
 most advanced and remote outpost of the Church of England. 
 There have also devolved on us, in common with many of our 
 countrymen, the important duties of aiding in the foundation of a 
 
176 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND, 
 
 great nation, and in the moulding of its institutions. At the same 
 time, there are in our immediate vicinity various heathen nations, 
 and even in the midst of us are many native inhabitants of these 
 islands who have not yet embraced the doctrines of Christianity. 
 Moreover, we, the European members of the Church of England, 
 have been collected from many countries, and are settled in 
 widely detached localities ; and thus although we are bound 
 together by a common faith, and have common duties to perform, 
 we are united by but few of the usual ties of long and familiar 
 acquaintance, whilst there is no system of local organization 
 which might tend to draw us together as members of the same 
 Church. 
 
 "We, therefore, feel ourselves called, from circumstances and 
 from our position, to vast responsibilities, and to the discharge 
 of important duties, whilst we have many elements of weakness 
 around and amongst us. From these causes it is our earnest 
 conviction that a peculiar necessity exists for the speedy estab- 
 lishment of some sjstem of Church government amongst us 
 which, by assigning to each order in the Church its appropriate 
 duties, might call forth the energies of all, and thus enable the 
 whole body of the Church most efficiently to perform its functions. 
 Even with such a system our efforts might at first be feeble, from 
 want of numbers, and from our limited means, but yet we humbly 
 trust that we should labour with such heart and earnestness as 
 become those who desire in the planting here an efficient Church, 
 which may, with God's blessing, promote His service, spread wide 
 a knowledge of the Gospel, and secure the welfare of those vast 
 numbers of our brethren who must hereafter occupy these islands. 
 
 "Actuated by these views and wishes, we beg to submit for 
 your Lordship's consideration, and, we trust, for your approval, 
 the outline of a plan of Church government, resembling in many 
 points that which we are informed has proved so beneficial to our 
 brethren in America, and which we should all be satisfied to see 
 adopted here. By providing for the assembling of a general 
 convention, the proposed plan affords also a security for the 
 ultimate establishment of that system of Church government 
 which may be found to be most in conformity with the wishes of 
 the whole body of the branch of the Church of England existing 
 in New Zealand. 
 
 " We have felt the less hesitation in submitting these our views 
 to your Lordship, because we are aware that you have long been 
 most anxious to see an efficient system of Church government 
 established amongst us, and that this subject is one which has 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 77 
 
 not only always occupied your own earnest attention, but which 
 you have on various occasions commended to the serious con- 
 sideration of the members of our Church." 
 
 This letter was signed by many hundreds of the 
 leading members of the Church of England in all 
 parts of the colony, and was followed by the estab- 
 lishment of the Constitution of that Church as it now 
 exists, the first general convention of which met 
 shortly before the end of June, 1852. 
 
 This work did not end its course in New Zealand, 
 nor were its good effects limited to that colony. The 
 English Church in Canada and in Ireland has prac- 
 tically adopted its provisions. Thus the New World 
 helps the Old. 
 
 Among Sir George Grey's visitors at this time when 
 the Constitution of New Zealand and its Church were 
 both being elaborated, and when the plans for the 
 confederation of the islands of the Southern Ocean 
 were yet existing, was Lord Robert Cecil, since then 
 Marquis of Salisbury, the present Premier of Eng- 
 land. Lord Robert was a schoolfellow at Eton with 
 Lord Carnarvon, then finishing his University career, 
 which Lord Robert Cecil had thrown up some time 
 previously, having left Christ Church while Lord Car- 
 narvon was still there. 
 
 An incisive writer and an earnest thinker, he and 
 the Governor enjoyed many a walk by the seashore 
 in Wellington while discussing the political and social 
 phases of modern life, especially those which affected 
 the future of the British Empire and the British 
 people. When, seven years afterwards, Sir George 
 Grey was recalled from South Africa, Lord Robert 
 Cecil amply returned his hospitality and proved his 
 friendship for his New Zealand host in many ways. 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 KARAITIANA AND HAPUKU. 
 
 " Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail 
 Or knock the breast, no weakness or contempt, 
 Dispraise or blame, nothing but well and fair, 
 And what may quiet us in a death so noble." 
 
 Samson Agonistes. 
 
 In all Sir George Grey's Governments it sometimes 
 happened that funds were necessary for the public 
 service which were not available from the Public 
 Treasury. At such times Sir George Grey never hesi- 
 tated to advance from his own private fortune the 
 sums so required. On no occasion when this happened 
 did he receive security or did he ask it. It was 
 sufficient for him that the public service needed, not 
 only his time and effort, but money also, to cause 
 him to take immediate action. The first occurrence of 
 this nature took place about 1853. 
 
 Between the provinces of Auckland and Wellington 
 lie the fertile plains of Hawke's Bay. The lands of 
 the South Island had been purchased for a trifling 
 amount from the native tribes to whom they be- 
 longed; but the Maori inhabitants of the South were 
 few in number, and utterly unable to occupy any 
 considerable portion of the territory which they nomi- 
 nally owned. In the North the situation was entirely 
 different. Especially was this difference shown in the 
 district of Hawke's Bay. On the wide and rich plains 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 79 
 
 which lie between the Seventy-mile Bush and Napier 
 large numbers of natives made their homes. The 
 cultivations were numerous, the eel fisheries abun- 
 dant. Fierce wars had been waged between many 
 tribes for the possession of that territory, and wild 
 legends are yet told in the scattered kaingas of the 
 Maoris of conquest and defeat, followed always by 
 cannibal feasts. 
 
 Many Europeans had settled amongst the natives 
 in this region, and it became advisable, if not abso- 
 lutely necessary, that the Crown should acquire large 
 portions of that territory in order to give good titles 
 to European settlers. But the natives were difficult 
 to deal with. The majority of the chiefs were willing 
 to cede a portion of their tribal estates, while the 
 remainder stubbornly refused. Some of them com- 
 menced to sell to the Government. On this becom- 
 ing known to the remainder, a public runanga, or 
 council, was held, at which, after a stormy discussion, 
 the natives fell into two parties. 
 
 The war of words was, as is usual with the Maoris, 
 quickly followed by actual conflict. After some desul- 
 tory fighting, a pitched battle took place, in which 
 many were killed and wounded upon both sides. 
 Many noted warriors fell. The great chief Hapuku 
 was driven from the lower plains to Te Aute. Karai- 
 tiana, Tareha, Moananui and Renata Kawepo re- 
 mained masters of all that rich alluvial region which 
 surrounds Heretaunga. 
 
 It needed the skill and address of the Governor 
 himself to complete the purchase of the land required 
 by the Government. He met the chiefs assembled 
 with their people. The lands to be sold were marked 
 out upon maps, and the price to be paid was fixed 
 at ;^ 7,000, which money was to be paid in cash. Here 
 a difficulty arose. In the Treasury there was but 
 
 N 2 
 
l8o FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 about ^5,000 available for the purchase of these 
 lands. The Government had no power to borrow 
 save with the sanction of the Imperial authorities. 
 
 But Governor Grey was not to be deterred by an 
 obstacle of this nature. He advanced the necessary 
 balance from his own private moneys, on the under- 
 standing that he should be repaid from the proceeds 
 of the lands when sold. Thus the full sum was paid 
 over to the Maoris. 
 
 Of the money so advanced by the Governor, the 
 greater part (^2,000) was not repaid to him until 
 after his return to England. By his influence with 
 the natives, and by his assistance in thus advancing 
 the necessary funds a magnificent estate was secured 
 for the colony. 
 
 After their war Karaitiana and Hapuku were sworn 
 foes. Karaitiana became a member of the Assem- 
 bly, representing the Maoris of that district; while 
 Hapuku, sullen and morose, dwelt apart in his pah 
 on the shores of the Te Aute Lake. Sometimes the 
 old warrior visited Napier, but until within a few 
 hours of his death he and Karaitiana never met as 
 friends. 
 
 Twenty-five years after the decisive struggle 
 between them. Sir George Grey, then Premier of 
 New Zealand, received intimation that Hapuku was 
 dying. The ceremonies preceding death had been 
 performed. His tribe was gathered for the tangi 
 (weeping) which should lament the passage of his 
 spirit to the unknown land. Sir George Grey visiting 
 Napier, sent for Karaitiana, and said that together 
 they would proceed to the death-bed of Hapuku, so 
 that before he died the two great chiefs and warriors 
 might be reconciled. At first his request was refused, 
 but in the end his persuasion prevailed, and travelling 
 forty miles they arrived at Te Aute. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. l8l 
 
 When the former Governor and Hapuku's old 
 enemy, Karaitiana, entered the pah, wonder and 
 astonishment filled the place, and loud cries of wel- 
 come resounded on every hand. They walked to the 
 side of the dying chief, and there sat down. Hapuku, 
 with wondering eyes, exclaimed, " O friend, how did 
 you come here ?" " I came," was the reply, " upon 
 the wings of love, and have brought with me Karai- 
 tiana so that you may be friends once more before 
 you leave this world." 
 
 While Sir George Grey (still to the Maoris " the 
 Governor") spoke these words of affection and of 
 peace to Hapuku, the hands of the two enemies were 
 clasped together, and their deep emotion testified by 
 the tears shed by both witnessed a final reconcilia- 
 tion. Hapuku died within a few hours, and Karai- 
 tiana only survived him for about twelve months. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 GREY'S DEPARTURE FROM NEW ZEALAND— FEELINGS 
 OF BOTH RACES. 
 
 " Hail, mighty chief and brave ! thy people stay ! 
 While sadness veils our spirits ; go thy way ! 
 Go hence, lamented by each circled throng, 
 Who now rehearse thy deeds in plaintive song. 
 Lo ! when the battle raged at Hope's dell 
 Thy foes gave way, and famed Panui fell. 
 Proud Ahurei has said that he will fire 
 The tribes with zeal : but he may not aspire 
 To thy acknowledged greatness. No, the grave 
 Ere long will claim the youthful and the brave ! 
 And, weakened thus, Te Puhi, with his band, 
 Will smite the remnant, and pass through the land." 
 
 {Translation of one of the farewell addresses to Sir George 
 Grey from Maori chiefs^ 
 
 At length the time arrived when Sir George Grey- 
 was to bid farewell to New Zealand. From all parts 
 of the North Island rose the lamentations of the 
 Maoris upon the departure of "their friend, the 
 Governor." Many deputations of native chiefs waited 
 upon him. Of the first of these, Wi Maihi Rangi- 
 kaheke was chosen to speak on behalf of the natives. 
 The following account of the meeting is given by Mr. 
 Davis : — " After sundry gesticulations and whispers 
 among themselves as to how the performance was to 
 be conducted, they broke out in full chorus, chanting 
 the song with which the address opens. It was sung 
 in a subdued tone, with great pathos, there being in 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 183 
 
 this mournful melody an absence of those wild shrieks 
 so grating to the ears of Europeans. As the last 
 words of the poetry died away, the Maori orator com- 
 menced the task allotted to him by reading the other 
 portions of the address, which he executed in a mas- 
 terly style. His movements were extremely graceful, 
 and his emphasis good. While reading a certain 
 clause in the address Rangikaheke broke off abruptly, 
 took the mat that was thrown over his shoulder, and 
 laid it at the Governor's feet ; another was imme- 
 diately placed with it by a native on the opposite 
 side of the apartment, and while thus evincing their 
 profound respect for the Governor, a deep silence 
 pervaded the sorrowful throng, which was broken by 
 the speaker resuming his oratory, and the whole was 
 wound up by chanting the concluding song in the 
 address. 
 
 " The exit of the deputation was as imposing as 
 their entrance. They passed out of the room one by 
 one, shaking hands with the Governor and bowing 
 politely to him. Indeed, the whole affair is alike 
 creditable to the intellect and affection of these inland 
 chiefs." 
 
 TRANSLATION OF ADDRESS. 
 
 Go, while the sun is shining, 
 
 Great shelter of our land ; 
 Go, while the hearts are pining 
 
 Of this once savage band. 
 
 Go, while the winds are playing 
 
 In gusts above our head. 
 The while our hearts are saying, 
 
 " He's now to us as dead ! ' ' 
 
 Go, and before the morrow 
 
 Gaze on the deep, dark sea, 
 And then, these hearts in sorrow 
 
 Shall whisper, " Where is he ? " 
 
1 84 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 This is our farewell address to you, oh, friend Governor Grey : — 
 
 The chiefs and people of New Zealand, especially those of 
 Rotorua,* let you go forth bearing their love. Suppose not, oh, 
 Governor, that this affection for you is merely an outside thing. 
 No, it comes from the inward recesses of the heart. 
 
 We hoped that your heart would rest here with us. Now, 
 hearken. When the missionaries came first to this land there 
 was little industry, and little good was visible, but there was 
 much indolence and much wickedness, and all lived in ignorance. 
 Then God kindled His light, and, lo ! it became as day. 
 
 After this came Governor Hobson, and then a little fearf came 
 over us. After him came Governor Fitzroy, and things went on 
 in a similar way. But when you came, oh, Governor Grey, it was 
 like the shock of an earthquake ; your fame rose to the centre of 
 the island, and extended to the waves on the ocean's shore. You 
 came with two lights, and these are they : The lamp of God, and 
 the lamp of the world.f 
 
 Your efforts on behalf of God's cause are the establishment of 
 schools, the erection of houses of prayer — thus following in the 
 footsteps of the Church. These are the things you did in regard 
 to the body : Encouraged industry in the cultivation of the soil, 
 pointed out the means of acquiring property, and raised this 
 island to its present state of prosperity. You have done these 
 things : You have taught us to shun evil, and pointed out the bad 
 practices of this world so that we might cast them aside. You 
 have been as one of the ministers of the churches, therefore we 
 call you by these names : — The Peacemaker, the Honourable, 
 the Friendly One, the Loving One, the Kind One, the Director, 
 the Protector, the Far Famed One, the Lifter-up, and the 
 Father. § 
 
 Although we heard of your projected departure, we thought, 
 nevertheless, that you would stay. Both you and Bishop Selywn 
 are going. New Zealand will thus be left without a parent. 
 
 * The inland tribes of Rotorua have become well known through 
 the tourists to the famous Lake Rotorua. 
 
 t A slight yielding to the authority of Government. 
 
 j Two lights — the Holy Scriptures and the authority of the 
 Queen of the British Empire. 
 
 § The singular appellations used here are purely native ideas. 
 Those who know this people will know also that they are in the 
 habit of changing names owing to various circumstances which 
 transpire in their history. Important events are thus recorded in 
 a mere name. 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 85 
 
 Oh, cause the troubled wave to sleep, 
 
 And silent keep the sea ; 
 Nor let us hear its deafening roar 
 Resound along the rocky shore. 
 
 Till he* shall speak to me. 
 
 Till he shall speak in accents mild, 
 
 And wave this tuft of green, f 
 For Tangaroa J will hear his words. 
 And Oi§ in the train of birds. 
 
 Shall smile upon the scene. 
 
 After various complimentary allusions to his career, 
 and snatches of savage poetry, the Maori orator Gon- 
 cluded thus — 
 
 Go, then, thou great one, the pride of the people. On the day 
 that the great one shall depart let him be escorted (by the tribes), 
 and let his attendants bear him along to the tides of Matirau, || 
 and, Father, when they shall arrive at Waiariki,^ return, return 
 to us. 
 
 I see him not. 
 I see the foggy cloud above the mountains' height, 
 That harbinger of summer's balmy mom, 
 But see him not. 
 
 Haste, Tiki, with your guns,** 
 Throw open wide your magazines. 
 And pay the homage due to such a chief. 
 
 My son, evils in secret lurk, 
 And friends are torn away by death or otherwise ; 
 But the cause is neither seen nor known 
 By those who weep their absence. 
 
 * The Governor is here represented as the Priest. 
 
 t The tuft of green is waved by the priest while he utters the 
 prayer. 
 
 % Tangaroa — the God of the Sea. 
 
 § Oi— sea-birds which congregate in vast numbers about the 
 islets, and create quite a din with their croaking notes when the 
 evening is calm. 
 
 II The ocean is here meant. 
 
 iy Waiariki here means Her Majesty the Queen of England. 
 
 ** To fire a salute. This custom is not so common on the 
 arrival of a distinguished visitor at a pah now as it used to be. 
 
1 86 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Come near, my son, till I salute thee ; 
 For thou wilt take thy walks in other climes, 
 And robe thyself in richer garments than the Maoris wear. 
 
 Bring forth the feathers of the Huia, 
 That bird so prized that flits across the towering hills 
 Of Tararu ; and bring the feathers of the Albatross, 
 That bird that skims along the mountain wave ; 
 Bring them to crown the brow of the loved one 
 Going to the North to greet his fathers, 
 And thus arrayed, sit at the entrance of thy dwelling, 
 And look on scenes more dear perhaps to thee. 
 
 My son, we fondly hoped that thou 
 Wouldst tarry with us long to bless the thousands 
 That attend thy footsteps with peace and plenty. 
 
 The sympathy thus exemplified was general among 
 the whole of the Maoris. Songs, waiatas, and laments 
 were composed without number and chanted at all the 
 Maori kaingas from the North Cape to Wellington. 
 
 The feelings of the Europeans were more mingled. 
 To many of the leading colonists, identified as they 
 were with the New Zealand Company, — to those mis- 
 sionaries who had taken a place among the pur- 
 chasers of native lands, and to those who were 
 interested in acquiring such lands, — as well as to 
 those who were intimately connected with the founda- 
 tion of the great Episcopal settlement of Canterbury, 
 many of Sir George's actions had been extremely 
 distasteful, and they judged his conduct to have been 
 inimical to their prosperity. They had, as many of 
 them boasted, " Given Sir George Grey a lively time 
 of it"; nor had they as yet forgotten the resolute 
 action of the Governor in suspending the Constitution 
 Act of 1846. 
 
 Yet there were many who regretted the departure 
 of a just and resolute Governor, and who were con- 
 vinced that dangers might arise under a less strong 
 and powerful control, especially from the warlike 
 native race by which they were surrounded. At the 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 87 
 
 end of 1853, nominally upon leave of absence, but, as 
 it turned out, upon the termination of his first govern- 
 ment of New Zealand, Sir George Grey sailed from 
 Auckland. 
 
 During his residence in New Zealand, full as his 
 hands were of duties imposed upon him by his posi- 
 tion, and occupied as he was in those labours which 
 he had voluntarily undertaken. Sir George Grey in 
 no way neglected those scientific researches and 
 learned studies to which he was passionately devoted. 
 His correspondence during this period reveals a con- 
 tinuous stream of assistance and contribution to many 
 seats of art and learning in different parts of the 
 world. 
 
 From London, from Berlin, from Melbourne and 
 Vienna, from Glasgow and Paris, acknowledgments 
 were received of generous gifts and of useful contri- 
 butions to scientific knowledge. Plants, fossils, speci- 
 mens of all descriptions, compilations of great philo- 
 logical value made at immense cost of trouble and of 
 time, poetry, mythology, history, politics, colonisa- 
 tion, and philosophy, were all laid under contribution. 
 
 The perusal of his correspondence at this period 
 arouses a sentiment of wonder as to how, in the ordi- 
 nary working hours of daily life, one mind and the 
 energies of one man could, in such a vast diversity of 
 circumstances and affairs, have accomplished what 
 it is absolutely certain Sir George Grey did accom- 
 plish. All was done without ostentation, and with 
 no assertion of self. Ever ready to acknowledge the 
 merit of others, he oftentimes allowed to those who 
 occupied subordinate positions the full credit of plans 
 and actions which owed their principal worth and 
 success to the activity of his own mental powers or 
 the strength of his own will. 
 
 Sir George Grey found New Zealand in a position 
 
1 88 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 of imminent peril: he left it in perfect safety. He 
 came to it at the crisis of a savage war : he left it in 
 profound peace. On his arrival from South Australia, 
 it was bankrupt in finance ; on his departure for 
 England, it was solvent and flourishing. The native 
 tribes which in 1 845 had been in a state of rebellion 
 had not only been subdued by skill and arms, but 
 had become willing and loyal servants of the Crown. 
 They had learned the value of education, industry, 
 and peace. A laudable spirit of emulation had been 
 raised in their minds by the wise policy which he had 
 pursued. His kindness and consideration had dis- 
 armed their hostility. The firmness of his rule had 
 repressed their disorders. Had his policy been pur- 
 sued, and the justice of his rule continued, in all 
 human probability no native war would ever after- 
 wards have been waged in New Zealand. Great 
 numbers of natives had been trained to the skilful 
 performance of public works. If continuous employ- 
 ment had been found for them, their minds would not 
 have again turned to war. 
 
 The consequences of his government had been 
 equally remarkable in regard to the Europeans. The 
 scattered communities of intrepid and adventurous 
 spirits had been reduced from a condition of lawless 
 independence and antagonism into well-ordered por- 
 tions of one state. Municipal organisations with 
 extensive and beneficent powers had been esta- 
 blished. A constitution, unsurpassed in freedom and 
 elasticity, had been bestowed upon the people of New 
 Zealand. The rude and turbulent bands, gathered 
 from distant parts of the earth on the shores of these 
 islands, had been formed into communal existence, 
 and had become the first generation of a great nation. 
 Out of incongruous materials, differing in race, in 
 religion, and in colour — from war and poverty — the 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 89 
 
 skill, the courage, and the patience of Sir George 
 Grey had constructed the framework of a mighty 
 future. His hands had planted in the islands of the 
 Britain of the South a seedling which may yet develop 
 into one of the mightiest trees of the forest. 
 
 The one person whose judgment can be of 
 value as to the influences which at this time deter- 
 mined the future history of New Zealand is without 
 doubt Earl Grey. He alone of all the Colonial Secre- 
 taries, at the close of his connection with the Colo- 
 nial Department, left upon record the history of what 
 had been accomplished during his period of ofhce, 
 and the policy which had been pursued by him. 
 
 He thus writes : " It is to the Governor, Sir George 
 Grey, that New Zealand is mainly indebted for the 
 happy alteration in its condition and prospects. 
 Nothing but the singular ability and judgment dis- 
 played by him during the whole of his administra- 
 tion, and especially in its commencement, could have 
 averted a war between the European and native 
 inhabitants of those islands. It would have been one 
 of the same character with that which has been 
 raging so long at the Cape of Good Hope, but still 
 more arduous, since the New Zealanders would have 
 been yet more formidable enemies than the Kafirs, 
 and the scene of the contest so much more remote. 
 The war, which had already begun when Sir George 
 Grey reached New Zealand, and in which at that time 
 all the advantage had been with our adversaries, 
 would have been converted into a mortal struggle 
 between the European and Maori races by the slight- 
 est error of judgment on his part, and by his failing 
 to unite with the most cautious prudence equal firm- 
 ness and decision. Such a struggle, once commenced, 
 could hardly have been closed except by our abandon- 
 ment of the islands in disgrace, or the extermination 
 
I go FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 of their aboriginal inhabitants. ... Of the many 
 remarkable proofs of the degree to which he has 
 secured the affection and confidence of the natives, I 
 will mention but two. When the Government House 
 at Auckland had been destroyed by fire, a body of 
 natives came forward with an entirely spontaneous 
 offer of their unpaid labour to rebuild it ; and, after- 
 wards, when a report that he was to be recalled had 
 been circulated by some of the white opponents of 
 his Government, petitions to the Queen that he might 
 be allowed to remain were signed by the natives, 
 and it is a curious circumstance that the first signa- 
 ture to one of these petitions was that of the Chief 
 Te Rauparaha, whom he had kept so long in con- 
 finement. Some of the letters written by chiefs to 
 the Queen, expressing their earnest desire that he 
 might not be removed, and the gratitude and affection 
 they felt for him, are very interesting." 
 
 Indeed the only merit which Earl Grey claims for 
 his Ministry in the wonderful manner in which New 
 Zealand had been brought through the perilous crisis 
 of 1845 — 52> was that they had supported Sir George 
 Grey in the policy he had pursued, and co-operated 
 with him to the utmost of their power. 
 
 "His previous administration of South Australia 
 under difficulties of another kind, but hardly less for- 
 midable than those he had to encounter in New Zea- 
 land, and the justness of all his views with regard to 
 the latter as explained in his despatches, entitled him 
 to our unreserved confidence. This being the case I 
 am persuaded that we adopted the only course likely to 
 lead to a happy result in resolving to embarrass him 
 by few positive and no minute instructions, but to 
 leave it almost entirely to his own judgment to deter- 
 mine upon the measures to be taken by him, and to 
 be guided mainly by his advice in what we were our- 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 19 1 
 
 selves called upon to do. This was the principle upon 
 which we acted." 
 
 Earl Grey bore such high testimony to the great 
 qualities of his namesake that he felt compelled to 
 insert a paragraph disclaiming all personal or partial 
 feeling. 
 
 " As I have expressed so strongly," says the noble 
 Earl, " the admiration I feel for Sir George Grey, I 
 ought, perhaps, to say that my opinion has not been 
 influenced by any private feelings of partiality. Not- 
 withstanding the name he bears, there is no relation- 
 ship between Sir George Grey and myself, nor have I 
 the advantage of any personal acquaintance with him. 
 I never had the pleasure of seeing him, and know 
 him only by his conduct and my correspondence with 
 him in the public service." 
 
 During many years after this was written Sir 
 George Grey has been pleased and honoured with the 
 friendship of his distinguished namesake. 
 
 "In short," says Earl Grey, "the contrast between 
 the state of things at the end of 1850 and that which 
 the present Governor found existing on his arrival at 
 the end of the year 1 845, is so marked and so grati- 
 fying that it is difficult to believe that so great a 
 change should have been accomplished in the short 
 space of five years." 
 
 When the Constitution Act was suspended great 
 powers were, as we have seen, given to Governor 
 Grey. 
 
 " The authority thus entrusted to the Governor has 
 been used with great discretion and advantage ; he 
 established subordinate provincial legislatures, and 
 by passing various important and useful laws in fur- 
 therance of that general system of policy which I 
 have described, he removed all obstacles to the esta- 
 blishment of representative Government in New 
 
192 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Zealand even before the five years for which it had 
 been suspended had expired." 
 
 The feelings with which Sir George Grey undertook 
 the task confided to him are best described in his 
 own words, taken from his memorandum of July 6th, 
 
 1854:— 
 
 " Not only did I not hesitate when thus appealed 
 to, to do my utmost to assist Lord Derby in such diffi- 
 cult circumstances, but stimulated by his language and 
 by that of Sir Robert Peel, I have spent more than 
 eight of the best years of my life in New Zealand 
 without once asking for promotion or reward ; and I 
 would not leave the country (as I originally deter- 
 mined when I went there) until I had fulfilled, even to 
 minute details, every duty Earl Derby had called 
 upon me to perform, and until I could leave a country, 
 which Her Majesty had by his advice placed in my 
 hands in a state of rebellion and ruin, in a condition 
 of profound peace, and of great prosperity, with 
 representative institutions in full and successful opera- 
 tion, and followed by the prayers and blessings of 
 the great mass of its inhabitants." 
 
 Another valuable testimony to the wisdom of Sir 
 George Grey's policy is given by Earl Grey in the 
 following paragraph : — 
 
 " By means of the large grants which were voted 
 upon these grounds for the service of New Zealand, 
 the Governor was enabled to prosecute with vigour 
 the various measures of improvement he had described 
 as necessary, and among these were none which, both 
 on civil and military grounds, he considered so im- 
 portant as the construction of roads. With reference 
 to these, it is a remarkable circumstance, which I 
 hope there can be no objection to my mentioning, 
 that at the very time when Sir George Grey was 
 writing from New Zealand to represent the absolute 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 93 
 
 necessity of roads with a view to military security, 
 the great man,* whose recent loss the nation has had 
 to deplore, was in this country expressing precisely 
 the same opinion." t 
 
 It will be seen from the necessarily brief and imper- 
 fect history of Governor Grey's administration in New 
 Zealand contained in the foregoing pages, that he 
 relied less upon military force to subdue the Maoris 
 than upon the civilising influences of wise and con- 
 siderate legislation. When war was necessary, Sir 
 George Grey did not shrink from the most severe and 
 decisive action. This was clearly shown by his vigor- 
 ous conduct of the struggle which was being waged 
 when he arrived in the colony. But when recourse 
 to arms could be avoided wisely and justly, nothing 
 would induce the Governor to consent to bloodshed. 
 His warm interest in the welfare of the Maoris, and 
 his benevolent plans for their happiness had their due 
 effect. Savage warriors, who had till then shown 
 themselves rebellious and implacable, became as 
 little children in their simple reverence and loving 
 obedience to their " father," " Kawana Kerei." 
 
 Indisputable evidence of the peacefulness of Grey's 
 method of dealing with the natives is afforded by the 
 fact that there were one hundred and seventy-one of 
 our soldiers and seamen killed and wounded in battle 
 during the four months from March to July, 1845, 
 before Sir George Grey arrived. After his arrival 
 and until his departure in 1854, a period of more than 
 eight years, the number was only eighty-one. 
 
 * The Duke ofWelling-ton. f Earl Grey, vol. 2, p. 150. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 SIR GEORGE GREY'S VINDICATION — HONOURS AT 
 OXFORD. 
 
 " Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent." 
 
 Swift. 
 
 " Truth crushed to earth shall rise again : 
 The eternal years of God are hers ; 
 But Error, wounded, writhes with pain. 
 And dies among his worshippers." 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 " A jest's prosperity lies in the ear 
 Of him that hears it, never in the tongue 
 Of him that makes it." 
 
 Love's Labour's Lost. 
 
 On Sir George Grey's return to England, he found 
 that the main object of that return was never to be 
 accomplished. The mother whom he had fondly- 
 hoped to see once more was dead. Since the days of 
 childhood he had seen but little of the one to whom 
 he was so fondly attached. His regrets were vain. 
 The delay in New Zealand which had prevented his 
 presence at the death-bed of his mother had been 
 caused only by the strong sense of duty which chained 
 him to his post until his allotted task was finished. 
 
 He found himself regarded with extreme disfavour 
 by the Colonial Office. He was, emphatically, in dis- 
 grace. The Duke of Newcastle, though a personal 
 friend, would not see him, and it was some time before 
 the permanent Under-Secretary, Herman Merivale, 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 195 
 
 approached the subject of his disobedience to the Act 
 of Parliament. The charges against him were formally 
 made in both Houses of Parliament by Mr. Adderley, 
 Sir John Pakington, and Lord Lyttelton. These accu- 
 sations were met in the memorandum of Sir George 
 Grey dated the 6th of July, 1854. The principal head 
 of his offence was that he had refused to pay to the 
 New Zealand Company a sum of money lying in the 
 Auckland treasury, although the Act of the Imperial 
 Parliament, and the instructions of Her Majesty's 
 Ministers had ordered him so to do. 
 
 The charge and his answer to it are stated thus by 
 himself: — 
 
 (Charge inter alia.) " That I had refused to act 
 according to the direction sent to me by the Superior 
 Government at Home, by doing which I set an ex- 
 ample which others might too readily form into a 
 precedent in similar cases to act upon, aild that there- 
 fore I am not a fit and proper person to retain in 
 any office, or to receive any promotion in the public 
 service. 
 
 " The facts of this case are as follow : Under instruc- 
 tions from Her Majesty, or from Her Majesty's Secre- 
 tary of State, formal promises had been made by the 
 Representatives of the Crown to the native population 
 of New Zealand that the sum realised from the sale of 
 the lands which they had been induced to part with 
 to the Crown, should be expended for their benefit 
 and for that of the settlements in the northern part of 
 New Zealand ; and when the chiefs have objected to 
 part with their land for the inconsiderable sums offered 
 to them by the Government, or have complained that 
 they have been defrauded, I and others have repeat- 
 edly assured them, under the authority and with the 
 approval of the Home Government, that the sums 
 which they had received or which were to be given 
 
 o 2 
 
196 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 to them were not the true payment for the land, but 
 that the real payment would be the future expenditure 
 of the fund realised from the sale of those lands upon 
 certain objects specified to them, which would promote 
 alike their own benefit and that of the European 
 population. 
 
 " The European settlers in that district had also 
 become purchasers of land there, and had invested 
 large sums of money in the improvement of their 
 lands on the faith of instructions of Her Majesty's 
 signet and Royal sign manual, pledging the land 
 fund to certain specified objects. 
 
 " Parliament apparently overlooking these circum- 
 stances, enacted in the 74th clause of the Constitu- 
 tion Act that one-fourth part of the sum realised from 
 the sale of all lands in New Zealand should be paid 
 over to the New Zealand Company, in liquidation of 
 the principal and interest of a debt of ;^268,37o 15s. od. 
 claimed by that body, this being in direct opposition 
 to the frequent promises that had been made to the 
 natives of the Northern Province, which is in no way 
 whatever mixed up with the affairs of the New Zea- 
 land Company ; and I was advised by the Lieutenant- 
 Governor and Executive Council of the Northern 
 Province that any attempt to bring this arrangement 
 into practical operation would endanger the peace 
 and prosperity of the colony. 
 
 "I therefore directed that one-fourth of the land 
 fund be remitted Home from every other part of New 
 Zealand except the Province of Auckland, advised 
 Her Majesty's Government of the amount due from 
 Auckland under the arrangement made by Parliament 
 (then about ;£ 9,000), directed that it should be retained 
 in the chest to await their orders so that the Treasury 
 in England could, if they thought proper, at once pay 
 the amount in London and draw for it through the 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 97 
 
 military chest, at the same time earnestly entreating 
 that the subject might be reconsidered, which could 
 easily be done, for Parliament had by the 74th clause 
 of the Constitution Act authorised the New Zealand 
 Company to release all or any part of the lands in 
 New Zealand from the payment charged upon them 
 by the Act. 
 
 " I contend that in adopting this course I set a good 
 example — not a bad one. As a high British officer I 
 had induced a simple people to let us into quiet pos- 
 session of tracts of land by frequently and formally 
 making them promises of direct future advantages. 
 If because Parliament, with insufficient information 
 before it, legislated in a manner which required me 
 to break those promises, I had deliberately broken 
 them, and a new war and rebellion had followed, 
 involving a large loss of life and property, and great 
 expense to Great Britain, I should have been de- 
 servedly deemed not to be a fit and proper person to 
 retain in my office. 
 
 " I contend that it was my duty, at the risk of every 
 consequence to myself, to decline to break those 
 public promises, which, in order to obtain valuable 
 lands for the Crown, of which we still had possession, 
 I had in my character of a British Governor made to 
 the people I was sent to rule over. When Parliament, 
 for want of sufficient information, legislates wrong- 
 fully or unjustly for a distant nation subject to its 
 laws — unless the high officers of the empire will take 
 the responsibility by delaying to act until they receive 
 further instructions — the empire cannot be held to- 
 gether ; for the moment such an Act of Parliament 
 arrived in a country, the people, hopeless of that 
 redress which ought to be afforded to them, would 
 break out into revolt ; whilst, could they have hoped 
 that their complaints would have been listened to 
 
198 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 before the law was enforced, they would have con- 
 tinued loyal and dutiful subjects. 
 
 " In declining, therefore, to break promises which I 
 made as Her Majesty's representative, and in endea- 
 vouring to obtain a further consideration of the course 
 which I feel certain Parliament had unadvisedly taken, 
 of subjecting the lands near Auckland to the payment 
 of so large a portion of the New Zealand Company's 
 debt, I felt that I did my duty as a faithful servant of 
 my Queen and country, and will cheerfully undergo 
 every risk and punishment which may follow from my 
 having adopted that course." 
 
 The attacks thus made, though backed by much of 
 the influence of the old New Zealand Company and 
 the Canterbury Association, completely failed. Sir 
 John Pakington, on being more fully informed, with- 
 drew his motion from the Order Paper of the House 
 of Commons. Mr. Adderley's charge was only suc- 
 cessful in eliciting from Sir Frederick Peel a spirited 
 defence of the Governor of New Zealand, while in 
 the House of Lords the accusation brought by Lord 
 Lyttelton drew forth a long and complete vindication 
 of Sir George Grey's character and conduct from the 
 Duke of Newcastle, the principal Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies. Both in the Lords and Com- 
 mons the motions, when made, failed to find a 
 seconder. 
 
 The bold defiance Sir George had shown to the 
 command of Ministers and Parliament was not in 
 itself to be commended, but his defence was admitted 
 almost universally to be complete. The public faith 
 of England had been pledged ; the honour of the 
 Crown had to be maintained. The true spirit of the 
 English Constitution had been appealed to by him in 
 his dignified reply. All political parties concurred 
 in the decision that in the government of a distant 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 1 99 
 
 colony, and under the peculiar circumstances in which 
 that colony was placed, he had, by his bold and inde- 
 pendent course, vindicated his claim to independent 
 judgment and his assumption of authority, transcend- 
 ing even the power of Parliament itself. 
 
 His peace was soon made when full and personal 
 explanation had been given. The public estimation 
 of his conduct was shown typically by the University 
 of Oxford. At all seasons of public excitement, espe- 
 cially when the conduct of individuals moving in the 
 higher circles of political life is called in question, the 
 great seats of learning show their appreciation of the 
 merits of such personages irrespective of the success 
 or failure which may attend their actions. So great 
 was the sympathy aroused in favour of Sir George 
 Grey, that Oxford tendered to him the highest honours 
 which it is privileged to bestow, and which are re- 
 served not to reward mere competition in learning, 
 but the exemplification of those qualities which give 
 lustre to private character or greatness to public life. 
 
 It was, therefore, with great pleasure, that Sir 
 George Grey received the notification that the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford proposed to confer upon him its 
 honorary degree. 
 
 He proceeded to Oxford for the purpose of accept- 
 ing this gratifying mark of public approbation. 
 
 The only other recipient of the highest honours 
 bestowed by Oxford on that day was Prince Napoleon. 
 It was popularly supposed in England that Prince 
 Napoleon had been instrumental in obtaining that 
 alliance with France which launched us into the 
 Crimean War. The fear and hatred of Russia had 
 for years been growing. Russian atrocities in Poland 
 and in Siberia, her designs in the far East, and evident 
 desire to take Constantinople, and thus dominate the 
 Black Sea, and perhaps the Mediterranean, raised in 
 
200 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 the national mind a hatred at once deep and pas- 
 sionate. 
 
 The declaration of war against the great Northern 
 Power was, therefore, almost universally hailed with 
 rejoicing. John Bull was thoroughly roused, and he 
 delighted to honour those who had helped to preci- 
 pitate this gigantic strife. 
 
 Thus Sir George Grey found himself bracketed with 
 the strangest possible companion in receiving honours 
 at the oldest centre of learning in England or the 
 world. 
 
 The French Prince was the first to be invested. 
 During this process Sir George sat in a hall opposite 
 the stage, listening to the alternate speeches and 
 shoutings which made the theatre resound. The 
 students were thoroughly in earnest. While the 
 public orator dwelt upon the merits of the Great 
 Nephew of the Conqueror of Europe, the whole as- 
 sembly burst out into acclamation. Cheer followed 
 cheer, as the undergraduates gave voice to the popu- 
 lar enthusiasm. 
 
 The mind of the solitary listener was perplexed. 
 He remembered long years ago, when he was a child, 
 how the very name of Buonaparte was hated. His 
 memory recalled the pictures which represented 
 " Boney " swallowing children, and which in a hun- 
 dred ways held up the First Napoleon to the public 
 hatred. Now, in less than fifty years, the jeunesse 
 doree — the golden youth of England — were mad with 
 delight at honouring his nephew. 
 
 There was but little time left to him for moralising. 
 The Prince having been duly invested. Sir George 
 was pushed and dragged upon the platform in his 
 turn. The crush was great — so heavy, in fact, that 
 his gown, itself historical, for it had been worn by 
 Blucher on a like occasion after Waterloo, was nearly 
 
FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 201 
 
 torn off his back before he was in that position neces- 
 sary to enable the orator to address him, and at the 
 same time to be visible and audible to the vast con- 
 course in the body of the house. 
 
 At length the ceremony began. The public orator, 
 in a learned Latin oration, enumerated the claims 
 which Sir George Grey possessed to public honour. 
 In flowing sentences he told how his subject had 
 pierced the dim mysteries of unknown Australia, how 
 he had pacified and blessed the first colony committed 
 to his care, and how, in further performance of public 
 duty, he had quelled the fierceness and civilised the 
 spirit of the warlike and cannibal tribes of New 
 Zealand. Young England, from the galleries of the 
 Sheldonian Theatre, listened patiently till mention 
 was made of the subduing of the " anthropophagi " 
 of New Zealand. 
 
 Two thousand students, gathered within those walls 
 which from time immemorial had echoed the free 
 voices of English youth, heard that amid the sunny 
 isles of the Pacific, and in New Zealand, Sir George 
 Grey had made himself the ruler of savage, man- 
 eating tribes. The hint afforded was amply sufficient. 
 A stentorian voice in one of the galleries started 
 that well-known song, " The King of the Cannibal 
 Islands." Barely a line of this vulgar but popular 
 melody had been sung, when with a roar of delight 
 nearly the whole audience joined in. In vain the 
 learned orator waved his arms and implored silence. 
 The Napoleon episode had raised an extraordinary 
 excitement in the undergraduate mind, and following 
 that, the aptness of the circumstances surrounding 
 Sir George Grey's history gave zest to the music-hall 
 song. 
 
 The orator, alternately uttering his speech and 
 endeavouring to still the tumult, continued to descant 
 
202 FIRST GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Upon the merits of the Governor of South Australia 
 and New Zealand. His lips moved, and his hands 
 kept time with what were no doubt rounded sentences 
 and eloquent appeals, but Sir George could hear 
 no sound which proceeded from his lips amid the 
 tremendous chorus which surged and echoed round 
 them. 
 
33oofe tte jfourtfi. 
 
 First Governorship of Cape Colony, 1854- 1859. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SKETCH OF PREVIOUS SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY. 
 
 " The best-laid schemes o' mice and men 
 Gang aft a-gley, 
 And leave us nought but grief and pain 
 For promised joy." 
 
 Sums. 
 
 The Duke of Newcastle was sincerely desirous for the 
 welfare of the colonies. The condition of the Cape 
 of Good Hope had been growing steadily more and 
 more perplexing. Native wars involving military 
 expenditure both in men and in money, seemed a part 
 of the normal history of South Africa. The crisis, 
 which culminated in the " boycotting " of the Govern- 
 ment on account of the convict ships in 1849, was 
 accompanied and followed by serious disturbances 
 upon the frontier and a prolonged Kafir war. The 
 numerous bodies of Dutch colonists who at various 
 times, especially after 1833, when slavery was abo- 
 lished, " trekked " to the northward caused great un- 
 easiness, and led to the abandonment of the Orange 
 River sovereignty and the treaty with the Boers of the 
 Transvaal Republic. 
 
204 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 The Cape had shared in the general advantages 
 arising from the granting of local self-government to 
 the colonies, and the first representative Parliament 
 was to meet in 1854. The increased powers given to 
 the colonists at the Cape did not seem likely to render 
 any more easy the task of governing the heterogeneous 
 mass of diverse races and interests existing under 
 British rule in South Africa, and closely bordering 
 upon British territory. 
 
 The presence of the Governor of New Zealand, fresh 
 from his successful tasks in the far South, seemed to 
 provide the man wanted by the Colonial Oflfice in its 
 extremity. The Duke, therefore, approached Sir 
 George Grey and requested his assistance at the Cape. 
 As, nine years before. Lord Stanley had placed before 
 him the offer of New Zealand, and urged as strong 
 inducements in themselves the peril, the toil, and the 
 arduous nature of the duties thus proposed, so now 
 the Duke of Newcastle pointed out the dangers which 
 surrounded the Government of South Africa, and the 
 difHculty of obtaining the necessary aid, as reasons 
 why Sir George Grey should accede to the request of 
 Her Majesty's ministers in this respect. 
 
 Deeply attached as he was to New Zealand and its 
 people of both races, anxious almost beyond measure 
 to witness and guide the working of those liberal 
 institutions which he had done so much to frame. Sir 
 George decided to act in the manner dictated by duty. 
 Without hesitation he accepted the Governorship of 
 the Cape. 
 
 When Bartholomew Diaz and Vasco di Gama 
 doubled the Cape in i486 and 1497, a marble cross 
 was erected on the shore as a token of the annexation 
 of that land to the Portuguese kingdom, as well as a 
 monument of gratitude to God for His mercies. The 
 country never was absolutely possessed by Portugal. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 205 
 
 When they were supplanted by the Dutch, the latter 
 also merely took nominal possession. 
 
 It was not until the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury that any act of colonisation was attempted. In 
 1652 Jan Anthony Van Riebeck, a surgeon in the 
 employment of the Dutch East India Company, was 
 duly commissioned to occupy the " Cabo de Bon Espe- 
 ranza." Accompanied by about one hundred people, 
 he arrived and encamped under Table Mountain on 
 the 5th of April of the same year. He first formally 
 purchased the territory in 1671. Under Simon Van 
 der Stell, the ablest of Riebeck's successors, a number 
 of French refugee Huguenots, of high rank and noble 
 character, who with their wives and families were 
 driven from France by the Revocation of the Edict 
 of Nantes, joined the parties of Dutch emigrants, 
 beginning in 1687. In 168S and 1689 other shiploads 
 followed. 
 
 After a century of rough history, in 1795, Admiral 
 Elphinstone and General Craig, with a British fleet 
 and forces, took possession. The Dutch resisted, 
 although the English brought a letter from the Prince 
 of Orange ; but at length the place was given up to 
 England on the 12th November, 1795. 
 
 The Cape was promised to Holland at the Peace 
 of Amiens, 1802, and restored to her in 1803, when 
 General Janssens took office. With the aid of the 
 Commissary-General, De Mist, Janssens governed 
 wisely for a little time, but war soon recommenced. 
 General Baird was sent to the Cape, and, after a smart 
 action, Janssens, who had done all that a brave man 
 could, accepted the very honourable terms offered by 
 Sir David Baird, and the Cape became finally a 
 British colony on the 19th of January, 1806. A final 
 convention was made in 18 14, in which the Cape was 
 ceded to the British Crown by the Netherlands. 
 
206 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 The history of the Cape during the next forty years 
 was a record of ever-increasing trouble and perplexity. 
 Misunderstandings arose between the Dutch and Eng- 
 lish colonists, and the Dutch settlers and the English 
 Governor, leading to defiance on the part of the Boers 
 and savage punishment being inflicted on them by the 
 Government of the time. Collisions occurred between 
 the Imperial authorities and the colony, of so grave a 
 nature as almost to threaten the continuance of the 
 Cape as a British possession. Long-continued wars 
 with the natives, always entailing heavy expense and 
 loss ; an expenditure of Imperial funds, irksome to 
 the Home authorities and distasteful to Parliament — 
 all contributed to make South Africa a source of 
 annoyance and apprehension to the Ministers of the 
 Crown. Governor after governor, general after gene- 
 ral, retired from South Africa baffled and exasperated. 
 As General Cathcart at length put it to the Ministry 
 in London, it required a great statesman to deal with 
 the complex questions raised in South Africa, and a 
 great soldier to direct its military affairs. 
 
 The leading events of the five years which preceded 
 the arrival of Sir George Grey were well calculated 
 to perplex the mind of the Secretary of State, in 
 whose department lay the care of this dependency. 
 In 1849, the experiment tried by Earl Grey of sending 
 cheap labour in the shape of convicts to the Cape of 
 Good Hope, threw the whole colony into a state of 
 frenzy. In the three years, 1850, 1851, and 1852, under 
 Sir Harry Smith and General Cathcart, fierce wars 
 were waged with the native tribes. So overweighted 
 was the English Government by anxiety on account 
 of the Transvaal Boers and the settlers in the Orange 
 River Sovereignty that the Transvaal was declared 
 an Independent Republic and the Orange River 
 Sovereignty a Free State. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 207 
 
 On the iSth of January, 1852, the Sand River Con- 
 vention, for the settling and adjusting of the affairs of 
 the eastern and north-eastern boundaries of the Colony 
 of the Cape of Good Hope, was made between Major 
 Hogge and C. M. Owen, Esq., Her Majesty's Assis- 
 tant Commissioners, and a deputation of Boers, six- 
 teen in number, headed by A. W. J. Pretorius, Com- 
 mandant-General. Its principal clause runs thus : 
 
 "The Assistant Commissioners guarantee in the 
 fullest manner on the part of the British Government 
 to the emigrant farmers beyond the Vaal River the 
 right to manage their own affairs, and to govern them- 
 selves according to their own laws without any inter- 
 ference on the part of the British Government, and 
 that no encroachment shall be made by the said 
 Government on the territory beyond the north of the 
 Vaal River, with the further assurance that the warmest 
 wish of the British Government is to promote peace, 
 free trade, and friendly intercourse with the emigrant 
 farmers now inhabiting or who may hereafter inhabit 
 that country ; it being understood that this system of 
 non-interference is binding upon both parties." * 
 
 On October 21st, 1851, Earl Grey had written to Sir 
 Harry Smith that " The ultimate abandonment of the 
 Orange River Sovereignty should be a settled point 
 in the Imperial policy." In December, 1852, General 
 Cathcart had attacked the great Basuto chief Moshesh 
 on the Berea, near to the isolated heights of Thaba 
 Bosigo. Alarmed at the prospect of another great 
 native war, the General had, after suffering consider- 
 able loss, accepted the formal submission of the 
 cunning Basuto, proclaimed peace, and marched his 
 troops back across the Orange River. He then re- 
 
 * Twenty-five years after, on the 22nd January, 1877, Theo- 
 philus Shepstone entered Pretoria with his commission to annex 
 the Transvaal in his pocket. On the i8th, therefore, he was on 
 his way. 
 
'208 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 presented to the English Government the necessity 
 which existed for a final decision. Either they must 
 support a force of two thousand men to uphold the 
 authority of the Crown and resist at the same time 
 Panda and his tribe, Moshesh and the Basutos, and 
 the disaffected burghers and Transvaal emigrants, or 
 they must abandon the sovereignty at once and for ever. 
 Whichever course they adopted, the General requested 
 that some able and experienced statesman might be 
 sent from Great Britain, at any expense, to relieve 
 him of political duties for which his military training 
 did not fit him. 
 
 Two years afterwards the gallant soldier, having 
 been recalled, met a warrior's death on the heights of 
 Inkermann. 
 
 The despatches of General Cathcart precipitated a 
 crisis in the colonial policy of the Empire. Already 
 in the Sand River Convention the English Govern- 
 ment had deliberately cast off large numbers of 
 British subjects. Now a more decisive step was to 
 be taken. Not only were subjects of the Crown to be 
 told that they no longer owed allegiance to the Queen 
 of England, but territories belonging to the Empire, 
 over which its laws ran, and to the soil of which the 
 title of the Crown had been given, were to be deli- 
 berately abandoned. After grave consideration, it 
 was decided by Her Majesty's Ministers to relinquish 
 the Orange River Sovereignty. 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1853, a commission was issued 
 to Sir George Russell Clark, a distinguished Indian 
 official, who had formerly been Governor of Bombay, 
 appointing him Assistant Commissioner under the 
 High Commissioner, and authorising him to carry 
 the abandonment into effect. The announcement of 
 this astounding decision was received in South Africa 
 with dismay. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 209 
 
 The severance was only to be completed if the 
 people publicly desired it. A public meeting was 
 called, at which it was made known that a sum of 
 five thousand pounds would be given by the British 
 Government, in case the abandonment were agreed 
 to, for the purpose of placing the temporary Govern- 
 ment in funds. The meeting was not truly represen- 
 tative. A majority, tempted more by the prospect of 
 obtaining control of this sum of money than by any 
 political feeling, carried a resolution agreeing to the 
 terms offered and the severance of the territory from 
 the Empire. 
 
 On the nth March, 1854, the English flag was 
 hoisted for the last time on the Queen's fort, and 
 saluted. When it was lowered, the flag of the new 
 Republic took its place. Delegates were sent to 
 England to protest against this desertion of British 
 territory and British subjects. On the i6th of March 
 the delegates, Messrs. Eraser and Murray, having 
 arrived in England, waited upon the Duke of New- 
 castle and laid their case before him. The Duke told 
 them, in reply, that it was too late to discuss the 
 question. The authority of the Queen had been 
 already too far extended. England could not supply 
 troops to maintain constantly-advancing outposts. 
 So far as South Africa was concerned, continued the 
 Duke, this reasoning was unanswerable, as Cape 
 Town and the harbour of Table Bay were all that 
 Great Britain really required there. 
 
 The delegates left the Colonial Oflice sad and 
 dispirited. They opened communications with Mr. 
 C. B. Adderley, afterwards Lord Norton, who had 
 befriended the Cape in the dispute which had arisen 
 five years before upon the question of the transpor- 
 tation of convicts, and whose name had been given 
 to one of the principal streets in Cape Town. Mr. 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
2IO FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Adderley agreed to bring the matter before the House 
 of Commons. On the 9th of May he moved an 
 address to Her Majesty, praying her to reconsider 
 the order-in-council renouncing sovereignty over the 
 Orange River Territory. His speech dealt mainly 
 with the legal aspect of the question. He doubted 
 the constitutional right of the Crown to alienate 
 British territory and absolve British subjects from 
 their allegiance without the consent of Parliament. 
 The advantages offered by the country as a field for 
 colonisation were but slightly touched upon. 
 
 The Attorney-General and a few other members 
 spoke in support of the action of the Government. 
 The belief was unanimously expressed that the step 
 taken by the Ministers was in accordance with law, 
 as well as expedient. Sir John Pakington, formerly 
 Secretary for the Colonies, and Sir Frederick Thesiger 
 concurred in the opinion that it would have been 
 advisable to consult Parliament, but thought the 
 abandonment a wise and judicious step. The debate 
 was lifeless and one-sided. Mr. Adderley, finding 
 that he had not a single supporter, withdrew his 
 motion. 
 
 Messrs. Fraser and Murray left the House of Com- 
 mons with heavy hearts, and sorrowfully returned to 
 South Africa. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE GOVERNOR AND MR. SHEPSTONE'S PROPOSED 
 KINGDOM. 
 
 " The commander over men :. he to whose will our wills are to 
 be subordinated and loyally surrender themselves, and find their 
 welfare in doing so, may be reckoned the most important of great 
 men." — Carlyle. 
 
 The delegates had just returned, when Sir George 
 Grey arrived in England. Their mournful faces were 
 no longer to be seen in the antechamber of the House 
 of Commons. Representative institutions had been 
 granted to the Cape Colony, but it was as yet quite 
 uncertain whether they would work successfully or 
 not in that part of the world. 
 
 So strong and bitter were the prejudices existing 
 between the different races and the inhabitants of 
 different localities in South Africa that it was beyond 
 human foresight to predict with any certainty what 
 the result would be. The first meeting of the Cape 
 Parliament had been held some little time prior to the 
 advent of Sir George Grey, but it had only sat for a 
 few weeks, and no business of importance had been 
 transacted. It was adjourned, in order that the new 
 Governor might lay before it any proposals for the 
 public welfare which he believed worthy of its con- 
 sideration. 
 
 As he had done in South Australia and New 
 Zealand, Sir George took immediate steps to become 
 
 P 2 
 
212 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 acquainted with the real position of the colony com- 
 mitted to his care, and without loss of time mastered 
 the intricacies of South African politics, even to 
 minute details. He was soon in a position to meet 
 the Parliament. When that body assembled, he 
 submitted to its two houses a comprehensive plan for 
 the pacification and development both of the British 
 territory and of the States immediately contiguous. 
 He united with his authority as Governor the almost 
 absolute powers of High Commissioner. 
 
 Already, both in South Australia and in New 
 Zealand, he had been called upon in exceptional 
 circumstances to govern communities which were not 
 under the control of ordinary law, nor amenable to 
 the usual discipline of organised society. In both 
 cases his power was almost unlimited, his discretion 
 absolutely unfettered. In the closing words of his 
 remarks upon New Zealand, Earl Grey had claimed 
 as a merit the fact that Ministers had given the powers 
 of a Dictator in that country to Sir George Grey. If 
 it were possible that a colony could be found in a state 
 of greater confusion than New Zealand when Sir 
 George Grey assumed office there, that possibility 
 occurred in South Africa. 
 
 Fully aware of the circumstances attendant upon 
 Grey's governorship of New Zealand, and confident 
 in his ability and courage, the Duke of Newcastle was 
 keenly alive to the chaos which existed at the Cape. 
 Sir George, therefore, was entrusted with ample 
 jurisdiction. He was, as it were, constituted an 
 autocrat. 
 
 When his proposals had been made to the Cape 
 Parliament and accepted by them, and the first real 
 session had ended. Sir George proceeded to enquire 
 into those matters which fell more immediately within 
 the powers of his commission, for the purpose of 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 2 13 
 
 rectifying abuses and redressing injuries which might 
 exist. 
 
 After exhaustive enquiries he found that wherever 
 certain Hottentot troops, who had been disbanded 
 from Her Majesty's service, had found a home, that 
 place became a little centre of discord and disaffection. 
 Then he ascertained that these native troops had been 
 cheated by the Imperial Government, or that depart- 
 ment which ruled them, namely, the War Office ; and 
 were only receiving less than one quarter of the 
 pension which they had been led to expect, a grant 
 of land being taken into account, which the Govern- 
 ment afterwards refused to give, and which the dis- 
 banded European troops were actually in possession 
 of at that very time. Although representations had 
 been made, these grievances were not redressed. 
 
 Sir George Grey thereupon issued a proclamation 
 in the Queen's name, stating that out of the love borne 
 by Her Most Gracious Majesty to her Hottentot sub- 
 jects, she had determined that all their wounds should 
 be healed and justice administered, and that thence- 
 forward the disbanded Hottentot forces should receive 
 exactly the same pension as they had been promised, 
 and which their English comrades were receiving; 
 and further, that all claims for arrears of pension sent 
 in before a certain date should receive satisfaction in 
 full. No further discontent or mutiny ever occurred 
 from these people, or from this cause ; and Sir George 
 Grey obtained the consent of the Cape Parliament, 
 which, indeed, voted and paid the money required. 
 
 But the great departments in London were dread- 
 fully scandalised. They had set their feet upon the 
 Hottentots, and now the " Great Pro-Consul," as Sir 
 George Grey has been fitly called, rebuked them in 
 the face of the whole colony, and indeed of the whole 
 nation. They were furious, but their fury was un- 
 
214 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 availing. The thing was done past recall ; it was 
 done in the Queen's name and by the Queen's High 
 Commissioner. The mere healing of this one sore in 
 the South African body was in itself of great im- 
 portance, and it established a new precedent, the 
 worth of which was incalculable. Both natives and 
 Europeans became suddenly awake to the fact that 
 the new Governor had at once the power and the will 
 to do justice to all. 
 
 This was but one of many causes that kept 
 South Africa in a ferment. The interminable wars 
 waged with the Kafirs and Basutos had left the bulk 
 of those tribes still dwelling upon portions of the 
 northern and eastern frontiers ; while to the east and 
 northward of Natal the warlike Zulus, led by the great 
 chief Panda, hovered like a thunder cloud, ever ready 
 to burst in storm and ruin on the lands beneath. The 
 tide of emigration from the Cape Colony proper had 
 stretched in two directions. The emigrant farmers 
 who had fled to escape the alleged severity of British 
 rule, had gone northward across the River Vaal ; 
 while the main stream of those who had carried with 
 them their allegiance to the British Crown, had flowed 
 almost due east from the first settlements at the Cape. 
 Some of the latter had deflected to the southward 
 towards the sea coast, but the main body, opposed by 
 fierce and untamable tribes, had gone on in an easterly 
 course until they had swept down to the sea at Natal. 
 
 Natal at this time carried a population of somewhat 
 under 10,000 Europeans. From the atrocious tyranny 
 of the Zulu kings Chaaka, Dingaan, and Panda, scores 
 of thousands of wretched outcasts had fled into British 
 territory at Natal. The return of these to their own 
 country had been demanded with threats by Panda, 
 who could lead into the field a well-disciplined army 
 of upwards of 30,000 fearless warriors. His demands 
 
FIRST GOVERKORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 215 
 
 had been always refused. The presence, however, of 
 such vast bodies of barbarians within the colony- 
 caused disquiet in the mind of the Government. 
 
 Sir Benjamin Pine was at that time Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Natal. His principal adviser, especially 
 in native matters, was the son of an African mission- 
 ary named Shepstone. Theophilus Shepstone had 
 been brought as the sons of missionaries are generally 
 brought up in savage lands. They are surrounded 
 by a servile population, and often nursed by them. 
 These circumstances generally exercise some influence 
 over the minds of the children. History is full of 
 examples which illustrate this theory. No missionary 
 church where the families of missionaries have accom- 
 panied their parents has altogether escaped. In New 
 Zealand, in Tasmania, in India, and in Africa, this 
 truth has in modern days been sometimes exemplified. 
 
 Theophilus Shepstone was named by the tribes 
 among whom his youth and early manhood had been 
 spent Somtseu, which name he always used in his 
 correspondence and intercourse with the native people. 
 No man has been more potent than he in wielding 
 influences which have exposed the populations of 
 South Africa to great disasters. History must declare 
 that the astuteness displayed by him was singularly 
 disastrous in its effects alike on friends and enemies. 
 Mr. Shepstone had made proposals to the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, and through him to the Imperial Govern- 
 ment, in 1852, concerning the disposal and manage- 
 ment of the fugitive crowds of Zulus who had sought 
 refuge in British territory from their own ferocious 
 king. 
 
 These overtures had been favourably considered by 
 the governing powers, and correspondence had ensued, 
 which was not completed when Sir George Grey 
 entered upon his duties as Governor and High Com- 
 
2l6 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 missioner. The proposals made by Mr. Shepstone 
 were that he should personally obtain the cession of 
 a large territory from the native tribes, and march 
 50,000 or 60,000 of these Zulus into and settle them 
 upon this territory, himself assuming the position of 
 an independent chief or king, being supported by 
 British treasure and British arms. Fortunately, 
 although the Lieutenant-Governor and his immediate 
 superiors, as well as Downing Street, had expressed 
 themselves as favourably inclined towards Mr. 
 Shepstone's plans, Lord John Russell, who then held 
 the seals of ofifice, requested Sir George Grey to 
 report at length upon the whole matter. The Gover- 
 nor, before reporting, inquired fully into all the 
 circumstances connected with the subject. 
 
 Between Natal and British Kaffraria there lay a 
 tract of country one hundred miles by sixty which 
 was practically " No man's land." Bounded on the 
 east by Natal, and on the west by British Kaffraria, 
 it stretched from the mountains to the Atlantic. The 
 traveller or sportsman traversing the lofty ridges of 
 the Drakensberg towards Natal, beheld spreading to 
 the south a fertile and beautiful land, fringed on the 
 distant horizon by the blue waters of the great sea. 
 Rivers like threads of silver wound their courses 
 between the hills and through the woods and valleys 
 beneath. Forests of primeval age flanked wide 
 pasture-lands, green with natural herbage and dotted 
 with graceful palms. Here and there sparsely scat- 
 tered over this rich country were kraals, few in number 
 and diminutive in extent. The great game, although 
 diminishing, was still hunted there, and even yet the 
 stately elephant tore his way through the dense under- 
 growth, and the roar of the lion woke warning echoes 
 in the night. But the wildebeeste and the quagga, 
 the leopard and the deer, roamed abundantly and 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 2 17 
 
 oifered sport. The semi-tropical climate afforded 
 every aid to the virgin soil necessary to produce in 
 abundance the fruits of industry. In the gardens of 
 the settlements cabbages and pineapples grew in 
 alternate rows. Well watered, and possessing more 
 natural advantages perhaps than any other part of 
 South Africa, it tempted cupidity and inspired desire. 
 
 Upon this region Mr. Theophilus Shepstone had 
 often cast a longing look. This was the territory 
 which he proposed to Sir Benjamin Pine, and through 
 him to the Governor and the Colonial Office, should 
 be absolutely given and secured to him. 
 
 His propositions in reality amounted to the creation 
 of a despotic kingdom, erected and sustained by Great 
 Britain, in which he was to be the absolute ruler of a 
 savage nation, with power to tax and to legislate 
 uncontrolled. In it he was to be paid by annual 
 grants of English money, and to be defended by 
 English arms. 
 
 The matter had been almost concluded before Sir 
 George Grey arrived at Cape Town. No sooner had 
 he been made acquainted with the facts than he in- 
 structed Sir Benjamin Pine to do nothing further, 
 and, in obedience to his instructions, he proceeded to 
 explain to the Imperial Government the nature and 
 consequences of the proposed arrangement. 
 
 On December 3rd, 1855, the Governor wrote from 
 Cape Town a long and elaborate despatch. The 
 subject was one of more than ordinary importance. 
 It presented many and peculiar features. After 
 sketching the rise and course of the various streams 
 of colonisation, he dwelt upon the difficulties by which 
 the emigrants had been met and the dangers which 
 menaced them from the barbarous tribes, sullenly 
 chafing against them on all points. 
 
 " Thus," he writes, " the eastern districts have ever 
 
2l8 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 been harassed by the turbulent Kafirs ; the people of 
 the Albert and Queen's Town districts by Kafirs, 
 Tambookies, and Basutos ; the Orange Free State by 
 Basutos, Barolongs, and Koranas. On some points 
 of this extensive line it is all that the European race 
 can do to maintain its position ; and it is yet doubtful, 
 now the European population is broken up into 
 separate States, if some one of these small communi- 
 ties may not hereafter find itself, at least for a time, 
 overmatched by the turbulent barbarians who hang 
 upon its eastern flank. 
 
 " The great chance of safety for all of them appears 
 to be this, that the tract of country, bounded by British 
 KafFarari, the Queen's Town District, Albert, the 
 Orange Free State, Natal, and the sea, is not thickly 
 inhabited by the coloured race. The most densely 
 inhabited portions of that territory are the hilly 
 regions and difficult tracts of country which abut upon 
 the European states, and lie on the western side of 
 the mountain range ; but there is a large tract of 
 fertile country lying along the sea coast, and on the 
 eastern side of the great mountain range, which is 
 nearly uninhabited, into which Europeans are now 
 filtering, which could carry a large and wealthy popu- 
 lation, the presence of which would, by shutting in 
 the native tribes between two faces, secure those 
 European states which are now in constant jeopardy 
 of hostile inroads from their barbarous neighbours." 
 
 This was the district which Mr. Shepstone proposed 
 to appropriate. It was the only available country, as 
 the Governor showed, suitable for European colonisa- 
 tion at that time uninhabited. 
 
 Turning, then, to the position of Natal, Sir George 
 Grey pointed out that the 1 00,000 Zulus settled within 
 its borders were peaceable and well ordered, and that 
 the very proximity of their former oppressor tended to 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 219 
 
 make them loyal to the English Government. They 
 were also taxpayers, and although their location in 
 large numbers upon great areas of land tended to 
 discourage habits of industry, and promoted an idle 
 pastoral life, yet they were, at any rate, under control, 
 and civilising and Christianising influences were at 
 work amongst them. Numbers of them, also, were 
 employed by the European settlers, and some of the 
 worst effects of the gathering together of large bodies 
 of barbarians within, or immediately upon, the borders 
 of a colony, had been in their case considerably miti- 
 gated. 
 
 The massing of large bodies of natives together had 
 invariably produced disastrous results. Alluding to 
 Mr. Shepstone himself, the Governor pointed out that 
 that gentleman had for nearly ten years been in com- 
 plete control of these Zulus in Natal. He had been 
 aided by intelligent magistrates in their government, 
 by missionary institutions for their civilisation, by a 
 strong military force for the preservation of order; 
 and yet, in the reports made by Mr. Owen, these 
 natives were stated to be " as great savages as they 
 possibly could have been a thousand years ago." 
 
 The despatch then proceeded to show that under 
 the circumstances existing the shifting of fifty or sixty 
 thousand of these turbulent people under the guidance 
 of Mr. Shepstone (who had already failed to alter 
 their condition), into a new and extensive country, 
 where they would be free from those influences which 
 had compelled submission, would inevitably lead to 
 great disorder and endless trouble. The natives them- 
 selves would not be benefited, while the Europeans 
 would have planted between the two colonies a nation 
 of barbarians, likely to cause continual war. 
 
 To Natal also the step would be disadvantageous. 
 Not only would the control of this vast multitude have 
 
220 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 passed away from the government of that colony, but 
 fresh hordes would swarm from Zululand across the 
 border to fill up the places vacated by the army fol- 
 lowing Mr. Shepstone to the new location, thus 
 creating additional perils for the Cape Colony. 
 
 Examining then the plan in detail Sir George Grey 
 gave it his entire and utter condemnation. It was 
 wrong in principle ; it would be perilous in practice. 
 He condemned also the guarantees which it was pro- 
 posed to give to Mr. Shepstone. 
 
 The despatch concluded thus: — "The proposition, 
 therefore, is nothing else than that Great Britain 
 should establish a new kingdom in South Africa (it is 
 so termed in letters I have seen) ; make Mr. Shepstone 
 the king of that country ; guarantee him the security 
 and integrity of his dominions ; give him a pension of 
 ;^50oayear; and agree that he is to have despotic 
 powers in governing the country, in raising its 
 revenues, in expending them. 
 
 " No guarantees are exacted from him. It is not 
 pretended that so princely a grant is to be bestowed 
 on him in reward of past public services which entitle 
 him to it. No condition is imposed on him precedent 
 to his receiving this noble gift. 
 
 " The supremacy over the country and the people 
 who may inhabit it is first to be assured to him. Then 
 he is to induce as many of the natives of Natal as may 
 be willing to follow him to join him. If not one thou- 
 sand go, still he forfeits nothing. Yet, it need hardly 
 be said, what will be the value of the gift of such a 
 tract of country, not remote, but lying between already 
 populous European countries, near to an European 
 population, where a nation like Great Britain guar- 
 antees its inhabitants against foreign aggression and 
 the acts of its own subjects. Why should Great 
 Britain enter into such guarantees ? It throws off 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 22 1 
 
 many thousands of its own European subjects in the 
 Orange Free State simply because it will not protect 
 them against foreign aggression. Why should it now 
 with a single subject enter into such guarantees ? 
 
 " I think, moreover, in a great Empire such as this, 
 that it is wrong in principle to set a public officer over 
 native races, and when he, from exercising for years 
 over them powers delegated to him by the nation he 
 represents, has necessarily from his public position 
 acquired great influence over them, to permit him to 
 use such influence to acquire the cession of a large 
 tract of country to himself. 
 
 " If Great Britain thinks it necessary to set up in 
 the territory now under consideration an independent 
 kingdom under the sway of a prince established by 
 herself, and guaranteed by her from all foreign 
 aggression, which kingdom from its fertility and 
 position must soon be occupied by a large European 
 population, let her choose for the purpose someone 
 whose great public services give him some claim to 
 so noble a reward ; whose talents and experience fit 
 him to govern not only natives but Europeans ; whose 
 ability and knowledge would render this country a 
 bulwark and source of strength to Great Britain, not 
 of weakness ; and if she enters into such important 
 guarantees, let her exercise some control over the 
 expenditure of its revenue, the judicious or injudicious 
 application of which will determine what expense she 
 will be required to bear in fulfilment of her part of the 
 conditions. 
 
 " By the last despatch from your Lordship's depart- 
 ment in relation to this subject (No. i6, 20th March, 
 1855), it appears that Her Majesty's Government has 
 gone to the extent of stating that there can be no 
 objection to the emigration of any of the Zulus from 
 Natal into the country lying to the south-west of 
 
22 2 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 that colony, provided that no obligation is incurred 
 by the British or local governments for their main- 
 tenance or defence in these new habitations, and 
 provided that the absence of all such obligation was 
 distinctly notified to them. 
 
 "These instructions were, however, clearly issued 
 because a fiill explanation had not been afforded of 
 what had taken place. 
 
 " The plan was originally suggested by an officer 
 of the British Government, who, still holding that 
 office, was to negotiate for the surrender of the terri- 
 tory to himself, and who then was immediately to 
 rule it as an independent prince. It was further then 
 understood by all parties that Great Britain was to 
 recognise this new chief, and to undertake to protect 
 his state against aggression, either from other States 
 or from British subjects. 
 
 " It therefore appears that if the Amapondo nation 
 agreed to let a foreign people come in and occupy a 
 part of their territories, on the understanding that 
 these territories were given up to an agent of the 
 British Government with the consent of that Govern- 
 ment, and that the powerful British nation was going 
 to guarantee the peace of that district and its inhabi- 
 tants by promising protection from aggression or 
 against all the world, then that justice to the Ama- 
 pondos requires that the proposed emigration should 
 not be allowed to go on under such altered circum- 
 stances, until they have been equally informed with 
 the tribes who propose to emigrate of the changes in 
 the plan which have taken place. 
 
 "Having taken these views upon this subject, 
 which are embodied in the present despatch, I have, 
 in pursuance of the powers vested in me, directed the 
 Government of Natal neither directly or indirectly to 
 encourage or sanction any measures for carrying it 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 223 
 
 out until Your Lordship's further instructions are 
 received. 
 
 " It only remains for me to add that when I arrived 
 at Natal I found that Lieutenant Governor Pine, 
 notwithstanding the orders on the subject from Your 
 Lordship's department, had, immediately before he 
 embarked from Natal on leave of absence, written 
 authorising Mr. Shepstone at once to take all neces- 
 sary preliminary steps for carrying out his project 
 when my approval to it was received, and that acting 
 on this authority Mr. Shepstone had secured the 
 cession of the territory to himself, subject to the 
 approval of the British Government, and had by 
 some of the natives in that territory been recognised 
 as a chief; and it was therefore thought by some 
 that to stop the plan would be a breach of faith with 
 the natives. I, however, did not concur in this 
 opinion, and have given the instructions I have above 
 stated. — I have, etc., 
 
 "G. Grey." 
 
 On the 15th February, 1856, Mr. Labouchere, after- 
 wards Lord Taunton, wrote entirely agreeing with 
 and endorsing Sir George Grey's views, and Mr. 
 Shepstone's kingdom did not come into existence. 
 
 It is difficult to understand how such an outrageous 
 proposal could ever have been entertained. As we 
 shall hereafter see, Mr. Shepstone's subsequent actions 
 helped to launch South Africa into the troubled 
 waters of the Transvaal and Zulu wars. Had he 
 succeeded in obtaining the kingdom which he desired, 
 it is probable that still heavier disasters would have 
 come upon that unhappy region. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SUBJUGATION OF KAFIR CHIEFS AND WITCH DOCTORS. 
 
 " We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths. 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 
 
 P. J. Bailey. 
 
 Although parliamentary government had been 
 granted to South Africa, the rule of a responsible 
 ministry had not yet obtained. The Governor was 
 unfettered in his discretion as to the policy to be sub- 
 mitted by him to Parliament. He was indeed aided 
 by a Council, composed of the great Executive officers, 
 who. by virtue of their office, could attend in both 
 Houses of Parliament and explain the scope and 
 intention of all matters submitted. They, however, 
 had no votes, nor were they dependent for office upon 
 any will of the Legislature. They were Imperial 
 officers, responsible only to the Governor and the 
 Crown. 
 
 Seeking information from every source, and recog- 
 nising the stupendous nature of the task imposed 
 upon him in this new sphere of duty, the Governor 
 fixed his mind upon the accomplishment of the same 
 results by the same means which had already in the 
 case of New Zealand worked so well. To him, in 
 truth, there appeared but one road open which was 
 likely to lead to success. Happily, as in his former 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 225 
 
 Governments, his hands were left untied. The country- 
 was given over to him. He was responsible for its 
 good government, but he was free and unfettered for 
 all practical purposes. 
 
 In Grey's estimation, power and authority were 
 only means to an end. He coveted complete control, 
 because with every widening of his influence he could 
 accomplish more. The end he toiled for was the 
 greatest good of all. That narrow maxim uttered by 
 Jeremy Bentham, "The greatest good of the greatest 
 number," found in him no ardent supporter. The 
 greatest good for all was the constant aim of his life. 
 To him power was to be desired because it enabled 
 him to defend the weak, to succour the distressed, to 
 teach the ignorant, to set free the slave, to raise the 
 fallen, to humble the oppressor, and to establish 
 liberty on a broad and substantial base. And he 
 always pertinaciously strove for the highest good 
 possible in the line of his various efforts. In educa- 
 tion, in philanthropy, in public and social reforms, in 
 politics, in science, and in religion, he always tried to 
 scale the farthest heights. In all, his goal was the 
 very last step that human reason and human fortitude 
 might reach, the loftiest pinnacle that the sons of men 
 might scale. 
 
 And so it sometimes happened that he, being far in 
 advance of those by whom he was surrounded, 
 alarmed many of his friends, and was jeered at by 
 his enemies. To his mind possibilities presented 
 themselves which others could not see. So long as 
 he was the possessor of almost despotic authority, 
 and was thereby enabled to carry his plans into 
 execution, he did things which will make his name 
 famous to all time. No Roman pro-consul wielded 
 power over wider dominions or was brought into 
 contact with wilder nations. No man ever subdued 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 with SO little bloodshed such great numbers of bar- 
 barians. He set himself the task of utilising the 
 great influence which he possessed in every direction 
 for the permanent happiness and prosperity of the 
 South African peoples. Many years afterwards, 
 when the history of that time was written, the verdict 
 passed upon Sir George Grey's plans, especially as 
 regards the native tribes, was this : 
 
 " The aim of the policy of the Colonial Government 
 since 1855 has been to establish and maintain peace, 
 to diffuse civilization and Christianity, and to establish 
 society on the basis of individual property and 
 personal industry. The agencies employed are the 
 magistrate, the missionary, the schoolmaster, and the 
 trader. The educational efforts put forth are extensive, 
 and pre-eminent among them is the industrial and 
 training institution at Lovedale."* 
 
 Through this great school upwards of two thousand 
 native youths have passed, receiving education and 
 civilized culture. During the last seventeen years 
 the natives have paid in fees to this school upwards 
 of a thousand a year. " These efforts," observes Dr. 
 Dale, the colonial Superintendent-General of Educa- 
 tion, "must commend themselves to the statesman 
 and the politician as providing the best guarantees 
 for good order and commercial development. With 
 school instruction came habits of enterprise and self- 
 reliance. The wants of civilized life necessitate some 
 degree of industry, and thus wealth accumulates in 
 private hands. Every native who owns a plot of land 
 or a plough or a wagon and oxen is a hostage for 
 peace." 
 
 " Passing over the early days of colonisation and 
 the series of miserable wars in later years, for which 
 changes of Governors and changes of policy were in 
 * " History of South Africa," J. Noble, 1877, pp. 334, 335. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 227 
 
 some degree responsible, we may limit our observa- 
 tions to the period embraced within the last quarter 
 of a century, dating from the commencement of Sir 
 George Grey's administration. During this time peace 
 has been uninterruptedly enjoyed within British 
 frontiers. The natives have been treated in all re- 
 spects with justice and consideration. Large tracts 
 of the richest land are expressly set apart for them 
 under the name of ' reserves ' and ' locations.' The 
 greater part of them live in these locations, under the 
 superintendence of European magistrates or mission- 
 aries As a whole they are now enjoying 
 
 far greater comfort and prosperity than they ever did 
 in their normal state of barbaric independence and 
 perpetually-recurring tribal wars before coming into 
 contact with Europeans. 
 
 " The advantages and value of British rule have of 
 late years struck root m the native mind over an im- 
 mense portion of South Africa. They realise that it 
 is a protection from external encroachment, and that 
 only under the ' a-gis of the Government ' can they be 
 secure and enjoy peace and prosperity. Influenced 
 by this feeling, several tribes beyond the colonial 
 boundaries are now eager to be brought within the 
 pale of civilised authority, and ere long Her Majesty's 
 sovereignty will be extended over fresh territories, 
 with the full and free consent of the chiefs and tribes 
 inhabiting them." * 
 
 The new Governor, besides establishing schools 
 among the natives, saw that it was necessary to break 
 down the power of the chiefs and the influence of the 
 witch-doctors. In two ways the authority which the 
 chiefs of the tribes possessed was used for the pur- 
 pose of self-aggrandisement and of oppression. In 
 the first place, they sat as magistrates, and as such 
 * " History of South Africa," J. Noble, pp. 334 and 335. 
 Q2 
 
2 28 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 inflicted fines upon alleged wrong-doers, which fines 
 they appropriated to themselves. This naturally led 
 to every species of extortion and injustice, from which 
 the only escape was by flight or assassination. A 
 still more potent weapon was used by the chiefs, viz., 
 the witch-doctors. If any individual became possessed 
 of considerable property, so as to excite the cupidity 
 of the chief, he incurred the risk of being accused of 
 witchcraft. Some death or other misfortune happen- 
 ing to a member of the tribe was laid at his door. He 
 was charged with having caused this misfortune by 
 incantations or collusion with evil spirits. 
 
 To ascertain the machinery by which the crime had 
 been committed, the aid of the witch-doctors was in- 
 voked. These pretended to be able to discover, by 
 the sense of smell, the articles which had been used 
 for the purpose of accomplishing the evil deed. They 
 would declare the shape and substance of this instru- 
 ment before entering on their final search. The fate 
 of the victim was sealed. The witch-doctor having 
 taken care to secrete the article searched for in some 
 part of or near the dwelling of the accused person, 
 would then publicly and infallibly find it in accord- 
 ance with his prediction. Torture was resorted to to 
 compel confession, oftentimes successfully. In some 
 instances men really believed that they had caused 
 the death of others by incantations. In others they 
 willingly confessed crimes of which they were inno- 
 cent, so that a swift and speedy death might terminate 
 the horrible agonies of protracted torture. 
 
 The measures necessary to destroy these two evils 
 were essentially different. As regards the power 
 which the chiefs directly exercised, Sir George Grey 
 made a commencement in British Kaffraria. This 
 territory, then under the rule of the Imperial Govern- 
 ment, was inhabited by the strong and the warlike 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 229 
 
 tribes of the Gaikas, the Slambies, and the Amagu- 
 nukwebe, whose chiefs and sub-chiefs were powerful 
 and independent. The system of subsidising these 
 native rulers was introduced. Head men were ap- 
 pointed and European special magistrates, who were 
 to hear and try all cases. The chiefs were to discon- 
 tinue their duties as judges, except that they sat with 
 the European magistrates, and in lieu of the revenue 
 which they had formerly obtained through the fines 
 imposed, they were to receive fixed salaries from the 
 Governor. 
 
 The earliest experiment made was with the loyal 
 chief Kama. Captain Reeve was appointed the first 
 special magistrate in January, 1856, and Mr. Chal- 
 mers, who thirty years afterwards wrote an interest- 
 ing account of this portion of South African history, 
 was the first clerk and interpreter. This system was 
 strenuously opposed. The chiefs saw that their influ- 
 ence was doomed were this new practice adopted. It 
 succeeded, however, beyond anticipation. Kama was 
 pleased, Captain Reeve gave great satisfaction, the 
 natives were not only contented but delighted with 
 the change. Sir George Grey determined that the 
 system should be extended at all risks. 
 
 The Governor showed his wisdom in his selection 
 and appointment of magistrates. In that lay to a 
 great extent the secret ot the subsequent success of 
 his system. "The civil service of the country has 
 never since held such a high tone and character in 
 the eyes of the natives, or been held in such high 
 esteem and respect as it did under the regime of Sir 
 George Grey. 
 
 " Our main hope and power, however, in carrying 
 out the policy of Sir George Grey lay in the coun- 
 cillors; and Sir George Grey wisely foresaw this, 
 hence his instructions. Through the instrumentality 
 
230 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 of the councillors, a great revolution was quietly, 
 unostentatiously, but surely to be effected in the future 
 management and government of the natives ; and 
 without their aid the wise and far-sighted policy of 
 Sir George Grey would have been a complete failure. 
 
 " By kindness and firmness Sir George Grey dis- 
 armed the other chiefs and tribes of their opposition, 
 and the diplomatic barque of a great and wise man 
 was fairly launched in 1856. 
 
 " The instructions of Sir George Grey were that we 
 were to treat the councillors or headmen in such a 
 manner as to win them from their chiefs to the Govern- 
 ment, and by their instrumentality win the people to 
 us, and overthrow the chiefs who had always been 
 such a source of anxiety, danger, and loss to the 
 whole country and to the Imperial Government. 
 
 " Suffice it to say that the power of the chiefs has 
 been completely and for ever broken. 
 
 " The people themselves are happy and contented 
 under the altered state of affairs. Our government 
 pleases them immensely, and they are very much 
 pleased with the change, and at being relieved from 
 the unjust tyranny of the chiefs. Many and warm 
 are the thanks which are offered to Sir George Grey 
 by the old people who know how this revolution was 
 brought about."* 
 
 Mr. Chalmers goes on to say that the Government 
 had adopted this system and enforced it in the Tran- 
 skei, Tembuland, and East Griqualand, where it was 
 working well ; " but would work better if Sir George 
 Grey's care was followed in the selection of officers, 
 and if the officers were allowed the same freedom, and 
 allowed to use their brains as was allowed to his 
 officers by Sir George." 
 
 Speaking with sorrow of the loss South Africa 
 * Letter. Nov. 3rd, 1886. W. B. Chalmers to Dr. Fitzgerald. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 23 1 
 
 sustained when Sir George Grey left, Mr. Chalmers 
 writes that the constant idea in the native mind, is, 
 " If he had remained with us how many more advan- 
 tages and good results would we not be enjoying now 
 under his wise rule ? He understood us, and under- 
 stood what sort of government was necessary for us." 
 Sir George Grey selected Colonel Gawler and 
 Pomeroy CoUey, believing them to be capable men, 
 and to their assistance he owes much. Colonel 
 Maclean, Chief Commissioner in British Kaffraria, 
 also helped the Governor thoroughly, although dif- 
 fering in opinion from him as to the wisdom of many 
 of his steps. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE GREY HOSPITAL. 
 
 " Heaven doth with us as we with torches do ; 
 Not light them for themselves ; for if our virtues 
 Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
 As if we had them not." 
 
 Measure for Measure. 
 
 " It would take a volume to describ^ all the ramifi- 
 cations of witchcraft among the native tribes, and the 
 evil it works both socially and politically. It was Sir 
 George Grey's policy to have hospitals for the natives 
 all over the country, and thus win the people from 
 their witch-doctors and overthrow witchcraft. But 
 unfortunately Sir George Grey did not remain long 
 enough in the country to carry out this part of his 
 policy. A beginning was made with the Grey Hos- 
 pital, and there you have been, single-handed, doing 
 battle with a great enemy ; the forces which were to 
 be at your disposal in the shape of smaller hospitals 
 all over the country have never been forthcoming. 
 But you have held your ground. Witchcraft is now 
 never practised publicly. The Grey Hospital is always 
 crowded with natives from all parts of the country ; 
 these take back to their friends the news of the cures 
 which are effected. The eyes of the natives are be- 
 coming opened. They see the reality and the honesty 
 and success of our way of treating diseases, and their 
 faith in witchcraft is being terribly shaken. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 233 
 
 " [f the Grey Hospital single-handed, has done so 
 much good, and has brought about such a revolution 
 in the minds of the natives regarding witchcraft, we 
 can imagine what a good and glorious thing it would 
 have been had good Sir George Grey been permitted 
 to dot similar institutions all over the country. My 
 old chief, good, dear Colonel Maclean, had every 
 reason to shout out in his enthusiastic and cheery 
 manner, ' Grey is great, and Fitzgerald is his witch- 
 doctor.'"* 
 
 The troops hitherto so actively engaged were idle. 
 There remained no enemies against whom to employ 
 them. It was advisable to find some task upon which 
 they might enter. The Governor now recognised an 
 opportunity for breaking the power of the Kafir witch 
 doctors. To extirpate this class by force was impos- 
 sible, because fresh pretenders rose to fill the places 
 of those who died or were driven away. Sir George 
 Grey saw that the only cure for the superstitions of 
 the native races was knowledge. He believed that if 
 he could train the young Kafir chiefs to an acquaint- 
 ance with medical science, and give them some 
 general education, the power of the Fetish would be 
 destroyed. 
 
 He seized the opportunity which now presented 
 itself. The army should conquer the witch doctors. 
 
 In years long past, when a student at Sandhurst, 
 Grey had delighted in roaming over tlie country be- 
 tween the college and Windsor. In that district there 
 is perhaps the most perfect Roman camp in England. 
 Caesar had, possibly, in person watched over its con- 
 struction, and his legions had found a temporary home 
 within its walls. The massive earthworks and regular 
 lines which have survived in almost perfect form 
 
 * W. B, Chalmers to Dr. Fitzgerald. Nov. 3rd, 1886. 
 
234 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 through nineteen centuries, testify at once to the skill 
 and strength of its builders. Many a time, when 
 standing in this still nearly perfect camp, the young 
 soldier had gone back in fancy to the olden times and 
 seen the place instinct with military life. He could 
 hear the clang of the trumpet, and see the stately 
 warriors of old Rome marshalled in their cohorts and 
 legions. The ground trembled beneath the tread of 
 the great host as it marched past him and went forth 
 to do battle with the native tribes. More than once 
 on such occasions, when these visions faded, and he 
 stood — an English lad, alone in the solitude once so 
 full of life — he grieved that the only memorials left 
 behind that army were the crumbling ramparts of 
 their strongholds, the ashes of their dead, and a 
 memory of strife and conquest. He dreamed that at 
 some future day, in the course of the life upon which 
 he was entering, it might be possible that he would 
 aid an English army in leaving behind it in some new 
 land a nobler token of its presence. 
 
 Now in this distant wilderness the recollection of 
 Caesar's camp came back to him. The English legions 
 had visited this part of the earth. Were they to leave 
 nothing behind them but a fort or two and their dead ? 
 Ever on the watch for useful projects, he determined 
 that at least one memorial worthy of the fame of an 
 English army should be bequeathed to the land and 
 its people. 
 
 Causing the plans of a great hospital to be prepared, 
 he employed the military forces in its construction. 
 The Kafirs quarried stones. The military waggons 
 carted them to the site prepared. The sappers dug 
 the trenches for foundations. The soldiers laid the 
 stones in solid tiers. 
 
 No stranger sight was ever seen — no more beautiful 
 thought ever conceived. Hands accustomed to the 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 235 
 
 rifle and the sabre plied the chisel and the trowel. 
 Organisation and discipline attained for service in 
 war now became suddenly enlisted in a work of mercy. 
 Many hands made light work. Encouraged by extra 
 pay, amused and interested by such an uncommon 
 application of military organisation, permeated with 
 the kindling of a strange sympathy in the noble idea 
 of the Governor, the whole army, ofl&cers and men, 
 horse, foot and artillery, worked with a will. Not in 
 silence, as the temple of Jerusalem reared itself, did 
 the hospital rise up ; but with laughter, with merry 
 songs, with rough jokes, and with zealous toil the 
 work progressed. It is strange that no artist has ever 
 yet pourtrayed that marvellous scene. The military 
 camp, the rising walls of the mighty building, the 
 long trains of waggons carrying stones from the dis- 
 tant quarry and timber from the forest, the engineer 
 officers studying the plans, the host of workers scat- 
 tered in their various places of toil, each and all 
 aiding in the common task, would make a picture of 
 renown. 
 
 Difficulties were met and overcome. Step by step 
 the building progressed. At length the last stone 
 was laid, the last nail driven, and complete and beau- 
 tiful, the hospital opened its doors to receive patients 
 and to impart instruction. The venture was successful 
 beyond hope. Thousands upon thousands of sufferers 
 have been there received and healed. Numbers of 
 native youths have been taught there the simple rules 
 of medical skill, and the falsehood of the pretenders 
 to witchcraft. 
 
 It has ever been a powerful lever to civilise the 
 barbarians. It is now surrounded by a magnificent 
 park and pleasure grounds. Prompted by gratitude 
 and affection, a grateful government has within the 
 last ten years, enacted that the building shall be 
 
236 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 known as the " Grey Hospital," while to the spacious 
 park in which it stands, Her Majesty has been pleased 
 to give her own loved name. 
 
 While in New Zealand Sir George had made the 
 acquaintance of Dr. Fitzgerald. The Governor had 
 been struck by the completeness of organising power 
 developed by this gentleman. To him he determined 
 to commit the care of this first institution, and the 
 commencement of this great experiment. His inten- 
 tion was to erect hospitals in different parts of South 
 Africa. 
 
 To Dr. Fitzgerald, then, Sir George Grey wrote, 
 inviting him to South Africa to undertake the charge 
 of the hospital at King Williamstown. The Doctor 
 readily assented, and to this day, for upwards of thirty 
 years, his presence and his singular adaptability for 
 the position thus offered and accepted, have been an 
 unmitigated blessing to the whole land. 
 
 Some natives, who were kindly shown over the 
 Grey Hospital by Dr. Fitzgerald, were very much 
 struck with the fact that natives were treated there 
 exactly the same as Europeans, had the same wards, 
 the same clothes, beds, food, etc. When these natives, 
 who came from a distant territory, were told that it 
 was all the doing of a good Governor, Sir George 
 Grey, who had intended to build similar institutions 
 throughout the land, their chief, Makaula, was very 
 much impressed, and returned again to his informant 
 to ask whether it would not be possible to induce Sir 
 George to return to carry on the work in which he 
 was most anxious to join, adding that he should like 
 to lift the Grey Hospital bodily and plant it in his 
 own country. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers concludes a very interesting letter (to 
 Dr. Fitzgerald) by saying that when future historians 
 trace out and record how the great power of the chiefs 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 237 
 
 was overthrown, and how the people came to be 
 entirely under British control and management, and 
 how also it came about that the witch-doctors, who 
 used to possess such tremendous and dreadful powers, 
 became harmless amongst their own people, and how 
 witchcraft was abolished, they will have to record 
 that all this was brought about by the wise and far- 
 sighted policy of Sir George Grey, and his name will 
 be handed down to posterity as the best Governor the 
 Colony and country has ever had. 
 
 Dr. Fitzgerald having received many flattering 
 notices of a pamphlet he published on hospital man- 
 agement, and being much complimented on his man- 
 agement of the institution, wrote to Sir George Grey 
 that he felt all the praise was really given to him (Sir 
 George Grey), the originator of the work. " We 
 together have witnessed wonderful times during 
 the cattle killing. How wonderfully our good God 
 humbled this proud nation at your feet. To Him be 
 the first honour, and glory to you, dear Sir George, 
 next. I am your child and faithful servant, nothing 
 more." General Gordon used often to go and chat 
 with him, and thought very highly of the hospital. 
 
 Dr. Fitzgerald continues : " You know it was my 
 strong affection for you which made me throw up my 
 position in Wellington to follow you here, and when 
 you left 1 would have gone back to New Zealand if I 
 could. The Irish heart does not forget kindness, and 
 such kindness and honour as you showed me." In 
 1886 he writes that by the end of the year, "about 
 one hundred and eleven thousand patients will have 
 passed through this institution since it was established, 
 and about two hundred blind people have been sent 
 back to their friends with restored sight." He goes 
 on to explain that this does not show the amount of 
 work that had been done every day, as of course 
 
238 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 patients would only have their names entered once, 
 though they might continue coming for weeks. 
 
 "This year (1886), besides the indoor cases, over 
 5,000 fresh dispensing cases from all parts of the 
 colony and the frontiers have received medical aid 
 here. It is surprising what long distances they travel 
 by waggon and on foot to seek medical aid here. 
 This is very gratifying." 
 
 He says, " Why don't you write ' My Government 
 of South Africa ' ? What an interesting and useful 
 book it would be with the Wonderful Prophecy. All 
 the institutions you establish here are working so 
 well. The magistrates among the tribes, and in 
 Basutoland Colonel Clerk appears by his wonderful 
 tact and patience to be bringing back the chiefs to a 
 state of tranquillity. You would do good amongst 
 both Dutch and English, and allay a feeling of want 
 of confidence between both races, your name is so 
 revered. I pray God to inspire you to do what is 
 His holy will. He gave me a friend and kind patron 
 in you. We have worked together in wonderful times 
 here, and if we have passed through severe trials we 
 have had our consolations. — Ever, my dear Sir George, 
 your grateful and affectionate servant, 
 
 "J. P. Fitzgerald." 
 
 By the end of 1890 over 130,000 cases had been 
 treated in the Grey Hospital. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE KAFIR PROPHETESS AND THE "WONDERFUL 
 PROPHECY." 
 
 " All these woes shall serve 
 For sweet discourses in the time to come." 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 " There are more thing's in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
 Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 The Kafir chiefs became now convinced that they 
 must act decisively, or this new Governor with his 
 strange institutions would certainly destroy their 
 power. The Governor heard that all the Kafir chiefs 
 were leaguing together to invade the colony at various 
 points at the same time. He heard, also, a report so 
 astounding and unprecedented, that he could scarcely 
 give it credence. It was said that in order to ensure 
 a desperate attack upon the European settlements, 
 most of the chiefs had promised themselves and in- 
 duced their people to promise to destroy their crops, 
 cattle, pigs, sheep, fowls, and all other food. The 
 barbarians were thus to be driven by famine to invade 
 our territories. Behind them would be a barren desert, 
 in front the land of promise. The fields, the crops, 
 the bread of the English, they must have, or starve. 
 As they numbered 200,000 souls, of whom about 60,000 
 were men, it was evident if these reports were true, 
 that a colossal and appalling tragedy was imminent. 
 
240 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Sir George Grey at once proceeded to the Kafir 
 country and saw the Kafir Jeaders. The tidings were 
 true. He pointed out the fact that they were only 
 injuring themselves, and indeed committing suicide ; 
 but argument was useless. They said that a pro- 
 phetess, a girl reputed among the tribes as knowing 
 the mind of the fates, had prophesied that it was the 
 will of their deities that this sacrifice should be made, 
 and that they should obtain tenfold from the English 
 in the day of victory. 
 
 The proofs of her claim to supernatural knowledge 
 were to the Kafir mind beyond dispute. To her eyes 
 were revealed secrets hidden from the gaze of ordinary 
 mortals. To her ears were spoken words which none 
 else could hear, or hearing, understand. In the silent 
 watches of the night, when others slept, shadowy 
 guides conducted her to strange and wonderful scenes. 
 For her the secret passage which led beneath the 
 waters of the great lake was opened by the lifting of 
 a hidden door. To that subterranean world she was 
 welcomed by the mighty dead Chiefs long since 
 mouldered into dust, whose names alone remained as 
 the heritage of their descendants, there appeared and 
 spoke to her of the coming strife, and of its glorious 
 ending — if the people were but faithful. Beneath the 
 placid waters she beheld, far as the eye could reach, 
 wide and fruitful fields. Upon these green pastures 
 fed countless herds of cattle, larger and more beauti- 
 ful than any she had ever seen upon earth's surface. 
 
 She was told that she must listen to the counsels of 
 the departed, so that she might speak to the people now 
 alive the wisdom of the unseen world. Chief after 
 chief had spoken ; wielding the arms once borne in 
 the van of battle, each ancestor of the tribes gave his 
 voice for the instruction and warning of his people. 
 The warriors were to arm ; the cattle and crops of food 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 24 1 
 
 of the people were to be destroyed by a fixed day. The 
 whole nation, thus deprived of all means of support 
 and sustenance, was to move upon the invading 
 strangers without hesitation and without fear, and all 
 would be well. Not only should victory crown their 
 arms, and the rich farms, flocks, and herds of the 
 white man be theirs by conquest, but the cattle now 
 seen by the inspired girl-prophet, and all the splen- 
 dour which the living dead revealed to her, should be 
 theirs also. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 1 8th of February, 1 857 — " When 
 the sun rose in the morning, after wandering for a 
 time in the heavens, it was to set again in the east. 
 A hurricane was to sweep from the earth all who 
 would not believe in the revelation, European or Kafir. 
 Then the ancestors of the Kafirs were to rise from the 
 dead, with countless herds of cattle of a noble breed, 
 and with quantities of plunder of every description, 
 all of which were to be shared out among the followers 
 of the prophetess, who were at the same time to be 
 restored to youth and endowed with beauty." * 
 
 As with kindling eyes and inspired bearing the girl 
 told to the astonished crowd the wonderful stories of 
 her interviews with the dead, a frenzy seized upon her 
 hearers, and impelled them onward in the course she 
 pointed out. Old chiefs, whose prudence suggested 
 caution, questioned her closely as to the appearance 
 and words of the departed heroes who had met her in 
 the shadowy land beneath the lake. To their astonish- 
 ment, every question was correctly answered. The 
 arms borne by each respectively, the peculiar expres- 
 sions known, or believed, to have been used by each, 
 the personal appearance, the very scars and wounds 
 received in battle, were described minutely, but with 
 unerring accuracy, by this female seer. 
 
 * " History of South Africa."— J. Noble. 
 VOL. L R 
 
242 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 To such evidence it was impossible to refuse belief. 
 Some of the heads of tribes and families knew the 
 power of the English, and dreaded the result. But 
 the spell of the mysterious influence was too strong 
 even for the timid or the wise. When the prophetess, 
 from her trance-like calmness, leaped up to speak, 
 the wild grandeur of her appearance and the glow- 
 ing passion of her words carried away the people 
 like a torrent, and with one consent the Kafir tribes 
 obeyed. 
 
 Perhaps there never was a more remarkable illus- 
 tration of the overwhelming power of popular belief, 
 however erroneous, than this episode in the history of 
 South Africa. Were it not that the records are beyond 
 doubt or suspicion, and vouched by the bodies of 
 thousands who perished by famine, it would be difficult 
 to believe that solely in reliance on the ravings of a 
 demented girl a whole nation should destroy its means 
 of subsistence, and enter upon a desperate war. Com- 
 pared with this, the burning of their ships by the 
 Greeks before Troy is but feeble and trifling. 
 
 Sir George Grey received from time to time news of 
 these strange proceedings. Without undue haste or 
 apparent anxiety he made all the necessary military 
 preparations. 
 
 The frontier to be defended was vast in extent, nor 
 did he know where the attack might be delivered. 
 Directing General Mitchell to take up a line of posts, 
 he himself proceeded beyond the limits of the British 
 territory, and visited in person localities and people 
 already under the sway of the prophetess. His person 
 was sacred, at any rate until war was actually com- 
 menced, and he was acquainted with every chief 
 of note throughout Kaffraria. No stone was left 
 unturned in his efforts to expose the folly of which 
 the tribes were guilty. In plain and vigorous Ian- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 243 
 
 guage the Governor pointed out the fatal nature of 
 the steps already being taken, and the certainty that 
 the order for destruction would not be universally 
 obeyed, and when famine came those still retaining 
 cattle and food would be pillaged, and thus civil war 
 and mutual strife would arise among themselves ; 
 whilst their efforts against the English would be vain. 
 It was useless. Every breeze bore the stench of 
 slaughtered cattle, every day beheld the mounting 
 wreaths of smoke from burning kraals ; already, before 
 a solitary blow had been struck, famine began to 
 weaken the strongest, and the hand of death to weed 
 out the feeble and the young. 
 
 Meanwhile the mountain passes and the river fords 
 were jealously guarded, and the last line of frontier 
 diligently patrolled. 
 
 At last the crisis came. Maddened by excitement, 
 the Kafir tribes determined to attack. General Mit- 
 chell, anxious for the safety of his widely dispersed 
 forces, made the preparations necessary for falling 
 back upon a more central and concentrated line upon 
 the Fish River. The Governor was still in the Kafir 
 country, attended only by his guard. Before making 
 any backward movement, General Mitchell wrote to 
 him stating his anxiety and his intentions. The mes- 
 senger reached Sir George's camp at night. The 
 Governor was aroused, the General's note was at once 
 read. This proposed retreat was in the Governor's 
 judgment the very worst and most dangerous step 
 which could be taken. He was not, therefore, called 
 upon to deliberate. He answered the General's letter 
 by a positive command to hold every position, and on 
 no account to show the barbarians in any place a 
 retreating foe. Sir George Grey in his final letter, 
 written on March, 1857, after sketching his own plans, 
 thus speaks : — 
 
 R 2 
 
244 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 If war takes place, I believe that this line of proceeding will be 
 the proper one : but I am, moreover, quite satisfied that our 
 maintaining at the present time that bold and resolute front, which 
 I am determined shall be maintained (and in which view of the 
 case I am sure the Lieutenant- General, Sir J. Jackson, will 
 thoroughly and heartily concur with me), will go very far towards 
 preventing a war, and compelling the Kaffirs to respect an 
 enemy who, they will see, is thoroughly prepared to meet them.— 
 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 G. Grey. 
 
 On this occasion his message was short and decisive. 
 In half an hour the messenger had vanished, the 
 Governor had resumed his slumbers, and the conduct 
 of the expected war was settled. 
 
 Sir George Grey returned, but, while returning, 
 struck an effective blow. By a clever combination of 
 secret movements, skilfully executed, and with great 
 daring, he captured the two or three principal chiefs, 
 and thus broke the neck of the confederacy. The 
 Kafirs, with no one to lead the intended invasion, 
 began to starve. Pale death reigned there in dreadful 
 silence. It is said that fifty thousand Kafirs died of 
 starvation. Their villages became vast charnel houses, 
 and stank with unburied corpses. 
 
 Then came into full play the wisdom and humanity 
 of the Governor. Far and wide he despatched relief 
 parties, and rescued the remnants of the tribes from 
 destruction. Thirty-four thousand of them he brought 
 into the Cape, and distributed them among the colon- 
 ists as servants for specified terms of years and for 
 specified wages. For the remainder he built villages, 
 surveyed fields, provided food, implements, seeds, and 
 cattle, and settled them in British Kaffraria in well- 
 ordered communities. 
 
 Pursuing his usual method with regard to native 
 peoples, Sir George found employment for the Kafirs 
 on various public works. As no one had ever before 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 245 
 
 succeeded in this, and as regular work was utterly- 
 repugnant to the soul of a Kafir, great surprise was 
 felt when the plan worked well. Still more astonish- 
 ing was it when the Governor made the natives pay- 
 taxes. The Kafirs themselves were as much astonished 
 as other people at the remarkable power of the man 
 who had brought about two such changes, as the 
 following little incident shows : 
 
 At a great gathering of the natives, Sir George 
 noticed the women wearing a large number of brass 
 ornaments on their legs. He pointed out the folly of 
 wasting their wages in such an extravagant way, but 
 was answered by one of the chiefs, who rose and told 
 the Governor that he must remember there were limits 
 to human power. " Rest content, O great chief," said 
 he, " with what you have accomplished. You have 
 made us pay taxes. You have made our people work. 
 These things we thought could never be. But think 
 not you can stop women wearing ornaments. If you 
 try to do this, O Governor, you will most surely fail." 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE INDIAN MUTINY AND THE CHINA ARMY. 
 
 " Till old experience do attain 
 To something like prophetic strain." 
 
 Milton. 
 
 Early in August, 1857, when the Kafir outbreak had 
 but just subsided, and the survivors were scarcely- 
 settled in their new homes and locations in British 
 Kaffraria, the Governor was surprised by the visit of 
 a steamer from Bombay, bearing an important mes- 
 sage from Lord Elphinstone. He received an urgent 
 despatch which contained the tidings of the terrible 
 outbreak in India. It detailed the rising at Meerut, 
 the fall of Delhi, and conveyed with startling plain- 
 ness of language, the belief of Lord Elphinstone and 
 his Council, that in a short space of time the whole 
 of the native forces in Central India would be in 
 revolt. 
 
 No time was lost after the receipt of this momen- 
 tous letter. There was in Table Bay a man-of-war. 
 There were also two or three ships available for 
 transports. The nearest troops were mustered and 
 prepared for embarkation. Two batteries of the Royal 
 Artillery were sent on board ship. A large quantity 
 of ammunition and military stores were shipped. 
 Horses also were procured. Within three days the 
 man-of-war and transports sailed, and a commence- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 247 
 
 ment had been made towards the assistance of India 
 which proved invaluable. 
 
 It was a singular coincidence that within a few 
 days of the receipt of Lord Elphinstone's despatch, 
 transports containing a portion of the army then 
 being sent to Lord Elgin to act in conjunction with 
 the P'rench in China, arrived at Simon's Bay. Know- 
 ing something of the character of Lord Elphinstone, 
 and being alive to the necessity under such circum- 
 stances of immediate action, Sir George did not hesi- 
 tate to take upon himself extreme responsibility in 
 the crisis which had arisen. He invited the officer in 
 command, the gallant Colonel Adrian Hope, to 
 Government House, and laid before him the despatch 
 which he had received from Bombay. He then urged 
 upon his consideration the advisability of a change in 
 the intended line of the voyage which should enable 
 the troops to report themselves at Calcutta, so that 
 their services might be available in Bengal, if the 
 calamity which threatened India were as serious as 
 he believed. 
 
 The commanding officer was not disposed to disobey 
 his own orders. A treaty had been made with France, 
 by which the armed forces of both powers were to 
 co-operate against the Chinese Government. Should 
 the French at once take an aggressive position, and 
 the English troops by delay fail to appear in their 
 support, a grave misunderstanding would be caused ; 
 and should any unforeseen disaster to the French arms 
 thus arise, the officer held that he would be certainly 
 subjected to censure. 
 
 The Governor allowed due weight to the arguments 
 used, but again strongly pressed the immediate peril 
 of the British Government in India as giving a just 
 reason for any delay which might necessarily ensue. 
 Finally, he decided that, possessing full powers as 
 
248 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Governor and High Commissioner in that portion of 
 the continent, it was his duty to afford all possible 
 assistance to the cause of Great Britain in India, and 
 that he should require the officers commanding the 
 various vessels conveying troops to China to report 
 themselves at Calcutta, leaving upon them the respon- 
 sibility of refusing. 
 
 In his belief a new and unparalleled event had taken 
 place in the history of the empire, which threatened 
 disasters it was impossible to over-estimate. He held 
 that in the presence of such an emergency all pre- 
 cedents regulating the proceedings of the troops had 
 become obsolete and inapplicable, and that it behoved 
 the officers holding high powers in every part of the 
 empire who could aid in such an emergency, at once 
 to frame rules suited to the crisis which had arisen, 
 and to act upon them. 
 
 Besides this, the voyage to Calcutta would only 
 take them a few days' sail from Singapore, which lay 
 in their direct route. The deviation would make no 
 material difference in the time of their arrival in China 
 if the service in India did not require them. 
 
 This settled the matter. The military officers re- 
 quired from Sir George Grey his command in writing 
 for this deviation from their orders in London, to 
 authorise their voyage to Calcutta. The commands 
 were given. The responsibility, though great, was 
 willingly accepted by Sir George Grey ; and the 
 various officers, who, led by Colonel Hope, nobly 
 acquiesced, set sail with the troops. A swift steamer 
 was sent to cruise to and fro for any other transports 
 conveying the China army which might be passing 
 the Cape, to communicate the same orders, and to 
 inform the officers that their comrades had preceded 
 them to the Hooghley. 
 
 This reinforcement, in the words of Lord Malmes- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 249 
 
 bury, " probably saved India." * At the same time 
 Sir George Grey sent a letter of apology and expla- 
 nation to Lord Elgin, to which, however, he received 
 no answer. These were the troops which arrived in 
 India in time to enable Sir Colin Campbell to relieve 
 Havelock at Lucknow. Had they been allowed to 
 pass the Cape and to go on upon their voyage to 
 China, Sir Colin Campbell would have been unable to 
 make his celebrated march, Havelock and his forces 
 would have shared the fate of General Wheeler at 
 Cawnpore, and India must either have been aban- 
 doned or reconquered. 
 
 When the first detachment of the China army 
 reached Calcutta, Lord Elgin was at Singapore wait- 
 ing for the passage of his troops to the land of the 
 Celestials. It is said that while at dinner one evening 
 with his staff, a man-of-war commanded by Captain 
 Peel came into the harbour, bringing despatches from 
 the Governor-General. Probably Sir George Grey's 
 letter was amongst them. He thus learned that his 
 troops, without his authority, were already mustering 
 under Sir Colin Campbell for the relief of Havelock. 
 Lord Elgin rose from the table, and retiring, read his 
 correspondence. For two or three hours he was heard 
 walking to and fro on the balcony. He then went on 
 board with Captain Peel, and steamed up the Bay of 
 Bengal. He subsequently gave cordial assistance to 
 Lord Canning. 
 
 The excitement in England when the tidings of the 
 mutiny arrived was intense. Every movement was 
 scanned with breathless interest. Lord Malmesbury, 
 in his memoirs, thus writes : — " No f instructions had 
 
 * " Memoirs of an ex-Minister," by Lord Malmesbury, voL ii., 
 p. 25. 
 
 t The word " No " is evidently a misprint, as the sense of the 
 succeeding clause and the whole passage is opposed to it. 
 
2 50 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 been transmitted to the Indian Government directing 
 that the troops embarked for China should be em- 
 ployed in India, and the Governor-General had sent 
 his orders to Ceylon to direct the forces on their 
 arrival there to proceed to India. He had sent a 
 requisition to Lord Elgin to despatch troops, but Lord 
 Elgin had no instructions to comply. Whether he 
 would deem the case so pressing as to induce him to 
 do so on his own responsibility remains to be seen." 
 
 In a foot-note. Lord Malmesbury writes of the 
 answer to this appeal : — " Lord Elgin, to his eternal 
 honour, complied with Lord Canning's request, and this 
 accidental reinforcement probably saved India." 
 
 No public mention was made of the fact that this 
 timely and invaluable aid was rendered, not in the 
 first instance by Lord Elgin, but by the exercise of a 
 great responsibility on the part of Sir George Grey. On 
 the 7th August, while the troops were just starting for 
 Calcutta, Sir George transmitted a despatch to Mr. 
 Labouchere, fully recounting the whole of the circum- 
 stances, and trusting that the extraordinary steps he 
 had taken would meet with the approval of the Queen. 
 Not only was he able to state that he had taken upon 
 himself to send Lord Elgin's army to India, he also 
 informed the Ministry that he had sent with them the 
 Royal Artillery, fully horsed, great quantities of mili- 
 tary stores, and sixty thousand pounds in specie from 
 the Cape Treasury, besides a number of horses for 
 cavalry and artillery. In the same despatch he in- 
 formed Mr. Labouchere that he should take immediate 
 steps to afford still further substantial assistance to 
 Her Majesty's Government in India, and that the 
 people at the Cape were eager to assist in every way 
 possible. In due course he received the following 
 private acknowledgment from Mr. Labouchere in 
 correspondence : — 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 251 
 
 October i6th, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have just received your private letter, as well as 
 your despatch of the 7th of August. I have read with the greatest 
 satisfaction the account you give of the prompt and energetic 
 measures which you have adopted to assist the Indian Govern- 
 ment in the present crisis of their affairs. I am confident that 
 Her Majesty and my colleagues will fully appreciate the zeal and 
 public spirit with which you have acted on this occasion. 
 
 I have not yet had time to read your despatch with care, but as 
 some opportunity may occur for sending this note to you before I 
 finally answer it, I have thought it best at once to write. 
 
 The account you give of the feelings and behaviour of the 
 colonists is most gratifying. — Always yours sincerely, 
 
 W. Labouchere. 
 
 The accounts which we have received from India speak with the 
 utmost gratitude of your exertions in their behalf. 
 
 October 20th, 1857. 
 
 My dear Sir, — In writing to me on the subject of your last 
 despatch, the Queen has commanded me to express to you in a 
 private letter " her high personal appreciation of your services, 
 and her gratification at the loyalty of her subjects at the Cape." 
 You will at the same time receive Her Majesty's approbation of 
 the measures you have adopted in an official form. — Always yours 
 sincerely, 
 
 W. Labouchere. 
 
 Long before the receipt of the Queen's acknowledg- 
 ment of his services, the Governor had added mate- 
 rially to the aid which he had already afforded to 
 Lord Canning. Knowing that artillery and cavalry 
 would be necessary, he purchased and despatched 
 from time to time all the available horses at the Cape ; 
 for this purpose dismounting much of his own cavalry 
 and sending his artillery horses, as well as the horses 
 from his own private stables, and from those of many 
 colonists who were eager to give assistance. Great 
 stores of food for the men and for the cattle, and large 
 
252 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 quantities of ammunition and military material, were 
 despatched to India in a continuous stream. 
 
 This was all done without any authority from the 
 Home Government, and simply upon Sir George 
 Grey's own belief that it was necessary for the safety 
 of the empire. 
 
 These active measures were watched with the 
 keenest interest and delight by Her Majesty and the 
 Prince Consort. In a letter to Mr. C. J. McCarthy on 
 the 24th of October, 1857, Lord Houghton writes : 
 
 "I hear the Queen is in great admiration of Sir 
 George Grey at the Cape, having sent his carriage 
 horses to India and going afoot." * What the Queen 
 really admired was the whole conduct of the Governor, 
 the troops, the horses, the specie, the artillery and the 
 munitions of war, the China army, and the continued 
 reinforcements of every kind, sent in the face of the 
 evident disbelief of Lord Canning in their necessity or 
 the gravity of the crisis which had arisen in India, 
 and in spite of his assertions that he wanted nothing 
 but a few horses, and that it was a mistake to suppose 
 the outbreak a mutiny. 
 
 Ministers in London said nothing. They regarded 
 coldly the efforts made by the Governor at the Cape. 
 The Queen and Prince Albert alone perceived and 
 appreciated the value of the services rendered by Sir 
 George Grey. Yet these steps were taken against 
 the advice of the Governor-General, and at a fearful 
 personal risk. 
 
 He had now been nearly three years in South 
 Africa. He had become well acquainted with the 
 necessities and desires of its different races, and he 
 knew by experience the methods of government 
 likely to succeed. His word was law. In his good 
 
 • "Life, Letters and Friendships of R. M. Milnes, first Lord 
 Houghton." Vol. IL, p. 20. 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 253 
 
 faith the native chiefs placed implicit confidence. 
 None dared to oppose his will for two reasons. That 
 will was certain to be properly directed, and seemed 
 always victorious. At this tremendous crisis in 
 Eastern affairs, Grey resolved to trust to his own 
 personal influence for the maintenance of govern- 
 ment in South Africa, and to despatch, squadron by 
 squadron, nearly the whole of his military forces 
 for the restoration of our supremacy in Hindostan. 
 Before acting upon such a resolution he determined 
 to take into his confidence the great native chiefs, 
 to enlist their sympathy, and to obtain from them 
 assurances that peace should be preserved on all his 
 frontiers. 
 
 He immediately started upon a visit to the head- 
 quarters of the different chiefs, to lay before them his 
 plans, for he felt convinced that if, upon a full state- 
 ment of the facts, they gave a solemn assurance of 
 fidelity, no evil results need be feared. He traversed 
 those vast and wild regions by night and day. More 
 than once, travelling at night, he slept in the saddle, 
 closely supported on either side by orderlies told off 
 for the purpose. 
 
 Many and varied were the interesting scenes which 
 he witnessed. He climbed the well-nigh inaccessible 
 heights of Thaba-Bosigo to see the great chief 
 Moshesh. The old warrior was ill in bed. His chiefs 
 and head men were called together, and the Governor 
 was ushered in. A huge wooden four-post bedstead, 
 carted from one of the frontier towns with great 
 trouble, nearly filled the small room in which Moshesh 
 lay. Propped up with pillows, and wrapped in 
 blankets, the Basuto chief welcomed the Governor. 
 His council sat round on the immense bedstead, or 
 squatted on the floor. 
 
 After the welcomes had been finished, Sir George 
 
254 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Grey entered on the subject of his visit. He told his 
 audience of the mutiny in India, of the necessity 
 which existed for immediate assistance being given 
 there to the government of the Queen. He told them 
 plainly and frankly of his own fixed resolution to send 
 every man and horse that could be spared out of 
 Africa, and he asked an assurance from Moshesh and 
 his chiefs that they would loyally assist him to main- 
 tain order and to preserve peace. The African chief 
 was cunning as well as brave, but with Sir George 
 Grey he felt that he could speak unreservedly. He 
 gave the Governor, therefore, an absolute assurance 
 of his friendship, and assented without hesitation to 
 the propositions made. His chiefs followed in the 
 same strain. 
 
 Thus at the different kraals and strongholds of the 
 native tribes Sir George obtained promises of sym- 
 pathy, and in some of assistance. Not one of these 
 promises was broken. South Africa, which for thirty 
 years had been a scene of commotion, of tumult, and 
 of strife, saw the withdrawal of the armed forces of 
 the crown without one solitary rising against the 
 authority of the stranger. For many years after Sir 
 George Grey left the shores of Africa profound peace 
 remained there. Only after the lapse of nearly twenty 
 years, when at last his policy was broken, and the 
 rules laid down by him disobeyed, disturbances again 
 commenced, and the fires of war were relighted. 
 
 Thus all South Africa reposed peacefully while the 
 desperate struggle was proceeding in Bengal, and 
 tribes once savage in their hatred of the English 
 Government gave the great Queen and her Governor 
 their sympathy. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to point out that the cares 
 inseparable from the government of troublesome South 
 Africa had to be borne, besides those great peculiar 
 
FIRST GOVEIUSrORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 255 
 
 burdens, which added their weight to the ordinary 
 tasks of the Governor's daily life. Teaching and 
 training mixed communities of Dutch, English, and 
 natives in the forms of representative government and 
 free institutions, promoting and fostering education 
 and all philanthropic plans, never ceasing in the 
 prosecution of scientific research and of literary attain- 
 ments, free in hospitality and abounding in charitable 
 deeds, Sir George Grey's name and memory stamp 
 themselves in the history of South Africa. 
 
 The most serious obstacles both to his success and 
 happiness arose from the actions of the Imperial 
 Government. With that dogged and ignorant per- 
 sistence of opposition which the War Office and the 
 Colonial Office had so frequently shown to great plans 
 and wise proposals, the officials in Downing Street 
 and Pall Mall continued to thwart Sir George Grey, 
 to administer severe rebukes, always undeserved, to 
 limit unjustly his means of usefulness, and to break 
 solemn promises made to him and the colonists, upon 
 the faith of which serious responsibilities had been 
 incurred by the settlers themselves. 
 
 During the height of the excitement attendant upon 
 the mutiny, several chiefs of Wanganui and other 
 tribes in New Zealand, wrote to Sir George offering 
 to raise one or two regiments of Maoris for service in 
 India. Their request was forwarded by him to London, 
 together with his opinion upon it. Sir George had no 
 hesitation in advising Her Majesty's Government to 
 accept the service of the New Zealanders. He based 
 his counsel on several grounds. They were excellent 
 fighting men — every Maori was a born soldier. They 
 would become, by service in India, firm in their 
 loyalty. The survivors, receiving decorations and 
 military pensions, would naturally cling to the govern- 
 ment of the Queen in case of disturbances in New 
 
256 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Zealand. And the Governor reminded Ministers that 
 the Maoris being essentially fond of war, and their 
 tribal conflicts having been stopped by the Govern- 
 ment, unless they were enabled to expend their war- 
 like energies in our service, they might possibly turn 
 them against ourselves. 
 
 The result was not what the chiefs desired — nor 
 was it what Sir George Grey expected. A decided 
 refiisal was given to the proposition, and Ministers 
 drew a parallel between the suggested employment 
 of Maoris in India and that historic employment of 
 the Red Indians against the colonists of America, 
 which had roused the righteous anger of the great 
 Chatham in his dying hours. The words of the 
 Governor were prophetic. In four years the great 
 Maori war had commenced. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE GERMAN LEGION. 
 
 " Life, when it is real, is not evanescent : is not slight : does 
 not vanish away. Every noble life leaves the fibre of it interwoven 
 for ever in the work of the world ; by so much evermore the 
 strength of the human race has gained ; more stubborn in the 
 root, higher towards heaven in the branch." — Ruskin. 
 
 During the American and Continental wars at the 
 close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nine- 
 teenth centuries, Great Britain had retained the ser- 
 vices of considerable bodies of German and othe-" 
 Continental troops. These had at length become a 
 permanent part of the British army, under the name 
 of the German Legion. The existence of this foreign 
 element had become obnoxious, and it was finally 
 determined to get rid of it. This was done ; but 
 during the Russian war Baron von Stutterheim pro- 
 posed to the Government again to raise a German 
 Legion. The offer was accepted, and then with the 
 consent of Parliament a new force was raised, prin- 
 cipally from the German seaports, for this particular 
 war. 
 
 At the close of the campaign these men were moved 
 to England and placed in quarters. They feared to 
 return to their native towns lest they should be 
 punished. Seme of them were almost necessarily 
 lawless and violent characters, possessing the materials 
 for good soldiers, but likely to be very troublesome in 
 
 VOL, I. S 
 
258 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 English towns and villages. Troubles soon threatened 
 to arise between them and the English population 
 amongst whom they lived. The question, What was 
 to be done with these men ? demanded an immediate 
 answer. 
 
 At length the Government, after numerous schemes 
 had been discussed, proposed to the Cape Legislature 
 that the men of the German Legion should become 
 military settlers at the Cape, kept enrolled for service 
 in Kaffraria, with separate houses and pieces of land 
 for their officers and for themselves. Their military 
 ti-aining would be useful in case of war, and they 
 would unite the wealth-producing capacity of labour 
 with the security of a military guard. 
 
 Sir George Grey was instructed to invite the 
 acquiescence of the Cape Parliament. He did so. 
 Correspondence ensued upon the subject. The Cape 
 people, remembering that the great majority of these 
 soldiers were unmarried, required a guarantee that 
 they should be accompanied or immediately followed 
 by German families containing sufficient numbers of 
 young women among whom they could find wives, 
 and thus become permanent and successful colonists. 
 Sir George was instructed to give the necessary 
 pledge to this effect to the Colonial Legislature. This 
 also he did. In all good faith, the Cape Parliament 
 then consented. 
 
 The German Legion were sent to Africa, but the 
 promise of the English Government that they should 
 be accompanied or followed by German families and 
 young women was not fulfilled. The proportion of 
 females actually sent by Government only amounted 
 to about one to eight of the soldiers, who were settled 
 over a long line of frontier, extending from East 
 London to a point near Queenstown. 
 
 Seeing that the promises made by the Home Govern- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 259 
 
 ment were bfoken, the Legislature at the Cape 
 represented to the Governor that it was the duty of 
 the English Government to carry out their contract 
 with the colony. Correspondence was entered into 
 between the Cape and Downing Street. All efforts 
 to induce the Colonial Office and the War Office to 
 redeem their solemn pledges were vain. Evasive 
 replies, denials of responsibility, repudiation of 
 covenants entered into at the request of Her Majesty's 
 Ministers, were the only result. Downing Street 
 refused to perform its part of the bargain and to send 
 the German families to South Africa. 
 
 Meanwhile, large numbers of the disbanded soldiers 
 had been located. Among them, some were unable 
 to find employment — some were unwilling to work. 
 The German Legion, though including many able men 
 and skilful and excellent officers, had on occasions 
 been recruited from the rougher classes of Continental 
 towns. Without homes, therefore, and without the 
 opportunity of making homes and becoming married 
 men, many of these formed a floating and unsettled 
 population, whose members caused anxiety in many 
 parts of the frontier. Thrown back upon his own 
 devices, Sir George Grey resolved to attempt the fulfil- 
 ment of the Imperial promises, through the Government 
 of British Kaffraria. In August 1857, as High Com- 
 missioner in that province, he entered into a contract 
 with a German merchant of Capetown, M. William 
 Berg, and through him with the eminent firm of 
 GodefFroi in Hamburg, for the introduction of German 
 families, numbering in all four thousand souls, at 
 certain specified rates. 
 
 The Government of Kaffraria was to pay for the 
 passage of these emigrants by debentures. Land was 
 to be provided for the new colonists at a certain fixed 
 price, and in fixed quantities for men, women and 
 
 S 2 
 
2 6o FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 children. Houses were to be built, and all necessary 
 implements and rations for twelve months supplied. 
 Interest upon this expenditure was to be charged and 
 ultimately paid, together with the principal, by each 
 of the colonists. The emigrants were to repay to the 
 Government of Kaffraria the cost of their passages 
 and the cost of the land, one-fifth after four years, and 
 the remainder spread over equal terms of the fifth, 
 sixth, seventh, and eighth years after landing in the 
 colony. By these means the Governor trusted to 
 neutralise the disastrous consequences arising from 
 the failure of the Home Government to send out 
 families to accompany the men of the Legion. 
 Stringent conditions as to character and physical 
 capacity were also attached to the examination of 
 these intending emigrants. 
 
 The contracts were duly made, and amidst great 
 rejoicings, the first batch of German colonists was 
 landed at East London. The success of this new 
 venture filled the Governor with delight. The mar- 
 riageable women among the new comers were eagerly 
 sought for, the families themselves became rapidly 
 settled in their new homes, and the simple and com- 
 mon-sense expedient adopted, seemed destined to 
 turn many of the roving and unsettled Germans into 
 peaceful and prosperous colonists. 
 
 Suddenly the Governor and the Cape Parliament 
 were astounded by the receipt of a despatch from 
 Downing Street, refusing to allow the introduction of 
 any more foreign families, on the ground that it was 
 contrary to national policy. In a spirited and digni- 
 fied reply. Sir George Grey answered Lord Stanley's 
 despatch, drawing the noble lord's attention to the 
 circumstances under which the German Legion had 
 been admitted to the Cape Colony. Sir George stated 
 that, "In the clearest language they had pledged 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 261 
 
 themselves to the colony that if it would receive the 
 German Legion, containing so many doubtful charac- 
 ters, it should be accompanied here by a large pro- 
 portion of females. I, the Queen's Representative, 
 acting under the instructions of Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, repeated formally this pledge to the Colonial 
 Legislature. It was, however, not fulfilled, and in 
 consequence, serious evils threatened, still threaten, 
 and in fact have in part fallen on South Africa. I 
 saw that I could retrieve this misfortune at no ex- 
 pense to Great Britain, and I strove to do it." 
 
 The original proposition made by the Imperial 
 Government was that eight thousand soldiers of the 
 German Legion should be accompanied by wives and 
 families, which would have made a population of 
 upwards of twenty thousand. The national policy, 
 therefore, enunciated by the Home authorities, was 
 distinctly a limited German colonisation, upon the 
 faith of which the Cape Legislature had given its 
 assent. Communications between the Cape and 
 Downing Street became somewhat bitter, until at last 
 Sir George Grey having had to point out in several 
 instances the mistakes and contradictions of the 
 Colonial Office, Sir E. B. Lytton, who had succeeded 
 Lord Stanley as Colonial Secretary, wrote on the ist 
 ot October, 1858 : "There can, of course, be no doubt 
 that the meaning of the passage was such as you 
 have explained." 
 
 The German immigration was partially completed 
 and eminently successful. Different parties arrived 
 in the years 1858 and 1859. An Emigration Board 
 was formed, which reported most favourably on the 
 immigrants, and aided them in settling in their new 
 homes. 
 
 Upon Sir George Grey's recall to England in 1859, 
 another phase of this question appeared. He was 
 
2 62 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 summoned from his breakfast table one morning in 
 London to see a gentleman who had just arrived from 
 the Continent upon urgent business. This visitor 
 proved to be a leading member of the firm of Go- 
 deffroi & Co. That great house was receiving payment 
 for the equipment and passage of the German emi- 
 grants in debentures of British Kaffraria. It found 
 those debentures unsaleable upon the market, in con- 
 sequence of the stern disapproval of the English 
 Government. This gentleman had, therefore, come to 
 London for the sole purpose of informing Sir George 
 Grey that Godeffroi & Co. must obtain;;^ 20,000 on that 
 day or they would be unable to continue the con- 
 tract, and would suffer a serious loss in consequence 
 of efforts to carry out with skill and faithfulness a 
 useful plan of colonisation, which had already been 
 eminently successful. 
 
 Sir George was distressed. He felt that it was 
 useless to apply to the Colonial Office. His only 
 alternative was to act upon his own responsibility 
 with his own funds, or see a promising and beneficent 
 experiment come to an impotent conclusion. He 
 made up his mind to advance the ;^2o,ooo himself. 
 On his way to his bankers in the city he met a rela- 
 tive of his own, the head of another great banking 
 house. In the course of conversation the circum- 
 stances of his errand were told. To his astonishment 
 and delight, his relative not only expressed great 
 interest in the subject of the German emigration and 
 settlement of the German Legion in South Africa, 
 but concluded by saying, "Don't go any further, 
 George. Come with me to our house and draw a 
 cheque for the _^20,ooo. Godeffroi shall receive the 
 money, and you can arrange for the payment at your 
 leisure." 
 
 Sir George accepted this generous and unexpected 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 263 
 
 offer. The cheque was duly drawn. The Messrs. 
 Godeffroi received the ;^20,ooo, their agent steamed 
 back to Hamburg, and the final parties of emigrants 
 went joyfully upon their way. The Kaffrarian 
 debentures were duly met, and every pound of 
 the money for which these colonists became liable 
 was paid to the Government of Kaffraria by 
 them. 
 
 More than thirty years afterwards, in the early 
 part of 1890, the survivors of the original colonists, 
 and their children and grandchildren, a prosperous 
 and happy people, met Sir Henry Loch on his visit 
 to Kaffraria and Natal, and expressed to him the 
 acknowledgment of their love and gratitude to the 
 Kaffrarian Government for its unbounded kindness 
 to them and to their fathers. "!!■■'-> 
 
 The efforts made to provide homes and families for 
 the German Legion had, however, only been partially 
 successful, because only partially permitted. There 
 still remained members whose presence, instead of 
 being a safeguard to the frontier, kept it in a con- 
 tinual state of alarm. At this time (1858), although 
 the troops were pouring into India from different 
 parts of the world, danger had arisen in a quarter not 
 before seriously menaced. It became known to Lord 
 Elphinstone and his Council in Bombay that in that 
 city and Presidency a serious rising was to be appre- 
 hended at a certain religious festival. The troops 
 from Bombay had passed over into Bengal and 
 Oude. 
 
 Lord Elphinstone casting abroad for assistance, 
 thought of the fertile H-esources of the Governor of the 
 Cape. He knew that South Africa had been pretty 
 well drained, but he knew also that Grey was a man 
 of strange devices, and most fertile in resource, and 
 that with some hope at any rate he might ask him for 
 
264 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 assistance. He therefore sent another urgent appeal 
 to Cape Town. 
 
 Sir George Grey, ever anxious about Indian matters, 
 determined at once upon a plan, which, though strange, 
 and in ordinary circumstances unlawful and subversive 
 of the Constitution, seemed to him at the time, and 
 under the peculiar conjunction of events, to be wise 
 and expedient. He resolved upon his own authority 
 to re-enroll all the men of the German Legion willing 
 to follow the standard, to commission the officers 
 afresh, and to forward them immediately to Bombay. 
 With him, to form a decision was also to carry that 
 decision into action. 
 
 A proclamation was issued ; the men were invited 
 to enlist. The invitations were readily accepted. 
 Eager for war, adventure, and perhaps plunder, the 
 men of the German Legion flocked by hundreds to 
 the appointed depots. They were enrolled, officers 
 were commissioned, flags were given, and in a few 
 weeks a detachment, shortly followed by others, set 
 sail for India. The first body arrived in the very nick 
 of time. Their disembarkation at Bombay, with flags 
 and military music, "in all the pomp and circum- 
 stance of war," was hailed with an intense feeling of 
 relief by the Governor and the whole of the European 
 inhabitants. Company after company was forwarded, 
 until at length there only remained in South Africa 
 those who had made homes for themselves, and had 
 settled down to the peaceful life of the frontier settle- 
 ments. 
 
 The Germans in India, their officers properly re- 
 commissioned, and the men freshly enrolled, were of 
 signal service to the Government ; and although this 
 bold act of Sir George's drew from Ministers a sharp 
 acknowledgment, containing a covert threat, not only 
 of censure but of punishment, so valuable had been 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 265 
 
 the reinforcements, and so warm was the gratitude 
 expressed by the Bombay Government, that the 
 matter was allowed peacefully to drop. 
 
 Whilst the bitter correspondence between Sir George 
 Grey and the Colonial Office upon the subject of the 
 German Legion was proceeding, another matter of 
 equal, if not greater, importance also threatened to 
 disturb the amicable relations which should have sub- 
 sisted between the Crown and its dependency. Sir 
 George Grey had sent live thousand troops to India, 
 and had weakened himself in Africa, avowedly to aid 
 the Indian Government. The cost of the government 
 of British Kaffraria had been considerably increased 
 by the necessities which were created after the sur- 
 vivors of the Kafir nation had been brought in. All 
 Sir George's actions in relation to the Kafir outbreak, 
 consequent upon the wonderful prophecy, had met 
 with the warmest approval of the Home Government. 
 On August 5th, 1857, the Secretary for the Colonies, 
 Mr. Labouchere (afterwards Lord Taunton), wrote 
 thus : — 
 
 " I have just left the House of Commons, where we 
 have been discussing the vote for ;^ 40,000 for the 
 Kafirs. It was carried by a large majority. Your 
 conduct was praised by every one who spoke, and I 
 assure you it is duly appreciated by the Government 
 who derive so much advantage from it at this 
 juncture." 
 
 Sir George's prompt action, also, at the very time 
 when this despatch was written in London, in regard 
 to the Indian Mutiny, met with public approval. 
 
 In February, 1858, a new ministry came into power, 
 and in May of that year Lord Stanley informed 
 Sir George Grey that the annual grant for British 
 Kaffraria for 1858 would be reduced from ^40,000 to 
 ^20,000. At this time half the year was passed. 
 
2 66 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 The cost of civil government — gaols, police, hospitals, 
 justice, education, etc. — demanded the whole of the 
 ;^4o,ooo, on which the expenditure was based. Almost 
 denuded of troops, with forty thousand strange Kaiirs 
 just brought within its boundaries, dependent for the 
 peace of the country upon the smoothness and regu- 
 larity with which the functions of government could 
 be carried on, the representative of the Crown, and 
 the sole governing power of KafFraria, was informed 
 by the Imperial Government in June that his supplies 
 for the year were already spent, and he could receive 
 no more. 
 
 The announcement came upon Sir George Grey 
 with the suddenness- of a thunder-clap. No word of 
 advice as to how the affairs of a British province 
 under military occupation were to be administered 
 without funds, was given. No authority to draw 
 upon the Imperial Government was transmitted. 
 
 Whilst the British Government was, by votes from 
 Parliament, conducting the administration of the 
 conquered province of Kaffraria, Sir George Grey 
 had, by the authority of the Home Government, 
 entered into treaties with the native chiefs (whose 
 revenues were derived from the fees and fines of the 
 Courts of Justice in which they sat) that they should 
 accept stipulated salaries to be paid to them at settled 
 short periods for their services in the courts in which 
 they presided, in lieu of the fees and fines previously 
 paid to them. They were also, by the terms of such 
 treaties, to allow a British Resident or Magistrate to 
 sit as an assessor with themselves. The effect of this 
 arrangement was to secure from the Kafir chiefs, an 
 admission that they were salaried chiefs acting under 
 the authority of a superior whose supremacy they 
 recognized. 
 
 Sir George Grey had concluded these solemn 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 267 
 
 undertakings, and he was now required without any 
 previous warning to break the treaty with each of the 
 chiefs, all of whom had faithfully adhered to their 
 engagements. He felt that it was unfair to expect 
 that he, the great servant of the Crown, who had 
 concluded these engagements, should be called upon 
 to break them. 
 
 Driven in this instance, also, to rely solely upon 
 himself, and his own means, the Queen's Commissioner 
 had but one avenue of escape from the terrible diffi- 
 culties of his position. He paid into the Treasury to 
 the public account of British Kaffraria, the sum of 
 six thousand pounds of his own private moneys. 
 Then using as much economy as was consistent with 
 safety, he carried on the Government of British 
 Kaffraria with these funds. Earnest remonstrances 
 were at the same time sent to England, but the 
 danger was averted, and this act, on the part of the 
 Commissioner and Governor, saved British Kaffraria 
 from confusion and peril. Sir George Grey simply 
 alluded to the circumstance in a despatch. 
 
 Some two years afterwards he received from Sir 
 E. B. Lytton, a letter stating that from a casual 
 expression in one of his (Grey's) despatches, it 
 appeared probable that he had advanced the sum of 
 six thousand pounds of his own money for the public 
 services, under circumstances which clearly rendered 
 it an act of justice in the Government to see that the 
 public repaid the amount, and that if Sir George 
 would certify that such was the case, and would fur- 
 nish the name of his banker in London, the officers of 
 the Treasury would be instructed to make the neces- 
 sary repayment. 
 
 It was after he had returned from England and 
 been re-appointed to the Governorship of the Cape, 
 on the 31st of January, i860, that the Right Honour- 
 
2 68 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 able Chichester Fortescue wrote, stating that the 
 Lord Commissioners of the Treasury had instructed 
 the Paymaster-General to repay to him the sum of 
 six thousand pounds, advanced by him for the public 
 service of British Kaffraria. 
 
 In the importance of these grave affairs. Sir George 
 Grey did not overlook the countless smaller matters 
 ' which called for his attention. Although his advice 
 was seldom taken by the Home Government, his 
 opinion on various matters was continually asked, as 
 in the following two instances : — Sir George Grey was 
 requested by Mr. Labouchere, to make a full report 
 on the subject whether the treaty by which the 
 Transvaal Boers bound themselves to abolish slavery 
 in that territory was enforced or not. Sir George 
 replied in a despatch dated 22nd May, 1856. Mr. 
 Chesson, commenting on this despatch, says : — " He 
 displays a sagacity which is not far removed from 
 prescience." It stated that in his opinion the 
 treaties amount to a declaration on the part of the 
 English that they abandon the coloured races to the 
 mercy of the two Republics, and asserts that the 
 interests of Britain will suffer from such disregard of 
 engagements solemnly entered into. 
 
 Several letters from Sir George Grey, Bart., then 
 principal Secretary for the Colonies, beginning in 
 August, 1854, related to the management of affairs at 
 the Cape, and dealt chiefly with the necessity for 
 making the people accustomed to the idea of self- 
 defence, and alive to the fact that the British Govern- 
 ment intended to withdraw their troops from the 
 eastern frontier. The letters contain many allusions 
 to communications from Sir George Clark, who, after 
 visiting the frontier, awaited Governor Grey's arrival 
 at Cape Town, and whose opinion was unfavourable 
 as to the measures likely to be taken by the legis- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 269 
 
 latures in South Africa to provide for their own 
 safety. 
 
 " While for the present an arrangement has been 
 made for keeping up the actual amount of British 
 forces at the Cape to its present number — about 5,000 
 men — this cannot be looked to as a permanent 
 arrangement, and local means of defence ought 
 undoubtedly to be organised with as little delay as 
 possible."* 
 
 Other demands upon his time were made by native 
 troubles and risings. 
 
 In 1857-8 a fierce quarrel subsisted between the 
 Orange Free State and the Basutos. It arose prin- 
 cipally upon the question of the boundaries of their 
 respective territories. The wily old Moshesh proved 
 himself a full match for the indomitable courage and 
 military skill of the Boers. At length the good 
 offices of the High Commissioner were accepted by 
 the belligerents, and Sir George Grey successfully 
 mediated between them and made peace. 
 
 The question of the dividing line between the 
 territories was left to his decision. In order that 
 there might be no error or mistake in the exact 
 locality of the boundary line. Sir George, taking with 
 him a deputation of the burghers of the Free State 
 and several Basuto chiefs, traversed the boundary, 
 leaving marks, either of natural features of the 
 country or artificial stations, by which the line should 
 be for ever distinguished. 
 
 In after years he related with glee the manner in 
 which he had led the stout and heavy Boers up well- 
 nigh inaccessible hills and down the faces of preci- 
 pices, much to their discomfort. He himself was hardy, 
 and trained to such exploits ; but to the ordinary 
 
 * Letter from Sir G. Grey (Col. Off.) to Sir G. Grey, Governor 
 of Cape Cjlony, January 13th, 1855. 
 
2 70 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Boer such a journey was a thing to be dreaded and 
 remembered. 
 
 A treaty was ultimately signed, and the quarrel, 
 which bade fair to be ceaseless and bloody, was 
 permanently disposed of. To one article of the 
 proposed treaty alone did the Basuto chief object. 
 Concerning it he thus wrote : — 
 
 October 4th, 1858. 
 To His Excellency Sir George Grey, 
 
 Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 Sir, — I received your letter last Saturday, and I have heard all 
 that you have said to me, and that you have fought very hard 
 for me, but the Boers did not agree with you ; and I said. Now, 
 
 my good sir, I have no doubt about you. I have found that you 
 have worked very hard for me, and I shall be very glad if you can 
 do as you see it proper, for I put my confidence in you, only what 
 
 1 wish from you is only peace. 
 
 The Lord be with you, so that you will complete your work with 
 great success ; and I agree upon the boundary line which the 
 Boers have brought you to, if Your Excellency is therewith 
 satisfied. 
 
 And about hunting, I am ashamed, therefore pray for me to the 
 Governor of the Free State that they may not lay such a great 
 heavy ban upon my poor people, who have nothing to live on this 
 year, because their hopes of living this time are only in hunting. 
 
 With respect to the other articles, I have signed them at Moria. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE GOVERNOR RECALLED. 
 
 "As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 
 
 Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, 
 Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread. 
 Eternal sunshine settles on its head." 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 The despatches which arrived in the year 1858 were 
 decidedly hostile and antagonistic in tone to the 
 Governor. The Colonial Office was, during this and 
 the year following, ruled by Lord Stanley and Sir 
 E. B. Lytton as principal secretaries, and Lord 
 Carnarvon as political under-secretary. Earl Car- 
 narvon's connection with the Colonial Office, through- 
 out, from first to last, seems to have been a course of 
 enmity against Sir George Grey. Sir E. B. Lytton, 
 owing to illness, interfered but little in the work of 
 the Colonial Office. The despatches from the Governor 
 to Downing Street contain many allusions to the un- 
 just and severe censures which he recived. 
 
 " If," writes Sir George Grey, " virtual censures are 
 continually recorded against me by one department 
 of the State when I am right, what hope is there for 
 me if, in the difficulties with which I am daily beset, 
 I commit some error ? And how can those who are 
 not acquainted with the real state of the case think 
 otherwise, even when I am right, than that I must 
 have acted wrongly to be so censured ? " 
 
2 72 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 So fierce at last became the attacks upon Sir George 
 Grey, that on June 23, 1858, he wrote the following 
 letter to Lord Stanley : — 
 
 My Lord, — In reference to some of the despatches which I have 
 recently received, and which it appears to be thought here, and 
 which (as you will find from my despatch No. gi) it is stated here, 
 it was believed in England, when they were written to me, were 
 of such a nature that they would render it imperative on me to 
 resign my office, I think it right to state that my life has been one 
 of such constant, active duty in remote parts of the world, and I 
 have been so little mixed up in ordinary political affairs, that I 
 am quite ignorant of what may be the conventional rules among 
 public men on such subjects. 
 
 I simply believe, in as far as your lordship is concerned, that if 
 you thought it would be for the advantage of the pubhc service 
 that I should vacate my office, you would in a very straight- 
 forward, although courteous manner, tell me so. 
 
 Yet, lest I should be violating any conventional rules which I 
 do not understand, I beg to tell your lordship that nothing but a 
 sense of duty has made me hold my present office so long as I 
 have done. My life is one of ceaseless toil and anxiety — of long 
 separations from much which makes life valuable to man. I have 
 only remained here because I thought I was useful to Her Majesty 
 and to my country, from an attachment I felt for any duty which 
 I am set to do, and from a personal regard to the very great 
 number of persons in this colony who have helped me in my many 
 difficulties. But when it is thought to be for the advantage of the 
 public service to send me back to private life, I shall cheerfully 
 and gladly make way for a successor. If, therefore, her Majesty's 
 Government desire to remove me, the slightest intimation to that 
 effect from your lordship shall lead to my immediate retirement. 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 Your lordship's most humble servant, 
 
 G. Grey. 
 
 On another occasion he wrote : " I am here beset 
 by cares and difficulties which occupy my mind inces- 
 santly, and wear out my health. I feel that I have 
 conducted Her Majesty's affairs for the advantage of 
 her service, and the welfare of her subjects, whose 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 273 
 
 love, gratitude, and loyalty I have secured for the 
 Queen — and I certainly feel it hard that the reward I 
 should receive should be to have my spirit broken by 
 having accounts which I feel are entitled to the 
 approval of Her Majesty's Government, disallowed, 
 thus throwing me into new difficulties — and that this 
 should be done in the uncourteous manner it is, and 
 in letters which, as an old and loyal government 
 servant, sorely wound my feelings, is still worse." 
 This was in relation to the non-payment for two thou- 
 sand pairs of boots, for the bare feet of the German 
 Legion, which force, indeed, was clearly entitled to 
 them. 
 
 British Kaffraria, however, in spite of Downing 
 Street, throve and prospered. The children of the 
 savages became civilised. The nomadic wanderers 
 became settled agriculturists. Christianity spread 
 its peaceful influence upon their hearts and homes, 
 and when upon the journey alluded to, in 1880, Sir 
 Henry Loch visited that portion of the Queen's 
 dominions, eight thousand of the Kafirs, mounted, 
 armed, wealthy and independent, met him, their new 
 Governor, upon the road ; and they also desired him 
 (the only Governor who had visited them since the 
 time of Grey) to transmit to Sir George, in New 
 Zealand, their everlasting remembrance of his good- 
 ness in the days of old. 
 
 In September, 1858, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, then 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies, sent a private 
 despatch to Governor Grey which commenced thus : 
 
 " Some of your recent despatches, to which it is not 
 necessary that I should particularly advert, have con- 
 veyed to me the expression of an opinion which, as I 
 know, you have frequently urged on Her Majesty's 
 former advisers, namely, that it would be expedient 
 to keep in view the ultimate policy of incorporating 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
2 74 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 British Kaffraria with the Cape Colony, and even, if 
 possible, of uniting all Her Majesty's dominions in 
 South Africa under some common (and of course free) 
 government. 
 
 " If I have in any way misinterpreted your views, 
 you will excuse the inadvertency, as on so complicated 
 and extensive a subject it is possible I may not have 
 thoroughly understood you. 
 
 " The experience which your administration of these 
 dependencies has now given you, added to the ability 
 and political knowledge which you have displayed in 
 former employments, as well as in this, give a high 
 value in the eyes of Her Majesty's Government to 
 the expression of your deliberate sentiments on such 
 a question ; and it appears to me that it is one on 
 which it is highly desirable, however diihcult, that a 
 definite understanding should be arrived at." 
 
 The despatch in which Sir George Grey answered 
 the private communication of the 6th of September 
 is one of the most important State documents ever 
 penned by him. Its primary intention was no doubt 
 to deal with the question immediately raised respecting 
 a possible confederation of South African States. The 
 consideration of this subject led him to weigh many 
 other questions which directly or indirectly affected 
 the main point. 
 
 He had long been grieved by the misconceptions 
 under which the Imperial authorities laboured con- 
 cerning the character and plans of the colonists, as 
 well as the value of the territories which they inhabited. 
 These misconceptions generally arose from the reports 
 and statements made officially to the Home Govern- 
 ment by officers employed in the different depen- 
 dencies, who from various causes had arrived at 
 erroneous conclusions. 
 
 It often happened that men of no special adaptation 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 275 
 
 for the work in hand, selected without due regard to 
 their capacity, were the only means of communica- 
 tion, and the only sources of information. Grey had 
 encountered this difficulty in Western Australia, in 
 South Australia, and in New Zealand ; and very many 
 of the obstacles which he had to overcome in his 
 official career arose from false estimates thus formed 
 in the great departments of State in London. 
 
 In the case of South Africa he found these erroneous 
 impressions multiplied and intensified. The official and 
 confidential correspondence of successive Governors 
 and high officers of State, written frequently under the 
 pressure of impending calamity or harassing danger, 
 had produced a very serious but essentially false esti- 
 mate of the Cape and its people in Downing Street 
 and Whitehall. 
 
 When, on the 19th of November, 1858, he proceeded 
 to answer this despatch, he first stated the fact of such 
 false impressions having been created and circulated, 
 before offering his own advice and suggestions as to 
 the proper course to be adopted. A summary of the 
 belief which had thus been engendered was given by 
 Sir George in the following words : — 
 
 " When the policy was adopted of dividing South 
 Africa into many States, bound together by no ties of 
 union, it was thought that the mother country derived 
 no real benefit from the possession of this part of the 
 African continent, except in holding the seaport of 
 Simon's Bay. It was also thought that peace was 
 ruin to the Cape Colony ; that the expenditure of 
 British money during wars made the fortunes of its 
 inhabitants; that they therefore encouraged such 
 wars, often in the most profligate and unscrupulous 
 manner. The European inhabitants beyond the 
 Orange River were believed to be really rebels. It 
 was thought that even in Cape Town it might at any 
 
 T 2 
 
276 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 moment be necessary to employ a military force to 
 punish the inhabitants and to prevent the commission 
 of disgraceful scenes. So strongly was this appre- 
 hension of disloyalty felt, that even when the countries 
 beyond the Orange River were thrown off, and the 
 question of their federation amongst themselves arose, 
 it was thought that it would be desirable to encourage 
 such a measure, not with a view to the interests of 
 the inhabitants, but because if they were united into 
 one country they would have but one government and 
 one capital ; that, therefore, when it was necessary to 
 punish or reconquer them, it would be only requisite 
 to deliver one blow at one point, instead of several 
 blows at two or more points. 
 
 "It was further thought that the occupation by 
 Great Britain of the country beyond the Orange 
 River had been a bubble and a farce, in which the 
 Cape colonists were all interested; and it was to them 
 a great gaming-table, and out of the reach of the 
 police ; that the country was itself, in great part, a 
 desert, and would hardly keep half-starved antelopes ; 
 that it could never produce wool, as the Boers were 
 so prejudiced that they would keep nothing but hairy, 
 fat-tailed sheep ; that the labours of the missionaries 
 amongst the native tribes of Africa had produced no 
 results, as no instances were known of real conver- 
 sions to Christianity, and that it was a lamentable 
 fact that all the Christianity amongst the native tribes 
 in Southern Africa was purchased and paid for — its 
 principal and sole object and end being the facility 
 which such means afforded of obtaining gunpowder. 
 
 " These opinions prevailing regarding the country 
 and its inhabitants, the necessary consequence was 
 that Her Majesty's Government determined to rid 
 themselves of such costly and troublesome posses- 
 sions, and the measures necessary for doing this were 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 277 
 
 hurriedly carried out before any free form of govern- 
 ment had been introduced into or tried in any part of 
 South Africa. Necessarily, therefore, the wishes of 
 its inhabitants were in no way consulted in regard to 
 what was done." 
 
 Had such reports been true, had the people been 
 rebels, unscrupulous, and greedy ; had the country 
 been a waterless desert and useless to Great Britain 
 save for the possession of two harbours, then the 
 policy of dismemberment, which had been already 
 commenced by the abandonment of the Orange Free 
 State, would have been good and sufficient. 
 
 But the Governor consistently aihrmed that the 
 opinions which had been formed in England regard- 
 ing the Cape and its people, the land of South Africa 
 and its various inhabitants, were altogether opposed 
 to the facts. 
 
 For nearly four years he had diligently studied the 
 people and the country he had been sent to govern. He 
 felt himself competent to pronounce a decisive judg- 
 ment upon both. And he proceeded in his despatch, 
 not merely to give a history of what had been done 
 under the false impressions existing, but to sketch 
 the possible dangers which menaced that portion of the 
 Empire, and the steps which, in his opinion, should be 
 taken to ensure its safety and to make it prosperous. 
 
 Its people, he contended, were not rebels, but law- 
 abiding and law-loving subjects. He had always 
 acted on this belief, and in no case had he been dis- 
 appointed. In two notable instances, then present to 
 his mind, the loyalty of the Cape people had been 
 signally displayed. They had voted the necessary 
 money to pay the Hottentot pensioners, and so re- 
 deemed the promises of British Ministers, while at the 
 terrible crisis in India they had sent troops and money, 
 and even given their own private horses for the cavalry 
 
278 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COtONY. 
 
 and artillery in Bengal. They were indeed impatient 
 of oppression, and high- spirited as a race. The 
 founders of the colony had drawn their blood from 
 two noble strains, one of which had flowed in the 
 veins of Dutchmen renowned for their stubborn bravery 
 and unbounded perseverance ; the other was traced 
 from that great line of French Protestants who, like 
 the Puritan founders of the United States, had fled 
 from their native land to find in distant regions a 
 home for civil and religious liberty. 
 
 From races such as these, upon which were grafted 
 the gradual accretions of two centuries, he held that 
 a people, intelligent and strong, loyal and true-hearted, 
 had arisen. But it was necessary in order to their 
 proper government, that those who ruled them should 
 understand them, and that instead of being driven by 
 the hand of power they should be led by the hand of 
 sympathy. 
 
 Grey was convinced that the policy of confidence in 
 the people was a policy of wisdom and justice. During 
 his whole career he acted upon this principle, and he 
 never had reason to regret it. When in after years 
 he advocated Home Rule for Ireland he rested upon 
 this principle of confidence in the governed which he 
 had never known to fail. 
 
 Considered in the light of history and reason there 
 can be no doubt that Sir George's argument is abso- 
 lutely correct. It is founded upon the innate nobility 
 of our common nature. It appeals to the very highest 
 attributes of humanity. It builds upon the only- 
 durable basis — not upon fear — not merely upon 
 authority. 
 
 When Governments will thus take the people into 
 their confidence the peaceful ending of civil disputes 
 will be, to use Mr. Gladstone's memorable words, 
 " within measurable distance." 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 279 
 
 Regarding the native races, he held that they also 
 could be raised in the social scale and made useful 
 subjects of the Crown. In this direction also, it was 
 necessary that the duty of instruction and govern- 
 ment should be fulfilled, not in a perfunctory manner, 
 but with zeal and affection. 
 
 To the slanders upon South Africa itself he gave 
 an indignant denial. Large portions of the southern 
 part of the great continent were eminently fertile. 
 Some were well watered, and the climate was in many 
 places good, in some almost perfect. In his own 
 words, " The countries which lie beyond the Orange 
 River are very fertile and productive. Some of them 
 are so to the highest degree. Their extent may be 
 said to be boundless, and in many portions they are 
 capable of carrying a very dense population." 
 
 There was present to the mind of Sir George Grey 
 while writing this despatch, a feeling of the evil 
 influences resulting from the method of appointing 
 Governors to the various colonies then practised. This 
 feeling was afterwards strengthened from the year 
 1867 when the rule was first adopted and acted upon, 
 of sending peers or the sons of peers to represent the 
 Crown in the great consulates. 
 
 Believing in the righteousness and wisdom of local 
 self-government in these distant parts of the empire, 
 and that the great ofl&ces of state should be the 
 reward of merit, he desired that an educated people 
 should in every instance frame its own laws and ad- 
 minister its own affairs. Thus believing, he perceived 
 that the appointment of Governors by Ministers at 
 Home, tended to raise an aristocracy — generally of 
 wealth — in every colony, thus perpetuating in the new 
 world the vices of the older systems, and rendering 
 necessary the same political and social struggles in 
 these nascent nations, which were convulsing the 
 
2 So FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Kingdoms of Europe and threatening them with 
 revolution. 
 
 He thought that every office of the State should be 
 free and open. That to restrict the appointment of 
 great officials to the uncontrolled voice of a Minister 
 in another land was to cramp and confine the energies 
 and hopes of the community, while it degraded the 
 people so governed by declaring them to be incom- 
 petent and inferior. 
 
 He had in New Zealand raised a new and better 
 system. The Superintendents of the different pro- 
 vinces were in reality Lieutenant-Governors, elected 
 by the people. This had been recognised by the Im- 
 perial Parliament, and remarked upon by the two 
 Secretaries of State for the Colonies — Earl Grey and 
 Sir John Pakington — under whose administration of 
 colonial affairs the New Zealand Constitution Act of 
 1852 had been framed and passed. 
 
 There was also strongly present to his mind the 
 policy which the Imperial Government had deter- 
 mined to adopt in South Africa. The European 
 population was to be treated as the emigrant Boers 
 in the Transvaal and the inhabitants of the Orange 
 River Sovereignty had been treated ; that is, they 
 were to be dealt with in the same fashion as a series 
 of railway trucks when not wanted — they were to be 
 " shunted " — while the Kafirs and other native races 
 were to be repressed and governed by a strong mili- 
 tary force, but still to enjoy their own savage and 
 barbarous customs. 
 
 From each of these courses Sir George Grey dis- 
 sented. He condemned them both equally. He had 
 recognised the probability of a conflict between the 
 Home Government and himself upon these subjects. 
 But he was so convinced of the righteousness of his 
 own purposes and the soundnessof his own judgment, 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 281 
 
 that he determined at all risks to avert what he con- 
 sidered on the one hand would be a national calamity, 
 and on the other an unworthy perpetuation of bar- 
 barism and tyranny. And this he resolved to accom- 
 plish by convincing Her Majesty's advisers that his 
 recommendations were for the honour of the Crown 
 and the welfare of the Empire. Thus he hoped to 
 prevail upon them to abandon a plan which he believed 
 to be suicidal, and to inspire in the minds of the colon- 
 ists and native tribes an earnest desire for knowledge 
 and political power, which would at once create self- 
 respect, and render them mutually useful to each 
 other. 
 
 From all sides of the question — the governing and 
 the governed, the Empire and the Colonies, the rights 
 of free men and the hopes of civilization for savages 
 — these grave considerations forced themselves upon 
 him. The Government should be of the people and 
 for the people. The people themselves should be 
 made fit to exercise political power and to enjoy the 
 full and equal rights of freemen. 
 
 It was impossible, as it would have been imperti- 
 lient, to have included arguments of so wide a scope 
 in this answer to Sir E. B. Lytton's secret despatch. 
 Yet the light and reason which flowed from such ex- 
 tensive trains of thought impelled the Governor to a 
 full and exhaustive answer upon the immediate ques- 
 tions submitted to him. 
 
 He concluded by advising that the several legisla- 
 tures of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, and the Orange 
 Free State should be empowered to found a federal 
 union embracing Kaffraria within their limits, and with 
 authority to adopt into the Union, then or thereafter, 
 all States which might wish to join them, including 
 Native States, with large powers of self-government. 
 
 He urged that all these considerations showed " the 
 
2 82 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 desirability of allowing the people of South Africa an 
 opportunity of exercising some influence on their own 
 future destiny." Regarding the details of the form 
 of government to be proposed, Sir George Grey stated 
 that the Constitution of New Zealand would furnish a 
 suitable model, and it could be so altered " as to suit 
 in every particular the circumstances of South Africa." 
 The soundness of his judgment in this last recom- 
 mendation was vindicated by the fact that Canada 
 was thus federated in less than ten years. 
 
 In subsequent despatches from Downing Street to 
 the Cape, and from the Cape to Downing Street, the 
 whole scope of federation, not only between the scat- 
 tered communities then subject to the Crown, but also 
 the Free States of the Transvaal and the Orange 
 River, as well as some of the principal native 
 dominions, was suggested. The matter was the sub- 
 ject of continuous comment between the Home Govern- 
 ment and South Africa. It was stated by Sir George 
 Grey that the Volksraad of the Free State had passed 
 resolutions affirming the advisability of a union or 
 alliance with the Cape. Indeed, the federation of 
 South Africa seemed a possible, if not probable, event, 
 with the full and entire concurrence of the Home 
 Government, at no very distant day. 
 
 When the Parliament of 1859 met at Cape Town, 
 Sir George Grey placed before it the resolutions of the 
 Orange River Volksraad, and in the course of his 
 address used the following terms: — "You would, in 
 my belief, confer a lasting benefit upon Great Britain 
 and upon the inhabitants of this country if you could 
 succeed in devising a form of federal union, under 
 which the several provinces composing it should have 
 full and free scope of action left to them, through their 
 own local governments and legislatures, upon all sub- 
 jects relating to their individual prosperity or happi- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 283 
 
 ness ; whilst they should act under a general federal 
 government in relation to all points which concern 
 the general safety or weal." 
 
 He further continued to point out that in federation 
 of the different South African States alone lay safety 
 and success. A copy of this address was, of course, 
 transmitted to Her Majesty's Government in London, 
 with full explanations and comments. 
 
 To Sir George Grey's great surprise he received an 
 answer upon the 5th of May, conveying an expression 
 of dissatisfaction at his having brought the question 
 of a federation of the South African provinces before 
 the Cape Parliament without any authority from the 
 Ministers at Home. In reply, Sir George sent a short 
 but concise explanation of his conduct ; of the reasons 
 that had induced that conduct, reciting the various 
 items of correspondence from Great Britain which 
 had led him to suppose that the Imperial Government 
 desired him to take the steps which he had taken. 
 
 On the 4th of June, 1859, the final answer came. 
 After a long review of Sir George's whole administra- 
 tion. Sir E. B. Lytton commanded him to surrender 
 his Government and to return to England. The de- 
 ductions in Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton's despatch as 
 to Sir George Grey's culpability in the matter of the 
 federation are not borne out by the facts adduced, or 
 by the arguments used. Even in this despatch, which 
 was evidently intended to close the connection be- 
 tween Sir George Grey and the Imperial Government 
 at once and for ever, the Secretary for the Colonies 
 did not attempt to cast a slight upon the character or 
 achievements of a public servant who had been so 
 singularly useful and universally successful as Sir 
 George Grey. 
 
 " I acknowledge," he says, " the large and compre- 
 hensive nature of your views, the mixture of firmness 
 
284 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 and benevolence which has characterised your dealing 
 with the native races, the sagacity with which you 
 have foreseen and averted probable collisions, and the 
 able policy by which you have availed yourself of 
 unexpected and strange events in their history, so as 
 to use them at once for their advantage and for the 
 security of the colony. I am very conscious of the 
 serious nature of the step taken by Her Majesty's 
 Government when they deprive themselves of the 
 services of one so highly endowed as yourself, but I 
 am also satisfied that no other alternative is left them. 
 They could not safely continue to entrust with your 
 present functions one committed, as you have com- 
 mitted yourself, to a policy of which they disapprove 
 on a subject of the first importance ; nor could they 
 expect from you the necessary assistance when steps, 
 which you have taken without that authority, have of 
 necessity to be retraced. 
 
 " I shall take the first opportunity of informing you 
 of the appointment of a successor, and of any other 
 steps which Her Majesty's Government may propose 
 to take." 
 
 Immediately upon the receipt of this despatch. Sir 
 George penned an elaborate statement — which indeed 
 is more of a State memorandum than a despatch — in 
 which, having entered fully into every aspect of the 
 subject, he exonerates himself from all blame, and 
 places his own conduct in an unassailable position. 
 The closing paragraph of that despatch (dated July 
 2oth, 1859) is a noble vindication of his conduct 
 which deserves to be placed upon record and to be 
 remembered : 
 
 " If, then, success is not to be the measure of the 
 necessity and propriety of the amount of the responsi- 
 bility assumed, how is it to be estimated ? None can 
 deny that, surrounded by the novel and trying difii- 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 285 
 
 culties with which I had to grapple, instantly, without 
 having received any instructions from Her Majesty's 
 Government in relation to them, and without any 
 power of obtaining such, I have, with the aid of the 
 many able officers and public functionaries in this 
 country, been fortunately successful. Can, then. Her 
 Majesty's advisers undertake to say that if I had in any 
 instance assumed less responsibility. Her Majesty's 
 South African possessions would have been preserved 
 intact, and have been raised to the condition in which 
 they now are ? If this is asserted, let it be shown how 
 much too much responsibility I am believed to have 
 assumed. Can a man, who on a distant and exposed 
 frontier, surrounded by difficulties, with invasions 
 of Her Majesty's territories threatening on several 
 points, assumes a responsibility which he, guided by 
 many circumstances which he can neither record nor 
 remember as they come hurrying on one after 
 another, be fairly judged of in respect of the amount 
 of responsibility he assumes by those who, in the 
 quiet of distant offices in London, know nothing of 
 the anxieties or nature of the difficulties he had to 
 encounter ? If Her Majesty's possessions and Her 
 Majesty's subjects are saved from threatening 
 dangers, and they gratefully acknowledge this, whilst 
 the Empire receives no hurt, is it a fitting return that 
 the only reward he should receive should be the 
 highest punishment which it is in the power of Her 
 Majesty's Ministers to inflict ? This may be the 
 reward they bestow ; but the true one of the con- 
 sciousness of difficult duties performed to the best of 
 his ability, with great personal sacrifice, they cannot 
 take from him." 
 
 The unprecedented circumstances which had hap- 
 pened since Sir George Grey had accepted, at the 
 request of the Duke of Newcastle, the care of South 
 
2 86 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Africa, had compelled him to a certain course of 
 action, which had thus at last ended with his sum- 
 mary dismissal from his office. The affair of the 
 Hottentot pensions ; the dispute as to the revenue of 
 British KafFraria ; the sending of the China army to 
 India ; the levying of the German Legion, thus adding 
 to the military forces of the Empire without the 
 sanction of Parliament ; and, lastly, the suggestions 
 for a confederated South Africa, were all illustrations 
 of a principle which he contended for, and believed to 
 be not only correct, but essential. 
 
 He felt that the Empire was in a state of transition, 
 and, therefore, liable to sudden dangers which, if the 
 public safety were to be secured, must be met and 
 averted as they arose. As he had explained to 
 Colonel Hope, when diverting the China army, and 
 as he had stated in his memorandum in answer to 
 accusations made against him on his return from New 
 Zealand, he held as an article of faith that it was 
 necessary, at whatever cost or personal sacrifice, that 
 the great officers of the Empire should, upon such 
 occasions, take upon themselves the full responsibility 
 of doing as they might see fit. He acted on the true 
 reading of the Latin maxim, Salus popuU suprema lex, 
 and felt that he was right in so acting. 
 
 To break through the orders of the Horse Guards 
 and the War Office and himself issue fresh commands, 
 would have been, under ordinary circumstances, little 
 short of high treason ; but in the face of the Indian 
 Mutiny it was mere common sense. To raise fresh 
 regiments and add them to the strength of the British 
 army would be, under ordinary circumstances, high 
 treason ; but when Sir George Grey recalled the 
 German Legion to its standards and sent it to 
 Bombay, it was the act of a far-seeing and patriotic 
 statesman. It was well for England and well for 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 287 
 
 India that at the Cape in 1857, there was a man who 
 dared do all things w^hen he felt he was in the right. 
 
 The natural consequences of such a course of con- 
 duct, especially when actions of this nature were 
 repeated, ensued. His recall was sooner or later 
 inevitable, and for the same reason it became certain 
 that sooner or later Sir George Grey's connection 
 with the Colonial Office must perforce cease. He was, 
 as Ministers did not hesitate to say, too strong a 
 man. As afterwards in England he sacrificed his 
 political prospects to his sense of right and justice, so 
 in his career as a Colonial Governor, he voluntarily 
 placed himself in such a position as to close the gates 
 against himself to the highest promotion in the public 
 service. 
 
 The esteem of good men, the consciousness of work 
 well done, the rewards which, in this world and the 
 world to come, will be bestowed upon public virtue 
 and public courage, are and will be his ; but, none the 
 less, he was called upon to illustrate the truth that 
 they who lead in that which is great and good, must 
 be content to bear the martyr's cross. 
 
 Sir George Grey lost no time in obeying the orders 
 thus received. He broke up his establishment at 
 serious pecuniary loss to himself, and took passage 
 for England. South Africa was overshadowed by 
 astonishment and consternation. The prevalence of 
 peace and good government raised by Grey's five 
 years of administration — the sense of safety never 
 before enjoyed — the hopes of future prosperity built 
 upon the continuance of his wise and firm policy — 
 were rudely swept away by a despatch from a gentle- 
 man whom the people had never seen and only knew 
 by reputation, in whose estimation the lives and wel- 
 fare of a million of people, civilized and barbarian, 
 were not equal in importance to the continuance of 
 
288 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 official control, and to the necessity of a blind obe- 
 dience. 
 
 This difference between the Ministry and Sir 
 George, led to results which never could have been 
 anticipated, and which were destined to bring suffer- 
 ing and loss and shame upon Great Britain and South 
 Africa in future years. 
 
 The principal Secretary of State for the Colonies 
 at this time was the well-known novelist. Sir Edward 
 Bulwer Lytton. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary 
 was the Earl of Carnarvon. Henry Howard Moly- 
 neux Herbert was then in his twenty-eighth year. 
 Fresh from the schools, proud of his academic dis- 
 tinctions, accustomed to the praises of his peers and 
 the flattery and subservience of his inferiors, he had 
 entered public life with settled convictions as to his 
 own ability and the sacred rights of his order. With 
 one or two others, such as Earl Kimberley, Lord 
 Carnarvon took a leading position in English politics 
 as a peer without first serving his apprenticeship in 
 the Commons. 
 
 The valuable lessons to be learned while contesting 
 a seat in the popular assembly, and by participating 
 in the keen debates of the Representative Chamber, 
 were thus denied to him. Ushered at once into a 
 prominent position, he was placed in a delicate and 
 dangerous situation. As if to add at once to the 
 responsibility and the perils which encompassed the 
 young Earl's path, Bulwer Lytton became seriously 
 unwell. Driven by illness to seek the waters and 
 mild climate of Malvern, the Chief Secretary had to 
 devolve well nigh the whole active conduct of his 
 great department upon Lord Carnarvon. To the 
 young peer Sir George Grey's conduct in all these 
 matters (some of which happened within his own 
 experience, while others had come to his knowledge 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 289 
 
 from the recent history of the department) amounted 
 to less than treason, but more than insubordination. 
 
 Lord Carnarvon's mind was made up. Sir George 
 might have rendered great services to the nation, but 
 he must henceforth be dispensed with. To use the 
 noble Earl's own words, which in after years he did 
 not hesitate to utter, " Sir George Grey was a dan- 
 gerous man." His actions might be successful, but 
 the doom of any public servant who acted as Sir 
 George Grey had done was, in Lord Carnarvon's 
 mind, already decreed. He must be got rid of. He 
 was a dangerous man. Thus were sown the seeds, 
 the harvest of which in 1877-81 England and South 
 Africa were to reap in suffering and in tears. The 
 mind of the young peer became so violently preju- 
 diced against Sir George Grey, as to preclude the 
 possibility of his ever again employing this bold 
 defier of all constituted authority in the service of the 
 Crown. Only upon this theory is it possible to under- 
 stand the acts of Lord Carnarvon in relation to Sir 
 George Grey and to affairs in South Africa on this 
 occasion and in after years. 
 
 VOL. L u 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 DISMAY OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 " The kindest man, 
 The best-conditioned and unwearied spirit 
 In doing courtesies." 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
 The sudden news of the Governor's recall spread 
 sorrow and dismay over, every community in South 
 Africa. The disagreements between Sir George Grey 
 and the great departments in Whitehall were gene- 
 rally known. Well-informed people had long been 
 cognizant of the fact that the independence of Gover- 
 nor Grey and his original method of acting upon his 
 own belief, irrespective of orders or established rules, 
 had caused great bitterness at headquarters, but so 
 valuable were the services he had rendered, so indis- 
 pensable his assistance in the maintenance of the 
 Imperial authority, that no one dreamed that the 
 blow now delivered was imminent. 
 
 The whole people rose in expostulation. From 
 every district, every race, and all classes, there went 
 up one common cry of disapproval and sorrow. 
 Meetings were held, resolutions passed, and petitions 
 signed, praying Her Majesty to rescind the obnoxious 
 order of recall, and to reappoint Sir George Grey to 
 the scene of his successful labours. The tidings 
 '' staggered and excited the country from one end to 
 the other," wrote the Metropolitan of Cape Town to 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 29 1 
 
 the Bishop of Oxford ; and, to quote from the report 
 of a member of the Cambridge Committee on the 
 Oxford and Cambridge mission to Central Africa, 
 " filled the minds of all interested in the missionary 
 cause with dismay, and threatened the extinction of 
 some of the most hopeful work ever yet undertaken 
 in the colony." 
 
 The Fingoes, after long deliberation, framed their 
 prayer to the Queen thus : — 
 
 To THE Great Queen Victoria. 
 
 Oh, our Great Queen, graciously look upon us. We, thy 
 subjects, Fingoes, residing at Grahamstown, desire to approach 
 thy feet and pray before thee. 
 
 For a long time we have sat under thy Government, loving thy 
 authority and thy customs. 
 
 In thy kindness thou didst send us Sir George Grey, that he 
 might administer rule over us. 
 
 We saw when he arrived that he was just such a chief as we 
 black people needed. He manifested his love towards us in many 
 things. He helped us in all things. He gave us ground to live 
 upon, that we might no longer be as wanderers and strangers 
 without location. He built us great schools, that our children 
 might enter them and learn nicely, like the children of English 
 people. 
 
 We rejoiced for all these things. We said, " We are a blessed 
 people under our Queen Victoria. We are like children who have 
 a father in all things to preserve, feed, and help them." 
 
 But to-day we are smitten with sorrow by hearing very heavy 
 tidings, viz., that thou, our Great Queen, hast called home our 
 chief, Sir George Grey. To-day our hearts weep : they are dead 
 because of this. We say, " Has our Queen forsaken us or not ? 
 Having deprived us of our father, we are now orphans indeed." 
 No, our Great Queen, don't throw us away. Regard our prayer 
 and send back our chief, that he may again come and live with 
 us and comfort us by taking away our crying. 
 
 And may the Lord of Heaven look upon thee and bless thee 
 with all the blessings of this earth, and when thou leavest this 
 world may He give thee a throne in Heaven. 
 
 Amid all the petitions which were forwarded from 
 
2 92 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 the different parts of South Africa, there was one 
 which can fairly be regarded as the representation of 
 the opinions and wishes of all classes and conditions 
 of people in that portion of the Queen's dominions. 
 It was headed : — 
 
 The Humble Petition of the Undersigned Land 
 Holders, Bankers, Merchants, Agriculturists and 
 Others. 
 
 Humbly Showeth, — That Your Majesty's loyal subjects in 
 South Africa have derived great benefits from the wise, prudent, 
 and active administration of the Colonial Government by His 
 Excellency Sir George Grey, to whom your majesty was graciously 
 pleased to commit the arduous duty of restoring and consolidating 
 peace and good order over a vast country, recently the scene of 
 cruel wars and confusion, and always exposed to a recurrence of 
 danger unless guarded and kept in a state of preparation by men 
 of ability and large experience in colonial affairs. 
 
 That the high character which Sir George Grey had acquired 
 in the course of many 3'ears' service under Your Majesty, in 
 administering the affairs of European settlements in the neigh- 
 bourhood of barbarous tribes, and with equal ability and success 
 in pacifying and promoting the welfare and civilisation of those 
 native populations themselves, has been fully sustained and 
 rendered still more eminent by the whole course of his proceed- 
 ings at the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The petitioners then proceeded to express the 
 perilous condition in which Sir George Grey had 
 found the colony — the skill and fortitude with which 
 all these untoward circumstances had been met and 
 overcome ; the high state of prosperity to which 
 under God's blessing, the Governor had been able to 
 lead that portion of the Queen's Dominions ; the 
 confidence which all men had learnt to repose in his 
 wisdom and courage, and the gratitude and affection 
 which he had earned from the multitudinous races 
 and peoples who, in that part of the world, were 
 
FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE COLONY. 293 
 
 subjects of the Crown, or who lived in contiguity with 
 her people. 
 
 After depicting the regret and alarm with which 
 they had heard the statement of his recall, the 
 petitioners thus closed this memorable document: — 
 
 That while humbly presenting to your majesty every expression 
 of loyalty and devotion to your Majesty's person and Government, 
 and carefully abstaining from any wish to encroach on the un- 
 doubted prerogative of their revered and beloved Sovereign, Your 
 Majesty's petitioners would pray permission to lay their petition 
 at the foot of the Throne for a reconsideration of the measure 
 which Your Majesty has been advised to adopt in this instance. 
 They entertain a hope that when all the circumstances of this 
 colony and the neighbouring communities shall have been fully 
 unfolded to Your Majesty, and the whole tenor and effect of Sir 
 George Grey's administration made apparent. Your Majesty may 
 see cause consistently with the principles of Your Majesty's 
 Government, and the honour and dignity of the Crown, to gratify 
 the wishes and desires of your people by restoring to them a 
 Governor, who, from their experience, they believe will ever give 
 Your Majesty the highest satisfaction. 
 
 This petition, typical of the general feeling of the 
 colonists and their neighbours, was signed by Mr. 
 J. B. Ebden, Chairman of the public meeting, and 
 2,272 others. 
 
 The universal prayer of the people was that Sir 
 George Grey might be re-appointed. To such a 
 prayer, no Sovereign, least of all Victoria, would 
 have turned a deaf ear, and even Downing Street, 
 with its case-hardened officialism, its Tite Barnacles 
 and red tapeism, would have been forced to yield. 
 The people trusted that when due consideration had 
 been given to the whole subject, and when Her 
 Majesty's Ministers had time to reconsider their 
 decision, their petitions would be granted. There 
 were many amongst them who did not fear to assert, 
 both in speech and writing, that such a universal 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
294 FIRST GOVERNORSHIP OF CAPE .COLONY. 
 
 expression of opinion as had been given, would 
 influence public opinion in Great Britain, and cause 
 the re-appointment of the Governor they loved so 
 well. 
 
 Without their knowledge this had already been 
 done, but the test applied drew forth the spontaneous 
 feelings cherished in the hearts of the people for their 
 ruler, and revealed the estimation in which Sir George 
 Grey was held. 
 
 The last public function performed by Sir George 
 Grey was one peculiarly agreeable to himself, and 
 consisted in laying the foundation stone of a new and 
 commodious Hospital in Cape Town. Lord Charles 
 Somerset had formerly taken an active part in the 
 erection of a hospital. As time passed on this proved 
 entirely inadequate to the public wants, and it was 
 determined to erect a more capacious building. 
 
 Sir George insisted upon the institution being 
 called the Somerset Hospital in memory of his 
 predecessor. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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