AN INTERESTING CAREER.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10147, 21 September 1898, Page 5

AN INTERESTING CAREER.

EXPLORER, GOVERNOR, POLITICIAN.

Even the political opponents of Sir George Grey have always been free to admit that his was the most interesting personality connected with the history of these colonies. They united with his warmest friends in honouring him for his achievements as an explorer, and in his later life as a man of culture and of letters, and as the liberal benefactor to whom the public of Capetown and Auokland owe so much. On all hands the i news of his death, albeit he has gone down to his grave full of years and *of honour, will be widely and sincerely deplored. There are few lives that have been more full of adventure. Sir George Grey was born at Lisbon iin Portugal on the i4th of April, 1812, a few days after his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Grey, 13th Regiment, was killed at the siege of Badajos in the Peninsular War. He was educated at the Royal Military College-.at Sandhurst, and entered the Army in 1829; became Lieutenant of the 83rd j Regiment, and retired in 1837 with the rank -of Captain. EXPLORATIONS IN AUSTRALIA. As Captain Grey he began his explorations in what was then the mysterious continent of Australia. Little was known at that time about the north or west coasts of that country. The few settlers gathered about Perth and others interested in the development of Australia imagined that there might be some great river connecting the interior and the Indian Ocean. Captain | Grey and his friend Lieutenant LnshingtOn heard of this supposition, and volunteered to explore the West Australian coast in search of such a river. They sent their offer in the form of a letter to Lord Glenelg, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and it being strongly recommended by the Royal Geographical Society, was accepted ; so the two ex-soldiers left England on the sth of July, 1837, to carry out their mission. Their aim was wider than the mere search for ; an imagined river. Their instructions from the British Government, who were providing them with th.c means of making the [ expedition, were " To gain information as to tho real state of North-western Australia, its resources, and the course and direction of | its rivers and mountain ranges; to familiarise the natives with the British name and character; to search for and record all information regarding the natural productions of I the country, and all details that might bear I upon its capabilities for colonisation or the reverse, and to collect specimens of its natural history." Captain Grey was. chosen as the leader of the expedition. He and Lieutenant Lushington sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, and there hired the schooner Lyncher, of 140 tons. A The party which embarked under Captain Grey on this small vessel numbered twenty men—soldiers, sailors, shoemakers, . and doctors, and the live stock embarked | consisted of thirty-one sheep, nineteen goats, [six dogs ; aud besides those were a number ot valuable plants and seeds which were to be introduced into the new regions explored. On the 2nd of December, 1837, the little vessel anchored,off Entrance Island, and the party saw the unexplored land i before them —■'» terrible land to exI plore> for it was arid, and barren, iand burnt with - heat. first journey ashore gave them a taste of. the [ difficulties and, hardships to be expected. . \, Suchwas;thefearful heat of the climate that'the very dogs dropped down and died . before they had travelled half a dozen railqa inland,. The only human inhabitants of the s country were fierce and inhospitable blacks, Lwho dogged the footsteps of the little pary fand showered spears at them whenever. : they could steal within reach. -The schooner j with its crew was to keep off the coast, and'- ! Captain Grey and his party were to proceed along the shore. The history of the expedition tells of one long struggle against almost nhsurmountable obstacles and conflicts with the blacks. Then Captain Grey became seriously \ ill through the effects of spear Wounds and exposure, and as the doctor of the expedition told him any fresh exertions would cost him his life he was persuaded to return. The expedition, so far as its main objects were concerned, was a failure, but neither this, nor the hardships of the journey, deterred the young officer from attempting a still more dangerous expedition. On February 17th, 1839, Captain Gray left Perth with a party of twelve men to explore the north-western coastline in whale boats—a daring and adventurous plan, for the coast was unniarked and beaten by heavy surf. The adventures of the party in these boats, their sufferings and their privations, the gallant conduct of their leader and his resource and daring, form one of the most exciting pages in tbe history of Austrasian exploration. The party ,w?nt through incredible hardships. Their Doats were smashed to pieces by the surf and the men were left to tramp back to Perth" overland—a fearful journey under such conditions. Again Captain Grey, to obtain help for his party, pushed on ahead with A'only otfe or two a companions. His sufferings during this exploit are almost too terrible to read. He was weakened by hunger and tortured by thirst; He and his men were glad, to suck the dew from the shrubs as they crawled along towards their goal of life—Perth—and then to travel through the heat of the day without even that tantalising moisture. When Captain Gijey did reach Perth the trials of the journey ha<s&> marked Mm that he was mistaken for a half-crazy Malay who used to wander about that town.

Although neither of the expeditions undertaken by Captain Grey for the exploration of-North-western Australia resulted in any important discovery, the pluck and energy of the man won for him the high opinion both of the Government and the people. At the request of the Governor of Western Australia he became Government Resident at King George's Sound. He did not occupy this position long, for in 1840 he visited England and Subfished his book, "Journals of two Expeitions in Nbrtfi-wesjf and West Australia." COLONIAL (GOVERNORSHIPS. In 1840, when he was only twenty-eight years old, he waa appointed to the Governorship of South Australia. In this high Official position Captain Grey's decisive action and clear-sightedness enabled him to relieve that colony from some of its embarrassments, and the opening of the famous Kapuhda and Burra copper mines further assisted him to lift that colony into a state of prosperity Buchas it had not known before, and has scarcely known since. In 1845 Captain Grey was appointed to the Governorship of New Zealand, which was then a Crown, colony, and used his. autocratic powers there with considerable effect. New Zealand at that time required a strong hand to govern its affairs. The Maoris, who were supreme so far as numbers were con-cerned,-were in a state of ferment, and in seme parts had raised the standard of rebellion. Hone Heke had cut down and .burned the British flag at Kotorareka, and some thousands* of flsroe

Maori warriors were ready to drive the hated white man out of their country. Captain Grey's military promptitude served the country in that terrible crisis. He forbade, the sale ,of firearms to the Natives, took advantage of tribal enmities, allied himself with Waka Rene, sent a force against the rebellious chief Heke, and within three months made him sue for peace. He captured Rauparaha, who had conJuered the southern part of the North sland and was almost king over the South Island Natives, and kept this powerful chief a prisoner for some time. Then whilst putting down rebellion with a strong hand he* encouraged Christianity and European arts amongst those Natives who had hitherto only looked upon the pakeha as an enemy. He mixed freely with the leading Maoris, learned their language and learned their wants. He built schools for the Native children, and had the men of the tribe taught many useful industries. GOVERNOR OF CAPE COLONY. In 1848 Captain Grey went to England and was received warmly at the Universities. He received Oxford honours and degrees, and the students cheered him as " King of the Cannibal Islands." Her Majesty made him Knight Commander of the Bath. In 1854 he was appointed to the Governorship of South Africa, and there performed much the same services as he had rendered New Zealand. He encouraged settlement on the land, built schools and hospitals, and aimed at the federation of the South African States. This latter attempt was opposed by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, then Colonial Secretary, and the conflict which followed between the Governor and the ruling powers is too well known to be related. Sir George was recalled to England. The colonists Were indignant at this and petitioned the Queen for his return. Immediately afterwards Lord Derby's Ministry resigned and the new Ministry, in which the Duke of Newcastle was Secretary for the Colonies, immediately reappointed Sir George. A ship was sent out to ihe Cape to stop him from coming Home, but just missed him. During this visit to England Sir. George waa presented to tiie Queen and Prince Albert, by whom he was very graciously received, and he was accorded afc Cambridge University a similar distinction to that which had already been granted him by Oxford. During his interviews with the Queen and Prince Albert Sir George Grey suggested the visit of Prince Alfred to the Cape, which subsequently evoked such an enthusiastic display of loyalty in that colony. SECOND TEfRM "AS GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND.

Iv 1861 Sir George Grey was re-appointed Governor of New Zealand, where serious difficulties were cropping up. New Zealand had ceased to be a Crown colony and was enjoying a representative Government, whilst through one cause and another the bad -feeling between the settlers and the Maoris had again arisen, this time in a more serious form than ever. The Natives had gathered at . Taupo, they had eleoted Te Whero Whero king, and by united action were resisting the power of the colonists in every direction. They met their "Father," as they still called Sir George, with open arms, hailed him as their deliverer, but found that although he was their friend he was the representative of British interests and intended to uphold British laws. Sir George ordered roads to made through the North Island. It would be too long a story, however, to go over again the history of the Waikato and Tarauaki wars, and to discuss the many debateable questions which would have to be gone into in connection therewith. It is matter of common knowledge 4iow Sir George Grey's autocratic style and disposition to act on his own account instead of carrying out the instructions which he received from Home and the friction which occurred between himself and the military authorities led at length, in 1867, to his summary recall and his permanent estrangement from the Colonial Office.

POLITICAL CAREER. Sir' George -only stayed in England. a few months, during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to enter parliament, trod then returned to New Zealand and buried himself in his beautiful island homo in the Hauraki Gulf. But it was impossible for such a man to remain long aloof from active public life. In 1875 he was elected Super-, intendent of the . province of Auckland, and on the abolition of the provinces he took his seat in the House of Representatives. In . 1877 he was made Premier, and since his retirement from that position in 1879 has continued to occupy a prominent place in' the New Zealand political world. He sat in Parliament continuously as •member successively for Thames, Auckland East, Auckland Central, Newton and Auckland City until 1895, when, having gone to England in March the preceding year, he sent out his resignation of his seat. The resignation was announced to the House of Representatives by the Speaker on August Bth, and on' September hth following the Premier, at the close of a lengthy eulogistio speech,' moved the following resolution :— "That this House desires, on the retirement of the Right' Hon; Sir George Grey, X.C.8., P.C; front his seat in Parliament as member for the City of Auckland, to place' on record its high sense and approbation of the great services rendered by him to New Zealand as Governor, in obtaining for it a free Constitution and conducting its affairs in times of great difficulty, and, as a member of this House, in promoting beneficent legislation and displaying the deepest interest in everything that concerned the welfare of the colony ; and that this Hose trusts that he may long be spared to enjoy the repose which he has justly earned for his services to his country." The resolution was cordially supported by Captain Russell, leader of the Opposition, and other leading members, and carried unanimously. It will be remembered that Sir George Grey was one of the three delegates sent to represent New Zealand in the Federation Convention held in Sydney in 1891.

LATER YEARS. Not long after his'arrival in England Sir George Grey received the honour of appointment to the Privy Council. Old age crept upon him, and although it was reported on several occasions that he intended returning to New Zealand he remained in London to the day of his death." The solitude of his -declining days was cheered a year or two before his death by a reconciliation with his wife', Lady Grey, from whom he had lived apart - tor- many years. During the last year or so, however, Sir George Grey and his family lived together at the Norfolk Hotel," near the Strand, but early in August of this year, Lady Grey went to Bournemouth for a few weeks' rest, and it was there, probably, that her death on the 6th of this month,' took place. For months previous to his death, Sir George had been extremely feeble, both mentally and physically, and our London correspondent, who was a frequent caller at his hotel, haß been unable to chronicle any change in his condition beyond increasing weakness. Such is a brief outline of some of the leading events in Sir George Grey's career, touching but lightly, as we have said, on the debateable ground of politics. Most people prefer to think of him not as the politician but as the- hospitable host of Kawau, the writer of Native history, the giver of great literary treasures to the people of Auckland and of the* Cape. Spile of his failings Sir George Grey .was a great man, whose name will occupy an enduring place in colonial history. He would have stood far higher in the memory j of most New Zealand colonists had he j never taken his place as a combatant in j a local political arena. An* explorer, a scholar, and a man of culture, we shall unite in doing honour,to hjs memory, and unfeignedly mourn' his loss. SLR GEORGE GREY AS A POLITICIAN. The Review of RtvUxot published a character sketch of the late Sir George Grey some years ago, in which the following outline was given of his political career in New Zealand:—

The proposal made in 1875 to abolish the Provincial system of Government in New Zealand, afforded Sir George Grey a good excuse for mixing again in the active affairs of life. He may have been sincerely attached to these institutions, for he was himself the author of them. He failed to preserve them, bat found himself, after they were gone, Premier of the colony. His term of office was only some two years, bat it was an unhappy term alike for himself and the colony. He had no head for business, could not grapple with details, and was prone to despise men who could. The autocratic temper of the man returned as soon as he became the repository of power; Sir Robert then Mr Stout, bit Attorney •G«wr»i* rttired

on the plea of private business. MrUallance, his Treasurer (now himself Premier) was all but literally kicked out of his office. The term was not marked by the introduction of any measure of importance. The finances drifted into confusion; there was no, Budget speech one year, the Premier remarking that those who were curious about the finances would find the figures in the Gazette, After two years of office the Grey Government was ejected under a sentence of condemnation, which affirmed that they had " negleoted and mismanaged" the administrative business of the colony. It would seem to have been a just sentence. They left behind them a heavy deficit; Native disturbances had been but feebly dealt with; they had no grip over the business of the colony. The Premier was dearly out of his proper sphere Long and eloquent speeches he could make if only allowed to deal with generalities and evils in the abstract. With existing difficulties he could not grapple, and he fell an easy prey to the <nen he had two years previously ousted from office. Thirteen years have since passed, during all which time he was destined to retnaiu a private member, exercising a fitful and slowly declining influence in the Legislature, exerted ohietly to tho passing of certain measures which, as showing tho character and limitations of the man, are worthy of passing notice. LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS. *' In all such efforts there is revealed a curious want of the sense of proportion, leading to exaggeration of lauguago, that strikes the practical man with surprise. The very smallest measure ia to him fraught with tremendous importance, nOt only to New Zealand, but to the world, and even to generations yet unborn—a phrase that has come to bo a by-word among his opponents. He has laboured mightily for the imposition of a land tax (for that introduced during his period of office had a very short shrift), which ho has led himself to bolievo would cure most of tho ills that afflict humanity. Taxation would appear to him to be not a means to an end, but an end in itself ; not a necessary evil, but a thing intrinsically good and beneI ficent. The system of eleution, too, is an almost universal panacea. He wonld have elective Governors, elective Justices of the Peace, elective local Boards of every description. The changes proposed might be good or they might bo bad, but Sir George Grey alone could see that they were fraught with * momentous consequences' to the colony. The Lives of Children's Preservation Bill was the pathetic title of a Bill designed to preserve children from death by suoking wax matches. It was in vain the House of the colony laughed at* the measure, tha wits of the former pointing out that children would require to be equally preserved from hot porridge, boiling water, or burning embers. fair George Grey wholly disregarded the ridicule, and gavo all his energy and persuasive power to the promotion oi the Bill. The Match Bill was the outcome of a very genuine inborn love of little children. At eighty years of age Sir George Grey delights in their company; he stops them in the street to speak to them; he tells them stories; he is full of genuine human pity for their distresses ; his speeoh* day addresses to schools are of the most admirable to be found in any quarter of the* world. No pleasanter sight is to be seen than that of the ootc* genarian taking a little nephew by the hand through the streets of Wellington, and pausing at, the shop windows to explain something which had excited the curiosity of the child. Of the one-man one-vote question nothing need be said. . That all men, irrespective of their capacity-to use should have equal voting power may be tr right principle, or it may be a wrong one; but everyone, except Sir George Grey him« self, can see that upon its establishment cannot possibly hang the regeneration of mankind. He is no deep thinker, and troubles himself as little about questions of political eoonomy as did Carlyle; but he iff ah enthusiast, and when once oonvinced oi the justice or soundness of any principle his imagination becomes heated and intemperate in its advocacy," *

THE "KNIGHT, OF KAWAU.** Not the least picturesque period of Sit George Grey's life was the time when he lived in retirement in his island home at Kawau. A very good account of his mode of life there is given by Mr J. A. Froude in "Oceana*" The historian spent a week there with the ex-Governor, and describes it' as one of the most interesting whioh he remembers in his life. Mr Froude writes of it with evident zest, and one can see loves' to look back on the scene. Speaking of Sir George, he says :— " Like most men of fine intellect he had a taste for solitude. He bought from the Government one of the islands in tha|' Hauraki Gulf called Kawau, or Cormorant Island, and built a handsome house tjiere. Before his door he constructed a causeway. running into the seat where coasting' steamers can He alongside. He ( planted every tree that he knew of in any part of the world which had a chance of growing there. No landscape gardener could nave spread his plantations with better art. Besides pines, he has oak and walnut, maple and elm, poplar, ash, and acaoia. A clump of immense cedars stand close to tlfe house ; round the grounds are groves of magnolia, and the whole air is perfumed with orange blossom and citron and stephanotis." Describing the animal life on this island paradise, the author goes on tosay:—"lnto - the interior of his little kingdom he brought - elk, red deer, fallow deer, roe, wild hog and wallaby. . . . . He would take us into the bush, amid the- untrimmed negligence of nature, whore a brood of wild turkeys, fearless because never disturbed, would be seen perched together on the branch of a' fallen tree, —dreaming stag would''Start up amjclsb the fern at our footsteps, lift his ' an tiered head an d survey us, and trot away into the' forest, , Passing a deep reed-bed whioh, fringed a creek, I was startied "by a roar: close at my ears..- Looking round I perceived' the head' of a huge black b" l ' who was,glaring at us. not six ytte.l4 .off. Sir George waa undisturbed. He •- ' 1 ' know that none'of these creatures [ wouiu us. All living things of earth jor air were on confidential terms with him. . . . Sir George understood the habits of them all. about natural history as easily as he talked of everything else—in a genial, soft, deferential tone, his blue'eyei fixed half on the listener and -half on vacancy, while he poured out information-' which must have cost him years of study. Singular man ! X could enter now into the feelings with which- he was regarded in every pari of the world where he had played a part."

By his dependants Sir George was venerated :—" Everything we saw was his own creation, conceived' by himself, and executed ' under his own eye by his own feudatories. . . . He engaged men whom he knew and could depend on to manage his farms and woods, his sheep and cattle, his own grounds and gardens. He settled them, with their families, in substantial housos; and in democratic New Zealand he established a patriarchal monarchy, held together by the singular personal attachment which he iB able to command. The influence which he had exerted over his servants and workmen (perhaps I should use the American expression, aud call them ' helps') was really remarkable. Between him and them, though he and they were alike Republicans, there hod grown up unconsciously ft feudal relationship, and they seemed teel that they belonged to one another for life," The house itself Mr Froude found equally interesting and as characteristic of its owner. " Some good oil pictures hung on the walls, excellent old engravings, with Maori axes, Kaffir shields and assegais, all prettily arranged. Bookcases and cabinets, with locked doors, contained the mor® precious curiosities. On the table lay Quarterlies, Edinburgh*, magazines, weeklies->~the float- - ing literature of London, only a jnonfeb. ot two behind-hand. Far off as he lived, he was well acquainted with all that was going on in art, or science,. or' literature, -' ot politics. Having given away his first ptecious collection,' he had gathered a second, ' perhaps even more curious than, the first. He has specimens of the earliest printed volumes, English and German,' volumes? of old engravings, original maps, Tome Oriental, some belonging to onr own Commonwealth period!, :of f the highest historical valud." ' . l" ' "At one end of the drawing-room stood Sir George's desk,-with a large Bible on it, from which he read daily prayers to his household. Like Charles Gordon, he is. old--1 fashioned*in these matters, and though he j knows aU that is going on in the world he believes in the waye of his fathers. - There were the signs of Evangelical training about him. He had the Evangelical #oßuw* of

jfeech, and used phrases which ate seldom lienr<l from men who have been largely r""YK'ed in the practical business of the w..rM."