SIR GEORGE GREY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1188, 7 December 1894, Page 11

SIR GEORGE GREY.

: - From Our Special Correspondent. - 1 London, October 20. . Sir George Grey is still in London, and the dat.e of: his departure is at present unsettled. It may be any day, at a few hours’ notice, being dependent on his , health, or he may , not leave this year. What is practically certain is that he will not return to New Zealand for some time to come. He says he found the hot weather .there last summer very trying, and he believes if he had remained during the; autumn it would have been fatal to his life. ' lie does not dread the cold weather, but the damp, muggy climate, which affects his throat. At present, however, he is in excellent, health, and his solitary bent figure is often seen walking about the quiet parts of the-parks, and examining the plants in the gardens. If he .leaves for the winter season he will in all probability go to Egypt and the Nile, the dry air of which has been strongly recommended by his physician. ’ • ' .. i: HIS TRIBUTE TO 10A. Jl Jj GREY. Sir George Grey sent a very handsome . wreath to be laid coffin which contained the mortal' remains of Earl Grey, with whom he had been associated as Governor when the Earl was Secretary of State for the Colonies. Ho speaks in terms of the profaundest esteem and gratitude of that nobleman, who was always his staunch friend, throughout his career, and suphim at a period when ho had incurred the displeasure of the Government, ;and especially of Bulwer Lytton. One story is worth relating., Sir Bulwer. had sent out a certain scion of a governing family to' Cape Colony, with instructions to "•the Governor, Sir George Grey, to appoint him to a lucrative position. This would have necessitated the dismissal of an officer who worthily filled the office. But the protege of Sir Bqlwer Lytton presented himself at , s Government House and demanded to be at once installed in the position., He was in a condition of intoxication. > The Governor wrote to the Colonial Office representing the circumstances, and asking if Sir Bulwer Lytton adhered to his former instructions, because in that case he would feel.justified in resigning. The reply was couched in violent terms, accusing Sir George Grey of having committed an unprecedentedly heinous offence in disregarding the command of the Sovereign,whose signmanual was affixed to the letter of appointment. He was further informed that by the following mail the authorities in _ Downing street would communicate their decision with regard' to his action. But in the meantime Sir Bulwer Lytton’s protege had got on a howling spree in Capetown, was arrested by the police, brought before a Magistrate

and fined. Sir George Grey forwarded the papers to the Colonial Office regarding this scandalous episode, but the next mail brought his recall. It was at this stage of his career that Earl Grey stood by him and secured his reinstatement in the Governorship of the Cape. WHY SIR GEORGE GREY REMAINS IN ENGLAND. I think I shall not betray confidence or trespass on the domain of fancy if I hazard a guess as to the real reason why Sir George Grey desires to remain in England, or at all events in Europe, and to keep in touch with political parties. But it must be distinctly understood that I have no warrant for my suggestion from Sir George himself, and though I have Seen him frequently and conversed with him freely, the subject lias never been directly alluded to, though certain remarks of his have tended to give rise to the idea. He says himself that he is anxious to watch the action of Lord Rosebery’s Government, especially in relation to the extension of local government, and that there are strong indications pointing to the probability of a dissolution next year. How, it may seem a far-fetched idea, but there are more unlikely things in the future than that Sir George Grey should entertain the possibility, should his health permit, of becoming a candidate for Parliament. Of course his advanced age will be urged in some quarters as an absolute bar to such an intention, but those who have seen the extraordinary recuperative powers of the veteran statesman, and the elasticity with which he has risen to great occasions in the political | history of New Zealand and Australia-—as witness his “ one-man-one vote ’’ campaign and the vitality he exhibited during the, last elections in Auckland —will not dismiss my suggestion as a stretch of the imagination. It is no secret that he has never quite recovered from the defeat he sustained in his candidature for Frome, and if, with that wonderful tenacity of purpose which has distinguished his career, he should live to secure a seat in the House of Commons, where he could most effectually advocate his views and plans of local self-government, and create a distinct party favourable to his plans/he would achieve the double triumph of adding the crowning act to a great career, and of wiping out old scores against his ancient Conservative enemies. I don’t pretend to say that this is a precise index to what is passing in Sir George Grey’s mind, which is not always -easily fathomed, but I have reason to believe that it is more than a mere conjecture.

MORE GIFTS TO THE AUCKLAND LIBRARY.

In his walks abroad, the booksellers’ shops, and especially those which deal in rare works and old manuscripts, and the repositories of antiquities, attract a great share of his attention. I need hardly add that the Auckland Public Library, which he has already so-munifi-cently endowed with many 'books ' and* manuscripts of inestimable value, is always the object of his solicitude. I informed you in a former letter that he had purchased from the famous bookseller, Mr Quariteh, a first folio copy of Shakespeare at a very big price, and I believe this extremely scarce book —the only other copy in the Southern Hemisphere was presented by Sir George Grey to the public Library at Capetown—has already reached Mr Shillington, or is on its way out, along with some valuable MSS. One curious and interesting fact connected with this first folio Shakespeare is that one of the pages was missing, and it was supplied at a cost of three guineas from another fragment of the same edition, the practice of the booksellers being to buy up any chance mutilated editions on the prospect of supplying defects in the more / complete copies. Amongst the MSS is one of Boccaccio’s, containing a list of all his works in his own'- handwriting. This will render this collection in the Auckland library nearly complete. Recently Sir George lias purchased a second folio of Shakespeare of 1632 and a fourth folio of 1685, while a third folio is under offer, which he will probably purchase. I believe there is already a first edition of Shakespeare’s poems and sonnets in the Auckland Library, the only other copy in the Southern Hemisphere being at the Capo. All else tiiat is most valuable of Shakespeare is a small edition of his plays, which is very scarce, but which Sir George is trying to secure. But as it is, the library is unique in its Shakespearian treasures. Besides these, he has purchased a long list of other works for the same benevolent object. There is a folio of Drayton’s " Bolyolbion,” of 1613-22, very rare ; a Cicero "De Divinatione cb de natura deorum,” Italian MS of the fifteenth century, 4v0.; Kepler’s “Tabulae Rudolphince ” 1627, folio; a “Breeches Bible” of 1614 (imperfect) ; a complete set of the works of Pringle, the African poet; Southley’s " Life of Nelson,” 1831, a book formerly in Sir George Grey’s own library, which by some mysterious means found its way into the possession of a London bookseller; V Gorcheston Beirdd Cymon ” ; " Elwes’ Life,” 1790; Goethe’s " Sammthche Werke, 1840,” 40 volumes; " Evangelarium Axtecum,” six parts ; Bennett’s "Wanderings in N.S.W., 1834,” two volumes; letter of Columbus on the Discovery of America, a fac simile ; and various works by Martin Woodhull, Kebblethwaite, Quariteh, Carnegie, Burbury, Hoffmann, Hare, Zangwill, Biddulph, Forty, Murray, Jerome Jerome, Korness, Jevous, Borz, Langye, Colle, Luckie, Moran, Williams and Reeves, Lord Chief Justice Coleridge, Teddington and various photographs and reports of Institutes and Societies for 1894. I may add that Sir George Grey’s frequent visits to the booksellers and his liberal purchases have become noised about ayiong the trade, and that in consequence he is deluged with catalogues and circulars soliciting his patronage.