Pen and Ink Portraits.

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 1, 18 September 1880, Page 5

Pen and Ink Portraits.

No. I.— The New Governor. ' The Hon. Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, O.C.M.G. is fifty one years of age. He bears the name of a noble family which has acted an important part in the history-making of our) country. His father, the fourth Earl of Aberdeen, was the scholarly statesman under whose administration, and in spite of Avhose strenuous opposition, England drifted into the Crimean •war. Sir Arthur entered, public life at an early age, and under eminently favourable circumstances. From 1854 to 1857 he sat as member of Parliament in the Literal interest, for Beverley ; and at the genera 1 election in the latter year he contested Luikeard, but was . defeated by Mr Ralph Giey. He acted as assistant private secretary t<j) his father when r - Prime Minister ; and also, it is said, when the latter was Foreign Secretary in Sir Robert Peel's Government (1841-184{6) j but if this statement is true he musti have been the youngest [secretary ever known. However,

it is certain that he gained an extensive insight into the transaction of public business, which has doubtless proved of the greatest service to him during his subsequent career. In the year 1858 he was specially attached to the mission of Mr Gladstone to the lonian Isles, the object of which was to settle the existing differences between the inhabitants and the British Crovernment in its capacity as protector. Three years later Sir Arthur was appointed by the Palmerston Government Governor of New Brunswick, a land of virgin forest, whose rigorous winters contrast strangely Avith the sunny lands Avhere our new Governor has •chiefly sojourned. For four or five years he remained thus on the very skirts of civilization, and then, in 1866, he received his first really important appointment, viz., the Governorship ■of the West Indian Island of Trinidad. He •did not suffer the tropical climate to dry up his energy or to abate his industry. He speedily set about the work lie Avas commissioned to undertake ; and very disagreeable business it was for many of the islanders— so much so that Sir Arthur Avas soon successful in gaining the dislike, if not the hate, of the sugar-growers. The position of affairs Avas

briefly this. There were estates to be cultivated, but insufficient labour wherewith to do it. But where were the negroes? it will be enquired. Away in the woods is the answer, following a wild unrestrained life, where they could do as little as they pleased, and give a loose rein to all those animal propensities with which they appear to be so richly endowed. There is no want of philanthropy or charity in saying that the wooly-headed salamanders of the West Indies have not repaid the hopeful labour which has, withjg&o lavish a hand, been expended upon them. The negroes, the proper cultivators of the soil, being thus given up to the enjoyment of the manifold blessings of freedom, like true British subjects, labour had to be imported, and recourse was naturally had to the superabundant coolie supply in the East Indies. The coolies came in considerable numbers, and proved a not unmixed blessing. Their movements were all under the guidance of a truly paternal government, which decided how they should be fed, how much they should be paid, where they should be housed, and where they should be physicked when sick. Of course it was all very right and proper that these guileless " children of the sun " should be effi-

ciently provided for and looked after, but it is generally agreed that the plans adopted Avere the most expensive and stringent that could be devised. And it is also agre ed that Sir Arthur Gordon was in a great measure responsible for the state of tilings which came to pass. Had he so wished it, he could have saved both the pockets and the tempers of the sugar-growers, who, Avilly-nilly, were obliged to employ coolie labour, and at a price far beyond its real market value. The consequence was that j when the term for which the dusky immigrants were engaged had expired, they took ship home again, with calabashes full of money, to send out their less fortunate friends to what had proved to them a veritable gold field. The coolies waxed opulent ; their masters got poorer and poorer. With regret be it chronicled that Sir Arthur and the Trinidadians fell out over other matters besides the labour question. The latter wished to get all possible remuneration out of their land, regardless of the claims of posterity ; and hence were often viciously disposed to kill, the goose that laid the golden eggs._ They cut down the umbrageous timber growing to the water's edge, along the banks

of the rivers, and planted sugar-canes in the virgin soil. For a few years large crops were gathered in; but gradually the rivers diminished, and were in danger of drying up, until^ Sir Arthur got a bill passed to compel riparian land owners to leave a "belt of trees along the river banks. It fell to his lot, too, to bring into operation a system of secular education, which probably gave direr offence to himself than to any one else, for his predilections lie all on the side of missionaries and churches. His particular shade of belief is that of the " High Church " party ; and the beautifying of places of worship may be expected to proceed vigorously under his hand. For these reasons the coming Governor may be expected to frown sternly on all descriptions of sporting-men, who will, no doubt, have reason to bewail the departure of genial Sir Hercules. Fortune's wheel is ever revolving, though slowly sometimes, and now it is the turn of the clerical party to enjoy themselves for a space at the top. The present is the time for all sorts of philanthropic schemes to imbibe renewed vigour, and take a fresh start. The frequenters of Exeter Hall will rejoice, and record as a triumph in their magazines the

appointment of Sir Arthur to so important a colony as New Zealand. But our narrative has not yet transported Sir Arthur from Trinidad, and before doing so, fairness demands it to be stated that he was the means of accomplishing several public works of great value to the colonists. He spared no personal inconvenience, but set out himself on exploring expeditions in various districts. He opened up a magnificent tract of country on the Montserrat hills, where he encouraged the coolies to settle when they had served their time, instead of departing with all their gains to the land of their birth. From the same district, through his energetic foresight, a plentiful water-supply was brought to San Fernando, • the port whence most of the sugar is shipped to England. . He left behind him, also, substantial bridges and fine roads, for which generations to come will be grateful, when the less agreeable memories of his administration shall have faded into oblivion. From Trinidad Sir Arthur removed in 1870 to another tropical clime and sugar-producing land, viz., Mauritius. On the eve of his departure, it is said that some kindlyintentioned newspaper editor determined to

enlighten the ignorance of the Mauritius folk as to what sort of a man was coming to rule over them. The industrious gentleman in question was at the trouble of despatching a particular chronicle of the acts and words of bir Arthur in Trinidad ; so that when his Excellency landed, his angularities, his sinuosities, and other pleasant little details, had all been conned and learnt by heart. The coming event had truly cast his shadow before. The year following, during the administration of his old friend Mr Gladstone, he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St. George ; and iust two years since the higher dignity of Knight Grand Cross was conferred upon him. Meanwhile, on the elevation of the Fiji Islands into a British colonyj Sir Arthur was appointed first Governor and Commander-in-Chief, an .important post which he has occupied, it is generally agreed, with success for over five and a-half years. The knotty labour question has again followed him like a Nemesis ; and it is not strange that in trying to untie it he has made a number of enemies. Sir Arthur's sympathies have ever been on the side of coloured races, those crayon sketches of

humanity laid on the canvas before the colours for the real manhood are ready ; and if he has erred, it has certainly beenin the right direction. He will find brown-skins in the new sphere where he is called upon to assume office, but his relations with them will be, not immediate, but through responsible ministers, over whom he can exercise but a very limited amount of control. Sir Arthur's latest change means a radical alteration of circumstances for him, a limitation of personal power, probably also a diminution of work, all of which things, one imagines, will render his life more comfortable, because less laborious and responsible. The bodily presence of Sir Arthur cannot be termed commanding; a tall man might call him shoit. As to his face, that index of the mind, the accompanying engraving conveys a sufficiently good idea, by which our clever students of phrenology and physiognomy will 1 be able to corroborate and supplement what has here been said regarding nis disposition, &c. Years ago Sir Arthur was a great stickler for the details of official etiquette ; but probably increased knowledge of the world, and £he peculiarities of colonial life, have modified this little eccentricity. Those who are personally

acquainted with him are imanimous as to his •urbanity and suavity of manner, and they agree that his behaviour to all with whom he has any intercourse is indisputably that of an English gentleman. Doubtless noblesse oblige. Whatever may have been the causes of his getting at loggerheads with his officials and others, lack of courtesy on his part was not one of them. Here then is a point of contrast between the Governor coming and the one just gone, which will, no doubt, be noticeable as soon as the former sets foot on New Zealand soil.