Evenings from Home.

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 2, 25 September 1880, Page 12

Evenings from Home.

No 2.— At Wellesley-street Chapel. From the fashionable frivolity of the Sunday evening concert at St. Paul's, to the stern realism of a sabbath-night service, at Mr. Webb's chapel in Wellesley-street is a great change, but one that is neither altogether unpleasant nor unwholesome. Those aa'lio go to church to enjoy good music, or look at the way folks dress would perhaps find Wellesley-street a trifle dull, but to the Aveary man of business, Avho Avants a rest above everything, its atmosphere of genuine earnestness must be very soothing. The exterior of the chapel does not prepossess one. The building looks much smaller than it really is and has something of the " Little Bethel" appearance. The inside, hoAveA r er, is neat, clean, ancl unpretentious. No one need ever attempt to go to sleep at Wellesley-street. The peAvs seem to be made Avith a special vieAV to preventing anything of the kind. Cushions there are none, and the backs are painfully straight. ToAvards the end of the sermon I began to suffer horribly, the hard ridge had eaten into me and my thigh bones Avere stiff and sore. A rriving at the d<>or five minutes before service time, the verger, a stern but polite personage, showed me to a seat close under the pulpit, from Avliich I could see admirably. The congregation appears to be entirely middle class. Possibly Mr. Webb's sermons are too condemnatory for " swelldom." Anyone hoping to see a nice stylish thing in bonnets at Wellesley-street Avoulcl be disappointed. They are mostly of the genus " poke," their Avearers being distinctly elderly. I don't think I ever saAV so many solemn old ladies in a place of Avorship before. Moreover, the young ones are also of a serious turn and affect sober colours, Avhilst the men seem to be clothed uniformly in shiny black cloth, and to use pomatum liberally. There Avas a man immediately before me avlio had evidently followed David's prescription accurately, and " anointed his head Avith oil till his cup ran over. " The odour Avas almost insufferable, and A-ery nearly induced me to ask him to go outside for a minute, and put his head under an adjacent pump. Why do respectable Avorking men of a certain class think it necessary to grease themselves so on a Sunday? They all do it. I have noticed the custom again and again and a A^ery unpleasant one it is. A feAV minutes after the proper time, the A r cstry door opened, and Mr. Carriole ascended the pulpit. I Avas sorry to miss Mr. Webb, for I had come to hear him, but I comforted myself with the reflection that I should probably meet him in public ere long. The service opened Avith a hymn, sung Avith much fen r our by the entire congregation. Despite the fact that the A'oices are the reA r erse of harmoniously blended, I much prefer this method to that in vogue at St. Paul's. In the one case it is singing for the praise and glory of men, and in the other "to the praise and glory of God." Mr. Carrick then read a chapter in the Bible. He has not a strong voice, and on the eA'ening in question pleaded indisposition. It AA r ould therefore be unfair to criticise him, though I may say he seems to be just an average reader. A chant folloAved, then a prayer, then a hymn, ancl then the sermon. The prayers always strike me as the Aveakest part of a Nonconformist service. Unless the preacher possesses rare eloquence, they arc inadequate and inexpressive. The fact is tlie Church prayers are marvellous compositions. Unfortunately, they get so hackneyed that Aye scarcely realise their beauty till Aye hear others.

Mr. Carrick preached from Nehemiah ii., 20. " The God of heaven, He Avill prosper us." It Avas an interesting though by no means a remarkable sermon. Like most extempore preachers, not of the first Avater, Mr. Carrick repeats himself constantly. It is Aery Avearying ancl becomes decidedly irritating after a time. Instead of a clear connected narrative Avhich can be folloAved Avithout difficulty, such a sermon is a conglomeration of ideas strung together hap-haz-ard and tumbled out inconsequentially. Noav and then the preacher forgets a fact and has to go back to it, moreover he is perpetually in danger of losing the subject in hand and flying off to something else. _ The consequence is it takes forty or fifty minutes to .explain Avhat could easily be said in tAventyfiVe, and the discourse is burdened Avith a quantity of foreign matter. Mr. Carrick, I knoAV, can deliver a first-rate sermon at times, but on this occasion he Avas less happy than usual. Before singing the final hymn, the plate Avas handed round ancl I observed that, notwithstanding the character of the congregation, the donations were far more liberal than at St. Paul's. The Philistine.

— A worthy citizen of Cambridge, and a man Avhose zeal for the public AvealAvas strongly apparent during the recent agitation for a railAvay, Mr. Thomas Wells, J. P., entertained his numerous friends at an ."At Home" in the Public Hall, Cambridge, on Tuesday evening. The company was large and fashionable, and the means provided for their enjoyment Avere as varied as they AA T ere substantial. Dancing Avas indulged in to the music of an excellent band.

No. 2.— The Great Pro-Consul. A very good story about Sir George Grey is told in Mr. CraAvf ord's neAv book on NeAv Zealand. The author narrates lioav, by the invitation of his friend Captain Hoseason, of H.M.S. Inflexible, he made the voyage to Taranaki Avith Governor Grey on his first visit to that settlement in 1847. "We steamed out of Wellington and up the Straits," says Mr. CraAvfoid, "in the teeth of a strong northAvester. As night dreAV on the Avind increased, and I retired at 10 p.m , leaving Sir George Grey and the captain in the midst of an argument as to the Governor's poAvers as ViceAdmiral. Long afterwards I aAvoke and found the argument still going on, and I believe it lasted, Avith intermissions, for some years." Change the time, and A'ary the topics, and we haA^e a biography of Sir George Grey in a nutshell. The story of his career is one of almost cea^ele^s stormy contention. Born at Lisbon, Portugal, in 1812, three days after the death of his father Colonel Grey, Avho fell bravely leading his regiment at Badajoz, he imbibed the spirit of Avar on the threshold of life, and his closing years still find him in the very thick of the fight. Politically, Sir George Grey's position at present is a Aery curious one. Unquestionably the bitterest opponent of the Hall Ministry, he is, according to the testimony of friends and foes alike, their sah'ation. Too able and intractable to be led by any other man in the House of Representatives, he is too much feared to be a strong leader. Ministers would Liy cloaati the cares of office Avith a sigh of relief, but they fear their successor. DiS" contented folloAVcrs Avould turn traitor and deliver up the citadel, but they dread the enemy at the gate, Ancl even former colleagues shrink from reneAved poAver curbed by his imperious Avill. Like all men of pronounced character, his friends are as enthusiastic as his enemi'-s are bitter. There are those Avho believe Sir George Grey only one degree removed from the angelic ; others deny not spirituality, but.associate it Avith angels of the darker hue, and one opponent composed an epigram with a vieAV tf> proving his identity with " auld clootie " himself. All these estimates are the exaggerated offspring of biased minds. The liistory of his life Avill supply the materials for a fairer appraisement. EucloAved Avitli talents considerably above the average, and in many respects successful, Sir George Grey is a disappointed man. One cloud, rising in the very zenith of his summer prosperity, has veiled in unbroken shadoAv the rest of his days. FeAV men survive Avell the shattering of a domestic idol— a bIoAV struck in the inner circle of his home fortress — and Sir George Grey would be more than human if it had not tinged Avith austerity his whole nature. To the unfortunate separation from Lady Grey, in connection Avith Avhich the name < f a distinguished naval officer Avas unpleasantly associated, it is not desirable to refer further. But, other than domestically, Sir George Grey's experiences have not, in all respects, been of the best possible description. The position of a Governor in a CroAvn colony is an isolated one. Colonists are usually no believers in rule by divine right, and an absolute despot, as the Governor of a CroAvn colony Avas in the days Avheu it took six or seA-en months for intelligence to i each England, must be constantly at variance Avith his subjects. Sir George Grey did no violence to the rule. In respect of active friends ancl bitter foes warring round a central figure there is not much difference betAveen NeAv Zealand in 1549 and NeAv Zealand in 1880. Sir George Grey started upon a public career in a rather remarkable way. A successful military course at Sandhurst gained him a captaincy iv the 83rd Regiment before he Avas twenty-four years old. Tavo years later, attention having been drawn to Australian exploration, he volunteered, and his services Avere accepted by the Colonial Office. In 1836 he landed at Hanover Bay Avith Lieut. Lushington and twelve men. Ponies that had been sent for to Timor died, and other difficulties beset the expedition. They made their Avay only about 70 miles along the course of the Glenelg River, Avhen they were attacked by natives. The leader received a spear Avound, from which he still stirrers. Further progress Avas now impracticable, ancl returning to Hanover Bay the party Avere taken on board H.M. Beagle. Tavo years recruiting at Mauritius prepared Sir George Grey for a second attempt, and a Avhaler conveyed him to Sharks' Bay, Western Australia, where he Avas left with three Avhaleboats and six months' provisions. Disaster again folloAved. The stores Avere AA r ashed aAvay in a storm, and the party had to set out for Perth, a distance of 600 miles, Avith Avhaleboats in a A r ery leaky condition. They suffered terrible privations, and all the others at last giving up exhausted Captain Grey pressed on alone, and succeeded not only in

reaching Perth, but in fnding back timely .succour to his men. The account of these expeditions, published in . oook entitled "A •Journey of Two Years, J_xpeditions of Discovery in North-Western and Western Australia," found such f.«vour in the eyes of the ■Colonial Office that they roAA r arded the author with the Governorr-hip of South Australia. Opinion on the brief administration of Captain Grey in South Australia is divided, but ithe Colonial Office Avere satisfied that it Avas capable, for Avhen neAvs of the Native disturbances which had arisen in NeAv Zealand during Captain Fitzroy's Governorship reached England, -they appointed Captain Grey to the head of He arrived in NeAv Zealand in November 1845, Avhen operations against the rebel.lious chief Heke Avere proceeding sloAAdy ancl unsatisfactorily. The neAv Governor infused fresh spirit into the campaign, ancl within two months after his arrival Ruapekapeka pah had fallen, Heke's poAver Avas broken, ancl the Avar tended. Matters Avere, hoAveA r er, still in a very disturbed state in the South, OAving to the hvwless behaviour of the chiefs Ruaparaha (the Eerpetrator of the Wairau massacre) and Rangiaeata. The Governor lost no time. On the 23rd of July, 1546, about eight months after his arrival in the colony, he landed before daylight Avith 130 men at Ruaparaha's pah, and .-seizing that chief, carried him prisoner on board *hip. The peace of the country Avas soon afterwards restored, and remained unbroken until 1860. For these services Captain Grey Avas made a X.C 8., and received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from Oxford University, on which occasion he Avas facetiously dubbed by the Oxonians " King of the Cannibal Islands." In his relations Avith the colonists the Governor Avas not so successful. Read by the light of recent events, the political history of that period is exceedingly quaint. Tho colo-

nists clamoured for self-goA r emmcnt, and cA r en as early as 1845 Earl Grey declared in favour ■of granting the Avish. A year later he framed a Constitution and sent it out. It Avas of a cumbrous type, dividing the colony into two ?rovinces, governed by a double Chamber — the Ipper one nominated., the LoAver elected, not directly from the people, but by a number of municipalities into Avhich the country Avas to "be subdiAdded for purposes of Local GoA'cnrnent. There Avas also a Federal Parliament. Sir George Grey had power to suspend this Constitution and continue a despotic rule, and he did so. In 1846, before the first Constitution "framed for NeAv Zealand had arrived in the colony, Sir George Grey wrote to the Secretary of State expressing the opinion that the colonists Avere fully qualified for free institutions ; but in 1849, after Earl Grey's Constitution had been hung up, he protested that the European inhabitants of the islands Avere of a class upon whom it would be most dangerous to confer poAvers of self-government. The publication of this dispatch in the colony excited intense indignation. Meetings Avere held in every <;entre of population, resulting in Leagues, which vigorously assailed the Governor by petitions to England. TJae colonists formulated a Constitution comprising a Legislature consisting of tAvo Chambers — the Upper elected for five years,- and the LoAver one for three, chosen by universal suffrage. The only special qualification proposed for the Upper House Avas greater age and longer residence ; ancl 'the Governor's veto Avas to be restricted to matters affecting Imperial interests. It will thus be seen that the cause Avhich Sir George Grey espouses noAV he opposed Avith all the authority at his command Avhen demanded by the colonists thirty years ago. The nominee Upper House Avas his own design, against the Avish of the people. Do qualms of conscience ever

remind Sir George of that lost opportunity Avhen he had poAver to realise popular aspirations, and yet opposed them so violently that the voice of the Avhole people rose up against him ? The pressure of public opinion was so strong that he recalled his condemnation of the colonists and submitted for approval the Constitution Avhich AA r as .af tenvards brought into operation. But even this concession did not molify the exasperated colonists, and his first term of Governorship ended amid intense unpopularity. The next appointment conferred by the Imperial Government on Sir George Grey Avas the Governorship of Cape Colony. He filled it at a critical time, and his scheme for settling the Kaffir trouble by locating the discontented tribes in isolated sections, Avas A T ery successful. He Avas also before his time in advocating Confederation Avhich in those days Avas favourably entertained by the colonists, but distasteful to the Home Government ancl called doAvn upon Sir George Grey's head a seA r ere reprimand. TJie Avhole period of his administration Avas marked by acrimonious disputes Avith successive Secretaries of State for the Colonies, resulting in his summary recall in 1859. On the arrival of the A'essel Avhich conveyed him to England, however, tlie first man from the shore Sir George Grey met Avas a " Times" reporter, and he asked that gentleman Avho had been appointed Governor of Cape Colony. The reporter, unconscious of the identity of his interrogator, responded that a change of Ministry had taken place, and a steamer had been despatched to inform Sir. George Grey of his reappointment aud to stop him from coming home. In 1861, after the outbreak of the Maori Avar, Sir George Grey Avas once more sent to NeAv Zealand, ancl continued to administer the affairs of this colony until February IS6S. To

trace the events of so extended a term of public seiwice, even in outline, Avould stretch this already too lengthy sketch beyond reasonable limits. It may be said, generally, that Sir George Grey Avas exactly the opposite of that type of governor Avhich he recommends as the true model for his successors. He Avas no cypher in the Constitution. His Ministers complained that he systematically thwarted them ancl secretly misrepresented their conduct ancl policy to the Home Government, and he came to an open rupture AA'ith General Cameron. His replies to the charges of Ministers were sometimes A^ery unique. On one occasion, the Colonial Cabinet had met an allegation of ill-treating the Maories imprisoned on board a hulk in Auckland harbour by stating that the hulk Avas only a feAV hundreds of yards distant from Govenment House, and if the cruelty which His Excellency alleged had been perpetrated, it Avas his duty to have interposed and preA r ented it. Sir George Grey at once called in the aid of an officer from one of the men-of-Avar on the station and h-<d a survey made of the distance between Government House and the hulk as she lay at anchor. He then gravely sent the plans ancl measurements to the Colonial Office as a proof of the unreliable character of his advisers. Whether General Cameron, avlio returned to England three or four years before Sir George Grey, had used his opportunities to damage his old opponent ; or Avhether it Avas because the Colonial Office desired more pliant officers, is a moot point, but Sir George Grey Avas not offered another appointment after his return from Ncav Zealand. He AA r as quietly shelved with a pension of £1,000 a year. He endeavoured to get iiito the House of Commons, but failing to Avork Avith either of the great political parties, he Avas unsuccessful. His return to NeAv Zealand and re-appearance in public life — first as

Superintendent of the Province of Auckland, | and then as leader of the Democratic Party in the General Assembly, and his tAvo years of office as Premier are matters of contemporary history. To analyse the character of Sir George Grey is the most difficult task of all. It is full of apparent contradictions. An old servant at the KaAyau Avas once sounded confidentially on the subject, but, shaking his head dubiously, he remarked : " The longer you know Sir George the less you kuoAv about him." He is reputed to be Avealthy, yet his name is not particularly conspicuous upon subscription lists, ancl he is said to have rather disgusted an ardent Milesian admirer by apologizing for the smallness of a £5 subscription toAvards the Irish Famine Fund on the plea that he had suffered loss on a shipment of Avool. Yet he can, if resolved to cm-ry a point, make pecuniary sacrifices. When DoAvning-street stinted the money alloAvance for the settlement of the Kaffir question he advanced £6000 from his OAvn private funds to carry out his vicAvs, although it Avas doubtful at the time whether the Imperial Government Avould repay the amount— Avhich, hoAveA r er, they subsequently did. The gift of the Cape library Avas also munificent, and in contesting double seats during recent elections Sir George has put himself to needless expense. His poAvers of oratory are universally admitted, yet they Avere j only developed late in life. Shortly after re- ! turning from England he observed to a friend that during his election campaign there he had discovered a new talent— the power of moving great masses of men. Sir George Grey therefore presents the singular instance of a man naturally endoAved as an orator living for nearly sixty years Avithout finding it out. The secret of his oratory appears to depend mainly upon an intellectual quickness in grasping the points of sympathy latent in his audience, and playing

upon them. This aptitude has many times been turned to excellent account. The iirst meeting at Christchurch, when aAvell-organised attempt to baulk his address had been deA'ised, is a conspicuous example. He is an enemy who works by undermining and surprise as Avell as by open attack. The Avords, " I Avill dig round the king moA r cment till it falls, " have become historical, and the Maories have many sayings signifying the same quality in his character. A very good story may be told in illustration. Suspecting- a secretary of communicating the contents of his despatches to General Cameron, Sir George wrote a letter to the Colonial Office, assailing the General in no measured terms. He handed it to the secretary to copy, and that being clone, undertook to see to the posting of the original himself. The unsuspecting scribe made tracks to General Cameron by night, bearing the precious copy ; Sir George quietly placed the original in the fire. The General Avas furious, ancl as the mail Avas on the eve of leaving he sat down instanter ancl indicted a vicious despatch, premising that he had learned that the Governor Avas sending a communication of a certain character, Avhich he desired to ansAver at once. A few months later Sir George blandly remarked to the secretary, "By the Avay G , do you remember copying that despatch about General Cameron. " The secretary did remember. "But I didn't send it, you knoAA% G . And isn't it singular, I've just received a letter from the Secretary of State, asking me to report on a reply sent by General Cameron to a despatch from me, Avhich he has never received ?" The feelings of the unlucky go-be-tAveen may be imagined. In the quarrel Avith General Cameron, Avhich Avas characterised on both sides by great bitterness, Sir George Grey Avas undoubtedly right. [ He vigorously rebutted the charge brought by

the General against the colonists of desiring to use her Majesty's forces in " support of an infamous job* — to Avrest land from the natives, and perpetuate a large military expenditure. But the propriety of publishing the General's correspondence, Avhich the latter claimed to haA-e been private, has been called in question. There is one quality the possession of Avhich by Sir George Grey his Avorst enemy has never denied. His parentage and the circumstances of his birth perhaps account for the utter absence constitutionally of the sense of fear. In his explorations, and during the Maori and Kaffir disturbances, his pluck Avas often called into play. He even manifests a kind of contempt for those Avhose nerves are Aveaker than his own, and takes a rather malicious delight in putting them to the test. When the country around NeAv Plymoutli was in a very disturbed, state, Sir George often invited members of the minature Court to ride round the district, amusing himself Avitli the trepidation Avhich a reluctant compliance enforced by etiquette excited. On more than one occasion, during these rides, the Governor and party passed the A T ery spot Avhere Dr. Hope and his companions Avere, a feAV days later, pounced upon by an ambii? cade ancl slaughtered. There is reason to believe that Sir George Grey's utter indifference to alarms, Avhich led him to disregard repeated Avarnings, is not AAdiolly irresponsible for that melancholy tragedy. At Wereroa, after General Cameron had positively declined to attack the pah, on the ground that it could not be taken Avith less than 2,000 soldiers and at great sacrifice of life, Sir George Grey assembled 309 friendly natives, 139 Forest Rangers, and 25 Wanganui caA'alry ; and AAdiile 200 Imperial troops looked on as mere spectators, he personally directed the operations against the pah and captured it, taking prisoners fifty natives avlio Avere coming to its relief.

It is rarely that the biographer has to deal Avitli a character so full complexure ; yet a careful study of the training Avhich Sir George Grey has undergone from early life Avill account for many of the contradictions and intricacies. But even that Avill not explain all his Aveakness and peculiarities. Not the least noticable of these is the cA r ident gratification AAdiich he derives, even in the midst of a highly-spiced democratic oration, from allusions to his acquaintance with great and titled men — an acquaintanceship which, estimating the Avhole time Sir George Grey has spent in England since he left it, more than forty years ago — cannot have been of A r ery long duration. Personally, he is fond of flattery, Avhile no man understands better its poAver upon others or employs it more artfully. _ In temper, Sir George Grey is decidedly frail. It is narrated that Avhen the committe of the House unseated him for Christchurch a private korero took place among his friends as to Avho should undertake the unpleasant task of informing Sir George. It Avas pressed on Mr. Sheehan ancl others in succession, each declining Avith thanks, until no alternative remained but for Mr. Seymour George to perform the duty. The consequence — so the story runs — Avas a scene ending in a complete rupture, Avhich Avas only healed by the intervention of a little angel of a feAV summers, AA r ho has entire possession of the old man's heart. To see Sir George Grey at his very best it is necessary to meet him in his oaati house. There he is the courtly gentleman, distinguished by all those graces Avhich make the' name of the English squire synonomous Avith easy dignity, graceful courtesy, and hospitality. No one Avould suspect iii the quiet, studious elderly gentleman, the violent partisan and unrelenting political leader, or detect in the stooped figure the soldier of by-gone days.