THE LATE JUDGE GRAY.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2020, 15 April 1875, Page 3

THE LATE JUDGE GRAY.

The following extract from a notice of Judge Gray's death from the pen of Judge Chapman, published in the Otago Daily Times, has been forwarded by the correspondent of the Auckland Star : - "So far as pounds shillings and pence were concerned, Judge Gray was a human puzzle. He not only seemed to fight against his own interests when any individual or Government of a friendly disposition manifested a desire to help him onwards, but whenever he had money at his disposal, his aim seemed to be to; discover somebody upon whom it could be lavished. There are men in the province who owe whatever they have to him —men to whom hundreds of pounds havo been advanced without a particle of security. There are rough swagsmen who owe many a lift on Cobb's coach to this gentle little creature, by whom the reckoning was paid; there are widows whose money was invested in unfortunate mining speculations, but which had been repaid by one upon whom they had neither legal nor moral claim; there are thousands of travellers by coach, and many publicans and sinnerß, who can bear testimony to the quiet, unobtrusive, gentle manner and kindly disposition of a mere travelling judicial companion. Judge Gray's failing health was the Bubject of comment among his friends long prior to his decease, and they urged him to avail himself of the leave of absence he was entitled to in virtue of service, but this he would not hear of until ho ' had done his ten years,' andthen, when the ten years were done he insisted upsm waiting a little longer; he could not afford to go just then. Nolens volens, the Legislature insisted with the best and most kindly jnientioned meaning that he should go and have, moreover, a year's pay, and an aunuity of £300. Judge Gfay took this to heart very sadly. 'They want to shelve me,' said he. ' Why don't they send a shovel and wheelbarrow, and put me decently into my grave at once.' itwas a little burst of broken spirit, because iho physical tenement was orumbling to pieces, but to the last the same old sensitiveness of conscience stuck to him. He was very ill when he left Dunedin on his final round. ' This is my last,' said he, ' and when I come back I'll laugh and grow fat.' At Queenstown Sir George Arney says ho had to be carried up to his bed, and was so ill that one coachman declared that he would not take the risk of carrying him. At Clyde he was even worse, and so impressed were those who saw him that that was the occasion of their final interview, that they pressed forward to say a kindly farewell then. As he travelled on to Lawrence, his last halting place before reaching Dunedin, he became worse and worse, and had to leave the coach at Teviot. He was suffering much from dysentery. From Teviot he travelled to Lawrence by buggy, and reached his final destination on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the 31st of March, Judge Gray'B last judicial day, he insisted upon being carried to the Court-house to discharge his remaining duties, even if he died in harness. Remonstrances proved

TmMi»nn.min»mM<fi-mmiTT»r rfinrnrnm 11 ■■UMnaggg unavailing, and from the Court he was carried back to bed, from which he will be only removed as part and parcel of a funeral cortege. The sense of duty remained strong to the last. In one of his latest momentß of consciousness, he said, 'What day of the month is it.' On receiving a reply, he said, ' Then JI still have jurisdiction."'