text: History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (10th ed.)/Volume 2


text: History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (10th ed.)/Volume 2/Contents 2

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1536.] short-sighted, against engrossers of grain. Wealthy speculators, watching their opportunity, might buy up the produce not immediately needed, of an abundant harvest, and when the stock which was left was exhausted, they could make their own market, unchecked by a danger of competition. In time no doubt the mischief would have righted itself, but only with the assistance of a coercive police which had no existence, who would have held down the people while they learnt their lesson by starvation. The habits of a great nation could only change slowly. Each estate or each township for the most part grew its own food, and (the average of seasons compensating each other) food adequate for the mouths dependent upon it.

The development of trade at the close of the fifteenth century gave the first shock to the system. The demand for English wool in Flanders had increased largely, and holders of property found they could make their own advantage by turning their corn-land into pasture, breaking up the farms, enclosing the commons, and becoming graziers on a gigantic scale.

I have described in the first chapter of this work the manner in which the Tudor sovereigns had attempted to check this tendency, but interest had so far proved too strong for legislation. The statutes prohibiting enclosures had remained, especially in the northern counties, unenforced; and the small farmers and petty copyholders, hitherto thriving and independent, found themselves at once turned out of their farms and deprived of the resource of the common lands. They had suffered


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506 frightfully, and they saw no reason for their sufferings. From the Trent northward a deep and angry spirit of discontent had arisen which could be stirred easily into mutiny. The depositions of prisoners taken after the rebellion are full of evidence on this point. George Gisborne says: 'We were in mind and will to meet for certain causes, the which concerned the living of the poor people and commons, the which they say be sore oppressed by gentlemen, because their livings is taken away.'—Rolls House MS. miscellaneous, first series, 132.Wm. Stapleton says: 'Among the causes of the insurrection were pulling down of villages and farms, raising of rents, enclosures, intakes of the commons, worshipful men taking yeomen's offices, that is, becoming dealers in farm produce.'—Rolls House MS.I am tempted to add a petition sent from one of the discontented districts to the Crown, which betrays great ignorance of political economy, although it exhibits also a clear understanding both of the petitioners' sufferings and of the immediate causes of those sufferings.'Please it your noble Grace to consider the great indigence and scarcity of all manner of victual necessary to your subjects within this realm of England, which doth grow daily more and more, by reason of the great and covetous misusages of the farms within this your realm; which misusages and the inconveniences thereof hath not only been begun and risen by divers gentlemen of the same your realm, but also by divers and many merchant adventurers, cloth makers, goldsmiths, butchers, tanners, and other artificers and unreasonable covetous persons, which doth encroach daily many farms more than they can occupy in tilth of corn; ten, twelve, fourteen, or sixteen farms in one man's hands at once; when in time past there hath been in every farm of them a good house kept, and in some of them three, four, five, or six ploughs kept and daily occupied to the great comfort and relief of your subjects of your realm, poor and rich. For when every man was contented with one farm, and occupied that well, there was plenty and reasonable price of everything that belonged to man's sustenance by reason of tillage; forasmuch as every acre of land tilled and ploughed bore the straw and the chaff besides the corn, able and sufficient with the help of the shakke in the stubbe to succour and feed as many great beasts (as horses, oxen, and kine) as the land would keep: and further, by reason of the hinderflight of the crops and seeds tried out in cleansing, winnowing, and sifting the corn, there was brought up at every barn-door hens, capons, geese, ducks, swine, and


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1536.] Nor were these the only grievances of the northern populace. The Yorkshire knights, squires, sheriffs, and justices of the peace, intent, as we see, on their own interests, had been overbearing and tyrannical in their offices. The Abbot of York, interceding with Cromwell in behalf of some poor man who had been needlessly arrested and troubled, declared that 'there was such a company of wilful gentlemen within Yorkshire as he thought there were not in all England besides;' and Cromwell in consequence had 'roughly handled the grand jury.' Courts of arbitration had sat from immemorial time in the northern baronies where disputes between landlords and tenants had been equitably and cheaply adjusted. The growing inequality of fortunes had broken through this useful custom. Small farmers and petty leaseholders now found themselves sued or compelled to sue in the courts at Westminster, and the expenses of a journey to London, or of the employment of London advocates, placed them virtually at the mercy of their landlords. Thus the law itself had been made an instrument of oppression, and the better order of gentlemen, who would have seen justice enforced, had


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508 they been able, found themselves assailed daily with 'piteous complaints' which they had no power to satisfy. The occupation of the council with the larger questions of the Church, had left statesmen too little leisure to attend to these disorders. Cromwell's occasional and abrupt interference had created irritation, but no improvement; and mischiefs of all kinds had grown unheeded till the summer of 1536, when a fresh list of grievances, some real, some imaginary, brought the crisis to a head.

The Convocation of York, composed of rougher materials than the representatives of the southern counties, had acquiesced but tardily in the measures of the late years. Abuses of all kinds instinctively sympathize, and the clergy of the north, who were the most ignorant in England, and the laity whose social irregularities where the greatest, united resolutely in their attachment to the Pope, were most alarmed at the progress of heresy, and were most anxious for a reaction. The deciding Act against Rome and the King's articles of religion struck down the hopes which had been excited there and elsewhere by the disgrace of Queen Anne. Men saw the Papacy finally abandoned, they saw heresy encouraged, and they were proportionately disappointed and enraged.

At this moment three commissions were issued by the Crown, each of which would have tried the patience


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Author:Charles-Henri Sanson

Works

 * Observations

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A bilateral treaty which at the date of a succession of States was in force or was being provisionally applied in respect of the territory to which the succession of States relates is considered as applying provisionally between the newly independent State and the other State concerned when:

(a) they expressly so agree; or

(b) by reason of their conduct they are to be considered as having so agreed.

1. Unless the treaty otherwise provides or it is otherwise agreed, the provisional application of a multilateral treaty under article 27 may be terminated:

(a) by reasonable notice of termination given by the newly independent State or the party or contracting State provisionally applying the treaty and the expiration of the notice; or

(b) in the case of a treaty which falls within the category mentioned in article 17, paragraph 3, by reasonable notice of termination given by the newly independent State or all of the parties or, as the case may be, all of the contracting States and the expiration of the notice.

2. Unless the treaty otherwise provides or it is otherwise agreed, the provisional application of a bilateral treaty under article 28 may be terminated by reasonable notice of termination given by the newly independent State or the other State concerned and the expiration of the notice.

3. Unless the treaty provides for a shorter period for its termination or it is otherwise agreed, reasonable notice of termination shall be twelve months' notice from the date on which it is received by the other State or States provisionally applying the treaty.

4. Unless the treaty otherwise provides or it is otherwise agreed, the provisional application of a multilateral treaty under article 27 shall be terminated if the newly independent State gives notice of its intention not to become a party to the treaty.

1. Articles 16 to 29 apply in the case of a newly independent State formed from two or more territories.


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2. When a newly independent State formed from two or more territories is considered as or becomes a party to a treaty by virtue of article 17, 18 or 24 and at the date of the succession of States the treaty was in force, or consent to be bound had been given, in respect of one or more, but not all, of those territories, the treaty shall apply in respect of the entire territory of that State unless:

(a) it appears from the treaty or is otherwise established that the application of the treaty in respect of the entire territory would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty or would radically change the conditions for its operation;

(b) in the case of a multilateral treaty not falling under article 17, paragraph 3, or under article 18, paragraph 4, the notification of succession is restricted to the territory in respect of which the treaty was in force at the date of the succession of States, or in respect of which consent to be bound by the treaty had been given prior to that date;

(c) in the case of a multilateral treaty falling under article 17, paragraph 3, or under article 18, paragraph 4, the newly independent State and the other States Parties or, as the case may be, the other contracting States otherwise agree; or

(d) in the case of a bilateral treaty, the newly independent State and the other State concerned otherwise agree.

3. When a newly independent State formed from two or more territories becomes a party to a multilateral treaty under article 19 and by the signature or signatures of the predecessor State or States it had been intended that the treaty should extend to one or more, but not all, of those territories, the treaty shall apply in respect of the entire territory of the newly independent State unless:

(a) it appears from the treaty or is otherwise established that the application of the treaty in respect of the entire territory would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty or would radically change the conditions for its operation;

(b) in the case of a multilateral treaty not falling under article 19, paragraph 4, the ratification, acceptance or approval of the treaty is restricted to the territory or territories to which it was intended that the treaty should extend; or

(c) in the case of a multilateral treaty falling under article 19, paragraph 4, the newly independent

State and the other States Parties or, as the case may be, the other contracting States otherwise agree.


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1. When two or more States unite and so form one successor State, any treaty in force at the date of the succession of States in respect of any of them continues in force in respect of the successor State unless:

(a) the successor State and the other State party or States Parties otherwise agree; or

(b) it appears from the treaty or is otherwise established that the application of the treaty in respect of the successor State would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty or would radically change the conditions for its operation.

2. Any treaty continuing in force in conformity with paragraph 1 shall apply only in respect of the part of the territory of the successor State in respect of which the treaty was in force at the date of the succession of States unless:

(a) in the case of a multilateral treaty not falling within the category mentioned in article 17, paragraph 3, the successor State makes a notification that the treaty shall apply in respect of its entire territory;

(b) in the case of a multilateral treaty falling within the category mentioned in article 17, paragraph 3, the successor State and the other States Parties otherwise agree; or

(c) in the case of a bilateral treaty, the successor State and the other State party otherwise agree.

3. Paragraph 2 (a) does not apply if it appears from the treaty or is otherwise established that the application of the treaty in respect of the entire territory of the successor State would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty or would radically change the conditions for its operation.

1. Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4, a successor State falling under article 31 may, by making a notification, establish its status as a contracting State to a multilateral treaty which is not in force if, at the date of the succession of States, any of the predecessor States was a contracting State to the treaty.

2. Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4, a successor State falling under article 31 may, by making a notification, establish its status as a party to a multilateral treaty which enters into force after the date of the succession of States if, at that date, any of the predecessor States was a contracting State to the treaty.


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(c) is not amended as between them by reason only of the fact that it has subsequently been amended as between the predecessor State and the other State party.

2. The fact that a treaty has been terminated or, as the case may be, suspended in operation as between the predecessor State and the other State party after the date of the succession of States does not prevent the treaty from being considered to be in force or, as the case may be, in operation as between the newly independent State and the other State party if it is established in accordance with article 24 that they so agreed.

3. The fact that a treaty has been amended as between the predecessor State and the other State party after the date of the succession of States does not prevent the unamended treaty from being considered to be in force under article 24 as between the newly independent State and the other State party, unless it is established that they intended the treaty as amended to apply between them.

1. If, at the date of the succession of States, a multilateral treaty was in force in respect of the territory to which the succession of States relates and the newly independent State gives notice of its intention that the treaty should be applied provisionally in respect of its territory, that treaty shall apply provisionally between the newly independent State and any party which expressly so agrees or by reason of its conduct is to be considered as having so agreed.

2. Nevertheless, in the case of a treaty which falls within the category mentioned in article 17, paragraph 3, the consent of all the parties to such provisional application is required.

3. If, at the date of the succession of States, a multilateral treaty not yet in force was being applied provisionally in respect of the territory to which the succession of States relates and the newly independent State gives notice of its intention that the treaty should continue to be applied provisionally in respect of its territory, that treaty shall apply provisionally between the newly independent State and any contracting State which expressly so agrees or by reason of its conduct is to be considered as having so agreed.

4. Nevertheless, in the case of a treaty which falls within the category mentioned in article 17, paragraph 3, the consent of all the contracting States to such continued provisional application is required.

5. Paragraphs 1 to 4 do not apply if it appears from the treaty or is otherwise established that the application of the treaty in respect of the newly independent State would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty or would radically change the conditions for its operation.


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1536.] of the people, if conducted with the greatest prudence, and at the happiest opportunity.

The second portion of the subsidy (an income-tax of two and a half per cent. on all incomes above twenty pounds a year), which had been voted in the autumn of 1534, had fallen due. The money had been required for the Irish war, and the disaffected party in England had wished well to the insurgents, so that the collectors found the greatest difficulty either in enforcing the tax, or obtaining correct accounts of the properties on which it was to be paid.

Simultaneously Legh and Layton, the two most active and most unpopular of the monastic visitors, were sent to Yorkshire to carry out the Act of Suppression. Others went into Lincolnshire, others to Cheshire and Lancashire, while a third set carried round the injunctions of Cromwell to the clergy, with directions further to summon before them every individual parish priest, to examine into his character, his habits and qualifications, and eject summarily all inefficient persons from their offices and emoluments.

The dissolution of the religious houses commenced in the midst of an ominous and sullen silence. The Act extended only to houses whose incomes were under two hundred pounds a year, and among these the commissioners were to use their discretion. They were to visit every abbey and priory, to examine the books, examine the monks—when the income fell short, or when the character of the house was vicious, to eject the occupants, and place the lands and farm-buildings in the


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510 hands of lay tenants for the Crown. The discharge of an unpopular office, however conducted, would have exposed those who undertook it to great odium. It is likely that those who did undertake it were men who felt bitterly on the monastic vices, and did their work with little scruple or sympathy. Legh and Layton were accused subsequently of having conducted themselves with overbearing insolence; they were said also to have taken bribes, and where bribes were not offered, to have extorted them from the houses which they spared. That they went through their business roughly is exceedingly probable; whether needlessly so must not be concluded from the report of persons to whom their entire occupation was sacrilege. That they received money is evident from their own reports to the Government; but it is evident also that they did not attempt to conceal that they received it. When the revenues of the Crown were irregular and small, the salaries even of ministers of state were derived in great measure from fees and presents; the visitors of the monasteries, travelling with large retinues, were expected to make their duties self-supporting, to inflict themselves as guests on the houses to which they went, and to pay their own and their servants' 'wages' from the funds of the establishments. Sums of money would be frequently offered them in lieu of a painful hospitality; and whether they took unfair advantage of their opportunities for extortion, or whether they exercised a proper moderation, cannot be concluded from the mere fact that there was a clamour ugainst them. But beyond doubt their other


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1536.] were both rash and blameable. Their servants, with the hot puritan blood already in their veins, trained in the exposure of the impostures and profligacies of which they had seen so many, scorning and hating the whole monastic race, had paraded their contempt before the world; they had ridden along the highways decked in the spoils of the desecrated chapels, with copes for doublets, tunics for saddle-cloths, and the silver relic cases hammered into sheaths for their daggers. They had been directed to enforce an abrogation of the superfluous holy days; they had shown such excessive zeal that in some places common markets had been held under their direction on Sundays.

Scenes like these working upon tempers already inflamed, gave point to discontent. Heresy, that word of dread and horror to English ears, rang from lip to lip. Their hated enemy was at the people's doors, and their other sufferings were the just vengeance of an angry God. Imagination, as usual, hastened to assist and expand the nucleus of truth. Cromwell had formed the excellent design, which two years later he carried into effect, of instituting parish registers. A report of his intention had gone abroad, and mingling with the irritating inquiries of the subsidy commissioners into the value of men's properties, gave rise to a rumour that a


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276 coast. At Cape Raoul the basaltic columnar formation of the coast is very strikingly displayed. The cliffs jut out in serried series of mighty pillars, just like the perpendicular pipes of a great natural organ. The blast wails and shrieks amid the nooks and crannies, and anon sobs with a gurly undertone of lamentation as it whistles past. All the cliffs in shadow are white with hoar frost, and their minute icicles glitter like diamonds, while the sunny portions, wetted with spray, gleam with a sheen which is positively dazzling.

Now Storm Bay opens out before us. As if to sustain its reputation, the icy blast comes swirling round the snowy summit of Mount Wellington with augmented force, and chills us to the marrow. We were informed that snow on Mount Wellington is abnormal. Anyway the nightcap was on when we were there, and the weather was bitterly cold. Now we catch the gleam of a white lighthouse on a small island right ahead. Lovely bays open out on the right. The long, glistening estuary of the Derwent, studded with the bleached sails of numerous yacht-like craft. The long blue indistinctness of the river line of the Huon, with here and there a sail relieving the uniformity of tint. The swelling forest-clad hills closing up the background, and now the homesteads and green fields here and there dotting the long acclivity in front, all made up a scene which for breadth, animation, brightness, prettiness, you would find it hard to beat anywhere. The knolls

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Rh at the mouth of the inner bay are quite park-like with their clumps of bosky wood. Round the various points, sailing close up in the wind, creep whole flotillas of fishing and trading ketches. Tasmanians are famed for their dashing seamanship. The broad estuary is thronged as if a regatta were being held. Some of the ketches lie very low in the water, and some heel over in regular racer fashion. Most of them have a deep centre-board. Ask the skipper where is his load-line. He will answer, "Up to the main hatch." They are manned by a hardy, adventurous race, who number among their ranks some of the very finest boat sailors in the world. What splendid herring fishers they would make! Yes, if we only had the herring!

And yet around the Australian coasts what hauls might be made with proper appliances, and what a source of wealth have we not in the teeming millions of fish that haunt the shores, and breed among the islets and in every bay and estuary. Here is another of the neglected industries that might give employment to hundreds of our colonial youth. It needs no coddling by the State. It would flourish without the aid of fustian claptrap. It might exist without any custom-house

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278 interference. All that is wanted is energy, enterprise, a little daring, and hardihood, a little common-sense organization, and the machinery for disposing of the fish after they are caught. If some enterprising capitalist would only import a crew from Cornwall, or Montrose, or Buchan, or Lerwick, to show our Australian youngsters how they do it in the more treacherous and boisterous seas of the inclement north. I think the venture would pay a good dividend; and I am quite sure every well-disciplined and properly-balanced gastronomic mind would hail such an attempt to introduce a change from the eternal "chop, steak, and sausages," with a chorus of benediction.

In New Zealand, fish-curing is a thriving and lucrative calling. In every hotel delicious smoked fish form a never-failing adjunct to the breakfast table. Large quantities are exported and reach Victoria, and go to other parts. Why can we not do likewise in New South Wales? Again I ask—is it ignorance, or apathy, sloth, want of energy and enterprise, or what is it? Are we so mildewed and emasculated with the eternal molly-coddle of the Government pap boat, that we cannot launch out and start a new industry like this by private enterprise?

Has the dry rot of subsidy and bonus so wizened us up that all private initiation and independent effort is atrophied? Surely when natural channels of enterprise such as this exist, and are only waiting to be tried seriously and sensibly, to

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Rh succeed—nay, to brilliantly succeed—is it not folly—is it not sinful, for patriots with exuberant verbosity, to get up and demand that the State shall impose protective duties on this and that industry, thus hampering the free play of commercial activities, strangling all noble self-reliance, and crushing all independent spirit out of a people already deeply infected with the demoralizing doctrine that the State is to do everything, and that private pluck and enterprise are a mistake and a delusion.

Some time ago several Chinamen started fish-curing on one of the northern lakes in New South Wales, and at the time I knew the place, they were doing well and making a good thing out of it. But then there arose vicious and evil practices, such as the sinful slaughter of myriads of young fry—the use of illegal nets, the wholesale destruction of spawn by means of dynamite, &c., and I believe the fishing on that part of the coast was pretty well murdered. It is a saddening and a humiliating reflection that, with all our self-complacency and self-congratulations about our marvellous resources and wonderful natural wealth, we really do so mighty little practically to develop the one or utilize the other.

Possibly the hardest-working and most self-reliant class we have in the Australian community, it seems to me, are our miners or diggers and prospectors; and upon my word, our mining legislation generally, seems deliberately designed with the object of making things as hard for the

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280 miner, and putting as many obstructions and impediments in his way, as possible.

But to hark back. Here I am off the track again, and pursuing my impetuous way from smoked fish to mining reserves, without ever a thought towards the patience of my readers!

One of the most prominent features that shows boldly out from the background of boscage as the visitor nears the narrows of the Derwent, from the open roadstead, is a gigantic shot tower, which must have been built in the very early days when the Hentys were pioneers over on the Victorian coast, and when the clanking irons of the chain gang must have been a constant sound in the infant settlement. Let the reader get that weird and awful record of the convict system, contained in Marcus Clark's novel, "His Natural Life," and he will then have an idea of what man's inhumanity to man is capable of. The old tower is not the only evidence of antiquity about the place, as we shall presently see. Meantime look at the chequered patterns on the hill-sides. Black ploughed fields alternate with the squares of green young crops, and these again with symmetrically arranged orchards and vineyards. Yes, this is the chosen home at the antipodes of the ruddy-cheeked and golden-haired Pomona. One can almost fancy there is a fruity fragrance floating on the breezes that sweep over the laden trees. Away to the left, the long gleaming water-way of the tortuous Huon, crowded with ketches, wanders in and out among the hills, which are here clothed from

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 base to summit with forests of blue and red gum, stringy bark, Tasmanian cedar, and other valuable timber trees.

Now as we glide onward, the homely old city opens out, backed by the steep bulk of Mount Wellington, whose tawny shoulders are now streaked with drifted snow. A fortress is here also in course of construction, though it seems, to my civilian eye, to be easily dominated by the heights at the back. Here lies Hobart at our feet, shining in the sun, and climbing, in errant and leisurely fashion, the easy slope which trends upwards from the water's edge.

A knoll projects out into the water in the middle of the city, and the houses cluster thickly round the two bays thus formed. The farther one is seemingly the busiest, as there are the wharves, warehouses, and populous streets. The warehouses are enormous. The roofs are lichened and grey with age. Alas! they are mostly empty. The old whaling days, and the days when large convoys sailed in from their six months' voyage, with Government stores and European goods have gone, never to return. The great barracks and long dormitories are silent and deserted now. The big stone buildings, built with a solidity which is all unknown to the contractors of this shoddy age, have a forlorn and desolate look, and there is an unmistakable air of decayed gentility and departed grandeur about the place which is somewhat depressing. Away on the left, at the head of the little bay, a multitude of gleaming white

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 tombstones marks the site of the city of the dead. These look like the great white bones of stranded whales bleaching and glistening in the sun. To the extreme right a fine stately mass of warm-tinted buildings flanks the city, and affords a charming relief to the eye, as it crowns the low eminence on which it is set. This is Government House, and round about it, encompassing it with a band of silver, steals the gently flowing Derwent, winding past a broken chain of wooded bluffs, which terminate the vista in a confused mist of leafy luxuriance.

We are now nearing the massive wharf. There is timber enough in the structure to make a dozen of our modern wharves. What an old-world look the place has! Many of the houses are built of red bricks, the roofs are brown with lichen, and wrinkled with old age. And yet there is an absence of life and a want of energy and bustle. Lots of badly-dressed young hoodlums loll about, leaning against the great stacks of shingles (Hobart palings) which are piled up in vast quantities ready for export. Of these are the fruit-cases made, which take away the wealth of the orchards, for which the island is famous—groups of young girls saunter about arm-in-arm; queer old habitués, clad in quaint garments of antique cut, hobble about and exchange nautical observations with each other. Several dismantled whalers lie at their moorings, and the huge warehouses hem in the scene—silent, deserted, empty.

"There ain't no spurt about the place!"

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 ejaculates an observant Yankee fellow-passenger; and he aptly enough expressed the sensation it gives one who witnesses the whole scene for the first time.

Time seems to be measured by Oriental standards here. All work is done in a leisurely fashion. An old horse is discharging cargo by means of a whim, instead of a steam crane, from a Dutch-looking lugger. Piles of hop bales litter the landing-place, and it would seem almost as if their hypnotic influence had cast a sleepy spell over the whole environment. The very steeples on the old grey churches in the city seem to nod in the gathering haze, and the smoke from the chimneys curls aloft in a somewhat aimless fashion, as if the fires below were all only half alight. An enthusiastic Victorian cannot refrain from commenting on this general attitude of sleepiness.

"Humph," says he; "there's the effects of free trade for ye not a blessed factory or a steam engine in the whole place!"

A little boy with a wan, pinched face, and the shabby-genteel look which patched and darned but scrupulously clean clothes gives to the wearer, now accosts us. "Board and residence, sir?" he pipes in a squeaky treble. Poor little fellow, doubtless a sad tale he could tell. And so my gentle little travelling companion with a woman's quick imagination, begins to weave a romance of misfortune and penury, in which the little tout figures as the heir of a noble but decayed family. The mother, a fragile uncomplaining martyr,

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 to the shattered fortunes of a gallant husband, and so on and so on! All this was poured into my ears as we sped along, and it was with much difficulty I restrained the tender-hearted little dame from trotting back to verify her romance from the poor boy himself.

In the summer season most of the houses are let to visitors from Sydney and Melbourne, and there are certainly large numbers of decayed gentlewomen and retired officers on half-pay, and such like, who eke out their slender incomes in this fashion.

Here is another evidence of the antiquity of the place. The names of the curious old inns—they transport one back to dear Old England at once. Here is The Queen's Head, The Bell and Dragon, The Eagle Hawk, the Maypole Inn, and so on through all the old familiar nomenclature. The gable ends elbow their way into the streets; the bow windows project over the pavements; the mossy roofs, with quaint dormer windows half hidden by trailing creepers, the stone horse troughs and mounting steps, the dovecotes and outside stone stairs to the stables, the old stone walls bulging out in places and tottering to their fall, all speak of "merrie England;" and one can scarce fancy that these dull dead masses on the distant hills are gum-trees, and that this is part of Australasia.

We quickly hire an open landau and are driven by a rosy-faced young Jehu into the open country. The suburbs are very pretty. We pass

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 gardens, rich lawns, handsome stone houses. Ever and anon one of these quaint old inns. Churches are plentiful. Some have square towers, and are covered with red tiles, which give a warm touch of colour to the landscape. We pass the old orphan schools, now used as an invalid station. Yonder is a pottery—there a bone mill. Here the show and cricket grounds. On all hands grand orchards of great extent, trim rows of cottages, country houses standing back amid great plantations of symmetrically planted fruit-trees. On the right the Elwick racecourse, with its grand stand of red brick, and the Launceston railway, running close by; and now in front, the silvery Derwent opens out like a lake; and as we gaze across Glenorchy, with its hop kilns and tannery, and the pretty village of Bryant's Bridge sheltered by high wooded ranges, and nestling cosily round the old square-towered rustic church, we feel the whole charm of the place stealing upon us, and no longer wonder at the fair daughters of Tasmania so loyally maintaining the supremacy of their little island for natural beauty against all rivals.

Having heard so much of the fruit-growing industry of Tasmania, I was anxious to see an orchard for myself. Fortunately, we shared common interests with one of the fine old pioneers of the island, a grand old English gentleman, with cheeks as rosy as his own apples, and a heart as sound and ripe as the sweetest and best of them, though his hair was now whitening, like the almond blossom before the door of his hospitable mansion.

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 Turning up a lane, between sweet-smelling hedges and goodly rows of chestnuts, with a great expanse of pleasant fruit-trees on either hand, we accordingly drove up to the old manor-house, and politely inquired for the proprietor. Our advent had already been observed, and out came the old squire himself to receive us; and no sooner did we make ourselves known to him, than the hearty English welcome we received made us more than ever doubtful that we were not the sport of some beneficent fairy, and that we were not really back in the old country after all.

The manor-house, with its many buildings, was the very picture of an old English homestead. The spacious courtyard, green with grass, surrounded by the stables, barns, and outhouses; the running brook close by, wimpling merrily over its pebbly bed; and all around, the trim avenues of neatly pruned fruit-trees and bushes, with the big black bulk of the wooded mountain in the rear,—composed such a picture of rural happiness and contentment as is rarely seen out of "Merrie England." Then the smell of apples about the place. Apples by the ton in the long low lofts and cool spacious granaries; apples and almonds of the choicer sorts in the verandahs and in sweetly-scented rooms. In the orchard a lovely pond, green with mosses, lustrous with the sheen of sun and water, and fringed with loveliest ferns, was well stocked with fish, which are here acclimatized, and from which the streamlets are being stocked. From the spacious verandah we look

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 right across the fertile valley to "Rest Down," the earliest settlement in the island, so called because the first people "rested down" here in old Governor Collins's time. Then the broad sweep of the river intervenes, and fifty miles off, the great dividing range of the Table Mountain closes in the scene. The remains of the first chimney built on Tasmanian soil was visible at Rest Down up to twenty years ago.

This particular orchard comprises forty-five acres. Last year the owner sold 2000 bushels of gooseberries, 3000 bushels of currants, and other fruits, including apples. In two years he raised fifty tons of strawberries on the estate. For the last twelve years the average return per acre has been over 60l. I saw two and a half acres of gooseberry bushes, from which 500 bushels of fruit are picked every year, and which are sold at 4s. 6d. per bushel. This beats wheat hollow. On the other side of the estate I was shown over ten acres of fine black soil, beautifully worked, and kept as clean as a Behar indigo field. During the ninth year of its cultivation this small patch yielded 1000 bushels gooseberries and 2000 bushels apples, for which the ruling prices are 4s. 6d. to 5s. per bushel. And yet if one talks to the ordinary run of Australian farmers about new products, about fruit-growing, tomatoes, vines, oil crops, anything out of the eternal old grind of wheat, and other usual cereals, he is laughed at, sneered at, jeered at, and stigmatized as visionary, conceited, and goodness only knows what else.

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 Black currant bushes were shown me here, which yield two, and even three bushels per plant, and the fruit is sold readily at 11s. per bushel. To show the enery [sic] and practical, management of my host, he showed me where he had walled up a flood-water creek, which used formerly to run riot through the orchard, and the land so reclaimed was being levelled and planted with young trees. He had cut down bush trees and saplings, and made a corduroy road of these, on which he was carting his soil, stones, and material for the work of reclamation. As the garden grew at the far end, the corduroy road was taken up and the wood used for fuel, and the very road was being dug up and made eligible for the reception of more young trees. Nothing is wasted under his able management. Manure is liberally applied, and the inevitable result was everywhere apparent in bounteous returns and substantial plenty.

Along the roads were belts of walnut-trees, and several magnificent almond-trees were pointed out to me, of the fruit of which I partook, and found the almonds simply delicious. And yet such is the prejudice or apathy of the general public, that, my host informed me, his almonds were a drug in the market. Actually 70l. were paid through the custom-house during the last six months for imported almonds, while the home-grown article, infinitely superior in quality, was absolutely unsaleable.

You see, protection through the custom-house is not the infallible recipe for "every ill that flesh

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 is heir to" that some "doctrinaire's" would have us suppose.

My old entertainer had very decided opinions about the causes of the prevailing depression and stagnation in the island. When I deplored the lack of energy which I noticed:—

"Bah," said he, "there's plenty energy, but it's misdirected, sir! Our young people will dance at a ball till two or three in the morning, and play lawn tennis all day to boot; but they are too ill and languid to get up to breakfast, and would let their own mother wait on them in bed. They will go to a picnic right up to the top of Mount Wellington; but they are too weak to go two miles to church unless they go in a carriage. Our young people are too well off, sir. Their parents made money in the old times, and the young ones had no inducement to work, when assigned prisoners could be got for 10l. a year. So our young men grew up with no settled industry, no application, and the country feels the curse of indolence and want of enterprise now."

Such was the dictum of my old friend. I make no comment on it. The moral is obvious.

My friend was enthusiastic in his advocacy of orchard farming as against cereals. All his young trees are now on blight-proof stocks. He has uprooted all his hedges and cultivates right up to his boundary walls, and even trains trees against them. He pointed out the property of a neighbour thirty-four acres in extent, which a few years ago was purchased for 300l. cash. During the first three

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 years the buyer got half his money back, and in two years they took over fifty tons of strawberries from fifteen acres.

"Where is the cereal that can equal that?" triumphantly queried my host. Certes! Echo answers, "Where indeed?"

Another product for which the island has become famous is its hops. Since its first introduction in 1822 by Mr. W. Shoobridge, the industry struggled on through many fluctuations, and in 1867 numbers of new growers erected kilns for curing the hops at various places, and hop-growing became fairly settled as one of the leading industries in the New Norfolk district. The low prices in 1869–70 checked for a time the progress of the industries, but now it seems fairly established, and as time goes on, adding to the experience of the growers, and their ability to turn out a good article, there seems every reason to predict a great future for Tasmania as a hop-growing country. The leading kinds at present grown are the early white grape, goldings (Canterbury),and late or green grape, and also a very early kind called the red golding.

In 1879 the Agricultural returns give the following statistics: 587 acres; produce, 738,616 lbs.; value of hops exported, 26,512l.; weight, 558,622 lbs.

After a very pleasant day among the orchards we rejoined the steamer, and sailed for Melbourne during the night.

Next morning we had a beautiful view of the picturesque coast of the goodly little

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 island. Between Hobart and Swan Island we passed no less than three localities where coal exists. Mines have, in all three places, been opened and since abandoned. There is no doubt that in minerals Tasmania is very rich. Like all the Australian colonies, she only wants capital, and more abundant labour, to become the theatre of busy and remunerative industries. The quid-nuncs of the London Stock Exchange smile and shrug their shoulders at the mention of Australian investments. For the gambling purposes of London jobbers, securities must be readily negotiable; and Australian stocks and shares, though offering three, and even four times, the rate of interest obtainable on the floating media of Capel Court, are of course not readily negotiable or vendible, and so for the present they are neglected. The time will come, however, nay, is on the approach now, when capitalists and workers, both, will better understand and more intelligently appreciate the boundless resources of Australasia, and a new era of enterprise and development will undoubtedly set in, which will advance the cause of true Anglo-Saxon federation more than all the fussy claptrap of irresponsible theorists, who speak so much and really do so little.

As an illustration of how really little is known of Australia, even by those who might be imagined to know most; the captain, as we were talking on this theme, pointed out to me the Flinders Island which we pass between Hobart and Melbourne. This group contains more land than all Samoa,

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 about which so much fuss is being made at present, and which has almost led to a grave imbroglio between some of the European great powers. The Flinders are by all reports rich in mineral wealth, and yet they are practically ignored, and their very existence unknown to the great majority even of Victorians, who are so enthusiastic (and I for- one do not blame them,) about the conquest of South Sea Islands, the annexation of New Guinea, and the opening up of new markets for Victorian manufactures. The islands contain a population of some sixty individuals, mostly half-castes, the result of the intermarriage of runaway sailors with Tasmanian aborigines. Sheep and cattle are reared by these islanders, but no attention is paid to growing either wool or beef on a commercial scale. They make a living which suffices for all their simple wants out of their flocks and herds, and their diet is eked out with the eggs and oil of the mutton bird, both of which they also export.

The bird itself, after the oil is expressed, is smoked, and forms one more antipodean paradox. It is familiarly known as the Australian smoked herring, and yet it is a bird. A toasted smoked mutton bird, both in smell, taste, and colour, is scarcely distinguishable from a smoked bloater. They are said to be very nourishing, and invalids find them toothsome and appetizing.

Maria Island, one of the group, has been leased to an Italian for the purpose of trying to introduce silk culture.

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 Amid a succession of icy squalls we reached Hobson's Bay, threaded our devious way up the unsavoury Yarra, and were pleased once more to take up our quarters in that most homely and comfortable of caravanserais, Menzie's Hotel, and so for the present we bid a reluctant adieu to our New Zealand cousins.

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text: Our New Zealand Cousins/Chapter 20

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Rh

the forenoon of the day after the ball, the carriage of William Brandon, packed and prepared, was at the door of his abode at Bath; meanwhile, the lawyer was closeted with his brother. "My dear Joseph," said the Barrister, "I do not leave you without being fully sensible of your kindness evinced to me, both in coming hither, contrary to your habits, and accompanying me every where, despite of your tastes."

"Mention it not, my dear William," said the kind-hearted Squire, "for your delightful society

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130 is to me the most agreeable—(and that's what I can say of very few people like you; for, for my own part, I generally find the cleverest men the most unpleasant)—in the world! And I think lawyers in particular—(very different, indeed, from your tribe you are!)—perfectly intolerable!"

"I have now," said Brandon, who with his usual nervous quickness of action was walking with rapid strides to and fro the apartment, and scarcely noted his brother's compliment.—"I have now another favour to request of you.—Consider this house and these servants yours, for the next month or two, at least. Don't interrupt me—it is no compliment—I speak for our family benefit." And then seating himself next to his brother's arm-chair, for a fit of the gout made the Squire a close prisoner, Brandon unfolded to his brother his cherished scheme of marrying Lucy to Lord Mauleverer. Notwithstanding the constancy of the Earl's attentions to the heiress, the honest Squire had never dreamt of their palpable object; and he was overpowered with surprise when he heard the lawyer's expectations.

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Rh "But, my dear brother," he began, "so great a match for my Lucy, the Lord-Lieutenant of the Coun"

"And what of that?" cried Brandon proudly, and interrupting his brother; "is not the race of Brandon, which has matched its scions with royalty, far nobler than that of the upstart stock of Mauleverer?—what is there presumptuous in the hope that the descendant of the Earls of Suffolk should regild a faded name with some of the precious dust of the quondam silversmiths of London?—Besides," he continued after a pause, "Lucy will be rich—very rich—and before two years my rank may possibly be of the same order as Mauleverer's!"

The Squire stared; and Brandon, not giving him time to answer, resumed.—It is needless to detail the conversation; suffice it to say, that the artful barrister did not leave his brother till he had gained his point—till Joseph Brandon had promised to remain at Bath in possession of the house and establishment of his brother, to throw no impediment on the suit of Mauleverer, to

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132 society as before, and, above all, not to alarm Lucy, who evidently did not yet favour Mauleverer exclusively, by hinting to her the hopes and expectations of her uncle and father. Brandon, now taking leave of his brother, mounted to the drawing-room in search of Lucy. He found her leaning over the gilt cage of one of her feathered favourites, and speaking to the little inmate in that pretty and playful language in which all thoughts, innocent, yet fond, should be clothed. So beautiful did Lucy seem, as she was thus engaged in her girlish and caressing employment, and so utterly unlike one meet to be the instrument of ambitious designs, and the sacrifice of worldly calculations, that Brandon paused, suddenly smitten at heart, as he beheld her; he was not, however, slow in recovering himself; he approached, "Happy he," said the man of the world, "for whom caresses and words like these are reserved!"

Lucy turned. "It is ill!" she said, pointing to the bird, which sat with its feathers stiff and

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Rh erect, mute and heedless even of that voice which was as musical as its own.

"Poor prisoner!" said Brandon, "even gilt cages and sweet tones cannot compensate to thee for the loss of the air and the wild woods!"

"But," said Lucy anxiously, "it is not confinement which makes it ill! If you think so, I will release it instantly."

"How long have you had it?" asked Brandon.

"For three years!" said Lucy.

"And is it your chief favourite?"

"Yes; it does not sing so prettily as the other—but it is far more sensible, and so affectionate."

"Can you release it then?" asked Brandon, smiling; "would it not be better to see it die in your custody, than to let it live and to see it no more?"

"Oh, no, no!" said Lucy eagerly, "when I love any one—any thing—I wish that to be happy, not me!"

As she said this, she took the bird from the cage, and bearing it to the open window, kissed it,

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134 and held it on her hand, in the air. The poor bird turned a languid and sickly eye around it, as if the sight of the crowded houses and busy streets presented nothing familiar or inviting; and it was not till Lucy, with a tender courage, shook it gently from her, that it availed itself of the proffered liberty. It flew first to an opposite balcony, and then recovering from a short and, as it were, surprised pause, took a brief circuit above the houses, and after disappearing for a few minutes, flew back, circled the window, and re-entering, settled once more on the fair form of its mistress and nestled into her bosom.

Lucy covered it with kisses. "You see it will not leave me!" said she.

"Who can?" said the uncle warmly, charmed for the moment from every thought, but that of kindness for the young and soft creature before him;—"Who can?" he repeated with a sigh, "but an old and withered ascetic like myself. I must leave you indeed; see, my carriage is at the door! Will my beautiful niece, among the

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Rh gaieties that surround her, condescend now and then to remember the crabbed lawyer, and assure him by a line of her happiness and health. Though I rarely write any notes, but those upon cases: you, at least, may be sure of an answer. And tell me, Lucy, if there be in all this city one so foolish as to think that these idle gems, useful only as a vent for my pride in you, can add a single charm to a beauty above all ornament?"

So saying, Brandon produced a leathern case, and touching a spring, the imperial flash of diamonds which would have made glad many a patrician heart, broke dazzlingly on Lucy's eyes.

"No thanks, Lucy," said Brandon, in answer to his niece's disclaiming and shrinking gratitude; "I do honour to myself, not you; and now bless you, my dear girl. Farewell! Should any occasion present itself in which you require an immediate adviser, at once kind and wise, I beseech you, my dearest Lucy, as a parting request, to have no scruples in consulting Lord Mauleverer. Besides his friendship for me, he is much

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136 interested in you, and you may consult him with the more safety and assurance; because" (and the lawyer smiled) "he is perhaps the only man in the world whom my Lucy could not make in love with her. His gallantry may appear adulation, but it is never akin to love. Promise me, that you will not hesitate in this?"

Lucy gave the promise readily, and Brandon continued in a careless tone: "I hear that you danced last night with a young gentleman whom no one knew, and whose companions bore a very strange appearance. In a place like Bath, society is too mixed, not to render the greatest caution in forming acquaintances absolutely necessary. You must pardon me, my dearest niece, if I remark that a young lady owes it not only to herself, but to her relations, to observe the most rigid circumspection of conduct. This is a wicked world, and the peach-like bloom of character is easily rubbed away. In these points, Mauleverer can be of great use to you. His knowledge of character—his penetration into men—and his

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Rh tact in manners—are unerring. Pray be guided by him: whomsoever he warns you against, you may be sure is unworthy of your acquaintance. God bless you! you will write to me often and frankly, dear Lucy; tell me all that happens to you—all that interests, nay, all that displeases."

Brandon then, who had seemingly disregarded the blushes with which, during his speech, Lucy's cheeks had been spread, folded his niece in his arms, and hurried, as if to hide his feelings, into his carriage. When the horses had turned the street, he directed the postilions to stop at Lord Mauleverer's. "Now," said he to himself, "if I can get this clever coxcomb to second my schemes, and play according to my game, and not according to his own vanity, I shall have a Knight of the Garter for my nephew-in-law!"

Meanwhile Lucy, all in tears, for she loved her uncle greatly, ran down to the Squire to show him Brandon's magnificent present.

"Ah!" said the Squire with a sigh, "few

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138 men were born with more good, generous, and great qualities—(pity only that his chief desire was to get on in the world; for my part, I think no motive makes greater and more cold-hearted rogues!)—than my brother William!"

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 to possess, and must be careful not to forfeit, the widespread confidence of which it was the token. His new home would remind him habitually that he could not become slothful or selfish, or embark in any slothful or selfish cause, without base ingratitude to the men of many nations and creeds who had opened its doors to him. He accepted the gift as frankly as it was given; he would accept it as a noble retaining-fee to serve the interests of Australia according to the best of his abilities. He had hoped that night to speak of the future destiny of the Australian colonies, not only of the political liberty in store for them, but of the precious opportunity they enjoyed in the new social experiment of adopting whatever was best in the habits of kindred nations, and rejecting whatever was deleterious or dangerous, till a national Australian character would grow, which, once created, would probably prevail on the shores of the Southern Ocean after the last stone of the city of Melbourne had crumbled into dust. They might imitate the energy and decision of America, which exhibited themselves as much in the arts of locomotion and commercial enterprise as on the battle-field, and their love of simplicity, which had given them codified laws and cheap effective government, without adopting the servile fear of the majority and the indifference to spiritual aims which seemed to be the dry rot of their system. From the old country they carried whatever was best, and, he feared, often whatever was worst. Let them be careful not to revive its parliamentary system steeped in corruption, its government by one favoured class, its bigotry which taught men to hate their neighbours and to love themselves, nor to perpetuate its northern life under southern skies. What good was it to them that their soil teemed with gold if it would not purchase settled liberty and the rational

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 of life? These were the topics on which he had proposed to address them that night, but he had a nearer duty to discharge. One of the duties he owed to the mixed community from whom that splendid gift had come, was to protest against the attempt visible in several places to introduce religious feuds and distinctions. He could not see what any man, high or low, wise or foolish, hoped to gain by setting Protestant against Catholic, and Catholic against Protestant. They might destroy peace and prosperity in their country, but they could not possibly destroy one another. After a generation of bad blood and wasted energies, the struggle would end in leaving every one who outlived it in a worse position than if it had never taken place. The rival creeds had quarrelled in Canada for twenty years, and with what result? The prostration and the provincialisation of that fine country. But they gave up the contest, united on terms honourable to both, and the country commenced to outrun the neighbouring great republic in growth from that hour. In the name of common-sense, what justification was there for raising the anti-Catholic cry in Victoria? If the Catholics were aiming at some undue or unreasonable power, he could understand it, but no one could pretend that such was the case. Since he had landed on Australian shores, he had constantly urged that it was the interest and duty of all classes to fuse into one common Australian nationality. No men were better disposed to do so than the men of his own race and creed, but they were not members of the Peace Society, and if they were misrepresented and assailed without cause, they would naturally stand on the defensive. If they were threatened with political extinction, they were entitled and bound to answer, and all fair men of whatever creed would applaud them for

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 answering: "To make Helots of us is what you cannot do and shall not do." A fair field for each man according to his capacity was all they demanded. It had been insinuated indeed that Catholics should be deprived of political power, because political and religious liberty had been denied in Catholic countries. That meant repealing the Emancipation Act. For his part he would as soon sell his children as slaves, as allow them to live in a country where such a doctrine prevailed. But was it true that political and religious liberty had been denied in Catholic countries? It was as true as that witches ride on broomsticks, that one Englishman could beat five Frenchmen, or any of the hundred other fables of ignorance and prejudice. There had been bigotry and cruelty wherever uncontrolled power had existed, no matter to what creed it belonged. But he could answer unhesitatingly for the Catholics of Ireland and affirm that they never denied civil and religious liberty. When anyone spoke to an Irish Catholic of his creed being the symbol of persecution, and Protestantism the symbol of liberty, he might well think the speaker mad. Why, in the reign of Queen Mary, English Protestants fled to Dublin and were sheltered in that Catholic city, and in the reign of Queen Victoria, a large number of Catholic constituencies elected Protestants as their chosen representatives. For 300 years the Irish Catholics had been robbed and oppressed because they were Catholic, down to that very hour when they were compelled to support the richest church in the world for a handful of the population. It was realising the fable of the wolf and the lamb to raise the cry of intolerance against

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 those who had not inflicted but endured the pains of ascendancy. A ludicrous charge had been made against himself, that he had come to Australia to promote sectarian triumphs. He would not descend into the kennel even to defend himself, but let his life answer it. There were ten thousand Irish Protestants in that country, who were his contemporaries at home. They were to be found at the bar, in the church, behind the counter, and in the workshop. Let them answer it. Their opinion, whatever it was, would infallibly prevail in the end, and he was content to abide by the verdict. When canvassing in the west a few weeks previously, a local bigot had raised the same cry, and he answered him by appealing to his career in Ireland. Three gentlemen, then unknown to him, at once came forward and confirmed his words. The first declared that he was one of the young Protestants of Dublin, whom the Nation had won to nationality. The other two were the resident Presbyterian ministers, who declared that they were among the Ulster clergymen who had acted on the Tenant League, of which he was one of the founders. He was perfectly satisfied to leave his character to witnesses of that sort scattered over Australia. They could tell how the main part of his life in Ireland had been spent in combining hostile sects into a national party, and how in furtherance of that object he had co-operated with men of honour, wholly irrespective of creed. They must not shrink from the work before them, if they would not have that fine country swayed by the narrow spirit of a parish vestry, instead of the generous ambition of a young nation.

The above is only a summary of a very notable speech—the forerunner of many others based on the same theme, and preaching similar noble sentiments—compiled from the

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 newspaper reports of the day; but it is sufficient to show that, even at this early period of his colonial career, the grand idea of a federated Australia was occupying a large place in Sir Gavan Duffy's thoughts. For the practical realisation of that idea, he worked consistently and well for many years at the antipodes, and, though he has not yet had the satisfaction of seeing a second Dominion of Canada established in the south, he has the satisfaction of knowing that, through his instrumentality, many preliminary difficulties have been removed, many intercolonial jealousies smoothed down, and the way paved for a United Australia in the near future. In a special manner has he exerted himself to put down that curse of all new countries, the revival, or the attempted revival, of those bitter feuds and religious prejudices that have worked so much mischief in old and historic lands. Mr. Duffy's arrival was most opportune and beneficial to the newly-born colony of Victoria. He was the only member of its first Parliament who had sat in the House of Commons, and the knowledge and experience he had thus acquired naturally gave him a preponderating influence and prestige. It was owing to his advice and suggestions that the Victorian Legislative Assembly was made almost an exact counterpart of the House of Commons. The painful recollection of the terrible evils of unbridled landlordism in Ireland, determined Mr. Duffy to do all in his power to prevent the possibility of such inhuman scenes being re-enacted on the colonial soil of his adoption. From the first he was a vigorous land reformer, and he laboured with might and main to destroy the monopoly of the pastoral tenants, and settle the people on the lands. To him the colony was indebted for its most liberal land law—the Land Act of 1862—a measure which, if it had only been accorded fair play, and administered in accordance with

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 the wishes of its framer, would have opened up the country in all directions, and planted a prosperous agricultural population on the soil. But, unfortunately, the monopolists' gold and the cupidity of the people whom the Act was intended to benefit, defeated in a measure the statesman's magnanimous design. Bribery was resorted to on an extensive scale, with the result that a large part of the finest agricultural land in the colony—the western district—fell irrevocably into the hands of the monopolists. In the east these unworthy influences were less actively at work, and the success of the Duffy Land Act was unequivocal in that quarter. Describing, in April, 1877, a tour through the vast and still undeveloped province of Gipps Land, which occupies the south-eastern portion of Victoria, Sir Gavan Duffy thus spoke from the platform:

"I travelled from Briagolong to Maffra, and thence to Cowwar, a district justly called the granary of the East; I afterwards visited Bruthen and Lindenow Flat, at the other end of the electorate, which rivals the Farnham Survey in fertility, and in all these places I had the inexpressible pleasure of being assured by legions of prosperous farmers who possess the soil, that they obtained their homesteads under what has been named the Duffy Land Act. All the unaccustomed toil of a long journey was repaid by the picture I had imagined long ago, realised under my eyes — the picture of happy homes possessed by a free, manly, yeoman proprietary. And why have we not Maffras and Lindenows in the West as well as in the East? Because the very class for whom we legislated, sold their inheritance for some paltry bribe."

As a leading member of the three O'Shanassy Ministries, Sir Gavan Duffy proved himself an administrator of the first

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 order, and when, in 1871, he became Premier himself, he formed a government that would have indubitably exercised a lasting influence for good on the progress of Australia, had it not been stopped short in its career by an unprincipled parliamentary combination. The Duffy Ministry held office for a year in the face of such virulent and factious opposition as was unparalleled in the political history of Victoria. A perusal of the parliamentary debates of the period will afford ample corroboration to every unprejudiced mind of the truth of Sir Gavan's remark: "They hated the Ministry mainly because I was an Irishman and a Roman Catholic." These rabid opponents of a clever Irish-Australian Premier pretended to believe, and tried their little best to make the public believe, that the patronage of the government was exclusively conferred on Fenians—a name that was as continually in their mouths as the catch-word of a play. One appointment in particular—that of Mr. John Cashel Hoey to a position in the office of the Victorian Agent-General in London—was made the battle-ground of a most bitter and acrimonious discussion, for no other reason than that the gentleman appointed was at one period of his life connected with the staff of the Nation. According to the logic of the bigots, he was therefore necessarily a self-condemned Fenian. On a motion of want of confidence. Sir Charles exploded this ludicrous charge, and thus narrated the circumstances under which he first became acquainted with Mr. Cashel Hoey:

"It is said by the hon. member for Williamstown: 'Was not Mr. Cashel Hoey engaged in stimulating rebellion in Ireland?' Sir, for the Nation newspaper which existed before the attempted insurrection in 1848, I may be held responsible, and I never did shrink from the responsibility.

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 But for that insurrection Mr. Hoey is no more responsible than the hon. member for Williamstown, because he was then a boy at school or a lad at college. I never set eyes upon him till 1850, when the Nation, under altered circumstances, had to apply itself to what it was possible to hope to accomplish then—the disestablishment of the Irish Church and security of tenant-right for the Irish tenants. One day in that year I had the good fortune to secure the co-operation of three young men—none of them being over twenty years of age, Mr. Hoey being the youngest—as writers for the Nation. Mr. Cashel Hoey was one; another was Mr. Edward Butler, who was last week sworn as Her Majesty's Attorney-General in the colony of New South Wales; and the third was Mr. James Doyle, who died in the employment of the identical journal which is now assailing Mr. Cashel Hoey."

This speech was throughout a masterly defence of the policy of the Duffy Ministry. It represents one of the highest flights of political oratory recorded in the pages of any "Hansard." It proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that no Victorian government administered its patronage or conducted the national affairs in a more honest and unexceptionable manner than did the Cabinet presided over by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy. But it was thrown away on the bigoted majority who selected "abuse of patronage" as the most convenient excuse for ejecting an Irish-Australian statesman from power. A subsequent parliament made some amends for this unjust and contemptible conduct, by electing Sir Charles to the high office of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly—a position which he continued to fill with great credit to himself and to the general satisfaction of the House, until he determined to re-cross the equator, and spend the

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 evening of his busy public life in peaceful retirement and the cultivation of that literary leisure which is denied to the active politician.

In any review of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy's Victorian career, it would be an unpardonable oversight to omit some reference to his unique and sparkling lectures, which, after having amused and instructed large audiences in theatres and public halls, continue, in their published form, to amuse and instruct later generations as well. Theirs is not the temporary interest of the superficial address, but the abiding popularity of the thoughtful essay. Hence their happy incorporation in the literature of the colonies. "Why is Ireland poor and discontented?" was a trenchant analysis of those preventible [sic] evils that transformed one of the fairest and most fertile spots in God's creation into an island of misery, destitution, and periodical famine. This lecture was eminently serviceable in dissipating the many erroneous impressions concerning Ireland and Irish affairs, that were current in the mixed Australian community of the time. "The National Poetry and Songs of Ireland" was a congenial theme to the early friend and familiar of Thomas Davis, and it is needless to say it was treated with sympathetic force and feeling. "Popular Errors Concerning Australia" was addressed to a London audience, and it was efficacious in dispelling a host of strange delusions that pervaded the British mind with respect to the political and social status of the colonies. "Something To Do" was the suggestive title of a lecture that took a comprehensive and statesmanlike view of the possibilities of future colonial development, and clearly indicated the means by which these possibilities could be turned into potent realities. The sound advice then given has since been partially adopted in several

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 of the colonies, but much yet remains to be done before Sir Gavan's ideal can be said to have been realised. "The Birth and Parentage of Colonial Rights," though delivered as a popular lecture in all the leading centres of Victoria, is really a most interesting and instructive chapter in the history of colonisation in the nineteenth century, and as such deserves to be as well known and as widely read in the northern, as it is already in the southern hemisphere. Though Sir Charles Gavan Duffy is no longer a resident of Victoria, he is represented there by two worthy sons of their sire. The eldest, the Hon. John Gavan Duffy, after a distinguished University career, succeeded Sir Charles in the representation of the county of Dalhousie, and, having served a few years' parliamentary apprenticeship, was promoted to the office which his father had filled a quarter of a century before—that of Minister of Lands. He still retains his seat in the House, and is one of its most effective and accomplished speakers. His brother, Mr. Frank Gavan Duffy, has so far eschewed politics, preferring to devote his time and attention solely to his extensive practice at the Victorian bar. Both have gained honours in English literature, the former by carrying off the prize offered by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne for the best essay on "The Death of Cæsar," and the latter by winning the first prize presented by Sir George Bowen, Governor of Victoria, for an essay on "Captain Cook and his Discoveries."

Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, Baronet, the third and last of the Irish Premiers of Victoria, only entered public life quite recently, and the rapidity with which he ascended to the top of the political tree is almost without parallel in colonial history. For a period of fourteen years—from 1863 to 1877—he was only known as a most industrious and successful

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 Crown Prosecutor for the Melbourne district. In the beginning of 1877, on the eve of a general election, he resigned that office, and surprised everybody by offering himself as an ultra-Radical candidate to the electors of North Melbourne, a division of the metropolis in which the Irish vote is particularly strong. Although he polled 1,470 votes, he failed to secure a seat on that occasion, being in a minority of 16. Not long afterwards, however, a vacancy occurring in the representation of the neighbouring electorate of West Melbourne, he was returned after a brisk and exciting contest. He had in the meantime succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his eldest brother. Sir Colman O'Loghlen, the representative of the County Clare in the House of Commons for fourteen years. The generous men of Clare paid Sir Bryan the high compliment of electing him in his absence to fill the seat that had been vacated by the death of his brother, but he never went home to take the seat, and it remained unoccupied for a lengthened period, until the House of Commons interposed and declared a fresh vacancy. Sir Bryan had the choice between a seat for Clare in the House of Commons and a seat for West Melbourne in the Legislative Assembly of Victoria. He chose the latter, and passed in quick succession from the ministerial office of Attorney-General to that of Acting Chief-Secretary. In the middle of 1881, Sir Bryan received a commission from the Queen's representative. Lord Normanby, to form a government on his own account. Thus, in less than four years of public life. Sir Bryan O'Loghlen had attained the highest office to which any colonist could aspire. In the new Ministry he filled the offices of Prime Minister, Treasurer, and Attorney-General. Two of his colleagues, it may be added, were Irish Catholics like himself, viz., the Hon. Henry

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10. The report of the Commission on Smuggling; and an able and exhaustive memorandum by Mr. Justice on the so-called Blockade of Hongkong by Chinese Revenue Cruisers are recommended to your attention. I have discussed this important question with the present British Minister at Peking, who will, I am confident, lend his aid towards carrying out an equitable settlement.

11. Turning to vital subject of Public Health, I am glad to inform you that the recent organisation of a Government Sanitary Board under Ordinance No. 7 of 1883, and the promulgation of new Rules and Regulations under that Ordinance, together with the introduction of improved contracts for the removal and disposal of waste products, have been followed by a marked improvement in the practical sanitation of the Colony. Much however remains to be done both in respect of legislation and of structural sanitary work; but I am confident that the necessary reforms and improvements will in due course be effected by the zeal and ability of the officers to whom this branch of the Public Service has been entrusted, and by the cheerful acquiescence of all Public Health as may, with your assistance, become law. In this connection, Bills are in course of preparation to amend and consolidate the laws relating to Public Health; to amend the Building Ordinance No. 8 of 1856; to regulate the Water supply, and to prevent waste. Owing however to the large and comprehensive nature of these Bills, no less than to the probable necessity of referring certain technical points to scientific authorities in England, it is possible that there may not be time for their full consideration during the present session. In this event, they will form the subject of your first deliberations in the next session. In the meantime, however, the carrying out of such works as were deemed of immediate importance to the Public Health has been sanctioned. These works, which are either in progress or in course of immediate initiation, include, among others, the Reclamation of unhealthy tidal lands at Yau-ma-Ti and Causeway Bay; Extensions and improvements of the existing system of sewers in this city; the construction of a new Central Market; the erection of a permanent Lazaretto on Stone Cutters' Island; the systematic dredging of noxious foreshore along the Praya by means of steam machinery; and the general Sanitation of the villages in the Colony.


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 Bolton, Postmaster-General, a native of Galway, and the Hon. Walter Madden, Minister of Lands, whose early days were spent by "the pleasant waters of the river Lee." The O'Loghlen Government ruled Victoria for nearly two years, and its career is now invariably referred to as the era of "peace, progress and prosperity." Sir Bryan's policy was the exclusion of all burning questions calculated to disturb the peace of the community. He sought the progress of the colony at large, the development of its manifold resources, and the prosperity of all its interests. Though he is not now at the head of the State in Victoria, Sir Bryan has the satisfaction of seeing the policy he initiated accepted and maintained by his successors in office.

"When the political history of Australia is written, I believe Moses Wilson Gray, or, as he was familiarly called, Wilson Gray, will occupy no mean position in its pages." These are the opening words of Sir Robert Stout's sympathetic memoir of one of the ablest and most magnanimous Irishmen that have adorned the public life of the antipodes—Wilson Gray, the man to whom Thomas D'Arcy McGee dedicated his "Gallery of Irish Writers." He was the brother of the late Sir John Gray, and the uncle of the present editor and proprietor of the Dublin Freeman's Journal, Mr. E. Dwyer Gray. Born in Claremorris in 1813, and educated at Cork, he graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, in company with his friend, Isaac Butt. Soon afterwards he visited America with the object of studying the formation of the new settlements on the western prairies, and the results of his observations are embodied in a thoughtful essay entitled "Self-paying Colonization in North America." In this publication, whilst advocating emigration as beneficial in the main, he was

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Author:Thomas D'Arcy McGee

Works

 * Gallery of Irish Writers

Works about McGee

 * "Wanted poster for the assassin of the Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee"

title: Author:Thomas D'Arcy McGee


text:
The American Journal of Science/Series 3, Volume 22/Note on the Observations of Comet b, 1881, made at the United States Naval Observatory

XXVI.—Note on the Observations of Comet b, 1881, made at the United States Naval Observatory; by.

On the evening of June 28th, I examined the comet for polarization by means of a double image prism applied to the naked eye, and at first I fancied that when the two images were placed in the axis of the tail the one situated farthest forward was the fainter, but a careful examination by three different observers rendered this doubtful. Recourse was then had to a three-inch telescope armed with an eye-piece magnifying 34·5 diameters, and the image of the comet given by it was examined, first with the double image prism, and subsequently with a Savart polariscope, but neither of these instruments showed any polarization. Mr. Huggins thinks he has detected the Fraunhofer lines in the continuous spectrum of the nucleus, and if this really is the case its light must be at least partly derived from the sun. and should show traces of polarization. As just stated, I failed to discern any with the double image prism; but that is not a very delicate test, although, owing to the small size of the nucleus, it is almost the only one practicable. Under the magnifying power used the coma filled the field of view with bright light, and yet exhibited not a trace of polarization when tried by that most delicate of all tests, the Savart polariscope: thus apparently confirming the testimony of the spectroscope that the coma is self-luminous.

On the evenings of June 28th, and July 1st and 2d, I examined the spectrum of the comet with a spectroscope having a single sixty-degree prism through which a beam of light 0·82 of an inch in diameter is passed. The wave-lengths of the bands in the comet's spectrum were determined by measuring the interval between them and the D line given by the flame of a spirit lamp with a salted wick held before the object glass of the telescope to which the spectroscope was attached; the measurement being effected by a micrometer which showed a bright point in the field of view. Owing to the unfavorable position of the comet, the only telescope upon which the spectroscope could be used was my three inch of 43·6 inches focus, which is mounted upon a portable tripod stand, but is destitute of clamp and tangent screws.

Notwithstanding the brightness of the comet, it gave a spectrum very ill-defined, and difficult to measure. The spectrum of the nucleus seemed to be continuous, and its approximate extent was from D to G. I did not detect any Fraunhofer lines in it, but possibly they may exist and yet have been obliterated by the rather wide opening of the slit, which was 0·0125 of an inch. With a narrower slit it was difficult to keep the comet in the field of the spectroscope. The coma gave a spectrum consisting of three bright bands, so ill-defined that no precise measures of the wave-lengths of their edges could be made, but the wave-lengths of their brightest parts were respectively, 549·3, 512·4 and 467·2. This seems to be the ordinary comet spectrum. The measurement of the wave-length of the middle band is tolerably accurate, but the measurements of the other two are liable to considerable uncertainty, owing to the faintness of the bands. I estimated their relative brightness to be 5, 30 and 1. On July 1st a slight haziness of the atmosphere sufficed to render the third band invisible. At a short distance from the head of the comet this band always faded out, and the spectrum of the tail seemed to consist of the first and second bands only—that is 549·3 and 512·4.

On June 28th the comet's nucleus was about as bright as a third-magnitude star, and its tail was plainly visible throughout an extent of at least twelve degrees. On July 1st the comet was perceptibly fainter, and its tail was only about eight degrees long, but perhaps this was partly owing to the moon, five and a half days old, being above the horizon. On July 2d the atmosphere was very clear and the seeing good, but the visibility of the comet was much diminished by the brightness of the moon, then near its first quarter. I estimated the length of the tail to be about the same as on the preceding evening, but Mr. Rock thought he could trace it for rather more than twenty degrees.

Since the 10th inst., Professor Hall has examined the comet with the twenty-six inch refractor, and Professor Eastman has examined it with the nine and six-tenth inch refractor, but neither of these gentlemen have been able to see any indications of a division of the nucleus.

The comet was observed at its lower culmination, with the transit circle, on June 26, 27, 28, 29 and July 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11. For the convenience of those who may desire to compute the orbit, Professor Eastman has furnished from these observations, the following positions, which are uncorrected for parallax and aberration time:

From a Cambridge observation of June 23d, and the Washington observations of June 29th and July 5th, Professor Frisby has computed the following parabolic elements:

The residuals, C—O, for the middle place are

It is a matter of interest to note that about June 20th the earth was in the immediate vicinity of the comet's tail, but I have not made sufficiently accurate computations to be able to state whether or not it actually passed through it.

U. S. Naval Observatory, Washington, July 13, 1881.


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 of the shipping entered at the Port of London in 1843, the year in which Hongkong was annexed to the British Crown, at a period when this island was little more than a barren rock, uninhabited save by a Chinese pirates and fishermen.

24. I have now, Honourable gentlemen, referred to the principal subjects which will be submitted for your consideration during the present Session. Governors and Legislatures should speak by their actions; and it is my confident hope that our united efforts will, by the blessing of Divine Providence, promote the general welfare and prosperity of all races and classes in this Colony.

4em


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive  : unity in Europe...This development deserves our full support. I am confident the United States will, by appropriate means, extend to the free nations the support which the situation requires..."

 * c.

On 1 April, 1948, the Soviets initiated the blockade of Berlin. In late April, the President called a conference of his senior advisers to consider the Soviet threat, as well as the possibility of communist fomented uprisings in France and Italy. John Foster Dulles, then State Department consultant, later reported that the conferees agreed that:

 * "...Only a decisive pronouncement by the United States would check the fear that was inspired by Moscow...[and that the U.S. should] proceed along the lines of a North Atlantic regional pact..."

Dulles also stated that Senator Vandenberg:

 * "...Felt that the Senate liked the idea of regional associations and would be disposed to approve in principle a further developing of such associations for collective defense."

In May, 1948, Senator Vandenberg introduced a resolution adopted by the Senate on June 11, 1948, by a vote of 64 to 4, advising the Executive to undertake the:

 * "...Progressive development of regional and other collective arrangements for individual and collective self-defense in accordance with the purposes, principles, and provisions of the Charter [of the UN] association of the United States, by constitutional process, with such regional and other collective arrangements as are based on continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, and as affect its national security."

The Department of State later explained to Congress that "the contents of this resolution...became our guide in the discussion and subsequent negotiations which led to the North Atlantic Pact."

In June, 1948, Congress also passed the Economic Cooperation Act, establishing the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) to administer a program of foreign aid. The following month, armed with the Economic Cooperation Act and the Vandenberg Resolution, the U.S. opened exploratory talks on an alliance with the Brussels Pact members and Canada. Subsequently, the talks were broadened to include twelve nations. On April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, and in late July ratified by the Senate. It entered into force August 24, 1949. Rh


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 16. I have pressed on the Imperial Government the importance, on Sanitary and other grounds, of that urgently needed improvement, the connection of the Eastern and Western portions of Victoria, by means of a continuous marine embankment along the sea-frontage of the Military Cantonments and the Royal Naval Yard. I hope to be able ere long to announce a favourable decision.

17. With regard to the vital question of Public Instruction, the Report of the Inspector of Schools for 1883 will be laid before you. I have myself visited on several occasions, among the other Public Establishments, the chief Educational Institutions in this Island. Their condition is generally satisfactory. The new Central School, or Victoria College, is much needed, and will provide accommodations for at least seven hundred students.

18. In connection with this subject, the Government proposes, with your concurrence, to follow the precedent of other Colonies by sending, in alternate years, in accordance with Regulations which will be submitted to you, two of the most promising students of our chief Colleges, selected by competitive examination, to complete their professional education in England, especially in Law, Medicine, and Civil Engineering.

19. Those minor posts in the Public Service which are at the disposal of the Governor, were wisely thrown open by my predecessor to competitive examination, without distinction of race or creed. A much needed stimulus has thus been given to general Education, while the Government will secure a constant supply of eligible candidates for the several Departments.

20. A Report will be laid before you showing the considerable progress already made in the afforestation of this Colony. I have directed the introduction of several thousand plants of the Australian Eucalyptus, a tree which furnishes valuable timber, and also exercises a marked sanitary influence, as experience in many tropical and semi-tropical countries has amply proved.

21. You will be perceive from papers on the table that it has been necessary to procure a new supply of arms for the Police; for the care of which, and for the proper drill and instruction of the corps you have already made provision.

22. The Imperial Government, on my recommendation, has presented a full equipment of guns and rifles to the Hongkong Volunteer Artillery; which body, it is hoped, will furnish a valuable addition to the numerical strength of the garrison.

23. I have represented to the Imperial Government in strong terms the necessity of completing the Fortifications of this important Naval and Military Station and Mart of Commerce. Without referingreferring [sic] to the value of the other and manifold interests, both Imperial and Colonial, which are at stake, I may remind you that Official Statistics show that the tonnage of the shipping entered at the Port of Hongkong in the year 1883 exceeded five millions of tons; that is, it exceeded the tonnage


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive :d.

In the meantime, U.S. policy suffered, a setback in Asia. A China Aid Program had been enacted by Congress in June, 1948, in the same omnibus foreign assistance legislation which authorized ERP and ECA. The China Aid Program met almost immediate failure, for Mao's armies spread unchecked over the China mainland, and by late 1949, the position of the Nationalists there was untenable. This "failure" of U.S. aid — it was termed such by Congressional critics — no less than the urgent situation in Europe figured in Congressional action on military assistance legislation placed before it in 1949.

 * e.

In September 1949, the Soviets exploded their first nuclear device. On October 6, 1949, Congress passed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, designed as a comprehensive law, providing a Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP) through which U.S. arms, military equipment and training assistance might be provided for collective defense. In the first appropriations under MDAP, NATO countries received 76% of the total, and Greece and Turkey (not yet NATO members), 16%. But Korea and the Philippines received modest aid, and the legislators clearly intended the law to underwrite subsequent appropriations for collective security in Asia. The opening paragraph of the law not only supported NATO, but foreshadowed SEATO:

 * "An Act to Promote the Foreign Policy and Provide for the Defense and General Welfare of the United States by Furnishing Military Assistance to Foreign Nations, Approved October 6, 1949.

 * "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the 'Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949.'

 * "FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

 * "The Congress of the United States reaffirms the policy of the United States to achieve international peace and security through the United Nations so that armed force shall not be used except in the common interest. The Congress hereby finds that the efforts of the United States and other countries to promote peace and security in furtherance of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations require additional measures of support based upon the principle of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid. These measures include the furnishing of military assistance essential to enable the United States and other nations dedicated to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter to participate effectively in arrangements for individual and collective self-defense in support of those purposes and principles. In furnishing such military assistance, it remains

Rh