THE HON. C. E. JONES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2055, 5 September 1868, Page 5

THE HON. C. E. JONES.

MINISTER OF ROADS AND RAILWAYS AM* COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS.

Charles Edward Jones was born and educated at Devonport, in Devonshire. At 21 years of age he removed to Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, to fiU & situation as money order clerk in the post-office there, and left Newark for Australia, where he arrived iri 185% before the auriferous wealth of the Colony was known. His varied career may be regarded as indicative of muhifarious capacity and many-sided tendencies. While yet a youth, he took ait active part in the literary and lecturing* work connected with mechanics' insti^ tutes, and was well known in the West of England, as he has leen sinee1 throughout Victoria, as a lecturer ozt total abstinence and other subjects. He.has also at different periods been connected with the press. During his firsfc year of colonial life, he was on the staff of the Herald; and after giving uji the business to which he was for a time allured, by the large profits afforded in the early days of the Goldfields, he resumed his'pen. as a journalist. For many years be repre- : sented Gipps Ward in, the City Corporation, ands'ep by step, from Municipal to Parliamentary politics, he has advanced to the prominent position which be now occupies. A free trader at the commencement of his political career in the colony, he is now a protectionist, having* fought the battle of that party ever since his entrance into Parliament. This c'lenje of opiiim is frequently referred to as a matter to his discredit, but, if discreditable to him, it must be equally sa to a large majority of our population, for they have experienced a similar change. Mr Jones was elected member for Ballarat East in 1864, and continued to represent that constituency until the dissolution at the commencement of the present year. At the last general election, he was defeated by Mr J. B. Humffray, by ten -rotes, but petitioned agaiiisfc the return of that gentleman, and is still I prosecuting his- suit. "When the Siadea Ministry accepted office, Mr Jones opposed the. Minister of Lands, the Hon. Duncan Gillies, at Ballarat West, and: beat his opponent by 300 votes ; and when the Sladen Ministry resigned, Mr Jones was selected by Mr M'CuUoch as Aone of his colleagues in the new team. THS HON. J. J. CASEY, MINISTER OF JUSTICE. 7 This gentleman is a native of Ireland*. having been bom in the Comity of .Clare in 1831. He: was educated a fc Gal way college, and, after visiting the United States and the continent of Europe, came to Victoria in 1855. From the time of his arrival, tiU -within a year ago, he has; been connected with the press, as coproprietor of the Bendigo Advertiser with. Mr A. Mackay, one ©f the representatives of Sandhurst. He has been several times elected a member of the municipal council of Sandhurst; was chairman of the councU in 1861; and the same year^ received an. appointment as territorial magistrate. He was elected mem' er for the Sandhurst Boroughs' in 1861 as a supporter of the Heal'es Government, but was unseated on the petition of Mr Howard Elected for Mandurang in 1863, on the resignation of Dr Owens, Mr. Casey has continued to sit for that constituency, having been returned five times. His, special work in the House has been the passing of the County Court Amendment AcVthe Lien on Crops Actr. and the present Victorian Hansard, which, was established on his motion. Since his entrance upon Parliamentary life few debates "have occurred without bis taking* part in them, and his speeches, though, not distinguished for brilliancy, are marked by considerable cogency of reasoning power, careful study of the .subject^' and unruffled ease and suavity of manner. Mr Casey was. caUed to the Victorian bar in 1865, and in July last, on the format- • : tion of the second M'Culloch Ministry* j was appointed Minister of Justice.

French Country Seat of John STo\*r.xr Mill.—lt is not generally known that John Stuart MiU passes a consid.rable portion of the year in the old town of Avignon, im France.. A .correspondent of the Chla-jo, Tribuiie has recently visited, the place, and thus speaks of what he V saw. andj heard Oa. his way ta-.tKe;,.hpiwe|of Mr MilC-hie was attracted by of tha cemetery, aside, for a short stroU. shelteredby ■■'*&--. grove of evergr^ecs/ was a square spacei" bordtred by beds, of flowers. Ia the^ centre of it, inclosed by a low iron rafling, rose a large sarcophagus cf pure wiite marbl*7 resting oql a base of the same beautiful material, 'Afcthe head of the monument stood a singlecameUia with exquisite white fiowecs. Between the flower-beds' and the railipg a. a hall walk extended around. In one of th* corners of the lot rose a simple stone heneb x serving as a resting-place to thft,mourners. . On the flat top of the sarcophagus' were the. following words :—" To thebelovedniemory.; of Harriet Hill, the deadly loved arid dt^l^rY regretted wife of John Stuart"?' Mill;, Hat great and loving heart, her nofcleYsoul, her clear, powerful, original, and jcoingrehensive inteUect, made her tH^ Ygaid^.rsad-..' support, the instructor in wislomi'. aji*fe\ the example in goodness, as she w».s-tYj^sa!<g- ! earthly dehght of those who hadfi^hKp^: piness to belong to her. As earat-atrffe 7li piiblicgood asshewas generous-and dev«4«|fe>: allwho surrounded hei*, her influence has bis.. found in many of the greatest iinproveiaesjts. of the age, and will be in those, still to com-a. Were there even a few hearts and iat-Kects like hers, this earth would already become the hoped-for Heaven. She died, t* the irreparable loss of those who su?-. vire her, at Avignon- 3rd November, ISSS." The moving words of this epitaph^ so full of tender eloquence, tell oaS, only what the noble wom-n whos-^ ashesf. repose here has been to John Stuart MiU-aed to the, cause of human progress and i>. famt^ bat also the motive of the frequent and pro-t tract ed sojourns at Avignon < f the coinprsa: cat of her life. That he might be as near ss possible to her grave, he'purchased, years ago, a country house within a few hundred yards of the cemetery, where he devofcesC himself, not to fruitless lamentations orae his great, irreparable los 3, but to the elaboration of those wise and elevated principles £«£ the growth of which ia his mind he is a& much indebted to her genius. His devoted?, attachment to the beloved dead and f jithfk|£ prosecution of the work in which she W.Ysgi his constant helpmate and inspiration, is certainly one of the noblest. UlustxatioasoC his character.