A NEW BOOK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 514, 22 May 1909, Page 9

A NEW BOOK.

SirGeorgo Grey, Governor, High Com- /• missioner, and Premier, An Historical Bio,;graphy. By James Collier, formerly assist-' aantv to Herbert; 'Spencerjoint-author -of ; t,''lfescriptiye,y! Sociology" .English and Literature Re.idatinjj.ito NeiwjZealarid;: •A' Bibliography." Wellington and Tombs. : ■■In ii'seritisi'of 'works''bri- "Makers of Aris•tralMiaJJ^'theJjifeKof/'^ir/.'Georgo- Grey; do-, serves-a leadings place. ''-In his first colonial shattered £■; 'nmi^ ; set;, that two New Zea- ■ fend/'gdyemorshiiis/ 'of a' joint 'duration of fifteen^years;,_ho^assisted to brings.two wars to acenfilusion/and was to a largo extent-'tlie foundorl_oiL the. constitutions both of . tho colony--and ;of ' the Church which is naraedt afteK.ifc/ivLater. on; as Premier, ho inauguratedjthejLiboral .platform ,of. which' his successors 'and political opponents passed :' the principal .'.measures into legislation, and i,of which tho.heritage was assumed by Mr. S6d-. don. He; was in an' oven, fuller sense'' a: ■maker .of ..the Empire,for. his work, in South' ■'Australia, .any iNe.W; Zealand was not greater •' achieTOinentsin . South';, Africa, where, as High Commissioner tor seven vears,' he settled*;:native''difficulties and 'fbundod •schools 1 and 'hospitals.'';' 'His..'character .of. strong contrasts has a special.interest.for,tho biographer.' 'A' born ,';ruler.; and. leaderof men/:ho. was. unable .tovoboy. ~.■ An autocrat .who brooked no ■ opposition,';h'e was tho eager apo'stlo Of'-'±he'people's"- right to rtfle, tho first .stump orator on a j;raiid scale in New Zealand,': the' advocato; of; manhood': suffrage' imd; triennial ; Parliaments.; Whilst ho was amongst tho' greatest of the Empiro builders,. he usually in revolt against the.Colonial Office,'which'employed him ; he attempted to found in; South Africa -a federation which would soon have . been independent Jof tho "Empire,', ahd 'invhis later days -of .disappoint-' ihent and neglect ,he ; would talk, wild Bchemes .'for(instituting in-armed rising against the British power./ •)■ Of tho ■'■ development. .ofthis. great -■ and' powerful,: but .deeply contradictory, character Mr ..Collier; gives an able and convincing nar-' rative in his "(biography:' V He, cfrrtainly. does not suffor from' what Macanlay calls , tho "lue3-Boswelliana, : or-disease : ,of admiration.". He is '.ooh'scious , 'of;.ihedefects,- as well as" •of. : >the of- Grey's mind,; and gonius, throws, on the. headstrong, governor .-the 'blame'-for most of his quarrels:,with the' -Colonial' Office; and discounts with : ,th'e aid :of'.argumenit somo.imaginery claims to glory <'which Grey himself put forward in. those 'later days whenitho diminished Titan found, his principal relief ; ; from. present, neglect and • solitiido; m'.-conteinplating /and . rehearsing the Splendi- past.'. ; "A life where pure; mo- . tiyes, nobleipassions, . and '• high , ends were strangely mingled, with' egoist aims, vindictive'.p'assibh^' arid unworthy; main's,V is Mr. .Collier's ( summary of Grey's career,, contain-' ling hiswholeipoint of view. In his last days thoimemory and. .vanity ;of. tho old Pro-Consul played him,'apparently' : somo ! sorry: tricks. , Mr. : Collier does not believe that as High Commissioner : of South ■Af rica he;diverted .to the';.scene of,';the' Indian ■ mutinythe troops :w.hich had been, sent"by the Imperial authorities to: support..the; British Plenipotentiary in'. China.-' it is unlikely on the faco of it.that; .Imperial'..officers would,-accept'a reversal of • thoifiorders. from,'a. colonial 'Governor, at. whoso territory , they . happened to touch, and .though Sir George Groy persistently took ' credit | for . .the 'diversion*,' Mr. Collier makes it'practically, certain that tko troops did not go straight-from' Cape Town to Calcutta, as Grey professed believe they did by his direction, but went, to where they ;were diverted by Lord. Elgin. In Mr. Collier's opinion, Grey's, insistence on this service in his later years "furnished .convincing proof..that,'megalomania, had -.psrmanently disturbed'the ! balance of his mind." ... 1

■It is obvious -that an author who mingles ; with ',a .' personal Itnoweldgo of' Sir . Georgb -Grpy;in his lattor days such views as these -.wribes ; from a very dJffertflit standpoint fropi his: earlier, biographer, Mr.'Bec3, whose book js .virtually' Groy'a own Apologia.; Hio per-; sonal knowledge and somo further researches are Mr.'Collier's claim to. an advantago over Grey's, other - chief . biographer, -; Professor Honderson,. whoso estdmato of facts and. .characteristics he much moro closply. follows.. Tho now work- deals more equally with tho : full 'story: of. Grey's varied career "as Governor, High Commissioner, and Premier," than any. of its,predecessors.The scant account of .Groy's ' earlylife—yhis youth, : education, exploring journeys,- and li-csidentship in 'Western Australia, and his Governorship of South : Australia . together' 'cover only thirty pages—gives an ithpression of sketchiness which-is-not just to tho'book as a wholo. Most of tho loading crises in.Grey's career are'very , fully, and impartiallv discussed, ,nnd .the; concluding chapter in'-which tho author .-amplifies his conception' of Grey's .character is excellent' in its comprehensiveness and insight. Ho says hardly, anything. about the Supeiintendcncy • of Auckland province. Tills portion'. of- Grey's career, Mr._. Collier explains, ."remains , in obscurity" because there, ; arc .' no; ; very accessiblo , records .'of it. - and his coll«acues in it ap-

pareutly do -not caro to recall its tenor." Tho disappointing Premiership, in which tho ox-Govornor who had restored tho finances of South Africa, quarrelled with his' oolloaguos, and brought into sad confusion tho finances , of Now. Zealand, is dismissed in a few pages, and the more pathotio spcctaclo of Grey,. loft, out in. tho cold by his .own party, deserted by his last follower, and | made .to realise, as Mr. Collier neatly says, "his; own political ideal of one-adult-one-yote," ;is not pressed, too long upon the. reader. It is enough merely to havo seen : Marina amid tho ruins. Full reference is made to tho literary and collecting zeal of the Pro-Consul. Grey had oiio minor triumph before dying, only .eleven years ago,in England in comparative obscurity. He made a tour of Australia, addressing crowded .audiences and being accorded a " reception, which was said to bo more than magnificent." Mr. Collier contrasts this tour mtli tlie last ,tour of Grey's Elisha, -Mr. Scddon, to tho advantage, of tho'latter statesman. "As. was afterwards the caso in London," ho. observes, "Grey was only a spectacle; Scddon was a power." Tho _ distinction. is_ finely put, but ! Mr.. Seddon visited Australia when ho was 61 years old, at the height of. his fame, and Grey when he :was 79, after a long period of eclipse.. ,' ' ; ; The career of Grey is a striking example of the-mutations of human greatnessi and tho - way in which lofty qualities are frequently balanced- by faults and limitations which: smaller men escape." It was the; boast of Grey that ho was four times called to take supromo a colony on the occasion of a serious crisis in its affairs, but the strain of insubordination in his nature robbed him of a great part of the favour which w his unique services to; the Empire otherwise ;merited. 'He.left New Zealand after his first Governorship ; without, the knowledge or sanction of the Colonial. Office, and bore the burden of official displeasure on his arrival 1 in.London for disobeying its commands. He was recalled once from South Africa for acts of flagrant .disobedience—his biographer hints, , disloyalty—and lio was virtually recalled from Now Zealand in 1867, after reckless dofianco of his official.sui>eriors. .Though he achieved great, things,' his ■ vanity required that in several : instances lie . should magnify 'his achievements, and an element of' weakness and of error entered into much, that he did. His most-unique gift probably lay in the development ■ and'uplifting of savage races, but even m this domain he made, many mistakes. His .work for the: amelioration of the Australian. natives perished when he - left. Australia. His schools and hospitals and regu-. ; lations were -of great benefit to' the Maoris, but: his dream of the -amalgamation of the native and European races is not likely to be. realised. 1 It is has been' argued, by .Fitzgerald and Tex, among others, that if ho had been less careful of his dignity he could have prevented tho second Maori war, and his latest biographer does... not - condemn, the, chargo.', In South Africa the good effects of hjs oxpensive schemes for the amelioration of the natives; havo been of doubtful pormanpnee. . The .democratic legislation which he advocated in his later years lie had to leave, for the most part; to be'carried out by hia successors. • Yet, few. 1 will - dispute tho final estimate of Mr. Collier that "by his "wisdom, his originalities, and his audacities, he' rose; ;head and shoulders, above!' all other colonial governors,: before or since. ;Ho will ever be one of .the greatost.'figures in the colonial history of tho Empire.'' , ;•> Tho quotations which have been incidentally made from Sir. Collier's' book will show that the author is capable of using a vivid and pointed "style. ■. 'The historical allusions: which he makes are often apposite and illuminating,' but occasionally . they, seem far•fetched_and affected. It was not,necessary. to "drag in" Herbert Spencer six times in the first, thirty pages, and' it does not help, to on. understanding of' Grey's career to be told that "genius: often: rises in constellations,'". and that tho year'of his birth was also that of:sucr various personages as;BrowningsSelhorne, Mark Pattison, William GeorgO .Ward/, and Mrs.' Beecher Stowe. .It. was enough ;to say. that ','a fino, summer brought a bbunteous harvest" without' adding ."and the weather, which had ruiiied the reforming measures of Turgot -as it'afterwards ruined the reform-; lng measures of Loris Molikoff; came to'his aid." is spoiled sometimes by a trick ho has ; in th© most., important of.'making der cisive statements >h6fore lie meaiis them' For examplo;'in discussing Grey's claim to havo diverted,' the .troops bound for. China,- he; writes:. "Lord Elgin, and lie alorib diverted them ,to Calcutta,- and Sir Georgo Grey had no' more to dp; with ..the .diversion' then the Man : in the Moon;":. But tho argument is'not yet finished. After-discussing tho matter for two further pages, ho/concludes that "we aro! unable positively;to state'thnt.tho..transports' complied with the requests of Grey or obeyed the orders of Elgin.: Grey's .contention, which looks lilco the delusion of. ft ,distempered brain,' , is; a t least arguablo.">r . : Eliscussing; Grey's hospital. policy i ini ,South ' Africa';-- ha says: ''One notable";re^ult'-.was'the .revolution; it in tlio/ minds of: the Kaffirs.. ;By - . them, as by -''all :;primitiye;/ ! p6oples,; : ' ,d wore believed' to'be; of and .means;' Now'-the And' ari_6ther. '■. ;V,h'o -Vtliis." : very explicit abnroneoi VSuch.Vat.'.leiist,'. was the claim mado by Grey. :It -appears to.,have; been .one of his . many, :delu'sions- about Hho offocts of his measures." ■ ' These' tricks for the sako .of brightness are disconcerting. But .they are: trifling defects •in generally, well-; written"book. The life of Grey is so interesting and is interwoven with so many important events ; that 'one •,would; like to :have ; n much fuller "'.biography, than any that haß yetbeen produced, including .correspondence and : disnatches, if these aro now available. Mean-, while, Mr., Collier lias produced a comprehensive narrative .'and able .estimate' in work'of popular size, wjiich promises to bo a. standard lifo of . Grey for many years to com". Tho series'for which the ; book is written' will be fortunate if future volumes do not fall below its level. .