A 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 5/ y^i^ 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 1.25 
 
 Mi u4 
 
 144 |2£ 12.5 
 
 L8 
 
 1.4 
 
 III 
 
 1.6 
 
 vQ 
 
 
 / 
 
 °>> 
 
 7 
 
 .<^, 
 
 y^ 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREIT 
 
 WIBSTER.N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4S03 
 
 €3 
 
 ,\ 
 
 :\ 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 '^^\. 
 
 >^^^ 
 
 O^ 
 
CIHIVl/ICMH 
 Microfiche 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Miuroreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 

 •;# "r. *'. i •* " ' • ■•.•■!■.•'•■,•''«■'''"''' ' • ■ . ■ •'■'. ■ . ■• '•' ■'' ■"^' ■"■" •'•■ * ■ .*! '■■ ■*! -' . ■., i s . ■ ; '■ ' "fl > .*• ■ I' •■■,"■■*■• i ^:' ' ' • ■ "■"■*■.' ' ■",. 
 
 '..•.■■ . . n •■ _ •• . ,., ,• . ■ - ■.-■■';*■ .■■-.■■ . . : * ■ •■;/.■•. • ; • . ^ . * , 
 
 Technical and Bibliographic Notat/Notot techniques et bibliographiquas 
 
 m^ 
 
 1 
 t 
 
 the Uistitutebaf attempted to obtain ttaf beat '■■}'^ 
 oriflinal copy availabh fbr ii^fng. f aatuitati bl tHts 
 copy which niay t»e bibHoigraphlcaliy itoKitife^ 
 which may alter anV Qf the tmajBeV (n the 
 reprpduction« Or whiehi rhay significantly chahg* 
 the usual method of filhf^^ng, are checked betD^V 
 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 Covers damaged/ 
 Couverture endommagAe 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaurAe et/ou peiliculAe 
 
 Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes giographiques en couleur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 Coloured plates end/or illustrations/ 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 ReliA avec d'antres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La raliure serrAu peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge intArieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches aJoutAos 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, iorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas At* filmies. 
 
 l/lhitltM^ a fijirbrbf flm^ le nietlleut? exemplafre 
 qu*!! jii) :ia it4\|kp|Mifbj|e;;4^ ab,i)i^rei*. Les ddtitlip 
 de 6et ex9itij|ia1ri»fJqMi sotiv^ pbiit'^'tre linjques du 
 point de VIM \blibir|i|ra0l|l jciul peiiverit modifier 
 uiie f mage iep^rpdijfte« (Oil qui: pbo^eht exiger une 
 modtftoattojn (fans lip mitbpde lidtmalf de filmage 
 som tttdlquifis cMessous» 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 A 
 
 Coloured pages/ 
 
 Pjsges db couleur . , 
 
 Pages daiinaged/ 
 Pages endommagAes 
 
 Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages restauries et/ou pelliciiltes , 
 
 Pages discolotired< Stained or foxed/ 
 Pages dAcoiortes, tachet^es ou piquAeS . 
 
 I^'ages detached/ 
 Pages ditaoh^s 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 Quality of print varies/ 
 Quaiitt inAgale de rimpression 
 
 Includes supplementery meteriai/ 
 Comprend du materiel supplAmentaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponibie 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure. 
 etc.. ont 4tA filmAes A nouveau de fapon A 
 obtanir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 c 
 f 
 
 t 
 
 s 
 c 
 
 f 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 T 
 
 V 
 
 h 
 d 
 e 
 b 
 ri 
 r( 
 r 
 
 D 
 
 Additionel comments:/ 
 Commentaires supplAmentaires: 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqui ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 
 
 
 
 
 14X 
 
 
 
 
 18X 
 
 
 
 
 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks 
 to the generosity of i 
 
 MacOdrum Library 
 Carleton University 
 
 The images appearing here are the best quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Original cop'es in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or Illustrated lmpres> 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and entjing on the last page with a printed 
 or Illustrated impression. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol — ► (meaning "COIV- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 methods 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 L'exemplaire fiimd fut reprodult grdce d la 
 g6n6rosit6 de: 
 
 MacOdrum Library 
 Carleton University 
 
 Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire filmd, et en 
 conformity avec les conditions du contrat de 
 fUmage, 
 
 Les exempiaires originaux dont la cuuverture en 
 papier est Imprim^e sont filmis en commen9ant 
 par ie premier plat et en terminant soEt par la 
 deb-nidre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou dillustration, soit par le second 
 plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exempiaires 
 originaux sont f ilm6s en commenpant par la 
 premiere page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou dillustration et en terminant par 
 la dernidre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la 
 dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le symbole — ► signifie 'A SUIVRE", le 
 symbole V signifie "FIN". 
 
 les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre 
 filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre 
 reprodult en un seul clfch6, 11 est film6 d partir 
 de Tangle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite, 
 et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants 
 iilustrent la m6thode. 
 
 ! ■ % 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 \ ^ 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
»W.MJIh.i.^...JV...- !i' 
 
 [^. 
 
 :....^* 
 
 
 f 
 
 •I 
 
 1 
 
•I 
 
 mum] u 
 
 ^'n'!c^»*;^ 
 
 itaii'i^^'^ 
 
 ! 1 
 
 THE EIGHT HON. ROBEET LOWE 
 YISCOUXT SHEEBROOKE 
 
 VOL. I 
 
 C^:^'^^^^ 
 
5 I 
 
 4 
 « 
 « 
 
 Tl 7ins ever heen a holly of mine, though perhaps it is a truism, not a 
 hobby, that the true life of a man is in his letters. . . Not only for the 
 interest of a biography, but for arriving at the inside of things, the publica. 
 tion of letters is the true mctlwd. Biographers varnish, they assign motives, 
 they conjecture feelings, they interpret Lord Burleigh's nods; but con, 
 temporary letters are facts. -T>r. Newman, to his Sister, Mrs. John Mozley, 
 ^rAV 18, 1863. 
 
 i 
 
i 
 
lurujsyi/r^ oCc 
 
 ^/-S'3 6 I 
 
 (K/.^JL 
 
\ 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 11I6HT HONOUEABLE ROBERT LOWE 
 
 VISCOUNT SHEEBROOKE, G.O.B., D.C.L 
 
 ETC. 
 
 WITH A MEMOIR OF SIR JOHN COAPE SHERBROOKF, G.C.B. 
 SOMETIME GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA 
 
 BY 
 
 A. PATCHETT MARTIJ^ 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES-VOLUME 1. 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS 
 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16'" STREET 
 1893 
 
 '^11 ri<7ht! rfservtd 
 
t 
 
 ,\' 
 
 i . " 
 
 ^1 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
 1^ 
 
 TO 
 
 CAROLINE, VISCOUNTESS SHEIIBROOKE 
 
 IN THE IIOrE THAT SOME MEASURE OF SUCCESS 
 
 MAY HAVE ATTENDED 
 
 MY EARNEST ENDEAVOUR 
 
 TO MAKE A GREAT ENGLISHMAN RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD 
 
 BY HIS COUNTRYMEN 
 
 THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 i 
 
) 
 
 %'■ 
 
 1 
 
 <i' 
 
1 
 
 PEEFAGE 
 
 t 
 
 .♦ 
 
 The small amount of time and pains which Lord Sherbrookc 
 bestowed on his Autobiography may be gathered from a 
 perusal of the brief persoi al memoir which forms the Intro- 
 duction to these volumes. 
 
 r 
 
 .''■4 
 When, however, it was reprOiented to him that his share 
 
 in the formation of contemporary history would be of interest 
 to the public, he readily assented to the preparation of this 
 work, and rendered whatever assistance was in his power. It 
 is true that the imperfect measure of sight, which he had 
 once enjoyed, liad entirely deserted him ; but he retained his 
 lifelong habit of attention to every subject presented to him, 
 and his criticism on what was read was jlways valuable and 
 suggestive of further sources of information. 
 
 It is superfluous to record the obligations I am under to 
 the relations and intimate friends of Lord and Lady Sherbrooke. 
 Their kindly aid has been invaluable ; and without it, the ac- 
 complishment of my task would have been impossible. Those 
 who knew Lord Sherbrooke well regarded him with a sincere 
 affection which made their co-operation a labour of love. But 
 on the part of a very large number of correspondents at home 
 
!/! 
 
 Vlll 
 
 LIFE OF L0T!1) SITEiniROOKE 
 
 and abroad, from whom I had Httle to expect, I have met with 
 an evident anxiety to further the work, which, though duo to 
 their esteem for Lord Shcrbrooke, leaves mo under a heavy 
 debt of ;jersonal obhgation. 
 
 Several of Lord Sherbrookc's old friends and contemporaries 
 have favoured me with written reminiscences, which I have 
 embodied in this work, while others have communicated their 
 information verbally. In the former category I must especially 
 mention Lord Sherbrooke's schoolfellow. Lord Selborne, who 
 has been good enough to contribute his narrative of an unbroken 
 friendship of over sixty years. Professor Jowett, the Master 
 of Balliol, has sent me a personal memoir of one who was to 
 him much more than a statesman — the fine scholar and close 
 friend, to whom he thought fit to dedicate his Thucydides. 
 With these should be linked the name of Canon Melville, with 
 whom Lord Sherbrooke enjoyed the happiness of an uninter- 
 rupted intercourse extending from Oxford days to the last 
 months of his life. 
 
 Among another group of friends whose intimacy com- 
 menced in the drier regions of ofiicial intercourse and ripened 
 into warm friendship, I would name Sir John Simon, K.C.B., 
 author of En<iUsh Sanitary Institutions, who was for many 
 vears associated with Lord Sherbrooke in the initiation and 
 subsequent work of the Medical Department of the Privy 
 Council. I have left Sir John's clear and concise statement of 
 that relationship to stand, as he has written it — in my humble 
 judgment an invaluable record of a nol)le joint achievement. 
 
 From Sir Piivers Wilson, Sir Thomas Farrer, Lord Thring, 
 and other notable men who jiavo l)ecn ofiiciallv associated 
 
 y 
 
 
) 
 
 PKI'IWCE ix 
 
 with Lord Sherbrooke, I have received most valuable assist- 
 ance. I am mider special obligation to Sir Douglas Galton. 
 the friend and travelling companion of Lord Sherbrooke on 
 his American and Canadian tour of 185G. Acknowledgment 
 must also be made to Mr. Cotterell Tupp, formerly of the 
 Indian Civil Service ; to the Hon. Lionel Tollemache for the 
 kind offer of his unpublished manuscript reminiscences ; to 
 Mr. Topham Hough, for the very interesting Pedigrees to be 
 found at the close of the second volume ; as well as to General 
 Sneyd for papers and notes concerning the i.kklermhister 
 riots, kept by him at the time. 
 
 Of those who have courteously placed letters at my disposal, 
 letters of especial value in the case of one to whom corre- 
 spondence was so difficult, I am greatly indebted to Lord 
 Sherbrooke's sisters and to Mrs. Sherbrooke of Oxton. Among 
 others whose kindness in this respect must be specially 
 acknowledged, I must mention the Duchess of St. Albans, the 
 Earl and Countess of Derby, Cnnon Melville, Mr. Gladstone, 
 the Marchioness of Lansdowne, the Countess Granville, the 
 Countess of Airlie, Sir F. B. Outram, Sir Archibald and Lady 
 Dunbar, Mrs. Michell, Archdeacon Boyd, the late Sir George 
 Macleay, Sir William Windeyer, and Mrs. Billyard of Sydney. 
 Among other correspondents to whom 1 am indebted for 
 aid and sympathy are-the Earl of Cranbrook, the Earl of 
 Wemyss, Mr. Goscaen, the late Dr. Charles Wordsworth, the 
 Dean of Westminster, llev. E. S. Ffoulkes, Sir William Smith, 
 Sir John Lul,bock, Sir Bicliard Quain, Brofessor J. A. Froude' 
 Mr. Henry Beeve, Sir John i^ender, (^.lonel Capel Coape,' 
 Sir Juland Danvers, Lord Lingon, Sir Boginald Welbv.' 
 
Rov. Win. Rogers, Dr. l^ichar^ Congreve, IVFr. ]{. A. Maclie, 
 Mr. Edward Jenkins, Mr. T. B. Boulton, Bev. J. Pickford,' 
 Professor Goldwin Smith, and Ur. Moberly Bell. 
 
 The kindness of Mrs. Chaworth Musters in sending her 
 correspondence with her uncle, has been supplemented by 
 her personal recollections of Lord Sherbrooke, and by much 
 valuable incidental information with regard to the family 
 history of the Lowes and Sherbrookes. 
 
 Following the Life and Letters of liohrrt Lowe, Viscount 
 Sherbrooke, will be found a brief memoir of Sir John Coape 
 Sherbrooke, G.C.B. For the papers and documents on which 
 this narrative is mainly based, I am indebted to Mrs. Sher- 
 brooke of Oxton. It is here necessary that I should acknow- 
 ledge the courtesy of the present Duke of Wellington in giving 
 permission, through the late Lord Sherbrooke, for the publica- 
 tion in this memoir of two unpublished letters, written by 
 his illustrious grandfather to Sir John Sherbrooke during the 
 Peninsular War. 
 
 I have only to add that my task has been greatly facilitated 
 by the fact that all documents, family and private letters and 
 papers connected with the late Viscount Sherbrooke, have 
 been ijlaced unreservedly hi my hands. 
 
 m 1 
 
 London : March 18!).'J. 
 
 A. PATCHETT MARTLN. 
 

 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME 
 
 INTKODUCTION 
 
 PAOK 
 . 1 
 
 A CHAPTER OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 (lord SHEHBROOKe's T\TE-\VmTTEN MEMOIR— 187G) 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PARENTAGE AXD DESCENT 
 
 Appendix to Chapter I 
 (Ireland and the Pooi-Law) 
 
 CHAPTER n 
 childhood and school-days 
 
 (1811-1829) 
 
 CHAPTER HI 
 oxford 
 
 (1829-1833) 
 Tlie Undergraduate—' Union ' Debates and Classic Wit 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 OXFORD [continued) 
 (1833-1840) 
 Graduate- Fellow of Magdalen Private Tutor, and would-be Professor 
 
 45 
 
 59 
 
 64 
 
 70 
 
 92 
 
Xll 
 
 IJI'E OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 1 
 
 (■Ann 
 107 
 
 119 
 
 134 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 .■MARUIAOE, AND CONTINENTAL TOUE 
 
 (March-August, I83G) .... 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 KOBKRT LOWE AND THE TUACTAIUANS 
 
 (1841) 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IN LONDON 
 (1841-1842) 
 
 Called to the Bar-Emigration to Australia 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE VOYAGE OUT 
 
 '°'tu™V"m2"''" "' '"-^" '■"'--'■«^"« cape 0.™j-Mc,- 
 
 144 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 IN SYDNEY 
 
 ''"\'e'tf E.r r' "^v"' ?r: '* ^--^-^"'-^-W. S. Macleay at Eliza- 
 oeth l>ay— Condition of Sydney , 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A PERIOD OF GLOOM 
 
 Threatened Blindness-Bush Wanderings -Tribute to W. S. Maeleay- 
 Ileturn to the Bar ^ 
 
 170 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CROWN NOMINEE 
 (1843-1844) 
 
 '"'Moniblr''' ;f-/--^;^'"t'-'-R-hard Windoyer, the ' Popular 
 Mcnbe, -W C. Wontworth, the 'Australian Patriot '- Lowe's 
 Muulon Speech ni the Council-His Stand for Free-Trade -Becomes 
 a Personage in Sydney ... becomes 
 
 liSn 
 
 •J 
 
 i 
 
^ 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 AT THE SYDNEY BAR 
 
 Xlll 
 
 Trial of Knatchbull-Lowe and Judge Burton-Dr. Elliotson of tlu.. Zoist ""' 
 
 I'JS 
 
 ' Mr, Lowe's Ethics 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 LAYING THE FOUNDATION OP PARLIAMENT 
 
 Clmirnian of Committees-The Chaplain-Dr. Lang and State Churches 
 -Breach of Pnv.lege-Duelling in Sydney-Anti-Corn-Law Speech 
 -Parallel between Canada and Australia-Report on Education 2 1 1 
 
 Appendix to Chapter XIII 
 (Report of Robert Lowe's Committee on Public Education) . 225 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 CREATION OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 
 
 Robert Lowe's 'Separation ' Speech- Resigns his Seat as Crown Nominee 
 -Sir C Gavan Duffy's Comments on Irish and Victorian 'Home 
 Rule -Lowe's alleged ' Pedantry '-Account of tho Rupture with Sir 
 (ieorge Gipps 
 
 232 
 
 I 
 
 St 
 
 Appendix to Chapter XIV 
 
 ^ITpI'^S''^ ''r^ ^"\''' ^'''' '" *^^ ^•^^■'^'^ «" ^1>« ^^P'-vr^tion 
 of Port Phillip. Legislative Council, Sydney, August 20, 1841) . 241 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 the education question 
 
 ^''' oi'Dr' uLT,'''' and Lord Stanley's L-ish National System-Attitude 
 of Dr^Ullathorne-Robert Lowe becomes its Chief Advocate-First 
 Speech to the People of Sydney-Roger Therry and M. Guizot-M 
 Lowe and the Council checkmated ... or* 
 
 NoXB A. -In Defence of Bishop Broughton 
 
 2;-)! 
 
XlV 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIiniBHOOKE 
 
 CllAPTEK XVI 
 
 THK ' ATLAS ' AXD ITS CONTKIBUTORS 
 
 rAf;K 
 Condition of the Colony — Appearance of the Atlas — Lowe's Articles and 
 
 Verses— Attacks Colonial Office -Satirises Sir George Gippa and 
 
 Roger Therry— Sonr/s of the Squatters —Vnnciital Contributors. . 253 
 
 CHAPTEil XVII 
 
 MEMBEli FOll ST. VINCENT AND AUCKLAND 
 
 Sir George Gipps and the Legislative Council— District Councils— Quit- 
 rents — Lowe stands for St. Vincent and Auckland— Address to the 
 Electors — Eeturned unopposed — Speech from the Hustings — 
 Schedules A, B, C— Takes his Seat in the Council .... 269 
 
 CHAPTER XVllI 
 
 AT NELSON BAY 
 
 At Nelson Bay — Mrs. Lowe's Description of Nelson Bay — Sir Thomas 
 Mitchell — W. S. Macleay- Sir Alfred Stephen— Letter to Eev. 11. 
 Michell — Success in Court and Council — Wentworth's Dinner — 
 Lowe's Imperialist Speech — Alexander Macleay's Pension — Went- 
 worth's Offer for the Speakership Lowe's Views on Dignity and 
 Dining • • 
 
 2S1 
 
 4 I 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE POPULAll LEAUEU 
 
 The Wentworth Banquet — Robert Lowe and Imperial Federation —Private 
 Friends and Public Funds — The Speakership and Bi-weekly Dinners 
 
 Lowe on Economy — Hoti. Francis Scott, M.P.— Land Legislation 
 
 —Death of Richard Windeyer —Death of Lady Mary Fitzroy— Caro- 
 line Chisholm .... 
 
 23!) 
 
 4 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 MR. GLADSTONE'S PROPOSED PENAL COLONY 
 
 Archbishop Whately and Charles BuUer— Dr. Bland and the Australian 
 Patriots— Review of the Transportation Question — Mr. Gladstone's 
 Despatches to Sir Charles Fitzroy —Wentworth's Select Committee 
 
 The Penal Colony in North Australia — Robert Lowe in the Adas — 
 
 A Popular Idol 807 
 
[ 
 
 C()N'n:xT.s OF the fikst volimk 
 
 XV 
 
 253 
 
 69 
 
 n 
 
 PAH;'. 
 
 320 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 NOTES or A OKEAT SPEECH 
 (Lpgislative Council, Sydney : Oct. t), 184r)) 
 
 CHAPTEK XXII 
 
 MK. LOWE AND THE SQUATTERS 
 
 Earl Grey's Land Bill-Mr. Lowe on Downing Street Solicitude -Went- 
 worth and the Waste Lands-Eoman Nobles and Australian Squatters 
 -Lowes Appeal to the Squatters- To the Council-Lowe's Reply 
 to Wentworth-His Pamphlet-The Division-Review of the Land 
 Question-Agrarian Gamblers-Character of Wentworth-Lowe de 
 termmes to ret am to England 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A SLAVE-TRADE PHILimC 
 
 The 'Orator, in 7^.«cZso/^/..P.o,,?.-German and French Immigrants 
 
 -The Squatters and the South Sea Islanders . 0,-7 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE GREAT ELECTION OF 1848 
 Lowe's Address to the Electors of St, Vincent-Action of Heni-y Parkes 
 iiXpense-His Last Letter ' Home ' 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 MEMBER FOR SYDNEY 
 
 Port Phillip declines to send Members-Lowe's Letter-Earl Grey elected 
 
 for Melbourne-Lowe and the Sydney Unemployed . . . 30,, 
 
 -4» 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 ROBERT LOWE AND EARL GREY 
 
 The Proposed Constitution-Lowe and Wentworth at the Victoria Theatre 
 -Earl Greys 'Exiles '-The Convict Ship Haskemy-.jJeatCn. 
 Gov^rn1::Jt"^ ''' ^^-rles Fitzroy-His P Jfor Respons^L 
 
 373 
 
 wWKHjrwwwKMw, 
 
XVI 
 
 MI"K OF LORD .SirERBROOKI.: 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THR CLOSING YEAIi IN AUSTRALIA 
 ''^ZT'ctr ''? f'^'r' ^-P°-'^t-n-Proposecl University for Syd- 
 Uass h.ul. fo. England -A Footnote on Stanley, Gladstone, and 
 
 INDEX . 
 
 I'Adfc 
 
 391 
 407 
 
 ILLUSTEATIONS 
 
 UOCERT LOWE, 18.3G 
 REV. ROBERT LOWE, J.P., 1800 . 
 MRS. LOWE, 180(3 .... 
 GEORGIANA LOWE, 1836 
 
 Frontispiece 
 To face page 44 
 46 
 106 
 
 EliRATDM 
 
 i'agc 64, line 15, for July 28, read July 27. 
 
 ^. 
 
 (■ >| 
 
I'AC.K 
 
 301 
 407 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OP 
 
 THE RIGHT HON. ROBERT LO\¥E 
 
 VISCOUNT SHEEBEOOKE 
 
 44 
 
 4fi 
 
 A 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The life of Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke, falls naturally 
 mto three epochs-Oxford, Sydney and London were, in turil 
 the scenes of his active life, and no higher testimony is needed 
 to the greatness and versatility of his powers than the fact 
 that m fields so dissimilar he reaped the highest distinction 
 Differnig, however, as they did in other respects, these epochs 
 of his life had one point in common : they were periods of 
 incessant labour. Such a life, even under ordinary circum- 
 stances, leaves little leisure for retrospect, but, handicapped 
 as he was by semi-bHndness, the accomplishment of each 
 day's task was sufficient without the toil of recording it. 
 
 Lord Sherbrooke had, moreover, a positive repirgnance to 
 autobiography. It savoured to him of egotism ; and it is 
 solely due to the intervention of friends that he left even the 
 brief and incomplete memoir which is here appended. Written 
 m the interval of comparative rest which followed his resig- 
 nation of office in 1876, it is marked by his habitual direct- 
 ness. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 D 
 
 'mm-r^^W^' 
 
i,n'K OK Lofii) snKi{i{i{()()Ki': 
 
 With charac'tc'ristie energy, this memoir was ' type-written ' 
 by his own liand. Even towards the close of Ufe, and with his 
 all but total want of sight, Lord Sherl)rooke took a certain 
 delight in mastering oui' latter-day mechanical contriv- 
 ances. 
 
 This chapter of autobiography, it will be seen, is a rapid 
 retrospect of his entire life. At th'st it seemed the better 
 plan to begin this work in the usual way, with a full account 
 of his birth, parentage, education, and public career, weaving 
 in from his own memoir the ' purple patches ' of his vigorous 
 phrases and apt allusions. By this means a certain order 
 and continuity hi the narrative might have been preserved. 
 But after careful reflection, it ^^as felt to be unfair to such a 
 man as Lord Slu;rbrooke to break up, or in any way remodel 
 liis all too brief personal reminiscences. Here, in these 
 few pages, wo have at least his own account of those events 
 and incidents in liis life which he most vividly recalled in old 
 age — the rough schooldays at Whichester, the studious years 
 at Oxford, the chance meetings with Wordsworth and Darwin, 
 the call to the Bar, the threatened total blindness, the long 
 voyage to Australia. Here, too, he pays his pathetic tribute 
 of affection to his wife, the faithful companion and constant 
 helpmate in his darkest as in his happiest hours ; and here 
 he passes a singularly unbiassed judgment on his remarkable 
 and in a sense unprecedented career, in which he gives his own 
 explanation of his one striking failure — the failure to win the 
 passing plaudits of the multitude in a democratic age. 
 
-\ < Haiti:!; of AfToiiKKJifApiiv 
 
 S 
 
 A CIIAPTEll OF AUT()J3I()(iJ{Al>HY 
 
 (LoiiJ) SllKUItUOOKK-S TVI'|;-\VI!ITTI.N :\rKM()IU -lS7(l) 
 
 If, as is generally and not witliont -ood reason assumed, the 
 success of an undertaking is proportionate to the care and 
 labour employed in preparing for it, I confess I do not enter on 
 the task of autol)ioo;riiphy under very favourable conditions. 
 During the course of an active and laborious life it never 
 occurred to me that there was anything in it which was worth 
 handhig down to posterity. I never was able to understand 
 the use of keeping accounts or keeping a journal. Accounts 
 are, of course, indispensable to those who are entrusted with 
 other people's money, l>ut why a man should keep accounts 
 agamst himself, I never could understand. It i^ever occurred 
 to me that anyone else would want to know what I said or what 
 I did, and as for myself it always appeared to me that every 
 one is inclined to talk and think a great deal too much about 
 him or herself. Egotism, in fact, appeared to me just one of 
 those tendencies of human nature which least of all re(juire to 
 be encouraged. 
 
 I have kept no correspondence. I must also confess that 
 my defect of sight is no slight disqualification ; of its great- 
 ness those who have had no experience can form little idea. 
 It is one of those subjects about which it is impossible to 
 deceive oneself. Besides, I have never found my chief pleasure 
 in society ; why then should I undertake a task for which I 
 profess no particular vocation, and for which I have neglected 
 to store up much information which was once in ni}- power ? 
 I have two reasons : I have been pressed by many friends to 
 
 n 2 
 
 ''»**'«'"«»i«W«*«nMppipj,p^ 
 
LIFK OF LOIM) SIIKIMJlKMiKK 
 
 leave behind ine some jiccount of a life wliii-li they are ^'ood 
 enoiish to say they heUeve is suflieieiitly out of tin coniinoni 
 track to be worth recording ; I also am vain enough to believe 
 that a narrative of the very great difficulties with which I have 
 had to contend and which I have contrived to surmount, may 
 possibly be useful to some who are inclined to throw up the 
 cards before the game is lost, and to impute to adverse fortune 
 the result of their own want of steadiness and enterprise. 
 
 1 was born at Bingham, a small town in the south of 
 Nottinghamshire, of which my father was the Rector, on 
 December 4th, 1811. I was a younger son, one of six children. 
 The living was a good one, and my father had some i)roperty 
 of his own. My mother was the daughter of the Rev. 
 Reginald I'yndar, rector of Madrestield, near Malvern. 
 
 I had the misfortune (which I share with a sister older 
 than myself) to be what is called an albino. 1 presume 
 there is no one so entirely free from personal vanity as to be 
 able, without some feeling of reluctance, to discourse on his 
 physical defects and infirmities. But happily, not having been 
 endowed by Nature with a poetical temperament or having a 
 special gift for self-torture, I have contrived to bear this in- 
 fliction with tolerable equanimity. My j)oor sister was not 
 so fortunate ; she was, I think, the gentlest and the best person 
 I ever knew, but was very keenly alive to this misfortune. 
 Had I felt my peculiarities as she did, anything like public or 
 even active life would have been to me an impossibility ; but, 
 putting sentiment aside, the misfortune was serious enough. 
 
 The peculiarity of my eyes consists in the total absence of 
 colouring matter ; this occasions, of course, especially in a 
 man, a very marked peculiarity of complexion, amounting in 
 early youth to something of effeminacy. For this evil, how- 
 ever, I have found age a sovereign cure ; but as the absence 
 of colouring matter extends to the eye, it necessarily occasions 
 a great impatience of light. The eyelids must always be 
 nearly closed, and so I never have been able to enjoy the 
 
A ciiAiTKi: or ArT()i$i(nji:AiMiv o 
 
 luxury of stjirin^' iinyone full in the I'iU-e. Of eoursi- this 
 intolerance of lif^lit must be attended with sonicthin^f very 
 closely approachiu}^ to j' tin. I cannot vww conci-ivc the state 
 of a person to whom si;:.ht is a function free fr<Mn all pain and 
 distress, hut as I ha\>' no standard to measuri' hy I may 
 perhaps exa^'^'cratc my own misfortune. The cause of this 
 amioyance is the total absence of what is called the )ii'inhnfiini 
 iiiiiruiii, the dark rim which surrounds the pupil of the eye 
 and absorbs the ravs of li'dit which are not needed for the act 
 of vision, and only confuse and disturi) it. But, in addition 
 to this defect, I had to contend with a malformation of the 
 eye ; one eye has never been available to me foi- reading', and 
 the other was hypermetropic — that is, the; refractinjj; power 
 was so slif^ht that the focus must be very near the back of my 
 head. I began life, in fact, very much in the state of persons 
 who have been couched for cataract, with the two additional 
 dis(iualifieations that I had only one eye to rely upon, and 
 that had wo pujini'ntion iii<inini to protect it. 
 
 So hopeless did my visual prospects appear that I was six 
 years old l)efore any attempt was made to teach me my letters. 
 Of course, the natural remedy for my sight would have been 
 to use strong magnifying spectacles such as are recommended 
 to persons who have been couched for a cataract. 1 do not 
 know if such an idea was ever entertained, but J have every 
 reason to be glad that it was not acted on, for experience has 
 proved that the eye was (juite unable to bear it. 
 
 As it was, my progress was so slow that I was eight years 
 old before I began the great bushiess of life — in other words, 
 entered on the study of the Latin Grammar. So great was 
 the difficulty I foniul in the beginning of my career that my 
 mother was of opinion I was quite unlit to be sent to school, 
 and that there was no chance for me in the open arena of life. 
 Happily for me, m}' father formed a truer estimate of the 
 case, and it was decided that the experiment should be tried. 
 I, at least, was never troubled with any misgivings. Nature 
 
 — '- ''KMf»it»mMv,!^mrvm>f'if0*',-f*Hm^aSil^^ 
 
6 
 
 I AVE (JF rA)l{I) SilEllBKOOKK 
 
 I! I 
 
 had given me us some compensation for many deficiencies 
 excellent health, good spirits, an easy temper, and a heart 
 which has never failed me in all my trials and ditficulties. 
 
 The first i)ublic event which I remember was the death of 
 the Princess Charlotte, and my surprise at the extreme grief 
 felt by everyone around me for a p?rson whom they had never 
 seen, and I had never heard of. I remember, also, being much 
 affected by the death of Napoleon, though, as I derived my 
 first knowledge of his career from Sir Walter Scott's llhuinipliii, 
 1 do not know whenc(> I derived my sentiment. I enjoyed the 
 privilege and delight of reading all the writings of the author 
 of Waverh'j) after the Heart of Mid-LotJiiaii as they came out, 
 a literary pleasure which nothing since has ever equalled. I 
 may mention to ni}- credit that I never doubted that Scott 
 was the author : the ground of my belief was a quotation 
 which is to be found in TJic Hiidc of Laininennoor and in the 
 notes to The Ladij of tlic Lake. 
 
 If thou be hurt with horn of hart 
 
 It briufifs thee to thy bici', 
 But barbers' hand boar's tusk can cure, 
 
 Therefore thou need not fear. 
 
 I argued that if the poem and the novel had been written by 
 different hands, the quotation would have been acknowledged 
 by the writer of the novel who might well forget that he had 
 inserted it in a note. I was always very positive as to Scott's 
 authorshii) of the novels, and received some not unmerited 
 rebukes from my elders and betters for presuming to set my 
 opinion against persons who must know so much better than 
 I. [ hope 1 bore my victory with becoming moderation, but 
 am by no means clear on the point. Our life was a very 
 secluded one. Our nearest, and indeed almost our only, 
 neighbour was the family of Mr. Musters, the husband of 
 Byron's Mary. A visit to my grandfather :n Herefordshire 
 in sunnner, and to Mr. Sherbrooke of Oxton, whose estate has 
 now passed into the hands of my eldest brother, were almost 
 
 i 
 
hy 
 
 A CIIArTEIi OF ALTOJUO(U:ArilY 7 
 
 the only breaks in the monotony of our exibtence. I did not 
 shine as a playfellow, and so reading, which had been my 
 great difficulty, became my great pk'asure. 
 
 In 1822 I went to school at Southwell, where my father's 
 family once lived and where many of them are buried. There 
 is one of them, one Gervase Lee, in whom I always took a par- 
 ticular hiterest because he was lined 500/. by Archbishop 
 Laud in the Star Chamber for writing a scurrilous ballad on 
 the Canons of the Cathedral church of Southwell. I used to 
 fancy that some shredn of his mantle iiad descended on me, 
 though candour obliges me to confess that his performance 
 was utterly without literary merit, and according to the rule 
 of Horace — 'si mala cotKVulci-it in qiicm (iiiis cannina Jus cat 
 jiulicinmqiie '—the poet richly deserved all he got. 
 
 I spent two years at Southwell, and one year at a school 
 at Risley in Derbyshire, and in September 1825 I went to 
 Winchester as a commoner. This was a most important 
 epoch of my life ; anybody can get on somehow at a private 
 school, but a public school to a person labouring under such 
 disabilities as I did was a crucial test under any circumstances, 
 and Winchester, such as it was in my time, was an ordeal 
 which a boy so singular in ap])earance, and so helpless in 
 some respects as I was, might well have trembled to encounter. 
 Since my time the buildings which we occupied have been 
 pulled dowii, the hours have been altered, and what I write 
 now has no application to the Winchester of the present day, 
 but such as it was in my time I will describe it for the benefit 
 of boys who think they are badly treated. 
 
 The school consisted of 200 boys ; 70 collegers and 130 
 commoners. The collegers were well lodged and fed, had an 
 excellent playground, and the run of the schoolroom \;hen the 
 masters were out of it. In commoners things were very dif- 
 ferent; the bedrooms were shamefully crowded, there was a very 
 small court — reference being had to the number of boys who 
 were shut up in it— there was a hall of very moderate dimen- 
 
 M l .n w.li I ;» n> w i jp W P WIiN j i ' I 
 
ill 
 
 111 
 
 8 
 
 LIFE OK JA)1!1) SIlKlJBrvOOKE 
 
 8i()iis, considering that in it we lived, studied, and had our 
 meals, there was generally a game of cricket going on, and as 
 my cuphoard happened to he Mhat is technically called ' middle 
 on,' the pursuit ot the Muses was attended with some difficulty. 
 I have often said to myself- ' / nunc ct rcrmis tecum tncditarc 
 canoron/ 
 
 In these miserahle quarters much of the time which was 
 not spent in school was passed, We were expected to be 
 down at six in sunnner and a quarter to seven in winter ; we 
 went into school at half-past seven and stayed there till ten, 
 then we had hrealdast — bread as much as we could eat, a pat 
 of butter each, and one pail ot milk among 180 boys, for this 
 we made a ({iiciic, every fag with his jug. Occasionally, when 
 the competition was more than ordinarily severe, the pail was 
 upset, and the school went milkless to breakfast. Tea and 
 sugar we might fhul for ourselves if we had the money, they 
 were sold to us at the buttery hatch on account of whom it 
 might concern. "We went into school from eleven till twelve, 
 from twelve to one was our play hour ; the field was half a 
 mile otT, so that to make the most of it we usually ran there 
 and back and came in streaming with perspiration. At one 
 we dined! At two we went into school, where we remained 
 till six, then supper bread and cheese and beer, then work 
 in the hall till iialf-past eight, then to bed. Twice a wee]< we 
 had what was called a ' remedy '—I suppose because it was 
 worse than the disease, applying that name to the ordinary 
 school days,— we were marched two and two to the hill a 
 mile off, and in consideration of this airing were shut up in 
 the hall for four hours. Sunday was a particularly miserable 
 day ; two hours in chapel, nearly three in the cathedral, one 
 hour to walk, and the rest shut up in our court and hall. 
 
 It will be seen from this statement that we fasted from 
 seven o'clock in the evening till half-past ten in the morning ; 
 that four hours and a half were interposed between rising and 
 breakfast ; that we had no food for breakfast but bread : that 
 
 ■| 
 
 t 
 
A CIIAPTKIJ OK AnXUIKXaiAPIIY 
 
 9 
 
 we dined three hours after breakfast and immediateiy after an 
 hour of violent exeicise. The resuU may be easily imagined 
 — we were ravenous at breakfast and there was nothing but 
 bread to eat unless we had pocket money to buy food ; out of 
 breath and reekhig with perspiration we loatlied our dinner, 
 and it was only when in school that we felt hunger which 
 there was no means of appeasing for hours, and then with the 
 (to genlk'inen's children) uncongenial fare; of bread and 
 cheese. Our pocket money, as long as it lasted, went in buying 
 the food with which we ought to have been supplied, and 
 when that was gone we bore our loss as best we could, only 
 too happy if we could coax a colleger to impart to us some- 
 thing from his comparatively liberal dietary. 
 
 "We were, it will be observed, never alone by day or l)y 
 night, so that the power that one boy possessed to annoy 
 another was ahnost boundless. We were, besides, debarred of 
 our natural liberty, and the high spirits of youth, missing their 
 natural vent, found employment in mutual torment. Into 
 this place such as I have described it, I was introduced at the 
 rather advanced age of thirteen. I was placed in the second 
 class in the school, and thus escaped fagging. I was strong 
 and healthy, and did not greatly care for our meagre fare ; nor, 
 I must say for myself, did 1 ever make any complaint of any- 
 thing or anybody ; but the ordeal I had to go through was 
 nevertheless really terrible. For the purposes of relieving the 
 weary hours of enforced society I was invaluable. No one 
 was so dull as to be unable to say something rather smart on my 
 peculiarities, and my short sight offered almost comi)lete 
 immunity to my tormenters. This went on, as well as I can 
 remember, for about a year and a half, and then, as even the 
 most delightful amusements i)all by repetition, it died out. 
 
 Two things I may mention as rather remarkable ; one, that 
 though I believe never accused of a want of physical courage, 
 I never fought a biittle ; the otlier, that though I suffered so 
 severely from torments of all kinds, I never felt at the time or 
 
 ****fl*-«*»«B(«*y 
 
iO 
 
 i 
 
 K 
 
 Hi 
 
 ii 
 
 
 '^"'''' '*'•' '^'^''" ^nKKHIJOOKIO 
 
 afterwards any iil-^vill tou-nvi 
 
 i"«<i «.n«o CO,,,.,, t„ ,„ /, ;" ' i;«™l'a„-tie», ,.,„, i „,. „^ j 
 <'"«'"» «'..V„ ,„„„, „„ , ;,. ■ ';; :^ — were ,„„e, ,.„.,. 
 """""« ''etfor to ex,.eet. ill , , f ""'*"■"'''«• ^ -"1<I have 
 
 «■«>• ;.u.vit„l,lo. At am- i-.t "'''' »»■«'' of Nvliat l.aj.p.ne,! 
 
 '"'" - '" "•i.ot,.,. r; , til : ::r'"'^"-^ -'™' «- ,,.o. 
 
 l-vd l,,v a „.„.,t ,,„„,, ; >»3' own in ,ife, „„ 
 
 --.tn- ,„„. ,,, „,„ ,,.. ^,,^ ,,__;^---t that I „.a. „„, .„„ 
 
 ^'•e prosoiit Lord 8el I )oi"i « , 
 
 ''» >'"< .l,i„l. „,i« ,,,„,, ,,^; - . ''e contnuuKl there. I 
 ™« - very eiever boy, ,„„,„„;. '^' "'«' ««'«-"ise, as I,e 
 ■^ fi'tl-- who „.„,e hi ; ; '""•"'™"^ "-" I -'"I ha,l 
 
 '"e -von,l ,,ri.e, an., «.. ' , ' 1'^' '* '" '»>■ -^'a-. I gained 
 
 fi-t>-la.s a year before „,y L,,™ """'"" '"■""'"'"' '» "'« 
 Latin and Greelc Ii.i,J ,"> i 
 
 t-'«. .nyseif witr , ' , :: ::r"^ -«>■ '- ■-. -.i i ...n. 
 
 »' '<li-«s, ,,„t have .since lea ,> "t V ',' "" "" «""' '"-^' 
 spent hon,-.s of nn- life fo. i 1 r'*""'"'^ "^ '''« '"'»' 
 
 C" ' ""- -"" "-5 .'ri:;:; ;r 
 
 ;.f;-s:^"-z;:;;::;;;;-«;--..n,..,,,. 
 
 "«■!' HO h-ttlo,„,|,|ie„„ti,, J .""'*^' """!'«» 'lni«nu,,on 
 
 ■•ewert attention to the snbi f r' J'"' ''"' ''""' "'■"«■ '■«■ 
 I lune already »aid that tli slhoo ! '"' «'?" '"■«'' '■'•<"" «bat 
 to make the ex,,en.ses to tb At , ' ^'"'^^h^HM with a view 
 
 followed that h, a sin, llrli" ^ " "" ''' '"'.V^ ^ "^ -«-.■ it 
 ---hewor,andon::r ;;~ 
 
A C'llAlTKU OK AiroUKMilfAlMlY 
 
 11 
 
 ■' 
 
 long in school w.is tlie want oi more nuistei's, juid the cons-c- 
 quent inipossihility of a siiij(Uvisi()n of classes. 
 
 The result was that a j^ood deal of the discipline of the 
 school was (intrusted to the prc^fects ; they had to keep order, 
 and as a reward for thus doing the duty of under-masters, were 
 invested with personal inviolahility, hi'sides the power of 
 fagging the other hoys as hefore menti(jned. Thus I found 
 myself at the mature age of sixteen invested with inliniti^ly 
 more power, with infinitely less control, than I have evjr 
 had since. A stick was put into my hand, and I had to walk 
 up and down the hall and keep silence hy ;ipplying the said 
 stick to the hack of any hoy whose voice or comluct disturhed 
 the silence of IBO hoys. 1 had hesides the power of funding, 
 a punishment far more severe than that of Hogging, which was 
 in fact little hetter than a farce. 1 do not think that at lirst, 
 at any rate, I ahused my new power. T had no great zeal for 
 the dis<.'ii)line of tlu! school, which I iu)t uureasonahly con- 
 sidered was no affair of mine. JJut an event happened which 
 entirely changed this state of affairs. 
 
 The senior prefect had made himself un[)opular with the 
 hoys, and on one occasion when he was al)out to inflict a tinid- 
 ing the hoys rescued his intended victim from his gras}). Of 
 course we, his colleagues, thought the world was coming to an 
 end, and in truth we had some sort of ground for our indigna- 
 tion, for it was ohviously impossihle for us to maintain the 
 discipline of the school, which most improperly, as I think, was 
 confided to us, if we were not invested with the hiviolal»ility 
 of the Pioman trihunes. So we nuide our complaint to the 
 head master, and he very injudiciously expelled the poor hoy, 
 who had heen guilty of the offence of causing a rescue. I 
 cannot help thinking that a much lighter punishment would 
 have been quite enough for an offence which had in it no really 
 serious delinquency, and that it would have heen wise to con- 
 sider a little more seriously the results of such a measure. 
 The boys (though I reall}' think that under the provocation 
 
 iiWiii wi miiiiatui 
 
T 
 
 12 
 
 LIFl'] OF LOlfD SIIEKBKOOKE 
 
 ! 
 
 I i 
 
 they behaved at least as ^Yell as could be expected) wvvv not 
 iiiiiiaturally very anf-ry. They made iis feel this in every way 
 they safely could ; we on our side were not slow to retaliate, 
 and thus, as Hume says of the days of the Popish plot, the 
 two parties within the narrow limits of the law vented against 
 each other their nnitual animosity. 
 
 At lafjt things grcnv so serious that my colleagues became 
 friglitened, and gradually more and more indulgent, till at 
 last the boys were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased. 
 I am not aware that anv verv bad results followed, and looking 
 at the matter from this distance of time, I am not at all sure 
 that I should not have done better to have followed their 
 example. 
 
 If I could have persuaded myself that there was any 
 generosity in it I might have yielded, but I was perfectly aware 
 that any relaxation of the reins would be imputed to fear, and 
 to that I could not bring mvse:.' to con-^ont. The half vear 
 ended without any change, and on the re-assembling of the 
 school after Christmas holidavs, the headmaster communicated 
 to us his wish that the discipline of the school should be 
 relaxed. To this I most joyfully acceded, and content that it 
 should be known to the school that I acted not under fear 
 but under the express directions of the headmaster, I for a 
 half year let them do just as they pleased. I cannot help 
 thinking that however economical or convenient it may be to 
 put a stick into the hand of a l)oy of sixteen and allow him to 
 use it upon his schoolfellows, it is neither fair on the tunder 
 nor the tunded. If servants are wanted they ought to be 
 sui)plied from some other source than the junior scholars, and 
 if more masters are wanted they ought to be supplied from 
 some other source than the senior boys. 
 
 I left Winchester after four years' residence, and in Octol)er 
 182{) went up to reside at University College, Oxford. It 
 woidd be ungrateful of me to part from Winchester without 
 recording my gratitude to my tutor, Mr. Wickham. He was, 
 
A CIIAPTKIJ OF ArTor.KMillAlMlV 
 
 13 
 
 as far as I may presume to jiulgo, an excollont scholar, and, 
 what to a boy of my temperament, smarting under nuich 
 undeserved ill-usage, was more important, he really took an 
 interest in me and spurred me on to exertion. I never shall 
 forget the pleasure in the midst of all that I had to endure to 
 find that there was some one, and that, a person placed so high 
 above me, who did not despise me for being unlike other people, 
 and who took a hearty interest in my success. I had a great 
 wish for knowledge of all kinds. I learnt from my mother 
 and aunts a little French and Italian, and I had a great desire 
 to learn mathematics. But this failed because the mathemati- 
 cal master at Winchester had never pursued his studies beyond 
 the Fourth Book of Euclid. I do not think that such know- 
 ledge as I obtained of Latin and Greek was of the kind best 
 suited to make a figure in examinations. I had very little 
 acquaintance with the writers on the niceties of the learned 
 languages, and consequently was at a great disadvantage at 
 examinations as they were then conducted. It was also an 
 intolerable labour to me to look out words in a dictionary. 
 My plan, which was almost unconsciously forced on me by 
 necessity, was to make myself, as far as i could, thoroughly 
 master of what I read by every means in my power. If there 
 was a question of the meaning of a word, I could always tell 
 the passage where it occurred in any author that I had read. 
 I was within the limits of my reading a complete dictionary of 
 parallel passages. Thus what I knew was all my own, and 
 was exactly proportioned to the amount of my reading : there 
 was no cram in it, and, if not very showy, it was solid, resting 
 upon a genuine basis — the very words of the author- and 
 their comparison with and correction by other passages. I 
 suppose the truth is that this plan, which necessity forced upon 
 me, was good as far as it went, but would never have led to 
 any real eminence as a sciiolar, though it satisfied my aspira- 
 tions as a student, and was sutheient fo'' my requirements as 
 a teacher. 
 
 •^ " ■ "" ■"■ " '■ " i» wi py!i 'y i >i 'i q? ^ 
 
Ill 
 
 14 
 
 I,!!']", oi' Loiii) siii:i:i',i;(»()Ki': 
 
 The eliiin;J!(' from Wim-h(>stor to Oxford was ilelifi;litful. It 
 
 was a elian*::;o from perpetual noise and worry to (|uiet, from 
 
 imprisonment to freedom, from nn odious pre-eminence to a 
 
 fair and just equality. I was deli.uhted with the kindness of 
 
 my companions, and for the Ih-st year 1 did very little more 
 
 than thorou,i;hly enjoy the (•han<;e. ^line was not in those 
 
 days a reading college, and the tutors told me very fairly jind 
 
 v(n'y truly that tlu^ greatest kindness they could sliow me was 
 
 ti) dispense with my attendance at their lectures. That year 
 
 is the only period in my life during which I can tax myself 
 
 with idleness, and though I look hack with regret at tlie 
 
 thoughtlessness which could so waste my opportunities, I 
 
 cannot greatly wonder that I yielded to the temptation. I 
 
 came up at the connnencement of my second year full of good 
 
 resolutions, to which, on the whole, I very fairly adhered. I 
 
 d'.'termined to take a douhle first-class and set to work accoi-d- 
 
 inglv. This was a great mistake. A lu-st-class in classics 
 
 was easily Avithin my reach with moderate industry, but a 
 
 fu'st-class in mathematics was to me a v<>ry dilticult, and on 
 
 looking l)ac]v T might almost say an impossible, undertaking. 
 
 The pursuit of this i;iiiixj'atiiiis occupied by far the largest part 
 
 of my time at Oxford, and the labour of two long vacations, 
 
 and probably prevented my obtaining any of the minor 
 
 University distinctions. It was not, I think, that I had any 
 
 especial difticultyin understanding mathematics, though I must 
 
 confess to rather an awkward symptom, a desire like that of 
 
 Macaulay, to argue tlu> point and to contend that what I was 
 
 told was conclusive reasoning, was not conclusive at all. I still 
 
 believe that many of the conclusions of mathematics are more 
 
 certain than the premisses ; \vlien we know that a conclusion 
 
 is true and that all the steps of the demonstration except one 
 
 are also true, we know the excepted position must be true 
 
 whether the reason we give for its truth be true or not. Thus 
 
 I imagine that most persons are much more certain that two 
 
 winKs quantities nniltiplied together produce a plus than they 
 
A CllAl'TKi: Ol" AlTOIWOliKAPIIV 
 
 15 
 
 are of the cogency of the argument ])y wliich tliis position is 
 sought to i)e proved. At any rate, I liad no decided aptitude 
 for mathematics, and I could not have selected any study in 
 which my defective sight told so heavily against me. Small 
 diagrams and figures were to me a species of torturi' ; tlusy 
 absoroed in the effort to see them the attention that was 
 needed to understand them. "When I came to write them out 
 matters were still worse. It was a great triumi)li if 1 could 
 make my writing intelligible to myself and very improbable 
 that I should make it intelligiblo to others. 1 had a most ex- 
 cellent tutor in Mr. Walker ; indited, the only fault 1 have 
 to tind with him is that he tlunight much too well of his i)Upil 
 and fully believed that 1 should have triumplunl over difti- 
 culties with which I really was (piite unable to cope. I believe 
 that what Horace says of drunkenness is true of physical 
 defects, and that the faculties corresponding tj defective 
 organs become themselves enfeebled. Corpus omiHfiini natiira' 
 ritiia ail imam qiioqiw pneiiravnt una ai(iu<' ajli'iif Jnniii diviiuo 
 particnhim aiiiuc. 
 
 Thus I apprehend bad sight impairs the power of observa- 
 tion, and bad hearing of attention. I must console myself 
 with the reflection that though a mistake as regards uni- 
 versity distinction, the study of mathematics was prol)ably 
 the soundest and most sensible part of my education, as being 
 the key to the study of physics. 
 
 On looking back on this part of my life I am much struck 
 with the utter aljsence of anyone witliin my reach to whom I 
 could apply for advice in these and similar questions. It is 
 mortifying to think how much waste of time and, what is still 
 more valuable, eyesight, I might have bjon saved if I had had 
 the good luck to meet with some one who possessed the ex- 
 perience that I so much needed to advise me how to turn my 
 very slender, and, as it then seemed, precarious means of ac- 
 (piiring information to the best account. My cotemporaries 
 were mostly country gentlemen or embryo clergymen whose 
 
 kd: 
 
IG 
 
 LU'E OF LOltD SIIE'JBr.OOKl-: 
 
 ambition was centred on the not very difficult object of obtain- 
 ing a de^'roe as a necessary preliminary to taking orders. My 
 ol)ject should have been to have found for m3'self jjursuits 
 which depended more on the mind than the eye, but I never 
 thought of such things, and it would have been a good fortune 
 which I had no right to expect had I found anyone capable of 
 looking so far beyond the narrow routine of a University as to 
 think of them for me. 
 
 The first thing that brought me into notice at Oxford was 
 a burlesque poem on a visit paid by the Duchess of Kent and 
 the Princess Victoria to the University in 1833. I had been 
 reading the macaronic poems of Dr. Geddes, and was seized 
 with a desire to emulate him. The best I can say of my per- 
 formance is that it succeeded, having gone through seven 
 editions ; that it contained a true prophecy, that Her Majesty 
 would reign thirty years, and that having succeeded so far 
 beyond my expectations and deserts, I had the good sense not 
 to try my fortune again in a vein which owes so much to 
 mere novelty and eccentricity, and of which the public ear 
 would so soon tire. As it has been long out of print, I subjoin 
 a copy.' 
 
 Another source for me if not of fame at least of notoriety, 
 was the Union Debating Soci.>ty. At that time it was pecu- 
 liarly fortunate in its leading members ; Gladstone, Sidney 
 Herbert, Lord Lincoln, Gaskell, Tait, Palmer, Cardwell, 
 Eickards, Anstice, Massie, Trevor and others, whose names I 
 do not recall at the moment, formed a brilliant assemblage 
 of talent and eloquence whose early promise has since been 
 amply fulfilled. 
 
 We were in what appeared to wiser and more experienced 
 heads than ours to be the full tide of revolution. Many 
 speeches were made which would not have disgraced, and some 
 that would have adorned, a Parliamentary debate. I well I'e- 
 member the first time I heard Gladstone speak. It was on the 
 
 ' See pp. 88-',)0. 
 
 ^ 
 
 IL_ 
 
A CHArTKI} OF ArTOHKMJnArilV 
 
 17 
 
 emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies. As far as mere 
 elocution went he spoke just as well as he docs now in 187<). 
 He had taken just as much pains with the details of his subject 
 as he would have if he had been Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies. He did not launch into commonplaces about the 
 rights of man, but he proposed a well-considered and carefully 
 prepared scheme of gradual emancipation. It is not too much 
 to say that even then he gave full promise of all which he has 
 since achieved. I remember that I proposed that the King 
 ought to make new Peers in order to pass the Reform Bill, and 
 that I could only get four people to vote with me. Subse- 
 quently I had a good deal to do with the memorable schism of 
 the Rambler. The Union Society had elected a president 
 against whom there was no serious objection, but who was not 
 a persona firata to some of its principal members. This was 
 after most of the stars I have mentioned had set. The dis- 
 sentients, instead of taking their defeat in good humour after 
 the manner of Englishmen, resolved to set up an opposition 
 society which was to be called the Rambler, at the same time 
 retaining their position in the old society. The obnoxious 
 president sought my help. I thought, as I still think (and 
 forty years have not obliterated the impression), that he was 
 very ill used. I am not so sure about the measure we took. 
 We proposed that the members of the new society should 
 elect between the new society and the old. We had a furious 
 debate and failed to carry our motion. reoi)le cooled down 
 — they saw that the thing had a ludicrous as well as a tragic 
 side, and the matter is now principally remembered by a mock 
 Homeric poem, by several authors, in which the present most 
 learned Dean of Rochester, Scott, bore a distinguished part 
 — a wit before he was a lexicographer. ]>i'hita Trojaiiis exeiret 
 npiciihi fails. 
 
 ]3ut how shall I relate my own share in the transaction ? 
 It was my task to open the debate, which I do not doubt that 
 I did with quite as much bitterness as tlie occasion required. 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
 
18 
 
 Mi'i; OK \M\i\) siii;i;i{iMK>i\K 
 
 t li 
 
 AftiTWiuds llic |)i('si(U'iit, the llclcii who luid niiulc this war, 
 lose to' spcjik, iiiid I, ji8 ii libriiriiiii, look tlio chair. 'I'hu 
 spcalvi'r iiu'l witli coiisidci-altlc hiti!rni[ilioii, and anioiij^ uthors 
 tVoiii Mr. 'r.iit of IJiilhol, the future Arfhi)isho|» of ('antorhury, 
 and I, not Ixin^, it is to \)v feared, in ;. very judicial mood, 
 lined tlie ftiiuii' Head of tlie Cliinvh 1/. for disordta'Iy con(hict. 
 The rule was that iit the end of the yejir an ai)[)eal laya;^ainst 
 this decision, at which Tiiit and 1 fought it out, and my 
 riUinfj; was maintained hy a viiry small majority. So 1 hope 
 I was ri^ht, hut am hy no means conlident. 
 
 Nature j;avo me a stronj^, almost childish, taste for all sorts 
 of sports and ;;iUU(!s, hut slu' in a ;j,reat measure cancelled the 
 }j;ift hy donyinj^ me the power of takinj; part in them. Water, 
 that is, swimmin«j;, furnished nu' with my only amusement at 
 Winchester, and the saum element provided me with my 
 principal amusement at Oxford in the more a^reeahle ami 
 athletic exercise of lowiu}^'. Even now 1 am conscious of 
 some childish vanity in recordinj^ that 1 was chosen one of 
 the crew of the University in a match which we were to row 
 aj^ainst Camhridj^'e. J was entrusted with the important place 
 of ' seven,' and as tlu; nuitch never came oil", 1 may assume 
 that I should have distinguished myself highly, without the 
 possihility of contradiction. At any rate, though our boats 
 were of very primitive construction, we should have rowed 
 our match at Henley instead of Hammersmith, in the presence 
 of the inhahitants of the little country town and the gentle- 
 men and ladies of the neighhourliood, instead of in a whirl- 
 pool of steamei's and the roar of thousands of spectators. 
 We should have escaped the comments of newspapers on our 
 skill and strength, and no money would have changed hands 
 on the event. 
 
 I remember when I was at Oxford I was a great advocate 
 for all athletic sports, but I am bo\nid to say my wishes have 
 been more than gratified. The facility of transport has made 
 these matches j)ul)lic instead Ol' private aft'airs, the public 
 
 ^ '" ■ ' "l i 
 
A CIIAI'IKI: dl' \l Tiil!l(»(il,'AIMI^' 
 
 lU 
 
 schools, jihviivs (til tilt' look-out to tiiid some oxciisc to lij^liton 
 tile liiltoiirs (if Iciicliiiij^s Ikivo pliKM'd cricket iit Iciist on ;i level 
 with the ordiiiiiry studies of the place, and the little that is 
 taught is made less in ordei' to iiidiil';(^ the silly vanity of 
 |iai"(>nts, and to open to diilness also its road to fame. 
 A (limcc lit I'jiclid, mid ii did) mI tuw. 
 
 1 spent tlui lon^ vacation of ]H'.\] reading matluniiiiticH 
 with a tutor at liaiMnoiith, a sin^Milarly heaiitiful plac((. TluH 
 expedition was inemorahle to me for stiveral reasons. In 
 f^oin<^ there we, that is my elder lirclin / and inys(df, |)iissed 
 over the iJverpool and ManchcKtei" liailwiiy a lew montlis 
 after it was ojn'iied. People who luive heen hroii^^ht up to 
 railways cannot conceivi; the wonder, didi^ht, and astoniKh- 
 iiieiit that su(di a journey occasioned ; it was as if the Arahiaii 
 Nij^hts had suddenly heconu! true. J can never forj^et the 
 delight of tli(( i)assa','e or the aj^ony of thinkinjf how soon it 
 would he ov((r ; then there was the sight of the Menai J5rid;^e, 
 then, and i)erhai)s still, one of the woiuh^'s of the world, and 
 as heautiful as wonderful ; then the drive under Snowdoii 
 with (iray's Ode in my mind, and the j^dorious sail from 
 Tremadoc to J3arniouth across the ]3ay of Carnarvon. It was 
 Nature and Art oi)ening on us all at once for the lirst time. 
 Here also, thou<j;h last, not least, I mtst with the lady who 
 afterwards hecanie my wife, and who has now for forty years 
 Ixicn the faithful companion of my chequered destiny, aiul to 
 whose zeal, industry, and energy I owe in no small degree 
 such success as I have ohtained. 
 
 Here I met for the Ih-st time the illustrious Darwin. He 
 was making a geological tour in Wales, and carried with him, 
 in addition to his other hurdens, a hammer of 14 Ihs. weight. 
 I rememher he was full of modesty, and was always lamenting 
 his had memory for languages and inahility to quote. I am 
 proud to rememher that though (|uitc ignorant of physical 
 science, I saw a something in him which marked him out as 
 superior to anyone I had ever met : the proof which I gave 
 
 c2 
 
 -•niiwanKMwr" 
 
 'M^ 
 
20 
 
 LIFK OF Unil) SlIKinJlIOOKK 
 
 of this was somewhat canine in its nature, I followed hiai. 
 I walked twenty-two miles with him when he went away, a 
 thing which I never did for anyone else before or since. 
 
 My next vacation I spent in a little farmhouse, about a 
 mile and a half away from Gosport, reading mathematics with 
 Mr. Walker. There were ver}' few steamers on the Solent in 
 those days, so I bought a little boat with a sprit-sail, and 
 amused myself with sailing about, often quitt alone. I was 
 often out by myself all night, and cannot imagine how I escaped 
 being drowned, as I had no special knowledge of the manage- 
 ment of a boat, and troubled myself very little whether !he 
 weather were fine or stormy. 
 
 In the spring of 1833 I went up for my degree, and took a 
 first class in classics and a second class in mathematics. This 
 was a disappointment to me, for I was sure that I knew enough 
 to entitle me to a first class, though I felt perfectly conscious 
 that I had not brought my knowledge properly out. There 
 were thirteen of us in the first class in classics. Among them 
 stand the names of Liddell and Scott, the present Bishop of 
 London, and Lord Canning. My examination in Divinity 
 was very amusing. It will be remembered that I had made 
 myself rather conspicuous by my speeches in the debating 
 society, and I suppose it is to that that I must attribute the 
 very singular examination to which I was subjected by Mr. 
 Lancaster, one of the classical examiners. It was to the 
 i'ollowing effect : -- 
 
 Examiner : * Which gave the better counsel to Rehoboani, the 
 old men or the young '.' ' 
 
 I : ' The old men. It Nvas quite right to lighten the taxation.' 
 
 Exaniiner : ' Did not Solomon obtain large revenues by com- 
 merce '.' ' 
 
 I : • I don't think so. Princes have, as Adnm Smith tells us, 
 always been bad traders ; we do not know wbat he exported to 
 Ophir, but be brought back gold and silver, mert' articles of luxury, 
 and monkeys and pc^acocks, not, I aj/preliend, a very profit tblo con- 
 signment.' (A laugh.) 
 
 Examiner : ' Still, the country is described as being very 
 
I 
 
 A CIIAITEK {)V AITuIUCHtIIAPIIY 
 
 21 
 
 \ed lihn. 
 away, a 
 
 'e. 
 
 about a 
 itics with 
 5olent in 
 sail, and 
 !. I was 
 I escaped 
 manage- 
 3tlier !he 
 
 id took a 
 
 3s. This 
 
 w enough 
 
 conscious 
 
 ;. There 
 
 :)ng them 
 
 bishop of 
 
 Divinity 
 
 ad made 
 
 debating 
 
 jute the 
 
 by Mr. 
 
 to the 
 
 )()ani, the 
 
 xatioii.' 
 by com- 
 
 tells us, 
 ported to 
 )t' bixury, 
 i,bl(> con- 
 Ill)' v(M'y 
 
 prosperous niuler bis ,L,'ovcruint'iit, and tlic revenut' is described as 
 being birge." 
 
 1 : ' Yes, but then only see bow it was sc^uandered : there was 
 the Temple, the Cioklen Throne, and tbe Sea of (iold, and tlie lions, 
 and tbe cherubim, and tbe mercy seat.' 
 
 Examiner : ' Still, tbat hardly bears out tbe opinion of tbe old 
 men.' 
 
 I : ' No, sir. There was besides tbe supi)ort of HOO wives and 
 700 concubines. We often see a man ruined by one wife : surely 
 a tliousand W(micn were enough to ruin a Avhole country.' ( A general 
 roar of laughter.) 
 
 I'jxaminer : ' Thank you, sir. Your examination has bc^n very 
 pleasing.' 
 
 I was examined hi 'Jlie Kfii;iJitH of Aristophanes in the 
 well-known passage where the rather striking defects of the 
 sausage seller are proved to be so many recommendations for 
 the trade of a demagogue ; and, finally, a pro-proctor, who had 
 caught me out in some small delin(|uency a lew months before, 
 selected from Juvenal the passage : — ' Khriim cf petulant <iiti 
 tinUum fot'te crcidit.' 
 
 I was very well pleased with all this, because I felt sure? 
 that unless they had intended to give me a first class, they 
 wo lid not have introduced this scene of high jinks mixed up 
 with party politics into the schools, and thus given me the 
 op])ortunity of saying that my speeches at the Union had 
 lost me my class. This was about six months after the 
 passing of the lieform ]3ill, and it is only fair to acknowledge 
 the good humouj' with which the whole affair was treated. It 
 gi''.e, perhaps, rather ;i false iclaf to my performance, and 
 was doubtless the means of obtaining for me the further 
 ipu'stionable advantage of a large number of private pupils, 
 which, as will be seen, had a considerable influence on my 
 future destiny, and by no nutans altogether for good. 
 
 I ouglit to have mentioned that Mr. "Woods, a member of 
 T'niversity College, took a first class at the same time. The 
 College ought to have been much obliged to us, for they had 
 not had a first class for nine venrs, uiul we had not the sh'ghtest 
 
 *! m-f 
 
 M^OfHI 
 
9') 
 
 LIFE OF I.OJJD 8m;i{|U{(H)KK 
 
 V 
 
 assistance from the tutors, whom I, at least, paid for tuition 
 I liacl never received, and to Ije exempt from which my tutor 
 justly considered a ^reat hoon. I was entitled by the usage 
 of the college to books to the value of 17/. 10s. I chose the 
 Attic orators, and Bekker's Plato. My tutor tried hard to 
 dissuade me from my choice, on the ground that these were 
 books which it was quite certain I should never open. I am 
 very happy to think that in this he was entirely mistaken. 
 Almost all the Fellowships at University were clerical, so that 
 I had nothing to hope in that quarter. The only other notice 
 which I received from my college was that a prize was offered 
 for the best essay by any member of the college under the 
 degree of :t Master of Arts. The Master sent for me, and re- 
 quested me not to compete, and to make the fact known, for 
 fear, as he said, I should discourage competition. 
 
 In the summer of this year, my brother and I made a 
 walking tour thr '■ h Scotland. It was the year after this 
 death of Sir Walter Scott, and we were full of his writings. 
 The interest of such a tour at such a time can hardly be 
 imagined. But we had the good fortune to travel with a great 
 living poet — no less a person than Wordsworth. I am afraid 
 I was not then as well acquainted with his poems as I ought 
 to have been or as I have become since. My principal anuise- 
 ment, I am ashamed to say, was to watch his demeanour under 
 the torture whicli the indiscriminate and by no means over- 
 refined praise of Scott inflicted upon a poet justly conscious 
 of higher merits than the coarse taste of the age was disposed 
 to allow him. He abMoliUi'v writhed under the perpetual 
 references to Fitz James ai d iioderick Dhu with which he 
 was regaled by the passengers of the Loch Lomond steamboat, 
 and at last in despair began to a very unsympathetic audience 
 a criticism on Scott's English ; the only point I can recollect 
 is that in the line- 
 Loch Katrine lay before hixu rollod, 
 he said it should have been ' unrolled.' 
 
A CITAPTKi; OF AT TOI'.KH Jl^VPTl V 
 
 23 
 
 I also rcmeml)t'r that he recited his own sonnet on the 
 Mill of Inversnaid. 
 
 I met with hira afjjain on the steamer pjoinfj; to Staffa, when 
 we had an adventure to which he partly alludes in his sonnet 
 on this his second visit to Staffa. His son, my hrother, 
 and I, climhed up to the summit of the island where there is 
 a very fhie view, and he hecame extremely poetical. As the 
 sea was rough the steamer was moored at some distance from 
 the island, and we were transferred to a coble which landed 
 us and was to bring us back. At the end of one of Words- 
 worth's finest periods one of us happened to look round and 
 observed that the coble had left Staffa and was very near the 
 steamer which was rolling heavily. Statla is uninhabited, 
 and the prospect of remaining there for a week without food 
 or shelter was by no means inviting. We made signals of 
 distress and had the satisfaction of seeing the coble, after 
 having put its [)assengers on board the steamer which was 
 rolling heavily, return for us. We had no reason to expect a 
 pleasant reception ; a delay of three-quarters of an hour is 
 sufficiently irritating even without the addition of sea-sick- 
 ness. As we approached the steamer we could see the pas- 
 sengers drawn up in an ominous semicircle with the captain 
 in the arc, red and lowering like a comet. We were all seized 
 with the utmost reverence for Wordsworth, whom we insisted 
 on sending up the ladder first. What passed I do not know, 
 for, happy in my insignificance, I mingled with the crowd and 
 left the poet to his fate. 
 
 In October I returned to Oxford, having made up my mind 
 as to the course of life I nreant to pursue. I was but poorly 
 fitted for the solution of a problem which involved questions 
 which might have puzzled a wiser head than mine. Prudence 
 would have counselled me to take orders, get n Fellowship, 
 and work my way through Oxford to whatever haven Fortune 
 might open for me ; but as I had a decided objection to the 
 Church, I determined to go to the Bar. This was a very unwise 
 
 Mpap 
 
 t^^mfmm 
 
'I 
 
 'I 
 
 p 
 
 24 
 
 LIFE OF L()l!l) SIIEUmJOOKK 
 
 resolution, and one I am Hure I sliould never have formed if I 
 had possessed a friend wlio could have laid the whole case 
 hefore me. If I had been asked such (juestions as these : — 
 ' Can you see the face of a witness ? ' ' Can you watch the 
 countenances of a jury so as to judge whether what you say 
 finds acceptance with them or no ? ' ' Can you in a crowded 
 Court take full and accurate notes of evidence and cases '? ' 
 ' Can you read through a long atiiidavit in a fog or by candle- 
 light ? ' ' Can you find your place readily in a long brief or 
 report ? ' — all these and many more such questions I must 
 have answered in the negative. However, it was on this 
 impossibility that I had set my heart, and, the matter being 
 resolved upon, 1 had next to consider the way to get called to 
 tlie Buy. For this two things were necessary ; one to get a 
 lay Fellowship, the other to support myself and bear the 
 expenses incident to the study and the entrance into the legal 
 profession. 
 
 1 happened to know that a lay Fellowship at Magdalen 
 C(mihied to Nottinghamshire would be vacant in two years, 
 which solved the first difttculty, and for the second I had to 
 rely on iinding a sul'ticient number of pupils. And now 1 
 began a labour compared with which everything else which I 
 have had to do in my life has been mere play and recreation. 
 The business of a private tutor at Oxford may be described to 
 be to give an hour a day to each pupil. Had I meant to 
 make teaching my profession I should have gone to work with 
 more moderation, but I thought, and justly, according to the 
 plan 1 had laid down for myself, that I was bound to work as 
 hard as I could in order to carry out my ideal. For seven 
 years I took as many pupils as I could do justice to. My 
 number very often amounted to ten, and in addition to this, 
 for five years out of the seven 1 took pupils during the long 
 vacation. I do not think I could have gone on with it much 
 longer. It has at any rate had this good effect, that all other 
 
 *r>^ 
 
 work has seemed to me trifling: after it. To dismiss this sub- 
 
A CIIArXEK OF AUTOlUOOUArilV 
 
 25 
 
 ject at oncG I may say that I was very popular as a tutor and 
 retained my number up to the last, and linished in November 
 with four pupils of mine in a first class of six. I have lost 
 the list of my pupils, but I am proud to mention amongst 
 them Lord Justice Mellish, Mr. Gathorne-Hardy, Mr. Charles 
 Reade the novelist, Mr. Clou^h the poet, ^h\ Congreve, and the 
 late Father Dalj^airns. I had not the honour to be known either 
 to Mr. Newman or to Dr. Arnold, but so many pupils came to 
 me from those two distinguished men that I flattered myself, 
 perhaps too rendily, that it was not wholly fortuitous. 
 
 In 1834 I spent the long vacation with some pupils in 
 Wales. The latter part of the time we spent at Festiniog, 
 where I had a most extraordinary escape. About half a mile 
 from the village there is a line mountain stream which has 
 worn itself an exceedingly deep channel, and makes a series 
 of cataracts. There is also in the stream a very remarkable 
 rock called ' Hugh Lloyd's Pulpit.' I walked down to the 
 brook after my work was over to look at one of these cascades 
 which was called * The Black Pools.' The rock projected over 
 it so that the fall seemed directly under my feet. I laid hold 
 of the branch of a tree to steady myself while I looked over, my 
 foot slipped on the mossy bank, the branch that I held broke, 
 I fell on my side, rolled over and over three or four times, and 
 then shot clear over the precipice. People are described in 
 such situations as having their whole life pass before them, as 
 losing their bre.'ith, as dead before they reach the ground. 
 None of these things happened to me. I seemed a long time 
 to be rolling over and over in the air. I remember ho])ing 
 that I should be killed outright, and then the relief of ihiding 
 myself in water. I rose to tlie surface like a duck and on 
 looking round found myself in a deep l)aHin with the wat(,'rfall 
 facing me, high rocks all round, and one very close to the 
 place where I had fallen in. After a futile attempt to get out 
 by the way that I came in, which showed that I had not quite 
 recovered my senses, I swam down the stream and crawled 
 
 
 
■ inm II ■"!<« 'iin 
 
 liO 
 
 Mi'i", oi' i,(»i,'i) siii:i{iii.M)()Ki; 
 
 out ii( (lie lirsj, point where (he hank h(>L!;Mn lo hI()1)(\ T 
 sprained my ankle and my hand, was only al>le to crawl on 
 all fours mosi of th(> way lionu*. and ended hy faintin.i^ with 
 the ]>ain. Th(>y said the h(Mji;ht of th«> fall was I'iO feet. On 
 this I can give no (»|)iin"on. for my e\j>erienc(> has proved to 
 me that the woi'st possihie way of measuring a height is to 
 fall down it. My kind old friiMid. Martha Owcmi the landlady, 
 whose name, if there is }j;ratitude in man, oniiht to he i^reen 
 
 in tl 
 
 le valU^vs o 
 
 f W 
 
 l.(>S, 
 
 ai 
 
 id who hore no ineonsiderahle 
 
 r(>s(Mnhlance to Scott's Mejj; Dodds, took i>\cell(>nt earo of nio, 
 and 1 Mt no perman(>nt had ('tVects from my accident. 
 
 'I'lu^ ni>\t y»>ar was a nuMUorahle one. TIk* l*'ellowship a,t 
 TMagdalen f(>II \acaiit and 1 was (>lected without a comp(^tit<M'. 
 1 took a paiiy of pupils to rc^ad at. I)eanmaris. and thr(M' 
 months aftiM- 1 had ohtain(>d the l''ellowship which had fornuMl 
 so prominent a [)ai't of my scheme for heinj; called to tlu' IJar, 
 I etVectually canc(>lled that part of my pro;j;ranim(^ hy en^a}j;in}j; 
 myself io iho lady whom I had met at Harmouth. It was a 
 matter that mi^lit have waited a littl(> while, hut I had a 
 motive which inductnl us to rathei' precipitati> niatters. If T 
 vacatiMl ir.y l'\>llowship during; that yeai", my yonn<j;(M- hrotluM" 
 wonld he sure to j^i^t it. 1 had taught him at Oxford, he had 
 ohtained a second class, and as he intended to tako orders 
 would thus he provided for for lite. So we arranged matters 
 accordini;ly, and W(M'e marrieil in March IHM. As 1 never 
 was a full l'\>llow, all that 1 r(>ci'ived from the luunilictMice of 
 ^Villiam of Waintleet was 10/. 
 
 The sunnuer of this auspicious yi^ar wo spent in a tour in 
 Switzerland; we left l^igland in the l)ejj;inning of -luno and 
 did not return till the middle of ()ctol)(>r. We walked, I may 
 literally say all over Switzerland, for not only did we visit the 
 Oherlaiul and Chamouni, hut Api)enzell, St. Gallon, and the 
 Orisons. My wife was an excellent walker, and thus our 
 slender resources, being relieved of the charges of transport, 
 held out till the end of our long campaign. We walked 700 
 
A cilAI'TKi; oi' Al i()|!|(M;i;.\rin 
 
 •21 
 
 milts ill hvo iiioiitlis ; my wife, who dicw cxlidincly \V( !l, 
 ciiiiyiiif; licr skoloh-hook ;i,ml driiAvin;,' miilciiiilH, iiiid I our 
 vviirdrobc iiiid ilic money, wliicli, Ixiiii^ .silver, wiis ilie lie;i,vies(, 
 of iill. \\v roiunied to Oxford, l)oii;^dii ;i simill house hel.weeii 
 (!lirislrhnreli iiiid I''oIly J5rid<re, jiiid seL |,o work iif, the hiisiiiess 
 of lile in «;ood eii,rneHi. This histed for four yeiirs, diirin;^' 
 which I nnderweiit, jin eiiornioiis iiiiioiini of driid^ciy. 
 
 Tlie Oxford of fo-diiy, o\viii<; tochiiiincH in which I hii,ve 
 been so foriiiiiiiie as to heii,r a pa,rt, is \('yy different from the 
 Oxford of forty years iiii;o. At tliiit tim<' we were ^.^overiKul 
 academically mikI socially hy whni I can only descrihe as a 
 chu-ical ^'crontocracy. Almost aJI power was vc^sted in the 
 lieads of collen;es, an ol'lic(! to which iiKsn seldom succeed when 
 yoiinf^-, a,nd in which tliei(i is no Hii|)era,niiiiation. IJacon sa,vs 
 that a university slutuld he like a, heehive, ' '/m, iifijur sif 
 rrnlis (iililiis,' and certainly tlu! institution was well ijualiiied 
 to secure tha,t its j^overnnieiit should not ix; of ;i, too r(;vohi- 
 tionary or innovating character. It might [X'rhaps have 
 occurred to some people tliat 1, who was ahio to obtain in tin; 
 open lield of comjietition iiiore ))iipils tlian I r«!(juire(l, miglit 
 liave been a, useful auxiliary to the nol wvy powerful tutorial 
 Htaff of tlu! college, to which I Ixshmged. 1 do not believe such 
 an idea, was (sver rojectod, because; 1 do not believo that it ever 
 occurred to anyone. 
 
 Magdalen was less of a, reading college; than I'niversity, 
 and, as tlie J)uke of Weillington once told the authorities, h.id 
 been notorious for idleness (iver since; the; time of Gibbon. Our 
 presidejnt was a, sche)lar and a gentle;iian, but his reign be;ga,n 
 in the reign of Louis the; Sixtee;nth. if such a plan as that 
 of utilising nie; had e;ver be;eii broache'd, 1 am sure it would 
 have' he'e'n e)ve'rrule;d. I was popular with the Fe;llows but 1 
 was a de'cide'el Jjibe'ral, anel worse tliaii all was known to enter- 
 tain very strong opinions in favoui- of the' re'peal of the Corn 
 Laws, a most distaHte;ful lie;i-esy in ae-ademical esye'S, as havinrr 
 a tendency to diminisli tlie value e)f Lellowsliips. Tbe he'ads 
 
 '"-,•%. -"-■ 
 
 Tm 
 
'."' 
 
 J fi 
 
 28 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIEKBKOOKE 
 
 of houses had the usual quaht}' of a narrow and factitious 
 aristocracy — they were socially exclusive. Not that this would 
 have been any great loss in itself, hut the evil was that Oxford 
 was too small to support two societies, and so those who had 
 not university or collegiate rank enough to place them in 
 what was somewhat irreverently called ' the cod's head and 
 shoulders ' set, ran some risk of having no soci'^ty at all. 
 
 As for us, Ave found an ample indemnity for general society 
 in youth, health, constant employment, and in the kindness 
 of many of my old college friends. In 1837 I was appointed 
 a Master of the Schools, or in other better understood words 
 a ' littlc-go ' examiner. This I owed, if I remember right, to 
 my connection with Magdalen College. One of our Fellows 
 was Proctor and he gave me the appointment. Among my 
 colleagues were Dr. Dyne and Dr. Kynaston, who have since 
 been remarkably successful as schoolmasters ; ] )yne at High- 
 gate, and Kynaston at St. Paul's. I held the office for two 
 years. Our duties were laid down for us by statute and there 
 was no difficulty in performing them, except that to do so was 
 extremely unpopular and quite contrary to the spirit of the 
 place. Our duty was to see that the students of so many 
 terms' standing were not wholly wasting their time and might 
 with propriety be allowed to continue their studies at Oxford. 
 One would have supposed that the wish of all parties would 
 be that this duty should be strictly and creditably performed ; 
 sometimes, indeed, I have been thanked by a tutor for cutting 
 short the eai'eer of an idle and dissipated young man whose 
 bad example was doing injury to the college, but much more 
 frequently the matter was received with a growl and visible 
 annoyance. We were, in fact, to compare small things with 
 great, judges residing among a small society greatly interested 
 in the manner in which wo administered justice — all whose 
 sympathies were, so to say, with the criminals. 
 
 As people talk very much and understand very little about 
 what they call University teaching, I will try to explain the 
 
A ("IIAPTKIJ OF ArnrnKHMJAPIIV 
 
 20 
 
 sul))CC't, tliou^'h I sincerely liopo that long before these pages 
 see the Hght, the explanation may have become unnecessary. 
 
 The University teaching of which these persons speak is 
 the teaching of Oxford and Cauiljridge — now, the word 
 University as used at Oxford and Cambridge has two distinct 
 meanings. Its proper meaning is the bodj'' incorporated by 
 the Crown, which has l)y virtue of that incorporation the 
 privilege of conferring that particular title of honour which is 
 called a degree. In this sense the Universities are not teaching 
 bodies at all. There is, however, another sense in which the 
 term University is used : it is used to include all the colleges 
 of which the members of the University are also members, 
 and it is in that sense that University teaching is used. Now, 
 is this union of teaching and conferring degrees in the same 
 hands a good or an evil ? The colleges of Oxford and Cambridge 
 must be regarded not only as places for giving instruction ; 
 the honour and credit of the University are kept up by those 
 who take high honours, and public opinion in the Universities 
 is in favour of keeping up this, the show part of the system. 
 Examiners may be as strict as they please in the amount they 
 require, and no objection is made. But it is quite different 
 with regard to the ordinary pass degree and the ' little go.' 
 
 Those persons who desire a degree, either as a title to orders 
 or as a social distinction, are the great bulk of the University, 
 and the whole weight of opinion in the University is in favour 
 of treating them very leniently. Instead of a competition 
 which of the two shall give a degree that implies the greatest 
 amount of attainment, and as therefore the most honourable 
 to giver and receiver, the competition between Oxford and 
 Cambridge has hitherto been which can ofiter a degree on the 
 easiest terms. There is no other way of explaining the ad- 
 mitted fact that at both Oxford and Cambridge the degree is 
 discreditably low. It thus appears that University teaching 
 carries with it as a necessary result a degradation of learning, 
 because those who teach, instead of working up to a tixed 
 
 •^■ ^«wtmm» K ii^ m^ 
 
.r 
 
 wmmm 
 
 30 
 
 LIFE OF FOlJl) SIIKKMKOOKE 
 
 standard can fix the standard for themselves. Nothing would 
 improve the Universities as teaching i)odies so much as to take 
 out of their hands the power of conferring the ordinary pass 
 degree, and conversely notliing would tend so much to enhance 
 the value of a degree as placing it in the hands of persons 
 who have no pecuniary interest in reducing it l>clow a fair and 
 honourahle standard. It was this tendency to keep down the 
 standard of examinations in order to till the colleges that I felt 
 and resisted as far as my humble position admitted. I find 
 exactly the same evil still existing, only people have been 
 somehow persuaded to consider that evil as a merit. 
 
 Another trouble seems to me to impend over the new plan 
 of University teaching. When the system is once firmly 
 established in any great town, the request is sure to be made 
 that the standard of knowledge should be raised to the level of 
 a University degree. This can hardly be refused, and inueed, 
 as the outside public become more and more aware of the 
 nakedness of the land, it will be strange if a demand for more 
 than the University standard should not be heard. At any 
 rate, if Nottingham shall obtain an equality of examination 
 with Oxford and Cambridge, the demand is sure to follow in 
 no long time that, as the proficiency is equal, the degree shall 
 be the same. Then we shall have reached the graves of the 
 Scythians — the equality will never be granted, because to grant 
 it would be to strike a fatal blow at the college system and the 
 very comfortable maintenance which a great number of very 
 worthy persons derive from compulsory charges for tuition, 
 besides room rent, and some other Httle matters. The result 
 will be a quarrel and a separation. 
 
 I return to my biography with this observation, that in my 
 judgment the Civil Service Commission might very easily be 
 enlarged so as to perform the office of a University and an 
 examiner of schools for the whole country. Examining is a 
 judicial function and would be well placed in such hands as a 
 commission responsible to Parliament. 
 
A CIIAITEIJ OF AITOUKKJIJAI'IIV 
 
 an 
 a 
 a 
 
 In 1887 I took a party of pupils to J)inan, in Brittany, 
 havin}; been, as I believe, the tirst private tutor who ventured 
 to carry his pupils beyond the sacred precincts of the United 
 Kin<j;dom. I have often regretted that I did not try Ireland. 
 
 The next year, 1.S3H, seemed likely at one time to have 
 entirely altered my course of life. Sir Daniel Sandford, the 
 Professor of Greek in the University of Glasgow, died. There 
 was a great competition for the Professorship, a most eligible 
 situation, for the emoluments were said to be 2,000/. a year, 
 and the session only lasted six months. The election wjis in 
 the hands of the Scnatns Arddemicns, that is, thirteen profes- 
 sors. I never dreamt of aspiring to such a prize. However, 
 it came to pass that for some reason which I do not know, 
 the electors declared themselves discontented with the candi- 
 dates and invited others to come forward. I had a relation 
 who had married Mr. Findlay, of Easterhill, who lived about 
 three miles from Glasgow. My testimonials were, as I believe 
 testimonials always are, a splendid instance of what Bentham 
 calls the fallacy of indiscriminate laudation. I know not 
 whether 1 had begun to entertain any doubts as to my grand 
 plan of going to the Bar. I certainly had a warning, which 
 I will mention presently, which ought to have influenced my 
 mind in this direction. I went to Glasgow and spent a month 
 there, with the assistance and under the advice of my kind 
 friend Mr. Findlay, and at the end of that time had every 
 reason to believe that my exertions had been crowned with 
 success. 
 
 My antagonist was Mr. Lushington, one of the original 
 candidates ; at the end of my canvass the numbers stood 
 three for Lushington and the rest for me. It was with in- 
 describable pleasure that I saw apparently within my reach 
 an honourable competence to be earned by moderate labour in 
 a held in which I felt confident I could discharge the duties 
 required of me without any impediment from those physical 
 infirmities which I had at last begun to estimate a little more 
 
 Wi^ ' 
 

 LIl'K OF T/)i:n SITEKTmOOKK 
 
 t 
 
 justly. But my prospect was soon overclouded, ^fr. Lusli- 
 in!j;t<)ii had only three adherents, hut they were true and 
 staunch. It was in the power of tlie SfHatiix AradcmiriiH to 
 transhite one professor to another and more hij^dily paid chair 
 in case of deatli. Now, as my evil star would have it. Dr. 
 Milne, the Professor of Moral Philosophy, was at this moment 
 dying. Ecjually unfortunate, my principal supporter, the 
 Professor of Ecclesiastical History, was a candidate for the 
 expected vacancy. The three professors wlio supported Mr. 
 Lushhi<:;ton pointed out to the Professor of Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory that they certainly could not prevent him from electing 
 me for the Greek Professorship, but that if he carried that it 
 was in their power by throwing their votes into the adverse 
 scale to prevent him from obtaining the Chair of Moral Phi- 
 losophy. The menace had its effect. The professor threw his 
 weight into the opposite scale, Mr. Lushington was elected to 
 the Greek Chair, and my quondam su^iporter to the Chair of 
 Moral Philosophy 
 
 This was to n\ jry bitter disappointment. I was weary 
 of the monotonous drudgery of teaching ; I had every reason 
 to suppose that I had succeeded, and the election after all of 
 one who had been among the first list of candidates looked 
 something like a breach of faith. These feelings were not 
 much soothed by the reflection that I had been sacrificed 
 simply to the interests of a third person without the slightest 
 regard to the merits of the case, but I soon took a cooler and, 
 I honestly believe, a juster view. The main fault lay in the 
 miserable system of translation. After all it was perhaps too 
 much to expect that my supporter should prefer my interest 
 to his own, especially as he had given me no personal pledge. 
 I must also admit that I believe Mr. Lushington to have been 
 a better scholar than myself, and am happy to record that 
 after thirty-two years of most excellent service he has retired, 
 carrying with him the respect and regard of the whole Uni- 
 versity. 
 
I 
 
 A CIIAPTEl} OF AUTORIO(a;APIIY 
 
 33 
 
 eary 
 ason 
 11 of 
 :)k('d 
 not 
 ced 
 test 
 11(1, 
 the 
 too 
 est 
 Ige. 
 een 
 hat 
 ed, 
 iii- 
 
 Ahont this time my eyes gave me very distinct notice tluit 
 I must give up all idea of reading by candlehght. This was 
 a very great distress to me, as it cut me off from what has 
 always been my greatest pleasure. The decline having mani- 
 fested itself so early, gave me much reason to fear that this 
 was only the first step towards a still greater failure of sight, 
 and ought, I think, to have made me give up my scheme of 
 the Bar altogether. But the dogged resolution which sticks 
 to its purjiose in the face of almost insuperable obstacles is in 
 itself an element of prosperity, and answered in the long run, 
 though in a very different way from anything I had imagined. 
 From that time till now, some forty years, I have never been 
 able to read by candlelight, and when I think of all the things 
 that I might liave known if I had not had this misfortune, 1 
 am astonished how persons who have all their winter evenings 
 to themselves contrive to know so little. 
 
 Some sacrifice I resolved to make to this new misfortune. 
 I do not think I chose my victim well. We had the great 
 honour and privilege to have as Professor of Sanscrit at Oxford 
 Mr. Wilson, a man of profound erudition and the author of 
 the great English and Sanscrit Dictionary. He was not over- 
 burdened with pupils, and he took, or seemed to take, pleasure 
 in teaching me. Under the guidance of this most admirable 
 scholar and most charming companion, i gained a very fair 
 knowledge of the grammar of this complicated and difficult 
 language. I read through the Laws of Menu, and a good deal 
 of the liamayana. The language is beautiful, and easily read. 
 I really had conquered the main difficulties, and had I gone 
 to Glasgow should, I do not doubt, have mastered it thoroughly. 
 I can even now repeat many verses from the Mahahharata. 
 It is a great pity that so noble a language should not have 
 been the vehicle of a more interesting and instructive litera- 
 ture. 
 
 In 1839, I took a party of pupils to Ambleside. The ex- 
 pedition was remarkable mainly for the fact that during the 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
' ■ ■f WIUI w .- 
 
 34 
 
 LIFE OF LUlU) f^lIFKJ'.KOUKJ'] 
 
 whole three months we had only three days of line weather. 
 In 1840 I took a party a second time to Dinan, and in this 
 year my residence of eleven years at Oxford, and my seven 
 years labour as a private tutor, came to an end. x\s the time 
 dresv nec.rer I became more timid as to making the plunge. 
 A small office worth, if 1 remember rightly, less than 300/. a 
 year, a Pre-lectorship of Logic, had just been created, and I 
 really think if I had obtained it, I should very probably have 
 shrunk from the plunge into the great world which I was 
 about to make. Happily I did not get it, and so the plunge 
 was made. 
 
 It "^ usual for novelists and moralists to represent youth 
 as the season of overweening confidence and self-estimation : 
 that is not my experience. Some of the ablest men I have 
 known ha\e thrown themsehos away for want of a manly 
 confidence in themselves, from a sickly over-relinement, or 
 from indolence concealing itself under the mask of humility. 
 As far as I have been able to observe, the first step in life is 
 greatly crowded with competitors, but this once passed, the 
 scene entirely changes, and instead of a struggle for existence, 
 the difficulty is to find men equal in any tolerable degree to 
 the duties required of them. 
 
 I did not start from Oxford wholly ignorant of law, for I 
 had carefully read over twice, I think. Cruise's Ditjest, a most 
 excellent work on Real Property, the most abstruse, but also 
 the most systematic, part of the Law, and, therefore, the part 
 most easily acquired by private study. We sold our house in 
 Oxford for something more than we gave for it, and established 
 ourselves in London, in Burton Crescent. In both my legal 
 teachers I was very fortunate ; they were Mr. Coulson, after- 
 wards counsel to the Government, and the present Sir Barnes 
 Peacock. 
 
 It was rather late to begin, and I had to give my mind 
 a serious wrench before I could get it to look at things from 
 the dry legal point of view, that is to discard all facts and all 
 
 4' 
 
A CIIAPTKK OF AUT()P.I()(J1!AIMIV 
 
 35 
 
 se to 
 
 'or I 
 most 
 also 
 )ai"t 
 in 
 ihed 
 e^al 
 
 fttT- 
 
 rnes 
 lind 
 
 thoughts except those which were necessary for the decision 
 of the case. After a much longer time and harder struggle 
 than my conceit told me was necessary, I completely conquered 
 this difticulty at least. But when I came to the mysteries of 
 special pleading, I stood aghast at its mingled iniquity and 
 ahsurdity. It will probably escape the reprobation which it 
 so signally merits from posterity because no human being 
 will be found willing to learn it for the purpose merely of 
 knowing to what monstrous folly and ini(iuity, custom, tradi- 
 tion, and the pride of knowing something extremely difficult 
 will reconcile really able and honest men. 
 
 The very name of this false and mischievous science is 
 utterly misunderstood. Every one not a lawyer believes 
 special pleading to mean an over-refined and sophistical argu- 
 mentation. Nothing of the kind. It means in fact stating 
 your case, telling your adversary what you undertake, or re- 
 (|uire him to prove. As each party is well aware of what the 
 matter in dispute is, such a proceeding has always appeared 
 to me quite superfluous ; but so far from this being the case, 
 the difficulty Avas not to find out what the law was, but, given 
 the law, how to state your case without being tripped by some 
 miserable technicality. At the time when I began my studies, 
 this sysfeu] was in all its glory. I think about eight of the six- 
 teen volumes of Meeson and Welsby, in which this wonderful 
 system is developed, were published. I cannot express my 
 disgust at fin ling that the principal difficulty 1 had to over- 
 come was not tl\e rules of evidence, nor the vast and compli- 
 cated common and statute law of England, but the art of 
 stating my case so that my future client might not be ruined 
 Ixicause I made some slip in stating what I was prepared or 
 wished him to prove. And yet so powerful is habit that the 
 only thing that I can reproach myself with as a barrister is 
 having ctn one or two occasions availed myself of some of the 
 tricks of this wretched trader in order to obtain a success to 
 which on the merits I was not entitled. 
 
 d2 
 
 «• "m^tninumHi 
 
 t rltr'^lilfc'iiVli 
 
30 
 
 LIFE OF LOIU) SHERr.KOOKi: 
 
 It is only fair to record that at last the good sense of the 
 Bar itself rose up against this iniquity, and has swept it away, 
 though 1 hold the opinion that there is still far too much of 
 it left. In written statement of the case and defence of this 
 view I am supported by very liigh authority. 
 
 I was called to the Bar in, I think, January, 1842. The 
 question was, what should I do next? I had no hope of 
 immediate business, and might think myself very fortunate 
 if, at the end of seven years, I could pick up a few briefs at 
 sessions. I resolved to do that which, if it was to be of any 
 use, I ought to have done long before, to take the best advice 
 1 could get as to the probability that if business came, I should 
 be able to do it. I consulted Lawrence, Travers, and Alex- 
 ander. They said that I should become blind in seven years, 
 recommended out-of-doors employment, and spoke of Australia 
 or New Zealand as suitable places for the purpose. This 
 strange advice, as I may now by the light of experience pre- 
 sume to call it, entirely subverted and demolished the whole 
 plan of my life. It is not very difficult to imagine the bitter- 
 ness of such a revelation : to be told at eight-and-twenty that 
 I had only seven more years of sight, and to think of the long 
 night that lay beyond it was bad enough ; but the reflection 
 that the object which I had struggled through a thousand 
 difficulties with such intense labour to attain was lost to me, 
 was almost as bitter. 
 
 However, fortunately neither my wife nor myself were of a 
 disposition to sit down and lament over the inevitable. That 
 such great authorities could possibly be entirely wrong in a 
 matter on which they spoke with such confidence and so much 
 precision never entered our minds. Taking this opinion as 
 our guide we sat down calmly to consider what was the best 
 course that was open to us under the new conditions that were 
 thus started upon us. It was impossible to give worse advice 
 than that which I had received from my three learned ad- 
 visers. They chose to fix the exact term of seven years for the 
 
A CIIArTEU OF AU'rOBIOGKAriiY 
 
 37 
 
 e of a 
 That 
 ; in a 
 much 
 ion as 
 ? best 
 
 were 
 iidvice 
 d ad- 
 
 r the 
 
 time during whicli I was to enjo}' the blessing of sight, and 
 for this, as subsequently appeared, they had no grounds what- 
 ever. This they nuist have known, for there was no incipient 
 disease of the eye, as has been abundantly proved l)y the 
 fact that from that time to this— some forty years — I had 
 been quite free from any ocular disease. But, condoning this 
 most unpardonable mistake, and supposing that I had some 
 disease, the advice was the very worst that could be given. 
 My eyes, being unprotected by a ])i<itncntuni nUjrnm and having 
 nothing but white lashes to screen them, were peculiarly 
 subject to injury from the blazing sky of Australia, which is 
 one of the brightest and most trying in the world. Had 
 I followed their advice literally and betaken myself to out- 
 door employment, I cannot doubt that blindness must in no 
 long time have been the result. 
 
 It seemed quite clear that it was vain to think of the 
 English Bar, for I could not, as above remarked, hope to do 
 anything worth speaking of here, before the night that was 
 to come in which no man can work. Equally clear was it that 
 I had neither capital nor knowledge, nor sight, which would 
 enable me to become a settler in a new country. Thus it was 
 impossible for me, on the supposition which I never thought 
 of disputing, that the opinion was correct, either to follow 
 my own plans or those that were suggested for me. But it 
 occurred to me that I might unite the two. The Bar at 
 Sydney was said to be very lucrative, and at any rate in a 
 new country I was sure of having a speedy trial and making 
 something before the fatal seven years expired, so we decided 
 to go to Sydney, and on June 8th, not six months after I was 
 called to the Bar, we sailed in the good ship Aden for New 
 South Wales. A few weeks after we had sailed, a letter was 
 sent to me, which, had it reached me in time, would most pro- 
 bably have altered my destination, and with it my whole 
 career hi life. It was an invitation to become a contributor 
 to the TiiiH's, but at that time I was in the tropics. 
 
■^W" 
 
 WJ^HMILJ II 
 
 Of? 
 
 i,ii"i': oi' \M\i\> s!ii:i{i5K(K)i\i-: 
 
 Of all tlie descriptions of a loii}]; voyage, the best I ever read 
 (anyone who refers to it will sec why) is that t^'iven in Wash- 
 ington Irving's Astoria. There were a great many passengers ; 
 the lirst oeeupation was sea-sickness. This toolv from about a 
 week to a fortnight according to the constitution of the patient. 
 My wife was an exception, for she never really got over it 
 during the whole voyage. AVhen this was over the second 
 stage was gluttony : people talked of nothing but what they 
 had eaten, were eating, or were going to eat. The fare of a 
 ship is necessarily rather monotonous, and so this subject after 
 a while lost its charms. After the coarser passion of greediness 
 was exhausted came the gentler influence of love ; as we ap- 
 proached the tropics, the disposition to flirt increased ; it was 
 verv hot and there was nothing else to do. This also had its 
 season and ended in a copious crop of jealousies and quarrels. 
 Factions were formed, and the most dreadful threats uttered 
 as to what should happen when we reached the shore. But 
 Time, as Sophocles says, is a good-natured god, and the heat 
 of till' (juarrels died away for want of fresh fuel to feed them. 
 The lifth act of the drama, for it divided itself with true scenic 
 propriety, was a gem^ral combination against the captain. 
 He was by no me'ins exempt from errors of judgment, and, 
 strange to say, his manners were by no means perfect. He 
 had not candles to last till the end of the voyage, so he seized 
 ours for the binnacle, and, worst of all, the voyage lasted four 
 months. At last, own this amusement, the only thing in 
 which we all agreed, palled upon us, and we sank into a state 
 of absolute vacuity. 
 
 Two events only broke the monotony of the voyage ; the 
 first was a call at St. Jago, a Portuguese convict settlement, one 
 of the Capo do Verde islands — 1 presume the name was ironical, 
 for of green there was none, and nothing could exceed the 
 drought and Ijarrenness of its bare and rugged mountains. 
 There are few sights more beautiful than a sunset among the 
 Canary Islands, with Fogo, an active volcano 7,000 feet high, 
 
 i--*^ . I 
 
! 
 
 A CTIAITKI! OK A rTOlUOOKAlMI V 
 
 30 
 
 
 ,tate 
 the ; 
 
 , one 
 
 lical, 1 
 
 the 
 
 ains. 
 
 I the ,; 
 
 •< 
 
 in the foivgroniul, and the green and crimson clouds of tlie 
 tropics behind. 
 
 The other incident was of a less agieeablc nature. Our 
 captani was very careless, especially about tire ; we had been 
 in the habit of constantly remonstrating' with him as to the 
 danger of allowing candles to be taken into the hold without 
 protecting them. At la^t we had the satisfactitm of saying, 
 ' 1 told you so,' though we seemed very likely to pay dear for the 
 pleasure. What we had predicted came to pass : the candle 
 was di'opped and the straw in the spirit room took lire just as 
 we said it would. 
 
 When the Antiquary saw the })}io(a overthrow Hector, and 
 scuttle oft" with his walking-stick, his first emotion was pleasure. 
 * I am glad of it,' he said, ' I'm glad of it with all my heart.' 
 But this did not last, and we began to retlect that the ship was 
 to the north of her usual course, and that we might before 
 long have to choose between burning and drowning. It is 
 strange that even at such supreme mcments, as it is the fashion 
 to call them, the mind is still open to ludicrous impressions. 
 The ship was rolling heavily when a little boy came 
 staggering aiung the deck with a cracked pie-dish in his hand 
 which might have held a half-pint of water, and emptied it 
 into the hold. I thought of Hr-.s, the faggot, and the old 
 woman, and could not help laughing. The fire was extin- 
 guished and we were quit for the fright. 
 
 We had another narrow escape. In the long stretch from 
 the Cape to Australia we overran our dead reckoning, so that, 
 when we believed ourselves to be three hundred miles from 
 land, we found ourselves one morning at daybreak within two 
 miles of Cape Otway, then a desolate i)romontory in the colony 
 of Port Phillip. The addition of another half-hour to our 
 miscalculation would have made all the difterence. I hnd the 
 satisfaction, as a member of council, of voting for placing a 
 lighthouse on this very spot. 
 
 At last, after a voyage of nearly four months, wr found 
 
 ■'^'"'--mmmmm 
 
mmmm 
 
 1 J 
 
 40 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIP]RBROOKE 
 
 ourselves, not in Sydney but in Melbourne ; that is to say, with 
 still five hundred miles to go. The state of Melbourne was 
 at this time very peculiar. It was in the by no means envi- 
 able position of being a dependency of a dependency, governed 
 by a colony which was not permitted to govern itself. A 
 good deal had been done in the way of building, but some cause, 
 to us unknown, had arrested its progress in mid-career. The 
 place seemed stricken with paralysis, everything was at a 
 standstill, everybody wanted to sell and nobody wanted to 
 buy. No purchaser would look at a house unless it was at 
 the corner of a street. In the middle of the main street 
 were two considerable rivers facetiously named by the inhabi- 
 tants after their rulers and governors, the Williams and the 
 Latrohe. We were told that someone had been drowned in one 
 of these urban streams not long ago. 
 
 To regret that I have no money has been to me during the 
 whole of my life no uncommon sensation, but I never remember 
 experiencing it so poignantly as on this occasion. It required no 
 very strong foresight to be aware that here was an opportunity 
 such as no man could expect to see twice. For a very few 
 thousand pounds a man might have possessed himself of pro- 
 perty which in a few years would repay him much more than 
 tenfold, and why, oh why had I not got it ? 
 
 We arrived at Sydney about the middle of October 1842 
 and had our first experience of the climate in the shape of a 
 dense fog which lasted for three days, during which the 
 thermometer stood steadily at 115. We took a small house 
 in Macquarie Street overlooking the Domain and the beauti- 
 ful saltwater lake, as we should call it in England, which forms 
 the peerless harbour which will, I believe, place Sydney at the 
 head of the Australian colonies. 
 
 I was not long in obtaining a fair amount of business at a 
 rate of remuneration which, to one who had been working ten 
 hours a day at seven shillings an hour, seemed very ample. 
 But here a new misfortune beset me. The prophecies of my 
 
 i^ 
 
^ 
 
 A CHAPTER OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 41 
 
 at a 
 ten 
 pie. 
 my 
 
 three Job's comforters had made me very nervous about my 
 eyes ; I suffered somewhat from the glare of an Australian 
 summer, Sydney being one of the most dazzling places in the 
 world, and in an evil hour I consulted a doctor. He cupped 
 me and advised me that it was absolutely necessary that I 
 should discontinue my practice which was rapidly increasing. 
 I doubt if I should have been so docile to my Sydney 
 iEsculapius if his opinion had not tallied with the opinions of 
 the London doctors. The time has come, I said to myself, 
 sooner than I thought, and if I do not wish to be wholly 
 blind I must give up my business. This was the lowest ebb 
 of my fortunes ; it really seemed as if I was destined to sink 
 into a situation in which I should look back with regret on the 
 position which it had cost me so much trouble to quit. To 
 make the thing complete I vvas forbidden to read, so that all 
 that remained to me was to forget what I had learnt, enlivened 
 by the joyless dignity to starve. 
 
 However, in this the lowest ebb of my fortunes, I found 
 several alleviations. The principal was the extraordinary good 
 fortune which gave me the acquaintance, and I am proud to 
 say the friendship, of Mr. William Macleay. He had been 
 secretary at Paris for claims of English subjects, and after- 
 wards had been a commissioner for the extinction of the slave 
 trade at Cuba. He was an excellent classical scholar, he knew 
 more of modern history and biography than anyone with whom 
 I was ever acquainted, and in addition to all this he was a 
 profoundly scientific man, thoroughly conversant with zoology 
 and entomology. An excellent companion, with a store of 
 caustic wit, he reminded me continually of the best part of 
 Scott's Antiquary. It fell to my lot to do him some service for 
 which he never knew how to be sufficiently grateful. It 
 would have been a good find to meet with such a person any- 
 where, but in a remote colony it was a good fortune for M'hich 
 one could not be sufficiently grateful. I have not seen and 
 shall not see his like again. 
 
'%^.tii'^rsr'Wmm9m>mm 
 
 mtm 
 
 42 
 
 LIFE OF I.OTJD STIKTJIUJOOKF, 
 
 Another alleviation of my condition during this most trv- 
 ing period of my life was the opimrtunity which my compul- 
 sory idleness afforded of making ourselves well acquainted 
 with the heantiful scenery of the colony. New South Wales 
 is rich ni fine coast and river scenery, and in peculiarly fine 
 waterfalls. There is a district fifty miles south of Sydney 
 called Illawarra, which seemed to me to he the nearest 
 approach to a ten-estrial paradise. The glorious sea coast, 
 with caverns Avhich flung up their spray far inland, the 
 enormous trees on the top of which the bellhird fluted its noteK 
 into the air, the lovely flo^^ ers and the profusion of animals in 
 all their strange varieties, made of this delicious district a 
 fairyland, the very place where a man might pass his time 
 with no other regret than that of being totally useless. 
 
 Among all the difficulties with which it has been my lot to 
 contend in a long and not uneventful life, the greatest, and 
 the least appreciated by the public, was the defect of sight. 
 It was not merely that for forty years I have been obliged to 
 abstain from reading by candlelight, nor that I was threat- 
 ened, by the ignorance of my medical advisers, with the 
 almost certainty of blhidness : the real evils were of a nature 
 which, if I had understood nnd anticipated, I should never 
 have had the courage to face. So long as it was only a busi- 
 ness of teaching pupils I did r ot feel it ; they wanted to learn 
 and were quite ready to take anything I told them either for 
 truth or for what would be as good as truth for their purpose. 
 But it was a very difierent thing when I came to deal M'itli an 
 auditor who was either hostile or indifferent. I could not see 
 the face of the witness whom I was examining, I could no« 
 see the faces of the jury whom I was addressing, and worst of 
 all I could not see the impression I was making on the House 
 of Commons, and have often for want of this faculty fallen 
 into mistakes which I could gladly and easily have avoided. 
 Nor was this all. Those impressions which we receive imper- 
 
A CHAPTKK OK AL T()I5I()()KA1'II V 
 
 43 
 
 1 
 
 fectly. we remember badly. I bave never been able to recog- 
 nise tlie faces of persons wbom I do not see frequently, aiul 
 tbe conse(iuence is tbat I spend a srcat deal of my time in 
 fencing with persons whom I do not know but who know me 
 very well. This has deprived me of numberless friendshii)s 
 and intimacies whidi I should have been -lad to cultivate, and 
 the loss of which I sincerely lament. 
 
 But the worst of all was when I came to hold really hiah 
 and important ofhce as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He 
 who has to refuse many thin-s to many men has need to exert 
 some counteracting power to neutralise the offence, which if 
 he does his duty he is pretty sure to -ive. Nature, though in 
 many respects a hard stepmother, had, I may say without 
 vanity, bestowed on me some power of conversation. My 
 dear and lamented friend, Sir George Lewis, used to say that, 
 if he were to be cast away on a desert island, I was the asso- 
 ciate whom he would choose. And I have been told that Sir 
 Alexander Cockburn said that I was the companion he would 
 choose on a wet day in a country house. I might say with 
 Shakespeare : ' Wherefor j are these things hid ? ' Why did 
 not you employ whatever conversational ijower you possessed 
 in making yourself popular ? The ans\ver is given in what I 
 said before. I could not conciliate my victims or mv antago- 
 nists because I could not find them. Thus, with a quiet 
 temper and a real wish to please, I have been obliged to sub- 
 mit all my life to an amount of unpopularity which I really 
 did not deserve, and to feel myself condemned for what, after 
 all allowance has been made for numerous faults and follies, 
 were really rather physicnl than moral deficiencies. The fact 
 also that I had contrived to raise myself to so prominent a 
 position prevented people from making allowance for physical 
 deficiencies which, if better known, would doubtless have been 
 more generally allowed for. 
 
• ■ ^■» lll > ^ 
 
 44 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBllOOKE 
 
 [Here the memoir ends abruptly. It is indicative of the 
 slight imjiortance which Lord Sherbrooke himself attached to 
 it, and of the labour it had cost him to ' type ' it, that he never 
 attempted to reproduce the concluding portion, which, by an 
 unhappy fatality, was lost in its transmission through the post.] 
 
 I 
 
{ ^ -/ 
 
 ':.i,,, 
 
 "SI"'; 
 
 
 
 ■d' 
 
 ■J 
 
 '^'T. ^l'/'^rtJru/..r. 
 
 .' I' •"' 
 
 / "/ 
 
m 
 
 ^^^^f"'"^^'*^ 
 
 
 1/; 
 
'^•'■'^-it^ri,.,-j)-V"'' 
 
 
45 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PARENTACn AND DESCENT 
 
 RouERT Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke, was, as will be seen from 
 his own account, of clerical descent on both sides. His 
 father was the Rev. Robert Lowe, Rector of Bingham and 
 Prebendary of Southwell, Notts, and his mother was the 
 daughter of the Rev. Reginald Pyndar, Rector of Madresfield, 
 Worcester. The mere fact that clerical celibacy is the law of 
 the great Latin Church is proof positive that much may be said 
 for it, from a purely sacerdotal standpoint. But England, as a 
 State and as a nation, has assuredly been the gainer by the 
 legalising of the marriage of her priesthood at the Reformation. 
 It would astonish most persons, were the facts fairly placed 
 before them, to find how much of the gi'eatness and stability 
 of our Empire is plainly due to the worth and patriotism of 
 the ' sons of the clergy.' To go back only a hundred years, 
 it may be doubted if there would now be an independent 
 Engliiiid at all, save for the little sickly offspring of a Norfolk 
 parsonage, who fell at Trafalgar— but not before he had 
 secured the inviolability of his native shores. In quite other 
 ways, who, in our own day, has done so much by his indivi- 
 dual genius to show that England and England's lantruaL'e 
 should evf r be foremost in the world, as that gifted and 
 patriotic son of the Lincolnshire rectory — the late deejjly 
 lamented poet laureate ? 
 
 Thes<' are merely two conspicuous instances. Hut the 
 numl)er of eminent Englishmen who lirst saw the light in a 
 
4(5 
 
 LU'i: OF I.OIJJ) SUKKP.KOOKE 
 
 quiet parsonage, and received their early and indelible impres- 
 Hionsof the world from its inmates andthrouf^h the medium of 
 its associations, is legion. One of the most notable is the 
 subject of this biography, although it must be admitted that 
 Lord Sherbrooke was among the least icclesiastical of English 
 statesmen. 
 
 The so-called law of heredity clearly contains a great truth, 
 Like produces like ; and a man of genius or of great talent is, 
 as a rule, the child, or at least the descendant, of gifted and 
 remarkable i)eople. The Piev. Ilobert Lowe, Rector of 
 Bingham, was a nuin of distinct ability and of great in- 
 dividuality qualities which only needed a widei- stage for 
 their display, to have made him famous. He was ol lIic old- 
 fashioned ty[)e of squire-parson it is the custom to revile now- 
 a-days in the cheap prints, but which Mr. Froude, with the 
 illustration of liis own father, the Archdeacon of Totnes, befoi'e 
 his eyes, so fhiely commemorates. 
 
 The llev. llobert Lowe was some years older than Loril 
 Byron, and had known him intimately at Southwell in his 
 early youth. The Miss Pigot who was a literary friend of 
 Byron, was a cousin of ^Ir. Lowe, as was also the Piev. J. T. 
 Becher of Southwell, to whom the poet addressed tiu.' verses 
 beghniing, ' Hear Btcher, you tell me to mix with nuuddnd.' 
 AL's. CTiaworth Musters, who kindly seiuls the following letter, 
 adds tluit her grandfather was naturally excessively annoyed 
 at having bi'cn made the mouthpiece of an unti'uth , and that 
 the coolness which arose in conscipicnce lasted up to the end 
 of Byron's life. 
 
 Li))<l lUjroii Ir the Iter. Ti. Loire. 
 
 s St. .lauK's Street : Miiy l'>, InOfl 
 My dciir Sir, I biivc just been iuforniod tliat a report is circn- 
 lalinir in Notts of iin intention on my part to si'U Newsti'ad, which 
 is ratbei' uufortuniito, as I b;i\i' just t\vd the property up in such a 
 niiinner as to prevent tlu' ]iriuticubility, even if my inclination 1 -1 
 me to dispose of it. Ihil its such a I'cporl )Uiiy ri'udi'r my tennniM 
 nwoonifoi'lablc, 1 will feel very nnu-li obliged il you will be gooMi 
 •aough 10 conlriidict the rumour, should it come to your ears, (■« 
 
(Ml- 
 
 ich 
 
 •/■ - 
 
 i ai/<x) \ ;.-. ■'/Vi''/' /it .<■_ 
 
 
 tin? 
 
 on 
 
r 
 
 
 ^■i 
 
PARENTAGE AND DESCENT 
 
 47 
 
 my authority. 1 rather conjecture it has arisen from the sale of 
 some copyholds of mine in Norfolk. I sail for Gibraltar in June, 
 and thence to Malta when, of coarse, you shall have the promised 
 detail. I saw your friend Thornhill last nij^ht, who spoke of you 
 as a friend ought to do. Excuse this trouble, and believe me tc be 
 with great sincerity, ' 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 BVHON. 
 
 One wonders, in reading his letter, whether the noble bard 
 remembered two of the lines in the verses he had sent to Mr. 
 Lowe's kinsman : — 
 
 Deceit is a striinger as yet to my soul, 
 
 I still am unpractised to varnish the truth. 
 
 It should be added that the poet actually sold Newstead 
 in 1811. 
 
 The rector of Bingham, it will be seen, was a leading 
 country gentleman as well as the priest and pastor of a rural 
 flock. He was a keen sportsman and above all a mighty 
 hunter. The eldest son Henry, afterwards Mr. Sherbrooke of 
 Oxton, would often ride to cover with his father ; and sometimes 
 the younger son, Robert, notwithstanding his semi-blindness, 
 would be permitted to do the same. So strong, indeed, 
 was his inherited love of sport that he would, in his father's 
 absence, take one of the hunters from the stables on the sly 
 and scour the country on his own account - a grave offence 
 and, if discovered, visited with condign punishment. 
 
 The following rhymes, still remembered in the county, give 
 us a glimpse of the rector's reputation as a local Nimrod :— 
 
 Next little Bob Lowe, on his little brown mare, 
 Comes nickinj,' across with all possible care. 
 On her he rides steady ; but when he rides Stella, 
 No man in the hunt can be his playfellow. 
 
 (And of his cousin, Mr. Sherbrooke) : — 
 
 Who is it tlMit rides at that liedgo there full slap ? 
 'Tis Sherbrooke, I see, by the out of his cap. 
 Sir Calidore clears it. top binding and all, 
 And ne'er puts his rider in mind of a fall. 
 
 {Nott.s Huntinij Son,/. By the Hon. Philip Pierrepoiiii.f 
 
48 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 But there was another and a more serious side to the 
 character of the rector of Bingham. Like his famous son, 
 he was an independent thinker and a social reformer ; yet 
 withal an intrepid upholder of law and order and a strong 
 hater of the domination of the unfit. In his own county 
 of Nottingham and in his parish of Bingham, the Rev. 
 Robert Lowe i^ut into force the main principle of the Poor 
 Law of 1832, years before that measure was passed and esta- 
 blished throughout the country. This was in the year 1818. 
 Some dispute as to the priority in this matter of Bingham and 
 Southwell having arisen in later years, Mr. Lowe set the 
 matter to rest l)y a very vigorous letter addressed to the Rev. 
 J. T. Becher, who was also the magistrate of the latter place. 
 
 Mr. Becher, unlike the reccor of Bingham, was in the 
 habit of publishing his views on social reform, and his efforts 
 to ameliorate the condition of the rural labourers are known 
 and recognised to this day by our foremost economic authorities. 
 
 In that admirable little work. Mutual Thrift, by the Rev. 
 J. Frome Wilkinson, an account is given of the ' Becher Clubs ' 
 and the ' Southwell Tables,' both of which were instituted by 
 this energetic clerical magistrate and social reformer. The 
 following letter, however, clearly shows that Mr. Becher should 
 at least share his honours with his equally active and vigorous 
 relative of the neighbouring parish : — 
 
 The Rev. B. Lotve to the Rev. J. T. Becher. 
 
 Cuckney : April 4th, 1834. 
 
 My dear Becher, — I read your ' Anti-pauper System ' (for which 
 I be^' to thank you) on my road here. I never read it before, and I 
 congratulate you on having written so very useful and connncing a 
 pamphlet. I am no apologist for the misrepresentations of Mr. 
 Cowell, for misrepreseutations they certainly are ; but I liavo always, 
 in charity, supposed, as he took his notes on scraps of paper, that he 
 had mixed tliose relating to Bingham with his other papers, and in 
 severing them again had substituted his remarks on some other 
 parish for those on mine. 
 
 Jiut be that as it may, I come to his justification in asserting 
 that the system of forcing independence upon paupers Ity means of 
 
PARENTAGE AND DESCENT 
 
 49 
 
 3 to the 
 ous son, 
 iier ; yet 
 a strong 
 I county 
 bhe Eev. 
 the Poor 
 mcl esta- 
 sar 1818. 
 ham and 
 set the 
 the Rev. 
 )r place. 
 3 in the 
 is efforts 
 e known 
 thorities. 
 the Rev. 
 r Clubs' 
 tuted by 
 . The 
 should 
 
 3r 
 
 vigorous 
 
 h, 1834. 
 
 or which 
 ■0, and I 
 rincing a 
 s of Mr. 
 always, 
 that he 
 I, and in 
 ne other 
 
 isserting 
 neans of 
 
 % 
 
 
 I •; 
 
 a workhouse was begun at Bingham and afterwards introdncod at 
 Southwell. This is no very difficult task, because lie had tbat 
 information from me, and had it confirmed, I have no doubt, by Mr. 
 Nichols ; whatever blame, therefore, attaches to that statement rests 
 with me. I entirely exonerate him and thus defend myself. The 
 system of forcing able-bodied paupers to provide for themselves 
 through the terror of a well-disciplined workhouse was begun at 
 Bingham in 1B18 ; a few years after its establishment, and when the 
 (•fleets of the system became known. Captain Nichols talked to me 
 very deeply upon the subject, and, I think, came to Bingham to see 
 what we had done. He was very much pleased with the simplicity of 
 the principle and said that he was appointed overseer of Soutlnvell, 
 where he wished to introduce the same system. He told me also of 
 his intention of publishing a pamphlet upon the subject and urged 
 me to write one instead. My object ivas parochial iitilitij not imhl'ic 
 applause, and I declined. He afterwards frequently consulted mo 
 and asked my advice upon difliculties as they arose, and we had the 
 fullest communication upon this subject, so interesting to both of 
 us. He one day told me, in very bad spirits, he was aha id that all 
 his trouble was thrown away ; that you opposed him and this system 
 so powerfully, and as a magistrate so eftectually, that he despan-ed 
 of doing any good and of making the system work, as it did at 
 Bingham. My reply to him was, that no good could possil)ly be 
 done under a hostile magistracy, and 1 advised him either to attempt 
 to bring you over to his opinion as to the management of the poor 
 or to establish a select vestry, as a dying struggle. You afterwards, 
 however, co-operated with him and the system has been con- 
 ducted to its present i*esults, most advantageously to the country, 
 and most honourably to you and all the parties concerned. 
 
 I think you cannot be surprised if Mr. Cowell heard from me 
 that the Workhouse System as now practised at r>inghani, Ulev, 
 Derby, Southwell, and many other places, was first in operation at 
 Bingham and was afterwards introduced at Southwell. I know tluit 
 you had a workhouse at Southwell before IHIH and so had we at 
 Bingham. I know also that they were both of them infamously 
 managi'd, without any disci])line or control, and that the inmates of 
 that at Southwell used to kill their time hy the amusement of fish- 
 ing in the Greet. A workiiouse is not discijjjine though it is 
 necessary to it ; but as you yourself begin your tahles at the year 
 ending Lady-day 1821 and state the exjienditm-e of that year to bo 
 2,254/., which sum in the year ending at Liidy-day lH2f is reduc«>d 
 according to the table to 700/., it is quite evident that you fix the 
 date of the commencement of th<' .\nti-])auper System at Southwell 
 incontrovertibly at 1821 ; but you inshiuate in your letter tli;it the 
 
 VOIi. I. 5} 
 
50 
 
 LIFE OF I.OIJD SHEliBKOOKF 
 
 Anti-panpcr 8ystom, ostablishctl at Southwell in 1H21, is essentially 
 different lioni that established at Jjingluini in 181H, I see no 
 difference in the principle at all. One definition will include 
 l)Oth. It is a system by which able-bodied paupers are forced to 
 depend upon their own exertions by the agency of a workhouse, 
 the same as that adopted at Uley, with which you claim affinity ; 
 and it is mentioned by Captain Nichols as based upon the same 
 principle as that introduced by him at Southwell, where it is now 
 nourishing,' under your able manaj^ement. The only difference I see 
 upon readin,if your pamphlet is in tlu; details, some of which if I 
 were acting on a greater scale I should adopt, but 1 am so fond of 
 simplicity and of acting by general rules in imitation of Divine 
 Wis.lom, that 1 hate exceptions, or anything which throws the 
 principle upon which I stand into obscurity; and minute detail 
 would be (piite impracticable in a single parish managing its own 
 poor. Wt! are both, however, acting upon precisely the same 
 principle ; and if you were to divert tiie system of my principle, you 
 must strike out the word ' anti ' from the name you have given it, 
 and then what remains of the name would exactly describe what 
 would remain of the system. 
 
 I am (juite ashamed to v>rite so much on the subject of self; it 
 is an odious subject, but I am driven into a corner. I cannot but 
 avow what I said to ]\Ir. Cowell, and I cannot but justify myself in 
 saying it. Whilst, however, I claim priority in point of time, I by 
 no means claim priority in point of merit. Yours is the palm of 
 ha\ing extended the system over an immense tract of country, and 
 of having published it to the world in the most convincing form, and 
 J willingly resign it ; whether you came in at the first, second, or 
 tliii'd watch, you have watched well and deserve the thanks of your 
 country. 
 
 I am very sincerely yours, 
 
 RoBEiiT Lowe. 
 
 It will be seen from this letter that the rector of Bingham 
 distinctly laid claim to the paternity of the principle on which 
 the new Poor Law of 1834 was based. Lord Sherbrooke 
 always asserted that his father was the author of that measure 
 which was really founded on the workhouse experiments 
 made by himself in the first instance, and afterwards by Mr. 
 Becher and others, in the county of Nottingham. We have 
 perhaps advanced in the matter of social economics since the 
 time of the Bev. Bobert Lowe ; and, also, we live in a time of 
 
rARKNT.VriE AND DESCENT 
 
 51 
 
 s essentially 
 I see no 
 will include 
 ire forced to 
 workhouse, 
 ,im affinity; 
 )n the same 
 ■re it is now 
 i'erence I see 
 f which if I 
 n so fond of 
 n of Divine 
 . throws the 
 iiinutc detail 
 ,nng its own 
 iy the same 
 in'inciple, you 
 ave given it, 
 lescribe what 
 
 ct of self; it 
 
 [ cannot but 
 
 ify myself in 
 
 )f time, I by 
 
 the palm of 
 
 country, and 
 
 ng form, and 
 
 t, second, or 
 
 lanks of your 
 
 nrs, 
 
 ;uT Lowe. 
 
 of Bingham 
 lie on which 
 
 Sherbrooke 
 lat measure 
 experiments 
 ^rds by Mr. 
 We have 
 
 8 since the 
 in a time of 
 
 1 
 
 loose socialistic theories propagated by Kcntimcnlal literature. 
 It would 1)0 easy enough to ridicule the notions of the rector 
 that the paupers of Southwell were doing harm by practising 
 the gentle art of Izaak Wiilton in the local stream. Let us 
 turn to the pages of that Liberal but thoroughly sober-minded 
 historian Dr. S. li. Gardiner, and we shall then see what the 
 evils were Avhich Mr. Lowe strove to remedy, not without a 
 certain measure of success. 
 
 The Poor Law as it existed (i.e. before 18H1) was a direct 
 encouragement to thriftlessness. Relief wns given to the poor at 
 random, even when they were earning wages, so that em|)loyers of 
 labour preferred to be served by paupers, because part of the wages 
 would then be paid out of the rates. The more children a poor man 
 had the more he received out of the rates, and in this and in other 
 ways labourers were taught that they would be better off by being 
 dependent on the parish than by striving to nuike their own way in 
 the world . . . By the new Poor Law passed in 1881, workhouses 
 were built and no person was to receive relief who did not consent 
 to live in one of them. The object of this rule was that no one 
 might claim to be supported by others, who was capal)le of supporting 
 himself, and residence in the workhouse, where work would be 
 required was considered as the best test of real poverty.* 
 
 In even stronger words, the evil of the old Poor Law and 
 the benefits that followed on the Act of 1H31, with regard to 
 national as well as individual thrift, is shown by Mr. Fromo 
 Wilkinson, one of the latest and best authorities, in his work 
 previously cited. 
 
 Doubtless, like all human devices, the 'Workhouse system ' 
 was liable to abuse ; and some relaxation in the matter of out- 
 door relief was found necessary. But the principle — despite 
 Lord Beaconsfield's sentimental dislike of it— Avas essentially 
 sound. 
 
 It was but natural that the Ecv. Piobert Lowe should, after 
 1834, have a great deal of correspondence with the new Poor 
 Law Commissioners. One of the most interesting of these 
 letters was written from Ireland by Mr. Edward Gulson, in 1839. 
 
 ' A Student's Ilistonj of England, p. 911. S. R. Gardiner. 
 
 B 2 
 
if 
 
 r i J 
 
 52 
 
 LIFE or LOUD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 f 
 
 if 
 
 I! 
 
 This gentleman had previously acted as assistant Poor Law 
 Commissioner in Notts and Lincolnshire, and was regarded 
 at head-quarters as one of the ablest of officials. Mr. Gulson 
 was, in fact, specially selected to go to Ireland to divide that 
 comitry into 'Unions,' under the Poor Law Act; and in writing 
 to Bingham he gives a graphic picture of the condition of the 
 country, and winds up by cordially inviting Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lowe and the young ladies to the romantic shores of 1 ' >strevor. 
 Ireland, like the poor, is always with us, and Mr. Gulson's 
 letter will be read all these years after it was written with 
 considerable interest by serious-minded public men (see Ap- 
 pendix). 
 
 The perusal of such letters shows plainly that the rector 
 of Bingham was looked upon, not only as a very intelligent 
 correspondent, t< • whom it was a pleasure to dilate on public 
 matters, but as a leading social reformer in his county. The 
 following brief letter is hardly likely to find favour with some 
 of the moving personages of our day ; but it is informed with 
 the true Lowe spirit, and might have been written by Lord 
 Sherbrooke himself. It is from the rector to a lodge of 
 Oddfellows witli which he had been associated : — 
 
 liev. Ic. Loivc to the Odilfellows. 
 
 October, 1832. 
 
 (icntlemon, — I became a member of your lodge upon the oft- 
 times rt'pcatc'd assurance that you wore associated solely for the 
 purposes of l)enev()lenco and that you liad no concern with politicks 
 in any way whatever, either du'cctly or indirectly. Circumstances 
 have now arisen which evidently show that I have been misled, and 
 I beg you not to consider me any longer a mcniber of your Union. 
 I understand Jiatyou espouse my own political opinions, but I deem 
 all Unions of every kind upon such subjects fraught v.ith so much 
 danger to the State, so much inconvenience to the public, and so 
 much mischief to the members themselves, that lean never consent, 
 ardently as I am attached to my own principles of liberty, to further 
 them by such means. 
 
 1 am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your ol)edient Servant, 
 EoBEHT Lowe. 
 
 I J 1 1. 
 
PAKENTAGE AND DESCENT 
 
 53 
 
 i Poor Law 
 IS regarded 
 Mr. Gulson 
 divide that 
 d in writing 
 iitioii of the 
 . and Mrs. 
 f r >strevor. 
 Ir. Gulson's 
 vrittcn with 
 en (see Ap- 
 
 ] the rector 
 y inteUigent 
 e on pubHe 
 )unty. The 
 r with some 
 formed with 
 en by Lord 
 a lodge of 
 
 ctober, 1832. 
 
 ■)on the oft- 
 )k'ly for tho 
 ith pohticks 
 •cnnistances 
 misled, and 
 ytmr Union. 
 1, but I deem 
 tb so much 
 iblic, and so 
 jvcr consent, 
 t\, to further 
 
 servant, 
 IT Lowe. 
 
 The octur of Bingham bad yet another gift over and 
 above his active, well-knit pliysieal frame and his clear and 
 jiowcrful intellect. lie had the artistic sense, and would (piote 
 and linger over the lines of the poets whom he loved in a way 
 never forgotten by those who licard him. Almost to his dying 
 day Lord Sherbrooke would recall the impressive manner in 
 which his father read the Lessons in the village church, and 
 many friends will remember how he would reproduce the t(mea 
 of the voice. Above all, he never forgot his father's manner 
 and intonation in pronouncing the Blessing. 'It was beautiful,' 
 he would say, ' simply beautiful.' 
 
 M Such, briefly, was the Eev. Bobert Lowe of Bingham ; by 
 
 no means, it is to be fe.ired, an ideal clergyman to this genera- 
 tion. To the devoted followers of Dr. Pusev belongs the 
 distinction of removing the huntsman's coat from the back of 
 the higher-class English rural clergy. With the diffusion of 
 the sacerdotal doctrine, it was felt that a body of men, so 
 specially set apart for sacred duties, should not join hi the 
 
 '^ ordinary sports and recreations of the laity, especially if a 
 distinctive dress was dc yujaeur. It may be admitted that, 
 with keen and enthusiastic natures, there must always be a 
 1 danger of a favourite pastime becoming a passion ; and 
 doubtless the clergy can find nobler work to do than hunting, 
 shooting, and fishing. But under the new dispensation there 
 has also disappeared too often tho wise and intelligent interest 
 in social problems, the rare and exact scholarship, the old- 
 world courtesy and good breeding. It is the loss of the first of 
 these that is most to be deplored in an age of rash experiment 
 and confident ignorance. There is no doubt that the English 
 clergy now-a-days, especially in the cities and towns, take a 
 stronger personal interest in tin; well-being of their poorer 
 fellow-creatures than ever before ; Imt the interest is too 
 largely either professional or sentimental. It needs the appli- 
 cation of broad and general principles, and the patient investi- 
 gation of cause and effect, to solve our complex social problems ; 
 
ri 
 
 I 
 
 64 
 
 LIFK OF LOltl) SIIERnTfOOIvE 
 
 mere sentiment, licnvevci* charming and touching, can never 
 go far. It may he a minor point, hut the utterly incompre- 
 hensil)le way in wliidi the magnificent language of the Liturgy 
 is too often, now-a-ilays, gahhled through cannot hut make 
 us regret the fine reading of an earlier and a more sturdy 
 race of men. 
 
 To go hack to the preceding generation. Lord Sherhrooke's 
 grandfather, Rohert Lowe of Oxton, High Sheriff of Notts 
 (1802), was likewise a man of light and leading in the county. 
 In the marvellous archives of the British Museum may be 
 found a thickish pamphlet entitled ' General View of the yif/ri- 
 eidtiire of \()tfin;ilia)ii. Bi/ Ilohert Loire {of Oxton).'' This was 
 originally published in 171)4, but, unlike the majority of i)ani- 
 phlets — not on party politics or partisan theology — it ran into 
 a second edition, and was re-issued in 1798. No one can 
 glance at its pages and the accompanying map, showing the 
 soils, &c., of the county, without recognising that its author 
 was a man of knowledge and capacity. A large silver salver 
 is still preserved in the family, which was presented to Robert 
 Lowe of Oxton by the bank at Newark * for an obligation not 
 to be surpassed ' : he had guaranteed them 120,000/. during 
 a financial panic in 1803. 
 
 The Lowe family, who came originally from Cheshire, 
 had been for some generations settled in Nottinghamshire and 
 seem alwaj's to have been people of standing and substance. 
 In the reign of Queen Anne, the first instance of * bounty ' 
 was a present of as much timber to the chapter of Southwell 
 by Samuel Lowe (Lord Sherhrooke's great-great-grandfather) 
 as was necessary for the building of a vicarage house. The 
 only other which appears on record is a contribution of 500Z. 
 by the Duchess of Newcastle. It was this Samuel Lowe's son 
 who married Elizabeth Sherbrooke, one of whose sons was the 
 father of the rector of Bingham. 
 
 It is commonly held — perhaps erroneously — that dis- 
 tinguished men owe more to the mother than to the father. 
 
PAIJKNTAUK AM) DESCENT 
 
 55 
 
 can never 
 incompre- 
 he Liturgy 
 but make 
 ore sturdy 
 
 icrbrooke's 
 1" of Notts 
 ;he county, 
 m may be 
 )f the Af/ri- 
 This was 
 ity of pam- 
 -it ran into 
 s^o one can 
 bowing tbe 
 
 its author 
 ilver salver 
 I to Robert 
 
 gation not 
 )0/. (luring 
 
 Cheshire, 
 m shire and 
 substance. 
 
 * bounty ' 
 
 Southwell 
 andfather) 
 )uso. The 
 )n of 5001. 
 
 owe's son 
 ns was the 
 
 -that dis- 
 he father. 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 "We have seen that Lord Shcrbrooke's fathei-, though ho was 
 no doubt far from popular witli the evil-doers and the 
 wastrels of Bingham, was a notable man, with aims and 
 energies far bryond tlie reach of ordinary persons. His 
 mother was a woman of singular rclinemcnt, graco and 
 charm. She was a good and atfectionate motlier as well as a 
 beautiful and attractive lady of the rectory ; and beloved by all. 
 
 A writer gives the following picture of Prchendarji bun' 
 and his Familij at SoKfJiiCfll : — 
 
 ' Long ago we remember, in the old vicarage drawing-room 
 after a dinner-party, examining the face of a tall boy on the 
 verge of manhood, who sat in a corner, with his face towards 
 the wall, ill a room which, though lighted up for company, 
 was dim then in comparison with the lights of the present, 
 and saw with wonder that in the almost darkness, the object 
 of our curiosity was deeply engaged in a book he was reading. 
 That boy was the present Lord Sherbrooke ; his father was 
 then in Residence, and his beautiful dark-eyed mother made 
 it even more strange that two of her children should be albinos. 
 The Prebendary himself and all the other members were a 
 remarkably handsome family.' 
 
 The present rectory of Bingham is much altered from 
 what it was in Lord Shcrbrooke's childhood ; but the old 
 mulberry-tree on the lawn is still standing, round which he 
 and his brothers and sisters used to play the parts of the 
 heroes and heroines of the Waverley Novels. 
 
 Fifty years afterwards, when one of these children of the 
 rectory was Chancellor of the Exchequer, he made the following 
 reference to the favourite author of his boyhood, in a speech 
 delivered at Glasgow when he was presented with the freedom 
 of that city : — * Long before I had the privilege which this 
 honour confers, I belonged to that generation whose youth was 
 fed with the Waverley Novels. I had the pleasure and privilege 
 of reading most of those novels as they issued from the press, 
 causing a literary excitement and delight that nothing which 
 
I 
 
 5G 
 
 LIKE OV LORD SIIEJtIJROOKE 
 
 lias been given since has in any way equalled, and nothing, I 
 venture to say, is ever likely to surpass. To us, the youth of 
 that far-awtiy time, Scotland was a fairyland — the Arcadia 
 of our dreams ; and our aspirations were to visit and see the 
 spots that the AVizard had made his own and our own. From 
 tluit time, whenever I had the opportunity, I always spent my 
 liolidays in Scotland. My affection has been a disinterested 
 one, for I have neither the power nor the will to make war on 
 your deer, your fowl, or your fishes.' 
 
 There h a picture of the garden and orchard at Bingham 
 by the late Alfred Miles, the well-known artist, whose father 
 succeeded Lord Sherbrooke's as rector. Among the earlier 
 rectors was the father of Sir Christopher Wren, and also 
 xVrchbishop Abliott, Laud's predecessor at Canterbury. 
 
 As already stated, Mrs. Lowe was the daughter of 
 the Picv. Reginald Pyiidar, who was of the family of Pyndar 
 of Duftield in the county of Derby. The name of this 
 family occurs in the list of gentry in the time of Henry VL 
 licginald Pyndar of Duffield was sheriff of the county in 
 IC.Hl. 
 
 Either he, or his son, removed to Kiinpley in Gloucester- 
 shire, lleginald, the representative of this family, who died 
 in .1 7HS, had taken the name of Lygoii on succeeding to the 
 estate of Madreslield in Worcestershire. His son William was 
 in 181(1 created Lord Beauchamp of Powick, and in 1815 Earl 
 Jk'aiH'liainp and Viscount Elmley. lie died in 1816 and v,as 
 succeeded by the late Earl. 
 
 We have here an ex[)lanati()n of the oit-(]uoled remark of 
 the lat(! Earl Beauchamp, who at the time of Bobert Lowe's 
 great anti-reform si)et!ches, when his name was on every 
 tongue, used to refer to him as ' My distinguished kins- 
 man.' The Irish branch of the ]3echers were also kinsmen of 
 the Lowes (see Pedigree). The Bev. Beginald Pyiuhir, Lord 
 Slu'rbrooke's maternal grandfatlu'r, seems to have been of the 
 same type of vigorous parson-magistrate as was the rector 
 
 M 
 
PAHEXTAGE AND DESCENT 
 
 57 
 
 of Binf^ham. The Pyndars arc of the aame family also as Sir 
 Paul Pindar. 
 
 Few men of good birth ever took less personal interest in 
 questions of lineage and the intricacies of pedigrees than did 
 the late Viscount Sherbrookt. Not one single particular of 
 his family history here set fo^th was obtained directly from 
 himself. The only ancesto'* to whom he refers in the preced- 
 ing memoir is the feeble lampooner of Archl)ishop Laud. 
 
 Strange to say, the most complete family tree hitherto 
 published of the Lowes and Sherbrookes will be found in a 
 huge tome compiled Ijy that sturdy and uncomproniishig 
 Piadical, the late ^Ir. Peter Taylor, for 3-cars IMember of Parlia- 
 ment for Leicester. The work, which was * printed for private 
 circulation,' is entitled Sonn' AccoiDit of the Taijlor J'antili/ ; 
 and in it he has traced the pedigree of every family directly 
 or indirectly connected with his own. 
 
 It is stated that when Mv. Taylor offered to present Lord 
 Sherbrooke in the Lobby of the House of Commons with his 
 liandsome but l)ulky book, he was amazed to be met with a 
 blank refusal. Had the work-harassed statesman been able 
 with his dim eyes to recognise that his refusal caused pain 
 and mortification to a very worthy if inconsistent man, he 
 would have been the last to decline or disdain this ponderous 
 gift. Who knows but that ho may have suspected the 
 unsolicited volume would be followed l)ya deputation desi ais 
 of dipping its hand in the pul)lic i)urso ".* 
 
 For the series of Pedigrees to be found at the end of the 
 second volume I am indebted to Mr. Topham Hough, himself a 
 kinsman of the late Lord Sherbrooke. Apart altogether from 
 the interest of these pedigrei'S to students of genealogy, those 
 of the Dabridgecourt and Pecher families disclose two remark- 
 able facts concenung the kin and ancestry of Lord Sherbrooko 
 of which ho was not, I think, himself aware. Robert Lowe 
 was tlie thirteenth in lineal descent from .Tohn Hampden, of 
 
58 
 
 Ml K oi" i.(Uii) siiKinuiooKi; 
 
 ' 
 
 !• 
 
 (irciil, ITiinipdon, Bucks, (lio pi-df^'ciiitor of Die cvci' nuinonibli! 
 John llainpdcn iiiid Joliu Pvin. 
 
 The literary reader \vill siiiely l)e interested to learn that 
 William Ahikepeaee Thackeray and liohert Lowt! were of the 
 same kindred; while lo the historian and the politician it 
 will he oven more atU'aclivc to lind that John Pym, the ^roat 
 Parliamentarian, who cuiionsly enon^di r(![>i'('S('nted Calno in 
 llic House of Commons ii! the time of the ill-fated Charhis I., 
 was a kinsman of the most distinguished representative of 
 that h()rou}j;h in the nuu'e Irancpiil and happier reij^n of 
 Queen Victoria. 
 
 It is a curious and inlrrcstini^ fact that the ancient family 
 of Pahridf^ecourt, which c.une into Mnjijland with IMiilippa of 
 ifainaultand estahlish(>d itself at StrathCieldsaye in Ilami)shire, 
 with liranclu>s in Warwickshire and Nottin.uihanishiri^ and 
 which is mnv, so far as can he ascertaiiKvl, extinct in the male 
 line, [)roduc('(I in the seventcHnith century John I'ym, and in 
 the ninet(H'nth century \\'illiam INFakepeace Thackeray and 
 llohert liowe. The |)ai)rid;i;ecourts, one of whom was a 
 l\ni,!j;lil I'ounder of the (^'dei- of the (iai'ter. were lords of 
 Strathiieldsaye for nearly three hundr(>(l years. From the 
 I)al)ridjj;(H'ourts the estate passed by purchase to the Pitts, from 
 whom it was hou<j;ht hy the nation early in the present century 
 for the ^reat Duke of WeIh"ni;ton. 
 
 Two other distinguished kinsmen of PolxM't liOwe may 
 lu>re h(> mentioned. Tlu> (»ne enn'nent as a, statesman and 
 man of alVairs, niakin;^- a <;reat ligure in Irish history; the 
 other eminent in the world of science and thou}j;ht, a sa;j[acious 
 seeker after kn(nvled<j;e, and philosopher. Throu'Jih his descent 
 from llichard Poylo, Archhisho[) of Tuam, Lord Slierhrook(> 
 was related at once to llichard Boyle, the ' <j;reat ' Karl of Cork, 
 and to his not less famous son Bohert Boyle, one of the Fathers 
 of the Boyal Society. 
 
50 
 
 AITKNDIX TO CIIAPTKIl I 
 
 frchdiil and tlic Poor Lini\ 
 
 liostrcvor : Pccouibcr .', IH'M. 
 
 'My (Iciir Sir,- I Uiink you will pciliiips lihc to know how we iiro 
 ifoin.H' on lliis side the CliiiiiiU'I, iuid I Iimac ^^niiL plr.i-iiirc in thus 
 I'cuiiiitliii,'.;' you thnt I have n, lively rcincinhriuici' of the kindness! I 
 hiivo cxiu'i-icnc'C'd at your ii;!iids, and of tho pleasure I have had in 
 my iVii'ndly intercourse with youi- family. I believe I may safely 
 s;iy we are !j;ettin,L;' on well and rnpidly in or^anisin^ the I'nions into 
 which Ireland will lie diviiled. I have this week completed the 
 district assi;^Mie(l to my (diarge, my last I nion is llnished, and I 
 already hej,'in to ask myself wliere I shall ever form or orf^anisc 
 iinother, in Scotland or the West Imlies? \\'>' liii.ve, however, very 
 nnich to attend to, and it will take us man} years to work out th(! 
 system to its inten<le(l results. 
 
 Ireland will he divided into I'^'.lor l:!(l I'nions. Of these !K{ arc 
 already constituted. In nearly all, new Woikhouses have to he 
 erected, hut as in this coinitry the Connuissioners (and not the 
 (iuardians) ha,ve this ])art of the business in their own hands, ire, 
 piu'chase tho .ground, lay down the ]ila.n, employ oin' own architect 
 to superintend the works when contractod foi'. We are ^'ettin^ on 
 fast in this respect and already some of my houses he^in to astonish 
 the naiives. I am moi'e forward in this <listrict, comprisin.u; the 
 counties of Anti'im, J)own, Ai'ma;^di, Tjouth, and IMona;^lian, than 
 they arc in any other, for I have new houses, each foi- HOO innuites, 
 partly roofed in. The population is so dense in this jjart of Ireland 
 that our houses are necessarily very lari^c. I ha\e scarcely any 
 I'nions, thou,L,di of niod(>ra.te size, say ei,ii;ht miles I'ound the cenliv, 
 with less than ()(),()0(), and generally 70 o)' H(),(K)() inluihitants. 
 In the Belfast, ArnuiLjh, and Nowry Unions, I ani huildin.Lj houses 
 to contain 1,000 each, for tlu? popidation in each is aho\e SO.OOO. 
 Wo build cheaply in Ireland. \'ery excellent substantial sfoiir. 
 houses to hold HOO are built for K,0()0/., includini,' six acres of land, 
 Jiltiiiijs ii\u\ I'll 111 it lire. The houses for 1,000 will h(> c()mi)leted for 
 less than 10,000/. each, including' every expense. All which [ soo 
 convinces me that the Workhouse System, if jiiopvrlji applied, will 
 pi'ove ([uite as applicabli' and ([uite as beneOcial to Ireland as to 
 l''nt,dand. 
 
 It is true that the labouring' popidalion of this country live so 
 wretchedly that it will he impossibh! to lay tlowii any diet or rule for 
 their food which will not be superior to that on which tiio poor 
 
CO 
 
 I, hi: Ml' i,(ti{|) siii;i{iii;(M»Ki', 
 
 I 
 
 
 BubsisI iit i\\v\\ KUii lioiiir;. Il j'l JinpoMMililc liir nii' In <lrsf)'ilM> llir 
 \Vl\'l''!i('il sri'llci I li;i\(' U lIlK'.'ii'il ;i:i rr;;!il(h llic riiii(|nii wliitli lli)< 
 illilcpcliili'nl |ii)oi- nl' iIhm ('niiuli V live. So mIso Ity llicir lioiisr t. \ 
 \vorl\ii!i'.i •(' will l><> ;i imliMc ('(im|>;irri| to llicii' ciiliiiiM. I'lil Ilit'V I'iol. 
 in *lii( :\i<(l lillli. Clriinlnii' is will lir iiiiIiimimI)!)', iiikI. til)o\i> nil, llu' 
 Irish iirc so iiii|);itiiiii ol itviliitinl. llii'\ liiixc ,;o jiiiiil ii ii|in!;Miinn> 
 
 (o (>\('i\ { llill;; :l|>|'lo;n ilill". to IC'Mllll lil V lllld outrol. IIimI I li;i\t' MM 
 
 l(>iir i<\ tlii'ir u i!lin;;iii'S'; to t'litrr I III' W'orKlioiiscM. AIicjhIv I liriii 
 the l>tV';;;inN iiml incniliciinls «li'cliii'(' llicv will never fjo into Ilimi, 
 iind. iis till ;is the North ot Iriliiii'l (with wliich I iini tili itrcMcnl, nnl\ 
 iU'iiMiiiiitcin i< concciin'il. m llir Iturwliirh Wii>) r\|iii';'!i'il in r;irli;i 
 niriil lli:il till' \\ (M Klion .(' i WoiiM he swiini|i(i|, it i i, I Mill Mile. Ilh> 
 Inst thin;; weh.we to iipprehenil. NOll ;ire |iioh!ili|y n w Mie tliiit in 
 lreli\nii no \;ilu;ilion or m^ ;e ; ^iiieiil ol |iroperly exint'i upon wlneli :i 
 poni' r.Mle eoulii he loinKliMl. We eonseipieiitly hiive to \;ihie mII 
 properl\ lliionihoiil lieliiml ;iii>| in eiirli I iiioii heloie ,'ili\ Wiite <-iin 
 he niMtie. 'I'lii ; i'; nil inniieii'e woil», .'iihI en';ii;;e! very much of our 
 lime nnil ;il lent ion. mihI will neee; iiiiily eontimie so lo do lor mI len t. 
 il yi<!ir to eoiiie. JielMnd i^ :i hlniiK in this lespei'l. No vnliiiition 
 ot oe( iipniion e\is|s tor;in\ pilipt>;e wli;ile\er. H ^oii hiid In \jlliie 
 :ill llie piopcilx in ;ili I'',n;;li .Il I'liinn it would he ;i ;;re;il woiK, hiil 
 <Vi)// would h;i\e ollieeis ui eiieh pni-ish. who would lie entrusted with 
 lluMJuly. whilst here thei(> nre no ollieer;-! of iiny description wliiil 
 over, since there has heen hitherto no loenl :idiiiinistriilion ol iiii\ Kind. 
 
 A;:;iin. in l''.n;rl;nid there iire coiiipeleiil \iihler; on nil idi ;, 
 whil-t hill', ;is no \nlti.ilioii hn'^ ever heen wnnted, we h;i\e no 
 vnhicrs. All is n hIanK n; lo ninlters ol' hiisiiies;i or or;;:Miii ;ntion, 
 and we hn\e to di'pend upon our own esertions mid niiiiiii<;ein< iil. 
 • ■ntirelx. There nre nil\nntn;;t>s ns well ns disnd\iniln;;e;) ntteiidiii", 
 this stnlt' ol tllin;:s. hut il ciilv proves how lillle the sinle of I rein id 
 is fully undeistiH'd (>u voiu' -idc ihe ('hniiiiel. \;;ain. the fiisl snh 
 division of Innd h(>re, ns conipnred to nn\ thin;; known in l'",ii|;lniid, 
 creates impedimeiil -( lo which, hetoie comiii;; here. I was n stinnj'ei. 
 In on(> of your pai ishes tli«' I, inns and occiipnlions nre well Know ii 
 and the hst is '-hori. Here ihe holdinj;-s are smnll niid nlniost en I 
 less. I cannot hett(>r descrihe this stnle of mnllei's tlinn hy -riviii': 
 you an insiniiic. which I have just had inuler my eve, and the 
 particulars of whii h I have laken lituii tlit- landlord's hook ; and on 
 the spot. I <lo no; ;;ive il as ;i siii'rul'ir instance ; it is n fnir example. 
 1 nni'-I quote --ome one in-laiui' in (M'der to e\plain. and I only Inke 
 this as I) ctMiimon one. 
 
 Mr. hhirlcv. M.I', lor South Warwickshire, has a line and ii'rll- 
 vuiUihji'd pr(>pt Ity in the Co. Moiia;;han. Il consists of an area 
 of Sl.lHH) acres, in a riuL; fi'nci\ Of this area. M.OOl) acres are (urf 
 
AI'I'KMUX In <'ll \i'ri;i{ I 
 
 CI 
 
 rilit' IIh' 
 liirli III.' 
 
 IMCM. \ 
 
 IIh'V riot. 
 ' iill.Mu' 
 i||';iiiMl('i> 
 
 li;i\i' ll't 
 y I licjir 
 in lliriii, 
 it'iil. onl\ 
 II riirliii 
 sure. Ill" 
 r IIimI III 
 
 v\ llicll il 
 ^iiliir ill! 
 Ktili' mil 
 'It (if «»iir 
 
 I' Ml ll'li;!, 
 
 iiliiiilinii 
 
 III \illiii' 
 
 \n\\i, l>iil 
 
 ^l.'.l wilh 
 
 >ii uliiil 
 
 iii\ Kiinl. 
 
 Il" 1.1. .. 
 
 |i;i\>' III) 
 
 ni alioM, 
 
 ;i"..'ni< III, 
 
 III iiiliii.H 
 
 I livlni.l 
 
 ■//',/ Sllli 
 •illf^lMll'l, 
 -IllMI^TI . 
 sIl.lW II 
 
 (»sl ml 
 y 'riviii'r 
 iintl tlir 
 iiiid on 
 \;nii|'l. . 
 Illy lake 
 
 J //•( il- 
 111 ar.n, 
 jifc Inrf 
 
 lin<r (for Uriiiv) i"»«l wiiliT. imkI *JH,(((io nnrn two iiKihlr Ininl, Cpon 
 lliiM 2H.<MtO (((•/.. ■,'. 2H,(MH» niluihihiHla air liu-nlnl, nml tin re i^ iitit 
 a town or villa;r<' npon llic cMfiitc. 'I'lic |m'(i|)|i> iin> all in ciiliiii'), 
 or Hniall lioiiMcM, tloll.'il in every flircrl.ion over llif laml. 'I'licv <ln 
 iioj, MiriKc llic eye in llif <linlaii('i' wlim lonKinir al. a lari'c jaiifacc, 
 jiM nil r.n!;liKli eye ni'iOil' inia.^inc, I'nr ihomI. nl' llir Ikhi^csi me hiimIc 
 nfinil and arc i-ovcnMl willi f^ra;i'i Modi. ui- Kliaw i^rown f^iccn, and, 
 llirrcron'. ii.n> ho niiii'li llir niloiir of llic land Iliad yon Kcnrcidy hcj* 
 lliriii. 
 
 r.iil In ;ro on \villi lliiM iKlalc. l''ioiii llii' 'iH.OOO iicrcM, Mr. 
 Sliirli'y dcrivi'ii a. //('// ii'nliilof 21,000/. iter aiiniiiii, and llic ('Ml,al,»> 
 in nol liifilily rciilcd. Ili> lian no Its; llian l,O00 ilirn-l Inunila 
 Iclliiif!; Iiinil and payiii;^ rnil, and con !<'(|in'nllv, mi nii iirfim/r., Uicy 
 oiilv pay ill. per aiininii carli, and yi'l. al. Hip pic :< iiI. niopi.nl, there 
 i'; nol I no/, (inu'iir ii/imi llw wlinlr i".liilr. 
 
 'I'lic 'JH.OOO a.cicfi a,rc. Ilicrcrorc. diviilc.l l.el.wccii 1,000 Icna.nt.M, 
 every lioldiii'i; Iuim to lie valued sicpiiriitclv, and in In hind /'/// i,^ no 
 .'I il.'i'i.iii ol' value; rent, .lepeml : upon tin Kind nl hnidloid under 
 wlioiii teiianhi li\.'. upon llie I'ael. ol' wliell r lln land i^t mi/iIiI, once 
 a'S'iin divided, and siilil.l. twice, ;ind mo tin till llie noininal n iil. may 
 |i(> live IliiH"! the r(<al valii.', ami the real ii'iil. jimt. wlial. c;iii lie ex 
 Iracte.l lioiii Hie poor li'iianl licymid lii^^ ou n li;ire ' nl. i ;!. nee. Of 
 llie 2M.0(I0 persoiei located on Mr. Sliirl.y'H 2H,000 ncn •., 2(1,000 arc 
 Itdiiiaii Calliiilici and 2.001) inv riiilcstanlM of all dcnoniinat.ions, 
 ami I may a.'d llici'c i: iieilli.r a p.iliccimm, :i coiclalilc, ii, Molrlier, 
 nor a iiia;^dsl rule upon tlic whole pifipeity. What. tliinlN yon ol' the 
 picliir.' '.' 
 
 I wi 11, Il :>wc\cr, to lell yon llial, a; I'ar a^ my oh erval.ion e\ 
 lends, I have loiiml the piiiicip.il land.tl propi ielui'; id lli.' North of 
 Ireland a henevolent., kind, we II inti nlioned, and , in pii I ilic opinion, a. 
 ill I nil injured (das^! ol' .rcnl leiiicn. It. liiH hccti Ion miudi I he cii ttom 
 li\ I litis.' w ho are slraii;M'i'M to the circinii ;taiM iv; iind. r uliirh |,hi' 
 lan.llor.h: arc place. I In d. i i\ III.' landlord; ol Ireliind a. a hard 
 hearted class ol' ni.'ii, who lia.l liHle coD'adcration ftii' llio.e Mioiiiid 
 tliciii, I assiir(> you I ihiiiK' JiinI. the contrary; lur whalever ni\ 
 opinions nii'dd. liii.VJ' heeii hclorc I het l.r nndcrsldnd I li.' comlil inn ol 
 I he cniiiil r\ , I cci'taiiilv iim I "Im' I hem a ; a h. xly the en dil of doin'.^ 
 ;dl III III. ir pnw.r to h.ller the coiidilion ol lln ir leiianlry. They 
 arc, liow.'vcr, the crcalnres <>\' circiinulance:; l.n In yoiid their 
 control. 
 
 What, can Mr. Shirley do with his 2H.000 p. npl. ■.' To tnrii 
 ihciii olT wniilil he loliirii tli.ni lc starvation, and, h\ the hye, il is 
 more llia.n his or his a^'cnt's life is worth In turn a l. natit, oiil 
 whilst, lie pays liis rent. 
 
62 
 
 LIFE Ol' LOUD STIERBIJOOKr: 
 
 III 
 
 There is a coinhinat'ion, the fruit of circumstances and years of 
 mismanagement of former days, which is heyond the law as regards 
 the Icnnrc of land, hut in iJiis irsp^ct oiili/, and if a man does not 
 pay his i it, he forfeits tlie protection which wouhl he otherwise 
 a Horded 1. n. 
 
 The orighial error for which most of the landlords of Ireland are 
 now paying so dearly, and as far as I can see without remedy, was 
 created hy the gross and ahominahlo perversion of parliamentary 
 influence to private purposes. That niiuiwlio could make most lO.s'. 
 freeholders, could hest demand favoin-s from the Ministers of the day, 
 and time was when upon this very Shirley Estate, 2,500 freeholdeis 
 Avere taken up to tlie poll like a Hock of sheep. There they and 
 their families now are, the diiy of reekoning has come, and though 
 Mr. Shirley is one of the most benevolent of men, spending m(mey 
 without limit ill educating the people letting his land lower than 
 any landlord about him, affording every possible assistance towards 
 improvement — yet such is the picture which his estate affords. 
 
 You will he [)leased to hear that a vast change has taken place 
 in public o[)iiii()n as regards the Poor Law for Ireland. When I 
 first came to this part of the country I found the greatest possible 
 mistrust, misconceptiim and objection to exist against the measure. 
 
 I remember when I was last at your house and about coming to 
 Ireland, that we expressed oui'selves rather at a loss why I was 
 directed to thi! Nortli. T so(m found out. Every man was o])posed 
 to the law; from the North the great opposition in Parliament had 
 emanated. Put I assure you I now do not know where to find an 
 opponent. "Without reference to party or religion, I am assisted 
 cordially and heartily by all. E\( ry gentleman lends a helping 
 hand. Then are no steady, Imsiiiess-like men as in i'lngland there 
 has been nothing hitherto for them to do in public matters — but 
 from Lord Pioden, who is one of my eliairmen, and with whom and 
 his Laily. ^Ir-;. Gulson and myself have been staying at one of tlie 
 most lieaiitit'ul places which Nature can produce, TuUymore Pari;, 
 to the Catholics amongst whom I have many esteemed friends, 1 
 now find hut (me opinion that the measure will do gi'eat good and 
 will in time work out great practical improvement in the stij'e of 
 society. 
 
 The amount of rate will, T feel confident, be Hglit, as it always 
 must b( when the Workhouse system is strictly adhered to, and pro- 
 perly managed. It will not in Ireland amount to Ls. in the .i'., one- 
 half of whiidi the landlords, and the other half the occupiers, pay. 
 In this part of Ireland it will not be so much — in the poonT districts 
 perhaps latlier more; though I doubt if anywhere it exceeiL l.s., 
 including all establishment and other charges. Every man now 
 
.-VTPEXDIX TO CHAriKK I 
 
 63 
 
 years of 
 rcijards 
 loos not 
 .hcnvise 
 
 land are 
 
 3cly, was 
 
 mcntary 
 
 lost 40.S. 
 
 the day, 
 
 oholdevs 
 
 ihey and 
 
 thougli 
 
 J money 
 
 vev than 
 
 towards 
 
 •ds. 
 
 en phice 
 When I 
 possihlo 
 measure, 
 juiing to 
 ly I was 
 opposed 
 iicnt had 
 liiid an 
 assisted 
 helpiii,^- 
 1 tliere 
 ers — hut 
 loni and 
 of tlie 
 J 'ark, 
 lends, I 
 )()d and 
 Av'e of 
 
 re 
 
 holding land gives aAvay far more than thi^ to the mendicants and 
 others ; they all now feel that the measure will he a great relief. 
 
 1 wish you would come and see us ; we live in a heautiful spot, 
 Rostrevor near Newry. The sea is heibre our windows, hounded hy 
 mountains 2,000 and 8,000 feet high. At any rate we could show 
 you much that is new, and variety without end. Excellent sti'ani 
 packets leave Liverpool three times a week for Warren Pohit, near 
 Newry, within two miles of our house, wlu-re we would lueet you. 
 
 We have plenty of room, and we much wish you would hring 
 Mrs. and the blisses Lowe, in whose society I have spent many hours 
 on which I look hack with the greatest pleasure. 1 expect Lord 
 Worsley over in the Spring sahuon-iishing. We have to go to the 
 extreme North and West of Jreland for it, and to rough it occasion- 
 ally, hut we catch great numhers there. 
 
 At Ikillina, 2,000 lish, salmon and trout, arc taken out of the 
 river eveiy morning. At the Giiint's Causeway we saw them in 
 shoals and caught some, hut the weather was loo fine. 
 
 I cannot conclude this long, straggling, and perhaps tiresome 
 letter, without most sincerely thanking vou for your great and con- 
 timied kindness to my hrolher-in-la\v, Mr. l\Iassey, who, Icanassui-e 
 you, is very grateful for your goodiiess to him. If ]\Ir, 1 lenry is with 
 you, pray ri'memher me kindly to him ; tell him of the salmon and 
 assure him 1 shall he very nnich delightid to se'e him here and to 
 lake him amongst 'the finest Pisintry in the world.' 
 
 1 h{)])e both he and yourself will try lo contrive it. The pnssiige 
 is only fourteen hours from Liverpool, and the ladies must not be 
 l(>ft behind. I'ray give Mrs. (iulsun's and my kind regards lo them, 
 and 
 
 ]lelieve mo, my dear Sir, 
 
 Yours most tndy, 
 
 lM)WAUn CiUIiSON. 
 Rev. llobert Lowe, 
 
 Binf,'liain liPctory. 
 
 We hope to get a good Act this Session for luiglantl, and a good 
 Vagrant Law for Ireland. 
 
 always 
 and ])ro- 
 
 L., one- 
 ■rs, pay. 
 districts 
 'cd 1,s., 
 lan now 
 

 I 
 
 ' II 
 
 I 
 rl 
 
 G4 
 
 LIFE OF LORD STIERBROOKE 
 
 CHAPTEIJ II 
 
 CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL- DAYS 
 (1811-1829) 
 
 'The child,' Wordsworth tells us, * is father of the man.' 
 Lord Sherl)rooke, who was not even the eldest member of the 
 Lowe family, seems to have befjjmi his law-makinj^ in the 
 nursery. The children of the Bingham rectory, in tlu^ order 
 of their ages, wore : — 
 
 I'illen Pyndar Lowe. 
 
 Eh/.al)otli A, i,nics Pyndar Lowe ; born, 18()!> ; died, \Hm. 
 
 Henry Porter Lowe (afterwards assumed the name of Sher- 
 
 brooke on inbei'itinj? the estates) ; born, September 8, 1810 ; 
 
 died, June 12, 1887. 
 Robert (afterwards Viscount Sberbrooke) ; born, Decembci' 1, 
 
 1811 ; died, July 28, 181)2. 
 Frederick Pyndar Lowe ; born, 181;) ; died, October 12, 1872. 
 Mar<i[aret Anne Lowe. 
 Tbere was also j\Iary Anne Lowe, who died an infant in 1810, 
 
 It seems to have struck the future Chancellor of the 
 Excheiiuer and Home Secretary, that even this tiny community 
 needed the restraints of a legal code to keep them at peace 
 and in order 
 what Cromwcllian code : — 
 
 He accordingly formulated the following some- 
 
 Codi' of Lairs iiiHtUalcd hi/ the Lowes in Defence of their Society, 
 181!K (Coin/zi/ed by Bohert Loire, aijcd seven and a half years.) 
 
 (1) Tliai. m> one may take a chair when tbere is another person's 
 clotlies on it. 
 
 i2i If a King or Qiareen do anyibiiig uidjivvful tiiey must be de- 
 thriwied, and another chosen by ek-ction of the people. 
 
nilLDllOOD AND SCHOOL-DAYS 
 
 65 
 
 (8) That no person or persons may tight with a hrick army lor 
 any affront except about the bricks. 
 
 (4) That wiiatover they say in a passion shall bo considered as 
 nothing. 
 
 {')) That ^Yhen a law is passing and the votes are oqual, the ages 
 of both parties bo added up, and those that have the most gain and 
 the law is passed. 
 
 (U) That no person may laugh in Court, or tidget about, under 
 pain of i)eing turned out of the Society till that time next day ; and 
 likewise that no one may have a sword at meals or make disagree- 
 able noises at any time. 
 
 i", ) That when we ask any of the younger class of the Society to 
 give their opinion on any law, that they are not told who agrees to 
 it and who does not. 
 
 (M) Tliiit no member of the Society may have a stick on Sunday. 
 
 (!M That nobody may lyribe any person to give their vote about 
 WVV law. 
 
 (10) Tluii every law must be written on the day that it is made. 
 
 (11) That no law slnU be proposed on Sunday. 
 
 (12) Ttiat no law shall be made after six in the evening. 
 (IH) That no person may have a book at meals. 
 
 Lord Slicrbrooke lias told n« himself that, owing to liis 
 doticieiit eyesip;ht, he was figlit years old before he 'he^an the 
 great business of life — the study of the Latin grammar.' In 
 these more indulgent days, many may think this age (juite 
 young enough, while others may hold that it were hetternever 
 to enter on this study at all. It is somewhat singular tlnit 
 Uobort Lowe should have begun the study of Latin i)recisely 
 at the same age as his future most ii telkctual opponent on 
 the door of the House of ('ommons . l)ut John Stuart Mill 
 had the ad\antage — or disadvantage — of having begun GrH^'k 
 when only three years oUl. In after years Lord ti^herbrooke 
 had more than one brilliant fling at the cl is-;ics, and he evea 
 said irreverent things of the whole s< tinme of I niversity 
 training. But such chastisement was afiier all frcin the loving 
 hand of a friend ; or, rather, it was the protnst of a true son of 
 Alma Mater. Despite his theories, to the i nd of life he was 
 passionately fond of the claBsic writers, ar'd was one of the 
 last of the scholars among the ranks of our public men. 
 
 VOL. I. w 
 
./ 
 
 66 
 
 I.IFK OF I.OF.'I) SUKKHHOOKi: 
 
 ( 
 
 l|:i 
 
 19 
 
 I 
 
 ) i 
 
 I \ \ 
 
 Vet the coinmencement of his stmlies .-('omed stully uiij)ro- 
 pitioUH. His mother, lie cxiu'essly tells us, was opposed even 
 to his Roing to school, considering his eyesight a fatal barrier 
 to all learning. J lis father, however, took ;) more hopeful view, 
 and in any event thought it better that the boy who was so 
 vigorous in mind and body- save for his unfortunate eyes — 
 should lake his chanc^' with the others in the competition 
 of the schoolroom, anil the rough-and-tumble of the play- 
 ground. 
 
 Accordingly llobert Lowe, in his tenth year, was sent iis 
 day scholar, while his father was in residence as Prebendary, 
 to a private; school at Southwell, aiul afterwards to an ancient 
 grammar school at Risley in Derbyshire, where gentlemen's 
 sons began their Latin education. 
 
 13ut his real education (aiul therefore his troubles) began 
 when he was entered as a Commoner at Winchester. He 
 was then fourteen years of age. Nothing can well exceed his 
 own forbidding account of his life at this famous public school ; 
 and reading it over one understands the fervour with which the 
 boys on ' breaking up ' hav(! sung from time immemorial 
 ' Piilre 1 htm inn ' ! 
 
 Lord Slu^rbrooke, ni writing this description of the Win- 
 chester of his early youth, was careful to point out that it in 
 no way applied to the Winchester of our day. The reform is 
 generally said to have set in with Dr. ]\Ioberly and Dr. Charles 
 Wordsworth, who were in charge of the school after Robctrt 
 Lowe had left it for Oxford. Certain of Lord Shcrbrooke's 
 contemporaries at Winchester have given almost as gloomy a 
 picture of their school experiences, notably ^fr. T. Adolphus 
 Trollo[)e in his very interesting reminiscenoes, Jl'lutt I llcincin- 
 hrr ; and his younger brother, the late Anthony Trollope, who, 
 however, is even more severe on the Harrow of Dr. Butler, to 
 which school his erratic parents sent him after he had been 
 three years at Winchester. Anthony Trollope's greatest enemy 
 at Winchester was his own brother, who, I presume, occu))ied 
 
cini.mionn am» s( iiool-kavs 
 
 67 
 
 tliiit singular post of profoct, for lie tells uh that ' aB i>art of his 
 daily exorcise he thrashed me with a hi^' stick.' 
 
 It is perhaps only fair to AVinchester to hear in mind that 
 at that time the other ^n-eai i)nhlic schools were (piitc as had. 
 It is aninsinp; to comi)ar(! the hard life of the younj; <^entry of 
 I'^nj^dand, forciil to ;^'o to Eton, Harrow, or Winchester in those 
 years, with that of the petted ' ^nitter-child ' in the Board 
 School of to-diiy, whose sacred p(>rson muHt hy no means 
 receive chastisement, whatever his offence mav he.' Anthonv 
 TroUope's misc ry at Harrow was even nioic intense than at 
 Winchester. Then there is the story of the famous ])r. Keate of 
 Eton flogpinp; a dozen imiocent hoys, who were sent up not 
 to he physically punished, hut to he prepared for conlirmation. 
 
 It was a Spartan time : hut in thinkinj^' with a shudder of 
 llu: hrutalities of Winchester in 1H25, let us not for}j;(!t that 
 three of its hoys ros(; in after life hy sheer force of ahility 
 t.) he Cahinet ]\Iinisters and peers of the realm — IJohert 
 Lowe, Viscount Sh<;rhrooke : Edwai'd Cardwdl, Earl Cardwell ; 
 and lloundell Palmei", Earl S( Ihorne. Another complaining 
 Wykehamiteof that period — Tennyson's ' most generous of all 
 Cltramontanes,' William George Ward, passeil through its 
 iron tyranny apparently unscathe<l ; for. at Oxford, he dis- 
 plavi'd such vivacity of mind and vigour of hody, that he fairly 
 worried his nominal master, Newman, into the ('hur(di of Home, 
 and his favourite pupil, Clougli, into Inlidelity. Xor can either 
 of the Trollopes he regarded as a hroken reed — Who was more 
 constant at the desk or eager in the hunting Held than the 
 
 ' ' It is very satisfactory to liiul that a snnniions aj^'aiiisl a Li iiduii Hoard 
 sciiooiinustLT Cor wliiiipiii^,' a lioy lias l)ec'ii tlismisscd. 'riicri- was no sii^'j^'t'stion 
 iliat tliu punisiinunl was unreasonable or excessive, and the riunmions was 
 merely taken out because the boy hail for absentinj,' himself from school 
 received two caninj,'s on two ditt'crent days. Tiic boy said he did not like^'oing 
 CO school, and his mother supjjorted his view. It is simply another elTort to 
 t'liforei' one law for the rich and another fur the pcor. If the headnuister oi a 
 public school were to be summoned every time a youn^' >,'ent!eman was 
 ■' .^wislu'd," we should be told that the boys vi the upiier classes were lucomin|.{ 
 effeminate.' St. Jcnnes's (i<i:rltc, October 1H'.)2. 
 
 k2 
 

 SMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 ■50 "^^^ lm9B 
 
 1.4 
 
 6" 
 
 lll^a 
 
 1.6 
 
 
 >^ 
 
 ^. 
 
 V 
 
 VQ 
 
 '^ 
 
 *^^'"<*:^ ?' 
 
 <^ 
 
 %' 
 
 
 > 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WIST MAIN STRIET 
 
 WMSTIR.N.Y. MS80 
 
 (716)S73-4S03 
 
 4^ '4^ 
 
 '^ 
 
4?. 
 
 io 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 

 JI^-'-Ji'K 
 
 BBP! 
 
 I I 
 
 i i) 
 
 68 
 
 IJKE OF LOUD SIIKHr.PtOOKE 
 
 author oi Barchester 'Towers? In the whole range of modern 
 men of letters, can we mdeed point to a more typical, sturdy 
 Englishman than Anthony Trollope, unless it be his brother, 
 who, in his eighty-third year, is the most distinguished of Anglo- 
 Italian publicists, and still looks out on this fascinating world 
 with the intelligent, ever-inquiring eye of the scholar and the 
 thinker.' Nor does this by any means exhaust the list of 
 eminent Winchester boys who passed through the school during 
 this dark hour of anarchy tempered by flagellation. There was 
 also among the contemporaries of Lord Sherbrooke, Tindal, 
 afterwards Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; and shortly 
 before his time, in 1820, there entered a yet more distin- 
 guished scholar, Christopher Wordsworth, afterwards Bishop 
 of Lincoln, one of the great ornaments of the English Church 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 It is plain that neither the tyranny nor the mismanage- 
 ment under either Dr. Gable or Dr. Williams, in any way 
 injured or weakened these illustrious Wykehamites. In read- 
 ing Lord Sherbrooke's account too, it is only fair to remember 
 that his physical infir^^ity would have made any form of 
 public school-life irksome and in a measure dangerous. Mr. 
 Adolphus Trollope bears testimony to the fact that while his 
 old schoolfellow was * respected, he was not liked,' simply be- 
 cause he could not take part in the rough games of the play- 
 ground. To a boy of Robert Lowe's great vigour of body as 
 well as of mind, with his consequent high health and good 
 spirits, this must have been no slight deprivation. At Oxford, 
 where there was boating, at which his preternaturally short 
 sight was no great drawback, he became one of the strongest 
 of oarsmen. 
 
 In a letter of condolence on the death of his famous 
 schoolfellow, Mr. Adolphus Trollope writes to the present 
 Viscountess Sherbrooke — 
 
 ' Thomas Adolplius Trollope died at Clifton, November 11, 181)2, wliile these 
 im^'cs were passing through the press. 
 
 ! t 
 
 
CIIILDIIOC)!) AND SCHOOL-DAYS 
 
 69 
 
 f modern 
 il, sturdy 
 s brother, 
 of Anglo- 
 ing world 
 ,r and the 
 he list of 
 3ol during 
 rhere was 
 e, Tindal, 
 d shortly 
 re distin- 
 ds Bishop 
 ill Church 
 
 smanage- 
 
 any way 
 In read- 
 emember 
 form of 
 pus. Mr. 
 while his 
 mply be- 
 thc play- 
 body as 
 and good 
 t Oxford, 
 illy short 
 strongest 
 
 s famous 
 present 
 
 wiiile these 
 
 July 30, 18',I2. 
 
 My recollection of him after the sixty-five years— wor thereabouts 
 —that have passed is as perfect as on the day after I last saw him. 
 1 can recall every trick of his manner, his voice ; and could put my 
 fin<j;er on the spot in the schoolroom where 1 last saw him standing. 
 There are, of course, but few of our contemporaries renuiining ! 
 There is Lord Selborne ; the \Varden of New Coll., by whose side I 
 dined the other day, and perhaps half a ilozen country parsons, 
 sprinkled — as salt — over the country. 
 
 This brief reminiscence will form a prologue to the follow- 
 ing tribute to the memory of his old schoolfellow and his oldest 
 friend, which Lord Selborne has been good enough to write 
 for this chapter. Not only are these reminiscences of liobert 
 Lowe at Winchester interesting in themselves, but with regard 
 to the school itself, they show, as it were, the other side of the 
 shield. Lord Selborne writes : — 
 
 ' My knowledge of Robert Lowe dates from November 
 1825, when I first went to scliool at "Winchester, being then 
 thirteen years old. He was a year older, and had come to the 
 school only two months before. I was placed next to him iit 
 the bottom of the form (senior part of the tifth we called it), 
 next to the highest. There was in that, and in the higher form 
 into which we passed in due course of time, no change of 
 places ; so Lowe and I continued, until he left in the summer 
 of 1829, always to sit together at lessons. We also slept in 
 the same room during great part of tlio first three years, and 
 in these ways we were thrown very much into each other's 
 company. This was a good thing for me, for we were both 
 ambitious, and there was a useful and always friendly rivalry 
 between us, especially in verse exercises ; Latin composition 
 (and sometimes English also) being much cultivated in those 
 days, and being an almost cc^rtain road to the honours both 
 of the school and of the Universities. 
 
 'Each of us may have done scmiething to sharpen theother's 
 wits, but I thhdv the balance of obligation, and of the risk of 
 
'•r4,-<)0i$i^MmimMemt>iMi,^m..i,m>imJ-,.iv. (isaifc 
 
 / ) 
 
 70 
 
 LIFE OF J.OKJJ SIIEUlUiOOKE 
 
 M[ ; ;i 
 
 '■i ' ' 
 
 taking things too easil,y if there had not been such a stinmhihv, 
 was on my side. Now and then we agreed to have special 
 competitions with each other in particular exercises, and neither 
 of us was unwilling when he thought the other had the 
 superiority, to acknowledge it. 
 
 •' TiOwe was not a boy with whom successful rivalry was 
 possible without a continual effort, and he certainly did much 
 more to keep me up to a high standard of exertion than any- 
 body else. 
 
 ' He had the drawback of a nearness of sight so great that 
 he could not read without bringing the ])ook close to his face, 
 so as almost, if not quite, to touch it, and he could not write 
 with ease. I remember an epigram of his on " Sleep " (such 
 ej)igrams, called " Vulguses," were among our tasks on several 
 days in the week), in which he described his own experience 
 of the consequences of lying in bed too long in the morning, 
 as we both sometimes did. It ended : — 
 
 ISi-ribenduni est, pigro scribendi ferre laborem, 
 
 Et servanda meie terga dolore luanus. 
 Talia si fiierint tiia mnnera, perfide Morpheii, 
 
 Lumina linque, oro, nostra— vel usque tene. 
 
 This difficulty of sight was not only against him in school 
 work, but it disquahfied him from entering into school games 
 and athletics, in which he might otherwise have been likely to 
 excel, as he learnt to do, notwithstanding it, in swimming ; and 
 it might have stood in his way, if he had been obliged to repel 
 by his own strength any rough usage from his schoolfellows. 
 Boys are not apt to be considerate in their treatment of each 
 other, and I have no doubt he had his share of trials at Win- 
 chester, but I think upon the whole he held his own as well 
 as most of us, and was never very roughly handled. 
 
 * This may have been partly due to the impression made 
 by his force of character, and partly to the feeling that, but 
 for one disadvantage, no one would have been more capable 
 of defending himself, or more prompt to do so ; for he had a 
 
Cllir.DIlOOJ) AM) SCIIOOI.-DA^S 
 
 1 
 
 very higli spirit and courage, and was not wanting in strength 
 for his age. But I am also willing to believe th?lt most of his 
 schoolfellows, of equal or greater age and strength, would have 
 been ashamed of taking an unfair advantage of one who could 
 not see as well as themselves, and such as were of a meaner 
 spirit may perhaps have been restrained by the better feeling 
 of others. 
 
 ' Still, he must have felt the strain of contending with 
 difficulties from which his competitors and companions were 
 free, though his pluck and energy enabled him to surmount 
 them ; and this may have sharpened his sense of what was 
 bad in the life and moral atmosphere, and uncomfortable in 
 the arrangements, of the school. 
 
 ' Certain it is that Winchester never obtained that place 
 in his affections which (in spite of everything which might 
 have had an opposite tendency) it did in my own," and in 
 those of most other Wykehamists. Drawbacks enough upon 
 our comfort there undoubtedly were, foi- Winchester in those 
 days was as different as possible from what it is now. The 
 commoners, 130 in number, to whose body he and I belonged, 
 were inconveniently crowded together in a large brick building 
 like a barrack, and on three days in the week we were c(»n- 
 fined to it and the schoolroom, except for one hour before 
 diinier. The hours and meals were not at all well arranged, 
 and in every part of the system there was a more tlian Spartan 
 austerity. 
 
 ' We had, however, in our Head Master, Dr. Williams, an 
 excellent man and thorough gentleman, of a generous and 
 kindly nature, who taught well, and had the faculty of 
 interesting the more active-mhided of his scholars in their 
 work. The range of teaching may have been limited in com- 
 parison with that of the present day ; but it was effective 
 
 ' See ' Lines projected imd partly written, on the Four Hundred iind Fi ftieth 
 Anniversary of tlie Opening of Winchester College,' March 'if), 184,^. By 
 Boundoll I'alnier. Annals of Mij Earlij Life. JJishop Charles Wordssvmih 
 (Longmans), p. 390. 
 
■fr7v--\ 
 
 ! n 
 
 l! ' ! 
 
 |! '•■ 
 
 : ■»" 
 
 72 
 
 LIFE OF LOKU SIIEEBRUOKE 
 
 within that range, and Lowe was one of those who profited 
 by it most. 
 
 ' He became a very good verse- Wi iter and a first-rate 
 scholar, of the robust and tasteful, rather than the minute 
 and technical, kind. When near the top of the school 
 he displayed his poetical gift in a voluntary English exer- 
 cise upon " The Music of the Spheres," which was recited 
 by him at the public speeches then annually delivered at 
 Easter, and which took high rank among other performances 
 of the same kind by the ablest boys of our own and former 
 generations. 
 
 ' He was remarkable, even then, for a ready caustic wit, 
 and for a capacity of saying sharp things, which, if they were 
 not always pleasant (I came in for my share of them), left no 
 sting behind. I do not remember any occasion on which we 
 had a serious quarrel. The longer I knew him, the better I 
 learnt to understand the generosity as well as the force of his 
 character. 
 
 ' He left Winchester a year before I did ; and I followed him 
 in 1830 to Oxford.' 
 
 !S ' 
 
 No one can read this narrative of schoolboy days, although 
 written at an interval of some sixty-five years from the time 
 and events it describes, without feeling its essential veracity. 
 In it Lord Selborne has presented us with the brighter side 
 of Winchester life, under the old Spartan rf'fiime. 
 
 Sir Thomas Farrer, of Abinger Hall, writes : ' Some time 
 in the fifties, Lowe, Cardwell, Eoundell Palmer, and Henry 
 Halford Vaughan dined with me together. TIk; talk fell on 
 Winchester, and it was characteristic of the men that Eoundell 
 Palmer, with true esprit de cor2)s, stood up stoutly for his old 
 school ; while the others, and especially Lowe and Cardwell, 
 abused it as a coarse, brutal, cruel school.' 
 
 Winchester is now, like all our great public schools, entirely 
 changed ; in many respects, doubtless, for the better. Bishop 
 
 [• umu^ 
 
\ 
 
 CIIILDHOUD AND SCIIOOL-DAVS 
 
 73 
 
 iO i^rofited 
 
 first-rate 
 le minute 
 he school 
 ;lish exer- 
 as recited 
 livered at 
 "ormances 
 id former 
 
 ustic wit, 
 they were 
 q), left no 
 which we 
 better I 
 "ce of his 
 
 )wed him 
 
 although 
 the time 
 veracity, 
 iter side 
 
 me time 
 Henry 
 fell on 
 oundell 
 his old 
 irdwell, 
 
 3ntirely 
 Bishop 
 
 Charles Wordsworth, in his Annals of my Early Life, tells us 
 in his own modest way of the work he himself did under 
 Dr. Moberly, to soften, and, so to speak. Christianise the 
 school. The * discipline of the rod ' — which, however, the 
 wisest of men thought essential in the training of youth — 
 was practically abolished by the Bishop of St. Andrews ' 
 while second master at Winchester. 
 
 It was the recognised method of dealing with boyish oftences. 
 And no doubt my predecessor Kidding was equally ' plagosus ' 
 with his superior ' Orbilius,' Williams, who succeeded Gabell : for 
 the second master equally with the head master had the power of 
 the rod. It was not, I believe, unusual for him, after morning school, 
 to castigate in that manner not less than four or five boys at a time 
 who had been ' tardy chapel.' But I can remember when, in reply- 
 ing to the toast of my health in the Wardens' Gallery at a Domum 
 Festival, I had the satisfaction of stating that not a single boy had 
 been flogged by me during the whole of the long half-year which 
 was then ended. And certainly there had been no relaxation — but 
 quite the contrary — in the needful discipline of the school (pp. 28(5- 
 237). 
 
 No one can presume to doubt the testimony of the good 
 Bishop ; and all we can charitably hope is that, under its 
 improved and more humane discipline and its wider and more 
 enlightened curriculum, Winchester may some day again 
 produce three such men as Lord Sherbrooke, Lord Selborne, 
 and his own brother, Christopher Wordsworth. 
 
 Lord Selborne, with characteristic impartiality, sum^ up 
 what his schoolfellow really gained at Winchester. It made 
 him (he writes) * a very good verse- writer and a first-class 
 scholar of the robust and tasteful, rather than the minute and 
 technical, kind.' Lord Sherbrooke himself supplements this 
 testimony by his grateful tribute to his Winchester tutor, 
 Mr. Wickham. But — more siio — he goes further, and states 
 that Winchester settled for him an even graver question than 
 
 ' Dr. Charles Wordsworth died on Monday, December 5, 18D'2, at St. 
 Andrews. The Times, in a leading article on the death of the venerable pre- 
 late, remarks: 'Among the many eminent men who have borne the name of 
 Wordsworth, he will be remembered as by no means the least eminent.' 
 
f / 
 
 \ 
 
 y 
 
 ■/ 
 
 (■' ! 
 
 74 
 
 I, III'! oi' i,i)i;n siii;i;iUi()()M'; 
 
 Hint oI'mriT s('li()Iiirsln|t ' It ^;nl\('(| (lie pioMi'm !i.m l»» wlicl.lii r 
 I Wiis ;ilt|(' (ii hold my own in lilc. luul proNcd l»\ ii most 
 ('ruci.'vl cNprrinicnl lli;it I \\;im int| (do sniHitivc, intr too moI'I, 
 tor I 111' l)iisin(>ss." 
 
 As to liis liitioss lor llie hiilllc of lil'c, llicrt' will Itc niiicli 
 111 s.iy l;i((M' (>i\. \\'\{\\ ri\!';intl (o IiIh verMc-iMiiiuM}.; tlitMT 
 K'wu i>(> no (louM Unit W'iiU'lu'MitM" fostered Mini Hliinnliited 
 the pviU'tiee ; hut even ;is ,1 child :it nin;:;liiini. iJohert iiowe 
 ' lisped in ninnlu>rs." M;iiiy of his sehoolhoy ('iViisionH 
 hiive luMMi preserved, .ind nenrly ill! iire \v\\ superior t(» 
 the iivei;i;;(' o^ juvenile verse. To his liiniily iind iinnu!- 
 di.ite iVitMids llu'se must possess n peeuliiir nit(>reHl. in wliieli 
 tile ordimiry r(>inlin;; piihlie eiin lijinlly hv expected to piir- 
 tieipat(\ 
 
 Tliei't" lies iudore me now a snuill hundle ot sueh verse, 
 Honie written in I'hildhood iit ninj;hiini, hut most iit Win- 
 ohester. ()ne of these youthl'ul poems arrests the attention 
 more from (he suhjecl thiin the treatment. 'V\\v lines are 
 htnidi^l, 77/(' l-'idililji (>/' ///( Sifixn (iHiinls to l,i)iiix AT/.; 
 and sij^;;ned, /I'.i/irr/ l.i>iri\ -liinr., WiiH'ln^ilir ('ollaic, IS'JH. 
 They show, as elearly as Wordswortli's latiM- Toryism or I'itt's 
 ahandonment of his polii'y of iVwee and luiform, how profound 
 was the reaction in Mnji;land against t.h(Mi\eess(>s of lh(> l''reiK'li 
 Ixevi^lutiiMi. l"'or Kohert \iO\\c was never a, hiind worshipper 
 oi the 'divinity tliat doth hedj^e a king" ; on the contrary, ho 
 was opposcil to any form o\' ('onservaiism which api)(»ared to 
 liim to he hased on traditional ignorance or innate stupidity. 
 Hut liis nature ahhorred anarchy and lawlessness and tli<* wild 
 frenzy that at times seizes on mohs, usur[»ing and ov(>r-riding 
 reasi>n and common-sense even in the most ancient and civi- 
 lised communities - 
 
 lu'il ruin uiui tlio broiikiuf; up of laws. 
 
 In these sclumlhoy verses, in which he passionately calls 
 upon us to do honour to the Swiss mercenaries who so nobly 
 
(MlllHIOIIH 
 
 riiiM)ii(»(n> ,\M» sriKKu, i»\vs 
 
 th 
 
 ji:iiv(' ii|»(!irir liv(«M for |Jii< |''itiic|i Kin.', I 
 
 Kl ^;iVCM rXpniHHioil ill 
 
 our |...Unl Inl lilH-H 1,0 tin, |.IOVII,ilil|^r politiciiJ HCIl^illHillf, (if hi; 
 
 whole hi' 
 
 Not, |,|M>ii>4 In uJkIi Io l.tcnk Mic ici^'al cliiiin, 
 'I'u liiil the iiKiny ImvkIcmI MomhIoi' iciijii. 
 'I'o |>liin},'(i tli(! Iiiiid ill iiimrcliy iui<! hlood 
 l''nf viiiii cliiincniH of iilctiJ j'ood. 
 
 \ 
 
 luoH tirv. 
 

 76 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBKOOKF 
 
 ^^ :. 
 
 !|1 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 OXFORD 
 
 (1829-1833) 
 
 The Undergraduate— ' Union ' Debates and Classic Wit 
 
 As a supplement to Lord Sherbrooke's own graphic account 
 of his career at Oxford, the following narratives by Lord 
 Selborne and Canon Melville may fitly open this chapter. 
 Having already told us that Lowe left Winchester a year 
 before himself — that is in October 1829 — Lord Selborne thus 
 continues his reminiscences : — 
 
 ' We were at different colleges not very near each other — 
 he at University College, I at Trinity ; but we met frequently, 
 both in the society of the place and at the '* Union " Debating 
 Club, in which we both for some time took a leading part, 
 as did our schoolfellow, Cardwell, Tait (afterwards Archbishop 
 of Canterbury) , and others of our friends. Lowe was then, as 
 since, a nervous, incisive speaker, always taking the Liberal side 
 on the political questions which we discussed. There was a 
 schism in the Union in 1833, arising out of the very inadequate 
 cause that the set of men to which we belonged, having for 
 some time had the predominance in the offices and business 
 of the society, were outvoted in the election of a new president, 
 and a clever Radical named Massie, not a favourite with us 
 (though I know no good reason whj' he should not have been) 
 was placed in the Chair. Lowe took his own line on that 
 occasion, and supported Massie ; in which he was, I have no 
 
 i i 
 
OXFORD 
 
 77 
 
 doubt, quite right. But the dissentients withdrew for a term 
 or two and formed a new society, called the " Ran^bler," whose 
 debates, for a short time, eclipsed those of the Union. This, 
 the new Government of the Union thought high treason ; and 
 they made a motion to expel us, which Lowe supported, but 
 which was defeated by a large majority, at a crowded special 
 meeting, after a very lively debate. Lowe was one of the heroes 
 of that fight ; and his prowess in it, as well as that of the other 
 principal speakers, was celebrated in mock Homeric strain — 
 in a jcu d'esprit of doggerel Greek called Uniomachia, which 
 obtained at the time some local celebrity.' 
 
 Canon Melville thus recounts the story of the early 
 academic period of Lord Sherbrooke's career : — 
 
 * Robert Lowe left Winchester for Oxford in 1829. Unlike 
 his schoolfellows — Roundell Palmer and Edward Card well — 
 he never held a college scholarship. But though so far seem- 
 ingly short of their successes, the first being a scholar of 
 Trinity and the last of Balliol, this was due to the fact that 
 the endowments of University College were at that time con- 
 fined to localities with which Robert Lowe had no connection. 
 Otherwise the three schoolfellows had careers very remarkable 
 in their similarity and coincidence. Each attained the high- 
 est academic distinctions. Roundell Palmer gathered all the 
 chief University prizes except the English essay. Edward 
 Cardwell was a double first class man. Robert Lowe only lost 
 his mathematical first class through his very dtvoctive sight 
 interfering with the clear record of his work ; his nose, as was 
 said at the time, obliterating much which his hand had written. 
 His classical first was well understood in Oxford to be of a high 
 standard. The late Bishop of London, Bishop Jackson ; the 
 late Dean of Christchurch, Dr. Liddell ; Scott, late Dean 
 of Rochester, and others who afterwards became eminent in 
 their several spheres, were in the same class. 
 
 * Robert Lowe passed these examinations and took his B.A. 
 
i 
 
 V \ 
 
 ^^^iS^^^S^^ 
 
 78 
 
 I.IKK OF una) SIlEl{i5K()()KK 
 
 
 s i 
 
 5 if 
 
 .« 
 
 decree in Easter term 1H;33. The undergracluiite life was 
 s})eHt imu'li as siu'li life at that tinio generally was. Univer- 
 sity Colle<j;e, with its close foundation, was not then a literary 
 eolle<^e ; a'.d Lowe owed his own successes to his own mental 
 activity, not at all to collegiate aid. Indeed, so conscious was 
 the tutor of tJie time of his own inadeijuacy to train such a 
 l)upil, that the college offered to excuse Lowe the college lec- 
 tun)s, and supply him with a private tutor, if he pleased, 
 from among those distinguished at the time as trainers for the 
 linal examination. But it was the inherent energy of his 
 own mind that induced study and led to its results. The 
 three friei.ls on one occasion started the (piestion among 
 themselves — what caused them to work '? Cardwell said he 
 did not really know why he worked — he fell into the way of it 
 — so far as he did work. Pioundell Palmer admitted that he 
 worked to obtain the prize to which it led. Lowe said he 
 worked from the love of the pursuit.' 
 
 Mr. Francis W. Newman, the well-known surviving brother 
 of Cardinal Newman, supplies the following quaint reminiscence 
 of Robert Lowe as an undergraduate : — 
 
 ' When I was a young Fellow in Balliol College, Oxford, a 
 young boy, perhaps aged sixteen, not yet of full height, 
 appeared before us Fellows, as candidate for a vacant scholar- 
 ship, in the close of November, probably 1830. He had white 
 eyelashes, &c., as an albino, and his name was Robert Lowe. He 
 wrote a huge text like a child learning to write. His examina- 
 tion was not such as to gain the honour sought ; that is, he had 
 elders who surpassed him. But among others of his judges, 
 / warmly applauded him and augured future success for him.' 
 
 Canon Melville gives the following account of Lord Sher- 
 brooke's connection with the famous University Debating 
 Club— the Union : — 
 
 ' The Union Debating Society was an early scene of those 
 
 I I ' 
 
 I 
 
OXFOIM) 
 
 70 
 
 po\V(>rs wliicli ill the future were to raise liobert Lowe 1o I'arlia- 
 meiitary success. He was elected February 10, 11^31 — after a 
 memorable debate on a motion condemnatory of the Catliolic 
 lielief J Jill— on which Mr. Gladstone si)oke and carried an 
 amendment by a majority of sixteen. Robert Lowe's first 
 speech was in March following, on a motion in favour of the 
 then system of popular education. Lowe opposed this, and 
 was joined in the debate by the late Cardinal Manning in an 
 amendment which was carried by twenty-six. After this he 
 was a constant speaker — notably in June of the same year 
 for " the gradual emancipation of West Indian slavery through 
 the promotion of personal and civil rights and Christian 
 education." 
 
 ' Mai/ 10, 1832. — 1\. Lowe moved, " That all taxes on know- 
 ledge should be done away ; " which with scarce any debate was 
 rejected. Of the many public questions in which he took part 
 it might seem singular that only twice did he plead for any 
 motion — all the rest being in opposition. The decidedly 
 Tory and anti-Liberal cast of the society at that time fur- 
 nishes the explanation, as the one or two examples given above 
 will illustrate.' 
 
 After 1834 heavy tutorial work precluded all but very 
 occasional presence at the Union, of which Lord Sherbrooke 
 always preserved the liveliest recollections and, like a dis- 
 tinguished contemporary and fellow -member of this far-famed 
 debating club, he regarded it as one of the best institutions 
 at Oxford. 
 
 It has been thought advisable to add some further par- 
 ticulars of these debates at the Union. For this famous 
 debating society has played no small part in training our 
 future statesmen and Parliamentary gladiators, from Mr. 
 Gladstone himself to his latest Home Secretary, Mr. Asquith. 
 Lowe ranked among the most brilliant of these Oxford debaters ; 
 and no one who knows human nature will smile in disbelief 
 
Iff 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 80 
 
 I. UK, (»K I.O|{I> SIIKinilJOOKK 
 
 or in thM'ision wlicii il is siiid lliiil miniy of IIk^so (IoIulIcm id 
 tho I'nion (MjuiiIIctl. mikI |>(>ilin|tH siirpMMst'd, llm rIToi'lM of IIm^ 
 mww men ill jil'lcr vpiiis on (lir lloof of (»illn<r llmiMr ol" 
 J\u'liitnuMit. l''or llirv woro llicii in [\\o liill lliutli and pridi^ 
 of Ihi o' sli\'n}\(li find powrrs ; ('ii;';rr l(» invcMlij'jili" .iiid hoIvo 
 llio i\yvi\{ proMonis o\' Innniinitv. i'M;',«M' niso to ciohh Mwordn 
 with rvofv fo(>. imd o\\\\ (oo ;',liid lo illinnino llio piilli »d' nil 
 wluMU lli«>v ind;',»>d I* lu> niis|>,Mid«>d or in diirkncsH. No in«'ro 
 [)!illr_v i'oi\sidrrjili(Mis of ('\p»Mlit>t\cv ocfin'rcd to IIu^mc fi(\Hli, 
 in};onuous minds; nosiid proinonilion lliiil llio world woidd }v> 
 on ninoli llu* ssum* wliMlcvcr Mumi" olixpirnj. lonjViU'M inii^ld. 
 utl»>v. 
 
 What ht>tttM' pronf and illustration of this can wo ha,V(' than 
 tluM'ast> of Mr. (iiatlstono hinisolf. ' (lladHtoiu",' writes Mi. 
 Hvinsh>v Kichards. • was »»loi'tod St^cfotarv to the I'nioii in 
 IS;U) and rri>sid(Mit in tho followiiiji; yi>ar. It, was soon al"l(»i' 
 this that lu> atlarl\(>d tho lu>l\>nii Hill; and li(> spoKo with 
 siu'h troiu'hant forci", siuli ov»>rllowin}', conviction, tha,t Lord 
 l]inci>ln |aft(Mwards Puke o\' NcwcastU^I, transported with 
 onthusiasm. at i>iu'e wrote to his father, to say thai "a, man 
 had uprisen in Israel.'" ' hr. Charles Wordsworth says of this 
 specc'.i that it was • better than any I liearti in the House of 
 liOrds. tlioUi;h I followed tlu> live days' dehatti in that House, 
 and lh(> liOiils vit>l)at<" was ackiuuvUHlj^'od to have* been hett.er 
 than tiiat in tlu^ Coiiuuons.' Tlu* r«<sult of the s|uuH'h was 
 that (iladstiMie was invittHJ to stay at Clumher diiriiif; th(> lioiifj; 
 Vacation, and the furtluM- result was that three y(>iirs later 
 he irot inductevi into the Ihike id' Newcai-'Me'f. pock(>t borough 
 tf Newark.' 
 
 Mr. (iladstone was then, and for some years aft(>rwards, tho 
 • rising hi^pe ' o{ [\\o ' unluMulinu: Tories ' ; whil(> hi;; future Chan- 
 celliu' of the I'Achequer was one o\' the leaders of the small but 
 active Liberal and anti-clerical party at Oxford. Kveryboilv 
 has read Sir Francis H. Ooyle's <j;raphic and amusintj; account, 
 
 ' ' Mv. (.Wiulstouo's OxfonI Payn.' Ti'inplc Hat; M;iy ISH,'}. 
 
 ■ 
 
MWOi'dH 
 
 lo iiicrd 
 
 nion III 
 
 on iul(<r 
 
 ell wiiH 
 
 (i\l(/i;i> 
 
 81 
 
 ill Imh (Iclij'jil IiiI It'iiiiniiHiinifii iiml ( fiHnmihi, (t\ IiIm mm cI m;'; 
 with litiwc ill. Ilir I'ninii. I Inw TlnilHiliiy lll'lrf Tllllliu|)i y lin 
 IiimI wiiirlMtd ' iillrrl KiiiiiJ.i'l y iumI i'rH|MM'|,riilly 'nil' old •';('iil,|i'iii;i n 
 witli Mtiow wliito liiiir, who iincliiiHJ l.o hiUr iircninr ii itiHlhir 
 ii,M,oii(hiiil',' iiii<l how ho l\o|)l. Hiiyilii; lo hiiiiMoM': ' Thoio \h Mini, 
 (lo)ir olil i)oy ;i.;',iiii)- ll<>W iijco of liiiii l.o coiim- iiikI ill voHl,ii,<;)i,l.o 
 vvhiil. wo mo woil.li.' Sir i'lniiciH in cii.roriil l.o o\|»liiiii l.hii.l, ho 
 
 WII.H hlillMI 
 
 If 
 
 IIS hlilid iiH II. 
 
 hill. 
 
 hill. llMAIIil' lioricrd |,hr iiici: 
 
 old •'oiil.loiiiii.ii ho loiijM'd l.o Know his niMiic. 
 
 'I'lio ilil'oi liuilloil Willi r.noii In lie VoiicliMiiirii In iiir, Wliiliil, Uic 
 llrroriii (Icliiil.o Willi ^M)iii«;^ on, noiiii' ciiiihjiI. yoiiii,'^ 'I'm y liiid d(!iioiiii(< d 
 lionl (ii't'V mid hill rollni/MicM iiii n. vile nni ul tiiiiior,!. Ih^ hii<l 
 iiirdly riiiiiilird, whin ii|) |iiiii|H'd my iniliiiiirh (il vviifi MiiiniiMi' 
 
 I 
 
 l,(<i'iii, with Ilir hoitl. inccM in lull Ion')'), iind in ii ioiid i'miI vi/^oroii.i 
 lolH' ol' void' l.ooK liiiii U) i.w'.iU l.hiiM : ' The lion, iniiljinnoi liioi 
 (•tilled lii'i' Miiji'Mly'ii MniiiiLcni n, cicw, 
 
 W 
 
 .1. \.\ 
 
 (• jiccijii, i.iic (inun, II. cnvv 
 
 lilicy "•'<"■. Jii'd Willi liOifl 'irty lor iilrolic, Lord I '.i oii;diiiiii lor :'.l,»r!i(i , 
 inid l.lir wlioir |M'0|i'(' ol I'iliidiilid lilillooili<^ on ihc liii.nLi, I Cli.li l.dl 
 l.lic lion. );tMil.l('niii.n lliry ii.rc [iicUy miiit ol' whinin;^ llnir mcc. 
 
 Tiion il WHS Sir I'Viinris jioyio round ho, hiid hocn ■ ic- 
 vci'in*; ii.H nil <dd niiiii l.lio I'imiioiis whilo iiiiind ho\ l.oh 
 
 liOWc' 
 
 TliiH Hl(ny down l,o his liitcsl. yciii-H iisod l,o ntlord Lord 
 Shoi'hi'ookc ;;i'o!ii lUiiiiHciiiciil,. I lurvo mori; llniii onco lionrd 
 him cxriitiiii, ' Tli(»Hr mo |,ho vory W(»I(Ih I iisod.' 
 
 One of l.ho iiiohI, iiioiiioiii,hlo. diihiU.oH of t.liis linio wa-, Ihiif, 
 of Miiy h>, Ih;{|, on l.ho niol.ion of Mr. KiniUlihiiil : - 
 
 ' Thii.li l.lic prosoni. MiiiiHl.ry iH incoiiipotonl, to curry on llio 
 govoi'iimoiil. (d' Uio coiinl.ry.' 
 
 To which Mr. (liiuJstono iiiovod ii,h a rid(!r : — 
 
 ' 'riiiii thi! MiniHiry Iihh iinwi.soly introduced ;uid nio,-t iin- 
 Bcrupuloiisiy forwiirdiul a iikdihiiic which thioiit.oiis not, onlv to 
 <'h.Ui},^'o th() fonii <d' our ^^ovorniiiont, hiiL iiltinifitciy lo hioak 
 M]) tho \i)\'y roiindatioiiK of social ordor, as well as inatririally 
 to forward tho viows of tlioHo who are i»ursniii^' t.iii.i projoct 
 throu'diout the civiliHod world.' 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
i 
 
 i S 
 
 J If 
 
 : 
 
 I 
 
 ^ I, 
 
 82 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEUBllOOKE 
 
 The debate was prolonged for three days, and, on a division, 
 the Ayes were 04 — the Noes 38. 
 
 Among those who took part in this debate, and honorary 
 members of this period (to some of whom reference is made in 
 these pages), we find the names of Palmer, Lowe, Hicks Beach, 
 Ackland, Sneyd, Anstice, Wilberforce, Wordsworth, Doyle, 
 Massie, Tait, Eickards, and Ward. 
 
 The late Dean Church — and there could be no more com- 
 petent judge — declared that in his time Ward and Eobert 
 Lowe were the first speakers at the Oxford Union : ' Cardwell 
 was equally fluent, but the effect of his speeches was injured 
 by a touch of affectation.' 
 
 With both Ward and Lowe, according to the Dean's 
 account, there was a strong sense of the seriousness of the 
 matters in debate ; and they raised the atmosphere of discus- 
 sion above that of a mimic parliament — playing at ministers 
 as boys may play at soldiers— to that of serious men discussing 
 views known and felt in all the importance of their bearing. 
 If the palm must be given to either, Lowe carried it off in the 
 directly political debates.^ 
 
 Lord Cranbrook — then Mr. Gathorne Hardy — recalls 
 
 the fierce warfare that was waged rather later at the Union 
 
 between various members and Mr. (afterwards Canon) Trevor, 
 
 who led the committee an uneasy life, and was so redoubtable 
 
 a foe that ' once he put Ward into hysterics.' Lord Cranbrook 
 
 writes : ' No doubt some of those more active in the Union 
 
 than I was will have told you of Lowe's being more than once 
 
 brought back, after taking leave of its debates, that he might 
 
 encounter Trevor. I remember Lowe was much struck by his 
 
 ability and his clear and forcible style of speaking. On one 
 
 occasion when Lowe had returned Trevor quoted the lines : — 
 
 Now fitted the halter, now traversed the cart, 
 And often took leave, but was loath to depart. 
 
 ' The next day wlien I went to Lowe, he was trying to find 
 
 ' W. G. Ward and the Oxford Movement, p. 22. 
 
OXFOIJD 
 
 83 
 
 the author. He found it to be Prior ; and we then went on 
 with our work. Lowe was much taken with the appositcness 
 of the quotation.' 
 
 Sir John j\[owbray, the present worthy member for the 
 L'niversity of Oxford, recalls vividly the Homeric battle between 
 the Union and the Eambler in the October term of 1838 ; 
 nor does he forget the great incidents of the fining of the future 
 Archbishop of Canterbury a pound, the recollection of which 
 was a source of humorous delight to Lord Shcrbrooke to 
 the very last : ' It was indeed,' writes Sir John Mowbray, ' a 
 battle of giants ; is it not recorded in Greek verse in the 
 Uniomarhia, and in other lays in English?' So irate were 
 certain leading members of the Union at the election of Massie, 
 the 'Radical,' as President (with Lowe as Treasurer), that 
 they seceded — among them Tait, Roundell Palmer, and Ward 
 — and formed the Rambler. They boycotted the Union, 
 the debates languished, and the benches were empty. Massie 
 and his cabinet, determined not to be outdone by their anta- 
 gonists, brought forward a motion to turn the Ramblers out 
 of the Union. An extraordinary meeting was held at the 
 larger room at the Star (now the Clarendon) Hotel, and there 
 was a fierce debate. When the President was speaking, Lowe, 
 as the next principal officer, occupied the chair. In the midst 
 of the President's speech, Tait rose in great excitement — 
 
 Tait shook his tasselled cap and sprang to ground. 
 
 Lowe enforced silence and fined the future Archbishop one 
 pound. The debate ended in the defeat of the motion ; the 
 Ramblers carried the day. 
 
 The next term (January 1834) a ministry of conciliation 
 was installed and the feud was at an end. One remarkable 
 fact, however, occurred. Tait appealed, after the new Ministry 
 came in, against the fine imposed by Lowe ; but the Union 
 confirmed the fine. 
 
 In the summer term of 1835 there was again a party 
 
 ,' 
 
I 
 
 w 
 
 
 M 
 
 i \ 
 
 i 
 
 j 
 
 11 1 
 
 84 
 
 MFE OF \A)\\\) SlIKKr,i:(K)KH 
 
 conflict at tlio Union, commonly known as tlio ' Trevor row,' 
 but loss famous. Caret quia rate sacro. Trevor of Magdalen 
 Hall, a remarkably able speaker, made a fierce attack on the 
 Committee of the day, and esi)eeially on the Treasurer. The 
 Committee demanded that the charges should be referred to 
 a Select Connuittee — which was done. A strong Select 
 Committee of older members, in which Lowe took the most 
 prominent part, investigated the matter, and reported that 
 the charges were; witliout foundation, and that Trevor must 
 withdraw them or retire from the Union. Lowe threw him- 
 self into the light with all his accustomed vigour, and had 
 man}' a sharp encounter with Trevor, who, on his side, fought 
 almost single-handed with marvellous ability. ' I appeared 
 before the Select Committee,' adds Sir John Mowbray, ' as the 
 representative of the Executive Committee of the Union, and 
 was thus brought into very close and most friendly rt'Iations 
 with Lowe. It was the begiiniing of a friendship which never 
 failed, although it never ripened into great intimacy through 
 life. We have often had many a pleasant chat in the lobby of 
 the House of Connnons on old I'nion days, to which wc both 
 reverted with delight. Our intercourse was always agreeable 
 and never marred for a moment by any political differences.' 
 
 The present Dean of ^Vestminster writes :— ' As a freshman 
 I remember seeing Ivobert Lowe at the Union in November 
 1840 at a famous and rather lierce debate and division as to 
 the taking 7)V7/".s' /.//)'. I was not yet a meuiber — fresh- 
 men were not admitted in those days — but was taken in by a 
 friend. 
 
 ' I can see him now as he was then : tall figure with white 
 hair : and an undergraduate friend saying in answer to my 
 question. " That's Bob Lowe, he's come to vote for Jicll's Li/f." 
 And, after pohiting out his white hair, adding, " he's so blind " 
 (meaning, of course, short-sighted), " that he lost his First in 
 mathematics because he rubbed out so much of his work with 
 his nose." ' 
 
 > 
 
^7^ 
 
 mmmmm 
 
 mmtm 
 
 OXFOIJl) 
 
 85 
 
 It will be remembered that Lord Sberbrooke, in liis own 
 account of the fierce battle between the Union and the llambler, 
 adds : ' The matter is, now principally remembered by a mock 
 Homeric poem, in the composition of which the late learned 
 ])ean Scott, a wit before he was a lexicographer, bor(> a 
 distinguished part.' This effusion was called Uniomachia, and 
 Lowe figured in it as /nsXayyovpovs. Uniomachia was the 
 joint work of William Jackson (afterwards Prebendary of 
 St. Paul's and rector of Stoke Newington) and Thomas Sinclair 
 (sometime rector of St. George's, Leeds), both of St. Mary 
 Hall. The ' Slawkenberg ' notes were by Scott of Balliol 
 (afterwards Dean of Pochester), and the English translation 
 by Archdeacon Giles. 
 
 Lowe's Speech, in Uniomachia 
 
 Tots fi4v vvv npofiuxiCf /xfXtiyyoui'oy Aooet'Sr;? 
 Kai (T<j)((is (fioyvijaus (neu nreixifUTu nf)<i(rr]v^a. 
 ' TiTTTf (f)i\m, fifver f^i'mi6ev ttoXv (itTTfpnv fuj 
 niivrns y' (^rreWfiv, oi (jinpyeTTnvrts iTuifwvs, 
 Kaivrju (/jd^j/xourrii' KXv;3[ir]i>, lifKoi'Tos (fidn, 
 AftTTovirti' Maa-ix'}", kui mivff vprovm (^e'/^ara, 
 Of)V(TT(}V(r' els koiKtju fitjrpos i^XiKwrKinv fyx<>i, 
 
 NOf KVtipovS T(lK((TU)flfV, (Tolpnl TVl'lVTfS ('ipKTTOl, 
 
 TpaiTopas cKKpivfiv kui KiKKtwrwpfv «Vrn'r«s'.' 
 
 > 
 
 In miiny a sable fold of honour drest, 
 The great Lowides tow'red above the rest ; 
 Before the faithful lines advancing far, 
 With winged words the chief provoked tlie war : 
 ' O friends, be men ! be ours the noble boast 
 From Union rooms to drive a traitor host. 
 Against our aov'reign will they dare combine, 
 Form a new club, a (hff'rcul clnb from mine ? 
 The godlike Massie feels their jealous hate 
 In empty benches and in burk'd debate. 
 Accursed crew, whose ruthless hands have gored 
 Their mother's breast with parricidal sword ! 
 Vote, then, my friends, and be the turncoat race 
 Expell'd, kick'd out, in merited disgrace.' 
 
II: 
 
 i! '.: 
 
 '!■ : 
 ■:'\ '. 
 
 I' 
 
 80 
 
 J.IFE OF LOltl) .SUERllltOOK 
 
 We now come to the stil) more famous macaronic poem 
 which Lowe himself composed on the visit of Queen Victoria — 
 then the Princess Victoria — and her mother, the Duchess of 
 Kent, to Oxford, in 1881]. One very wet day in that year 
 (writes Canon Melville) the Duchess of Kent and the Princess 
 Victoria excited Oxford from heads to tails hy a visit. Pohert 
 Lowe memorialised the event hy a very witty macaronic poem. 
 Even yet mini/ dies iidcrat, and the hexameter verse which 
 worked in the then leadi.ig hostelries : — 
 
 Angelus aut IMitre vicinavo Stella GazelLi; — 
 
 are not forgotten. Spite of the doggerel element of such com- 
 positions, there was in Lowe's example such true classic ring 
 that friends said he ought to write for the annual Latin verse 
 Chancellor's prize. It was late in his undergraduate career, 
 and he had never previously competed. He did, however, 
 in that year ; and though desuetude told against him, he 
 only lost the victory from want of that finish which prac- 
 tice alone secures, running second to his friend Roundell 
 Palmer. 
 
 Mr. Pycroft, in his Oxford Mcinor'wH, states that ' copies were 
 sent to every part of the world where Oxford men were to he 
 found.' 
 
 Judging hy the following letter, it would seem that Lord 
 Sherhrooke, contrary to his custom, sent at least two copies 
 of the poem himself to the sister University of Camhridge : — 
 
 Robert Lowe to 11. P. Lowe, Esij., Triiiiti/ Hall, Camhridge. 
 
 University College (no date). 
 
 Dear Henry, — l\Iany thanks for your letter, which amused mc 
 much especially the part devoted to the malediction you are pleased 
 to pronounce upon the Mathematical and Physical Sciences. You 
 will be surprised to see the parcel that accompanies this note it is 
 a burlesque liatin poem, which is led by unavoidable circumstances 
 to consider me as its author. Having been deemed worthy of 
 the favour of the Oxford public, it is now about to make its ap- 
 pearance in the Sister University. You and Whitley will find 
 
 i 
 
OXFORD 
 
 87 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 copies for yourselves and be able to appreciate its merits at your 
 leisure. . . . Witli regard to the various philosophical treatises 
 you propose to my acce, stance, sore doth it grieve me to say that I 
 have caused a bookseller to sutler i'o)- tlie amount of the above- 
 mentioned publications, with the single exception of ^liller's 
 Hydrostatics, for which I shall hi' grateful by the first opportunity 
 that oilers, as I am in no immediate want of it. 
 
 Tell Whitley if he has any regard for me he will write me a 
 detailed account of his campaign in the long vacation, and how 1 
 stand in certain people's good gr.ices. . . . 
 
 Your ail'ectionate brother, 
 
 R. Lowe. 
 
 Few topical skits havo enjoyed so long a life. The vener- 
 able Dr. Charles Wordsworth, late Bishop of St. Andrews, 
 who was the tutor both of Mr, Gladstone and of the late 
 Cardinal Manning, wrote just before his death : ' Not long 
 ago I could have quoted several of the lines, which were 
 clever and amusing ; and I fancy a good specimen of his gift 
 in humorous satire. Now, I can only recall the beginning of 
 one, li(nni) dies adcraf .' ' 
 
 Sir John Mowbray declares that he was so delighted with 
 Lowe's verses, that he learnt them when they first appeared, 
 and that now, after nearly three-score years, he can quote 
 almost the whole poem from memory. 
 
 Many other distinguished Oxford men, including Mr. J. A. 
 Froude, who calls it 'a brilliant Latin poem,' have written to 
 remind me of it, and several have speciall}' urged on tlie score 
 of its extreme rarity, as well as cleverness, its republication in 
 this ' Life.' Lord Slierbrooke had indeed lost his own copy ; 
 but, fortunately, the one which he had presented to his old 
 Radical friend Edward Massie sixty years ago has come to 
 hand. 
 
 It only remains to add that Lowe's burlesque Latin 
 poem was published before the amusing Greek verses, Unio- 
 machia, which have sometimes erroneously been accorded the 
 priority: — 
 
 i 
 
!l 
 
 ii 
 
 ss 
 
 Ml'E OF LOIM) SIIHUIUiOOKH 
 
 ! y. 
 
 '! i 
 
 PoEMA Canino-Anglico-L.vtinum Super Adventu IIecenti 
 
 Skuenissimakum Principum 
 
 Dicite priieclarain, Musae, inihi dicitc Kentao 
 Diu'hessaiu, I'rincessqiie sinml Victoria nostro 
 Singatnr versu, Conroiannsfjue triTunpluis, 
 Et qmim shouturniit Undorj^Tadiiates at(iuo Maj,'istri, 
 Et quantum ilederit Vice-C'hancoUor ipse rolVoslunont. 
 
 Rainy dies adorat ; dcciniani strikantibus horani 
 Jam elockis, portae panduntnr, then wlnit a rush was, 
 Musa. veHm, memores : si possis, danma reconnta. 
 (Juac juvenum nimis audaees subiere eatcrvae, 
 Qiiot periere capi, quot <i;ownes ingenniere 
 Vuhiera vae ? nimium lo.valas testantia vii'es. 
 
 Fut,'erat all patience, cum jam procedere troopum 
 Sensimus. et loudo JMavortia trumpeta cantn 
 Spiravere : venit, venit, Oh ! carissima conjux 
 Gnelphiadae ; ad currus eqnites spatiantur anheli. 
 
 Versibus hie fortes liceat celebrare coliortes, 
 Norrisias(^ue manus, Abin<i[doniam(iue jxiventum, 
 Multa the rain, et mnlta lutnm, pennnlta caballi 
 Damna tulere illis : necnon wiva cniqne criebat 
 Absenteni ob domimim, neqiie enim p;ens est ea, cui sit 
 Flectere Indus e(pios, et pistola tendere marko, 
 Ast assueta to plou<;;h, terramqne invertere rastris. 
 
 Quid memoreni <|uanto crepuit donnis alta tumultu ? 
 Intremnerc scholae ; celsa suapecta cathedra 
 Intremuit Christchurch, tremuit Mandlenia turris, 
 Ratcliffiqiie donuis. geminisque University portis, 
 Doctorum stipata clioro pokerisque tremendis 
 Royalty ubi ingressa est, super onmes scilicet ilia 
 Guelpliiadas felix, dextr.am Rhedycina benignam 
 Cui dedit, accepitque sinu, propriamiiue dicavit. 
 
 Consedere duces, et turn Vice-Chancellor inht, 
 ' Si placeat vestrae, Celaissima, majestati, 
 Nos tuns hie populus, tuaijue haec Universitas omnis 
 Suiiplicibus coeluni inanibus veneramur, nt adsit 
 Omne good et pulchrum tibi filiolaecpie serenae, 
 Quae matris guided auspiciis, eductacpie euris, 
 In modern litei'is, Graecis etiam atque Tiatinis, 
 Triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbes 
 Imperio explebit, regmuncpie a sede Ijondini 
 Transferet, et nostraiu nnilta vi muniet Oxford.' 
 Insequitur loud shoui . loud shoutis deinde quietis, 
 Kentea panca refert, set non et pauca fuerunt 
 Clappea, nee paucis se gratified esse fatetur 
 
OXFOHI) 
 
 89 
 
 ECENTI 
 
 Curtseis, tanto niapre pfens perversa fatigat 
 Plansibns assiduis non intlexibile collmn. 
 
 Qualis nbi in^'entos, coaclia venioiite, portmantos, 
 Greatooatosquo. l»ajjfos(ino Immoros ononirc iiiiiiistri 
 Bendentis vidi, (jiiern dura ad inniiia inittit 
 Anf,'elus, ant ]\Iitr('. vicinave Stella GazelJao. 
 Ilia refort, ' AVe thank .von, kind sir, for tlie honour von've done us. 
 Nought's interested us more in tlio tour, whkh we just liave I)een tiikiin,', 
 Than this our reception in Oxford. I be<,' to assure you that I shall 
 Always endeavour to teach my daughter whatever is useful, 
 That she may be lit to reign over a great and a glorious people.' 
 Dixerat; ot stropitu prodis. Conroie, seeundo, 
 Phillimori deducte manu tibi tegmen honoris 
 Obvolvit latos hnnieros subjectacpie colla ! 
 
 Jamque silent cunei; turn rhetor with paper in hand 
 Ore rotundato narrat fortissima facta 
 Heroin, narrat fidum Princessis amorem, 
 Multacpie dicta before, et ([uae race postera dicet, 
 Protulit — in totuin fertin- vox clara theatruni- 
 Olli sedato respondet pectore Pracses — 
 ' Adniitto causa te, Vir Fortissime, honoris 
 Doctoris gradui civili in jure Periti.' — 
 Hen ! nimium felix, civilia condere jura 
 Nescius, ant tenues lingua distinguere causas. 
 Non Lincoln's Inn ilium, non Intima Tenipla tulerunt 
 Furnipulivo aedes clarum boastavit alumnum ; 
 Nee tamen inde minus juris consultus abiliat 
 Suffragiis doctis, et serto templa forensi 
 Vinxit, et insigni laetus terga indmt ostro 
 Ah ! nullas miserum causas subitura reoruni. 
 Tum subito Praeses, all tilings jam rite peractis, 
 
 ' Nos hunc conciu'sum extemplo dissolvinnis,' inquit 
 
 Exoritur chunorcpie virum, clangorcjue tubarum, 
 
 Etfudit vacuis turbam domus alta cathedris, 
 
 Una eademque via Princessam effudit et ipsam. 
 
 Curritur ad Christchurch, de Christchurch curritur All Souls. 
 
 Alfredi tandem fessas domus alta recepit 
 
 Hospitio of the best, sed quod magis hearty voluntas 
 
 Connnendat doniini cum sedulitate feloiim, 
 
 Plurima quam nitida quae stant opsonia mensa, 
 
 Scrubbatumve platum, kidglovative ministri. 
 
 Quis cladeni illius luncheon, qxiis disliia fando 
 Explicet ? hand ecpiideni quanquam sint voices a hundred, 
 Cast iron all, omnes dapium comprendere formas, 
 Magnificaeque (pieam fastus evolvere coenae. 
 
 Egi-essis (ne(pie enini possunt eatare for ever) 
 Gens effraena mens, nondum graduatia pubes. 
 
:1M 
 
 
 i 
 
 t-^ 
 
 
 . I 
 
 90 LIF1-: OF LOKI) SHEIIIJUOOKK 
 
 luf^eminat loudos plansos, hip hip hurra coehuu 
 I'erentit, hif,'h wavere capi, (piadranj^iUns Im/./as 
 Aiuliit, at(iuo imis treuicl'actiis seclihns llij,'ii Street. 
 
 Tniii forte in turri, sic faina est, reading-man alta 
 Invij,'ilans stndiis penauni carpohat, at ilhim 
 Startulat horrid uproar, evertitur inkstand, il)i omnis 
 EtTusus labor, inipurus nam labitur amnis 
 Ethica per llhetoricfjue, CTcpensive fulgida bindings, 
 Virfjiliunique etiam heroas, etiam arma, canentera. 
 
 Sit satis haec hisisse — Pervaeani niihi pennam, 
 Fessa adimit Nonsense, l)otelas j^lassasque c'laret(pie, 
 Poscit, inexpletum cupiens haurire trecenta 
 Pocnla, terque tribns Princessam toUere cheeris. — 
 
 Erpro alacres potate viri— nee fortia doctor 
 Pocnla si quis ai;.at, nee si commonrooma mapistrum 
 Mensa tenet socium, nee si (juis bachelor aut si 
 Non graduatus erit, idcirco sobrius esto ; 
 Sic honors acceptos nobis celebramus in Oxford — 
 Hoc juvat et melli est non mentior -hie niihi finis. 
 
 In his recent work, TJie History of the Church of St. Mari/ the 
 Virffin, the learned and scholarly author, the Rev. Edmund 
 S. Ffoulkes, writing in praise of Mansel's Phrontisterion, ob- 
 serves : * A classic masterpiece, as brilliant as anything that 
 had ever proceeded from the pens of George Canning, Hookham 
 Frere, or Robert Lowe.' 
 
 The late Lord Sherbrooke was singularly devoid of vanity ; 
 but it would have been a source of some gratification to him, 
 had he lived to read it, to see his name thus bracketed with 
 the twin masters of University jc//.r tV esprit. 
 
 The debates in the Union, and the writing of macaronic 
 poems by no means absorbed the whole of Lowe's leisure at 
 Oxford. As he himself tells us, he diligently practised the 
 art of rowing, and was even chosen as * No. 7 ' of the crew in 
 a match between the two Universities which never came ofT. 
 The late Sir Buchanan Riddell, who was also to have been in 
 the Oxford boat of that year, used to relate that Lowe pulled 
 a remarkably strong and steady oar. He was, in fact, very 
 fond of rowing, which was one of the few athletic sports in 
 which his defective eyesight allowed him to indulge. As he 
 
 m 
 
OXFOHI) 
 
 OJ 
 
 States, he grew to have a dislike to school and university 
 matches being made public rather than private affairs ; and 
 his remarks on this head are full of his characteristic common- 
 sense. There can, however, be no doubt that Nature had im- 
 planted in him a most healthy and ardent love of outdoor 
 sports and exercises. As he was a vigorous oarsman as an 
 Oxford undergraduate, so in later years, when a grave states- 
 man, he was a fearless whip and an adroit and intrepid 
 cyclist. 
 
'! 
 
 i 
 
 11 
 
 92 
 
 LIl'K OF L()i:i) SHKlMilMiOKH 
 
 CHAPTEE IV 
 
 OXFORD {coHtiniicil) 
 (18:j;j-1810) 
 
 Graduate— Fellow of Maf,'(lalen — Private Tutor, and would-be Professor 
 
 Lord Selborne thus closes his narrative of Rohert Lowe's 
 career at Oxford : — 
 
 ' In 1883 Lowe took his degree with great honour — a first 
 class in classics and second in mathematics. He was not 
 long afterwards elected to a Fellowship of Magdalen, of which 
 College I had myself hecome a Fellow in 1834 on taking my 
 degree ; but I left Oxford in 1835 for London ; and had from 
 that time till he entered Parliament fewer opportunities of 
 meeting him than before. He married in 1836, and remained 
 for some years in Oxford taking pupils ; and was beyond 
 question the ablest and most successful private tutor then in 
 the University.' 
 
 Lord Sherbrooke in his brief autobiography states that his 
 failure to secure the double-first was a disappointment to him ; 
 fo'- (he writes) * I was sure that I knew enough to entitle me 
 to a first class [in mathematics], though I felt perfectly 
 conscious that I had not brought my knowledge properly out.' 
 Mr. Pycroft, who, however, like most anecdote-mongers, is as 
 often wrong as right, states in his Oxford Memories that 
 ' Lord Sherbrooke was pronounced by his tutors certain of a 
 first in mathematics and not certain in classics.' Although 
 
 
 I!' 
 
OXFORD 
 
 93 
 
 fectly 
 out.' 
 
 is as 
 that 
 of a 
 
 ough 
 
 I 
 
 this remark appears in a hook of aaecdotal reminiscences, it 
 looks, in the hght of Lord Sherhrooke's own statement, us if 
 it had some foundation in fact. 
 
 In 1835 Eohert Lowe was elected Fellow of ^lagdalen on the 
 foundation of which hirth in the county of Notts was a qualifi- 
 cation. Two years previous to this, as he tells us in the 
 Chapter of Autohiography, he had emharked on his lahours 
 as a private tutor. We have his own word for It that, compared 
 with these labours, everything else in his career ' has been 
 mere play and recreation.' More than one old Oxford man 
 has written to express his very natural doubt as to whether 
 even Lord Sherbrooke's head could have long withstood the 
 strain of this terrific time. He often had, he tells us, no less 
 than ten pupils ; and for five years out of the seven during 
 which he was a private tutor, he also took pupils during 
 the long vacation. 
 
 ' I do not think (he writes) I could have gone on with it 
 much longer.' One does not wonder at this confession when 
 it is recorded tliat so able a man as the late Bishop Jackson, 
 who as a private tutor had fewer pupils than Lowe, owned 
 that his head was giving way. 
 
 Canon Melville, however, referring to this tutorial period, 
 relates a story concerning Lord Sherbrooke which, under the 
 circumstances, can only fill us with amazement for his capacity 
 for work and his love of learning for its own sake. 
 
 Lowe was a much-sought private tutor — a function which 
 he fulfilled for some years after taking his own degree. At 
 one time he had so many pupils that, between nine in the 
 morning and ten aj night, he had besides his dinner-hour but 
 one spare hour — viz. that from four to five. A friend 
 similarly occupied met Lowe at the time one day in Oxford 
 with a book under his arm and said : ' Where are you going ? 
 Come for a turn in the country, as I do for my hour.' ' No,' 
 said Lowe, ' it's the only time I have for a Sanscrit lesson with 
 Professor Wilson.' 
 
1 In- 
 
 ' » 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 \ 
 
 .)ii 
 
 94 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SirEKBIlOOKE 
 
 In Mr. Pycroft's Oxford Meniuries we light on the 
 following : — 
 
 ' Mr. Lowe,' said my iVieiul Ecndall, * was the cleverest man 1 have 
 ever read with. He was so iicar-siifhted he seemed to depend very 
 little on his sight, and to know all his books by heart. He had the 
 widest Oxford acquaintance of any man of my day.' 
 
 With jiardonable pride, Lord Sherbrooke himself bears 
 out the truth of such statements by declaring that he was 
 * popular as a tutor,' and that he retained his ' number up to 
 the last, and finished in November 1840 with four pupils in a 
 first class of six.' It will be remembered that he then men- 
 tions some of his more successful pupils, and recalls, with 
 evident satisfaction, that many came to him even from those 
 ' distinguished men ' Mr. Newman and Dr. Arnold. In his 
 later years Lord Sherbrooke was much pleased by the fol- 
 lowing passage in a private letter of Mr. J. A. Froude : ' I 
 remember Lord Sherbrooke well at Oxford before I went 
 out of residence. Indeed, I was almost his pupil. I asked 
 him to take me when I was going into the schools. To 
 his regret, I believe, and certainly to mine, he had no room 
 for me.' 
 
 There could hardly be stronger testimony to the high 
 esteem in which llobert Lowe was held as a private tutor, than 
 is afforded by the following extract from a letter written by an 
 old pupil but life-long political opponent, the Right Hon. 
 Gathorne Hardy, Earl of Cranbrook : ' I was his pupil and 
 had a great regard and esteem for him, as he was a man 
 of singular honesty and frankness. He gave great attention 
 to those who read with him, and it was wonderful that with 
 ten or eleven men at one time he saw each separately and 
 never flagged. At the same time he was reading on his own 
 account, and I remember his telling me that he was learning 
 a modern language (I think), Spanish. 
 
 ' A pupil who failed in attendance he would plainly tell 
 that he would not take his money unless he came, and when 
 
I I, 
 
 OXFORD 
 
 95 
 
 high 
 
 , than 
 
 |by an 
 
 Hon. 
 
 and 
 
 man 
 
 tion 
 
 with 
 
 and 
 
 own 
 
 I'ning 
 
 tell 
 t^hen 
 
 he saw that anyone had really no cliance of honours, he would 
 frankly tell him so.' 
 
 Another of his pupils, Dr. Richard Congreve, the cultured 
 disciple of Auguste Comte, evokes a more sombre recollection 
 of this period of Lord Sherbrooke's Oxford career : ' I was 
 for a short time the pupil of Robert Lowe, Lord Sherbrooke, 
 and I preserve a very grateful sense of the benefits derived 
 from his teaching. I remember his expression as he closed 
 the last lecture. "There," he said, " that is the last lecture 
 I shall give in this place, wliere I have been selling my life- 
 blood at 7'.>>. Gd. the hour." ' 
 
 Dr. Congreve kindly reminds me that Charles Arnold, as 
 well as Arthur Hugh Clough, read with Lord Sherbrooke 
 during a long vacation at Ambleside. 
 
 Lord Sherbrooke, as his old Oxford friends testify, was 
 never idle. He took pupils even through the vacation, and 
 in addition to his all but incessant labours with them, he was 
 often engaged on some difficult and independent branch of 
 study on his own account. It was in the Long Vacation, 
 spent with pupils at Festiniog in 1834, that Lowe fell headlong 
 over ' Hugh Lloyd's Pulpit,' escaping by a miracle with his 
 life, as he himself has so graphically narrated. It is surpris- 
 ing what a number of persons have written to inquire as to 
 the truth of this story, which has, evidently, in various forms 
 enjoyed a wide circulation. 
 
 The following letter, written on this memorable vacation, to 
 one of his oldest and most cherished friends, the Rev. W. Boyd, 
 now Archdeacon of Craven and Vicar of Arncliffe, Skipton, for 
 which I am mdebted to the courtesy of the Dean of West- 
 minster, is eminently characteristic, and in my judgment 
 well worthy of preservation. Archdeacon Boyd was Lowe's 
 contemporary at University College. ' Greatly and deservedly 
 respected by him then and always,' writes Dean Bradley. It 
 is generally believed that Lord Sherbrooke once declhied to com- 
 pete for a Fellowship in order that his friend might get it ; 
 
on 
 
 MI'K OK LOIM) SI1KIM?I{()()KH 
 
 liUo other nu'ii who hiivc been called I'ynit's, he did siicli 
 acts of wolf-olTai't-'iiuMit lor those wlio were dear to him. 
 
 li'xhcrl Lour to the Jicr. W. fini/d. 
 
 I'ostinio}^, McrioiuiUisliii'c : August 17, IMMI. 
 
 J^i'iir J)0}tl, Tlic idleness Nvliich prevented my wrilini,^ to you 
 in the lirst insliince has lonjjj been siiceeeded by that slianie nnd re- 
 pujjfniinei^ which iuviiriably follows the ne,<,dect, thou,i,di it does not 
 always s(>eure tlie pel foiiiianee, of iiduty. I luive been livin<^ all the 
 vacation hitherto at a little eottaj^e in tii(> neif^'hbourhood of Yar- 
 mouth, in a nu)ic secluded situation than I ever renu>nd)er to bave 
 been in bi'fore. Tbis I may truly say was a subject of lU) uneasiness 
 to me ; the only elVort beinsj; to leave it, as I was sometinu'S obliifod 
 to do, to visit my family wlu) were living livi> mill's olV <•// iiuissc. 1 
 am convinced practically that the mind, wlu'u not warped by habit 
 or prejudice, has the faculty of adaptinjj; itself to its situation, wlieii 
 in the way of anuisenuMit of beinj,' as dissipated, and when in retire- 
 UKMit as solitary, as possible. 
 
 My studies liavi' been divided bi'tween learning,' tlu' alphabet and 
 forms of noun and verb in the Sanskrit i;rannnar, and pursuing; 
 Clt>rman, without altoirether forgettiui,' my Hebrew. The Sanskrit 
 aljihabet consists of iifty simi>le characters, which, by meiins of 
 initial and final consonants and vowels, ami a compound and often 
 anomalous characier for i>vc>ry double consonant, ar(> multiplied to 
 upwards of a- hundred. Over these dilliculties, 1 am happy to say, I 
 have triinnplK'd ininssishul, thouj>:li I cannot but applaud the wise 
 dispensation which conceals the hiture from our eyes, since, had 
 1 known their mai^nitudi' t^ <t/'X'/s. it in nu)re than probable i miL,dit 
 never have attempted tbem. 'IMie (lerman, in which 1 hope you 
 also have bton niakinu' proj^ress, I liud very i>asy and beautiful, 
 and a pleasant relaxation after my Oriental studies. 
 
 1 hav(> just rtinoved. as you will see by niy date, to Fi'stiniotj; 
 a beautiful village anuuiu' tlu' nuumtains in the north of Mi'Honeth- 
 shire, where 1 nuan to renew my acquaintance with Siu)wdon and 
 Co. 1 am not yet hdly settled, owing to the crusade whicli is being 
 carried on against the grouse, who, few and dinnnishing yearly, 
 still lingi'r in scanty coveys over the hills which their ancestors once 
 held undisturbed. 
 
 Thus far of myself. Now learn what 1 expect to hear from you 
 in return. In the tirst place, in tlu' grand Tory festival,' which 1 
 am delighti'd not to have attended, what part did you and yours 
 
 ' Tlu' Installalioii ot the Duke of Wellington as Chancellor of the University 
 of Oxford. , 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
OXI'ORI) 
 
 97 
 
 i 
 
 oimct ? How tlitl tlu) Week pass oil", and liow did you iiiiina/^'c tlio 
 iiniruiiiso journey into the llyporboroiin regions which you arc pleased 
 to inhahit ? 
 
 Were you not iimused with the IIel)rewode? It tiekh'd my 
 fancy much particidai'ly where it said, ' 'I'hc! secdiers of new things 
 hatli lie not lov(!d,' to turn the hmguage of the Patriarchs and 
 Prophets to the purposes of ephemeral politics, and to tune the harp 
 of Judah, Ixifore which the mighty trend)lc!d, to sound the note,-: of 
 flattery, was an indecorous spcHUes of (Ussecration a sort of adula- 
 tion which it well hecanu; Magdalen Hall to invent and Oxford to 
 patronise. 
 
 Have you read 77/(! I'Jdinhitnjk lievieto on the installation ? If 
 not, do. Please to hi me know how your parsonical duties go on. 
 1 shall be delighted and interested with any detail on the subject. 
 I am almost ashamcid on looking back to see into what a tirade 1 
 have been 1(m1, but you know how it is with me Cudiun non 
 animnni iniiUml. 
 
 An accinate account of yonr studies, thoughts, intentions, and 
 imaginations, which must have lu^i'ii many in the interval which my 
 idleness liiis sulVered to ela[)se, is but a small portion of what I ex- 
 pect to hesir from you. 
 
 1 see Palmer of Trinity, and llichardson of Wadham, are 
 elected l"\dlows of Magdalen ; so much tlu! lu^tter for somebody 
 else. I have written to congratulate the former on his siicciiss. 
 
 Prny present my c()mplinu;nts to your father and sistcu-, who I 
 hope enjoyed their Newnham excursion as much as I did. Do not 
 suffer vour nuithematics to become obsolete, as 1 still look forward 
 to your triumphant return to Oxford. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 R. Lowi;, .Junr. 
 
 P.S. — I hope 1 havG spelt the name of your villag(! right. My 
 ideas have been confused by reading an account of a battle in which 
 it is spelt ilyetown.' 
 
 It was in the year 1835 that llobert Lowe obtained w, lay 
 Fellowship at Ma{j;dalen. This, in its way, was a provision 
 for life, and made him independent as to moiu^y. Jiut three 
 months after this, he en^a^ed himself to Miss Georj^'iana 
 Orred, whom he had met at Barmouth. This may well have 
 
 ' The above letter Ib addressed to ' The llev. D. W. JJoyd, ilyetown, New- 
 castle, Northumberland.' 
 
 VOL. 1. H 
 
98 
 
 LIFE OF LOHI) SIIEKHKOOKH 
 
 seemed an unaccountable proceeding to his father, and <^'ave 
 rise to an estrangement wliich was a source of mucli pain to 
 the son. His determination to marry carried with it the 
 impossihiUty of retaining a Fellowship, and ultimately taking 
 Holy Orders, which the rector of Bingham desired, Robert 
 Lowe's resolve to abandon his Fellowship and read for the 
 Bar appeared a most ill-judged proceeding and greatly in- 
 creased the annoyance of his father who thus saw all his 
 plans frustrated. 
 
 It was an additional mortifu-ation to Lord Sherbrooke to 
 find that almost every member of his family coincided with 
 his father's views. It is pleasant, however, to learn that the 
 atiection of his brother Henry remained unchanged through 
 all the troubles which ensued, as the following letter will 
 testify. 
 
 Bohcrt Lowe to II. P. Loice. 
 
 My dear Henry, -I iiover vomonibor t > havo been more affected 
 by anything in my life than by your letter ; it has been so rarely of 
 late that I have met witli any show of friendly feeling from my 
 relations that 1 had ceased to expect it, more especially from yon, 
 whose (>very constituted notion of prudence is controverted by my 
 conduct on this occasion. I have found no one else who has deigned 
 to communicate with me on the subject who could disapprove 
 without condemning, no one who did not seem to forget their 
 originally khid feelings towards me in the strength of prejudice 
 and remonstrance. My aunts are, luckily for me, on my side. 
 Aunt Sherbrooke is, I hope, wavering, and could I have an inter- 
 view with her might, I think, be made completely my ally. What 
 1 write now for is to press you to come and see me at Magdalen. 
 You will find your quarters excellent and a bed at your service 
 as long as you like to stay. 1 can then talk this matter over 
 with you at our leisure and tell you many things of which you are 
 not aware. 
 
 Matters at present stand thus : my father has interdicted me the 
 Law, and refused to assist me in the prosecution of it. He says 
 he will not allow me to marry witiiout 500/. a year of my own 
 besides Iter fortune. He has now driven me to extremity, and I have 
 otTered to make, not five, but seven hundred a year by taking pupils 
 here. To this I am now waiting his answer ; it is not the kind of 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
OXFORD 
 
 99 
 
 side. 
 
 
 iiiter- 
 What 
 ialen. 
 
 1 
 
 ervice 
 
 1 
 
 over 
 
 i 
 
 )u are 
 
 
 c the 
 
 
 ! says 
 ' own 
 have 
 )upils 
 nd of 
 
 1 
 
 life I should have prefeircd, hut if I am not to go to the Law all 
 other professions are indifferent to me. 
 
 • ••■••• 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 KoHT. Lowe, Junr. 
 
 In later life, Lord Slicrhrooko by no means regarded the 
 Bar as the ideal profession for one who could not discern the 
 faces of judge or jury. But at this period he could see no other 
 opening, heing resolut(;ly determined not to enter any profes- 
 sion for which he felt no true vocation. Having thus decided 
 on his own course in life, and being above all things a man 
 of the highest resolution and independence of character, he 
 sought no aid from liis father or friends. But his marriage, 
 as will he shown, was from the first a singularly hapi)y 
 one, and the constant companionship of his wife from this 
 time until her death seemed to him more than compensation 
 for all his subsequent trials. 
 
 The following letters, written to his brother Henry just 
 before his marriage, brimming over with almost schoolboy 
 spirits, give a lively account of his pursuits and aspirations 
 at this period. 
 
 Fro77i Robert Loicc to Ilcnrij Porter Loive. 
 
 Oxford : June 10, 1835. 
 
 Dear Henry, — As you seem to have appreciated my last letter 
 fully, and withal express a wish for another, 1 see no objection to 
 gratify you, provided always that I can find enough to say to till a 
 sheet. It gives me great pain to renounce the thoughts of a trip to 
 Spain, notwithstanding tlie lice, Carlists, and other plagues where- 
 with that miserable country is aftlicted. I seem, however, nmch 
 more likely to conduct two or three men to Beaumaris to read and 
 boat than to indulge in any such vagaries. I had thoughts of East 
 Cowes, but the guardian of one of my griffins stood out so stoutly 
 against the place that I was obliged to change my hand and check my 
 pride, and propose Beaumaris as a kind of compromise. 
 
 As touches the law, I believe that the smallest sum for which it 
 is possible to exist at one of the Inns of Court is loO/. a year, but 
 
100 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SllEinUiOOKF 
 
 II 
 
 19 j 
 
 I have too good an opinion of yonr and my own notions of comfort to 
 believe that we could vegetate under 100/. a year more. My 
 Magdalen Fellowship (when got) will be a groat assistance to me, 
 as it will put 170/. into my pocket towards defraying my expenses in 
 town. 
 
 The way of life I should pursue is to read about seven hours a 
 day, which I consider enough for a Chancellor, never to dine in hall, 
 seeing the dinners are exquisitely beastly, but to get into some club 
 or other — the Junior University, for instance — where one would 
 meet old ac(iuaiutances, read the papers, and dine. If you are really 
 in earnest in your intention of study, 1 should advise you to read, 
 mark, learn, and inwardly digest the lirst two volumes of lUackstone, 
 particulii.rly the first part of the second, and to throw in the last 
 chapter of the fourth, which is a history of the English Law drawn 
 with a very masterly hand. I should also recommend to your notice 
 Hume, and Smollett, and Hallam in his Middle Ages and Consti- 
 tutional Tlistovjj of England, and Robertson's Cliarlcn the Fifth. 
 Most of these books are written in a very attractive style, and all of 
 them treat of subjects which ought o interpst every English gentle- 
 man, so that you could not possibly bestow your time better than 
 upon them, whether you go to the liar or not. 
 
 Since I began this letter I have been to London to keep a term, 
 and seen Herbert, who inquired very kindly after you. The weather 
 was hotter than I could have supposed possible at Senaar, and 1 lost 
 so much bodily from heat, and pecuniarily from cabs, that I am but 
 the shadow of my T mier self in both respects. Went to see IMalibran 
 act the Sonnanibula, which she did well. 
 
 Aunt Sherbrooke and Aunt Elizabeth are coming here to-night 
 on their way to London. I came down by the Worcester mail ; 
 night being the only time when a gentleman can trn.vel in this 
 weather ; you will be happy to liear that it is accelerated, arriving 
 in Worcester at a quarter-past eight, and the Gloucester in that town 
 at half-past seven. 
 
 The Municipal Corporation Bill seems to have satisfied all sides, 
 which I rejoice at not a little, as it will give the Tories a decid ^d 
 minority in the next Parliament. If you happen to fall in with a 
 little book called Major Downiiufs Letters, read it by all meana ; 
 you will find it one of the most amusing collections of slang you 
 ever saw. I have got a Cambridge man to oppose me at IMagdalen, 
 a certain Eickards of Trinity, a first-class man, but I do not think 
 he has much chance. If you mean to read Law, you must not do 
 it by halves, for it is a very repulsive study, and London ofiers 
 so many temptations to one to be idle that nothing but dogged 
 resolution can save one from it. 
 
 * 
 t 
 
 I I 
 
 n jl I' 
 
 M 
 
OXFOIM) 
 
 101 
 
 Write soon and give me your views of Beaumaris and reading 
 places in general, and believe nic your affectionate Brother, 
 
 RoBT. Lowe. 
 
 The second letter was written a couple of months after- 
 wards, when he had gained the Magdalen Fellowship, and 
 addressed to his brother at Bagneres de Luchon. 
 
 ddes, 
 3id.d 
 a 
 lana ; 
 
 you 
 lalen, 
 lliink 
 
 )tao 
 Offers 
 
 ^ged 
 
 No. 1, Green, Beaumaris : August 6, 1835. 
 
 Dear Henry,— I have used you wretchedly, horridly, d — nably, 
 in not writing to you before, particularly as I have plenty to say. 
 I got the Fellowship without much trouble, cause why, there was 
 no opposition, seeing that three other horses who were to start were 
 drawn, and I had nothing to do but to show my paces in walking 
 over. I was settled at Beaumaris, and went up to Oxford for a 
 week, on the Saturday of which I was elected, left by the ' Union * 
 at half-past eleven that night, met the mail in Birmingham, and 
 got to Beaumaris at nine in the evening. What would your dog 
 Frenchman say to that ? By-the-bye, the King of the French seems 
 inclined to avail himself of the infernal machine as an engine to 
 silence the Press, and thus tread out the few embers of liberty still 
 left to that deluded nation ; if that be so, I should feel almost 
 inclined to wish that the next twenty -five gun-barrels aimed at him 
 may be pointed with more precision. 
 
 I like Beaumaris of all things ; for bathing and sailing it is 
 almost perfect, and the mountain view is splendid. I miss the 
 mountain walks we had at Barmouth, but it is impossible to com- 
 bine them with the sea, and I am content with' my part of the 
 alternative. 
 
 Excellent dinners, spoilt by jolting and eaten on an uncom- 
 fortable rickety table, and dignified by the name of picnics, are the 
 order of the day. I have made acquaintance with the Vicar, Dr. 
 Howard, and his family — very pleasant people ; and with Sir Richard 
 Buckley, who lends us a six-oar, against which Mr. Lowe cautions 
 me thus : ' It is full of danger and destrmtlon in salt water — cave 
 cavcto ! ' 
 
 We ordered a play last ni^'ht of some wretched comedians, who 
 acted in a barn, and collected an audience which must have rejoiced 
 the cockles of their hearts. They want me very much to pull in the 
 regatta, which I am very unwilling to do, but do not know very well 
 how to get out of it without appearing ill-natured. I am very much 
 amused with your whopping adventure, which put me in mind of the 
 ferryman at Ballachulish, only that the result in your case was more 
 
 VOL. I. * n 3 
 

 : I 
 
 ( I 
 
 J ti 
 
 
 fi 
 
 HI I 
 
 . 
 
 ^ 11 
 
 102 
 
 LIKE OF LOIU) SIIKKIJHOOKE 
 
 serious. My mind is clouded with a gentle envy when I read your 
 description of the Pyrenees ; I fancy I shall prefer them to the Alps. 
 
 We have a paity of (Cambridge men here who were fighting the 
 other night, first among themselves, and afterwards with some 
 Welsh sailors, waking me out of my first sleep, and confirming my 
 theory of Can tabs. There is one of them whose supernatural hideous- 
 ness is as impossible to describe as the Pyrenees themselves ; a 
 kind of man who, if he meant to nuike love efi'ectivoly, ought certainly 
 to weur a uuisk. I like l>eaumaris much better than Barmouth, 
 and am sure it would have pleased my sisters far more if they had 
 had the wit to know it. 
 
 I had to make a speech upon my election the other day, which 
 I did with considerable effect. You have no idea what a gentleman- 
 like arrangement it is to be the only candidate for a Fellowship ; it 
 does away so completely with all foolish doubts and difficulties. I 
 shall be very glad to hear more of your Pyrenean ideas, and will 
 promise to answer any questions you may ask in your next letter, 
 as I have mislaid your former one, and, I fear, answered it very 
 imperfectly. 
 
 Your aft'ectionate Brother, 
 
 Rout. Lowe. 
 
 In the March following (1833), Lord Sherbrooke married — 
 hut a matter of such supreme importance must be dealt with 
 in a separate chapter. After their wedding tour, Eobert Lowe, 
 with his wife, returned to Oxford, bought a small house (16 St. 
 Aldate's), and for four more years he continued his wearing 
 drudgery as a private tutor. In the following year (1837) 
 he was appointed a master of the schools, as a ' little-go ' 
 examiner. His pungent comments on the duties of this office 
 will be found in the Chapter of Autobiography. 
 
 The year 1838, as Lord Sherbrooke himself declares, seemed 
 likely at one time entirely to have altered his course of life. 
 The Greek Professorship at Glasgow', with a salary of l,500i., 
 a house, and only six months' work in the year, fell vacant on 
 the death of Sir Daniel Sandford. One can imagine how 
 tempting this must have seemed to the newly-married, over 
 worked Oxford private tutor. The following particulars may 
 be added to his own graphic account of the contest, in which 
 he was worsted by Mr. Lushington. 
 
 i 
 
L837) 
 
 3-go' 
 
 )ffice 
 
 pmed 
 life. 
 
 mi, 
 
 k on 
 I how 
 ker 
 Uay 
 pieh 
 
 oxroRi) 
 
 103 
 
 n 
 
 In the Life of Arc} I hi ah op Tait, by tho present BiHliop of 
 Rochester and Canon Biiiliam, is <j;iven the eorrespondenee 
 between the Archbishop and his brotbcr, Mr. Jobn Tait, on 
 the subject of this Glasgow Professorsliip. Tait himself was 
 anxious at lirst to secure the appoint luont, and he had two 
 very stroufj; recommendations — he was a Scotsman, and he 
 had been a student at Glas<^ow. But he was an Episcopalian 
 in orders as an An<^lican clerfj^yman, and he declined to sub- 
 scribe to the Confession of Faith. lie accordingly withdrew 
 his name from the applicants, and in doing so wrote to his 
 brother, ' I shall be sorry if they appoint an indifferent suc- 
 cessor to Sandford.' Subsequently the future Archbishop 
 wrote to the Principal cC the University of Glasgow, formally 
 withdrawing from the contest, and enclosing a ' testimonial in 
 favour of another candidate, Mr. Robert Lowe.' ' 
 
 The Bishop of Rochester has kindly looked over the late 
 Archbishop Tait's papers, but has not been able to lay his 
 hand on this testimonial. The following, however, was for- 
 warded to Glasgow by the Rev. R. Michell, Lowe's private tutor 
 and intimate friend ; and was probably signed by Mr. Tait 
 of Balliol, as well as by other distinguished members of the 
 Union : — 
 
 Apprehending that an objection may be raised to Mr. Lowe as 
 incapable, from the shortness of his sight, of keeping order in a large 
 class, we bog to state our conviction that such an idea is founded on 
 an exaggerated view of his physical defect, a defect which is far more 
 than compensated in him by a high and resolute spirit, and com- 
 manding, though conciliatory manners. In proof of this opinion we 
 beg to refer to a fact of which we were eye-witnesses. 
 
 Several years ago, at a meeting of nearly 200 members of the 
 Oxford Debathig Society, the subject being one of local and personal 
 interest, the greatest disorder prevailed, so great as to baffle every 
 effort to repress it, and to threaten the dissolution of the meeting. 
 At this period Mr. Lowe took the chair, and by his decision and 
 vigour, by fining one member and threatening others by name with 
 the same punishment, he completely restored order, which was not 
 
 ■ Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Cantcrbtiry, vol. i. p. G8. 
 
]04 
 
 I, UK OK l.()|{|) SIIKWIWJOOKK 
 
 t ?iM 
 
 I 
 
 af,'ain int('rrui)t('<l. We hcliovc if hewiis found ciipablc of rcpiossitiR 
 disorder at its utmost licifjlit, if liis sij,'lit s(>rvi'd liiiii in this instance 
 to dttcct and punisli tlic disorderly, tliat in a class where his 
 authority wouhl lie so nnich ^'reator, and throu^jfh tlie al)senoe of 
 excited ieeliiiiijs the obstacles to contend aj^'ainst so much less, he 
 could )iot fail to connnand the respect and attention of his pupils in 
 the hifj;hest dej,'rce. 
 
 II", indeed, Arelibishop Tait fii<j;iUMl tliis testinionial, it wim 
 ii truly for<:;iviii<j: and CliriKtian act : for, as Lord Slierbrooke 
 Ims told us, it was none other than the futui(! !l(>a(l of the 
 Church whom, on the occasion referred to, he had lined 1/. for 
 ' disorderly conduct.' 
 
 However that nuiy he, Lowo was not successful. He ad- 
 mits—and we may well believe him — that it was a very bitter 
 disappointment. He was thoroughly weary of the nu^notonous 
 drudgery of his daily life at Oxford, and, as the following 
 ]dayful letter, written at the time to the Wow II. ]\Iichell, will 
 show, he was very sanguine of getting the Professorship. 
 
 I* 1 
 I 
 
 M ^ 1 
 
 Mi ! : 
 
 Ixohcrt Lowe to the licv. B. MiclicU. 
 
 Glas{,'ow : July (>, 1HH8. 
 
 My dear MiclioU, — "What have you done with that there certifi- 
 cate ? I am afraid you nuist have fory:ot the direction, and therefore 
 write to make sure. It is 
 
 Robert Findlay, Esq., 
 
 Glasgow lianli, 
 
 Glasgow. 
 
 I am getting on well here, the thing rests between liushington 
 and myself, and 1 do not think my chance the worst of the two. He 
 has got two or three votes certain, but they are from the least inliu- 
 ential and respectable members of the Faculty ; the better class 
 having fought shy, and shown full as much attention to me as to 
 him. The Principal, MacFarlane, will determine the point by 
 adding himself to one side or the other. I have pretty good reason 
 to suppose that he is not ill-disposed to me. Mr. Findlay's influence 
 is very great, and my testimonials have beaten Lushington's in a 
 nuich greater degree than I had ventured to hope. Pray send that 
 letter, if not already sent, as in the present state of affairs it is of 
 great consequence. I am writing from a Dodson and Fogg shop, 
 
.'fore 
 
 lence 
 in a 
 I that 
 lis of 
 Ihop, 
 
 oxroiM) 
 
 lOo 
 
 fl 
 
 lit'pt by one of tlic yoiiii;,' l-'indlays in (llas^'ow, and two Scots arc 
 jal)lK'riiij,' la\ within a yard of iiic, whidi must he my apoloj^'y in case 
 this scrawl is incoherent. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 IIOMKUT IjOVVE. 
 
 Ill a s((i'()ii(] Uittcir to Mr. INrichcll, written on his return 
 to Oxford, Lowo oxplaiiis to liis friend that ho was heatcsii 
 purely by local faction. 
 
 liohorl Lowe to llr.v. It. Michel I. 
 
 Oxford : August H, 1H3H, 
 
 ^ly dear Aliclicll, — (leorf:;iana tell'^ me you are anxious lo hear 
 from me the circumstances which led to my defeat at (ilas;^M)w. I 
 had succeeded beyond my hopes, and one of those who afterwards 
 opposed me, said they had put off the election on piupose to jjfot such 
 a person as myself. 1'his 1 knew from untiuestionable authority 
 was the state of thin},'R the day before the decision ; throe 
 electors had pledged themselves Lo Lushington before 1 came 
 forward, but all the rest (ac^ven) meant to vote for me. My 
 supporters (piarrelled among themselves on a i)oint which I am not 
 at liberty to mention, but which had no connection with Lush- 
 ington or myself, but turned upon their own local facti(ms 
 Avhich in a self-elect(!d body, as you well know, lie jiretty deep ; 
 to spite the rest one part of them went over to Lushington, 
 and brought him in. Thus, after having triumphed over the united 
 Whig and Tory intei'est of Scotland, Sir G. Clerk and the Lord 
 Advocate, after having distanced Lushington in public opinion as 
 far as he did the rest of the candidates, the turn of a straw rendered 
 all my efforts futile. I soon made up my mind to the matter and 
 came back home on Monday, with a resolution to think no more 
 about it, which I have kept. 
 
 Very truly Yours, 
 
 ROHEIIT LowK. 
 
 Although Lord Sherbrooke bore his disappointment in a 
 truly philosophic spirit, far different to that in which poor 
 Mark Pattison tortured himself over the loss of the Eectorship 
 of Lincoln, yet how freshly the incident came back to him when, 
 as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he revisited Glasgow to be 
 presented with the freedom of the city in 1872 ! In the 
 brilliant speech of grateful thanks, which he delivered on 
 
I 
 
 
 ' :: 
 
 i liti 
 
 hi! 
 
 > I! i 
 
 I Hit 
 
 lOG 
 
 LIl'K OF l,()i:i» SIIKIMMJOOKH 
 
 that occasion, he remarked :—' Guntlcint'ii, I am also parti- 
 cularly hapi)y that this honour has heeii ^iven to me by the 
 city of Glasj^ow, because, lonjj; years a^o, the dream of my life 
 was to connect myself nnich more nearly than 1 am ever 
 likely to do with this city. I had at one time some reason to 
 suppose that I might have been elected to the lionourable 
 and distinguished oflice of Professor of Greek in your Uni- 
 versit}'. To fail in that object was the greatest disappoint- 
 ment that ever happened to me in my life, but years soften 
 everything, and I now can only remember that the place, I 
 doubt not, is much more worthily filled by a distinguished 
 and elegant scholar.' 
 
 It is somewhat suggestive to reflect that had Eobert Lowe 
 succeeded in this quest he would never assuredly have gone 
 to Australia, nor would he in all probability have entered the 
 arena of the House of Commons. The duties of such a 
 professorship would have been congenial — he was never really 
 an ambitious man, and its emoluments would have been 
 ample for his wants. It is therefore more than likely that for 
 the rest of his life he would have been known as Professor 
 Lowe, and the world would never have heard of Viscount 
 Sherbrooke. 
 
 I 
 
 IT 
 
 
 I \ It 
 
 I 
 
ii*m ■ vr^^a^v 
 
 I .'- IP^^^*W^^"^7*»»«I^"''^^«^P1^ 
 
 
 ■^'-" ••'-■- «;- \ > -'3W- - -^ — 
 
 I'/ ■ yrnn mm- . ( </ic.^/iirc . 
 
« 
 
""'■' ' -"■»■._ --. 
 
 107 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MARRIAGE AND CONTINENTAL TOUR 
 (MAUCH-Aiorsr, 183G) 
 
 On March 29, 1836, Robert Lowe was married by Arch- 
 deacon Wrangham, at Holy Trinity Church, Chester, to 
 Georgiana, daughter of Mr. George Orred, of Tranmere, 
 Cheshire. 
 
 The wedding-day was marked by an adventure which was 
 sufficiently serious to test the fortitude of the young couple. 
 Scarcely had the carriage in which they started for Festiniog 
 left the city, when it was overtaken by a terrific snow-stormt 
 'ihe horses, blinded by the fury of the gale, struggled along the 
 road, which at every step grew more difficult. Meantime the 
 occupants of the carriage, unable to open the windows, were 
 half-suffocated by the thick mantle in which they were 
 wrapped. Further progress was beginning to be impossible, 
 when, to the relief of the travellers, they reached a way-side 
 cottage. Here they were hospitably entertained till the storm 
 had spent itself; and, in the morning, they continued their 
 journey. 
 
 Lord Sherbrooke, in his autobiography, devotes only a few 
 lines to this epoch of his life. But he takes occasion to testify 
 to the admirable qualities of the lady he had chosen for his 
 wife— and these were no mere conventional phrases. From 
 the day of their marriage they passed through many wearing 
 and anxious experiences, and often life seemed hopelessly 
 dark to them. But Mrs. Lowe never for a moment despaired. 
 
I 
 
 11 
 
 M 
 
 I ; 
 
 t' 
 
 ' i ! 
 
 '! 
 
 I 
 
 -^-.^ ' 
 
 108 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBIIOOKE 
 
 Her faith in the ^leat gifts and lofty purpose of her husband 
 never faltered, and her loyal, courageous spirit triumphed 
 over every difficulty. Writing of this time, Lord Sherbrooke 
 calls it an * auspicious year ' — and speaks of the tour in 
 Switzerland which they made in the summer, part of which 
 was enlivened by the company of his tutor, Mr. Michell, and 
 of another Oxford friend. 
 
 Of this tour Lord Sherbrooke handed me a diary, and 
 a brief personal narrative, for the purposes of this work ; 
 from these I propose to make somewhat copious extracts, if 
 only to show the mixed multitudes of English folk who now 
 * do ' the Continent (with or without the assistance of Mr. 
 Thomas Cook) how very different were the conditions of 
 foreign travel half a century ago. 
 
 The Diary. 
 
 Mondai/, June 18, 183G. — Left Oxford at half -past eight and 
 reached London at two ; got down in Oxford Street, went to 
 Colonnade Hotel, called on the Biddulphs, drank tea with Mrs, 
 Howe, 16 Cadogan Terrace, Sloane Street, Chelsea. — Hot ! 
 
 Tuesday, villi. — Went to Fenchurch Street in a 'bus for our 
 passport. It cost 7s. 0(/. ; got it endorsed by the Prussian Consul, 
 Hebeler, for 5s. more. Went to the Exhibition at Somerset House.' 
 Liked Turner's Rome, and Juliet and her Nurse at Sunrise, and 
 Cortez reading an account of his atrocities to Pizarro. — Cortez is 
 much injured by posterity in being coupled with his illiterate 
 and unscrupulous contemporar v . Went to the British Institution ; 
 admired Guido's Annunciation. 
 
 At the Water-color exhibitior: Vwiii-hwe saw on Monday, admired 
 Nesfield's Vicio in Arran ; Evans">^ Irish Highlands ; Fielding's 
 Summit of Snoivdon ; Vieio 2ip Loch Leven, Fielding ; Lancaster 
 Sands, Cox ; Viciu on the Doions, Fielding ; Mill on the Conway y 
 De Wint. 
 
 ' In a private letter, Mrs. Cha,\vorth Musters writes : ' One point that 
 shows the many-sidedness of my uncle's gifts was his appreciation and dis- 
 crimination of works of art. It seemed like an intuition, for we could never 
 imagine how he saw them. I have often been with him at the British Museum, 
 of which he was a trustee, and he has walked about with Sir Charles Newton, 
 looking at statues and works of Greek art, talking about them and criticising 
 them so ably.' 
 
MAllRIAGE AND CONTIXKXTAL TOl'R 
 
 100 
 
 Got 200Z. in bills of exchange from Coutts ; dined in the Colon- 
 nade with Michell on Aldermanic fare : — white bait and beef-stoaks. 
 Went to the Opera, Grisi Dcsdemona ; Rubini Otello ; Tamburini 
 lago ; La Blache Elviira. After all it was a heavy performance 
 and the audience not particularly brilliant. I was very tired, but 
 Georgiana insisted upon staying to see the ballet. It was dreadfully 
 hot. 
 
 Wednesday, IdtJi. — Left the Colonnade at six and drove to the 
 Custom House. Having been duly imposed on by coachmen, porters, 
 watermen, and other scum of the earth who frequent that locality, we 
 weighed anchor for Rotterdam. 
 
 In addition to his entries in this Diary, Lord Sherbrooke 
 re-wrote the following brief account of the first half of his 
 trip : — 
 
 Lord Sherhwokc's AccoKiit of Ids Trip to Rotterdam and Bonn. 
 
 It was on a beautiful morning, on June 15th, 1836, that 
 my hackney coach, having conveyed me through the deserted 
 Strand and imcrowded Fleet Street witli a facility which, in 
 the middle of the day, could have been accounted for by 
 nothing; less than a pestilence, or invasion, deposited me at 
 the Custom House. The great city was quiet, hut a restless 
 activity swarmed on the banks of the river. The voluble and 
 amphibious race who inhabit these regions left me no time to 
 speculate on the architecture of the Custom House (which I had 
 leisure enough to contemplate on my return) and I was glad 
 when I found myself free from their importunity, and safely 
 landed — if I may say so — on the deck of the 'Namona,' steamer to 
 Rotterdam. The rows of lighters gradually became less dense, 
 the water visibly clearer and the banks more distant ; I looked 
 up, and behold ! the sky wan cloudless. Nature had done her 
 part and Man was no longer there to mar it. We had no 
 awning, but the black pennant of smoke which Hoated above 
 us flung its broad shadow on the deck, and the sun seen 
 through it was as completely shorn of his beams as through a 
 piece of smoked glass. 
 
 Some time after we had lost sight of land, we fell in with a 
 
^n^-^'-*i. B.«-»U> 
 
 110 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBIIOOKE 
 
 !M 
 
 ■! ' 
 
 fleet of butterflies, steering they did not seem exactly to know 
 where. This was quite an event to the boys on board, who 
 employed the remains of dayhght in chasing them from one 
 end of the vessel to the other.' 
 
 Before daylight we had crossed the Brill, and on coming on 
 deck at four I saw land on each side ; but two streaks so 
 narrow compared with the bold rocks of the Foreland, or even 
 the level banks of the Thames, that it seemed more through 
 courtesy than necessity that we condescended to keep in the 
 middle of the channel, and refrained from forcing our way 
 over '^n obstacle apparently so insignificant. We anchored at 
 Botterdam at 5 a.m., after a very short passage of only twenty- 
 two hours. 
 
 There is nothing in the aj^pearance of Rotterdam from the 
 water to announce to the traveller the presence of a great 
 commercial city. A simple row of old houses, with a single 
 row of trees before them, with a spire or two rising behind, 
 and fields on each side, as green as plentiful moisture can 
 make, are all that is to be seen. 
 
 At the Hotel des Pays Bas, I was shown up the painted 
 staircase into a bedroom large enough for a troop of cavalry 
 to bivouack in ; havirg established myself in a corner of this 
 a]3artment, I proceeded to do all that ablution could to remove 
 that unutterable feeling of dirt and degradation which every- 
 one feels who has passed twenty-four hours on board a 
 steamer. This, and a copious libation of Dutch tea, which is 
 really excellent, sent me forth into the town tolerably well 
 satisfied with myself. 
 
 The canals that intersect the streets in every direction, the 
 rows of trees by their side, the splendid country houses of the 
 
 ■( 
 
 ' In the Dlnrij at this point he adds : ' Soon after I had tumbled into my 
 berth, somebody tumbled out of his ; loud laugh from a gentleman who is 
 generally quite within the limits of becoming mirtli, and from all the circum- 
 jacent aspirants after repose. Last thing I heard was Michell quoting from 
 .Esohylus— 
 
 Sirapi/As irap7/{€»s Ka\ KaKOffrpdrovs — ' 
 
MARRIAGE AND CONTINENTAL TOUR 
 
 111 
 
 i i 
 
 merchants, with theh' marble floors, and ornamental chimney- 
 pieces and ceilings, showed at a glance that the Dutch were far 
 beyond the English in the art of making the haunts of Com- 
 merce agreeable.' All was strange and striking, language not 
 only foreign but absolutely unintelligible ; the gay and Haunt- 
 ing appearance of the shops ; the ships unloading at the ware- 
 house doors ; the women, pretty, but of so different a class of 
 beauty from our island belles ; and the extraordinary archi- 
 tecture of the houses. 
 
 The beau-ideal of a Dutch house seems to be to put into it 
 as many windows and of as large a size as possible, to cross 
 and surround these with the greatest possible quantity of 
 heavy woodwork, and to cover this with the greatest possible 
 quantity of paint. The brush is never out of their hands ; one 
 coat is hardly dry before another succeeds, and negligent indeed 
 must be that householder who has not at least one painter in 
 full employment. 
 
 Having hired a carriage for twelve guilders, I drove to the 
 Hague. It is the fashion to rail against the ugliness of 
 Holland, but to me it was full of interest. (1) In Eotterdam 
 I saw for the first time the little mirrors disposed at the 
 windows to afford the inhabitants a view of the passers-by, 
 an arrangement which generally rouses the indignation of 
 tourists against the idleness and curiosity of the Dutch. But 
 as I have seen the same thing in almost every large town in 
 Germany and Switzerland, I must ascribe this to the unfortu- 
 nate situation of Holland, which brings her in contact with 
 the English traveller before he has rubbed oft' a single prejudice 
 or acquired an idea beyond the manners of his own island. 
 (2) The crops are luxuriant to a degree unknown in England, 
 and the very cows and sheep seem conscious of their happiness, 
 revelling in the abundance which surrounds them. 
 
 I li; 
 
 ! 1 
 
 ' ' Walked out in the town, presented a letter to Monsieur Labouchcre, for 
 whom we had a letter of introduction ; found him just setting out for Amster- 
 dam ; his office was very splendid.' — Diary, Thursday, June 10, 1830. 
 
^S5«S 
 
 II'J 
 
 LIKK OF I,(M:I) SIIKUniJOOKK 
 
 1 II 
 
 TIm^ ride in ili(> lln.mu' wms divcrsiru^d hy a few clmrcli 
 8tiH>iil('s, tiinic storks, and simnncr li(>iis(>s |)r()j('('tin}4 into tlu; 
 iniddl(> of ,^r(HMi s(ajj;nanl dilclics. with thoir wido uiniicaiiiiiij; 
 Nvindows (>|)»'n to i\w road. Tlic lla,L:;n(> is a pn^ty town, with 
 sirocts so widi> that they hav(> ahnost tlic a|)|)('aran((' of 
 S(|uart's; its <^aIl(M-y of pictures is h(>yond all prais(\ and oin* 
 dinnor at the old HocIKmi' )AaA(> us a, viM-y raxourahlc idea of 
 ('ontin(>nla.l cookery. Tlu^ palaci* in tho wood looks lik(> one 
 side of a str(>(»l, tlu> other of which has hiu'n knocked down. 
 
 Sailed from lu>ttiM'(lani next nu>rninj^ for Niiue}j;u(^n. hut 
 had not ^oni> a. niil(> hi>fore tlu* iMJ^ine was dera.nji;<>d, and we 
 were ohligtnl to wait an hour and a. half while it was heinj; 
 n>paired. Nolwithstandin;^ many }j;lot>my pro«j;nosticaiions, 
 wt> arrived at stnen in the evening. Lady Mary MontajJiu 
 compan^s (his place io No(linij;hani. The con<i)arison may do 
 well enous:;h. hut (lu^ ' smug and silver TriMit ' is littl(> honcnn'od 
 hy a compariscm with ihc sluggish and turbid Kliine: aiul 
 Nimegueu docn not cover oni>-li>nih of the ground of its 
 l^ritish prototypt\ Hut llu>ri^ is a riv(M' at Mat*(>don an<l a river 
 at Monuiouth, an eminence at Nimeguen and at Nottingiiam, 
 and that sullices. 
 
 'Yhc \\c\l day and night 1 look hack to with unmitigated 
 disgust. The hanks oi tlu> rivor are totally without interest, 
 the steamer small, crowded, and unproviihnl with berths, and 
 tho heat intense, notwithstanding which the rain fell in tor- 
 rents all night and deprived us of the miserable satisfaction of 
 sleeping on dtH'k.' Wi^ did not euuM'gi^ from this a(piatic 
 
 ' • I^iiUHl lU tho old PooUcMi most, sumptuously, with eighteen dishes iit 
 •J llorius ii head. Mot with a mad old Itutehmuu in tiio colTee-room, witli whom, 
 in an evil hour. I entered into eonver.sation. The consequenee was that lie 
 tensed us all dinnertime with his remarks ; he said, amonj; <Hher soili.sis, that 
 his ideas when he spoke English wore devotional, French martial, and Dutch 
 amorous." From the Diari/. 
 
 •' His coy)ipiuvu>v dc vojiofji' seems to have preserved his cheerfulnoss even 
 under these depressing oircuinstancos if we may judge hy this entry in the 
 Diary : ' Saturdop, IS//;, - Breakfast on oggs as usual, which gave Michell occa- 
 eion to say that though our journey was not a triumph, it might fairly be called 
 an oration,' 
 
 
MAHlJlAdl', .\tM> (;( (Nil MIMA L TOI |{ 
 
 I I 
 
 i)liu'k liol<> till one (>'cl(»(^k on the lollowiii;^ dny, wluiii (IoIoj-im 
 
 itH oitlu'dral with tli 
 
 tlic t( 
 
 th 
 
 iiH ('iiilK'dnil witli Mic cniiM! on ilic top, tuui the loii;^' hriiln;!' ot 
 hoiilH whicli coniUH'tH it witli DcMit/, rose hcl'ori! onr iiiipiiticnt 
 cyoH. Tile rovolviii}^ iiltiir-picco of IiIiIkmis, tlio toinl) ol" tlit; 
 thrco kini^H, iind tlu! juu'liciis of this dirty, irni'Miliu'ly hiiili 
 town were soon IooIccmI ovrr ; juid it wmh with f^'ioiit |»l('.jiKiirc 
 tluit I left it hy tlid piu'kdt for Uonii. The voyii<^(! from 
 (loloi^iic is uiiint«ir(!Htin;^, though thorc- arii two or tlircis pretty 
 viows of tlui S(iv(\ii IMoiinliiiiis. Hoini is tlio sccit of one, of 
 thosr iiionil mikI iiitcllnrtiiii,! iihoMiinjitioiis ii (Idrniiiii iinivn- 
 sity, Ji fiU't of which it is !nii>ossihl(! to rciniuii in ii^noriiiici! 
 for :i. sinj^lo hiilf-hoiir, so prosit is tlx! iuuirchy juid distnrh- 
 
 MllCd. 
 
 fjord Slici'hrookc's iKirralivc ends hoi-c, so the Diary is 
 rosunu'd from tlio (^ntriiis M,t I'oiiii. 
 
 uatod 
 
 M\(>s at 
 
 wlioiii, 
 
 lliat hv 
 
 I .s, that 
 
 Dutch 
 
 1^ oven 
 
 I in tho 
 
 llloccn- 
 
 callod 
 
 Tlic Pill 11/ {(•(iiiliiiiird). 
 
 Miiiii/di/, Jiiiir 'lOllt. |{;i,iny iiioi'iilMt,', loolccd ovci- tlui CoilrL^n', 
 ;iii(l ohliiiiird it, ^f()()(l view from the 'rclcf^'riLpli. Went down to iIk; 
 (piiiy ii,t liiilf piist ten. 'I'lic porters refused to let us liiive oiii' iii^'^M'n' 
 uidess we pnid a tliider, ten j^rosclien inoi'c^ tliiin tlie tiirilV. 'I'liiH 
 we refused, and l)e<^M,n l,o put the lu^'f^M|,'e into th(! hoid ourscKi h. 
 Hereu|)on ensued n scrinmiii^M', the porters puilinj^' and hlasplieniin^ 
 in Freneh luid (iernum while m, niMidicii-of students who werc^ stiimlin^' 
 hy lauj^died immoderately. Micliell iind 1 wer(! the principal a(;l()rs in 
 the scullle, which Wits citrried on with vai'yin^' success till it \\;is 
 interrupted hy ii little vitpourin^' |)eiu:(!-onic(!r who, without (interim^' 
 into the merits of the ciise, took piirt most violently ft<^'iiin>!, iis ; 
 linitlly settled hy Moi7j;iin piiyinj,' the sum d(!miinde(|. J)i^'esiiM;^ our 
 writth as well its we could, we started. The first piiit of tlie liliine 
 (Usitppoint(>(l my expectiitions, moderate as th(!y wen; ; hut tlu^ hitter 
 more op(>n pitrt, from Andcirnach to Cohlen/, fully eipuilled them. 
 Arrived at the JJcdvue, Oohienz, at hii,lf-pii,sL six, imd wer(^ so |)leii.sed 
 with this heautiful city that we determincid to renuiin ihei'e a diiy. 
 Walk(!d over the hridge on tho Moselle. 
 
 Tuesday, 21.s/. (Icorgiiina and 1 went it mile down th(! Rhine; in 
 a rowinfj; hoat, which cost us ii thaler, to iin isliuid fiom whence she 
 mad(! a sketch. Retm-ned iit nine, and went to it hanker, from whom 
 we jj;ot a twenty-pound note changed ; wv. received twonty-threo 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
f 1 
 
 I • 
 
 M^ 
 
 f i i i; 
 
 l!*l: 
 
 ll 
 
 I 
 
 ]14 
 
 LIFE OF l.ORl) SIIEKBKOOKE 
 
 Fredericks d'Or, four Thalers, and ten Groschen, which sum, after 
 nn;ch calcuhition, wc found to be njjjht. The Frederick is worth 17s., 
 the thaler, 3s., the groschen 1\(1. Coblenz (corrupted from the 
 Latin conjluciitcs) has one good street, a bridge of boats over the 
 Rhine and of stone over the Moselle, and two squares, in one of 
 which are trees whose leaves were almost entirely devourevl by cater- 
 pillars ; and in the other rose trees, in full flower, which, much to 
 the credit of the inhabitants, remain untouched. At one o'clock 
 set oflf for Ems on foot, the ancient Embasis, missed our road, and 
 meeting fortunately with a German labourer, were set right. The 
 country rises to a considerable elevation and then descends into the 
 valley of Ems which is watered by a largish river. We saw on our 
 walk four varieties of campanula and many other beautiful flowers ; 
 dined at the Englischer Ilof, and returned in a pouring rain which 
 obliged us to take refuge in a Diligence, in which we found a young 
 Scotchman, an engineer residing at Bonn, who had been on a tour 
 to Wiesbaden. Drank tea in the speiso-saal, whore the smoking was 
 intolerable. 
 
 Wednesday, 22ut/. — Were called at five o'clock, and discovered 
 to our sorrow that it was a rainy morning, so wet that we gave up 
 all idea of reaching Mainz. Wont to bed again, did not breakfast 
 until ten o'clock ; after dinner went to see the fortifications of 
 Ehrenbreitstein. The view is chiefly worth seeing from the clear 
 idea it gives of the course of the Moselle and of the Rhine, above 
 and below the confluence ; otherwise hardly worth the trouble of the 
 ascent. Ehrenbreitstein is garrisoned by 1,200 men, or two bat- 
 talions. 
 
 Thursday, 23>r/. — Steam to Mayence — hot day — bad company — 
 disappointed with scenery — dined on deck— Georgiana began to be 
 ill. Mayence is garrisoned by Austrians and Prussians, the former 
 have dark complexions and drab uniforms. The cathedral is hand- 
 some, but red. Sour claret for supper. 
 
 Friday, 24^//. — Ofif at six. Reached Manheim at half -past twelvv^. 
 Michell lost his trunk by taking his time too nmch, and I forgot my 
 bandbox ; made our reclamation at the Bureau. Went in voiture 
 tO Heidelberg and looked over the castle. 
 
 Saturday, 25^//. — Georgiana, though very sick, made three 
 sketches of the Castle ; and I, though nearly as bad, went with her. 
 We then took a walk on the other side of the river — very liot. 
 Michell got up to the top of the hill. 
 
 Sunday, 26th. — Hotter. Voiture to Carlsruhe ; time from 11 
 till 7, distance 30 miles. Fine town, regular streets, square with 
 orange-trees in it. 
 
 Monday, 2'ith. — To Baden ; pretty road. Town inferior to Carls- 
 
MAIlRIA(iE AND CONTINENTAL TOUR 
 
 115 
 
 Left Baden at 8 ; dined 
 to feel better. Slept at 
 
 
 rnhe. Dined at the tabic dlidlc at 4 — plenty of English. Disap 
 pointed in the town ; very sick. 
 
 Tuesday, 28th. — Parted with Michell. 
 at Offenburg. Georgiana and I began 
 Kissingen, which we reached at 11. 
 
 Wednesday, 29///. — Left Kissingen at 8, reached Freyboiirg 
 at half-past 11 ; saw the Cathedral, and bought a poem on it from 
 the commissioner at the inn. Left Freybourg a' 1, and arrived at 
 Basle at 9. The coachman pulled up under a tree and cut us off a 
 large branch of cherries. 
 
 Thursday, HOth. — Georgiana sketched and I 'jewed' till 2, 
 when we started with the same cochcr for Berne. G. sketched the 
 Chateau of Ankenstein. Slept at CourendeHn. Both of us quite 
 recovered from our indispositions. 
 
 Saturday, July 2nd. — Having arrived at Berne at 10 the previous 
 night, and put up at tlie Falcon, shopped till 1 o'clock, got my 
 passport signed (by the Chanjc d' Affaires) for Italy. Looked at the 
 Alps ; Georgiana sketched the town from the Zurich road. 
 
 Sunday, 3rd. — Packed up, and arranged to leave a trunk be- 
 hind us. Dined on buns and cherries : started for Thun in the 
 diligence, arrived before sunset, 
 
 Monday, 4i/i.— Set off 0.30, walked along the side of the Lake 
 till we got a view of the end thereof. Very hungry and hot. Got 
 some bread and cheese, wine and kirschen wasser, at a little public- 
 house. Bathed in the Lake and swam out to look at a view, to 
 
 Got back at seven, hot and tired enough. 
 -Left Thun by the steamer at 10. G. drew 
 Lake and I bathed, devoured by flies whose 
 Walked to Interlaken, about two miles. Fine 
 sketch of the Jungfrau ; and picked out a sketch for next day. 
 Lost our way coming back. 
 
 Wednesday, (Sth. — Went out to take the sketch at 7 ; I came back 
 at 11 and wrote journal and letters. Made various excursions on 
 the following days, among which was one to the Giesbach in a boat ; 
 got behind the Fall. 
 
 Georgiana's horror. 
 
 Tuesday, 6th.- 
 at the end of the 
 stings draw blood. 
 
 Carls- 
 
 Tuesday, 12th. — Left Interlaken for Lauterbrunnen on foot, 
 having sent our clothes to Meyringen. Blazing hot. Georgiana 
 sketched the Bosenstoin. Arrived at Lauterbrunnen, and were 
 reposing after the fatigue of the walk when Michell, Tireman, and 
 Lakin walked in. They dined, and went back to Interlaken in the 
 evening. Michell would not let them go with us over the Wengern 
 Alp, Walked to the Staubach, which is like a bottle of ale foaming 
 over — none of the force or fury of a cascade. 
 
 I 2 
 
:ii 
 
 . ! 
 
 I 
 
 t I ! 
 
 lii I 
 
 Ml,;' 
 
 I 1:1! 
 
 li, 
 
 ; i 
 
 no 
 
 i-il'M OK i-(ti;it siii;i;ui;(i(»Ki; 
 
 Wi'(ln<'S(l<(ii, \'Mli. ( i('()ri,Miin;i went, witli iiiti'iit to skctcli tlui 
 I'":ill. but was so diiz/li'tl l>y llic siiii as to '/[\c it u|). Took 
 lu'art ol' jjfracc iind \valk( il iip I lie vallcv to look at the l"'all of 
 Schinatlribaclj, which wv should have reached il" it had not heeii lor 
 hicli arrested our course when near it. (ii'or/^Maiia 
 
 an avalanche, w 
 
 sketched a fall which (so mijust is lame) is hiijjher and I'uller ol" 
 
 water than the Stauhach. 
 
 'riiiirsilaj/, Will. — Set olV at (5 and walked over the Wengern 
 Alp to (Irindelwald. I>in(>d on the Little Scheideck. l''ine view of 
 the i'iigiu' in a mist. Ivel'used to pay anything to the proprietors 
 of the glacier. 
 
 b'riilaii, IT)///. -Georgiana sk{>tched till I ; then slie started 
 on horseback, and ]\Ir. Scholey and 1 on foot, up the Fnulhorn. 
 Quarrelled with tlu> man who led the horse because he would not go 
 far (Miough Sconsed him of \\\'?> ponrhoive \ my guide fiecmed half 
 inclined to take his part. Got to the top of the l*'aulhorn, and slept 
 there. Tlun-e were a Frenchman, a I'ole. and a llussian, and a 
 (ierman school. 
 
 Satiirdai/, !(!///. — Saw the sum-ise in our blankets — beautiful 
 view. When .t mist came on, we d(>scended to Roseidaui, w' .M'e we 
 were overtaken by the rain and forced to stay the night. The 
 Kniichman (who had told us lii^ hud climbed the Faulhorn in 1 hours 
 wlu'n he had really been !•) going down the mountain without a 
 guide lost his way. and, as .lohn r)unyan says, T saw him no more. 
 
 Siindai/, mil. — Pretty place — glacier — precipice. Dog bit mo, 
 wliereupon 1 wrote the following : — 
 
 Dog of ungentle, cluu'lish mood, 
 I will not shod thy felon blood, 
 
 Though smarting from thj- bito ; 
 For since I choose to trust tliy free 
 And fawning show of courtesy. 
 
 In faith, thou'st served nic right. 
 
 I did but conu^ awhile to view 
 Helvetia's hills of suowj- hue, 
 
 Auil rocks by torrents rent ; 
 And if it were a tault, in sooth 
 It did not merit from thy tooth 
 
 So sharp a punishment. 
 
 But when from England others come. 
 Self-exiled traitors to their home, 
 
 Then up ! vindictive cur, 
 And tii'ain from out their vampire veins 
 The latest life-drop that remains 
 
 Of all they sucked from her. 
 
.M.\i:i:i.\(ii: .\m> coN'riM'.NrAi, loi i: 
 
 117 
 
 Walked on t(» M('yrin<,'('ii, Saw tlic Ivcicliciibacli, iind iiiadi- 
 nrnm^'cniciits lor sciidiiif^' our tiling's to Stan/,. I disnussed my 
 iL,'iiid(' itt KoscidiMii, wlio had coiuc witli us from Jjautcrl)iumi(ii- 
 slept on a sliaki'down. 
 
 Mouihdj, 1H<//. licl't Mcyrinj^'cn at 10; wcatlicr r('-('stal)lisli('d. 
 Dimd ill (luttcncii ; slept at llandecdi, in tlie chalet on hcd.s of hiiy. 
 Mr. Scholey walked aliout ahove, and nearly frif^litoned (ieor^danii 
 into a lit. Ciu'ds, cream, \c. in ahundance. 
 
 Tiu'sditi/, l!>//i. -Saw this most splendid waterfall, with its iiis 
 in full heauty, whereupon 1 wrote these verses : — 
 
 r.\F,t,S OK TMK AaU at TTaNDKCK. 
 
 Fanned \>y liiy wliivlwind's cvcriaHtiii^' play, 
 Crowned \>\ lliy iris, vosturod in tliy spray, 
 Thront'd on the reelinj,' rock and ipiiverin;^ pino, 
 What cliarnis, what t((rrors. mij,dity stream, arc tlnnot 
 Two rival Hoods, no nioro asunder pent, 
 Ijeap ni|,'inj,' down, on mutual ruin Iteiit, 
 lake Ibenieii <,'riipplin;,' with tlicir latest hreatli, 
 Who meet in (ij^'lit, hut never ]iar'i in death. 
 
 ])ronki'asted on chamois, walked to the (Irimsol.diiHd there, and 
 Avalked to the <j;lacicr of the Rhone, whercMve slept. 
 
 Wcdiicsdai/, 20///. — Walked over to Jieali), an inn kept hy ihe 
 Capuchins, with whom 1 talked J^atin. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 Tiicsihui, 2(\l]i. Walked from Stanz to Stadt, thence in hoat 
 to Lucerne — heautiful view. Uought Atala and a little drawiiif,'- 
 book for (leorgiana, who has hecome fond of drawing buildings. 
 
 TJiursdai/, 2H///. 1 ascend(>d the Itigi with Scholey, of whom 
 I took my leave at the top ; returned to Kussnacht, and walked with 
 Georgiana, whom I had left below, to Aar. 
 
 Saturdai/, 'AOUi. — Walked to the top of Blount Albis ; got into 
 the mud in the dark. Old woman with whom Georgiana would not 
 shako hands. 
 
 Sunday, Hist. — Walked to Zurich. 
 
 Monday, A lujust Is/, (lot a letter from I'' red announcing his elec- 
 tion [to the Fellowship at ]\Iagdalen]. Went in the conjx't of the 
 diligence to Schaft'hausen — saw the Fall. Walked to Dusenhofen in 
 the dark. 
 
 Tuesday, 2nd. — Walked to Stein. Georgiana sketched. ^liser- 
 able hole, full of old nuns. Fell in with a retour, who took us to 
 Constance. 
 
■ I 
 
 I r 
 i . 
 
 i ! 
 
 i ! 
 
 I 
 
 118 
 
 I.I I'M (M- 
 
 .) SIIKlflU.'OOKK 
 
 Tlu) suecoiiilii)}^ t»iitiit!H aro in the main illoj^iMn ; ilioy 
 nu^roly n'cord walkiii}^ (exclusions, 'riicii tlioio is an (intry, 
 • Weson - piMi too bail,' with wliieli i\\{\ J>iary cIohos alunptly. 
 
 They wallu'd.as ho loconls, 700 niih's all ovor Swit/,* rlaiul, 
 wiiich, as sonu) I'ai'otioiis travollor roniiirk(>il, would he a 
 very l)i<» country if it wiM'e only jhiUrniif oul ; Mrs. Lowe 
 carrying her sketch-hook and drawin^j; materials, and he him- 
 self the wardrobe and money, ' which, beinjj; silver, was the 
 heavi«>st of all.' 
 
 It was during this tour that Lord SluMbrooke composed 
 those • Swiss Sketches ' in vtn-so to be fouiul in iiis slender 
 volume, VocuiA of a L[h\ 
 
 These verses were written for the gratification of his wife, 
 and (together with fugitive pieces which from time to time he 
 had given to various friends) were subseipiently print(ul for 
 private circulation. At a late period of his life this collection 
 was, by a mistake, published to the world in an uncorrected 
 form and withor* any explanation of its origin. Tlu^ error 
 could only he 'illy repaired by calling in the lirst and 
 
 issuing a secoiui corrected edition. In this volume will be 
 found most of the verses which he wrote, while his wife 
 sketched, during this very happy summer-time of 18J3G in 
 Switzerland. 
 
\V.) 
 
 CHAPTER VJ 
 
 ROIJMUT r.oWK AND TIIK TRACTAIUANH 
 (1H41) 
 
 Nkwman l.i,ns.,lf tdlH UH that tlio ' C.ithclic rovival ' in the 
 En«HHh Church .latos tVorn July hi, 18:{3, wh«m Kohle 
 proacho.l tho Ashi/o S(u-in()n, in tho UnivorHity pulpit, on 
 National Apo.lar,,. This fatnouH Honnoii, and tho .still rnoro 
 faniouH TrarlH for thr Ti,nrs following it, woro tho roHult of 
 tho niovitahlo roMotion, rdl^hniH and political, from the 
 u«-roHHivo Lihoralisni which had pannod tlio Roforni Jiill of 
 18;{2 and Hupprossod tho ton Irish hinlioprics, and wliich 
 throatonod yot moro portontouH chanj^'os in Church and State. 
 Stran{,'oly, nothin^^ i„ tho wholo Lihoral programme so dis- 
 gU8tod Nowman as tlie proposal to ' omancipate ' the Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 From the earliest time that LorJ Sherhrooke hegan to 
 think, and had opinions of his own, ho was, until tho close of 
 his life, on all these points, a staunch Liberal. He saw 
 nothing but good in this early Reform movement, and was 
 a strong upholder of tho policy of Grey and Brougham. 
 Wliat was held to i)e a still more heinous offence in the Oxford 
 of his day— as it touched the college revenues -he was an 
 earnest advocate of the abolition of the Corn Laws. Mr. 
 Froude once told me that parents were chary about sending 
 their sons to Lowe, though he was admittedly the most suc*^ 
 cessful private tutor in Oxford, for fear he might instil 
 into their minds the 'heresy of Free-trade.' As to the 
 
! r 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 ! 
 
 120 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD STIERBROOKE 
 
 Church, Lowe held, as agamst Keble, Pusej, and Newman, 
 that instead jf being weak or oppressed, she was altogether 
 too powerful and dominant, especially at the University. He 
 was therefore opposed root and branch to the 'Oxford,' or 
 * Tractarian ' movement,' the aim of which was to combat, 
 and, if possible, ovei .^hrow the rising tide of Rationalism and 
 Liberalism in England by the revival of mediaeval theology, 
 and the strenuous assertion of the power and authority of the 
 Church. 
 
 It may well be imagined that, to an intellect so essentially 
 masculine and positive as Lowe's, much of the Tractarian 
 propaganda, with its theological casuistry and mere word- 
 spinning (as he would regard it), seemed too utterly futile to 
 call for serious attention. In this he was plainly mistaken ; 
 for the mass of men are hd much more by their emotions 
 than by their reason, and the Tractarian party alone, in 
 Oxford at this time, appealed to the deeper feelings and pious 
 sentiments of the rising generation. On this very point 
 Newman makes a most pregnant observation : — 
 
 The Roman Church stops the safety-valve of excitement of 
 Reason ; we, that of the excitement of feeling. In consequence, 
 Romanists turn infidels, and Anglicans turn Wesleyans.-^ 
 
 Meantime the leaven was working, and these earnest 
 young religious reactionaries were drawing some strange fish 
 into their net. 
 
 There was Lowe's late schoolfellow, the unfortunate 
 ' senior prefect,' W. G. Ward, who left Winchester an admirer 
 of Mill and Benthani, and, after he reached Oxford, was for a 
 while a religious Liberal of the school of Dr. Arnold. One 
 would have thought when this same Ward became an avowed 
 
 ' ' This title is surely to be preferred to " Oxford Movement," which seems 
 to destine tliat .incient scat of learuinfj; never to move, except backwards.' — 
 Cardinal Manning, by A. W. Hutton, p. 252 n. 
 
 • From letter of the Kcv. J. H. Newman io Ilev. H. J. Bose, in Letters atid 
 Correspondence of J. IT. Newman, edited by Anno Mozley, vol. ii. p. 187. 
 
ROBERT I-OWE AND THE TRACTARIANS 
 
 121 
 
 Kewmanite, and began to play those fantastic tricks which at 
 length closed Oxford and opened Eome to him, that Robert 
 Lowe would have paused from his daily drudgery of ten hours' 
 tuition, and sprung into the fray. Probably he regarded his 
 old schoolfellow's transformations of faith as too constitution- 
 ally pantomimic to be amenable to rational criticism. Doubt- 
 less he heard of the ' movement ' from his more intimate 
 friend, Eoundell Palmer (' Catholicus,' as he playfully styles 
 him) ; but what he heard evidently did not flutter his pulse. 
 Lord Selborne expressly bears testimony that * he held him- 
 self aloof from the theological controversies by which the 
 minds of many Oxford men, resident and non-resident, were 
 much occupied.' 
 
 But Newman's Tract 90 was too much for Robert Lowe, 
 and he forthwith entered into the theological fray by pub- 
 lishing an anonymous pamphlet, entitled The Articles Con- 
 strued by llicmsclres. Ward promptly took up the cudgels, and 
 of course made Newman's position (as he doubtless intended) 
 absolutely untenable. Lowe retorted with great vigour, and 
 with but little consideration for the feelings of his fellow- 
 Wykehamist ; which, to do Ward justice, he never murmured 
 at, for he preferred a stout foe, who could hit out straight 
 and hard. 
 
 It is singular, when we consider the futur<: eminence of 
 Lord Sherbrooke, no less than the marked .'ibilily displayed 
 in these short controversial pamphlets, that his share in the 
 tierce batiie that raged round Tract 90 should have been 
 almost completely ignored. So far as I know, no writer on 
 this subjeci", seems to have called attention to them except the 
 late Dean Church and Mr. Wilfrid Ward in comparatively 
 recent publications. Cardinal Newniau himself, in his well- 
 known AjH)lopifiy in which he has so much to say of his own 
 tract, omits all reference to what Lord Selborne describes as 
 ' perhaps the most sensible ' of all the replies which it evoked. 
 But this is not surprising, as Newman evidently desired to 
 
ll' 
 
 r Jt 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 122 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 minimise Ward's position in the movement ; ' and it was 
 Ward who, without consulting him, had rushed into the fray, 
 and in his own peculiar fashion joyfully admitted all the 
 charges brought against Newman and the party by their new 
 antagonist. 
 
 Mr. J. A. Froude, who was himself for a while a Newmanite, 
 and whose brother, Hurrell, was one of the actual founders of 
 the Anglo-Catholic party, has written, as only he could, on the 
 Oxford Tracts ; but he, too, makes no mention of Lord Sher- 
 brooke's trenchant criticism of No. 90. On calling Mr. Froude's 
 attention to this oversight, he frankly replied : * I had forgot- 
 ten, or I never knew, that Lowe had written about Tract 90. 
 But his mental eyes were always wide open in those days, 
 however it might have been with his material ones.' It is 
 still more remarkable that Dr. Abbott, who has been devoting 
 so much time to Newmanism of late, should have apparently 
 overlooked a writer who in two short pamphlets anticipates so 
 much of his own work. 
 
 Newman's object in Tract 90 was to prove — or rather sug- 
 gest — that the Thirty-nine Articles may receive a ' Catholic ' 
 interpretation ; and that anyone holding ' Catholic ' dogma 
 and doctrine may, without undue reservation, subscribe them. 
 The Tract was publisliod on February 27, 1841, and on the 8th 
 of March following the four senior tutors (of whom Mr. Tait 
 of Balliol, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, was one) ex- 
 pressly accused its author, writes Dean Church, * with suggesting 
 and opening a way by which men might, at least in the case of 
 Roman views, violate their solemn engagements to their 
 University.' "^ On the 15th of March the Heads of Houses con- 
 demned the t'^aching of the Tract — precipitately and unwisely, 
 thinks Newman's great Anglican advocate, Dean Church. 
 Newman replied with his accustomed subtlety, but hardly 
 with his customary success, by boldly stating that the 
 
 ' See Dr. Abbott's Cardinal Newman in the Anglican Church. 
 * Oxford Movement, p. 291. 
 
ROBERT LOWE AND THE TRACTARIANS 
 
 123 
 
 Articles were ' written before the Decrees of Trent,' and hence 
 ' were not directed against those decrees,' but merely, he 
 maintained, against certain popular superstitions and vulgar 
 errors which had crept into the Eoman system by the six- 
 teenth century. War was now fairly declared, and everyone 
 in Oxford ranged himself on one side or the other. 
 
 Then it was that Kobert Lowe entered the lists. His first 
 pamphlet. The Articles Constmedby Themselves,ia now extremely 
 rare. I believe there is not a copy even in the Library of the 
 British Museum. He chose two mottoes, which clearly enough 
 reveal the temper of mind he was in after reading Newman's 
 most famous pamphlet : — 
 
 For though I do verily believe the Church of England a true 
 member of the Church, that she wants nothing necessary to sal- 
 vation, and holds nothing repugnant to it ; and had thought that to 
 think so had sufficiently qualified me for a subscription, yet now I 
 plainly see, if I to ill not juggle with my consciev^e and play with 
 God Almighty, I must forbear. . . . And I plainly perceive that if 
 I had swallowed this pill, however gilded over with glosses and 
 reservations, and wrapped up in conserves of good intentions and 
 purposes, yet it would never have agreed with me. — Chillingiuorth 
 to Sheldon. 
 
 This is the last remedy, but it is the worst. It hath in it some- 
 thing of craft but very little of ingenuity ; and if it can serve the 
 ends of peace, or of eternal charity, or of a fantastic concord, yet it 
 cannot serve the ends of truth and holiness and Christian simplicity. 
 — Taylor's Ductor Dubitantium, chap. iv. rule 23. 
 
 The Articles Construed by Themselves has little of that 
 epigrammatic point and brilliancy which characterise almost 
 all the later writings or utterances of its gifted author. But, 
 from its own standpoint, it is a singularly able and convincing 
 piece of criticism. Lowe's chief point is, that in dealing with 
 the Articles as a religious test we can apply to them only 
 two principles of interpretation : the ' internal ' principle, by 
 which we construe the * Articles by themselves,' and the 
 • external,' by which they are construed <;or more likely mis- 
 construed) according to the real or supposed opinions of the 
 

 I- 
 
 ]24 
 
 LIFE OF LOED STIERBROOKE 
 
 f miners, or the personal convictions of the suhscrihi'i-. The former, 
 he declares, is the only sound principle, and is his ; the latter, 
 which muSk lead to confusion and evasion, is Newman's. 
 
 In other words, he says, with regard to subscription to the 
 Articles the question is. Do we bind ourselves by what their 
 framers wrote, or by what we think they meant to write. 
 ' Clearly by what they wrote, for it is to that we subscribe.' In 
 the following passage he vigorously traverses Newman's 
 favourite device of discussing the intention of the Eeformers 
 who drew up the Thirty-nine Articles : — 
 
 By admitting this kind of evidence to explain the Articles we 
 shall replace clearness and distinctness by the utmost doubt and 
 uncertainty. The opinions of every eminent man of that eventful 
 period must be ransacked and laid open ; his private discourse, his 
 confidential letters, his isolated sermons, and controversial works 
 must be examined ; the danger must be incurred of ascribing to him 
 opinions which his more mature reason disavowed ; and this in a 
 period when the human mind, awaking from the lethargy of a 
 thousand years, found a boundless field of investigation open before it, 
 and was obliged, from the imperious necessity of deciding many 
 things, to make some hasty decisions, which it afterwards recalled. 
 It is also undeniable that the Reformers, as independent thinkers, 
 were struck, according to the varieties of their characters and modes 
 of thought, more forcibly with some abuses than others. The sale 
 of indulgences to one, the infallibility of the Pope to another, tran- 
 snbstantiation to i third, might appear the crying sin of Romanism ; 
 and who has not observed that it is the tendency of controversy to 
 confine its view wholly to the point debated, while all except that 
 are thrown into the shade, and passed over as ^J7'0 hdc vice of little 
 consequence ? 
 
 Coming to closer quarters with his astute opponent, he 
 next proceeds to demolish the basis of Traet 90, which he states 
 to be, ' that it is the duty of everyone to put such a construc- 
 tion on the Articles as may bring them into accordance with 
 his own opinions, if possible.' 
 
 Mr. Lowe writes : — 
 
 What the limits to this possibility arc it is not easy to say, but 
 an examination of the Tract will show what they are not. For 
 instance, it is possible (riglit '.') for him whu believes that sovie 
 
ROBERT LOWE AND THE TRACTARIANS 
 
 125 
 
 
 General Councils are infallible to sign an Article which says that 
 General (clearly meaning that all General) Councils may err— that 
 is, it is possible (right ?) for him to subscribe one proposition and 
 believe its logical contradictory. 
 
 In this spirit he discusses each of the points specially raised 
 by Newman to show that the Articles by some ingenuity are 
 * patient ' of a Catholic ii'.terpretation. He then sums up with 
 severity in these words : — 
 
 The principle which would interpret the Articles by reference to 
 our own belief is radically immoral, the true principle being, as was 
 shown above, to interpret them by themselves. Holding fast this 
 noble and honourable principle, I cannot condescend so far below 
 its dignity as to follow Mr. Newman through his exposition 
 of individual Articles. In some he has been more, in others less, 
 successful and ingenious ; but wherever he is wrong it has been by 
 design, wherever right by accident. The same stain which our 
 Articles tell us attaches to works done before faith (the want of a 
 right motive) vitiates every one of his comments, and renders the 
 elaborate worii of this deep casuist and learned theologian absolutely 
 worthless as a practical guide to the conscience. Adopt his inter- 
 pretation if you can believe it to be the literal one — tJiat will only 
 degrade your understanding and confuse your ideas ; but shun his 
 principles like a pestilence when he would induce you to dethrone 
 conscience from her tribunal, and set himself, strong in all the soul- 
 destroying arts of verbal subtlety and mental reservation, in her place. 
 
 ■ This is, no doubt, very plain hiiiguage, and will sound harsh 
 in the ears of many good and pious persons, to whom 
 Cardinal Newman, without any formal act of canonisation, is 
 already a saint. No thoughtful person would willingly wound 
 the susceptibilities of others, especially of those who are of the 
 salt of the earth. But if we are to understand the issues of 
 this great controversy, which has so profoundly affected the 
 present and the future of two religious communions in this 
 country, as well as the hopes, aspirations, and lives of thousands 
 of men and women, it is essential to keep the facts steadily 
 before our eyes, and to hold our personal sensibilities and 
 predilections somewhat in check. 
 
 No writer on the England of the nineteenth century who 
 
■ a 
 
 !; 
 
 126 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 aims to go below the mere surface of political parties and so- 
 called social movements but must pay respect, and even a 
 measure of reverence, to the name of Newman. However, as 
 with all men of distinct genius, his aims, character, and aspira- 
 tions have been most completely misunderstood and distorted 
 by his own followers. Mr. Froude seems to me alone to hit the 
 mark when he speaks of Newman as a born ruler of men, and 
 even compares him to Caesar. At the first blush, the com- 
 parison seems extravagant, if not meaningless ; but this 
 is simply because we do not sufficiently realise that there are 
 rulers and warriors in the realm of mind and spirit, as well as 
 in the more material regions of kingdoms and principalities. 
 From the time that Newman, in his post of influence as 
 Vicar of St. Mary's and Fellow of Oriel, found himself in har- 
 mony with the views and aims of Hurrell Froude and John 
 Keble, he set his face like a flint to oppose and overthrow the 
 hated hordes of modern Liberalism, which were then besieging 
 fiercely both Church and University. To expect him, as 
 Charles Kingsley did, and as Dr. Abbott apparently does, to be 
 always strictly fair, and impartial, and above-board in his 
 battle with the enemy is like expecting the Duke of Wellington 
 (who was Newman's favourite hero) to unfold his plans to the 
 marshals of Napoleon in the Peninsula. Being a born ruler 
 of men, he fought the foe with any and every weapon he 
 could lay hands on, the more deadly and swift the better for 
 his purpose. With every desire to be frank and confidential 
 to his intimates, he told them no more than was essential for 
 them to know as soldiers and subalterns. 
 
 Newman, on one occasion, referred to Keble and Hurrell 
 Froude as the thinkers, and to himself as the rhetorician of 
 the party. This was a strange error for such a man to fall 
 into about his own position and source of influence : he was, 
 in reality, the great strategist of the Tractarians. He was 
 always cool, and, in a sense, calculating ; however the battle 
 fared, and whatever was said of himself, he never lost his head. 
 
ROBERT LOWE AKI) THE TRACTARIANS 
 
 12t 
 
 sntial 
 ilfor 
 
 lirrell 
 m of 
 
 fall 
 1 was, 
 
 was 
 lattle 
 iead. 
 
 Nothing can be more suggestive than the letter he wrote to the 
 Eev. Sir William Cope on the death of Charles Kingsley : — 
 
 I never from the first have felt any anger towards him. . . . 
 A casual reader would think my language denoted anger, but it did 
 not. I have ever felt from experience that no one would believe me 
 in earnest if I spoke calmly. . . . Rightly or wrongly this was 
 the reason why I felt it would not do to be tame, and not to show 
 indignation at Mr. Kingsley's charges. 
 
 One who could thus, for controversial purposes, affect a 
 righteous indignation against an opponent, while remaining 
 quite calm and unmoved, was certainly an intellectual strate- 
 gist of a high order. Indeed it amounted to genius, and 
 quite raised Newman, as a party leader, above such good and 
 exceptional men as Keble and Pusey, who, in culture and 
 knowledge, in social position, nay, even in the Christian 
 virtues, were his equals, and in some respects his superiors. 
 
 This, I may confidently assert, was the view of Newman 
 which Lord Sherbrooke held from the time when he was 
 brought into actual conflict with him as the leader of the 
 Tractarian party at Oxford. 
 
 It is, on the surface, rather singular that the widespread 
 feeling among pious persons of the innate wickedness of 
 anyone who could venture to oppose Cardinal Newman is 
 chiefly confined to members of the religious communion which 
 he abandoned. This is only on the surface singular ; for 
 the Newman these persons revere is the Newman of St. Mary's, 
 Oxford, and he must ever stand out as their leader and spokes- 
 man before a harsh and hostile world. Thus, Dean Church, 
 the very flower of Anglican culture, whose well-balanced mind 
 and temperament gave even to his controversial writings a 
 fine tone of courtesy and an exquisite grace and lucidity, 
 fairly frowns and darkens whenever anyone attficks or even 
 criticises Newman. Painful as it is to say so, the Dean sum- 
 marises this controversy over Tract no quite in the ordinary 
 partisan spirit, and altogether unfairly to Lord Sherbrooke :— 
 
128 
 
 LIFK OF LOUD SI1E1M5UO0KK 
 
 The more distinguished of tlie combatants were ]\Ir. Ward and 
 Mr. 11. Lowe. Mr. Ward, with his usual dialecticiil skill, not only 
 defended the Tract, but pushed its argument yet further in claiming 
 tolerance for doctrine alleged to be Eoman. Mr. Lowe, not 
 troubling himself either with theological history or the relation of 
 other parties in the Church to the formularies, threw his strength 
 into the popular and plausible topic of dishonesty, and into a bitter 
 and unqualified invective against the bad faith and immorality 
 manifested in the teaching of which No. W was the outcome.' 
 
 It is instructive to contrast with this judgment of Dean 
 Church the opinion expressed concerning this Tract by no less 
 a personage than the late Cardinal Manning : — 
 
 Manning (writes Mr. A. W. Hutton) never got over the dislike 
 he entertained for Tract i>0. It always seemed to him of doubtful 
 honesty. When, in the autumn of 1845, after his return from his first 
 visit to Dollinger at Munich, Mr. Gladstone, much perturbed by the 
 grave series of secessions from the Church of England, asked 
 Manning if any one principle could be found that would explain 
 them, the latter said, after reflection, ' Yes ; irant of truth.' At a 
 much later time he said that he thought he must have had in his 
 mind the impression of dishonesty produced by the shifty arguments 
 of the last Tract.'- 
 
 If this be so, it is a pleasure to be able to record that on 
 one question, at least. Lord Sherl)rooke and Cardinal Manning 
 were in complete agreementi. But many good and pious souls, 
 who find the spiritual sustenance they most need in the beau- 
 tiful passages of the Parovhial and Plain Sermons, in the per- 
 sonal revelations of the .l;>(>/o///a,and in the hymn, 'Lead, kindly 
 light,' will continue to brand anyone who seriously differs from 
 Newman as either hopelessly wicked or helplessly benighted. 
 
 No sooner was Lowe's attack on Tract 90 issued than 
 Newman's most intelligent and active- minded disciple,"' W. G. 
 
 ' The Oxford Movement, p. 2'.)4. 
 
 -' Cardinal Manning, by A. W. Hutton, pp. 252-3. 
 
 ■' Disciple is hardly the word. Ward, as Newman himself said, was 
 ' never a Tractarian, never a Puseyite, never a Newmanite.' He chose to ally 
 hiniself with Newman, but was then and always purely a ' Wardite,' acting 
 always on his own initiative, and, as will be seen, to the undoing of the party 
 or parties specified. 
 
 ! i! 
 
IJOBEKT IA)\M^ AND THE TlIACTArJANS 
 
 129 
 
 [id, was 
 to ally- 
 acting 
 ke party 
 
 I i 
 
 
 
 AVard, again rushed into the fray. He issued a reply to Lowe'a 
 pamphlet, entitled .1 Few More Words in Defenee of Tract 90 
 (he had already published .1 Fen- Words). Newman, who 
 realised as no one else did the strength of the forces slowly 
 gathering against him, must have trembled at such unsolicited 
 and compromising support. With regard to the Articles, said 
 Ward, the thing to do is to subscribe them in a * non-natural 
 sense.' This was precisely what Lowe had pointed out was 
 the real purport and outcome of Newman's teaching in 
 Tvuet 90. 
 
 Lowe replied to Ward with Ohservatious Sugr/ested hif * A Few 
 More Words in Si(2)2wrt of No. 90.* He now placed his name 
 on the title-page and acknowledged the authorship of The 
 Articles Construed hy Themselves. The motto, from his favourite 
 Sir Walter Scott, evidently passed over the head of Ward, and 
 pointed to Newman himself: — 
 
 For he hij sjiells of glamour bright 
 
 Could make a Lady seem a Knight, 
 
 The cohivehs on a dungeon-wall 
 
 Seem tapestry in lordly hall, 
 
 And yoiit t seem age, and age seem youth — 
 
 All was delusion, naught was truth. 
 
 In the pamphlet itself, however, he promptly turns his 
 attention to his immediate antagonist : — 
 
 The first thing that strikes us is, that a man may, according to 
 this view, conscientiously sign the Articles without ever having read 
 them ; that if he can satisfy himself that he was not intended to 
 he excluded, he is not exckided. The Catholics (I use this term 
 in this and in my last pamphlet as opposed to and exclusive of Pro- 
 testants, not in its generic sense, in which Protestants claim to be 
 Catholics as well as they) — the Catholics prove this by Melanchthon, 
 by the Homilies, and other contemporary authorities. But the 
 disciples of Owen and Irving ' see opened to them by such reasoning 
 a readier and shorter argument for admission into the Church of 
 England, an argument which, if they were blest by the teaching of a 
 
 ' Robert Owen, the Socialist, and Edward Irving, founder of the Catliolio 
 Apostolic Church. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 K 
 
I 
 
 . ifi; 
 
 H 
 
 i ! 
 
 
 E 'i 
 
 180 
 
 I.IFK OF LOIM) SHKIMIKOOKF 
 
 moralist lik«^ ^Iv. Wanl, thoy would not bo slow to use. ITow 
 could thoy, two socts only founded in tho prosojit eontury, l)o 
 ■intended to bo oxcludod by Articloa drawn up nearly throe centuries 
 ago? And, if so, lunv, upon ^[r. Ward's principle, arc they 
 excluded '? 
 
 ; As throwing some light on this controversy, and particnlarly 
 on the tone adopted t()wards both Ward and Newnnin by their 
 vigorous assailant, tho strange story of a clergyman named 
 Sibthorp is worth recalling. This gentleman, after a visit to 
 ])r. Wiseman at Oscott, suddenly joincnl the Church of Kome. 
 After a while he seems to have grown tired of it, and came 
 back to the English Church and to Oxford. Ward thereupon 
 wrote to a Eoman Catholic friend with whom he was in con- 
 lidential correspondence, ' By this time you have doubtless 
 hoard of Mr. Sibthorp's step. How unspeakably dreadful ! It 
 makes one sick to think of it.' 
 
 And Ward himself was then an English clergyman ! Little 
 wonder that Robert Lowe, whose ' mental eyes ' were now 
 thoroughly wide open, should bluntly tell him that his own 
 proper place was the Church of Eonie. 
 
 Mr. Ward has given no reason for his rejection of my theory ; 
 nor am I aware that it is incompatible with his principles, as it is 
 drawn from grounds common to Protestant and Catholic : but it is 
 incompatible with his rcmaiiiing i)i the Church. What matters it, 
 then, what its intrinsic merits may be ? 
 
 This may well close the account of this controversy. 
 W. G. Ward was indeedjthe enfant terrible of his party. He was, 
 personally, the most ingenuous and kindly-natured of men, as 
 the beautiful testimony of his steadfast friend, the late Arch- 
 bishop Tait, sufficiently proves ; but he was what politicians 
 call an * impossible ' man. No one could work with him, and 
 while he alternately annoyed and amused his opponents, he 
 utterly decimated his friends and destroyed their cause. 
 
 Ward, more than any single person, brought about, or at 
 least precipitated, the collapse of the Tractarian movement, 
 
"or at 
 iient, 
 
 noUKIlT LOWE AM) THE TK'ACTAKr.WS 
 
 181 
 
 v 
 
 and by increasing]; Newman'H trials and dilVicultics, forced liini 
 to quit Oxford and linally to join the Uonian Connnunion. It 
 was after surveyinj* the wreck of fondly cherished hopes and 
 the ruin of Ion*;; and anxious labours that ])r. I'usey doclarcd 
 of the seccdcrs to lionie : ' All had deteriorated ex(^ept New- 
 man, who was too jj;ood to he spoilt, and Ward, who was too 
 bad to be made worse ! ' Like most clever sayinj^s, this was 
 not altogether just ; but if Ward were a trial to Newman, he 
 was a veritable pestilence to Pusey. 
 
 After Mr. Lowe had left these shores and had taken up 
 the threads of his life again in Sydney, news came of his 
 quondam antagonist's marriage. Now W. G. Ward had been 
 a fanatical upholder of the sanctity of priestly celibacy, and 
 he was still in Holy Orders in the English Church, while his 
 wife was then a devoted follower of Dr. Pusey. This charac- 
 teristic proceeding brought down every form of ridicule on 
 the devoted heads of the Tractarians. To their horror and 
 disgust, too. Ward must needs marry just at the time that he 
 was on his trial at Oxford for publishing his Ideal of a Cliriatian 
 Climrh, which, following Trart 90 and the controversy thereon, 
 had arrayed all the University authorities against the party. 
 The announcement of his approaching marriage turned a 
 tragedy into a farce; but we may well forgive the High Anglicans 
 for not joining in the laughter. Ward himself writes to his 
 fiancee * J. Keble is mnch pained, and Archdeacon Manning 
 cxtremehf so. . . . None of the company wished me joy, and 
 Church's manner at entering was decidedly cool.' 
 
 The humour of the situation must have struck the brilliant 
 Oxford exile at the Antipodes. In a prominent column of the 
 Atlas y he inserted a notification of the marriage though his 
 Colonial readers must have been sorely puzzled to know the 
 reason, for it is hardly to be supposed that a single subscriber 
 had ever heard Mr. Ward's name. How true it is that * one 
 touch of Nature makes the whole world kin.' 
 
 Tract 90 and the consequent controversy mark the col- 
 
 k2 
 
' li .1 
 
 ; I 
 
 1. i 
 
 132 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBKOOKE 
 
 lapse, or rather the temporary ecUpse, of Anglo-CathoHcism at 
 Oxford. But certainly W. G. Ward, its stalwart defender, did 
 much more to bring this about than Eobert Lowe, who so 
 vigorously assailed it. To use Newman's own phrase, 'the 
 game was up.' But he alone of the three leaders recognised, 
 or at least admitted, it. It is, however, open to the followers 
 of Keble and Pusey to point to the present changed condition 
 of the Enghsh Church, and to maintain that they, and not 
 Newman, took the wiser course. The Tractarians as a party 
 were scattered and broken, and the rushing tide of Liberalism 
 swept in and carried everything, at least for the time, before 
 it. The struggle was maintained for some years, until Newman 
 sought refuge in the Church of Rome (1845). 
 
 Robert Lowe had left Oxford, and was in London, study- 
 ing the mtricacies of special pleading under the late Sir 
 Barnes Peacock. The following letter written by him at 
 this time to the Rev. R. Michell, of Lincoln, will show 
 how thoroughly Newman's pamphlets had aroused him to 
 action : — 
 
 Bobert Loice to Bev, B. Michell. 
 
 34 Burton Crescent (undated). 
 
 I have read Newman's last tract, which I think a fond thing 
 enough, and from which I am half- inclined to think he has a hanker- 
 ing for Popery after all, and not merely a speculative predilection 
 for Catholicism, as I used to think. Why, otherwise, he should 
 encumber his creed with purgatory, saint and image worship, and 
 similar gammon, I cannot imagine. I must go and talk to 
 Catholicus (that is, Roundell Palmer) on the point. Rumours are 
 rife that you are going to do something dreadful at Oxford in the 
 way of an answer to Newman by Convocation. As a Hampdenite, 
 I can only think of Actaeon 
 
 bv w/iO(riroi (TKv\aK€S oti tdpf'^aro 
 
 The hounds will gather at the himtsman's hollo, 
 And where he leads the obedient pack will follow. 
 
 But if he goes among them without his red coat he is very likely to 
 be torn in pieces. I shall be glad if such a vote is proposed, as it 
 
lolicism at 
 ender, did 
 e, who so 
 •ase, 'the 
 Jcognised, 
 followers 
 condition 
 1 and not 
 s a party 
 iberalisni 
 le, before 
 Newman 
 
 1, study- 
 late Sir 
 
 him at 
 ill show 
 
 him to 
 
 IJOBKKT LOWE AND THE TKACTAlJLWS 1^53 
 
 will give me an excuse to myself, for revisiting Ahna Mater, und 
 ventmg the concentrated venom of years in one vote.' 
 
 . Thi« is, of course, not to be taken altogether literallv 
 In writmg to Michell and other intimate friends, it was 
 customary for Lowe to express himself at times in an uncon- 
 ventional or humorous way; but beneath the fun there was 
 clearly a serious intent. 
 
 ' Speaking on the ' Oxford University Bill ' (May 1 18'544 tli^n h.t . m 
 Committee of the House of Commons, Jve said! ^ 836 ^t^und ^^^^^^^^ 
 sons were brought up to condemn a work nf r>. w "'f'^"* nunai«,a pei- 
 
 tenth part of them had ever rird That ,1 r ^^^P^^^'^. which not o„e. 
 
 iu t , " "»u uvei reaa. -I «at same Convocat on afterwards tnrno^ 
 on those of whom it was the obedient instrument in isi- ij^ a ! . \ 
 
 Klated). 
 
 id thing 
 hanker- 
 lilection 
 should 
 lip, and 
 talk to 
 )urs are 
 3 in the 
 pdenite, 
 
 kely to 
 }, as it 
 

 I I 
 
 J It 
 
 J ! 
 
 I I 
 
 134 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IN LONDON 
 
 (1841-18-12) 
 
 Called to the Bar— Emigration to Australia 
 
 Robert Lowe hail matters to think of more nearly affectmg 
 his immediate future and that of his wife than the Tractarian 
 controversy. Not only did he fail to secure the Greek pro- 
 fessorship at Glasgow, but also a much smaller appointment, 
 the then newly-created Praelectorship of Logic at Oxford. * I 
 really think,' he remarks, * if I had obtained it I should very 
 probably have shrunk from the plunge into the great world 
 which I was about to make.' 
 
 As he did not obtain it, he d(!cided to take the plunge. 
 The little house, IG St. Aldate's, was sold, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lowe removed to 34 Burton Crescent, Bloomsbury, a locality 
 never by an; means fashionable, and far less so now than 
 then. 
 
 Throughout his period of hard work and estrangement 
 from his father, his aunt, Mva. Sherbrooke of Oxton Hall, to 
 whose estate and name his elder brother afterwards succeeded, 
 was truly a friendly counsellor, a circumstance that he ever 
 remembered with gratitude. The following letter, written at 
 this crisis, lays open his plans, and is written in the manly, 
 hopeful, yet affectionate tone of a young man, about to embark 
 on a new, and perhaps perilous, enterprise, who craves for 
 sympathy and hearty good wishes, as well as for counsel and 
 admonition : — 
 
IN LONDON 
 
 135 
 
 liobcrt Loicc to Mrs. Shcrhrookc, of Oxton Hall. 
 
 Friday : 1(» bt. Aldate's, Oxford. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Sherbrooke, — I think you will be pleased to hear 
 that 1 have at length fixed upon a house in London. My choice is 
 84 Burton Crescent, a very good house, and at a very moderate rent 
 (for London). I have been greatly dismayed in looking out for a 
 house by the immense rents which are asked. I find it absolutely 
 impossible to obtain a house for less than 100/. a year, including 
 rates and taxes ; my present one is 85/., which with rates and taxes 
 will be brought to about that sum. 
 
 Burton Crescent neail;/ touches Euston Square with one horn 
 and Tavistock with the other ; it is about three-quarters of a mile 
 from Lincoln's Inn, and it? vicinity to the New Road [now Euston 
 Eoad] gives an easy approacJi to the more westerly and fashionable 
 parts of the town. 
 
 My residence at Dir.nu has been particularly agreeable this 
 summer ; my lodgings commanded a most beautiful prospect, and 
 the previous knowledge 1 had gained of the people and country 
 enabled me to enjoy the pleasures derived from both to the utmost. 
 As a specimen of the price of provisions, my wife, myself, and an 
 English maidservant lived very comfortably for three months for 
 21/. 1 have also made some very kind and agreeable friends this 
 suunner a Mr. Leake, his wife, and daughters; he was private 
 secretary to Lord Grey and has now a situation in the Treasury. 
 During the five days wv. were in London searching for lodgings we 
 dined with them there. ... As a set-ofi'to all this (whic)i, however 
 slight in itself, to one so little favoured by fortune as 1 really looks 
 like prosperity), 1 have lost the dearest uiid kindest of my friends, 
 Mrs. Weguelin. She was the niece of Lord Sydenham, tin Governor- 
 General of Canada, and daughter of a Mr. Thompson, who was 
 drowned in the Thames last year. . . . There was no one living 
 whom I more entirely loved and esteemed, and to whose society, a? 
 residing near London, I looked forward witli more pleasure. Never- 
 theless, not as I will, but as God will. She wiis only twenty -five. 
 I have also made frii'nds with another faiiiily, of the name of 
 Tyndall. I stayed in Guernsey ten days on my leturn from France, 
 and rec3ived from them during that time the greatest and most 
 unceasing kindness. 
 
 It \* always diflicult to form an opinion of what is going (m 
 in France from the provinces ; but 1 believe from all 1 could hear 
 and learn there will be no war this time. 1 am now in Oxford, 
 finishing off my pupils. IMy wife is in Hampshire with her brother. 
 You hive perhaps heard that my youngest sister-in-law is going to 
 
 i 
 
I ! 
 
 '3" 
 
 '',1 
 
 'J! 
 
 i ill 
 
 DJI) 
 
 Mir, OF I.OKI) SIIKKIMJOOKi; 
 
 marry a ^fr. Punbar. ol(lt\st son of n, Sir Arcliihiild Dnnbiir/a Scotch 
 baronot. Tlu^ wcddin;; is lixcd I'or Novrnilx-f it. 
 
 \\"\l\\ duly and lovo to C\)loiu'l ami Mr <. Conpo. bclicvo mo always, 
 Most siinccroly and j^ratet'ully yours, 
 
 UOMT. LowK. 
 
 Writiiifj; Mp^aiu lo Mrs. Slicrliroolu* td thank h(M" for tho 
 prosiMit of a 1m \v dictionary. h(> remarks : ' I atn now woi'kinpj 
 ei<:;ht hours a <lay, and sluill li:i\(> hard work of it, as tho 
 torm is (hrc i> weeks louj^or thim usiiiil. owinjj; to the lateiH'SS 
 of Easter.' 
 
 1 
 
 Nor was l\lrs. Lowo slow to reeo^ins(> the knidiiess anc 
 sympathy shown to her hnshand and luM'sell' hy his aunt at 
 this their ixM'itxl of 'storm and stress." Son |>iisHa,L!;es in 
 lu>r li'tter i^^ ]\Irs. Shorhrooke are very su^,i;esti\is rinealinfj; 
 her own eharaettM" as wc^ll as his S(>vere (lnidfi;(>ry, borne so 
 iincom|>lainin,i:;ly. ' His spirits,' she writes, * aro (luite raised 
 to their old li>vel again, and he is as joyous as he was somo 
 years a<};t>. I was not aware to its full »'\t(Mit how nnu'h ho 
 disliked his present occupation, and how lu'avily it vveij^luul 
 upon his mind, until I witnessed the rc^lief the anticipation of 
 roleas(^ from it is to him.' 
 
 The \viiov i'(Mitinuos in that strain of splondid coniidonco 
 hi her husband's power to overccnuo all diflieulties, and to rise 
 to any eminence, however lofty, which characterises nil ISFrs. 
 Lowe's correspomleuce. ' Ho is roadinii; law from morniuD; to 
 night : it seems (piito a delightful (H'cupation. I am also 'id 
 lu^ appears to t'nul the law so i^asy ; from the constant cultivation 
 to which he has subjected his mind, the ditVu'ulties of which 
 others complain appear trivial to him. He has already, I assure 
 you, from his nuniory beiMi :j1)1(> to correct two old lawyers on 
 some law points. 1 K^ok forward with the greatest as8ura,nce 
 to his some day bec(nuing a great nuiu, he unites such rare 
 industry with \n> abilities.' 
 
 After the young couple had left Oxford, Mrs. Sherbrrjoke 
 continued Ium" good ollicrs, and did all in her powvr V) 
 
 1 i : 
 
IN LONDON 
 
 137 
 
 () rise 
 
 MVH. 
 
 UiX to 
 
 11 (ion 
 which 
 ssure 
 VH on 
 aiiee 
 rare 
 
 .o 
 
 roconcilo the roctor of Bingham to his son. The follo^villJ; 
 letter, written ovidontly under {^reat emotion, and in reply to 
 some overture of his aunt, revcalH Jjord Sherbrooke'H character 
 in a truly noble lij];ht; few have ever written at any time of 
 life HO fine and manly a defence of their conduct and convic- 
 lions : — 
 
 lioberl Lowe to Mrs. Shrrhroolcc. 
 
 Hiitiiriliiy : M nurton Cioftccnt. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Shorhrookc, — We have* hat. 'aviHit from Henry and 
 Miss L'ane ; she \h cortaiuly not a hoiuity, ))ut Rccincd very hvcly 
 and pood-natiired. I was very sorry that the unrmiRhed state of oiip 
 house, in which as yet there is oidy ou(* room habitahh', liinderecl 
 our sceiufi; uiore of her. Ileury <lined with mo on Friday, and 
 seemed to think that uiy father's l^-eliu^'H towards me had undergone 
 consid(M'ahle modification, and, in fact, that he would be }j;hn\ to hear 
 from me. I have paused for liirtlier and morci precise information 
 befon^ I take a step so important, and one whicli, if taken rashly, 
 may lead to such serious results. Unless my father can prc'vail upon 
 himself to abstain from fj^oiuf; over a^^'ain past topics of difference, 
 there would l)e but little profit in provoking' a correspondence which 
 can lead to no fjfood result. 
 
 It is not now, after all tluit I have done and suffered, that I am 
 inclined to be wanting' in the resolution I have lonj^ tidcen nctver to 
 lot hope, or fear, or any oth(>r motive, induce m(! to subscribe to any 
 statement dero^'atory to my character, \w\o,r for tlu! siike of an im- 
 nuMliato advanta^^e to do my honour a lastin<,' mischief. I trust, 
 Vv^hat(>ver may bo the result of the overtures that lmv(( been made to 
 me, yon will do me the jjistico to beli(!ve that I approach the subject 
 with every wish to conciliate, and that the concessions I am willing 
 to make are only limited by the duty I ow(( to my own character, 
 which I would not willingly lower in theoi)inion of my fri(!nds, and, 
 least of all, of myself. 
 
 Surely this rGHolute attitude n^doundH to Lord Sherbrooke'H 
 honour. A nuu'e eomi)liant and Ichh wincere man would have 
 surreiulered at discretion; a more commonplace and vindictive 
 nature would have borne a lifelon}^ grudg(! against those wliom 
 lie felt were dealing so harshly and unjustly with him. It 
 is given to few men, and those of the rarest and best of our 
 knul, to maintain their own scdf-respect with such dignity 
 
^ 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 )i 
 
 I !l 
 
 Ml 
 
 Ml 
 
 i; 
 
 138 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SHERBROOKE 
 
 and modesty, such absence of self-assertion and vindictive- 
 ness. 
 
 He then goes on to tell his aunt of his troubles with work- 
 people at Burton Crescent, and of his final success with pupils 
 at Oxford. * You will be glad to hear that I only sent four 
 pupils up for their examinations at Oxford, and that they all 
 appeared in the first class — a thing which, as far as I know , 
 never happened to anyone before. So my star has set in 
 glory.' 
 
 In the Chapter of Autobiography, Lord Sherbrooke tells us 
 of his legal studies under Mr. Coulson and the late Sir Barnes 
 Peacock, and gives us, with his customary vigour of phrase, 
 his views on the iniquities of ' special pleading.' During his 
 residence at Burton Crescent he kept up an intermittent 
 correspondence with the Rev. E. Michell, who was now Fellow 
 of Lincoln and Logic Professor. 
 
 The friendship between Lowe and Michell seems not to 
 have weakened by time or distance. Years afterwards Lowe 
 regularly forwarded copies of his speeches delivered in the 
 Legislative Council, Sydney, to his old tutor at Oxford. 
 Mr. Michell was then Public Orator (1848), and Bampton 
 Lecturer (184!)) ; but, despite these academic greatnesses, he 
 apparently took the keenest interest in his former pupil's on- 
 slaughts on colonial governors and grasping squatters. * He 
 used to show these speeches to me,' writes the Kev. E. S. 
 Ffoulkes, ' and would return them to Lowe full of revisions 
 and annotations.' From such circumstances one gets a rather 
 different view of Eicliard Michell to the jaundiced portrait of 
 him in Mark Pattison's Memoirs. But perhaps, like other 
 able men, Michell was a good friend and a good hater ; while 
 he liked Lowe, he disHked Pattison, and so showed quite 
 different sides of his character to each. 
 
 Of the many letters which Piobcrt Lowe wrote to 
 Mr. Michell from Burton Crescent and from Sydney, only a 
 few have been preserved ; but these are sufficient to show 
 
IN LONDON 
 
 139 
 
 how close was the intimacy. To his old tutor and friend he 
 poured out, in a semi-humorous way, all his troubles, 
 financial, legal, and domestic. Of the mere business matters 
 on which he consulted Michell, and which were then of 
 such vital importance, there is no need to say anytliii^g 
 further than this : despite all his expenses and difficulties, and 
 the loss of his income as a private tutor, Lowe steered himself 
 clear of the shoals of debt. As Mrs. Lowe remarks, he seemed 
 to find the law comparatively easy, though its useless techni- 
 calities and obsolete procedure were by no means congenial to 
 his intellect. This allusion to the late eminent member of the 
 Judicial Committee- of the Privy Council, Sir Barnes Peacock, 
 is amusing : ' I am studying the noble art of Special 
 Pleading under the wings of a man named Peacock — who 
 is, indeed, covered with silver wings, and his feathers with 
 gold.' 
 
 Later on he writes to Michell joyfully, to tell him that tlie 
 breach between his father and himself is licaled : — 
 
 I have not yet told you of what has happened in our family. I 
 have received from time to time difi'erent intimations from divers 
 quarters that my father was open to ovortuios to me. At first 1 
 held back ; but the thing was so often and from so many quarters 
 repeated to me that I began to believe it, and wrote accoidingly 
 a letter, not particularly conciliatory, which, to my infinite surprise, 
 was swallowed greedily, and we are now the Lt.st friends imaginable. 
 I have been staying in Notts, where we have been uncommonly well 
 received, and everybody has taken an immense fancy to my wife ; so 
 that they mean to compensate x^^o''tJi' by TTotrov. . . . My father has 
 sent me 100/., and Mrs. Sherbrooke the same, so that lam richer 
 than ever I was before. ... I leave my conveyancer in May to 
 go to Mylne, of Balliol, an equity draughtsman, for a year, to pay 
 whom one of my 100/. will come in very handy. 
 
 Thus practically closed the unfortunate niisunder' inding 
 between father and son ; but it by no means closed the hitter's 
 troubles and anxieties. 
 
 Robert Lowe was duly called to the Bar by the Honourable 
 Society of Lincoln's Inn in January 1812. But the dark 
 
140 
 
 Mi'i: OF i.oiM) sm:i:m:()()Ki; 
 
 : I 
 
 clouds liiid not yofc passed. Tli(> years of hard work told 
 their tale on his unl'oitnnato eyes, now rendered most acutely 
 pahiful. J)riven to despair, hv coiiHultod those wonderful 
 oculists, who examined his eyes and prophesied that ho 
 would 1)0 comi)letely hlind ii. the space of seven veal's. It 
 may assist the narrative to repeat his own r(\llections on 
 receiving this dread iutiinatitm :— 
 
 It is not V(>ry difl'icult to iniiigino the bitterness of such a I'cve- 
 iation. To he told at eii'ht-and-twtMitv that I had onlv seven 
 more years of slfj^hr., and to think of the lonj^ ni}j;lit that lay beyond 
 mc was bad enou,i:;h ; but the rellection that the object which I had 
 stru;j[,<:rlcd tbion}j[h a thousand diiVicnlties with such intense labour 
 to attain was lost to nic was almost as bitter! 
 
 Hg then proceeds to ivV tts that the impossibility of 
 doing anything at the English Bar before the night came 
 determined him, acting on nuidical advice, to emigrate to 
 Sydney ; aiul at the Bar of New South Wales try to nuikc a 
 modest fortune hi the allotted seven years. Truly, as he him- 
 self says, ' strange advice ' ; for, of all climes in the worhl, 
 that of Australia has the most dazzling atmosphere. To such 
 eyes as Lord Shorhrooke's, which instinctively shunned the 
 light as being so intensely painful, one would have thought 
 that a single summer in Sydney must mean total blindness. 
 However, as the sequel shows, he managed to avert that dire 
 catastrophe. 
 
 In the midst of this fresh trouble he writes as cheerfully 
 as ever to Michell : — 
 
 i 
 
 It has been decided, with the consent of my father and friends, that 
 I am to go to Sydney, in Australia, to try my luck as a conveyancer, 
 an animal much needed in the Antipodes. It is rather a startling 
 resolve ; but my wife does not dislike it, and I see little prospect of 
 doing good hero to decline a possible opening from any quarter. 
 
 I want you to find me some introductions to the people at 
 Sydney, as I know you have connections out there ; also to inquire 
 at Oxford, so as to get me as many as possible. The IMshop I should 
 like to know, nnd Dr. Lang, the head of the College. 
 
 .^ -. . - -. 
 
•IN I.OMHtN 
 
 141 
 
 It is Htniiif^c tliiit Tjord Slurltroolvo, tlicii knowiiij^ notliii 
 
 lU 
 
 of Sydnoy, sliould liavc Hinj^lcd out tliosd two (^niiiciit Imt 
 miitiially iintiii^onistic AuHtniliau colonistH. Tlu! Jiislioj) wrh 
 l)r. nrou^litou, an cHtiniablc and, in a Honsc, aInioHt ii,nv,d, 
 prolate, wlio owed his connoction with AuHtmlia (originally 
 as Archdeacon of Now South AValos) to tlu; Duko of AVollin^;- 
 ton. Thoro is on record tho IJishop's account of tho decisive 
 intorvi(!W with tho ii,ny,it Duke, for tho full apprclumHion of 
 which it is necessary to hoar in mind that it took place in 
 18'2J), when Austraha was indeed a ttrra inrofiiiita : ' He 
 told nie that in his o[)inion it was inipossihie to foresee the 
 
 )f the (;()!( 
 
 and added, " Th 
 
 extent and niiportanco oi tne i^oionies ; and added, " ineic 
 must be a Church." I replied that I felt it my duty to acciipt 
 the oflice. . . . He said to me, " 1 don't desire so speedy a 
 determination. If in inif profession, indeed, a man is desired 
 to ^'o to-morrow morninj^ to tlH> other side of the world, it is 
 better he should f^'o to-morrow or not at all." ' Dr. Broughton 
 sent his reply within a week, which was submitted to the 
 Archbishop and tho Kin;j; ; and hence he became the lirst 
 Bishop of Australia. Lord Slieibrooke always recognised 
 JJishop 13rou}j;hton's ability and sincerity, but as he was a fol- 
 lower of Lord P^jldon i)olitically, as well as a disci])le of Dr. I'usey, 
 they were destined to be in opi)Osition. Dr. Lanj^ was the most 
 iMierj^etic and public-spirited of Scottish colonists, but often so 
 wrong-headed and always so dogmatic that, though ho became 
 one of Lowe's followers and a genuine admii-er (your true Scot 
 liath ever a nispect for character and ability), he too, at 
 limes, was made to feel the lash, and to writhe under that 
 Socratic irony, the exercise of which in after years made its 
 possessor famous in the House of Commons. 
 
 Mrs. Lowe l)ore this last heavy blow of fate with eijual 
 clieerfulness. She writes in the most sanguine and h()pefiil 
 strain to her aunt, Mrs. "Whitley, widow of ^Ir. George "Whitley 
 of Norley Hall :— 
 
f' I 
 
 
 I 
 
 hi 
 
 \ 
 
 I I 
 
 i i 
 
 r 1 
 
 I 
 
 J 42 
 
 Ml'E OK I/)l!l) SIIKIIMUOOKI': 
 
 lldbort lias quite dotorminod upon j,'oing to Sydney to prnctiso 
 as a harriator. This resolution has been formed from the opinions 
 expressed by the most eompetent judges (m such subjects in London, 
 who bi'Ueve that 1,200/. may be made tho first year, and with hirge 
 aujiual increment. A genthnnan in Sydney, manager of the (iroat 
 Loan Association, has written to a nephew to state this, and urges 
 liim as soon as caUed to tlie Bar to go out. . . . 
 
 Tliis scheme has been formed on opinions we can rely upon, and 
 has the approval of a Mr. Senior,' a Master in Chancery, who has 
 much to (lo with Australia ; also of the first Australian merchants 
 in London. Mr. Lowe finds the funds, and if wo do not like it wo 
 can return ; the means will bo foimd. Tho Bar now is so crowded 
 in England that one nmst wait for years. 
 
 After oxprossinj^ her niitnral regrets at parting with all hor 
 friends and relatives, ^[rs. Lowe continues : — 
 
 We wish nmch to find a vessel that will stop at the Cape and also 
 ^ladeira. I should be enchanted to do this, and am sui'e should be 
 quite wild with delight to see a foreign tree. Only think of seeing a 
 palm ! I mean to take an inunense number of sketch-books. I am 
 (juite surprised to find Sydney so large a town ; we have seen a largo 
 lumber of drawings that are to be used as a panorama. . . . lam 
 now at Calverton with Lady Sherbrooke, and, after a visit or two 
 more, we return to town to begin packing. 
 
 They sailed on June 8, 1842, in the shij) Ath'ii, from Black- 
 wall. Shortly after the ship sailed, strangely enough, con- 
 sidering Lord Sherbrooke's after-connection with the Times, a 
 letter was written to him from that office making him an 
 ofYer of employment, which he would have gladly accei'^ed 
 had he received i^ in time. 
 
 Sir Thomas i^'arror adds that after the resolution to 
 emigrate was taken, Lowe learned that the solicitor to the 
 North Western Railway Company had made up his mind to 
 give him the Junior Counsel's business for that Company. 
 * Had I known this in time,' said Lord Sherbrooke to Sir 
 Thomas, ' I should never have gone to Australia.' 
 
 ' Father of the well-known Nassau Senior. 
 
IN LONDON 
 
 J48 
 
 Thus, owing to a Huccessioi. of untoward cimimstancoH 
 ending m the ' strange advice ' of the London oculists and the 
 fact that an editor's or a solicitor's letter was not written 
 quite soon enough, one of the greatest Englishmen of our 
 time became an Australian colonist. 
 
I 
 
 144 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 I I- 
 
 
 \l 
 
 1 1; 
 
 rm 
 
 I i < 
 
 li' i 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE VOYAGE OUT 
 
 Letters for ' Home '—Fire at Sea - All but wrecked off Cape Otway — 
 
 Melbourne in 1842 
 
 The Antipodean tourist of the present clay who journeys to 
 Melbourne or Sydney on board one of those superbly fitted, 
 steam-propelled lloating palaces which land him at his distant 
 destination in something over a calendar month, can form 
 only a very imperfect picture of the voyage which Mr. and 
 Mrs. Eobert Lowe had resolved to undertake. 
 
 To a man or woman fond of the sea, and with the gregari- 
 ous instinct, a trip to Australia in a P. and 0. or Orient liner 
 is a by no means unpleasant experience. There is plenty to 
 see ; all kinds of people to converse, dine, and quarrel with ; an 
 infinite supply of ozone ; and, perhaps, less danger to life and 
 limb than besets the denizen of a crowded city every day of 
 his life. As a consequence of these manifold advantages, a 
 quasi-amphibious race is springing up amongst us, who spend 
 a great portion of their lives in what is known as * globe-trot- 
 ting.' But it was a very different matter fifty years ago, when 
 a long voyage in a slow sailing-vessel often made the passenger 
 realise the truth of Dr. Johnson's famous dictum, that a man 
 in a ship was worse off than a man in jail ; for, said he, ' the 
 man in jail has more room, better food, and, commonly, 
 better company, and is in safety.' Fifty years ago a voyage 
 to the Antipodes made an epoch in a lifetime. 
 
 The fast-disappearing band of grey-headed colonists who 
 
-^ 
 
 THE Vf)YAGE OUT 
 
 143 
 
 can still vividly recall the fcL'linj:];s with which they left thtir 
 native land for the remote t^'rra iiico;iiiifa, realising that in all 
 hnman probahility they would never return, can alone enter 
 into the feelings of the young English barrister and his wife 
 bound for Australia in the early ' forties.' It was on June 8, 
 1842, about seven o'clock in the evening, tliat they embarked 
 at Gravesend on board the Aihii, accompanied by their English 
 servant, Martha. The beginning of the voyage was propitious : 
 a fair wind blew them out of the Channel, while in the 
 dreaded Bay of Biscay the weather was calm ; later, the wind 
 rose and drove them close under the rock of Lisbon, so thiit 
 they could see the houses on the beach and the grand entrance 
 of the Tagus, wli^e Sir John Sherbrooke had found himself 
 under quite different auspices some thirty years before. 
 Thence they sailed for Sant Jago, i)assing Madeira at a 
 distance of some miles, sailing close by the Desertas rocks, 
 which Mrs. Lowe, who had an artistic eye, noted as ' forming 
 beautiful pictures.' She had also an artistic hand, and took 
 sketches of them and of the coast of Portugal to send ' home,' 
 as she subsequently did in the case of many an Australian 
 scene. 
 
 From these islands Bohert Lowe himself sent the follow- 
 ing letter, addressed to his mother : — 
 
 iS who 
 
 Ilohcrt Lowe to Mr.s. Loire, Bnujhdin Ticctor!;. 
 
 Sant Jatio : July (Ith, l^i:2. 
 
 My dear "Rlollier, — Our voyage has been slow, but huhorto veiy 
 pvosperous and smooth. Cieori;iiUia has sut!eied much from sickness, 
 and still continues to do so, but I do not think sbe is otlierwise ill. 
 Wc got out of the Channel on the second day, were beciihned in the 
 Bay of ]^)iscay, and obhged by foul winds to pass cl()>e under the 
 rock of Lisbon, wliich is a very fnie sight, covered witli \intyards 
 and mulberries. From thenei' to Madeira we bad fair but light 
 winds. ^Madeira wc left so far to the right that wi,' could only see 
 the onthne, which is a noble one, higher and bolder than 1 fxpccti d. 
 There we caught tlie north-east trades, which carried us to IS^ north 
 latitude, from which we have made a shift to steal on lieie, princi- 
 
 VOL. I. T. 
 
f ■■ 
 
 
 • I 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 I if 
 
 140 
 
 LIFE OF LOKD SIIERDUOOKF 
 
 pally by availing; oursolvos of the alternate land and sea breezes. 
 Ijadies cannot land here, the only option beinj;- between jnniping on 
 a sharp rock, throu^'h the surf, and riding astride on the shoulders 
 of a naked negro. I nearly had a serious accident in attempting the 
 former way, but escaped with a good ducking and some sharp bruises. 
 The best idea I can give you of the town is that it is like a large 
 farmyard ; the grass is not dried up — it does not exist. The buildings 
 are low and mean and perfectly uniform — white walls and red tiles, 
 square doors and windows. The population sport every variety of 
 undress, from the full-dressed ofticer Avho is drilling the awkward 
 S(piad to the naked negro boys dabbling in the surf, ^\'e have 
 bought two goats, a quantity of oranges, pine-apples, bananas, 
 monkeys, turkeys, parrots, I'Cc. Oiu- party is, upon the whole, a 
 pleasant one. I have made good play with the attorneys, and am 
 in a fair way of not languishing long for want of practice. . . . My 
 eyes are improved, in spite of the heat and the glare of the sea, and 
 of pretty diligent application to my studies. ^Vith best love to all 
 our dear friends in England, believe me, your dutiful son, 
 
 RouEUT Lowe. 
 
 A sul)sequent comi)act socms to have been entered into 
 between the young couple to give their English friends a fuller 
 account of their experiences of the voyage at its termination. 
 The letter of Mrs. Lowe, it will be noticed, solves a question 
 which has been often asked, as to whether Piobert Lowe on his 
 voyage out saw anything of the small township founded by a 
 humble Tasmanian, one John Pascoe Fawkner, on the banks 
 of the river Yarra, destined to become the metropolis of the 
 colony of Victoria, in the political creation of which Lord 
 Hherbrooke, as the sequel will show, had no inconsiderable 
 share. 
 
 Before giving any extracts from this letter, it may be as 
 well to insert the following eminently characteristic epistle 
 from the pen of Kobert Lowe himself — the first letter sent to 
 his friends in England after his arrival in New South Wales. 
 It was written from Paramatta, to which * large village,' as he 
 describes it, the pair of young colonists had gone as the guests 
 of the Governor, Sir George Gipps, and Lady Gipps. Para- 
 matta, or, as it was originally called, Piosc-hill, was a favourite 
 
THE VOY.VCJE OUT 
 
 147 
 
 oa breezes, 
 jumping on 
 ! shoulders 
 (mpting the 
 irp bruises, 
 ike a largo 
 le buildings 
 d red tiles, 
 
 variety of 
 awkward 
 
 ^\'e have 
 , bananas, 
 e whole, a 
 ts, and am 
 ;. . . . My 
 le sea, and 
 love to all 
 » 
 r Lowe. 
 
 •'<i 
 
 tered into 
 
 
 ds a fuller 
 
 
 mination. 
 
 
 question 
 
 
 )we on his 
 
 
 ided by a 
 
 
 he banks 
 
 
 ilis of the 
 
 
 lieli Lord 
 
 
 isiderable 
 
 
 lay be as 
 
 
 ic epistle 
 
 
 r sent to 
 
 
 ih Wales. 
 
 
 5e,' as he 
 
 mi 
 
 he guests 
 
 m*i 
 
 . Para- 
 
 
 favourite 
 
 
 place of residence of the earlier governors of New South 
 "Wales. 
 
 liobcrt Loiuc's Account of iJte Voycujc. 
 
 Oct. nth, 1«42. 
 
 I have undertaken to give an account of our passongers, leaving 
 the beauties of Nature and art to the eloquent pun of my wife. The 
 captain (to begin at tiie beginning) was vain, obstinate, conceited, 
 perverse, and profane ; told lies to that extent that he became a by- 
 word in the ship ; clean and neat in his own person, but dirty, 
 disorderly, and unsysteuuitic to a degree in everytliing relating to 
 his ship ; liberal as far as the griping avarice of his owners permitted, 
 and good-natui-ed enough when vanity and obstiiuicy were not con- 
 cerned ; a good navigator and bold seaman, who always carried on as 
 much canvas as the winds allowed, and sometimes more. ... A 
 purser pensioned oil' by the East India Company, and a daughter who 
 was the very pink of vulgarity, but a good-natured, noil-behaved 
 girl, require no further notice, except to mention that they had a 
 violent prejudice against the Americans, and were seriously alarmed 
 for fear they should kiss the ladies all round. Mr. C, a good-hearted, 
 good-natured, honest Irishman ; his wife uppish and snappish, but 
 ^obliging withal. I sat next to her, and she used to disgust mo by 
 eating pig's fry, curry, and fat salted pork all together for breakfast. 
 Mr. Y., indolent, selfish, ? varicious, ill-educated, good-natured, and 
 good-looking ; his wife having many virtues and three faults — rouge, 
 gum, and pearl powder. ^Ir. W., a landowner in \'an Diemen's 
 Land, a very good, gentlemanlike, and well-informed man, though 
 his religion was tainted with enthusiasm and illiberality. . . . The 
 rest were a set of young men, boisterous, good-humoured, and 
 ignorant, who smoked and drank, and played at cards and draughts 
 and singlestick, and swarmed up the rigging. One was a nephew 
 of Lord ]5ute's ; two others, sons of a wealthy proprietor in Van 
 Diemen's Land, had been to I'^ngland to be educated, an operation 
 which had been imperfectly performed, ^ly employment during the 
 voyage was principally reading, but I am sorry to say that my eyes 
 latterly became so weak that I was obliged to give it up, as the 
 irritation of the nerves became so painful and incessant. that I was 
 afraid if I persevered I should render them quite useless. Time will 
 show whether this is a temporary or permanent affection ; if the 
 latter, I have very little chance of doing anything good in the law 
 or any other profession. . . . 
 
 Judge Willis, whom 1 saw at Melbourne, once lived atEdwinstowo, 
 and knew all our Ox ton friends quite well. 
 
 We had only two gales of wind on our voyage out, one off Tristan 
 
! 
 
 vl 
 
 I ■■;l 
 
 !i'l 
 
 !■ I 
 
 jl 
 
 .1 
 
 I' 
 
 ' 
 
 148 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 d'Acunha, between Kio and the Cape, the other in Bass's Straits, 
 after lej nng Port Phillip. The latter was really formidable, as it 
 came from the south-west, and blew so hard as to render it difficult for 
 us to carry any sail, whii-h it was absolutely necessary to do to prevent 
 our running on a lee shore. I will write again by the next ship. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 EoBEKT Lowe. 
 
 Owing to the infirmity of his eyesight, not only did Lowe 
 write few letters during this eventful period, but from the 
 same v;iLUse, as he himself frankly confessed, mere descriptions 
 of places and scenes were not his forte. These were left to 
 the facile pt n of Mrs. Lowe, whose descriptive powers were 
 quite e([ual to the task, and who, it will be seen, gives some 
 particulars of the Melbourne of 1842 which nmy still be read 
 with interest, especially by the descendants of the early 
 colonists. 
 
 Her letter, giving a full description of the voyage out, 
 written from Paramatta, and therefore just after their arrival 
 in Australiii, fully supplies her husband's descriptive omis- 
 sions. 
 
 Mrs. Lowe's Account of I he Vojjago.. 
 
 The island of Ht. Jago is very mountainous, and at times, in 
 passing, tlieformsiire splendid; butthey are not more, I should think, 
 than 2,(X)0 feet high, ^\'c ran hito a bay ; here aH was arid, not agreen 
 leaf to be seen, with a tremendous surf roaring night and day on the 
 beach. I was most anxious to land — I had never ceased to bo ill, 
 and f(>lt ([uilc exhausted ; to my regret, I found it could not be. 
 llobert went on shore with a large party of passengers ; they had to 
 clamber on the shoulder? of naked black nu'ii, and hold last by their 
 woolly heads. Jtobert got a bad fall on the rocks, but did not sutler 
 from it afterwards. The island, they say, has fine valleys some 
 miles in the interior, but Robert, from his hurt and the intense 
 heat, did not venturi' into the islaad. The unlives, who are a very 
 handsome tribe of blacks, nndattos, and Portuguese, came on board 
 the Aden laden with oranges, pine-ap[)les, bananas, cocoa-nuts, 
 tanuu'inds, pumpkins, monkeys, turkeys, guinea-fowl, parrots, ilc. 
 Great was the rush, as you miiy fancy, for them. On enteiing the 
 bay we saw a, ship at anchor called the DiiiKhilia. 'JMu' ciiptain iind 
 surgeon of this sloop paid the Adcti a morning call, and invited as 
 
.ss's straits, 
 idable, as it 
 t difficult for 
 lo to prevent 
 ; next ship. 
 
 IT Lowe. 
 
 ' (lid Lowe 
 from the 
 ascriptions 
 ere left to 
 )wers were 
 ,'ives some 
 ill be read 
 the early 
 
 •yage out, 
 eir arrival 
 ;ive omis- 
 
 t tirnos, in 
 
 MikUliink, 
 
 lot a tureen 
 
 ay on tho 
 
 to he ill, 
 
 I not bo. 
 
 ley had to 
 
 t I)}' their 
 
 not snller 
 
 eys some 
 
 le intense 
 
 I'o !i very 
 
 on board 
 
 )('0ii-nuts, 
 
 I'l'otS, i^.C. 
 
 ivr'u\;j!; tlie 
 ptiiin iind 
 nvited as 
 
 4 
 
 TIIK VOYAGl^ OUT 
 
 149 
 
 many of the passenj^^crs as might wish to go on board the next day. 
 We all liked the idia much, and accepted the invitation with the 
 greatest pleasure. In the evening, as the moon rose, we heard a 
 plashing of oais and the notes of a guitar, accompanied by a very 
 Ihie voice : we found the otlicers from the American sloop were sere- 
 nading us. After singing several songs, amongst the number ' AUan- 
 u-Dule ' (all the songs llnglish composition), they boarded the Aden 
 and joined tho gentlemen in the cuddy ; afterwards several came on 
 the poop to join the ladies. I mms astonished to find them so 
 agreeable, and really like gentlemen ; but 1 must say the most 
 agreeable wei'e the captiiin, a Scotchman, and the purser, an L-ish- 
 nian, naturalised Americans. The next day they sent their boat 
 for us, capitally manned, and we boarded. The sloop was in excel- 
 lent ord(>r, carried 'Hi guns ; all things so clean and neat, with an 
 excellently lltted-u|) c.tbin like a drawing-room, also n hirge dining- 
 room. We walked all over tho sloop, and then li;id caki' and wine. 
 Kobert v.as cpiite pleased with the officers, and they appc ared just 
 as much pleased with him, They talked about America and I'jigland, 
 and much political economy. They were cpiiti' Anurican in one 
 particular - much, inclined to run down I'liiuland and exalt America. 
 Some of the oflicers letui'ued with th" party to the Adfii to dinner. 
 Robert and Mr. C. wi nt back with them again, and returned by 
 n)oonliglit. 1 thought they would never have made a parting. 
 During the evening we had a scene of the greatest confusion on 
 board : the captain was detained on shore ; many of the sailors, 
 steerage passengers, and intermediate passengers got drunk; the 
 boats with the su[)plies were nearly swamped, bringing buiuUes of 
 lurkeys and fowls, dead and living, tied together, the boats so full of 
 water it was impossible to endeavour to save them ; oranges and all 
 thefruitsafloat,l()avesof sugar melting; pigs, grunting and scpieaking, 
 hauled up the side of the vessel, two iR'autiful goats and tli ir kids 
 half dead ; the ship a Dabel of tongues, blacks, whites, and ..(dattos, 
 all mingled, quarrelling and bargaining; the steward of the vessel 
 di'unk, and our good-natured first mate in despair. At length th(! 
 cajitain arrived in a, dreiMll'ul ill-humour; then came th(> Mnglish 
 Consid, who was to supply the ship with several boatsful of fruit and 
 poultry, lie. ; he and the captain quarrelled about prices, the captain 
 declaring the Consul had cheated him. After sundry xcry forcii)lc 
 execrations on t>ach siile, the English (\)nsul was ordeivd to descend 
 to his boat or his de|)arture was to be hastened by summary means ; 
 accordingly, he and his blacks went, but, alas I they took all tho 
 good things with them, and away went, to our great disgust, the 
 delicious i)ine-apples, oranges, &,c. 
 
 I have a sketch of St. J ago coloured. I assm'e you I deserve no 
 
 A 
 
150 
 
 LIKE OF LOUD SIIEUHKOOKK 
 
 H ! 
 
 ' . 
 
 small credit for my sketches, for I took them in spite of my horrid 
 sickness. I was ill for six weeks, and became so weak I could 
 scarcely move. We sailed during the night ; I think we left on July 
 8. Wo were now to make all speed, hut the winds soon left us, and 
 wo floated upon a sea iis smooth as a lake. Here I began to grow 
 better. I sat on deck all day, and took my meals there ; I was not 
 able to sit for a moment in the cuddy. I had two companions in 
 the same state, hut we began to get well togetluir. The flying- fish, 
 dolphins, and now and tlu-n a whale, began to appear ; the heat great, 
 but under tlu' awning I never found it too much, We had ihie sun- 
 sets, but n.ade no progress ; we had to run to South America, and 
 lay becalmed several days only two hundred miles from Kio Janeiro. 
 We began to fear a scarcity of fresh provisions, having ninety-seven 
 persons on board. All wished the captain to put into Kio ; he would 
 not, but talked in a vague manner of the Cape. We were thirteen 
 weeks from the time we left London before \\v passed the latitude 
 of the Cape. Here again a strong remonstrance was made; to the 
 captain about the provisions ; but our next destination being Port 
 Phillip, where wewire to laud half our passengers for \'an Diemen's 
 Land and Port Pliillip, he would go on ; greatly wo apprehended the 
 winds failing us again, but they proved fair, and we reached Port 
 Phillip having provisions left for two days more. 
 
 One of the steeiage passeiigci's died of a, low fever oil" Rio,, and 
 one of the sailoi's had the fevor also. 'I'lie passenger died on a 
 Saturda,y I'vening from exhaustion, and on the Sunday lus was con- 
 signed to the deep ; be was laid on a plank, wi-apped u\) in a sailcloth. 
 One of our pas.sengei's read the Funeral Service over him. All were 
 assend)led. It was a, painfid scene ; his poor brother, who was with 
 him, was in deep allliction ; ,'i[l felt it much. A little i)()y of live 
 years old was (put(> melanclioly all day after, and asked m(> most 
 anxiously and repeale<lly if I really thought tlie num was gone to 
 (lod. lie said they told him his body would lie in the sea, but his 
 soul would go to he.wcn ; he sat with me (hu'ing the service, and 
 cried when they put the body overboard. I am quite fond of the 
 little boy. 
 
 AVo had a most awful alarm when about six hundred miles from 
 the Cai)e. Much ha<l been .said on tlu^ subject of the fearful care- 
 lessness on board about (ire : the boys and men wei'e allowed to go 
 down into the hold willi candles in lanterns not locked; they were 
 in the constant habit of taking these ca,ndles out of the lanterns ; the 
 captain would att(>nd to nt) remonstrance on the 8ui)iect. About 
 eleven o'clock on August MO one of the children Martha took care of 
 canu> pale as death into the cuddy, where T was sitting alone ; the 
 child could not speak, but pulled me on deck ; there 1 heard a 
 
 » I 
 
Tin:. V()VA(iE OUT 
 
 101 
 
 suIkIulmI whispor of ' Fire ! ' aftonvards a sudden cry, ' The hold is on 
 fire ! ' 
 
 All rushed forwiud. The deck was prepared to be flooded, and 
 leathern i>i[)es were thrown overboard and i)ucivets Idled. It was 
 truly awhd, a heavy sea runniuL,' ; no boiit could have lived an hour, 
 even had our boats been tolerable (we had but two small and one 
 lar^'o, none seaworthy). Most i)rovidentially the lire had no time to 
 s])read, and was at once <xot under, the alarm having' been j^dventhe 
 nu)nu'nt the lire took place. 1 was glad to see the captain was so 
 much t'rij,ditened himself ho could scarcely speak, and he afterwards 
 sent a message into the cuddy to say we might rely upon it that in 
 future the lanierns should be locked. The saihnakei' an<l a boy caused 
 the fire by (bopping the candle into a bundle of straw whilst looking 
 for stores, which, by the way, were never to be found when wanted, 
 so nuicb car(des«ness prevailing in every quai'ter. Could I have 
 smiled at siuli a luonu'nt, I shoidd have d(UU' so when I saw several 
 of the l)oys i)alaucing themselves with the greatest cai'e, tin; vessel 
 pitching, carrying water in [)ie-dishes, soup-plates, and eolTc c-pots, 
 lie, losing nu)st of the water by tlu^ way, endeavouring to add to 
 the flood pouring througli th(> great ))ipe. Shortly after this e\ent 
 the steward drank so dreadfully that he became mad, aiul was obligi'tl 
 to have a straii -jacket jiut on ; ibis proved to be (Udirinm Iff menu, 
 and he partially recoNcred. We wi're dreadfully crowded all th(> 
 voyage, baxing at least ten too nuiny cabin passengers, which, 
 perhaps, nuiy in some measure account for this catastrophe. 
 
 Many years afterwiirds Lord Slierbrooke jotted down in 
 his autobiographical sketch that lively description of his 
 voyage in the Adni in wliieli, it will he renu'mbcred, In^ 
 relates, as well as this incident, another of an almost e(]iuilly 
 alarming character. 
 
 It is soiuewhat amusing to compare his terse and epigram- 
 matic account, heghniing, * Of all the descriptions of a long 
 voyage,' with ^Frs. Lowe's more flowing and discursive narra- 
 tive. After relating the incident of the lire, with the amusing 
 account of the 'little Je\v-i)oy with the cracked i)ii'-dish,' Lord 
 Kherbrooke, it will be remend)ered, tells the story of the narrow- 
 escape the Aden had of going ashore at Capo Otway, adding, 
 'I had afterwards the satisfaction of giving a vote in the 
 Council at Sydney for erecting a lighthouse on this dangerou.i 
 headland.' 
 
J. 
 
 w«^l 
 
 ( III 
 
 !i 
 
 (»( 
 
 " \ I 
 
 I i 
 ,;1 > •:i 
 
 I ' 
 
 '. i "ii 
 
 152 
 
 lAVK OF l.oni) SIlKKUnoOKK 
 
 Let us turn ji<];ain to Mrs. Lowe's letter. ITer account of 
 jH'iniitivo ^relhourne as it a[)pcari>{| to the eyes of the V()yaj];ers 
 in IHI'2 will in all probability interest the (Iwellers ni that 
 city in 1H\)± 
 
 We rcaclu'tl Willianistown on 1 . ulay, October 1, liaviiii,' passed 
 llie loni,Mt,uil(> of tlic Ciipe on Septfinber 27. The liiuboiir is (julto 
 Jill inliuul sea witli low banks. We went up the. river Yarni to 
 ^lelboiirnc in a small steam-vessel, the river naiTowinjjr by (](>grees 
 ami vrry (Icej). On eaeli side wvrv naiivc woods, now and then 
 opening;', and lont,', low rises of ^I'onnd seen through tlu'se op(>nings 
 of a dull "^'rei-n, dotted over with dark-colouriMl trees like old stunted 
 lliorns ; cattle j^ra/.ing in lar;j:e herds, and b(>re and there settlers' 
 eotta^cs, with immense dogs slee|)ing at the doors. 'I'lio huts, as I 
 should call them, built of wood, wiili a little window on (>aeh side of 
 the door. The banks of the river slopi'd in many i)la('es to tlie wa;er, 
 and large stones were on the banks; now and then dense wood on 
 swamps, [\\v. tr(>es with heavy green lops, covi'red with white llowers, 
 liiit not high. Nearer ^Mtdhourne the hills rise high ; blue mountains 
 •iivo seen, with heavy nativt' fori'sts bi'tween them and Melbourne; but 
 I liear when on the spot you only llnd it dotted with ti'eeslikea park. 
 There are ii\so inunense ojien plains ; the scenery is much varied. 
 
 The town of Mi'lbourne is built ou a rising ground, of red brick, 
 the streets widi' and well laid-out. and some ol' the buildings sub- 
 stantial and handsome ; the streets unpaxcd with deep ruts, no foot- 
 ]iathby the sides. The Inn was tolerable", with aginsliop opening on 
 ttu' one side. We walked to 'Slv. l,atrobi'"s, tb(> Superintendent, to 
 delivir a letter; there was a front gate, a drive, and an attempt 
 at an I'^nglisb garden, the land before the lu)us(> sloping to the river, 
 and lightly covered with the native trees, witli lovely wild llowers 
 blooming bt neath them, the scarlet geraniums growing magnilicently. 
 The land is valr.ed at enornmus prices in and closi' to the town ; rent 
 absurdly high. We went into a baker's shop during a, shower, and 
 enter(>d into a long discours(> with the people Irish emigrants ; they 
 paid 100/. per annum for their miserable shop ; it had but a bake- 
 aouse. one bedrocnn, sitting-room, and shop. I could see through 
 the I'atters. Jb'ead, lid. for 1 Hi. ; 1*2 eggs, l.s'. !)(/. ; sheep, Os. each ; 
 fowls, 12.S. a pair; milk,(i(/. a tpiart. Maimfactured goods an immense 
 price. I have sketches, whicii I will send. We left Melbourne at 
 nine o'clock the lU'xt morning, and sailed away in the evening. 
 
 Although in his own correspondence of this period ho 
 entered into no particulars about early ^[elbourne, Lord 
 JSlurbr.ria' r«;corded in later years his impressions of this 
 
TIIK VOYAflE ()1:T 
 
 153 
 
 flying visit, wlicli, for Iho oonvonieni'(! of tiio reader, an; hero 
 repeated from the Chapter of Autobiograpliy :— 
 
 'At hiHt, after a voyage of nearly four montlis, wo found 
 ourselves, not in Sydney, but in ]\rell)onrne -that is to say, with 
 still 500 miles to <^o. The state of Mclbourno was at this 
 time very peculiar : it was in tho by no means enviable 
 position of bein"^ a dependency of a dependeiuy, <40vcrned by 
 a colony which was not permitted to govern itself. A good deal 
 had been done in the way of building, but some cause, to us 
 uidinown, had arrested its progress in mid-career. Tlu; place 
 seemed stricken with paralysis. Everything was at a stand- 
 still. Everybody wantcsd to sell, and nobody wanted to buy. 
 No purchaser would look at a house uidess it was at the 
 coriu'r of a, street. In the middle of tho nuiin street were two 
 considerable i-ivers, facetiously nanu'd by the inhabitants, after 
 their rulers and governoi-s, tli<' ^Villialns and the Latrobe. 
 Wc were told that someoiu; had been diowncd in oius of tlies(! 
 urban streams not long ago. 
 
 'To regret that I have no money has been to nu; din'in^ 
 the whole of my life a by no nuans uncommon sensation. 
 But I never remember exp( I'iencing it so poignantly as on 
 this occasion. It rcMpiired no very sti'ong foresight to be 
 aware that here was an op[)ortunity such as no one could 
 expect to see twice. For a vci-y few thousand pouiuls a man 
 might have possessed himself of [)ro[»erty which in a few years 
 would repay him much mor(> tiian tenfold ; and why, oh why 
 had i not got it '? ' 
 
 These reflections on the inevital)le risti and i)rogress of 
 ^felbourne, as they passed through his nn"nd at tlui time, 
 certaiidy redound to the sagacity of Lord Sherbrooke. 15ut 
 those who are acquainted with the early colonial aniuils know 
 how desponding many of the old settlers were wont to be at 
 those periods of depression which, no less than periods of 
 inflation, mark the career of all such conmiunities. When 
 the Californian gold fever broke out, many were glad to 
 
^i^^ 
 
 ^m 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 > I 
 
 •I lid 
 
 ! liUI 
 
 i I lit 
 
 » III 
 
 . 
 
 i| 
 
 ii; 
 
 Mi 
 
 
 154 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEnBKOOKE 
 
 sacrifice their holdings in Melbourne — which it was currently 
 believed was then going to the dogs — and get away as fast as 
 tb y could out of the colony. I remember in after years 
 walking round one of these city blocks in Melbourne, on 
 which Lord Sherbrooke appears to have cast longing eyes, 
 with a gentleman who said : * This all belonged to my father, 
 but he thought the place was ruined, and sold it for a few 
 pounds to get away. It is now worth several hundred pounds 
 a foot.' Tie was of Semitic extraction, and the recital of the 
 story evidently affected him deeply. 
 
 Mr. David Syme, the well-known Australian economist, in 
 an article in the Melbourne Review some years ago on ' The 
 Unearned Increment of Land in Melbourne,' gave a number of 
 striking instances of the enormously enhanced values of city 
 freeholds. These enhanced values mark the material pro- 
 gress of a community. But clearly those early proprietors 
 who sold out must have feared something in the shape of an 
 unearned Jrcrement ; or there would be no such cases of 
 miscalculation, which are almost as common in transactions 
 in land as in any other kind of commercial speculation. 
 
155 
 
 CHAPTEE IX 
 
 IN SYDNEY 
 
 
 Port Jackson— Sir George Gipp.s at Paramatta— W. S. Macleay at Elizabeth 
 
 Bay — Condition of Sydney 
 
 In opening the narrative of Lord Slierhrooke's career as an 
 Australian colonist, it may be as ^vell to make a few preliminary 
 remarks as to the plan of this portion of the book. It is true 
 that the period of time embraced in this section covers little 
 over seven years, but those years were the j^'olden years of his 
 prime. He arrived in Sydney on Octol)er 8, IMI'2, and was 
 therefore in his tliirty-second year. 
 
 In making; his home in New South Wales from 1842 to 
 1850, Lowe found himself a member of a strange, chaotic 
 colonial oommunity, then in the very act of emerging from an 
 Imperial penal Fettlement into a free, self-governing British 
 State. During almost the whole of this time he was an active, 
 indefatigable, public man, desirous above all things to assist in 
 this beneficent social and political revolution. In oiher words, 
 as I shall hope to show, he helped most materially to lay the 
 foundation of what is destined to be a great and ever-expanding 
 EngHsh-speaking nation, spread over an entire island-continent 
 almost the size of Europe. 
 
 It is a trite remark that Englishmen, as a rule, cannot be 
 brought to feel an interest in colonial questions; but I am 
 fortunate in having for my central figure an EngUblnnan whose 
 name is sure to secure me a hearing on these themes in the 
 mother-country. My dilliculty is rathtn- wifcii the colonial 
 
; 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 I 
 i I 
 
 I 
 
 I ll I 
 
 I II II 
 
 ' nil 
 41! 
 
 I 
 
 
 1! 
 
 156 
 
 LIFE OF T.OItU SIIEUr.liOOKE 
 
 public. Australians, it must be confessed, take only a languid 
 interest in the brief annals of their own community. Pro- 
 mising young communities, like promising young men, rarely 
 indulge in retrospect, and heed, for the most part, only the 
 present or the immediate future. 
 
 "With smoking axle hot with speed, with steeds of fire and steam, 
 "Wide-waked 'J'o-day leaves ^'esterday behind him like a dream. 
 Htill from the hnrryin<jj train of life Hy backward, far and fast, 
 The milestones of the fathers, the landmarks of the past. 
 
 Despite this colonial habit of mind, it will bo tlu' purpose 
 of the succeeding chapters to show what a dominant part the 
 late Lord Sherbrooke took in bringing about— (1) the system 
 of self-government which now obtains throughout Australia, 
 Tasmania, and New Zealand ; (2) the ce,ssati(m of criminal 
 transportation to New South AValfs ; (15) the creation of {\\v 
 colony of Victoria ; (4) the establishment (^f the prvWviling 
 system of national unsectarian education ; (5) the settlement 
 of the people on the public lands and the growth of ii genuine 
 yeoman class. 
 
 But before plunging into the vortex of early colonial 
 politics, it is only projjcr to give Mrs. Lowe's description of 
 the far-famed harbour of Port Jackson, on the shores of which 
 she was now about to make her home. Sydney Harbour, as 
 it is popularly called, seems to arouse the enthusiasm of th*) 
 most critical travellers ; both Mr. Proude and Mr. Anthony 
 Trollopo were excited by it to the highest iiights of their 
 respective prose styles. The only exception known to me is 
 the Hon. Harold Pinch-Hatton, who declares in his Adrauce 
 Atistralia .' that he ' never saw anything more forlornly ugly in 
 the way of scenery.' The people of Sydney, it is said, never 
 forgive a slight offered to their harbou)- ; in which regard they 
 can have rv* possible ground of grievance against Mrs. Lowe. 
 
 We reacli**^! thf Heads of Port Jackson on Saturday, at two 
 o'clock. These Hearts are quite il«tt'reii. of pfoldiii-colourod rock, hero 
 a,nd there maikei with deep brown, ;{(>» feet high ; the water rolls 
 
IN SYDNKY 
 
 157 
 
 against them, the lij^hthousc on the hif>;ho3t point. The vessel lay- 
 to a short time for tlie pilot, and a wil(l-lookin«,' boat with New 
 Zealandors rowinj^ brouf,'ht him. The vessel, every sail spread, 
 suddenly wheeled round an immense barren rock, and there was 
 Port Jackson, lying in beauty not to be described or imagined, before 
 us. We were close to land I could almost have dropped a stone upon 
 it. T^ays, promontories, almost in fantastic confusion, on every side ; 
 rocks, trees, thrown in every excjuisite form together ; houses, cottages 
 of white stone, some half-hid in trees, otlurs on rocks in every bay 
 and on c^vciy promontory, were here. The bay is innnense, like a 
 large lake bounded on every side by rocks, which look as if they 
 had been formed for beauty alone ; and Nature has adorned them, 
 with thv most exquisite taste, with trjes, some of strange leaf and 
 form, btit wonderff 1 in beauty ; here and thert' trees of golden-yellow ; 
 tlie loek white ston^" . stained with rich red and brown, strange and 
 fantastic species of (I suppose) cypress-trees and lignum vita^ and 
 bright and lovrly flowers. We tack(>d first to one side of this 
 wo iderful spot, .iien to the other, unlil my rapture rose almost into 
 n delirium of dt light. Agnin we turned a spot with a sudden whirl, 
 and there was Sydniy, an<l lin<' shipping before it - Sydney, l)uilton 
 a rocky promontory of wliit^* stone, the new Government House, 
 superb, of stone, ouf side, and through a deep vista fornred l)y pro- 
 montories fading into di«;(ance tbe Paramatta river opens. 1 nnust 
 describe with my pencil if I 'an ; I cannot with my pen. 
 
 To Piol)ert Lowe himself, from his unfortuiuite infirmity, 
 the glories of Sydney Harbour, under what to him must have 
 been a blinding glare of light, could not have been so entranc- 
 ing. Not that he was insensibLu to the superb position of the 
 city which was al)Out to becoaae his home, for a little later 
 on lie records : 'AVo took a small house in ^Eae piarie Street, 
 overlooking the I^oniain and the beautiful salt-water lake, as 
 we should call it in England, whieli forms tiu' i)eerless liai'hour, 
 which will, I believe, always placi >\ (hiey ait the heaid of the 
 Australian colonies.' 
 
 He also notes a strange atnuts^^tieiiatt,! iih^nonu'UOJi wliich 
 occurred shortly after their arrivii in the slia]>e of ;l dense 
 fog which lasted fui three dnys, dm i ,j; which the thernionietei' 
 stood bteadily at 11/)'. 
 
 Mrs. hovfe coutinuoB her narrative of the Inst incidents 
 
158 
 
 LIFE OF LOIiD SIIERWfOOKE 
 
 I ' V 
 
 (111 
 
 t . 
 
 1 
 
 ! I 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 connected witli tlicir Innding in the colony, introducing us to 
 that high-minded, excellent man, hut unfortunate governor, 
 Sir George Clipps, whose relations with Lord Sherbrooke will 
 be found largely to have affected the colonial career of both. 
 
 After the A<lrn had been moored alongside the Circular 
 Quay, liobert Lowe sent on shore one of their letters of intro- 
 duction to Sir George Gipps, whoso wife was a distant relative 
 of Mrs. Lowe. At this time the Governor and Lady Gipps 
 were livhig at Paramatta, which was then the Viceregal 
 country residence. Mr. Lowe relates how Sir George and 
 Lady Gipps came to the Atlcii about ten o'clock on the next 
 (Sunday) morning in an eight-oared barge, and how he and Mrs. 
 Lowe were rowed up the river which has since become famous 
 as the course on which, instead of on the Thames or the Tync, 
 the aquatic championship of the world is now decided. 
 
 Like everybody (except Mr. Finch-Hatton), Mrs. Lowe 
 was still further enchanted with the scenery, which, as they 
 approached Pammatta itself, reminded her more of England 
 on account of the evident signs of careful cultivation : — 
 
 Paramatta is a lnv^v villiigc. This house wo are in is a lart^o 
 Enjflish villa, with ononnous oiange-tvccs in full bloom on each side 
 of tho (looi. Sii" Gooruje, Lady (ripps, and [ took a ride of fourteen 
 or lifteen miles yesterday ; a manservant and a mounted soldier with 
 a long, dangling sword accompanied us. Robert was in Sydney, 
 where 1 have not yet been. To-day we all ride. I like Lady Gipps 
 extremely. They send their Crovernment men to convey our furniture 
 and all I'tc-eteriis to the Government House, to be put aside till we 
 want them ; and wo are to stay as long as we like, but we do not 
 mean to be too troublesome. 
 
 Nothing could be brighter and more cheery than Mrs. 
 Lowe's earliest letters home, so full of her first vivid impres- 
 sions of the place : — 
 
 I am sure I shall delight in this country. The Harbour is like 
 an immense inland lake, witii bays that would take weeks to 
 explore, rocks rising' direct from tho water, and S7ich flowers grow- 
 ing upon them. To me, as yet, it is a land of enchantment, and 
 neither Robert nor 1 find it too hot. I aui astonished and charmed 
 
 ■L... 
 
IX SYDNEY 
 
 ly.) 
 
 \vith Svdney ; it is built o)i a broad pronioiitovy of rock of soii'o 
 ck vation ; the streets are up and down hill, and tho buildings put 
 me in mind of Leamin/^ton and Cheltenham, built of white stone 
 so beautiful as to resemble marble. 1 never saw such stone in 
 Enjland. The streets are vei'v wide and long, with large and very 
 handsome shops, the Norfolk pine growing about large white stone 
 villas in the very centre of the town, and gardens redolent with 
 orange flowers and also with Howers I know no name for. 
 
 Tuesday we turned our horses' heads down the steep banks of a 
 ravine (had not Sir (reorge led the way I dare not have ventured) ; 
 we broke our way through trees, little bushes, and over fallen trees 
 and immense slabs of rock until we reached the bottom. Here 
 cultivation began : first a little field, then some cows ; we turned 
 a rock and saw the most perfect picture of a bark cottage, sur- 
 lounocd with orange and lemon trees, and immense standard 
 peaches, ripe lemons covering the trees. The surrounding scenery 
 magnificent ; rock with great towering trees rising out of it, many 
 riven with storms, others fallen and decayed from old age, vine-; 
 hanging in fantastic forms. The man and his family had cleared 
 and planted this spot fourteen years ago. 
 
 As might be expected, Piobtrt Lowe liimself, acting on the 
 terrible warning of the London oculists — who, in advising him 
 to become a colonist, it will be remembered gave liim only 
 seven more years of such dim vision as he was horn with — 
 lost no time in sight-seeing or rhapsodising. He cpiickly 
 formed his own judgment as to the commercial soundness of 
 Sydney, despite its great temporary depression, and in writ- 
 ing home to his friends undertook to pay them eight per cent, 
 upon money put out on mortgage on unexceptionable security. 
 He was evidently quite clear on this subject, for he personally 
 guaranteed the regularity of the payments and the goodness 
 of the security. He then gives his own impression oi" the 
 city :— 
 
 ' Sydney is vei\v well bfiilt of white sandstone, and nobly 
 situated ; the shops are good, the streets wide and cheerful, 
 the houses built in the bungalow style, with verandahs aiid 
 shingle roofs. Sir G. Gipps is very kind to us ; hiti carriages, 
 horsea, and boats are at our disposal. I went down to Sydney 
 yesterday by the steamboat, and had a boat vyith four prisoners 
 
 r^ 
 
 f 
 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 /, 
 
 ^g 
 
 i/.. 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 If 1^ liil 
 
 1 %& 12.0 
 
 1.8 
 
 1.4 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 V 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 k 
 
 '^ 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 23 WEST MA!N STRUT 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 
 
 (716) 873-4503 
 
 ^-•^. 
 
 
 ;\ 
 
 

 o^ 
 
 ■ft' 
 
'i( 
 
 '...i 
 
 
 ■ rt- 
 
 i.ll 
 
 I' 
 ii 
 
 If 
 
 ii It I 
 Mil! 
 ,'1 
 
 .13 
 
 I 
 
 1: 
 
 160 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKK 
 
 to row it at my disposal, to go on board the ship and about 
 the harbour. Ront is a httlc fallen, owing, to the bad times ; 
 and horses are very cheap, which I rejoice to hear, as they are 
 almost a necessary of life in this hot country. I never was so 
 tired as yesterday, walking about Sydney from ten to five. I 
 am quite at sea about a house at present, but hope to hear 
 something soon. The weather is becoming hot, but the 
 mosquitos have not yet attacked us.' 
 
 Paramatta, which the Lowes were now visiting preparatory 
 to settling down as active denizens of the metropolis, is chiefly 
 known to the modern tourist for its luxuriant orange-groves. 
 It is really situated at the end of an elongated arm of Port Jack- 
 son, which received the native name of the Paramatta River. 
 A great deal of the early history of the original penal settle- 
 ment misnamed Botany Bay was centred at Paramatta. Hence 
 the existence of the reformatory establishment for female 
 convicts, which Mrs. Lowe depicts somewhat conlcur dc rose, I 
 fear, in the next letter she wrote to her English friends : — 
 
 Sydney : Nov. 5, 1842. 
 I will ondcavour to give you an idea of all we have been doing 
 since my last letter, which I shall find difficult, as so many new 
 sights and objects present themselvoH daily. Before we left Para- 
 matta Lady Gipps toolc me with her to see the factory where the 
 women who have been transported arc confined ; they are princi- 
 pally hopeless characters, many being returned assigned servants. 
 It is an enormous prison, with large yards, beautifully clean and 
 airy ; 1 never saw any Union poorhousc or prison of any description 
 so well arranged. The women are classed according to their abili- 
 ties, and employed in washing and needlework, which are both sur- 
 prisingly well done, considering thnt it is forced employment. There 
 is also a large school, where the children are employed and taught. 
 These poor unfortunates arc children born in the factory, the 
 mothers being returned assigned servants who have misconducted 
 themselves. Poor tilings ! they are indeed truly the children born 
 in sin. I could fancy their countenances bespeak their origin. The 
 womtni when refractory are placed in solitary cells, partially dark, 
 but (.'xtromely well aired. Kir Geoi'go Gipps has done more than 
 any governor for these prisons; his management .ippears most judi- 
 cious. From the factory we went to the Orphan School. I was 
 
IX SYDNEY 
 
 101 
 
 and about 
 bad times ; 
 as they are 
 lever was so 
 : to five. I 
 pe to hear 
 t, but the 
 
 •reparatory 
 ri, is chiefly 
 iige -groves. 
 Port Jack- 
 atta Eiver. 
 iiial settle - 
 tta. Hence 
 for female 
 r de rose, I 
 nds : — 
 
 )V. 5, 1842. 
 
 been doinn; 
 nany new 
 eft Para- 
 where the 
 
 ire pviiici- 
 sei'vants. 
 clean and 
 escription 
 leir abih- 
 botli sur- 
 t. There 
 1 taught, 
 tory, the 
 onductc'd 
 roll born 
 ^\n. The 
 illy dark, 
 ore than 
 lost judi- 
 I was 
 
 extremely interested on seeing two aboriginal children, one about 
 ten years old, the other eighteen months. The elder, the matron 
 told me, is quite as clever, if not more so, than the generality of the 
 children, and reads, and sews, and speaks English. We enjoyed 
 ourselves much whilst at Pa,ramatta. Sir George and Lady Gipps, 
 when we had been there a fortnight, were to make an excursion up 
 the country, and were so kind as to invite us to remain until their 
 return ; but Robert thought he ought to be in Sydney, as the Courts 
 were open, so Ave tore ourselves away the day they set ott'. 
 
 So ended their first brief holiday in the New World. 
 Pieturning to Sydney, they occupied lodgings until the house 
 they had decided on taking in Horbury Terrace, Macquarie 
 Street, was ready for them. In the meantime Mrs. Lowe 
 records, with aftectionate pride, that ' Robert has already had 
 several briefs, and made 14/., which I think a great deal.' 
 
 The chief citizens, instigated no doubt by the example of 
 His Excellency the Governor, now began to call upon the 
 new arrivals, who in quick succession made the acquaintance 
 of the judges, the Bishop (Dr. Broughton), the Colonial 
 Secretary (Mr., afterwards Sir Edward, Deas Thomson), 
 Mr. John Hubert Plunkett, ^Ir., afterwards Sir Roger, 
 Therry, and other leading lights, nearly all of whom, it must 
 be confessed, subsequently found themselves in anything but 
 amicable relations with the brilliant and independent-minded 
 man who had come amongst them, but who was not framed 
 by nature to be a member of any coterie. Mrs. Lowe 
 assures her friends in England that they would be asto- 
 nished to see what splendid houses some of these people 
 live in, * built of white stone, and well furnished.' After re- 
 ferring to dinner-parties with these great ones of the little 
 colonial world, it is amusing to notice that she is ' glad to 
 say all the respectable attorneys have called ! ' Altogether, 
 ^Irs. Lowe seems to have been very favourably impressed at 
 first with all classes of people in Sydney, and even mentions 
 that the shopkeepers arc not only agreeable in manner, but 
 full of information. She was probably right in attributing 
 
 VOL. 1. M 
 
 '■if 
 
1G2 
 
 r..FE OF LORD SIIERBROOKK 
 
 
 ) 
 
 ,11 
 
 this immediate social recognition in Sydney to the Governor's 
 previous hospitality at Paramatta. But if, among these local 
 notabilities, there were any capable of entering into and en- 
 joying the social intercourse of a man whose brilliant scholar- 
 ship and wit afterwards gained for him an almost unique 
 position in London, then Robert Lowe hardly needed even a 
 Viceregal recommendation. 
 
 There was at least one such colonist worthy to be Lord 
 Sherbrooke's intelleftuil companion, with whom from the 
 outset he established a firm and lifelong friendship. Pro- 
 bably there were others ; but for no one in Australia did he 
 entertain such warm feelings of personal regard and affection 
 us for Mr. William Sharpe Macleay. He was certainly, as 
 Lord Sherbrooke often said, a remarkable man to discover in 
 such a remote community. Of an old Scottish family, educated 
 at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, William 
 Macleay 's devotion to science had earned for him the friend- 
 f-liip of Cuvier before he followed his father, the Hon. Alexander 
 Macleay (the old Colonial Secretary, and Speaker of the first 
 Legislative Council), to Sydney. The Macleay s were a most 
 distinguished as well as most worthy family. No less than four 
 of them have left their mark on the history of New South 
 Wales. Assuredly they should find a place in such a work as 
 ^[r. Francis Galton's IFercditary Gcuwh ; for we note in all 
 these Madeays alike the highest mental and moral qualities, 
 eoupled with great capacity for public affairs, and each with 
 an inborn love of scientific research, which made them a 
 family of naturalists. The brother of W. S. Macleay was also 
 a lifelong friend of Lord Sherbrooke. I allude to Sir George 
 Macleay, one of the heroes of Australian exploration, who ac- 
 companied the undaunted Captain Sturt in his memorable 
 expedition to discover the course of the Murrumbidgee and 
 Murray rivers in 1830. 
 
 In one of her letters M rn. Lowe gives a charming picture 
 of the Australian natui'Ji,IJstV> home, near Sydney, which munt 
 
IX HYDNEV 
 
 1G3 
 
 le Governor's 
 [1^ these local 
 into and en- 
 liant scholar- 
 Imost unique 
 seeled even a 
 
 ^ to be Lord 
 
 m from the 
 
 dship. Pro- 
 
 iralia did he 
 
 and aifection 
 
 certainly, as 
 
 ) discover in 
 
 ily, educated 
 
 ge, William 
 
 the friend- 
 
 n. Alexander 
 
 of the first 
 
 vera a most 
 
 iss than four 
 
 New South 
 
 a work as 
 
 note in all 
 
 al qualities, 
 
 each with 
 
 de them a 
 
 ly was also 
 
 Sir George 
 
 m, who ac- 
 
 memorable 
 
 bidgec and 
 
 ng picture 
 'hich niu,<t 
 
 § 
 
 
 f 
 
 have greatly astonished her English correspondents at the time, 
 and may be still read with pleasure, if only as a proof that 
 the much-despised * Botany Bay ' was not wholly, even in 
 those days, a land given over to convicts and savages.' 
 
 ]\[rs. Lowe's Description of W. S. Macleaifs Iloinc. 
 
 A few days af,'0 I saw one of the most pcrfoct places I ever saw 
 in my life, belonginf,' to Mr. ]\Iacleay. How I longed that Mrs. 
 Slierbrooke could but see this splendid sight. The drive to the 
 house is cut through rocks covered with the splendid wild shrubs 
 and flowers of this country, and here and there an immense 
 primeval tree ; the house is built of white stone, and looks like a 
 nobleman's place. Mr. ]\Iacleay took us through the grounds ; they 
 were along the side of the water. In this garden are the plants of 
 every climate -flowers and trees from liio, the West Indies, the 
 East Indies, China, and even England. The bulbs from the Cape 
 are splendid, and, unless you could see them, you would not believe 
 how beautiful the roses are here. The orange-trees, lemons, citrons, 
 guavas, are immense, and the pomegranate is now in full flower. 
 ]\fr. Macleay has also an inunense collection of plants from New 
 Zealand. I must not omit some drawbacks to this lovely garden : 
 it is too dry, and the plants grow out of a white, sandy soil. I must 
 admit a few English showers would improve it. As we went along 
 tho wild walks, cut through the woods, the native trees, covered 
 with flowers, the views of rock, trees, and water were enchanting. 
 The bays are innumerable, and resemble the Scotch salt-water 
 lociis. 
 
 Mrs. Lowe's letter is full of her earliest Australian impres- 
 sions, ranging from descriptions of native moths and butterflies 
 to the speculations then rife in Sydney as to the new colony 
 of New Zealand. She seems to have gathered that the latter 
 would end in failure, hut she had not then acquired sufficient 
 
 ' 'rim boautiiully situated home of the scholar and naturalist is now no 
 more, and on the site of its grounds stand the villas and houses of a * gentcol ' 
 suburb. Sir Geort^'c Macleay, when Khowinj,' me a picture of the house and 
 Rrounds, said : ' ]\Iy brother would never have consented to its demolition ; l)ut 
 Sir Henry Parkes thought fit to tax the lanil exorbitantly, with the view of 
 ♦' busting up" such estates near Sydney , and I at length was forced to sub- 
 divide it, and let .t out on lease. IJut my brother,' he added, 'however much 
 it might hav(! added to his income, would never have allowed a tree or shrub 
 to be removed.' 
 
 
 !r; 
 
 m 
 
 M 2 
 
' I 
 
 164 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 1 ; 
 
 1 
 
 colonial experience to know that the well-to-do residents of an 
 old colony are always prone to indulge in evil prognostications 
 with regard to new and possibly rival settlements. Having 
 themselves passed through the pioneering stage, and at last 
 achieved something like Old-World comfort and a fixed abode, 
 they are the first to proclaim that the newly-acquired territory 
 is either too barren for cultivation, or that it is so fertile that 
 the land can never be profitably cleared. So we may pass all 
 this over without further comment. 
 
 It is more to the purpose that New South Wales itself, 
 about the time of the arrival of the Lowes, was passing through 
 one of its very worst periods of commercial depression. In 
 the history of all colonies these periods constantly recur ; and 
 when they pass, and what are called * the good old times ' — 
 that is, periods of reckless speculation and exorbitant prices — 
 come again, the colonists forget them like a dream. On 
 account of the direct effect this protracted commercial depres- 
 sion, which set in about 1841, exercised on the fortunes of 
 Robert Lowe, I have taken some pains to inquire into its 
 causes and extent. First as to its extent. From February 
 1842 to the end of 1844 there were 1,350 cases of sequestra- 
 tion under the new insolvent law in Sydney, and 282 in 
 Melbourne, which was then merely the chief town in a district 
 of the same colony. This gives a total of financial wrecks for 
 the colony of New South Wales, within a period of less than 
 three years, of 1,638. These sequestrated estates represented 
 a total of indebtedness amounting to 3^ millions sterling.' 
 If we bear in mind that the entire population was then only 
 162,000, these figures will give a most vivid picture of what 
 are colloquially called tlie bad times, during which the young 
 English barrister arrived in Sydney vvith a view of making an 
 independence for himself and his wife before the alloted seven 
 years of eyesight had run out. The major portion of litigation 
 on which lawyers thrive, it must be admitted, is a luxury, not 
 
 ' Wcstgarth"s Australia Felix, p. 180. 
 
TX SYDNEY 
 
 IG 
 
 i) 
 
 L'esidents of an 
 ognostications 
 ents. Having 
 e, and at last 
 a fixed abode, 
 uired territory 
 so fertile that 
 3 may pass all 
 
 I Wales itself, 
 
 -ssing through 
 
 pression. In 
 
 ly recur; and 
 
 old times ' — 
 
 itant i)rices — 
 
 dream. On 
 
 ercial depres- 
 
 3 fortunes of 
 
 uire into its 
 
 )m February 
 
 )f sequestra- 
 
 and 282 in 
 
 in a district 
 
 il wrecks for 
 
 of less than 
 
 represented 
 
 ns sterling.' 
 
 s then only 
 
 uro of what 
 
 the young 
 
 making an 
 
 loted seven 
 
 of litigation 
 
 luxury, not 
 
 m 
 
 a necessity, of social existence. "When money is rolling in, or, 
 what is practically the same thing, when credit is good, men 
 will dispute over any fancied right orwroig; and the Law 
 Courts become a very Babel of bustle and business. But when) 
 as a consequence of this extravagant living and reckless specu- 
 lation, comes the Nemesis in the shape of a peremptory note 
 from the banker that outstanding bills must be met — which 
 always happens at the time when there is nothing to meet 
 tliem with — then men no longer are so eager to fight out 
 their battles before a judge and jury. They become mean 
 of spirit, and absolute Uriah Heeps in the way of bearing 
 indignities, and the attorneys and barristers languish ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 The commercial depression in Sydney l)etwecn the years 
 named seems to liave been more like a thorough catastrophe 
 than any event of the kind in the annals of the colony. As a 
 rule, these so-called bad times, as the late Mr. Westgarth used 
 to point out, should in reality be termed good times, for they 
 are the periods when reckless expenditure and rash specula- 
 tion receive a salutary check, and when people suddenly wake 
 up to the necessity of living within their means. But the 
 disease in the body politic which culminated in the crisis of 
 18-41-44 in New South Wales, was deep-seated, and the colony 
 sustained a check from which it did not completely recover 
 until the era of the goldfields. 
 
 In the meantime, many of the leading merchants and 
 squatters were irretrievably ruined. So general was the 
 collapse, and to such an extent did the mere commercial 
 gamblers and spendthrifts drag down the more solid and 
 reputal)le colonists that, as Mr. Westgarth — who was then a 
 settler in Port Phillip -truly remarks, 'we find many names 
 intimately associated with the early history and recent splen- 
 dour of the colony ' in this appalling and indiscriminate herd 
 of bankrupts. Tims, as he sadly observes : ' Many years of 
 labour and care terminated in ruin, and a perceptible gloom 
 
16G 
 
 LIFE OF LOPJ) SIIERBROOKi: 
 
 1 III 
 
 ill 
 
 overspread the population on the occasion of so general a 
 distress and so melancholy a revolution of fortunes.' 
 
 Under such a state of things we are not astonished to learn 
 that most of the private carriages in Sydney were given up by 
 their owners, * either from necessity or a sense of propriety.' 
 As there were few or no private purclip.sers many of these 
 once well-appointed equipages descended in the social scale, 
 like their owners, and became common public conveyances. 
 
 In the very midst of all this gloom and wreckage Robert 
 Lowe settled down in Sydney to what he elsewhere calls * the 
 wretched trade of an advocate.' I do not find that he was 
 unduly depressed by this deplorable condition of things ; nor 
 was he, like so many of the older settlers, haunted by the 
 apprehension that the colony was irretrievably ruined. 
 
 It, of course, materially affected his practice and profits at 
 the Bar, but, looking at the matter in a general light, he no 
 doubt fully concurred with Sir George Gijips, who in a letter 
 to Lord Stanley about this time shrewdly pointed out that 
 ' the debts were those merelv of one individual to another, and 
 not of the colony collectively.' 
 
 From the time that he first caught sight of early Melbourne, 
 then likewise in a state of lamentable depression, Robert Lowe 
 seems to have been firmly impressed with the idea that 
 Australia was inevitably destined to be the permanent home 
 of a great and prosperous community. The following letter 
 from his own pen, one of the very few which he wrote 'home' 
 during his Australian exile, as well as giving an account of his 
 prospects and position at that time, will also, from the general 
 observations it contains, help to comi)lete the sketch of Sydney 
 in the early ' forties ' : — 
 
 Ilobert Loice's Impressions of Australia. 
 
 January 17, 1843. 
 
 We have now been some months in this colony, and though 
 the vividness of first impi essions may in some degree be impaired, I 
 am able to give you a more complete and colic it nt account of every- 
 
IX SYDNEY 
 
 1G7 
 
 f SO general a 
 unes.' 
 
 mishotl to learn 
 3re given up by 
 2 of i^roprietj.' 
 many of these 
 le social scale, 
 onveyances. 
 eckage Robert 
 here calls * the 
 [d that he was 
 >f things ; nor 
 lunted by the 
 •uined. 
 
 and profits at 
 1 light, he no 
 ho in a letter 
 ited out that 
 another, and 
 
 y Melbourne, 
 Robert Lowe 
 le idea that 
 anent home 
 owing letter 
 Toto 'home' 
 icount of his 
 the general 
 ih of Sydney 
 
 ary 17, 1843. 
 
 and though 
 3 impaired, I 
 Luit of every- 
 
 thin' 
 
 than was possible at first. Wo are at last settled 
 after most herculean labour in ari^niing 
 very cheap one for this country, onhi 130Z. a year. 
 
 ni a home 
 and bargainin.t,'. It is a 
 It is all front, 
 witii a very pretty view of Port Jackson, the Heads and the lipjlit- 
 house. The air is excellent, and the mosquitos not nearly so bad 
 as in lower situations. They arc not really as tormenting as the 
 midges were in Scotland. Our establishment consists of Martha, 
 who is every day improving in health from this most excellent 
 climate, a man-servant and a kitchen-maid. The man-servant we 
 would gladly have dispensed with, but in this town where there arc 
 no water-pipes, the carrying water ourselves is a great economy, and 
 a man is wanted to clean out and take care of my chambers. Our 
 furniture is all unpacked and arranged ; it has come, upon the whole, 
 exceedingly well, and had it not been for the abominahlc carelessness 
 of the abominable man who packed it, we should have had no losses : 
 the Aden was so extremely dry in the hold. The drawings are quite 
 safe and all my books. In this country, where the rooms are not 
 papered, but the walls and ceilings are left in stucco, a few pictures 
 framed are something more than ornamental. 
 
 The weather has been on the whole very pleasant ; during the first 
 two months no rain fell, and very considerable injury was done to the 
 crops and fruit, although more rain fell during the year than in Eng- 
 land ; yet from the peculiarity of the country, the absence of river 
 drainage, and the presence of immense masses of sandstone rock which 
 reflect the heat of almost a tropical sun, one day of fine weather 
 does more to dry than two or three of rain do to moisten it. At 
 Sydney, also, from its proximity to the sea, a very strong land or sea 
 breeze is continually blowing, which assists the drying influence of 
 the sun. The heat is seldom or never overpowering, and the 
 mornings and nights are uniformly cool. On Sunday, January H, 
 the thermometer was 118° in the shade and 142° in the sun, yet we 
 bore this perfectly well, and have often been more uncomfortable on 
 a summer's day in England. We spent a few days at Government 
 House, Paramatta, last week, the pears in some parts of the garden 
 had literally been baked on one side on the trees by the hot wind, 
 presenting not only the appearance, but the taste of the oven. A 
 standard nectarine tree laden with fruit is a beautiful sight ; we arc 
 just in the height of the peach and nectarine season, and enjoy our- 
 selves accordingly. A bushel of delicious nectarines is to be bought 
 for Bs., as fine in flavour as any I ever ate in England. The peaches 
 are as good as the general run of this fruit in England. 
 
 I am sorry to say that my eyes have grown so much worse, indeed 
 so nearly useless to nie, that 1 have been obliged most unwillingly 
 to place myself under medical advice, and to debar myself from reading 
 
i:i 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 1 ilii 
 
 
 ' r 
 
 
 •1 
 
 1, 
 
 ^' 
 
 1 1 
 i. 
 
 ■ 
 
 ' I.I 
 
 Jiil : , 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 I 1 
 
 1G8 
 
 MFK OF LOUD SIIKllliUOOKK 
 
 and writing' altogether. Mr. Bland,' who is my doctor, attributes my 
 inability to read, not to weakness of the eyes, but to an incipient tic 
 douloureux which lias been coming on for several years and which 
 tlu'eatens, if not corrected, to be of a most S(!vere description, 
 menacing not only my sight, but eventually life. He entertains 
 great hopes of being able to subdue this disorder, and has taken 
 tolerably stringent measures for that purpose, by cupping, calomel, 
 belladonna, \c., and a very strict regimen and low diet. 1 think he 
 has done me some good and trust he may do more. 1 have got a 
 very good clerk, who does literally all my reading and writing. 1 pay 
 him 2/. a week. 
 
 This visitation is the nuu'e dillicult to bear as, professionally 
 speaking, I hav(> been getting on exceedingly well, having nuide 
 at least 100/. since my arrival in the colony. Times are ex- 
 tremely bad here ; there have been upwards of (500 insolvencies 
 in ten months, and law business has nuich diminished even since 
 my arrival, but if my health Avill only permit, I do not fear getting 
 my share. 1 am the junior barrister at this Uar, which is an 
 advantage, and have already been concerned in one case for the 
 defendant in which the plaintiff received a verilict for 1,200/. I 
 have as yet had no opportuiiity of making a speech. \\'e have now 
 had more chance of seeing what the society here is. Upon the 
 whole 1 thiidv it very good, people are so nnicli nu)re liberal, so much 
 less bigoted and narrow-minded than in England.-' The ladies are 
 not handsome, and those educated in the colony stupid, but of the 
 rest e\erybody has seen something beyond the common routine of 
 daily life in England and is rendered more agreeable accordingly. 
 
 The rest of the letter is concerned with the political out- 
 look of the colony, and is exceedingly characteristic, as are 
 the views expressed of the social condition of the people. 
 
 We have just received our new Constitution, and everybody is very 
 busy about the contested elections. The franchise is 20/. per annum, 
 a qualification in this country of high rents far lower than that of 
 I'.ngland, amounting, indeed, to universal suffrage, and that in an 
 ignorant, lazy, vicious, and degraded community, the very last in the 
 world who ought to enjoy it. . . . The result might have been very 
 different had a better class of emigrants been sent out, for the free 
 
 ' The political colleague of Wentwoith, afterwards defeated by Lord Shev- 
 biooke for tlie representation of Sydney. 
 
 - Lord Sherbrooke lived to modify this opinion. Doubtless he did not find 
 the peculiar bigotry and narrow-mindedness of the Oxford clericals, but these 
 human weaknesses cropped up in a different guise. 
 
IX sydxi:y 
 
 1G9 
 
 population is to the convict in the proportion of 25 to 3. Pnit the 
 majority of the persons sent out here liave heen selected for their 
 uselessness in their mother country, as if there were any inherent 
 virtue in the Southern Hemisphere which could turn incorrigihle 
 rogues into industrious lahourers. Anyone with the wish and power 
 to work luay, even in these bad times, soon rise to independence. 
 Htone-masons earn J)s. per day, very indifterent carpenters T.s., so 
 there is no lack of inducement to emigration, hut these jjcople all 
 seem to consider that to work was the only thing for which they 
 were not sent out, and they are uniformly dissatisfied with their lot, 
 and wish themselves hack in England, although they allow they 
 live in plenty and independence here, and would be starved or go 
 into a workhouse there. 
 
 My total inability to write with my own hand, and the con- 
 stant occupation which getting into our house has necessarily 
 afforded to my wife, must be my excuse for not writing sooner. 
 I trust it is not an excuse I shall have to offer again, but I have 
 no idea how long a time may elapse before 1 am perm it Led to use 
 my eyes again. 
 
 AVith best wishes to all my kind and dear friends in England, 
 
 Believe me theirs very truly, 
 
 liOHEllT LOWK. 
 
 This was written, as he says, three months after his 
 arrival, and so forms a fitting introduction to his future active 
 life and public career in the colony. But we now come to a 
 very sad interlude, which is, indeed, foreshadowed in the 
 close of this letter. 
 
 Ill 
 
 if 
 
'II 
 
 170 
 
 Mi'i: oi' (-oi.'i) siii:i;i'.iJ(M>Ki; 
 
 1 '1 
 
 (^iiAi'TFj; n: 
 
 A rHKIol* OK (IFiOOM 
 
 'riirciitciiccl l;liii(liHs:^ l>ii-Ii \Vii,M(li'riiif.i;s 'I'lilmM' to W. S. Miiclouy- 
 
 Uf'luiii lo Uu: iiiir 
 
 In wrilJiii; tlic conclndiiijj; litics of tlic i'orv.'^oluis, hXtvr, Ivobcrl 
 Lowe littl(! dreamt Mint within loss tlian u iiioiitli all liis 
 hiN^dit liopos of prolossional huc(i('Hs would liav(i flown, and Ik; 
 would 1)(! warned l)y liisc<i!onial doctors tliat ludess lie cntiiMily 
 ccascsd to use Iiis eyos Ic! would almost iirnnudiatoly Ixjcomo 
 Htono-hlind, It is difticnlt to imagine a liai'dcsr fjito for a man 
 consciouH of siicli ^roitt mental powers, iind witli so much 
 intellectual activity. Jle had heen di'iven from l'jn<^land l»y 
 tliG warnings of eminent medical autliorities, who hiul d(!clar(Hl 
 tliJit he mif^lit preserve, his partial and painful eyesight as a 
 colonist in Austrjilia ; now, within a few months of his ari'ival, 
 he Wii.s told that unUiss he abandoned his profession he rrnist 
 inevitiihly hooome blind at once. Considering; the mental 
 torture that these f;illiicious and ecpnilly do^^inatic verdi(^tH 
 must have caused the [)iitient, it is not to be wondcircsd at that 
 in aft(!r years he should have recorded a sev(!re cond(!nniation 
 of such em[>iricism ; foi', despite these proj^nostications, aH all 
 the world knows, Lord Slusrbrooke contrivjid to achiev(!HUc,c(,'SH 
 in his profession, and eminence iis a statesman, without any 
 matei'ial injui-y to his dim eyesijj;ht. In later years, reviewinj; 
 this frif^htful experience in Sydney, it will be remembered, ho 
 made these comments : — 
 
 'The prophecies of my three Job's comforters [his London 
 
A I'KIMOI) OF (JI.OO.M 
 
 171 
 
 doctors] luul rn!i(l(! mo v^sry iKsrvouH Jiltoiit my(!y<H. f siiffVnd 
 Homowliat IVoin tli(! '^hwc of iin Aiistriiliiui siinirri(!r, SydiUiy 
 l)«)in{^ oik; of tin; inoHt dji//.liiij^ |)Iji(;<h in tlio world, ;uid in an 
 fvil hour I consulted ;i. doctor. lie cujipcd inc ;ind Jidvisfid 
 mo tliitt it Wiis iil)Holut(!ly ncccsHsary tliiit I should discontinue 
 my practice, which was nipidly incr(!asin;^'. 1 douht if I should 
 liiivo hoon HO docilo to my Sydney /I'lscuhipius if his opinir)M 
 had not tallied with tlus opim*f)ns of tin; Fiondon doctors. 'J'ho 
 time is come, F said to Jiiyself, sooner than 1 tliou^^ht, and if I 
 do not wish to Iks wholly hlind F must ^ive uj) my liusiness. 
 This wiis the lowest ehh of my fortun(!S. Ft rejiily seemed !i,h 
 if I was dostincd to Hird< into a situation in wlii(;h J shfxild 
 look hack with ref^fret on the p(;sition it had i-ost \ui', so mucdi 
 trouhle to quit. To mak(! the tiling' cornpkite 1 was forhidden 
 to read, so that all thai remained to me was to foi-f^et what I 
 had learnt, (snlivcined hy the joyless dij^nity to starve.' 
 
 This (enforced idleness accounts for the ai)[)arent failure in 
 tlu! eai'ly part of his career in Sydney, which astonisluid 
 JMr. David lilaii', the (-ompikir of 'I'lu- Ciirlojx/ilia of AnsfidlaHia. 
 J3ut th(! fact that for the next six or ('ij^ht months tho 
 name of lioh(;rt Fiowe did not a,])pear in the Law JleportH 
 (k)OH not moan, as Mr. Blair supposcis, tliat the; colorn'al 
 attorn(!ys were slow to roco^^niso Lord Sherhrooke's ahilities ; 
 hut that lie had he(,n compelled hy mistaken medical advice 
 to ahandon the pursuit of his profession aFtoj^etluir. Flow ho 
 contrived to exist durin;^ tJioso Hucc(;edinf^ montlis of com- 
 pulsoi'y and anxious inactivity is related very fully in tlio 
 affectionate letters which AEis. Lowe sent * h.ome ' regularly. 
 Some of tliese are v(!ry interesting, giving, as they do, de- 
 scriptions of tho various places to whicli slie accompanied him 
 with a view of whiling away tin; time that would otherwise 
 have lagged so heavily. From the fh'st of these letters we 
 see that the colonial doctors were very peremptory in their 
 injunctions, and left the patient no choice unless h(! had elected 
 utterly to ignore their advice and to take the consequences. 
 
 ri* 
 
172 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEllBROOKE 
 
 £ "'1 
 
 I' I 
 
 ■ i J 
 
 'i 
 
 Sydney : February 9, 1843. 
 
 My dearest Mother, — ^I cannot say with how much pain I write 
 to tell you that Robert cannot go on Avith his profession. Dr. Bland 
 and Mr. a Beckett say if he persists he will lose his sight. Besides 
 tic douloureux there is inflammation of the iris ; he has been cupped 
 four times, has had leeches applied, and is now decidedly better. 
 We must console ourselves as well as we can with the hope held out 
 that if he refrain from reading and all study, in about twelve months 
 he may be able to use his eyes again, but they say he can never 
 pursue his profession. This disappointment is perhaps the greatest 
 he has ever experienced ; he had made a splendid beginning and 
 was making about 1,000/. a year. We had looked forward with so 
 much pleasure to the idea of being able to say how well we were 
 doing. At present we have scarcely formed a plan for the future 
 and are most unwilling to return home until we find nothing more 
 can be done. I have some hopes that Sir George Gipps will give 
 Robert something ; he is most kindly disposed to us, but there is 
 little to give- all preferment is so jealously guarded in England. I 
 cannot tell you how kind everyone is to us, and how high an opinion 
 they entertain of Robert. There are some Oxford men here who 
 have talked nmch about him, indeed he never goes into any society 
 without the jioople being at once impressed with the highest opinion 
 of his abilities. Poor Robert ! I fear he is doomed to disappointment, 
 I know not how it is, but every effort seems to fail, and now, when 
 all promised so well, it is indeed bitter. 
 
 After a few remarks upon the beauty of the country, and 
 the healthfulness of the climate, Mrs. Lowe continues : — 
 
 ]\Iy greatest difficulty at present is to lind amusement for Robert. 
 You may imagine the privations he endures with his love of reading 
 and the constant liabiL of employing every spare moment over a 
 book, now to be forbidden ever to read a line — I mean this literally. 
 He does not read even the most trilling note. At times my spirits 
 almost fail me, but Robert's good temper and happy disposition 
 support us both. He bears this last trial much better than I do. 
 AVe mean to see all we can of this country, but the times are very 
 bad, though people hope the conclusion of the war with China will 
 relieve them by opening a new trade. 
 
 Then with messages to Lady Slierbrookc, the widow of Sir 
 John Coape Sherbrooke, and other friends, the writer sadly 
 closes by remarking that she is * not in spirits to write any 
 description of persons or things.' 
 
 w.. 
 
 '■%- 
 
A PERIOD OF GLOO^r 
 
 17 
 
 Eiry 0, 1843. 
 
 pain I write 
 Dr. Bland 
 i- Besides 
 )een cupped 
 edly better. 
 >pe held out 
 Ive months 
 can never 
 he greatest 
 inning and 
 rd with so 
 11 we were 
 the future 
 liing more 
 ) will give 
 it there is 
 igland. I 
 m opinion 
 here who 
 ny society 
 3t opinion 
 Qintment, 
 ow, A\hen 
 
 try, tind 
 
 r Robert. 
 F reading 
 t over a 
 literally. 
 y spirits 
 ^position 
 m I do. 
 ire very 
 ina will 
 
 r of Sir 
 * sadly 
 te any 
 
 ":;<•% 
 
 By the next outgoing ship she wrote to her mother-in-law 
 in the same solicitous and affectionate strain. 
 
 Sydney : Febiuaiy 19, 1848. 
 
 I write again as soon as possible that I may tell you we think 
 Robert's eyes better, but his cure can only be a work of time, ^h: 
 Arthur a Beckett ^ thinks rather more favourably of his case than 
 Dr. Bland, and says he may be capable of making some ^nental 
 exertions in a year or two. Robert has asked Sir George Gipps to 
 give him some appointment that will not require much eyesight, a 
 Police Magistracy, or something of that nature ; this will be worth 
 about 500Z. a year. We have also some other things in view, but 
 they are too remote and indefinite to write about, our plans change 
 daily, and I might write page on page were I to tell all we hope, 
 fear and think. I fear it would be but an annoyance at this distance. 
 Before we resolve upon returning home, we intend to be quite sure 
 that we can do nothing here. Sir George and Lady Gipps are kind 
 beyond measure, and I think we may hope that if Sir George can 
 help us, he will. 
 
 Mrs Lowe goes on to relate that Captain Bell, of the 
 Hazard, a twenty-gun sloop then stationed in the harbour, 
 had promised to take them to Hohart Town on his return from 
 Norfolk Island, where he was about to convey Sir George 
 Gipps, who had received orders from Lord Stanley to examine 
 and report upon the system there pursued with the convicts. 
 Though Mrs. Lowe appeared to be most anxious for this trip, 
 it does not seem to have taken place, nor did Lord Sherbrookt^ 
 ever set foot in Tasmania. 
 
 The letter continues sadly : — 
 
 I cannot bear to see him sitting hour after hour doing 
 nothing, and change of air and scene are particularly recom- 
 mended. We aie also thinking of making an excursion to 
 lllawarra ; a most splendid district ; we passed it on the coast, 
 about a hundred miles before we reached Sydney. But this 
 will in a great measure depend upon the possibil ty of letting 
 our house whilst we are away. Lady Gip| s has pi omised to mount 
 us, and we are to go with her to Botany Bay ; we are also to have 
 
 ' Arthur Martin a Beckett, F.R.C.S., Staff Surgeon to the British Legion in 
 Spain, arrived in Sydney 1838 ; afterwards member of the Legislative Council ; 
 died in Sydney, 1871. 
 
174 
 
 7.IFK OF LORD SIIKKiniOOKK 
 
 i! 1 
 
 the barge and take long excursions about the harbour. This wo arc 
 to do whilst Sir George is absent ; when he is at liomo, Lady Gipps 
 does not like to b(! away during the very few hours in the day slio 
 can bo with him he has so much to do. 
 
 Mrs. Lowo carried out her plan of accompanying; her 
 husband to various i)laceH up country with a view of occupy- 
 ing his time and thouj^hts. They went to Illawarra and 
 stayed in a cottaj^eat WoUongong, the chief town of the district. 
 There the clergyman took them in hand, providing them with 
 horses, and escorted them to a cattle station in the kangaroo 
 grounds wlu^re they were most liosi)itably welcomed by a Scotch 
 squatter and his sisters. Mrs. Lowe was very enthusiastic 
 about the beauties of Illawarra, which she compares to 
 Westmoreland. From Wollongong they were in the habit of 
 taking daily walks into the bush and conversing with the 
 small settlers, which I fancy the disabled barrister found more 
 congenial than much of the society small talk of Sydney. As 
 a rule, these settlers at this time, unlike the bulk of the 
 emigrants who remained in Sydney, appear to have been 
 thoroughly happy and contented with their lot. Ihit in 
 Illawarra, as in the metropolis, the presumably wealthier class 
 of colonists (i.(!. those who were wealthy * on paper ') were suffer- 
 ing from the great commercial depression to which I have before 
 alluded. Tluise had been existing on borrowed money, for 
 which they were paying in so ne cases 15 per cent., and as a 
 consequence, when the crash came;, their properties had to be 
 sacrificed. One landowiusr near Wollongong, who had refused 
 14,000/. for his land only three years before, was glad enough to 
 get 4,000/. for it. Such was the story they h(!ard on every side. 
 Among these more or less unsuccessful squatters they came 
 across a nephew of Professor Wilson (Christopher North), who 
 was off to try his fortunes in China. 
 Meantime Mrs. Lowe writes : — 
 
 1 hink Robert is really better - he never reads; being in the 
 open air is of great service to his nerves. The palpitation is much 
 
A rEUIOI) OF fJI.On.M 
 
 175 
 
 reduced about the temples. I flatter myself that at the expiration 
 of a year he will a^'iiin he able to read moderately. Our plans for 
 tlie future are quite unformed, we do not mean to make a hasty de- 
 cision. To employ Robert's mind without fati^'ue is tlie first f,'reat 
 ol)ject. You cannot believe how patient and cheerful he is under 
 all he has undei'f^one, he never repines or gives way to low spirits. 
 I read to him as much as I possibly can. 
 
 However bud the times may liave been with these Aus- 
 tralian country {,'entlemen, tliey displayed no lack of kindly 
 liospitality towaids the travellers. I'ressinff invitations came 
 from all sides ; and this, one is glad to say, has always ))een a 
 feature of the squatter class. 
 
 Perhaps enough has already been said concerning the 
 deplorable financial state of the country, but Australians, and 
 particularly Victorians of the prc.sent day, will peruse with some 
 astonishment such iin account as the following description of 
 their territories in the year 1813 ; and yet, as their current 
 history shows, the old tale is ever being retold :— 
 
 You will h(!ar no doubt of the crash of the Baidi of Australia, 
 the directors have been discountin",' bills to an enormous extent. 
 What the cons(!({uence will bo to this country no one can tell. The 
 securiti(!S are in land, and it is said that at l(;ast HOO.OOOZ. worth of 
 land will be at once thrown into the mark(!t and make land unsale- 
 able. At Port Phillip, even land of tbe best quality will not now sell 
 at all, though it has been under cultivation. This district (lUawarra) 
 is th(! only part of the country wheic land is of any value. 
 
 These observations on men and things, in which Mi's. Lowe 
 indulged in her correspondence, are, during this period, fre- 
 quently interrupted by painful comments on the subject that 
 was ever present to her mind : — 
 
 * We should enjoy ourselves so much if Piobeit W(.'re well. 
 I am never free from apprehension about liim, and it pains 
 me bej'ond mcsasure to see him unable to read.' 
 
 Towiirds the end of the month they were back again in 
 Sydney, staying at Government House as the guests of Sir 
 George and Livdy Gipps, who had kindly invited them to 
 
 m 
 
 fi 
 
 >i 
 
h I 
 
 ll 
 
 .lis 
 I 
 
 (i ! 
 
 
 176 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SHERBROOKE 
 
 remain until they could regain possession of their own house 
 in Macquarie Street, which they had let. Mrs. Lowe, even 
 after the subsequent rupture between her husband and the 
 Governor, always recognised the kindness shown them during 
 this trying time, especially by Lady Gipps. They were now 
 again in the midst of such fashionable society as Sydney could 
 then boast. The Viceregal party used to cross over to the 
 North Shore, and ride into the country — the party numbering 
 generally Sir George and Lady Gipps, Sir Maurice O'Connell 
 (Commander of the Forces), Captain O'Connell, Mr. Parker,' 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lowe. 
 
 This was alternated with trips to Paramatta, where they 
 accompanied the Viceregal party to the races. However 
 pleasant this kind of life might be to a fashionable flaneur, it 
 must have been torture to such a man as Eobert Lowe. He 
 was again in the hands of his Sydney doctors, who were try- 
 ing their nostrums upon him. 
 
 The Lowes next went to Bathurst, in a somewhat adven- 
 turous fashion, for they drove there in their own little car- 
 riage with one horse. After they passed Penrith and crossed 
 the Emu Plains, they had to face the ascent of the Blue 
 Mountains. 
 
 Here (writes Mrs. Lowe) all appearance of cultivation ceases. 
 The road Avas surveyed and executed under Sir Thomas Mitchell's 
 directions. The mountains are composed principally of sand rock, 
 and form the most tremendous precipices I ever saw. The gum-tree 
 covers the mountains in endless forests, and a more absolute scene of 
 desolation imagination cannot conceive ; I can scarcely term it 
 beauty. The valleys are silent, no water to be seen or heard, and 
 very few birds ; now and then parrots of brilliant plumage fly across 
 the road with a wild scream. We traversed scenery such as this I 
 have attempted to describe for four days, and then reached Macquarie 
 Plains. 
 
 ' Piivato secretary to Sir George Gipps, afterwards Sir Henry Watson 
 Parker, third Prime Minister of New South Wales; married in 1840 the 
 younges' daughter of Captain John Macarthur of Camden Park, the introducer 
 of the merino sheep into Australia. 
 
 '''Mi 
 
A PERIOD OF GLOOM 
 
 177 
 
 Here they stayed with Mr. Lawson, who bears an honoured 
 
 name in conjunction with Wentworth and Blaxland in the 
 
 annals of pioneering exploits in New South Wales, and then 
 
 pushed on to the station of General Stewart, some three miles 
 
 from Bathurst. Mrs. Lowe, after a while, from an artistic point 
 
 of view, disparaged these vast bush solitudes, whose monotony 
 
 invariably strikes the traveller from other lands. On their 
 
 journey back an adventure befell them, which I had perhaps 
 
 better give in her own words. 
 
 In returning to Sydney we endeavoured to cross Mount Lambie. 
 Here we found the road fearfully bad. About half-past four o'clock 
 we stuck fast hopelessly in an immense pool of water. I remained 
 with the carriage whilst Kobert proceeded on foot to an inn about 
 two miles and a half distant in search of help. I scrambled to the 
 bank and there waited Robert's return. A heavy rain began to fall 
 and night came on. In about two hours I heard steps and Robert 
 appeared with three men and a horse. With great difficulty they 
 extricated the carriage, and I had to mount the horse without a 
 saddle to reach it, the roads were so deep in mud. We slept at a 
 little inn and returned next day lo IMacquarie Plains, remained the 
 night at Mr. Lawson's and returned by the old Sydney road, which 
 was surveyed and laid down by j\Iajor Lockyer, which I think a 
 much better line than Sir Thomas Mitchell's. We regained the 
 high road at Solitary Creek, went on to the foot of Mount Victoria, 
 and then turned off the road to Megalong to stay a few days with 
 Dr. Palmer. 
 
 This hospitable squatter organised a kangaroo hunt for their 
 amusement, and they were further greatly entertained by the 
 blacks of the district, who climbed the trees in native fashion 
 and pulled out opossums and squirrels by their tails, which 
 caused them some diversion. They stayed several days at 
 Dr. Palmer's, who, at parting, presented Mrs. Lowe with two 
 pretty little parrots, and in due course they reached Paramatta 
 ' with only one broken spring.' 
 
 This expedition certainly seems, in the recital, rough and 
 somewhat dangerous for a lady; and one might think accom- 
 panied also with some peril to her companion with his defi- 
 cient eyesight. But Mrs. Lowe expressly states that ' Robert 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
 1 
 
178 
 
 LIFK OK IA)RJ) SIIKHHWOOKK 
 
 onjoys liiinsolf beyond mciiHuro in tlicsc oxpoditionHj and lie 
 gains mucli bonelit; liin eyes aro docidcMlly bettor and bis 
 general bt altb good.' 
 
 IJaek again in tboir own bouse in Sydney, tbey wore ntill 
 (juito undecided as to wbat tbey sbould do. Tbe doctors pei- 
 sisted in tlioir opinion tliat tbe b-ast exertion woubl bring 
 back at any moment tlie alYection of tbe nerves of the eyi;. 
 ]{eading and writing of any kind were still absolutely for- 
 l)idd(>n. U was indeed a pt'riod of anxiety as well as of 
 gloom. Tbe older colonists, witb pleasant country residences, 
 wore pressing in tboir kindly invitations ; and amongst other 
 noted bomesteads where Mr. and ^Irs. Lowe stayed during 
 this interval was Camden, the homo of tbe Macartburs, per- 
 haps tbe most historic country bouse in all Australia. 
 
 Tlioy accepted ^Fr. James IMacarthur's invitation, and he 
 met them at Paramatta witb his carriage and drov(^ them to 
 Camden. ITere they were most hospitably entortained, and 
 saw all that could be done by art towards making an Australian 
 homestead in the bush present the appearance of an English 
 nobleman's country seat. 
 
 By this time it may be surmised that these wanderings 
 had begun rather to pall ; at any rate, mention of them in 
 Mrs. Lowe's letters is less frocpiont and less enthusiastic. 
 She now often writes as one full of forebodings of the ruin 
 that seemed to be impending over the entire colony. Perhaps 
 their own melancholy situation caused her unconsciously to 
 deepen the shadows of the picture. 
 
 There was, however, yet another of these ' up-country ' 
 excursions on which Pobert Lowe was unaccompanied by his 
 energetic and devoted helpmate ; and of this, at her express 
 request, he dictated a brief account which was slipped into 
 one of her letters and forwarded to friends in England. On 
 this occasion he was visiting his friend, ]\[r. Barker, a squatter 
 in the county of Argyle, which he himself subsequently re- 
 presented in the Legislative Council. 
 
A IMliaoi) OF (iL(M;M 
 
 17!) 
 
 litioiiH, and Ik. 
 H'itcY and his 
 
 ihvy wGi-o still 
 (3 doctors pci'- 
 1 would brin;^' 
 .'8 of tlio (lyo. 
 bsoluttily for- 
 i.^ well as of 
 /ry residences, 
 niongst other 
 tayed durin-' 
 •iirthurs, pci- 
 I'alia. 
 
 iition, and he 
 Irove them to 
 Brtainod, and 
 n Australian 
 ' Jin English 
 
 wanderhigs 
 of them in 
 
 i-ntlmsiastic. 
 of the ruin 
 '. rerhai)H 
 
 insciously to 
 
 up-country ' 
 mied by his 
 lier express 
 clipped into 
 gland. 0:i 
 ', a squatter 
 qucntly re- 
 
 'Ihis is his own account of his experiences and rellectioiis 
 on this occasion : — 
 
 Sc|.lfinbc'r S, 18}:{. 
 
 JIaviti<< a.^'focd fco iiccompaiiy my friond, l\Ii'. Uarkcr, to his 
 cstablisluiicnt lu^jir (ionlhiini, in the County of Arj^'ylc, about ITjO 
 luiics S.W. of Sychicy, I am iiow to givo an lu'.coiintof my fxpcditiou. 
 \V(! tcavclh'd i)i a vrry \'i<^Ui carriapjo with lar^'i- wliools (h-awn by 
 Iwo thoroii.i^libicd horsos, so that tho jonrnoy was noitluir so slow 
 nor so laborioiif? as tliat to ]>athurHt. l>ii,rkor is a very aj^rcicablc. 
 compiMiioii, possess! n,!^' great jiowcr of obscirvatioii and a very com- 
 plete kiiowledi^'c of the countiy, its pui'siiits, iuid its inhji,bitantH. 
 The first day wo travelled to (liimdcn, a villagi; built on the land 
 of the ]\hicarthurs jiml to whi(!h they have [)i jsentod a now church 
 with a very ambitious spire. It is situated on the banks of the 
 Mcpcan river. The surrounding country is very rich and fertile, and 
 requires nothing but tlu! subdivision into small farms to bc^comc! 
 extremely productive. The road h'om thence to (ioulburn has 
 carefully avoided every fertile and Improvable spot, a [)eculiarity 
 observable in all Sir Thomas ]\Iitcheirs roiids. About two miles 
 from (ioulburn }ou emerge h-om the eternal foi'est of white gum-trees, 
 tiio ugliest and the most useless of the class, upon (Ioulburn I'lains, 
 which really do deserve the name, for they stretch without an inter- 
 vening eminence to the Australian Alps on the one side, and the 
 rivers which empty themselves into J^ake Alexaiidrina on the other. 
 These plains or table-lands, lying '2,(X)() feet abov(^ the level of the 
 sea, are situated lU'ar the point where the eastern and western waters 
 divide, and possess conse([uently a much more temperate climate 
 than the neighbourhood of Sydney. 
 
 Here you no longer see the orange-tree, the banana, or Indian 
 corn, but their jjlaco is supplied by hluropean fruits and productions. 
 The mornings and evenings are agreeably cool even in tlu; height of 
 sunnnor, whereas in Sydney the hours between suinuse and ton 
 o'clock, when tlu; sea bre(!ZO generally begins to blow, are the most 
 oi)pressive in the day. i\Ir. Itarker's station is situated on the 
 banks of the Wollondilly, which runs through a long, narrow valley 
 formed by hills of volcanic origin, whose undulating slopes, thinly 
 dotted with trees, sometimes advancing and sometimes retiring, 
 have forced the river into an undulating channel, and form, when 
 covered with cattle, a very pleasing pastoral landscape. We found 
 everything going wrong, the sheep dying of catarrh induced by the 
 neglect of the overseer in folding them on marshy ground, and 
 everything conducted in the most wasteful and irregular manner. 
 This is too often the case in Australia, where the evils of absenteeism 
 are quite as great as in Ireland, or perhaps more felt, as everything 
 
 n2 
 
180 
 
 Lll-K OF LORD SIIEimilOOKE 
 
 I ■' 
 
 hore (loponds upon tlio personal caro and intollij^'onco of tho pro- 
 piiotor. Wo roturnod to Sydney in about three weeks. Dnriiin 
 my stay I acquired soino insight into sheep-farming, and am quite 
 certain that, if conducted with proper care and economy, it is a very 
 hicrative business at tho present prices; but neither this, nor the 
 numy other resources of this country, will save the greater number 
 of tho proprietors of hind and stock from that ruin which their 
 reckless speculation and grasping ambition have brought upon 
 them. 
 
 (:' 
 
 It was during tliesc enforced wanderings in the bush that 
 the Lowes fell in with an old Oxford friend, Henry Denison, 
 the younger brother of the Bishop of Salisbury, whom SiV 
 Francis Doyle describes as being * in his first youth a sort of 
 Admirable Crichton.' The race is not always to the swift. 
 Denison all but broke his neck by a fall from his horse in 
 Australia, and tlie brilliant Oxonian became a paralys(>d 
 wreck. IMrs. Lowe writes : ' Mr. Denison 's health is so bad 
 that the medical men here advise him to return home. He 
 has promised the first time he is in Notts to call on INIrs. 
 Sherbrooke.' 
 
 Throughout all this trying time, in which he had so much 
 leisure to brood upon his great misfortune, Eobert Lowe 
 never seems to have uttered a word of complaint or repining. 
 Almost any other man in the course of a narration like the 
 foregoing would have expatiated on the terrible deprivation 
 which thus sent him a broken and beaten man wandering 
 aimlessly in a strange land. It Avas, however, no part of his 
 manly philosophy ever to make others miserable by the recital 
 of his own woes. This, like every other high virtue, had its 
 own reward ; making him, at any rate, despite his affliction, 
 a thoroughly companionable man. To some extent this 
 enforced leisure, in Miiich he saw much of the country and its 
 remote and isolated settlers, must have influenced for good 
 his subsequent career in New South Wales. 
 
 These bush wanderings must have brought him into 
 social contact with many persons who would not have had 
 
A rKKlOl) OF (II.(K)M 
 
 ISl 
 
 nco of the pro. 
 weeks. Dnriiiir 
 g: and am quity 
 oniy, it is a very 
 lor this, nor tli(. 
 greater number 
 lin which their 
 brought upon 
 
 the bnsli that 
 nry Denisoii, 
 ry, wJiom Sii- 
 outh fi sort of 
 to tlie swift. 
 his horse in 
 a paralyser] 
 1th is so bad 
 11 homo. He 
 call on Mrs. 
 
 had so miicli 
 Robert Lowe 
 fc or rcpininn-. 
 btion like the 
 3 deprivation 
 n wandering 
 part of his 
 by the recital 
 L'tuc, had its 
 lis aflliction, 
 extent this 
 nitry and its 
 ed for good 
 
 t him into 
 t have had 
 
 opportunities of conversing with him, and discovering liis 
 remarkable gifts, if he had continued in the active exercise of 
 his profession in Sydney. It may be safely said that he 
 never imssed a night under a squatter's roof without im- 
 l)ressing and delighting his host by his wonderful knowledge 
 and acumen, and his brilliant powers of conversation. In 
 these early days, many of the pioneer squatters were them- 
 selves men of remarkable individuality, and in some cases by 
 no means deficient in mental culture. Years afterwards, in 
 an address delivered in London, Lowe spoke of them as 
 * gentlemen who former the real aristocracy of the Australian 
 colonies, men whose boast it is that there runs in their veins 
 some of the best blood in England.' • 
 
 Robert Lowe, as already recorded, had greatly impressed 
 the governor. Sir George Gipps, with his ability and capacity 
 for public affairs ; this fact, and his personal acquaintance 
 with the squatters and isolated settlers, had a direct bearing 
 on his career in the colony. It is with evident pleasure that 
 Mrs. Lowe records the high opinion which Sir George Gipps 
 had at this time formed of her husband's abilities. 
 
 Sir George (she writes) is constantly asking his opinion on all 
 sorts of subjects, particularly questions of difficulty arising from the 
 working of this new Legislative Council. This is a very high com- 
 pliment from Sir George Gipps, who is notorious for never asking 
 or caring for other people's opinions. Ho will scarcely listen, even 
 so much as politeness requires, to those of his Government officials. 
 
 But for all this the days began to hang heavily, and it is 
 plain that Lowe had practically abandoned all hopes of a 
 colonial career. Mrs. Lowe sorrowfully admits that he 
 is not likely to do much good in Sydney ; and adds that 
 they are greatly tempted to throw it all up and return to 
 England. 
 
 ' Speech on the AustraHan Colonies Bill, at the rooms of the Society for 
 the Reform of Colonial Government, June 1, 1850. By Robert Lowe, Esquire, 
 late Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales. 
 
182 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SHERliKOOKE 
 
 This mournful epistle was written on October 8, 1843, but 
 on the 30th of the same month another was sent, which 
 r(!vealo(l the silver lining of the cloud. Eobcrt Lowe had been 
 absolutely idle for eight months and a half, and during that 
 time he had neither read nor written a line. He now decided 
 to resume, with great precautions, the practice of his profession. 
 It is not stated whether this was done with the approval of 
 the two Sydney doctors, but it may shrewdly be suspected 
 that the patient had decided on this course without further 
 consulting them. He therefore procured the assistance of a 
 clerk for his chambers, who was also to live rt his house, 
 so that he might be always at hand. He gave a distinct 
 promise to his wife that if he felt the slightest symptoms of a 
 relapse, either in regard to his eyes or his general health, he 
 would then and there give up all idea of ever again practising 
 at the Bar. With this she contented herself, reflecting that, 
 * if he does little, this will be an amusement.' With the in- 
 creasing badness of the times, and the fact that he had to 
 make a fresh start as a junior, there was very little likelihood 
 of any distressing amount of legal business coming in his 
 way. 
 
 Mrs. Lowe seems to have cherished the hope that Sir 
 George Gipps would yet find some suitable post for the man 
 of whose capacity he entertained so high an opinion. Lady 
 Gipps had told her that Sir George declared that * Mr. Lowe 
 was the cleverest man in the country.' This raised her hopes 
 to the altitude of a temporary judgeship in Norfolk Island or 
 a police-magistracy somewhere in the back blocks of New 
 South Wales. But the revenue of the colony was falling 
 wofully, so that retrenchment was the order of the day ; and 
 under these circumstances Sir George Gipps was the very 
 last man in the world to make a posu for any friend, however 
 deserving and capable he might be. 
 
 These weary months recurred to Lord Sherbrooke's 
 
 ii 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 •M 
 
 1 
 
 
 t' 
 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 ^ * 
 
 
A PEKIOD OF fa.OOM 
 
 18a 
 
 'I- 8, 1813, but 
 s sent, which 
 jowe had been 
 1 (luring thiit 
 e now decided 
 hisi^rofcssion. 
 e apiH'oval of 
 be suspected 
 thout further 
 ssistance of a 
 ^t his Jiouse, 
 ve a distinct 
 ^mptoms of a 
 al health, lie 
 in practising 
 fleeting that, 
 With the in- 
 it he Iiad to 
 ;le likelihood 
 ning in his 
 
 pe that Sir 
 or the man 
 lion. Lady 
 * Mr. Lowe 
 ^ her hopes 
 k Island or 
 ks of New 
 \vas falling 
 ' day; and 
 s the very 
 3, however 
 
 erbrooke's 
 
 memory witli vivid intensity when, some years ago, he sat 
 down to record the events of his past life. 
 
 Then it was that he paid the ihie tribute to the memory 
 of W. S. Macleay : * However, in this the lowest ebl) of my 
 fortunes, I found several alleviations. The principal was the 
 extraordinary good fortune which gave me the acquaintance 
 and, I ain proud to say, the friendship of Mr. William 
 IMacleay. He had been Secretary at Paris for clainls of 
 English subjects and afterwards had been a Commissioner 
 for the Extinction of the Slave Trade at Cuba. He was an 
 excellent classical scholar, he knew more of modern history 
 and biography than any one with whom I was ever acquainted, 
 and in addition to all this he was a profoundly scientific man ; 
 thoroughly conversant with zoology, botany, and entomology. 
 He was an excellent companion, with a store of caustic wit 
 which reminded me continually of the best part of Scott's 
 Antiqnarjj. It fell to my lot to do him some slight service 
 for which he never knew how to l)e sufficiently grateful. It 
 would have been a good find to meet with such a person 
 anywhere, but in a remote colony it was a good fortune for 
 which one could not be too thankful. I have not seen, and 
 shall not see, his like again.' 
 
 Such is Lord Sherbrooke's tribute to William Sharpe 
 IMacleay, his most cherished Australian friend, who fully re- 
 turned his affection, and whose admiration for his great 
 abilities, indomitable courage, and personal worth was un- 
 bounded. At his death in Sydney in 1865, William Macleay 
 bequeathed 1,000L to Lord Sherbrooke and a like sum to his 
 wife as a mark of his friendship and esteem. It is not difficult 
 to imagine what a solace the conversation of so cultivated a 
 man must have been to one who felt that, despite his own 
 great powers and grasp of mind, his career, from impending 
 blindness, was about to close before it had well begun. Lord 
 Sherbrooke, it will be remembered, goes on to refer to the 
 bush wanderings of this gloomy period, and, with regard to 
 
 ! 
 
184 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIEHBHOOKE 
 
 the loveliness of Illawarra, pathetically describes it as a place 
 ' where a man might pass his time with no other regret than 
 that of being totally useless.' But now, in defiance of doctors 
 and specialists, he determined to go back to his law-books 
 and to active life in Sydney, be the conse(iuences what they 
 might. 
 
185 
 
 I 
 
 •I 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CROWN NOMINEE 
 
 (1843-1844) 
 
 Lord Stanley's ' New Constitution '-Richard Windcyor, the ' Popular Member ' 
 — W. C. Wentworth, the ' Australian Patriot '—Lowe's Maiden Speech in 
 the Council -His Stand for Free-Trade— Becomes a Personage in Sydney 
 
 Under the new Constitution, which the late Earl of Derhy, then 
 Lord Stanley, the Colonial Secretary of State, had hestowed 
 upon New South Wales in the year 1812, the old Legislative 
 Council, wliich had heretofore consisted entirely of officials 
 and Crown nominees, became largely a representative body. 
 It consisted of thirty-six members, of whom two-thirds were 
 elective, on a franchise of a 20L rental or a freehold of 200/. in 
 value ; furthermore, there was a property qualilication for 
 members of 2,000/. or a yearly value of 100/. 
 
 In addition to these twenty-four ' popular ' representatives 
 there were six salaried government ofticials, who might be 
 regarded as a kind of Cabinet, and six Crown nominees. The 
 Governor no longer presided, nor had he any direct voice 
 or vote in the Council. In the Viceregal speech which 
 inaugurated this, the first Parliament in Australia (August 3, 
 1843), Sir George Gipps thus explained +i'c constituent 
 elements of his new Council : * The Legislative Council,' h(! 
 said, ' is composed of three elements, or three different classes 
 of persons : the representatives of the people, the official 
 servants of Her Majesty,' and of * gentlemen of independence 
 — the unofficial nominees of the Crown.' 
 
 
18G 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 , 
 
 '■ 
 
 H 
 
 
 Unfortunately Sir George Gipps, who was a soldier rather 
 than a politician, too quickly forgot his own distinctions 
 between the salaried Government officials and the Crown 
 nominees. It would seem that Sir George, having nominated 
 these latter * gentlemen of independence ' to their seats in the 
 Council, fully expected them to vote on all occasions with his 
 salaried officials and to assist them in every way to thwart the 
 * representatives of the people,' who under this hybrid scheme 
 formed a permanent but ineffective Opposition, as, despite their 
 overwhelming majority, the Governor could always veto any 
 measure which he considered inopportune or undesirable. 
 
 Some three months after the opening of the Legislative 
 Council, the Sjieaker (the Hon. Alexander Macleay, elected in 
 his 77th year) announced that he had received a letter from 
 ' Eichard Jones, Esq.,' resigning his seat; and further that 
 His Excellency tho Governor ' had been pleased to appoint 
 liobert Lowe, Esq., Barrister-at-Law,' in his stead. Mr. Lowe, 
 having been introduced to the Speaker by the Colonial Secre- 
 tary (Edward Deas Tliomson) and the Attorney-General 
 (John Hubert Plunkett) took the oaths and his seat. 
 
 The Siidit('i/ Monti II fi Herald — then the only daily news- 
 paper in Australia — seemed perturbed at this intrusion of a 
 mere nonentity into the sacred precincts of this infant Parlia- 
 ment. Li its issue of November 10, 1843, appears the following 
 serious little article, which, in the light of subsequent events, it 
 is diflicult to read without a smile : — 
 
 Who is Mr. Lowe, the new member of Council ? is a question 
 that has been asked pretty often within the last forty-eight hours, 
 and it docs not say much for the Governor's choice that it should 
 have to be asked. All that is known of Mr. Lowe in the colony is 
 that he is a junior barrister, who arrived hero about fourteen months 
 ago, and that, in consequence partly of ill-health and partly of want of 
 success, it was understood some six months since ho had dcter'rJned 
 upon retiring from the profession. He is a gentleman of very 
 superior scholastic attainments, and was, until very shortly before 
 he left England, a Fellow and tutor of one of the Oxford colleges. 
 Wo are at a loss to conceive what claims Mr. Lowe had to bo made 
 
THE CROWN XO.MINEE 
 
 187 
 
 a Councillor ; he has had no colonial experioncc, ho has no stake in 
 tlie colony, and wo must express our surprise that the Governor 
 should have passed over all the old colonists to confer the office on 
 a gentleman who is almost a stranger. 
 
 The Herald had not long to wait before its queries were 
 iinswerod. Although it was then the month of November, the 
 year had not run out before the voice of the new nominee was 
 very familiar in the ears of the older members of the Legisla- 
 tive Council ; and when he thought fit, in the following year, 
 to resign his seat, Eobert Lowe had undoubtedly esi;ablished 
 his position as one of the leading public men in the colony of 
 New South Wales. 
 
 After the weary months of gloom and disappointment 
 described in the preceding chapter, this unforeseen introduction 
 into public life was naturally highly gratifying to JMrs. Lowe. 
 
 Li a letter to her mother-in-law, written the day before her 
 husband actually took his seat in the Council, she thus refers 
 to the event in her usual frankly unreserved and therefore 
 interesting style. 
 
 Sydney : November 7, 1843. 
 
 My dear Mother, — I write to you with so much pleasure in being 
 able to tell you that Sir George Gipps has appointed Robert a 
 nominee member of the Legislative Council. I assure you this is a 
 high honour, and delights him greatly, it also inspires me with an 
 additional overflow of vanity (which pray forgive) regarding Robert's 
 abilities. 
 
 Sir George has placed him in the Legislative Council, ho ex- 
 pressly says, to strengthen the Government, and looks forward to 
 his being of great use. This appointment will give Robert an 
 opportunity of bringing himself before the public, and will be of 
 great use to him as a barrister. I shall have so nnich pleasure in 
 sending the Sydney papers, as I know with what great interest and 
 delight you will read his speeches. Now, my dearest mother, 
 does not Robert overcome every obstacle and impediment ? Even 
 with the disadvantage of having had to retire from the Bar for 
 a time, ni a new place, amongst new friends, and with no real 
 opportunity of displaying his talents, ho has been able to impress 
 everyone with the highest opinion of them and of his character. Sir 
 JamesDowling[the Chief Justice], Judge Stephen,' all whose opinions 
 
 ' The present veteran, Sir Alfred Stephen, now in his ninety-first year — 
 
188 
 
 \AV\'] OF LOIM) SIIKIMJKOOKK 
 
 r( •■ .:>! 
 
 1 !i 
 
 I' 
 
 I tt i 
 
 aro worth carin^j: for, Hpc'iilv of liini in the liifj;li('st tcniiH. Ifo lian 
 l)0(m ill Sydney but twolvc niontliH iiiid Sir (icorf^'ci liiw coiiforrcd on 
 liiin tlu> lii^lu'st honour in his power to Itestow, nor JiiiM tlicro biMii 
 thd h'!i.Ht |)rivii.t(^ fri('ii(lsln|) in tills. Sir (1. (l. is notoriously ii, man 
 wlio has lU'Vcr even HtrctduMl a point for a private; fricsnd. This 
 appointment lias no reMiiiii(M'fi,li()ii att(>ndin^' it, but much lionour, 
 Kobcu't's sp(u>clies will be printed and sent home with tho I'rocccdini^'H 
 of the |je^fislativ(^ Council ; his name, will thus b(! often beforo tho 
 Home (lovernmont, and uuiy tliiis j)rove of immense! advanta{j;c. 
 Tliero have b(>en a,lready vcsry many Jiery debates in the Legislative! 
 Council, and arc likely to be more. 
 
 How iriic ii is thai hojio fulliUcd is <lisa])[)oint)n(uit. In 
 \cm ihiui ji ycii-r from ihc ovoiiiiig wlieii ho niiido his iirsi bow 
 io tho Spealioi', lloheri Lowe folt conipolled io sonil in his 
 rosigiiation, sinqily because ho couhl soo no ' honour' in being 
 tho nomiiu'o of a> man with wliom ho gravely dilTered on 
 nhuost evory ((uesiion of [lublic jiolicy, ihougli, of course, tliis 
 divergence was not ajipareni eiilior io Sir George Clip[)H or 
 liimself wlieii tlie seat was confcri'ed upon and accojitcd hy 
 him. 
 
 Then, alihougli it was douhih'ss true, as Mrs. Lowe pro- 
 gnosticated, that lier husband's brilliant speeches were ' printed 
 and sent luMue,' it may he doubted wiieiher ilie JMinisiers 
 at St. Siepheii's (n* tlie cliief ollicials in Whitehall were able 
 io peruse , lost; ouis[)oken and often vehenuini diatribes with 
 pleasure or (iven equanimity. Their unlooked-for result, how- 
 over, was io make tlu! ei'stwhile nominee of the Covernor 
 one of ilu' foremost, and for a time the most popular man 
 in tho connnunity -hnt this is anticipating tlu; chapter of 
 events. 
 
 Sir George Gipps, in selecting llobert Lowe as one of the 
 Crown nominees, did so simply io strengthen himself in tlu! 
 Council. Tho Governor was a shi-ewd and able man ; though 
 it will he admitted on all hands that if he expected Lowe io 
 heconie either a lackey or a tool, he could hardly have made 
 
 forn»i'rl.y Cliiof .liistico mid liilc Tjioutpiianl-Oovcrnor of New Sontli WhK'h 
 a near kinsiimii of Sir Jiuncs J''it/,jiiiiics >SU>plu'ii and of Mr. Leslie ytepheii. 
 
Till': ClIOWN NOMIM'-K 
 
 181) 
 
 ii, worso Holoctlon, IJiit tlio (i()Vf!rntn(!nt officIiilH in tlic 
 ('oimcil won; now confVontcMl l»y a iiiiinhor of ])0|)iilfi,r rcipn^ 
 K(!ntativoH, each of wliom bsiH loft bin mark in tlio annalH of 
 AuHtralia. Dr. TjiUi^', in liis llialorn of Nnr Sonfh ]V<iI('h, 
 cxproHHOS aHtoniHlnrK^nt Ji,t ilu! ' ii,ro,iit lupoviority of iho firHt 
 Ijo^iHlativo Council to thoHo tliat liavo hiicc(!0(1(!(1 it ; ' iind 
 (|iicHtionH wbcitlior ' it Ikih ovor Ikhhi Knrj)aHH('(l l»y any loj^iK- 
 l!i,tnro out of Fiiif^land in tlio BritiHli Knii)ir(!.' To support 
 liiH asM(!rtion ho incntionH the njunoH of Lowo, Wontworth, 
 \Vin(l(\yor, and Cow[)or : to whicli in fairnoHH nbould l>o added 
 ]\[h own. 
 
 If from this Ust wo omit Lord Sliorhrooko's name altof^'otlior 
 as thiit of a man (|uito apart, ;uid in no sonsoii normal coloin'al 
 momhor, and snhstitiitc! for it thiit of Sir Mdwfird Doas Thom- 
 son, then tho principal (Jrown oriicial, it )n!i,yl>o sjifcly declared 
 that no suhsoqiiont AustraHan Loi^iKlatnro can present such a 
 {galaxy of really ahlo parlijimentarians. 
 
 It would S(!oni from a hitter of IVFrs. Lowe's, written at this 
 time, that tho * po])ular ' roprosontativo whom Sir (i(!orf^'(! Gipps 
 most fcsarod was Hichnrd Windeyer, ' tho Joseph Ifumo of tho 
 House,' as Dr. Lan;^ styled him. 
 
 Ilichard Windeyer was an I'^nj^lish barrister who had been 
 on tlui stafT of the 'rimes and the Mornin;! dhronirle.^ Ho 
 oripjiniitod Todd's I*f(rUa)iinilan/ Coiiijxiruon, and as a friend 
 of Colon(d Porronot Thompson took part in the Anti-Corn- 
 law aj^itation. II(! (imi^'rated to Sydney in 18M5, and becamo 
 loader of tho Australian bar. As a public man, his inflexible 
 honesty and ability made him alilc(! respected and feared. 
 
 'There is a barrister,' writes Mrs. Lowe;, * ;i/Mr. Windeyer, 
 an undoubtedly ck^vor man, who hasastronj^'party opposed to 
 tho Government — and tho Homo Govornmont also ; this man 
 
 : 
 
 ' Disraoli, wlion KtaiUnR tlio rirprrfinntativr, infornu.'d Afiinay tliat lin liarl 
 
 (•n^'a(,'('il H. C. Hall ' arnl a Mr. Windyor, Kcn., both of wlioin wn Hliall find 
 
 cxcolli'iit I'ojiortcirs and nion of biiKinosH. Tlu; lattoi' lias bcon on tlio TimcH,^ 
 [Memoir of John Murray, vol. ii. p. 20r».) 
 
 4. 
 
 ■i 
 
100 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 is a popular member — to oppose him, and to conquer if pos- 
 sible, is to bo llobert's main point.' 
 
 Again, how little it was foreseen that the popular member 
 and the Crown nominee would, after a very short time, discover 
 that they were meant to be allies rather than enemies ! 
 
 Whatever the local press may have thought of the new 
 nominee member. Sir George Gipps, as we have seen, had 
 enjoyed special facilities for forming an independent judgment. 
 In his despatch to Lord Stanley (November 10, 1843), Sir 
 George, after announcing Mr. Lowe's appointment, describes 
 him as ' a barrister of England and of New South Wales .... 
 Mr. Lowe has been but a short time in the colony, but he 
 was for many years a distinguished member of the University 
 of Oxford, where he was a Fellow of Magdalen College and 
 for some time one of the examining masters. He is a man 
 of first-rate abilities and a fluent speaker.' 
 
 On these points the new member did not suffer either the 
 Legislative Council or the colony to be long in doubt. At the 
 time that he took his seat, the leaders of the Opposition were 
 very busy with a Bill which some of them, and notably Mr. 
 Windeyer, seemed to think a panacea for the terrible com- 
 mercial depression under which New South Wales still con- 
 tinued to languish. Having acquired through Lord Stanley 
 a certain measure of autonomy, such men as Wentworth and 
 Windeyer would naturally want to exercise to the utmost the 
 self-governing powers placed in their hands as ])opular repre- 
 sentatives of the Council. It is highly significant of the 
 general state of financial collapse that these ingenious pioneer 
 legislators of the colony should, in this second session of their 
 first Parliament, have devoted their energies almost entirely 
 to monetary measures. 
 
 Robert Lowe's first speech was in opposition to a measure 
 introduced by Richard Windeyer, called the Monetary Confi- 
 dence Bill, which was designed to relieve the general bank- 
 ruptcy by the creation of a State bank together with a system 
 
THE CROWN NDMLXEH 
 
 101 
 
 of land debentures. A select eommittoc of the House hnd 
 been appointed, and such financial and banking experts as the; 
 c;olony could tlien boast had been examined by it. The report 
 of this select committee is of itself a most interesting docu- 
 ment, but unfortunately far too lengthy to reproduce on the 
 present occasion. Like all exports, these early colonial 
 bankers' gave diametrically contradictory opinions with regard 
 to Mr. Windeyer's proposed measure. That gentleman, who 
 was then admittedly the most brilliant advocate at the Sydney 
 Bar, introduced his Bill in a speech of great length and of 
 marked ability. If anyone out of mere curiosity cares to 
 turn to the reports of this prolonged debate on the Monetary 
 Confidence Bill, they will, I am sure, be amazed at the general 
 breadth of knowledge and superior dialectical skill displayed 
 by the chief speakers. It used to be a favourite line of argu- 
 ment, with those who are of opinion that the British Empire 
 would be welded together in a fii-me)' and more satisfactory way 
 if the Colonies were directly represented at Westminster, that, 
 by becoming members of such an Imperial Parliament, the 
 colonial representatives would learn to take large and imperial 
 views and would cease to be engrossed in mere petty and 
 parochial debates. Let an3'on(; who cherishes such a delusion 
 turn from a report of an average night in the House of 
 Commons to this discussion in the first, and only partially 
 representative, Parliament of New South Wales. Why, 
 Windeyer's speech alone would be sufficient to make the 
 reputation of many an aspirant to the Chancellorship of the 
 Exchequer. 
 
 The fact is, if you want resounding eloquence and far- 
 reaching and imperial views of men and thmgs, you have only 
 to collect half-a-dozen needy geniuses bent on the reformation 
 of the world and the alleviation of their own pecuniary troubles. 
 Truly, Windeyer and his chief supporters used every argumen- 
 tative art in support of their favourite panacea. They were 
 also in an evident majority, and it required some courage for 
 
192 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 ; li 
 
 bi r 
 
 < HI: 
 
 a new and nntried man to rise and endeavour to disprove or 
 discount the live or six hours' eloquent oratory of the mover of 
 the Bill — hacked up as he would inevitahl}' be by the over- 
 whelming "Went worth. 
 
 Robert Lowe, however, rose at once and delivered his 
 maiden speech in Parliament. He succeeded in enchaining 
 the attention of the Assembly, and sprang at a bound into 
 the front rank as a debater. It is not too much to say that 
 he met and fairly defeated Windeyer on every point. On 
 the third reading of the Bill, Lowe again spoke with the 
 same force and brilliancy ; and besides that, his speech dis- 
 played a grasp of the whole subject of colonial finance, as 
 well as an intimate knowledge of the social and commercial 
 state of the colony, surprising in one who had been a resident 
 for so short a time. 
 
 William Charles Wentworth, I have been told by one who 
 witnessed the scone, looked up like a fighting cock who had 
 long been lord of the domain, but w"lio finds himself unex- 
 pectedly confronted by a rival . Like all men of really great and 
 original mind he at once detected and appreciated ability in 
 another. Lowe's speech might have been perhaps somewhat 
 too academic in tone — fitted at times btitcr for the Oxford 
 Union than for the Sydney Legislative Council — and he was 
 certainly not overburdened with colonial experience ; he 
 had been, moreover, at too evident pains on this his first 
 appearance to prepare his case against Windeyer and his re- 
 doubtable supporter. But Wentworth, by the very manner of 
 his reply, showed that he recognised in the new-comer a foe- 
 man worthy of his steel. Like a skilful and practised debater 
 he began by smiting his opponent where his armour was 
 thinnest. Lowe, he said, had no doubt done his best in sup- 
 port of the authority which had given him his seat in the 
 Council. He had spoken eloquently at the dictation of his 
 constituent. He fully acknowledged that * the efforts of the 
 hon. member fromHorbury Terrace [Lowe's Sydney residence], 
 
THE CROWN NOMINEE 
 
 193 
 
 disprove or 
 le mover of 
 y the over- 
 
 livered Iiis 
 enchamiriir 
 bound into 
 say that 
 )oint. On 
 with the 
 peech dis- 
 inance, as 
 ommercial 
 a resident 
 
 Y one who 
 who had 
 
 5elf unex- 
 
 groat and 
 
 ability in 
 
 somewhat 
 
 le Oxford 
 
 d he was 
 
 nee ; he 
 his first 
 
 d liis re- 
 
 anner of 
 
 er a foe- 
 debater 
 
 3«r was 
 
 ; in suj)- 
 
 i in the 
 
 1 of his 
 
 i of the 
 
 idencc], 
 
 
 smelling of the lamp as they did and highly considered as the}' 
 were, were nevertheless efforts of no small merit.' 
 
 Wentworth, whose great boast it was that he was a native of 
 New South Wales — he was really born in Norfolk Island, which 
 was then, however, under the rule of Sydney — was not likely to 
 let his opponent off lightly for the crime of being what they 
 call in Australia a * new chum.' In his customary vigorous 
 and antithetical way, he declared that 'all the opposition 
 emanated from persons who were comparative strangers to the 
 land, ignorant of its wants, ignorant of its history, ignorant, in 
 short, of everything connected with it.' This was no doubt 
 intended quite as much for Sir George Gipps as for his eloquent 
 mouthpiece. Dr. Nicholson (now Sir Charles Nicholson, 
 Bart.), a worthy pioneer settler, then one of the members for 
 the district of Port Phillip, said that * the peroration of the 
 speech of the member from Horbury Terrace was very beauti- 
 ful.' While the leading journal, which only a few days ago 
 had wanted to know who Mr. Lowe was, remarked, the morn- 
 ing after the debate, that ' Mr. Lowe spoke in a strain of elo- 
 (juence to which even the learned member for Sydney (Went- 
 worth) was constrained to ascribe no small merit.' 
 
 On the division, Mr. Windeyer's Bill was carried against 
 the Government by fourteen votes to seven ; but Governors in 
 those days were not what we English understand as Constitu- 
 tional monarchs, for they held the powers of the Czar of Russia 
 or the President of the United States. Accordingly Sir George 
 Gipps promptly vetoed the measure, and that was the end of it. 
 
 In the next attempt to remedy the ills of the colony by 
 legislation, the new nominee member assumed the initiative. 
 A select committee had been appointed to inquire into the 
 working of the Insolvency Act, then in force in New South Wales. 
 The committee, which consisted of Dr. Nicholson (the mover), 
 Mr. Charles Cowper (seconder), and Messrs. Lowe, Plunkett, 
 Therry, and Wentworth, were indefatigable in the examination 
 of witnesses and the collection of evidence. So serious was 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 1 
 
 !. ] 
 
 I 
 
 ■J. 
 
m 
 
 194 
 
 LIFE OF LORD STTERT5R00KF 
 
 ; ■' 
 
 ■k 
 
 - I 'a 
 
 ■ '^i; 
 
 tlie crisis that the m^ jt influential men in the community gave 
 evidence. 
 
 A report had been drawn up in which, among other things, 
 the abohtion of imprisonment for debt under final process was 
 recommended. At the same time the Chief Commissioner of 
 Insolvency was to be invested with more extensive powers of 
 committal for acts of glaring dishonesty on the part of insol- 
 vents. Voluntary assignments in trust for creditors wore also 
 advised. This class of legislation, which the Council felt itself 
 impelled to undertake with some degree of precipitancy, shows 
 how very serious the condition of the colony still was towards 
 the close of 1843c In the attempt to amend the Insolvency 
 Act, Eobert Lowe, new as he was to the colony and the 
 Council, certainly took the principal part. * In bringing up 
 the roi)ort of the committee,' writes Mr. David Blair, * he 
 earnestly and eloquently urged the abolition of imprisonment 
 for debt ; a measure which subsequently became law, and was 
 the chief distinction of the first session of the Council. 
 
 A week after this triumph a very important debate too'c 
 l)lace on the Tariff, in which Robert Lowe gave eloquent expres- 
 sion to his free-trade proclivities, which had already made him 
 feared and famous at Oxford. The debate in the Council which 
 took place on December 22 was on a motion of Wentworth's 
 to increase the duty on flour from Is. 5d. to half-a-crown per 
 hundredweight. Mr. Lowe said he was altogether opposed to 
 the proposition. He also objected to the manner in which it 
 had been sprung on the Council. He had been told that all 
 his speeches smelt of the lamp ; but he wished that ' on this 
 occasion he could have had an opportunity of consulting that 
 lamp.' Not only had the hon. member for Sydney not given 
 any notice of this proposition, but he had endeavoured, and 
 had nearly succeeded, in lulling the vigilance of the committee 
 and carrying his measure unopposed; for during the whole 
 of the session he (Wentworth) had declared his aversion to 
 all protective and to all prohibitory duties. It was true that. 
 
 f[ \ i 
 
THE CTIOWN XOMIMvE 
 
 105 
 
 imiinity gave 
 
 other things, 
 
 process was 
 missioner of 
 e powers of 
 !U-t of insol- 
 rs wore also 
 cil felt itself 
 aiiey, shows 
 ms towards 
 
 Insolvency 
 ly and the 
 )ringing up 
 
 Blair, 'he 
 prisonment 
 w, and was 
 icil. 
 
 lebate too'v 
 cnt expres- 
 
 made him 
 incil which 
 entworth's 
 crown per 
 opposed to 
 n which it 
 Id that all 
 it ' on this 
 'Hing that 
 not given 
 'ured, and 
 iommittee 
 the whole 
 version to 
 ii'ue that, 
 
 ,Af 
 
 .h- 
 
 -•#. 
 
 
 even among the supporters of the proposal, there were differ- 
 ences of opinion as to whether it was protective, or merely for 
 the sake of the revenue. As a matter of fact, the effect would 
 be to tax the bread of the poor for the supposed advantage of 
 a class : already in this city there were hundreds who could 
 with difSculty procure a loaf, and the committee would now 
 take a slice from that loaf. The Legislature had been called 
 upon to relieve those people ; they had assisted them. But it 
 would be mockery now to adopt a measure which would render 
 all that they had before done of no avail. He would remind 
 the House of the fearful consequences of the Corn Laws in 
 England. ' Already civil war threatened the kingdom, class 
 had been rais'^d up against class, discord and discontent uni- 
 versally prevailed, and matters were fast approaching to a 
 crisis which, if the fullest concessions were not made,Vv-ould, he 
 feared, involve the Monarchy, the aristocracy, the British Con- 
 stitution — all that an Englishman held dear, in one common 
 ruin. He would have the committee pause before they sowed 
 the seed of similar disasters for future generations. This 
 colony had been held up to the world as the refuge for all that 
 was dis';5raceful to humanity ; let not this Council be held up 
 as the receptacle for antiquated and foolish notions which had 
 been hunted out from every portion of the civilised globe.' 
 
 This speech thoroughly aroused Wentworth, who, from his 
 former easy ascendency in the Council, had grown somewhat 
 careless of his reputation as a parliamentary debater. To a 
 mind like his, essentially broad, and at the same time comba- 
 tive, the advent of such a speaker as Lowe, who never debated 
 even a local or parochial matter without referring to general 
 principles, was sure to act as a stimulant. It is curious also 
 to notice in this debate that Wentworth in his reply to Lowe 
 practically proclaimed himself a Protectionist. In this matter 
 the ' Australian patriot," to give him his popular title, proved 
 himself the forerunner of the fiscal policy which has been 
 
 02 
 
 II 
 
196 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 t 
 
 it 
 
 i . 
 
 » 
 
 Hi 
 
 ^1 1, 
 
 i 
 
 \ i 
 
 I; 
 
 M; 
 
 0'> 
 
 liij 
 
 n 
 
 I fi 
 
 \ I 
 
 accepted by all the Australian colonies, with the exception of his 
 own. No one could possibly read this del)ate without seeing 
 that if, in after years, under responsible government, Went- 
 worth had been called upon to shape a policy as Prime Minister 
 of New South Wales, it would have been on Protectionist 
 lines. 
 
 This was the first occasion on which Wentworth and Lowe 
 were fairly matched in an exciting public debate. The older 
 and more experienced man — Wentworth was twenty years 
 Lowe's senior — was elaborately sarcastic in referring to the 
 brilliant oratory of the lion, member from Horbury Terrace, 
 which, although it was ' destitute of the lustre generally com- 
 municated by its previous preparation, was still an effort of 
 much talent.' 
 
 The leading colonial journal, however, seemed to consider it 
 of a higher order and, on the whole, more effective than Went- 
 worth's own, * with its usual mixture of elegance and vulgarity, 
 of good sense and coarse abuse.' Lowe's, on the other hand, 
 received unmixed laudation. 
 
 The session closed on December 28 ; and certainly, in the 
 marvellously short interval from November 8, when he took 
 his seat, the new nominee member had succeeded in making 
 his presence felt in a very marked degree. His triumphs in 
 the Council of course affected his status in the community. 
 At the annual Christmas examination of the students of 
 Sydney College, ' E. Lowe, Esq., M.C (writes a contemporary 
 chronicler) ' examined the first Greek class, and selected a 
 difficult chorus from the beautiful Greek play.' The other 
 distinguished visitor who presided on the occasion was Judge 
 (now Sir Alfred) Stephen. Among the pupils were younger 
 branches of Wentworths and Stephens, and names such as 
 Garrick — familiar enough to the Australians of the present day. 
 
 Robert Lowe had emerged from a mere person, and become 
 a leading personage of Sydney. Mrs. Lowe, who watched his 
 
ception of liiF? 
 ithout seeing 
 ment, Went- 
 ime Minister 
 Protectionist 
 
 THE CROWN NOMINEE 
 
 197 
 
 return to active pursuits with delight, aiul yet with trepidation, 
 writes ' home ' to friends : * Pie scarcely ever "'caus a line, and 
 I watch him with the most zealous care, for fear he should 
 be tempted to use his eyes. He is so happy now it does mo 
 good to look at hira.' 
 
 th and Lowe 
 . The older 
 wenty years 
 rring to the 
 iry Terrace, 
 nerally com- 
 an effort of 
 
 io consider it 
 
 than Went- 
 
 id vulgarity, 
 
 other hand, 
 
 inly, in the 
 len he took 
 ! in making 
 triumphs in 
 community, 
 students of 
 titemporary 
 selected a 
 The other 
 was Judn;e 
 ire younger 
 es such as 
 resent day. 
 md become 
 matched his 
 
m 
 
 ^ 
 
 198 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERDROOKE 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 AT THE SYDNEY BAR 
 
 1'^ !• 
 
 :i 
 
 I 
 
 Trial of KnatchbuU — Lowe and Judge Burton— Dr. EUiotson of the Zoist — 
 
 ' Mr. Lowe's Ethics ' 
 
 Lowe's immediate success as a member of the Council natu- 
 rally directed attention to him as a practising barrister. He 
 had now actively resumed his practice ; but his income from 
 that source was not at first large, for the widespread ruin and 
 general depression had — to use his own happy phrase — 
 * effectually dried up the sources of litigation.' Nor was 
 Eobert Lowe ever at any time the actual leader of the Sydney 
 Bar. In the first place, he never sought more business than he 
 could manage without risk to his eyesight, the imperfect nature 
 of which was in itself a terrible drawback. Anyone who has 
 had experience of a law court may form an idea of the difficulty 
 he must have experienced in getting through the work of a 
 busy day before a judge and jury, with all kinds of papers and 
 documents to be referred to for the examination of witnesses 
 and the sifting of evidence. Such a strain alone must have 
 been exhausting, 1)otli mentally and physically. Still, despite 
 this almost insuperable difficulty, he managed to secure a fair 
 share of briefs, and his reputation as an advocate grew year by 
 year, until he certainly became, if not the leader, one of the 
 leading practising barristers in the colony. Nor should it be 
 lightly assumed that his rivals were men of inferior calibre. 
 Wentw^orth, who was an intellectual giant in any field in 
 which he chose to exercise his powers, had, it is true, retired ; 
 
AT THE SYDNEY liAR 
 
 100 
 
 E the Zoist — 
 
 but there were a number of other men then in active prac'ti»^'e 
 ill Sydney by no means to be des3pised, of whom Tachanl 
 Windeyer and the present Sir Arcliibald Michie, of Melbourne, 
 may be mentioned. 
 
 In the ljef,'inning of 1841 Robert Lowe was retained for the 
 defence in a famous murder trial, which I should have pre- 
 ferred to have passed over, as a matter better buried in oblivion, 
 but for the recent, and generally distorted, accounts of it which 
 have appeared both in England and Australia. I allude to 
 the trial of John KnatchbuU for the murder of Mrs. Jamieson, 
 which took place in Sydney on January 6, 1844. 
 
 In that popular and entertaining work, Oxford Memories, 
 by the Piev. James Pycroft, there is, in conjunction with 
 various scattered reminiscences of Lord Sherbrooke, an account 
 of this trial, and of the miserable but well-born murderer, 
 which seems to have attracted some attention, especially in 
 Australia, where it has formed the basis of more than one 
 sensational narrative. Mr. Pycroft declares that KnatchbuU 
 was a schoolfellow of Lord Slierbrooke's at "Winchester, and that 
 his first offence was the embezzlement of a chronometer, of 
 which he accused a fellow-officer, he being then in the Navy. 
 The accused man managed eventually to bring home the charge 
 to the real culprit, who was tried and transported for the 
 offence. 
 
 In Australia, says Mr. Pycroft, ' he was at one time the 
 assigned servant of a friend of mine ; and before that, while 
 in barracks, another of my friends officially employed there 
 said he remembered that KnatchbuU once came to him, and 
 volunteered for the office of flogger, to accompany him daily on 
 his rounds to administer lashes, as the poor wretches were 
 sentenced on daily complaints ; and a most savage flogger he 
 was.' 
 
 Mr. Pycroft goes on to relate that KnatchbuU obtained a 
 ticket-of-leave, and that he was kindly treated by an old 
 woman, whom he poisoned to possess himself of her supposed 
 
 •t, 
 
 n 
 
 
 ¥4 
 
 m 
 
 !i ■ » 
 
 ■■i.i 
 
 i 
 
 ;;i 
 
■1]^ 
 
 mmm 
 
 v> 
 
 h I ! , 
 
 ? 
 
 I I 
 
 III ' ' 
 
 ;t ' 
 
 t f 
 
 I 
 
 '> il 
 ; J il 
 
 i II 
 Jt It 
 
 I .1 ij 
 
 , • , I i 
 
 ' '! 
 il 
 
 Mil; 
 
 I" 
 
 1^00 
 
 l^ll-K OK l-()i;i) SlillUMlJOOKK 
 
 rirlios, biii (hut iill lie obtiiincd was \)s. i'ul. l\Iosi of lliis 
 story, ili'spitc its ('irt'iimstantialitv, is (|iiitt' iiiiU'ciiriit(!. 
 
 II is, liowi'Vi'i", only too triio tliai a siial'iiriii^ man on a 
 li('kt>t-or-li':ivt'. known as .lolni Fitcli, luit who was in rcahty 
 John KnalchhiiU, nnn-ilcuul Islltm .hunicson in \\vv own sliop 
 in Sydnc^y by cleaving' her skull with a loniahawk, and tluit 
 h(> was most t>lo(in(>ntly, thouj^h inclVcu'tnally, dcii'c ndtul hy 
 llohort LoW(>. Thr trial took place in the Snpnunc Court, 
 Sydney, on January 2;"), IHII, hiiron; Mr. Justice (aftcrwa-rdH 
 Sir William) Wcsthrookc liurton. The ovidcnco ai^'ainst the 
 nccusi'd was so cU'ar tliat liis counst^i did not attempt to dis- 
 lirovo tlie nnu'dor, hut set up a plea of ' moral insanity.' 
 
 The (>vidence a}j;ainst KiuitchhuU .-I. the coroner's incpu'st 
 on the body of the murder(>d woman was indeed so over- 
 whelniinj;- that the juihlic verdict was j^iven a}j;ainst him helbre 
 till' actual trial took place. The chief witness was a nei^^hhour, 
 who saw him prowlinjj; about tlie door and then enter lh(> shoj). 
 
 '1 ran over,' lu> said, 'and found tlu' door locked, and 
 lu\ird some stroki>s given, as of someone breaking a. cocoa-nut 
 with a hannncM'.' 
 
 IIo swore that he saw (lie prisoner inside at the window, 
 and tlien gavt> an alarm to the ' old watchman,' and asked 
 him for assistance ; hut he declined, saying, ' AVell, what is 
 that to me '? ' 
 
 Assistance, however, was procure!, the back door was 
 broken open, and the murdi^ver was secured literally red- 
 lianded. Then the tomaliawk ,vas found under the bed, and 
 tlu man with wlunn Knatchbuli was lodging up to the night 
 of his apprehension swore that the weapon was his property, 
 and liiod been abstracted irom his back yard, to which the 
 accused liad had access, rurthermore, there was found upon 
 him tlu pocket of the deceased woman's dress, containing 
 sonu^ seventeen pounds in silver and bank notes. 
 
 The prisoner, being called on for his defence, stated that 
 he had particularly to request the jury not to bo led away by 
 
 V 
 
 \^ 
 
 11 
 
AT i'lIK SVDNKV HAi; 
 
 2{)\ 
 
 jiiiythiii^; tlicy Imd li< urd out of doors ; as ii jury of ficc-hm n 
 I'iiij^liHhiiie", lie tnislcsd tlic.y would f^ivG liiiii a fair tri.'il. TIk; 
 
 •11' 
 
 (1 
 
 (1 ill 
 
 Lft( 
 
 coroner hriclly Hiiimiicd uj), uiul llu; jury, iillcr ii, iniiiiiUiH 
 couKulliition, retui'iKid a verdict of Wilful Murch r ii;^MiiiKl .loliii 
 Fitch (ilidH Kj»aicld)ull, wlio was coiinnittiid to take liis triiil, 
 
 TIu! ;j;reateHt of criminal lawyerB inij^lit well Iiiive felt, 
 under tile circunistancoH, that it was a hopehiHH ca.so to defend. 
 It was hei(; that th(3 dialecttical <^enIuH of Jjowe canu! into 
 n^iuisilion ; and it may fairly he douhted if any counsel ever 
 s(!t u|» a more infj;(!niouH or a more (;onvincinf^f i)Iea foi- a, man 
 whom he was comixiiled at the outset to admit was ^^iiilly of 
 the tcri'lMo crime with which he was charj^ed. Aftcsr solemnly 
 telling the jury that if, after all, ' the sli;^ht(!st douht slioidd 
 arifre in their minds as to the [)risoner's }^niilt tlmy would he 
 hound to throw all tins henolit of that douht into the scale; of 
 uicrcy,' he continued somewhat in this sti'ain : — 
 
 It was not his intention, he; said, to enter into any (iii'cum- 
 stantial details, for the duty whicdi dcv()lv(!(l upon him that 
 <hiy was of a very dilferiint kind, and he should endeavour to 
 show that, even supposing, for the sake of argunujnt, that the 
 statements of a'' the preceding witn(!sses had heen true, ' the 
 pi'isoiu'r was stili on(! of those persons for whom laws had not 
 heen made, and who, although for the peace and w(^lfai'e of 
 society he ought to he placed imder the niosl s(;vere restraint, 
 ought not to hv. held responsil)le for his actions.' It was not 
 for the good of society', continued counsel, that the life; of ;uiy 
 man who could not he held legally respo'.isihle lia- his actions 
 should he taken ; audluj mist most eariKistly iin[)i-ess it u[ion 
 the minds of the jury that 'they did not sit there merely as 
 the avengers of hlood.' It was not, he went on, h( cause a 
 murder had been committed, with the terrible particulars of 
 which the evidence for the Crown had rendcsred them so 
 familiar, that they necessarily were called upon to av( iige 
 that murder by delivering a verdict which would dcjirive 
 another fellow-creature of life ; for if any circumstances .should 
 
 \i 
 
 ,!!<♦ 
 
 
! f 
 
 
 Ml 
 
 hi 
 
 f I 
 
 .1 1 
 
 t! 
 
 I I if f '! i 
 
 
 f 
 
 \ 
 
 !^02 
 
 T.IKK OK lAHll) SlIKinWJOOKM 
 
 have arisen wliicli niifj;lit reasonably lead tliom to the conclu- 
 sion that the prisoner (provided ho committed the crime at 
 all) had laboured at the time under a condition of mind 
 which rendered him unable to control his own actions — had 
 acted 'under an invincible and unavoidable necessity ' — they 
 would be doins justice to their country by at once acquitting 
 him upon that {ground of the crime laid to his charge. lie 
 (l\[r. Lowe) would bri(>lly state his own views as to the state 
 of the prisoner's mind, and would leav. it to the jury to 
 deteruune how far he was accountable for his actions. 
 
 The human mind was so divided in its various faculties 
 that it was not necessary, to constitute insanity, for the person 
 labouring under that misfortune to betray a loss of all his 
 intellect ; for one faculty might have been impaired, vitiated, 
 or indct'd totally destroyed, without ailecting the strength of 
 the othiu's, and it was very common to find that a person 
 wh(^ was iierfectly insane on some points wiis c" most others 
 fully possessed of his mental powers. * Insanity was generally 
 accompanied by a delusion of some kind or another, but 
 there was still a species of insanity which was unao'companied 
 by such a delusion. Thus, an insanity aficcting the inicUcH 
 of the patient was invariably attended by the fren/ied delusions 
 whieli the disordered state of the intellect could not fail to 
 produce ; while an insanity of the n-'ill — the other grand 
 division of the human mind— might be unattended by any 
 such outward symptoms of frenzy, and yet might urge on the 
 unhappy person labouring under its inlluencc, with an irre- 
 sistible and overwhelming force, to the connnission ci' nimes 
 which in themselves ^erc of tlu> most atrocious natuKv b it 
 which under such circumstances could not be said to entail 
 any actual [luUi upon the unfortunate perpetrator.' ' 
 
 ' Tlio similarity between this line of metaphysical defence and that adopted 
 by the Chief Justice of Victoria in defendinj; an Irish barrister and man of 
 letters, who some years a^o connnitted a nun'der in tlic streets of Melbourne, 
 must strike all old colonists resident in that city at the time. 
 
 ^ 
 
AT THE SVDNMY I5AIJ. 
 
 203 
 
 In the same inetiii)liysi('jil Htruin, Mr. Ijowo asserted 
 tliat, in the opinion of tlu^ most ('om|)et(int incpiirers into the 
 ])rol)leras of psycliolop;y, tlu; luunan mind cotdd only bo affected 
 I)y the existence of disease in the hrain; and * if disease existed 
 in that portion of tlie brain wherein the Innnan will had its 
 seat, while the other portion of the brain, in which the intellect 
 of t^io patient resided, was free from any such disease, it 
 naturally followed that the person so circumstanced might, 
 with a full knowledge of what he was doing, feel com[)ellcd — 
 irresistibly compelled — to crimes which, if a perfectly free 
 agent, he would ho. the last to connnit.' 
 
 * Such,' continued the ^earned counsel impressivcily, * was 
 the unhai^py state of the [trisoner at the bar . . . He was of 
 good bii'th, and began life with such fair prosnects that he 
 was pi'omoted to :i, liigh station— to the rank of a commander 
 in the British Navy — for his gallanti-y in the scirvicc of his 
 country, and it could hardly be credited that, with these fair 
 prospects, with the high parliamentary interests that the 
 prisoner undoubtedly possessed — with every motive, in short, 
 to induce a conthniance in prolity of action lu; should be 
 plunged into such self-created vicissitud(!S unhiss labouring 
 under some mental infirmity which paralystsd his better nature. 
 The impulse under which the prisoner had acted (if really 
 guilty of the crime laid to his charge) might be almost desig- 
 nated as one of a childish nature, for no man in possession of 
 his faculties would have perpetrated such an offence, with 
 almost a certainty of innnediate detection, of which certainty, 
 it was clear from the nature of the evidence adduced by the 
 Crown, the prisoner must have been fully conscious. It was 
 clear that a man who had so acted must have been under the 
 influence of an uneontrollable desire ; for if any determined 
 and more experienced rufiian had been bent upon the crime, 
 ho would have taken much ijettcr care to secure himself from 
 detection. It bad not coiue out in evidence, but it was true, 
 that the prisoner was to have been married on the following 
 
 iti 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
204 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERRKOOKl-] 
 
 I 
 
 1 .* 
 
 i '■{ 
 
 morning, and it would be for the jury to determine whether 
 any sane man would prepare to clasp the hand of the bride at 
 the altar by imbruing his own in the blood of another w oman ; 
 and whether, if a want of money was supposed to be the motive 
 which actuated him, he had not a much readier mode of sup- 
 plying that want by discounting some of the bills which were 
 found upon his person. ... He regretted that he was not in a 
 position to call witnesses to testify to the state of the prisoner's 
 mind. It was no great boon that he asked for this un- 
 fortunate man, for even if acquitted upon the ground of 
 insanity, he must be confined for life in a lunatic asylum, as 
 a rightful protection to society against one with so dangerous 
 a disposition. He (Mr. Lowe) was aware of the narrow imagi- 
 nation of our forefnbhers, which would limit the attention of a 
 jury to the simple fact whether a person charged did or did 
 not commit the crime of which he was accused ; but he could 
 only hope for the dawning of a brighter day, when their 
 attention might be extended also to a full inquiry into the 
 motives which led to that crime.' 
 
 In a most eloquent peroration he earnestly besought the 
 jury to temper justice with mercy ; and in that spirit he asked 
 whether they could believe that a man with the great advan- 
 tages originally possessed by the prisoner could have fallen 
 step by step into the lowest depths of degradation unless u.rged 
 on by some resistless demon of insanity — by whom (if guilty 
 of the crime now laid to his charge) he had been incited to its 
 perpetration. If they found the prisoner guilty of the crime, 
 and yet believed him to have been driven by this insane and 
 irresistible impulse, the ends of justice would no more be 
 answered by making such an irresponsible being expiate his 
 offence on the scaffold than by the public execution of a savage 
 animal. 
 
 The judge before whom this case was tried — Mr. Justice 
 Burton — was an extremely conscientious man, of good ability 
 as well as high character, but an orthodox Churchman, not 
 
 J ,,, 
 
 ii^ 
 
AT THE SYDNEY BAR 
 
 205 
 
 given to metaphysical subtleties. In his summing-up he ex- 
 pressed the gravest dissent from the line of argument adopted 
 l)y tlio brilliant advocate. It was the first time, he said, that 
 he had ever heard the doctrine broached in a Court of Justice, 
 that a man was not to be held accountable for ci-ime because 
 he had been impelled by an overpowering internal impulse. 
 i\rr. Justice Burton then summed-up very strongly against the 
 prisoner, whom the jury declared guilty, and who was there- 
 upon sentenced to death. 
 
 There is a very curious sequel to this sensational trial. 
 The Zoist, a ' Quarterly Journal of Cerebral Physiology and 
 Mesmerism,' had just been started in London under the 
 auspices of Thackeray's friend. Dr. Elliotson, to whom the 
 great novelist dedicated Pcndamis. It was altogether a re- 
 markable publication, on many subjects greatly in advance of 
 the time ; it seized upon the report of the Knatchbull trial 
 and reproduced it verbatim, as showing the inefficiency and 
 liarbarism of capital punishment. In the original article with 
 which the editor of the Zoist prefaced this report, he gave a 
 picture of the criminal career of 1 latchbull much fuller, and 
 painted in much darker colours, than the more recent sketch 
 l)y the Rev. James Pycroft. But for all that, Dr. Elliotson 
 argued that Knatchbull's crime was so evidently the result of 
 a debased cerebral organisation, that to hang him was a mere 
 wild act of revenge on the part of society, whif.'h was itself 
 responsible for the murder of the unfortunate IVIrs. JamicHon. 
 It is not feasible to reprint here the long train of argument by 
 which this apparent paradox was sustained. But the writer 
 was fairly in ecstasies with the line of defence taken l)y 
 Knatchbull's counsel. 
 
 ' We felt great pleasure while perusing the speech of Mr. 
 Lowe. It is consolatory to find one voice held up upon the 
 side of mercy in a colony where crime is so frequent and where 
 there is a constant arrival of the worst characters from the 
 motb.er country.' 
 
 \i 
 
 lit 
 
 u 
 
 II 
 
WW 
 
 \ , 
 
 mmmmmmmm 
 
 mmm 
 
 206 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 ' ' 1. 
 
 i i 
 
 The Zoist then went on to express its suri^rise and satis- 
 faction that the brilliant barrister should have drawn his 
 arguments ' from our science ; ' adding that he ' laid down the 
 doctrine of philosophical necessity with clearness and precision.' 
 It quoted with marked approval several of the more telling 
 appeals from the speech ; and then it lashed with unmeasured 
 scorn the pious remark of Judge Burton in his summing-up, 
 that if * wickedly-disposed men will yield step by step to the 
 approaches of the evil one, they must expect to be led at last 
 by the tempter to that precipice down which it was his desire 
 to cast them.' 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine what reply Dr. Elliotson made 
 to the Sydney judge. ' It appears to us,' retorted the editor, 
 * that if a being is seduced by a power which he did not call into 
 existence, and over which he has no control, then there is a 
 very urgent reason presented why he should be exonerated 
 from the consequences of his offence.' 
 
 By the time that the Zoist reached Sydney, Piobert Lowe had 
 a paper of his own, the Atlas. Fe accordingly reproduced the 
 article from Dr. Elliotson's journal, which seems to have had 
 the same disquieting effect on the Si/dncy Morning Herald as the 
 Vestiges of Creation, and later on the Origin of Species, had on 
 the favourite family journals in England in the last generation. 
 But the Hendd of that day had a political as well as a re- 
 ligious object in view, as Eobert Lowe, who had in the mean- 
 time resigned his seat as a Crown nominee in the Council, was 
 then standing for the pastoral constituency of St. Vincent. He 
 was accordingly attacked as an impious person, who might 
 undermine the faith and morals of even its hardy squatters. 
 The Herald in effect revived the question, which Judge 
 Burton originally started, of the irreligious character of Mr. 
 Lowe's defence of Knatchbull. It was opposed, they declared, 
 to the * first principles of Christianity.' This led to a corre- 
 spondence, the essential portion of which is quite worth re- 
 producing. The correspondence was headed : — 
 
 ..» I 
 
AT 
 
 THE SYDNEY 
 
 lUli 
 
 
 ■ ^ 
 
 207 
 
 The 
 
 Ethics of Mij. 
 
 Lowe. 
 
 
 
 To the Editors 
 
 of the Sydney Mornbuj Herald. 
 
 
 Gentlemen, — Will you oblige me by 
 my speech on the trial of KnatchbuU for 
 •will be found in the Ilernid of January 
 
 referring 
 
 murder, 
 
 25, 1811 
 
 to the report of 
 
 which, I believe, 
 
 and by pointing 
 
 out what doctrines it contains opposed to the first principles of 
 Christianity, and what those principles of Christianity arc to which 
 you consider those doctrines to be opposed "? 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RoiJEiiT Lowe. 
 Hovbury Terrace : March 24, 1845. 
 
 The editors, little suspecting the practice their antafjonist 
 had had in theological disputation at Oxford with Newman and 
 Ward, promptly took up the challenge. They pointed out that 
 Mr. Lowe had opposed the principle of man's free agency, 
 which they considered to be the ' first principle of the Christian 
 religion/ * It is opposed likewise,' they added, ' to the whole 
 tcnour of that sacred history which is designed to exemplify 
 and demonstrate the depths of human depravity, and to 
 
 .'issert Eternal Providence, 
 And justify the ways of God to man.' 
 
 The reply to this fresh attack has been described as a 
 masterpiece of polemical discussion ; it is certainly a very 
 characteristic rejoinder. With the omission of a few paragraphs 
 not essential to the argument, it reads as follows : — 
 
 ' You bite against a file ! Cease viper.' 
 
 Sir William Drajier to Junius. 
 
 To the Editors of the Sydney Morning Herald. 
 
 Gentlemen, — When I asked you to point out the doctrine of 
 Christianity to which my speech was opposed, I expected to be 
 referred to something held by Christians in common, and not to the 
 doctrine of the Wesleyan Sect ; for it may be, gentlemen, that I am 
 not a Wesleyan Methodist, and. not to keep you in further suspense, 
 the fact is that I am a member of the Church of England. You 
 are not ignorant of this, but you probably are ignorant of the 
 Articles of that Church. I therefore beg to subjoin a copy of her 
 
 I 
 
208 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBllOOKE 
 
 tenth Article, and to refer you to the eleventh, twelfth and seven- 
 teenth, which will, I apprehend, show clearly that though you may 
 consider the foundation of the whole system of Divine Government 
 to be man's free agency and consequent responsibility, the Church 
 of England, whoric Articles I have repeatedly subscribed, does not. 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 Had I foreseen that, in defiance of all usage and all principle, 
 the arguments used to persuade a jury were to be fastened upon me 
 as my own opinions, and used against me for electioneering pur- 
 poses, I would have reported the speech myself. There are many 
 things in that report I never said, but I am in the habit of attach- 
 ing so little weight to what falls from counsel in argument, that I 
 should have thought it ridiculous egotism to meddle with it. 
 
 This last touch is very characteristic. Nothing seems to 
 have aroused Lowe's contempt at any time more than when a 
 political opponent, or a newspaper, expected him to support, 
 on the hustings or in Parliament, the opinions which he may 
 have expressed as an advocate in a court of law. He was 
 never enamoured of those arts and artifices which are so 
 useful for the winning of verdicts, and spoke of them as ' the 
 tricks of this wretched trade.' 
 
 ;i . 1 
 
 , !• 
 
 It was an aspiring wish of the Arian Milton [he adds in allusion 
 to the Herald's quotation] to ' justify the ways of God to man ; ' but 
 it is a wish which can never be accomplished ; the existence of evil 
 will meet the presumptuous speculator at every turn and fling him 
 back into the shallow nothingness of his nature. ' Dangerous it 
 were,' says the eloquent and judicious Hooker, ' for the feeble brain of 
 man to wade far into the doings of the Most High, whom, although 
 to know be life, and joy to make mention of His Name, yet our 
 soundest knowledge is to know that we laiow Him not as indeed He 
 is, neither can know Him, and our safest eloquence concerning Him 
 is our silence, when we confess without confession, that His glory 
 is inexplicable. His greatness above our capacity and reach.' 
 
 ' He is above and we upon earth, therefore it behoveth our words 
 to be wary and few.' 
 
 And now, gentlemen, I have done with you. I ask you for 
 principles, and you give me inferences. I ask you for Christianity, 
 and you give me Methodism. You are now at full liberty to inter 
 this slander by the side of his deceased brother of last week, and as 
 you seem rather at a loss for something to use against nie at the 
 
AT THE SYDNEY BAR 
 
 200 
 
 ncl seven - 
 1 you may 
 )veniment 
 le Church 
 does not. 
 
 principle, 
 I upon me 
 jring pur- 
 are many 
 of attach - 
 jnt, that I 
 it. 
 
 seems to 
 n when a 
 
 support, 
 
 1 he may 
 
 He was 
 
 ih are so 
 
 pa as * the 
 
 allusion 
 tan ; ' but 
 ice of evil 
 ing him 
 igcrous it 
 brain of 
 although 
 e, yet our 
 ndeetl Pie 
 aing Ilim 
 His glory 
 1.' 
 our words 
 
 V you for 
 istianity, 
 y to inter 
 k, and as 
 no at the 
 
 le 
 
 present time, I will take the liberty of suggesting a few topics 
 
 myself. 
 
 I ride a very ugly horse, that clearly proves me an Atheist, for 
 who else could be so insensible to the beauties of the noblest animal 
 of the creation. I live in a very small house, which clearly shows 
 r nmst have a contracted mind, and I am sometimes known to play 
 at billiards, which shows a strong though, it may perhaps be expe- 
 dient in candour to admit, not quite fully developed propensity for 
 
 gaiabling. 
 
 I am, (rentlemen. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RoHEKT Lowe. 
 
 There was a yet more personal and pathetic sequel to this 
 case. In the issue of March 0, 1844, the Sijdneij Morn in;/ 
 lie mid printed this brief report in its law notices :— 
 
 Before Sir James Doivlimj, Chief Justice. 
 
 IN THE MATTER OF THE ORPHANS JAMIESON. 
 
 In this case Mr. Lowe applied by petition to be appointed 
 guardian of these infants, at the same time expressing his willing- 
 ness to give such security as the Court might require. The appli- 
 cation being unopposed was granted by the Court. 
 
 The two little orphans of the murdered woman — a boy and 
 girl— were taken by Mr. and Mrs. Lowe and carefully brought 
 up by them in their own home. Writing to Mrs. Sherbrooke 
 of Oxton, at the close of 1845, when they were living in their 
 own delightful house at Nelson Bay, some few miles out of 
 Sydney, Mrs. Lowe makes this touching reference to the 
 children : ' The little boy and girl, whose mother Knatch- 
 bull murdered, are still with us. The little girl is a great 
 favourite with Robert ; the reads for him if I am engaged, 
 and is not only clever but an exceedingly good child. The 
 boy, just four years old, is quick and can read a little. They 
 give no trouble, and the servants are very fond of them. The 
 little girl carries my notes and messages, the boy goes witli 
 her, and she is as steady and sensible as a grown-up person ; 
 her father died a year before her mother, to whom she seems 
 
 VOL I. p 
 
 lii 
 
 i^ 
 
 i 
 
210 
 
 I.Il-K or l,(U:i) .^IIKIMUJOOKK 
 
 r 1. 
 
 to liave l)een miulj attacheil. Tlio iioor little thing is quite 
 premature in mind, wliicli I have no doubt may he attributed 
 to her having known so much early sorrow. She talks to 
 the little Imy and comforts him if he cries, as if she were his 
 mother.' 
 
 The sequel of the story is a sad one, and hardly encouraghig 
 to philanthropists, !^^r. and Mrs. Lowe brought them to 
 I'higland, and they continued to live with them until the girl 
 died at the early age of thirteen. An excellent appointment 
 was obtained for the boy, but he abandoned it without reason, 
 and, after various vicissitudes, went out to New Zealand and 
 served for a while in the colonial forces against the Maoris. 
 Like the proverbial l)ad coin, he came back and was a source 
 of much trouble and anxiety to his benefactors. It was in 
 reference to him that Lord Sherbrooke made the remark : 
 ' What evil that I have done has ever been visited upon me 
 like this one good action '? ' 
 
 The story thus simply set forth may, perchance, sound 
 strange to a world which has proclaimed Lord iSherbrooke 
 to be a cynic, a hard man of logic, unemotional and without 
 human feeling. Talking over the matter with Sir John Simon 
 (who had often seen the young Jamiesons), I made some 
 such natural observation as this, when he went on to tell me 
 of many another ' nameless, unremembered act,' which to his 
 knowledge Lord Sherbrooke had performed. * Jle was not 
 only,' he added impressively, ' the clearest-headed man I ever 
 knew, but the best- hearted.' 
 
211 
 
 CHAPTEll XIII 
 
 LAYING TIIK FOUNDATION OF PARLIAMENT 
 
 Chairman of Coiuinittees— Tlic Chaplain - 1 'i. Lanj,' and State Churcho-^ — 
 Hrcach of Piivilc>t,'e DiU'lIiiiK in Sydney- Anti-Corn-Law Speech — Paiallii 
 between Canada and Au.stialia — Report 021 I'Mueation 
 
 TuE foundation of Parliamontary (iovernraent in Australia 
 was laid by the 'popular ' or representative members of Lord 
 Stanley's Legislative Council, of whom Robert Lowe becanK; 
 thf virtual leader. Through their action the colonists were 
 taught not to be satisfied until they had achieved the riglits 
 and privileges of self-governing Englishmen. ]5ut to us the 
 most singular side of the story is that the achievement should 
 have been won in great measure by the action of a young 
 English barrister, who, at the outset at least, was merely the 
 nominee of the Governor. If, however, we investigate the 
 proceedings of this single and only partially representatives 
 Chamber during its earlier sessions, we shall find that 
 Eobert Lowe did more to secure to colonists the civil and 
 political rights of Englishmen than any other member of 
 the Council. 
 
 As soon as the session of ISl 1 opened (May 28th) the 
 Colonial Secretary proposed a gentleman as Chairman of Com- 
 mittees without salary. Mr. Lowe promptly objected to the 
 election of a chairman unless a salary were placed on the 
 Estimates. In the clearest way he pointed out that by sucli 
 appointments they were laying, well or ill, the foundations of 
 their parliamentary system. It was essential that the chair- 
 
 ■m 
 
 K 
 
 
 m 
 
 Mr, 
 
HI Hi 
 
 
 IJI'K nF l.(HM» SUKI{|U:()()KK 
 
 1 ( 
 
 111 ' 
 
 1^ 
 
 it 
 1 ii 
 
 f^ 
 
 i 1 
 
 1 :i < 
 ij 
 
 ! I 
 
 
 
 ii;.{ 
 
 i ' t Hi* 
 
 I i4l 
 
 it 
 
 t ■ 
 
 5 
 
 man should always \>v in attendance, and the C....iicil could 
 not exact such att(Midanc(> from an unpaid olVu;cr. lie there- 
 fore moved an amenchnent that an addrcHS he preHontod to 
 the Governor, recommend in?:; that an item be placed upon tlu; 
 I'iStimateH to meet the salary of the (Hiairman of Comniittec^s. 
 This amendment was duly seconded, but on l)eing put to the; 
 vote was lost. Dr. Lan^, who subsequently becauu', one of 
 tlu^ }j[roat chjimpions of Australian autonomy, supported the 
 (lovernment. 
 
 Twonij^hts afterwards a discussion took place which throws 
 some li{];ht on a (juestion which has often been asked as to 
 why public prayers are dispensed with in opening the pro- 
 ceedings of Australian legislatures. It will be seen that the 
 (fuestion was settled in what may be termed an agnostic 
 spirit through the irreconcilable views of avowedly religious 
 persons, eacli of whom would have his own form of pray(>i' 
 or none at all. The subject was introduced by Mr. (after- 
 wards Sir Charles) Cowper, who moved * That public prayers 
 to Almighty God be offered up daily at the opening of this 
 Council as soon as the Speaker shall ' i taken the chsiir ; 
 and that a chaplain, who shall be a cle.^,, .uan of the Church 
 of England, be appointed by the Speaker to perform thi« 
 duty.' The Anglieanisn\ of this motion was regarded as an 
 outrage by Dr. Lang, who, as well as being a legislator, was 
 the leading Presbyterian minister in Sydney ; a man whose 
 theology was of the old Covenanting type, to whom prelacy 
 was almost as abhorrent as Popery. After him rose a 
 i\rr. Robinson, then member for Melbourne, who belonged to 
 the Societj'- of Friends; he also objected to Mr. Cowper's 
 motion, though he admitted that the prayers of the Church of 
 England were very beautiful ; but he equally objected to 
 Presbyterian prayers. After this Quaker gentleman had had 
 his say, Robert Lowe got up and made an admirable and 
 (juite delightful speech. He said he had not had an oppor- 
 tunity of speaking on this subject last session, but having 
 
...iiicil could 
 . IIo tli( ro- 
 1)1-08011 tod to 
 cod upon tli(5 
 Committoos. 
 K \mt to tlio 
 !aiii(^ Olio of 
 ipportcd the 
 
 t'iiicli throws 
 
 askod as to 
 
 ng tlio pro- 
 
 en that tlio 
 
 111 agnostic 
 
 ly religious 
 
 fi of jirayoi- 
 
 Mr. (after- 
 
 blic prayers 
 
 ling of this 
 
 the ohjiir ; 
 
 he Church 
 
 rform this 
 
 ded as an 
 
 slator, was 
 
 aan whose 
 
 )m prelacy 
 
 m rose a 
 
 (longed to 
 
 Cowi)er's 
 
 Church of 
 
 )jccted to 
 
 had had 
 
 rahle and 
 
 in oppor- 
 
 it having 
 
 LAVINJ; Tin: l-'dl'NDATlON Ol' IVMII-IA.MKNT 2 I o 
 
 hton brought up under the 'hallowed shade of the Church of 
 England,' he should like to say :i few wonls on tlie suhjoct 
 now. The speech of Mr. liohiiison, ho declanid, showed how 
 Very easy it was to carry the; principle cont(>nd(!d for by 
 ])r. Lang to an absurdity. The ' honouraide and reverend 
 member ' thought ho had gone far enough to avoid offence to all, 
 yet he must now be convinced that it would bo difficult indeed 
 to stretch the resolution sufViciently to satisfy all the vagaries 
 of the human mind. Tin; Council should therefore adhere to 
 the ono principle, that the miijoiity sliall bind the rest. At 
 the same time he (Mr. Lowes) objecttid to the system of the 
 United Stales of clerical elocutions, and preferred that tin; 
 appointment of chaplain should be vested in the Speaker. 
 He thought the words ' clergyman of the Church of England ' 
 in ^[r. Cowper's resolution might be omitted ; although he did 
 not anticipate atiinc! when the members of that Church would 
 be in a minority in that Council. Whatever their own par- 
 ticular views wore, liowevcr, they could not do better than 
 entrust the appointments to the liands of the Speaker. 
 
 Other leading members spoke, l)ut despite the fact that 
 two-thirds of the Council })elonged, like IVh-. Cowper, to the 
 Anglican communion, his motion was lost ; and no subse- 
 quent legislature in Australia, I believe, has ever appointed 
 a chaplain or instituted a particular form of public prayer 
 for the opening of its proceedings. It will be seen that 
 Robert Lowe was in favour of such an appointment under 
 certahi conditions, but it may bo gravely doubted whether it 
 would much tend to edification while men's minds are so 
 divided on the subject of religion. At tlie same time, had the 
 two-thirds majority of the Council belonged to any other com- 
 munion than that of the Church of England, they would no 
 doubt have forced their own chaplain and their own form of 
 prayer on the Council. 
 
 Lowe next took a prominent part in the debate on a 
 motion of Dr. Lang, who had asked for a committee ' to con- 
 
 II 
 
 if Ik 
 
 I' 
 
 r 
 
 i'i' 
 
<««<ilP««^<HPH|Hi 
 
 214 
 
 IJFK OF l.olM) SIIEllBltOOKE 
 
 ^ i 
 
 * i i Hi 
 
 '!I5 
 
 sider whether any and what changes are necessary in regard 
 to the Presbyterian Church Temporalities Acts of this colony 
 in conseiiuence of the recent disruption of the Church of Scot- 
 land.' 
 
 Under the former Governor, Sir Eichard Bourke, three 
 State churches instead of one had b^en endowed in 
 tlio colony — the Church of England, the Church of Rome, 
 iind the Church of Scotland. This was generally regarded 
 as the acme of statesmanship ; but no line of policy, 
 however perfect, could long satisfy so restless a spirit as Dr. 
 Lang, who was of that aggressive Puritan type which the 
 genius of Thomas Carlyle loved to idealise. Having been the 
 chief means of destroyin^ji the monopoly of State endowment 
 formerly' enjoyed in New South Wales bj^ the Church of 
 England, Dr. Lang had grown tired of the new condition of 
 things, although he himself, as chief pastor of one of the 
 favoured communions, received direct pecuniary benefit. The 
 Government, he said, shonld not support religious error — 
 meaning the two other endowed churches. So, anticipating 
 the Free Kirk movement in Scotland, he had declined the 
 emoluments from the State and was actively agitating for 
 what is known as the voluntary system. To complicate his 
 position and aggravate his temper, he had recently been 
 deposed by the local Presbyterian Synod. Hence his action 
 in the Legislative Council with regard to the Presbyterian 
 Church Temporalities Acts. 
 
 ' The debate,' remarks Mr. llusden, the historian of 
 Australia, ' v.as chiefly remarkable for the castigation which 
 Mr. Robert Lowe administered to Lang.' After observhig 
 that he intended * to call the attention of the Council to what 
 it was they were asked to do— to the ground on whijh thoy 
 were asked to do it — and to the quarter from whence that 
 request came,' Lowe turned upon Dr. Lang and fairly de- 
 molished him in a manner not unfamiliar in after years to 
 the House of Commons. 
 
LAVIN(; THE FOUNDATION OF I'AIJI.l AMENT liL") 
 
 iry in regard 
 ' this colony 
 urch of Scot- 
 
 Jourke, three 
 endowed in 
 ih of Rome, 
 lly regarded 
 3 of policy, 
 pirit as Dr. 
 e which the 
 in^;- been the 
 I endowment 
 
 Church of 
 condition of 
 
 one of the 
 bnefit. The 
 ous error — 
 anticipating 
 [leclined the 
 .gitating for 
 nplicate his 
 :cently been 
 3 his action 
 Presbyterian 
 
 [listorian of 
 ;ation whidi 
 r observing 
 iicil to what 
 whijh they 
 dience that 
 I fairly de- 
 er years to 
 
 The Legislative Council had actually presumed to pass this Act 
 (luring the absence of the hon. gentlenuin- during the absence of 
 him, the Senior Minister of tlie Church of Scotland. Presumptuous 
 indeed ! \Vould they indeed, it was argucdrfass an Act regulating 
 the Church of England in the absence of the lUshop ? He (Mr. Lowe) 
 very much feared that the lion, gentlenuiii had lost sight of the 
 principles of Presbyterian equality, or had a strong leaning to Pre- 
 lacy when he found him arrogating to himself the powers of Bishop, 
 
 almost of Pope, under the modest name of Senior Minister 
 
 They were much obliged to him for furnishing them with an epoch, 
 an era, which would no doubt be as memorable in the Australian, 
 as the Hegira was in ISIabometan history. He had informed them 
 that he sailed for London on the very day of the passing of the 
 Church Act. Thus, then, Avould it stand in chronology : IBIUJ- - 
 Church Act passes— Dr. Lang flies, not from Mecca to Medina, but 
 from Sydney to London, a feat which has been executed before and 
 since by the same nimble personage. And now, in the eighth year 
 of this Hegira, comes again our Australian Mahomet —not, like his 
 Arabian prototype, girt with his Alls and Omars, but alone in his 
 might, to subvert the institutions of the infidel. 
 
 This speech hit Dr. Lang on all his most vuhierahle points, 
 and must have been greatly relished by the other ministers 
 of religion in the colony, especially those of his own persua- 
 sion. Dr. Lang was himself a past master in the art of 
 caustic personal abuse, so telling on the hustings ; but these 
 were the taunts of a scholar and a gentleman, and the clever 
 men in the House — the Wentworths and Windeyers on his 
 own side, as well as the Crown otKcials — revelled, he knew, in 
 every thrust. * Ever afterwards,' writes Mr. Eusden, ' Lang's 
 language towards Lowe was that of obsequiousness, if not 
 servility. Never before had he been known to lick the hand 
 that smote him, though he often snarled at benefactors.' 
 
 To my mind this displays a personal bias against Dr. 
 Lang as well as a radical misconception of his character. He 
 was a man of undoubted courage, who kncAV not the meaning 
 of fear. But he was of that aggressive type of Scots dominie 
 whose chief delight is to contradict, and, if possible, * put down,' 
 other people. Such men are very loth to admit an} kind of 
 
^VJ.''kH»IMIP ^MPipV^ 11 I.JILP|f»iU,J" 
 
 ^ * ! 
 
 
 •216 
 
 LIFK OF I.Ol?!) SIIEI^M5I{()()KE 
 
 superiority in others ; hut thoy hocomo the trusty chuismen 
 of him >y1io proves his ehioftiiinsliip hy the ordeal of persoiiiil 
 eoinhjit. 
 
 Dr. LiUig crossed swords no more with llohert Lowe. As 
 he proudly records, lie sat with him (one ought, perhaps, to say, 
 in the language of the Conventicle, iiiidrr him) on the Select 
 Committee on Puhlic Education. ]5y his change of front on 
 this subject, Lang acknowledged the i)resence of a mind far 
 supciior in grasp and culture, aiul quite equal in straight- 
 forwardness and honesty, to his own. 
 
 At the close of this biting oration Lowe made an allusion 
 to a quondam ally of Dr. Lang, ji certahi Alderman ^facder- 
 mott, which led to the (juestion of breach of privilege being 
 raised for the ih'st time in an Australian legislature. So irate 
 was the alderman when he perused his morning newspaper 
 that he sent a challenge to Mr. Lowe, who declined to meet 
 him, chiefly on the ground that as a member of the Council he 
 was responsible solely to that body for his words. lie there- 
 foi'o refused either to apologise or to light a duel. It may 
 souiul somewhat strange to hear of duelling in connection 
 with the annals of such a colony as New South Wales. ]3ut 
 in no British comuuuiity was the practice more rife, and the 
 curious in such nuitters would find much to interest them in 
 the accounts of duels fought by prominent public men hi the 
 cobmy. from 1801, when Lieutenant-Colonel ratterson fought 
 ('ai>tain jNIacarthur, down to the encounter between Mr. (after- 
 wards Sir) Alexander Donaldson and Sir Thomas Mitchell in 
 1851. 
 
 There was probably no one on whom this practice could 
 entail greater amioyance, not to say danger, than it did on 
 llohert Lowe, who possessed one endowment and one defect 
 which seem to have irresistibly impelled other men to chal- 
 l(Mige him —a sharp and witty tongue, and very imperfect 
 eyesight. 
 
 1 do not propose in this narrative to give details of all the 
 
l,.\VFN(i Tin; F0UNJ)AT1()N OF PAUMAMKNT 2J 7 
 
 vases when he was called out. More than one; kindly old 
 colonist has asked ine gravely whether I believed that these 
 challenji;e8 came from persons who rcidly meant, if they got an 
 ()])portunity, to murder an almost Mind antagonist. I feel 
 no douht on the point ; and it affords one of the strongest 
 illustratitms of the essentially immoral nature of duelling. 
 Such discreditable stories wcie best forgotten. This challeng<' 
 of ]\rac(l((rmott, however, really marks an e})och in the con- 
 stitutional history of Australia, and the circumstances nmst 
 thcrefoi'e be ie!;«,ted. 
 
 Macdermott had been blackballed by the Committee of 
 Management of the Australian Ijibrary ; a proceeding which 
 for some reason so disgusted Dr. Lang that he threatened to 
 bring th(i matter before the Legislative Council on the ground 
 that the Library was in the receipt of State aid, and should 
 therefore not have dared to blackball any pt-athji' of his. 
 'i'his struck Lowe as a characteristic instance of Dr. Lang's 
 arrogance ; and so he refei'red to it in the debate on tlic 
 Church Temporalities Acts, without any feeling of malice 
 towards ALacdermott, of whom, in fact, he had not the slightest 
 personal knowledge. JJut a night or two afterwards, a Dr. 
 jMacfarlane called at his house stating that he was tlie bearer 
 of a letter from IMacdermott, which ran as follows -.— 
 
 H (icorf^c Stront, Sydney : 
 Friday cveninf^, .hirio 28, 1841. 
 
 Sir, — My attoutioii bus been directed to a paragraph in th«^ 
 Sf/<lneij Morning Herald oi' to-day, in which you are represented 
 as having alluded to nie. I beg to in(j|uire with what object such 
 allusiou was made. My friend, Dr. j\hicfarlaue, who will deliver you 
 this letter, will receive your reply. 
 
 1 have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 H. Macdkrmott. 
 
 To — Lowi', Es(]., 
 
 Iloibury Tcriaoc, Sytlncy. 
 
 While his iniwelcome guest waited, Mr. Lowe glanced at 
 the contents of the missive, and at once expressed his opinion 
 
 It 
 
IS 
 
 ;l( 
 
 II t i 
 
 MS' 
 
 ? ■ 1 
 
 I 
 
 I f I'll 
 
 i I '■ 11' 
 
 i } 
 
 1 111 
 
 ; II 
 
 f ;ii 
 
 lyi 
 
 I;: 
 
 t |! '^ 
 
 '218 
 
 MFK OF LORD SIIEIIBUOOKM 
 
 tliat in seiidiiip; such a letter ]\rac(lermott had been guilty of 
 a breach of privilege ; and then, bowing Dr. ^lacfarlane out of 
 the door, he requested him to say that he declined to send any 
 answer whatever. The next day a'^out noon, on returning to 
 his chambers in Elizabeth Street, he found his nocturnal visitor 
 and a gentleman, who turned out to be a Captain Moore, 
 awaiting him ; the latter stated that his instructions were 
 to demand an immediate apologj'" or to propose ulterior 
 measures. Mr. Lowe declined either, but condescended to 
 give his explicit reasons for so acting. In the first place ho, 
 said that, as a member of the supreme Legislature of the 
 colony, he was entitled to full liberty of speech in that Legis- 
 lature — a privilege he intended strenuously to maintain so 
 long as he had the honour to occupy a seat in the Council. 
 1 le went on to say that, even if this obstacle were removed, ho 
 could not think of meeting Macdermott, as he was not his social 
 equal. Macdermott, I may say cii passant, had been a private 
 or sergeant in a line regiment. But only those who have no 
 knowledge of the ethics of duelling will fail to see that, in 
 urging this objection, Mr. Lowe was using an argument that 
 would appeal to all duellists of the old school, who never for a 
 moment imagined that anyone but a gentleman had any 
 honour to avenge. 
 
 After gravely listening to these objections Captain IMoorc 
 again insisted on an apology, which Mr. Lowe again refused 
 to make. Then the captain waxed wroth, whereupon he and 
 his friend were desired to vacate the office. They, however, 
 said they were not going to be turned out, whereupon Mr. 
 Lowe said : 'If you will not go, you will not prevent mc from 
 leaving,' and accordingly left his chambers, which they shortly 
 afterwards vacated. After this unpleasant scene he conferred 
 with one or two leading members of the House, and they 
 agreed with him that the only course was to obtain a warrant 
 and have these parties bound over to keep the peace. Mac- 
 dermott and his two friends were therefore apprehended and 
 
 [hi 
 
LAVINd THE FOUNDATION OF PARLIAMENT 210 
 
 brought before the Mayor of Sydney. Mr. Lowe was him- 
 self summoned to attend at the Police Office to support his 
 case, and a very graphic account lie gave of the proceedings 
 in his subsequent speech on the Breach of Privilege question 
 in the Legislative Council. There can be no doubt that 
 public sympathy, as it is loosely termed, was on the side of 
 Macdcrmott ; however, the case was so clear that the Mayor 
 bound the parties over in 200/. personal security, and two 
 sureties of 100/. each. 
 
 Mr. Lowe, however, was wanting in neither moral nor 
 physical courage, and he determined at whatever cost to his 
 personal popularity to pursue the matter until he had placed 
 the whole question of the piivileges of colonial members of 
 Parliament on a firm and satisfactory footing. Li his admir- 
 able speech in the Legislative Council (July 8, 1844), in which 
 there is not a single trace of personal feeling, he placed the 
 subject before his fellow members with great force and 
 clearness. His argument, in brief, was that in a matter of 
 this kind, the Legislative Council possessed the same powers 
 as the House of Commons, and could therefore commit any 
 person for insulting a member. In support of this, he par- 
 ticularly referred to a decision of the ^^rivy Council in 183G 
 relative to the Legislature of Jamaica, in which one Augustus 
 Hardin Beaumont was the appellant, and the Speaker of the 
 House of Assembly, the Provost Marshal, and a number of 
 constables and gaolers, were respondents. He went at length 
 into this case, quoting the entire speech of Mr. Baron Parke 
 in pronouncing the judgment of the Privy Council. 
 
 All the leading members of the Council took part in the 
 debate, and it was finally decided by a majority of fifteen to 
 thirteen that the Attorney General should prosecute Macder- 
 mott and his friends in the Law Courts. This subsequently 
 fell through, and as the proceedings were needlessly protracted, 
 public interest in the matter gradually died out. 
 
 At the request of a large number of citizens, the Mayor 
 
 I 
 
220 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SlIERBROOKE 
 
 called a public meeting, and resolutions were passed against 
 the appropriation of public money for the purpose of the 
 prosecution. For the time Lowe was the most unpopular 
 man in the colony ; and the Council, for the action it had 
 taken, shared the opprobrium. But Robert Lowe cared 
 little for popularity at any time. It was ever the law of 
 his intellectual being to be guided and actuated by broad 
 general principles. As a member of the first Colonial Parlia- 
 ment, he conceived it to be all important that there should bo 
 absolute freedom of debate. Those who cheered his opponent 
 and petitioned the Mayor cared for none of these things ; but 
 his unpopularity was as shortlived as a passing cloud, and in 
 a year or two he became the veritable idol of the people of 
 Sydney. 
 
 f t!-i| ' 
 
 \ t 
 
 I should certainly not have been tempted to dwell at any 
 greater length on these old and, happily, forgotten personal 
 quarrels, had not an A ustralian gentleman, Mr. Bloxsome, now 
 of Exmouth, kindly sent me the following interesting personal 
 narrative of the first duel in which Mr. Lowe was involved in 
 Sydney. These are Mr. Bloxsome's own words : — 
 
 * I had the pleasure of Mr. E. Lowe's acquaintance during 
 the whole of his career in N.S.W., though I was only a lad 
 at the time. One circumstance is indelibly impressed upon 
 my memory, namely, that I and a schoolfellow named Bell, 
 in company with my late father (whose guest Mr. Lowe was 
 at the time), pulled hhn across Sydney Harbour from the 
 North Shore to fight a duel one morning, either in the 
 year 1844 or '45. The duel was to have taken place with Mr. 
 E. Broadhurst, a barrister in Sydney, and I well remember 
 hearing my father say that Mr. Lowe said to him as we were 
 pulling them over in the boat : " They think because I can't 
 see that I can't fight ; but they will find that they are mis- 
 taken." The duel did not take place, owing to the mismanage- 
 ment of Mr. Broadhurst's second, Mr. Horace Flower. Mr. 
 
T.AVING THE FOUNDATION OF FAUIJAMENT 221 
 
 ed against 
 >se of the 
 unpopular 
 ion it liad 
 )we cared 
 he law of 
 by broad 
 iai Parlia- 
 should bo 
 i opponent 
 ings; but 
 d, and in 
 people of 
 
 I at any 
 
 personal 
 
 ome, now 
 
 personal 
 
 'olved in 
 
 e during 
 ily a lad 
 ed upon 
 ed Bell, 
 owe was 
 .*om the 
 
 in the 
 i^ith Mr. 
 oiember 
 we were 
 
 I can't 
 re mis- 
 lanage- 
 •. Mr. 
 
 Lowe's second was Captain O'Connell, eldest son of Sir Maurice 
 O'Connell, Commander of the Forces in N.S.W. We landed 
 Mr. Lowe and my father at AVoolloomooloo Bay, close to " Tar- 
 mon's," the residence of Sir Maurice O'Connell. My father 
 said to us lads : " Now, boys, go over to Robinson's Baths 
 the other side of the Bay, and wait until we come." We, not 
 kno\Ving the errand they were on, waited and waited in the 
 boat until ten o'clock at night, having had nothing to eat p.ll 
 day, and it was not until that houi* that Mr. Lowe found it 
 useless waiting any longer, so we all returned to my father's 
 house on the North Shore.' 
 
 It maybe added that Captain O'Connell shortly afterwards 
 published in the newspapers an account of this affair, which 
 in the main coincides with Mr. Bloxsome's recollections. On 
 showing this letter at the writer's special request to Lord 
 Sherbrooke s-ome few years ago, he characteristically observed 
 with a smile : ' My antagonist must have had a higher < ipinion 
 of my prowess even than I had myself, as he never appeared 
 on the scene.' 
 
 It need hardly be observed that such incidents must have 
 been very alarming to Mrs. Lowe, who, in fact, grew more 
 and more fearful lest some catastrophe should befall him. 
 
 Duelling remained in fashion in Sydney well on to 1850. 
 Like all customs, good or bad, it died a lingering death. We 
 may date its decline from the year 1847, when Mr. (afterwards 
 Sir Charles) Cowper publicly declined to meet Mr. Boyd, a 
 well-known squatter, who had challenged him. The Sydney 
 Morning Herald devoted a leading ai'ticle to the praise of Mr. 
 Cowper, on the ground that he had made a stand against a 
 senseless and often sanguinary custom. 
 
 Later on in the Session Mr. Lowe, still a Crown nominee, 
 delivered a very important speech in support of his own motion 
 * that Petitions to Her Majesty and both Houses of Parliament 
 be adopted by this Council humbly praying that they will be 
 
222 
 
 \AVK OF IA)liI) SIIERBROOKE 
 
 i 1 
 
 ■ if 
 
 ■I' 
 
 1 IP 
 
 'V. 
 
 i ' 
 
 ll 
 
 pleased to admit corn, the produce of the Australian colonies, 
 on the same tbotinfi; as Canadian corn.' 
 
 This takes us at a bound to the period of the Corn Laws 
 in England ; and it is curious to note the spectacle of 
 liobert Lowe in a remote dependency waging war against 
 tlie Protectionism of Sir llobert Peel, Lord Stanley, and 
 Mr. Gladstone, then President of v.he Board of Trade. Mr. 
 Lowe was exceedingly severe on these eminent Englisli 
 statesmen for making a difference, in this matter of the duty 
 on corn, between one colony and another. 
 
 'In Australia there was a whole population of Britisli 
 origin ; the greater part of the Canadian population was alien 
 in language and in blood. We had not yet raised our hands 
 against the mother country ; Canada had been recently the 
 scene of rebellion. Canada had never contributed to the 
 welfare of the mother country. Canada had only created 
 expense. This colony, on the other hand, produced an export 
 every year increasing in quantity and becoming more valuable 
 to the mother country by enabling her more successfully to 
 compete in her woollen manufactures with the whole world. 
 If England persisted in this Joseph- and-his-brethren sort of 
 system, she would retain perhaps numerous dependencies, 
 but she would never become the vast united empire which she 
 ought.' 
 
 The conclusion of this speech can hardly fail to interest 
 certain leading English statesmen even at the preseiit day. 
 
 ' Simple, however, as the question might appear to us here, 
 and just, as we might imagine, was the claim we urged, that 
 claim had been discussed in the House of Commons, 
 and had b^en rejected. On looking over the debate as 
 reported in the papers, he (Mr. Lowe) was surprised at the 
 manner in which Mr. Gladstone had opposed it ; he almost 
 blushed at the amount of sacrifice which Mr. Gladstone, the 
 liberality of whose views was so well known, had made to 
 party feeling. . . . 
 
I 
 
 an colonies, 
 
 Corn Laws 
 pectacle of 
 ar against 
 anley, and 
 rade. Mi-, 
 it Englisli 
 )f the duty 
 
 lAYINd TJIE I'OUNDATIUN OF I'AIJLIA.MEXT 22o 
 
 ' The interests of the colony were never eonsidiTcd, und the 
 4iU'stion itself was only discussed with a view to the amount 
 of ^,a-ain this colony was likely to export in proportion to the 
 amount required by Great Britain. . , . 
 
 ' One of the si^eakers in the House of Commons, suggested 
 that, however small the effect at first, Australia might export 
 largely after a time and then the interests of the landowners 
 would be affected. This was in truth the only reason ; they 
 forgot that we were Englishmen, and claimed to be placed on 
 a general footing with themselves.' 
 
 .Mr. Lowe was very much in earnest on this question of 
 the duty on Australian corn ; and drew up with his own hand 
 a petition to the House of Commons, which I transcribe not 
 only as a curiosity of colonial political literature, but also as 
 an interesting document for the future historians of Canadji 
 and Australia : — 
 
 m 
 
 > interest 
 it day. 
 5 us here, 
 ■ged, that 
 'ommons, 
 sbate as 
 id at the 
 e almost 
 bone, the 
 made to 
 
 Mu. Lowk's Pakallel uetvvekn Canada and 
 New Hout:i Wales. 
 
 To the Honourable the Conunons of Ihe United Kingdom of 
 
 Great liritain and Ireland in Parliament assembled ; 
 
 The humble petition of the Legislative Council of Xcw South 
 
 Wales in Council assembled, 
 Humbly showeth : 
 
 That your petitioners have learned with feelings of bitter disappoint- 
 ment that your Honourable House has recently refused to 
 extend to them the privilege accorded to Canada of importini,^ 
 corn and flour at a nominal duty into Enjiland. The wool, 
 the staple export of this colony, is exposed to the rivalry of the 
 whole world, and by its competition has beeii the means of 
 keepin,!;- down the price of the raw material of ti most inq)ortant 
 Euf,'lish manufacture, whereas the heavy duty on i»altic timber. 
 Imposed for the protection of Canada, has been felt as a grievous 
 tax on the ''ritish householders and shipowners. 
 
 That your petitioners have contributed nea]'ly a million of money 
 for the coercion of prisoners of the Crown, an object of a purely 
 iiritish character, and upwards of another million to introduce 
 the starving poor of the Ihitish Isles into New South Wales as 
 advantageous to the mother country as to tlie colony, while the 
 
224 
 
 LIFE OF LOTIU SIIERBROOKE 
 
 J II f 
 
 i i 
 
 recent rebellion in Canada has cost vast sums to the P»ritish 
 Treasury, and boon followed by the loan of l,r)O(),OO0/. for tho 
 use of the colony under a Parliamentary jifuaranteo. 
 
 That the Crown Revenue was surrendered to Canada in considera- 
 tion of a civil list of 75,000/. in a population of a million and a 
 half, whereas a civil list of 81, GOO/, has boon imposed on a 
 population of 170,000, and tho revenues are not only not 
 surrendered, but are threatened to bo increased, by a strain of 
 the royal preroj^ative, to treble the present amount. 
 
 That Canada enjoys tho responsible government, whilt; tho Colonial 
 Otnce will not even suspend its decisions to givv your petitioners 
 a hearing. 
 
 That the contiguity of Canada to the corn-growing States of 
 America affords great facility for smuggling grain, which the 
 isolated position of Australia renders impracticable. 
 
 That this is a settled, Canada a conquered colony. That the 
 population of one is British ; of the other, to a great extent, 
 French. That the laws and manners of England prevail in the 
 one, and those of France in a great part of the other ; and that 
 in none of these points are your petitioners conscious of any 
 inferiority to the Canadians. 
 
 That the quantity of corn which your petitioners would be likely 
 to import, though of immense consequence to them, would be 
 utterly insignificant to so large a market as that of the United 
 Kingdom. That if the agriculturists of England are sensitive 
 as to the admission of foreign corn, the constituents of your 
 petitioners also have their sensibilities, and great as is the loss 
 which they incur by exclusion from your markets, they feel yet 
 more keenly the ignominious badge of inferiority which the 
 decision of your Honourable House has affixed to them. 
 
 Your petitioners therefore humbly pray, that your Honourable House 
 will admit wheat, maize, and flour the produce of Australia, 
 into the United Kingdom on the same terms as wheat and flour 
 the produce of Canada. 
 
 Kobert Lowe had already taken the first step towards 
 making practically his own the great question of public educa- 
 tion in Australia. Still as a Crown nominee, but exercising, 
 as he did throughout, the greatest possible independence of 
 action, he moved for a select committee to inquire into and 
 report upon the state of education in the colony. 
 
 The select committee was duly appointed, and as its 
 labours have been productive of results of far-reaching and 
 
 .»! • 
 
;o the nritisli 
 m)0/. for tho 
 ee. 
 
 '" consideru- 
 inillioii and a 
 imposed on a 
 'lot only not 
 iy a strain of 
 t. 
 
 tlio Colonial 
 «!• petitioners 
 
 States of 
 ". wliich the 
 
 That tlie 
 rreat extent, 
 Jrevail in tJie 
 -r; and that 
 iious of any 
 
 1^1 be likely 
 k would be 
 
 the United 
 re sensitive 
 'its of your 
 5 is the loss* 
 liey feel yet 
 
 which the 
 em. 
 
 able House 
 
 Australia, 
 
 t and flour 
 
 towards 
 ic educa- 
 ^ercisinp:, 
 dence of 
 into and 
 
 ■ as its 
 ing and 
 
 LAYIXG THE FOUXDATIOX OF PARLIAMENT 225 
 
 historical importance, the names of its members should bo 
 f^iven. As the question of education is so intimately mixed 
 up with that of religion, it may be as well to show how tho 
 \'ariou8 rclipiious denominations were represented on what was 
 known as Mr. Robert Lowe's Select Committee. Of the ten 
 members, five belonged to the Church of England, viz. — 
 Eobert Lowe, Charles Cowper, Eichard Windcyer, Dr. Nichol- 
 son, and Deas Thomson ; two to tlic Church of Rome : 
 J. H. Plunkett, the Attorney General, and Roger Therry ; 
 two to the Church of Scotland : Sir Thomas INIitchell and 
 Dr. Lang ; and one to the Society of Friends : Joseph Phelps 
 Robinson. Mr. Lowe himself acted as Chairman and was, in 
 a very especial sense, the life and soul of the entire com- 
 mittee. The report of this committee, upon which the edu- 
 cational systems of the various colonies have in the main 
 been based, is here given in tho Appendix. We are now 
 nearing the close of Robert Lowe's career as a Crown nominee 
 in the Legislative Council of New South Wales. 
 
 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Report of Robert Lowe's Committee on Public Education 
 
 Extract from the Votes and Proceedings of the Legidative Council^ 
 
 No. 17 
 (Friday, June 21, 18-14) 
 
 6. Education :—l\Ir. Lowe, pursuant to notice, moved that a Select 
 Committee be appointed to enquire into, and report upon, the State of 
 Edtication in this Colony, and to devise the means of placing the educa- 
 tion of youth upon a basis suited to the wants and wishes of this com- 
 munity. 
 
 Question put and passed, and the following Committee appointed 
 accordingly : — 
 
 Mr. Lowe j Mr. Therry 
 
 Mr. Cowper j Mr. AVindeyer 
 
 Dr. I-ang j The Attorney General (Mr. Phm- 
 
 Sir T. L. Mitchell j kett) 
 
 Dr. Nicholson \ The Colonial Secretary (j\Ir. Deas 
 
 Mr. Robinson | Thomson) 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Q 
 
22(j 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIKRBUOOKK 
 
 List of WitnesHfs Ejram'uicd 
 
 ': !i 
 
 .Tames Rolioit Wilshiit , Esq. 
 
 (leorge Allin, Esq. 
 
 Kev. lialph Mfinsfiolil 
 
 Henry IMiicdt^niiott, Esq. 
 
 William Auf,'nstiiie Duncan. V.m\. 
 
 Itev. James E'lllerton, LL.J). 
 
 Hev, llobert All wood, D.A. 
 
 ]\ri'. Edward M' Roberts 
 
 Tliu Most Kev. .Tolni Dede I'oldinpf. 
 J).D., Ivoman Catholic Arch- 
 bishop 
 
 Wdliam Thuothy Cape, Esq 
 
 : :\rr. I'eter Steel 
 
 I Mr. .Tames Cosgrovo 
 ^Ir. Bartholomew Tcter Scannell 
 Mr. .Tohn Ilnnter r>aiIlio 
 The FiOrd Dishop of Australia 
 
 ■^'ITio llev. .lolm Saunders 
 
 , The llev. Robert Ross 
 Mr. Peter Kobertson 
 The Kev. John M' Kenny 
 Charles Ktaup, Exj. 
 William Macarthnr, Esq. 
 
 The Select Connnittee of the Lej^fislative Council appointed on the 
 'ilst June, 1844, tu enquire into and report upon the State of Education 
 in this Colony, and to devise the )neans of placing the education of youth 
 upon a basis suited to the wants and unshrs of the community, have 
 n.freed to the foUowinj; report. 
 
 Your Connnittee have examined a mmdjer of witnesses embodyiuf,' 
 <'\ ery shade of relifjious opinion, and have thus, they believe, brought the 
 <luestion of education, with all its attendant difficulties, fully and fairly 
 before the Council. The present state of education in this colony 
 your Committee consider extremely deticieut. There are about 25,G76 
 children between the ages of four and foui'teen years ; of these only 7,642 
 receive instruction in public schools, and 4,8(35 in private ones, leaving 
 about 13,000 children, who, as far as your Committee know, are receiving 
 no education at all. The expense of public education is about 11. per 
 head ; an enormous rate after every allowance has been made for the 
 necessary dispersion of the inhabitants of a pastoral country, and the 
 consequent dearness of instruction. AVhile your Counuittee admit that 
 this deficient tate of education is ]mrtly attributable to tlie ignorance, 
 dissolute hab. ., and avarice of too many of the parcMits, and partly to the 
 wants of good schoolmasters and school books, they feel bound to 
 express their conviction that a far greater portion of the evil has arisei 
 from the strictly denominational character of the public schoole. 
 Many of these schools have indeed attained a considerable degree of 
 excellence under the management and inspection of the clergy, and it 
 would be most unjust to charge upon them those defects in the state of 
 public education which your Connnittee believe are the natural result of 
 the plan by which that education has been regulated. 
 
 The first great objection to the denominational system is its expense ; 
 tlie number of schools in a given locality ought to depend on the number 
 of children requiring instruction which that locality contains. To admit 
 any other principle is to depart from those maxims of wholesome economy 
 upon which public money should always be administered. 
 
\I'1m;.\i>ix to ("iiAPTKi; xm 
 
 
 ve 
 
 Vvtov Scannell 
 
 f Australia 
 indoi's 
 
 OSS 
 
 n 
 vonny 
 
 
 pointed on the 
 
 of Education 
 
 •atio7iof ijouth 
 
 mmunity, have 
 
 ^ea eiubodyin" 
 i (', brought the 
 nlly and fairly 
 M this colony 
 > about 25,676 
 lese only 7,642 
 i ones, leavinf; 
 , are receiving,' 
 about II. pel- 
 made for the 
 ntry, and the 
 oe admit that 
 be is:norance. 
 I partly to the 
 i.el bound to 
 nl has arisei 
 iblic schoolB. 
 ble degree of 
 'lergy, and it 
 1 the state of 
 ural result of 
 
 ^ its expense ; 
 1 the number 
 8. To admit 
 ine economy 
 
 Ti iippoars to your Committee ImpoaHiblo not to see that the very 
 ossonco of a denominational system is to leave the majority iinodiicatcd 
 in order thoroughly to imbue the minority witli peculiiir tenets. It is a 
 svstiiu iilwavs teiuliiig to excess or defect, tlie natural result of which is, 
 that uheriver one school is founded, two or three others will arise, not 
 because they are wanted, but Ixciiuso it is feared that i)roselytes will 
 be made ; and thus a superfluous activity is ])n)duced in one place and 
 a total stagnation in another. It is a system impossible to I)o carried out 
 in a thinly iidiabited country, as many of its firmest advocates have 
 admitted to your Coumiittee, and being exclusively in the iiands of clergy, 
 it places tlie State in an awkward dilemma of either supplying money 
 wiiose expenditure it is not permitted to regulati', or of interfering 
 between the clergy and tlieir snperiors to tlie manifest derangement of 
 the whole ecclesiastical polity. 
 
 It has, indeed, been suggested toyoiu' Committee that adenomination.il 
 system might be allowed to continue in Sydnt>v and the larger towns, 
 while a general one was adopted for tlie Coimty Districts, but your 
 Connnittee caimot yield to tliis suggestion; conviiu-ed as tliey are ol" ttu' 
 superiority of a general to a denominational system, and conceiving, for 
 reasons to be stated hereafter, that the present denominational scliools 
 may place themselves mider tlie (iovernment Board of Education, and 
 thus continue to derive support from tlie public funds, without the slightest 
 surrender of principle, your Committee have tliought it better to recom- 
 mend tlint one uniform system sliall l»e established for the whole of the 
 Colony, and that an adherence to that system shall bo made the indispens- 
 iible condition under wliicii alone public aid will be granted. 
 
 Your Committee iiave had under their consideration two General 
 Systems of Education : the British and Foreign System, and Lord Stanley's 
 system of National Education ; tlie lirst of these appears to them to be 
 surrounded with insiirmoim table ditHculties. Tiiese difficulties are stated 
 in ]Mr. Secretary Stanley's letter to the Duke of Leinster of October IBfJl. 
 * The determination to enforce in all their schools the reading of the Holv 
 Scriptures, without note or comment, was undoubtedly taken with the 
 purest motives ; with the wish at once to combine religious with moral 
 and literary education, and at the same time not to run the risk of 
 wounding the peculiar feelings of any sect by catechetical instructiim or 
 comments which might tend to subjects of jiolemical controversv. But 
 it seemed to have been overlooked that the principles of the Homan 
 Catholic Cliurch were totally at variance with this principle, and that the 
 reading of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, by children 
 must be peculiarly obnoxious to a Cliufch which denies even to adults 
 the right of unaided private interpretation of the sacred volume, in articles 
 of religious belief. These views are borne out by the experience of this 
 colony. When the British and b'oreign System was proposed in ISJM) it 
 was not supposed the Boman Catholics could join in it, and it was 
 intended that a separate system should be established for them. Your 
 Committee are not prepared to recommend a renewal of this proj(!ct, 
 
 
 ■I 
 
m^ 
 
 I I 
 
 ■| u. 
 
 228 
 
 LIFE OF LOrj) SIIERBROOKE 
 
 I t 
 
 which would porpetnato that which they are most anxious to avoid — the 
 denominational character of public education. 
 
 Your Couuuittce have decided to recommend to the Couni il Lord 
 Stanley's system of national education, the only plan sufficiently compre- 
 hensive to include both Protestant and Catholic. This system was 
 devised to carry out the rcconnnendation of a committee of the House ot 
 Commons in 18'iH. • that a system should be adopted which should afford 
 if possible a foml)ined literary and a sopai'ate religious education, and 
 sliould be capable of being so far adapted to the views of different 
 religious |)crsuasions as to render it in truth a system of National 
 Education for the lower classes of the community.' Tlie koy-stone of tho 
 system is a Board composed of men of high personal cliaracter, professing 
 different religious oj)inions. This Board exercises a complete control over 
 the schools erected under its auspices, or which, having been already 
 established, place tlicmselves imder its management and receive its 
 assistance. The following are the conditions under wliich aid is 
 granted :■ — 
 
 1. The ordinary school business — during whicli all the children of 
 whatever denomination they be are required to attend, and which is 
 expected to eml)racc a competent number of liours in each day— is to 
 consist exclusively of instruction in those branches which belong to a 
 literary and moral education. Such extracts from Scripture as are pre- 
 pared under the sanction of the Board may bo used, and arc earnestly 
 reconnnended by the Board to be used during those hours allotted to this 
 ordinary school luisiness. 
 
 2. One day at least in each week (independently of the Sunday) is to 
 be set apart for the religious instruction of the children, on which day 
 such pastors, or other persons as are approved of by the parents or 
 guardians of the cliikh'en, shall have access to them for that purpose, 
 \vhetlier those pastors liave signed the original application or not. 
 
 3. The n.anagers of schools are also expected, should tho parents of 
 any of the children desire it, to afford convenient opportunity and facility 
 for tho same purpose, either before or af r the ordinary school business 
 (as the managers iii,- y determine), on other days of the week. 
 
 4. Any arrangement of this description that may be made is to be 
 publicly notified in the schools, in order that those children, and those 
 only, may be present at the religioiis instruction, whose parents and 
 guardians approve of their being so. 
 
 ;j. The reading of tho Scriptures, either in the Authorised or Douay 
 Version, is regarded as a religious exercise, and as such is to be confined 
 to those times which are set apart for religions instruction; the same 
 regulation Is also to 1)6 obser\ed respecting prayer. 
 
 The following passage from the Eightli Beport of the Connnissioners of 
 National Education in Ireland, being th-Av report fur the year 184L will also 
 tend to explain the nature of the religious instruction imparted under this 
 systeni : ' It seems still to be supposed that we prescribe the studies to be 
 pursued in all national schools, and th.it we exclude the Scriptures; but 
 
APPENDIX TO CIIAPTEPt XIII 
 
 229 
 
 the reverse is the fact ; it belonpfs not to lis, but to tlie local patrons of 
 each to determine the conrsu of instruction to ho <ii\en tlieri'in, subject only 
 to it power in us to prohibit the use of any botjks which we may deem 
 improper, and so far are we from prohibiting tlic use of the Scriptures that 
 we expressly recognise the rijj;ht of all patrons to ha\ o them used for the 
 piu'pose of religious instruction in whatever way tluy may think proper, 
 provided that each school be open to poor children of all comuninions, 
 that due regard be had to parental right and authority ; therefore that no 
 child be compelled to attend, or be present at any religions instruction to 
 which his parents or guardians object, and that the time for giving it be 
 BO fixed that no child be thereby in effect excluded, directly or indirectly, 
 from the other advantages which the school affords. W'c may add that in 
 very many of the national schools religious instruction is given day by day, 
 as it may be in all if the patrons think proper, by means botli of the Holy 
 Scriptures and of theapproved Catechisms of the Cluxrch to whioli both the 
 children receiving it belong ; but the times for reading the Holy Scriptures 
 and for Catechetical insti'uction are so arranged as nut to interfere with 
 or impede the scientific or secular l)usiness of the school ; and no cliHij 'vhose 
 parents or guardians object is rmiuired to be present or tukq part in those 
 exercises. Still further to show how unwarrantable it is to represent 
 us as excluding instruction by n.tans of the Holy Scriptures. > ■<' request 
 your Excellenc.. . attention to tlie following extracts from the preface to 
 the Scripture lessons which we have published. These selections are 
 olfered not as a substitute for the sacred volume itself, but as un intio 
 duction to it. and they have been compiled in the hope of their leading to 
 a more general and more profitable perusal of the Word of God.' 
 
 'TheDoard of Connnissioners earnestly and unanimously reconnnend 
 these lessons to be used in all schools receiving aid from them. And 
 to the religious instructors of the cliildren they cheerfully leave, in com- 
 municating instruction, the use of tlie sacred volume itself, as containing 
 those doctrines and ju-ecepts, a knowledge of which must be at the 
 foundation of all true religion. The Law of tlie JiOrd is \inspotted, con- 
 verting soiils ; the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to 
 little ones.' 
 
 Your Connnittee would beg to lay before the Council on(.' more passage 
 extracted from a coimnunication from Lord Stanley to the Synod of 
 Ulster: 'His INIajesty's Government fully recognises the right of all who 
 choose it to read tlie Sacred Scriptures, but the exercise of this right in the 
 case of infants must be subject to the control of their parents and natural 
 guardians, and in point of time in the national, as in all otliir schools, 
 it must 1)0 jiniited i)y the appro])riation of certain hours to certain other 
 branches of study,' 
 
 Fr'/rn these extracts your Connnittee think it will be manifest that the 
 national wysteni is not fairly open to the charge of neglecting religious 
 instruction. Jt teaches in the ordinary schoi ! hours asmucli of the truths 
 of religion as can be imjiarled, without entering on controverted subjects, 
 and it oilers e\ery facility and encouragement in its power to induce tho 
 
 ;i 
 
 II 
 
 i 
 
■■I 
 
 ip 
 
 230 
 
 LIFE OF \An\\) SllEJtIUIOOKl': 
 
 
 s 
 
 H ' M 
 
 teachers of the different denominritinns to fill np the outline by com- 
 iimnicatinj,' to the children those peculiar doctrines which tho nature of a 
 general system forbids it to teach. Your Co'.uuiittee cannot but hope that 
 religious teachers of all denominations will feci that this is the directidii 
 in which tlieir activity can be most profitably eniplo\ ed, and that they are 
 far more likeh' to contribute to the spread of true religion and the dis- 
 semination of their own opinions, by co-operating than by competing with 
 this system, wliich, as it teaches nothing hostile to any sect, and excludes 
 none from teaching their own doctrines, deservis the hostility of none. 
 
 It has been the good fortune of this system to disarm many opponents 
 and to convert them into its adxucates. As an example of this yoiu* 
 ('i)unnittee have nmch pleasuio in referring to the evidence of the 
 iiov. Mr. Saunders (p. 01) who. \\ ith others, opposed tliis system in ISSfi, 
 and who now most earnestly lecoiumends it. Of the secular instruction 
 communicated under this system, \our Conunittee do not think it neces- 
 sary to speak at large. The school books liavo been ccmipiled with the 
 most admirable care and jiulgment, and will save mncli troiilde to those 
 in wliose hands the management of the s,ystem shall be placed. 
 
 Your Conunittee have appentled to tlieir report (see Appendix) several 
 documents with the view of giving the Council the amplest information in 
 their power, and they feel well convinced that tlie more the plan is 
 examined the more favourably will it lie \ iewed. 
 
 Your Committee also trusts that that part of the Protestant community 
 which Mould have preferred the British and Foreign System Avill ap- 
 l)reciate the spirit of fairness and impartiality to all parties which has 
 actuated them in their present recommendation, and will rather join in 
 promoting a scheme wliicli falls somewhat short of their wishes, than 
 throw obstacles in the way of the only practicable scheme of general 
 instruction. Y'our Committee also trust tliat Christians of all denomina- 
 lions will feel that the adoption of this system will tend to soften down 
 sectarian feelings, and to the promotion of union, tideration, and charity. 
 ' In order to carry out their recommendation, vour Committee think that 
 a Board should be a[)poiiited b\ the Governor, of persons favourable to the 
 plan proposed, and possessing the CDntltlencc of the diilerent denominations. 
 For the success of the undertaking must depend upon the character of the 
 individuals who compose the l^oard : and upon the security therel)y afforded 
 to the country that while the interests of religion are not overlooked, tho 
 most scrupidous care shall be taken not to interfere with the peculiar 
 tenets of any description of Christian pupils.' 
 
 To this Board it will probably be necessary to attach a salaried 
 secretaiy; they should be invested witli a very wide discretion as to the 
 arrangements necessary for carrying the system into effect, and all funds 
 to be henceforth applied for the jturpose of education should be adminis- 
 tered by them. When such a Board is once constituted, it will be easy 
 for them to select from tlie mass of \ idunble information and suggestion 
 contained in the evidenc(> apjtended to thi^ lleport principles to guide 
 them in the execution of their dutv. 
 
 ■I ! I 
 
APPENDIX TO CIIAPTEK XIII 
 
 231 
 
 Yonr Committee arc unwilling; to fort'stall the deliberations of this 
 Doard, but tlu\\- venture to expr ss a hope that, notwithstanding the 
 evidence of many witnesses to the contrary, no compulsion will ever be 
 employed to induce parents to send their children to school. Such a 
 measure is hostile to tlie liberty of the subject and would infallibly ronso 
 a spirit of determined opposition. 
 
 Your Connnittee are not prepared tc recommend the establishment of 
 local Boards of Education, conceiving that a central Board with an 
 efficient system of inspection will produce results more uniform and 
 satisfactory. 
 
 The foundation of a Normal or Model School in S\ dney, for the training 
 of schoolmasters, appears to your Committee to be an indispensable step ; 
 and the establishment of some general principle, or proportion, according 
 to which the funds of the State are to be advanced, will merit their most 
 serious attention. 
 
 Your Connnittee trusts that measures will be taken to coimteract the 
 spread of ignorance beyond the limits of location by the appointment of 
 itinerant preachers, and by the distribution of books of a moral and 
 religious tendency, free from sectarianism. They would also call attention 
 to the suggestion made by several of the witnesses with regard to the 
 establisliment of Industrial scliools, which, if practicable, would seem to 
 be the fittest training that could be devised fur an Australian settler. 
 
 Your Committee would als(j express their opinion, that if it is intended 
 that education should be valued, it must not be gratuitous, at least to those 
 who can pay for it. 
 
 Your Connnittee truces that the liberality of the Legislature will not 
 allow this important object to fail for want of the re(iuisite pecuniary aid. 
 This aid, they hope, will not exceed by a very large amoxmt the sum now 
 annually devoted to education, and they feel fully convinced that no 
 money can be expended by a State to better advantage than that which 
 is appropriated to such a purpose. 
 
 Your Committee think that this Board should be incorporated, in order 
 that all property ret^uired for educational purposes may vest in them, by 
 which the trouble and expense necessarily attending the vesting of pro- 
 perty in trustees will be avoided. 
 
 EGBERT LOWE, Chairmau. 
 
 Legislative Council Chambers, Sydney : 
 August 28, 1H44. 
 
 ■i ; 
 
 i! 
 
 ¥ 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 « 
 
 ? I 
 
 III 
 
!!' I I 
 
 232 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SHERBROOKE 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 CREATION OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 
 
 Eobert Lowe's ' Separation ' Speech — Kesigns his Seat as Crown Nominee — 
 Sir C. G'wan Duffy's Conimonts on Irish and Victorian 'Home Itule' — 
 Lowe's alleged ' I'oilantry ' — Account of the Rupture with Sir George 
 Gipps 
 
 At this period the whole of Eastern Australia was known as 
 New South Wales. What are now the separate colonies of 
 Victoria and Queensland were then the Port Phillip and 
 Moreton Bay districts of New South Wales. From the 
 time that Sir Thomas Mitchill went south, and explored 
 what he termed ' Australia Felix,' a steady influx had set in 
 of younger sons of good Finglish families and impoverished 
 Scottish and Irish country gentlemen ; these settled on the 
 rich pasture-lands in various parts of Port Phillip, and became 
 the pioneers of the present colony of Victoria. 
 
 In this first Australian Parliament — the old Sydney 
 Legislative Council— the district of Port Phillip had a re- 
 presentation of six members, of whom no less than three 
 were citizens of Sydney — a city not only hundreds of miles 
 ^listant, but, tVom the lack of means of communication, 
 practically in another continent. So radically dissatisfied 
 were the people of Port Phillip, and especially the citizens 
 of the rising towns of Melbourne and Geelong, with being 
 politically ii mere adjunct of Sydney, that the one qualifica- 
 tion they insisted on from anyone aspiring to represent them 
 in the Legislative Council was that he should vote straight 
 on the Separation question. They demanded at once, not 
 
 i\ 
 
 I ^ 
 
 Ii 
 
CREATION OF THE COLON V OF VICTOIIIA 
 
 233 
 
 only Home Rule, but its logical outcome, entire separation 
 from New South Wales. These six Port Phillip members 
 therefore, were, in a very strict sense, delegates ; but among 
 their number were men of first-rate political capacity, notably 
 Dr. Lang, who has already been mentioned, and Dr. (now 
 Sir Charles) Nicholson. Dr. Nicholson, indeed, succeeded the 
 Hon, Alexander Macleay, and became the second Speaker of 
 the infant Parliament. 
 
 Dr. Lang — John Dunmore Lang — has a claim to l)e con- 
 sidered the political parent both of Victoria and Queensland. 
 At all events he was the most prominent public man of 
 Sydney who restlessly urged, and was mainly instrumental 
 in achieving, autonomy for those provinces, low grown into 
 great Australian States. 
 
 Such a line of conduct was intensely unpopular in oflicial 
 circles in Sydney — which no doubt gave it additional zest in 
 Dr. Lang's eyes. For some time a movement had been gahi- 
 ing ground for what was called the ' financial separation ' of the 
 Port Phillip district from the mother colony. The argu- 
 ments in favour of this step were very forcibly brought before the 
 Council by Mr. John Phelps Robinson, a member of the Society 
 of Friends, then one of the representatives of ISIelbourne. 
 Finally matters came to a head, and on August '10, 1844, 
 Dr. Lang proposed, and Mr. Robinson seconded, a resolution 
 for the separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales, and 
 its erection into a distinct and independent colony. 
 
 In moving this resolution Dr. Lang, wlio had evidently 
 ])rimed himself for the occasion by an exhaustive study of the 
 history of colonisation from the time of the Greeks, delivered 
 an oration whose report spread over many columns of the 
 IJcrahl, This speech was no doubt intended to be a monu- 
 mental cifort ; but, as a matter of fact. Dr. Lang was one of 
 those highly-effective popular orators, idolised on the hust- 
 ings, with their ready retorts and vulgarly humorous allusions, 
 who generally fail on a great occasion before a select or 
 
 n:! 
 
 il j 
 
 ^ ' 1 
 
 i 1 
 
 1 . ' : 
 
 ■ill 
 
 ^1 1 
 
 !1 
 
 !■ ! 1 
 
 Ik 
 
 m 
 
 
 !i !? 
 
U :: 
 
 
 l^i 
 
 f.l 
 
 2;U 
 
 LIFE OF J.OltD SIlERBUOOKi: 
 
 educated audience. Much of his speech was clearly beside 
 the mark, and it was so interminably long and ill-arranged 
 that, despite his vigorous delivery, it must have wearied the 
 Council. 
 
 The seconder of the resolution was the Quaker member, 
 Mr. Robinson, who stuck close to the financial aspects o^ the 
 question, and showed how much Port Phillip contributed to 
 the general revenue, and how little she got out of it in the 
 way of public works. There was an ominous silence on the 
 Government benches. It is true that the Colonial Secretary, 
 Mr. Deas Thomson, from an unflhiching sense of duty, 
 rose and attempted something in the nature of a tentative 
 reply to the Port Phillip separatists. Dr. Bland, one of the 
 popular Opposition members for Sydney, also opposed the 
 resolution as premature. Dr. Nicholson ably supported his 
 colleagues, Lang and Eobinson, and maintained the desira- 
 bility of a much more extended subdivision of the Australian 
 provinces. Then there was another ominous pause, when 
 suddenly the far too independent Crown nominee rose, and 
 made his breach with Sir George Gipps absolutely final by 
 delivering a really memorable speech against the Government, 
 and in favour of the separation of Port Phillip. After a few 
 preliminary sentences, in which he disclaimed agreement 
 with ' the theory of endless provincial subdivision ' which 
 Dr. Nicholson had mooted, Robert Lowe uttered the famous 
 declaration : — 
 
 As a general rule, the interests of the Colonies are not consulted 
 by flittering them away into minute particles, but by combining as 
 large a territory into a single State as could be effectually controlled 
 by a single Government. I cordially agree in the abstract truth of 
 the motto prefixed to the article in the newspaper of this morning, 
 that ' Union is strength,' ' and I would extend that principle to 
 the whole Colonial Empire of Great Britain. I hold and believe 
 that the time is not remote when Great Britain will give up the idea 
 
 ' Tlie Sydney Morning Herald, which stioiigly opposed the separation of 
 Port Phillip. 
 
the 
 
 CREATION OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 
 
 235 
 
 of treatinj^ the dependencies of the Crown as children, to be cast 
 adrift by their parent as soon as they arrive at manhood, and sul)- 
 stitute for it the far wiser and nobler policy of knitting herself and 
 her Colonies into one mighty Confederacy, girdling the earth in its 
 whole circumference, and confident against the world in arts and 
 arms. 
 
 ' M 
 
 Nevertheless, he went on to argue, the separation of Port 
 Phillip from New South Wales was inevitable, though ho 
 dreaded ' that the result might he a war of tariffs and 
 restrictive duties, which he held in utter horror and aversion.' 
 Delivered in a mere provincial assembly, this speech rose to 
 truly Imperial heights. Unlike most eUxjuent speeches, it 
 bore fruit, for in a very few years the new colony of Vic- 
 toria—named by its own wish after the Queen — came into 
 being. 
 
 On going to division, Dr. Lang's motion was lost by 19 
 votes to 6, the minority consisting of the five Port Phillii) 
 delegates and Mr. Lowe. 
 
 On the rejection of his motion, it occurred to the inde- 
 fatigable Dr. Lang, that as the Port Phillip members were 
 unanimous, a most effective petition on the subject might be 
 sent to the Queen. This he accordingly drew up, and he 
 and all his colleagues signed it. Lord Stanley sent back a 
 favourable reply ; but some subsequent delays ensued owing 
 to a change in the English Ministry, and the transformation 
 of the district of Port Phillip into the colony of Victoria was 
 not proclaimed until July 1, 1851. 
 
 To the Sydney Morniuy Herald the speech and vote of 
 Mr. Lowe on this occasion were quite unaccountable. That 
 respectable journal could only attribute it to his intention of 
 offering himself for a Port Phillip constituency. Of course, 
 this motive had nothing whatever to do with his conduct ; but 
 every thoughtful Victorian must have a feeling of regret that 
 this distinguished English statesman, who played so loading a 
 part in obtaining the creation of the colony, did not, when 
 
 ( i 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 ■ 
 
 t 
 \ 
 \ 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 ! i\ 
 
236 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEIlliHOOKE 
 
 1: i 
 
 ' \ 
 
 \ li 
 
 II ^.i 
 
 he became a representative member, sit for one of the Port 
 PhiUip constituencies. 
 
 Eeferring to this subject of the separation of Port PhilHp, 
 Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, then a Victorian colonist, thus 
 characterised Lv^/d Sherbrooke's action : — 
 
 The motion was supported by the representatives of the district, 
 but opposed by all the members for New South Wales, with a 
 single exception, but a memorable one — that of Kobert Lowe, 
 who is now employing his great powers upon a more conspicuous 
 stage.' 
 
 But in a more recent allusion to this circumstance Sir 
 Charles, in an article in advocacy of Irish Home Rule, clearly 
 insinuates that Lord Sherbrooke, as the former supporter 
 of Port Phillip separation, was inconsistent in his opposition 
 to Mr. Gladstone's present Irish policy : — 
 
 Robert Lowe, then a practising barrister in Sydney, who was 
 not a political pedant in colonial affairs, considered the union between 
 Port Phillip and New South Wales an injustice and a grievance, 
 and voted for its immediate repeal.'^ 
 
 This seems to imply that '*t is political pedantry to decline 
 to support Irish Home Rule if one has strongly upheld the 
 policj' of dividing a colony into two. But from his valuable 
 Victorian and Irish experiences Sir Charles, of all men, 
 should recognise that there is no analogy between the two cases. 
 Port Phillip demanded, with complete unanimity, through her 
 six delegates, not merely Home Rule, but absolute separation 
 from New South Wales. Robert Lowe, though a New South 
 Wales member and a Crown nominee, swayed b}' the justice of 
 the claim, supported it, as his speech shows, on the broadest 
 of Imperial lines. Will Sir Charles Duffy toll us, as he 
 quotes this colonial illustration of the benefits of Home Rule 
 to Victoria — Does Ireland, or docs she not, demand complete 
 separation from England as Port Phillip did from New South 
 
 ' Melbourne Rcviriv, October lH7(i. 
 
 - ' An Australian Example,' by Sir C. Gavan Duffy, K.C.M.G. (Contcmporari/ 
 Review, January 1888). 
 
 L^ 
 
CREATION OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 
 
 237 
 
 "VVUes ? If not, then there is no analogy at all between her case 
 and that of Port Phillip. Robert Lowe was clearl}' of opinion 
 in 1844 that the 20,000 inhabitants of that district should be 
 altogether severed politically from New South Wales ; and it 
 is needless to say that since 1851 Victoria has been as inde- 
 pendent of New South Wales as Canada is of France, or the 
 United States of England. It is doubtless because Lord 
 Sherbrooke believed that the logical if not inevitable outcome 
 of the Home Rule policy is the total separation of Ireland from 
 Great Britain that he declined, not from political pedantry, 
 but from a profound feeling of patriotism, to follow his former 
 leader down the steep declivity. 
 
 ,? 
 
 A week after the delivery of his speech in favour of the 
 separation of Port Phillip, Robert Lowe presented the Report 
 of the Select Committee on Education fsee Appendix, Chapter 
 XIII.) , and moved that it be printed, and taken into con- 
 sideration on the Tuesday week following. He then made 
 this brief announcement of the resignation of his seat as a 
 nominee member of the Legislative Council : — 
 
 It ^vill not be in my power to take charge of the Report on that 
 day, because, having performed the task of preparing it which the 
 Council had lone nie the honour of delegating to me, it is my in- 
 tention immediately to resign my scat as a nominee of the Crown in 
 Council. I regret this the less, however, as I am convinced from 
 the zeal and earnestness with which the inquiry has been prosecuted 
 by the other members of the committee that these measures could 
 not be in better hands than theirs. As to the reasons which have 
 induced me to take this step, it is unnecessary hero to state them. 
 I would simply repeat my former assertion, that I entered the 
 House unfettered and unpledged, and I would add that I now leave 
 it without any conununication on the subject, direct or indirect, 
 with His Excellency the Governor. 
 
 The question that the Report be printed was put and 
 carried. Thus ended for the time behig Lower's connection 
 with the Legislative Council of New South Wales. His 
 resignation of his seat as a Crown nominee took place on 
 
 ."I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 'i 
 
 ' 
 
 ._jL) 
 
I ( 
 
 238 
 
 Lll'i: OF LUKD 811EKBUUOKE 
 
 August IJO, 1844 less than two years after his arrival in the 
 colony, and less than one from the time of his nomination by 
 Sir George Gipps. Yet what a mark ho liad made in the 
 political history of Australia during that brief period ! 
 
 In addition to the indcjiendence of his action in the 
 Council, where he found himself compelled on most (juestions 
 to support the Opposition against the Government officials, 
 there was also a private misunderstanding between Mr. Lowe 
 and Sir George Gipps. It is an old story, which has been 
 often told, but generally with gross inaccuracy. Shortly after 
 ^Ir. and Mrs. Lowe had taken up their residence in Sydney, 
 and were still constant visitors at Government House, certain 
 damaging reports wove spread about home persons who also 
 enjoyed the entree. These reports were believed by the 
 Lowes but ignored by Sir George Gipps, who continued to 
 invite the discredited persons ; whereupon Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lowe ceased to accept further Viceregal invitations. Accord- 
 ingly, those who could not otherwise understand Mr. Lowe's 
 opposition to Sir George Gipps's officials in the Council 
 attributed it to thi, aivate misunderstanding. Such persons 
 realised that for a Crown nominee to act with independence 
 was not the way to achieve a salaried post in the Council — 
 and for what other reason Mr. Lowe had entered the Council 
 they were at a loss to see. 
 
 Mr. lioger Therry, the chief courtier of Sir Richard Bourke, 
 who at first found some difficulty in winning his way into the 
 good graces of his more rugged successor, Sir George Gipps, 
 seized the opportunity to make an attack on Lowe for his in- 
 dependent action as a Crown nominee, purely as a means of 
 ingratiatint: himself with the Governor. It was, he said, like 
 the adder which stung its benefactor to death. Wentworth 
 gave this taunt currency at the Sydney election of 1848, when 
 Lowe opposed him. He even said that tliis absurd attack 
 drove Lowe out of the Council. The facts ar(> plain enough : 
 Lowe resigned his onerous nominee membership, finding his 
 
(iJK.vTioN OF Tin: colony Ol' vktoima 
 
 li^ll 
 
 views <|uite irrecoiu-ilable with those of Sir (jt-orgo Ciipps, who 
 hail Jippoiiik'il hini. The iciuark of a pliant Irish lawyer, 
 eager for fresh, lu^'hly-puiil ciiiployinent, which the Governor 
 
 alone could histow, luul no effect whate 
 
 in determii 
 
 Had no eriect wnauver ni determnini}^ 
 Lowe's resignation. He may hav(> well felt some amazement 
 at such a speech coming from such a (juartcr. Imagine 
 Bishop Ken, or some other stout old Nonjuror, accused of 
 venality by the veritable Vicar of Hray ! Yet this stor.. of 
 Tlierry has been given over and over again as the reason 
 of Lowe's resignation. 
 
 Years afterwards, on his return to England, Lowe describeil 
 tilt; anomalous position of a Crown nominee in his terse anil 
 most felicitous manner : ' If I voted with the Government 1 
 was in danger of being reproached as a mei<' tool ; and if I 
 voted with the 0^, position, as I did on most questions, 1 was 
 reproached by the officials as a traitor to the Government. Li 
 fact I was in this position if 1 voted with the Government 1 
 ■was taunted with being a slave ; and if I voted against tlum 
 I was taunted with being a traitor.' 
 
 When, in the year IS-J;"), Mr. Lowe sought to represent 
 the constituency of St. Vincent and Auckland, the Si/^lnrif 
 Moniitiij Jfnald, which for some reason opposed his election, 
 declared tliat he was a mere place-hunter, and that he had 
 resigned his seat as a Crown nominee simply because he 
 differed from the Governor 'on a (piestion of etiquette.' Sucli 
 a man, actuated by mere pique, would (the Herald feart'd), if 
 it suited him, rush into the Governor's arms, and forget his 
 pledges to the people. To this newspaper attack Lowi', 
 contrary to his custom, replied, and at some lengtli : — 
 
 Place-hunters, men of no lixed principle, and sycophants do 
 not usually quarrel with governors on points of etiquette, or make 
 their support conditional upon being allowed to exchule whomsoever 
 they please from their houses, I may be servile, or I may be <1icta- 
 toriiil, but I cannot be both. 
 
 
 1 , . 
 ill • 
 
 I 
 
 li 
 
 n' 
 
 He then reviews his conduct while sitthig in the Council 
 
 1'^ 
 
f 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 1 : 
 
 I : 
 
 I 
 
 U 
 
 240 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIfiRBROOKF 
 
 as a Crown nominee in words that niiiat remain his best 
 defence, if, indeed, any defence be necessary : — 
 
 I novor was a thick-and-thin supporter of the Governor, nor yet 
 in Council was I his bitterest opponent. I entered the Council sin- 
 cerely anxious to do my duty to the country, and voted against the 
 Government on the AViiter Police Bill, my vote turnin^j: the scale 
 aj,'ainst them, almost innnediately after I was appointed nominee ; 
 this is at the very time when, according to you, I was qualifying for 
 the ofVice of Groom of the Stole. When 1 found the Governor and 
 Council brought into direct collision with each other, I resigned my 
 seat, feeling a repugnance to vote systematically against the person 
 to whom I owed it, and being firmly determined not to injure the 
 country for whom I held it. Those who, like you, habitually seek 
 for the most paltry and miserable motives for the conduct of public 
 men, will of course attach no credit to my assertion ; but there are 
 spirits more honourabU) and generous than you, who will believe me 
 when I say that my conduct in Council would have been precisely 
 the same had no private difference existed between the Governor 
 and myself. 
 
 Nothing can possibly l)e added to this statement ; it may 
 be accepted as an absolutely truthfnl snmmary of his motives 
 and pnblic condnet dnring the brief time that he sat as a 
 Crown nominee in the first Australian Parliament. 
 
 The rnpture between Mr. Lowe and Sir George Gipps 
 grew wider after the former re-entered the Legislative Council 
 as a * popular,' or elected, member. Li a very short time Lowe 
 became the leader of that dangerous Opposition which Sir 
 George had at one time hoped he would have been the means of 
 overthrowing. This of course gave point and piquancy to the 
 oft- repeated tale that it was on a mere question of etiquette 
 that Piobert Lowe had quarrelled with the Governor. 
 
 It is now (pute live -and- forty yesLVS since Sir George Gipps 
 was laid to rest in the cloisters of Canterbury, followed a few 
 years afterwards by his friend, Bishop Broughton, who died 
 at the house of Lady Gipps, and is also buried in that great 
 cathedral. Of the Governor's political opponents, Wentworth, 
 Windeyer, Cowper, Lang, all have long since passed away ; and 
 to these we must now add Lord Sherbrooke himself. Under 
 
CREATION OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 241 
 
 the circumstances, one touches as Hghtly as possible on tho 
 private feuds and personal quarrels of that old fierce time in 
 Sydney. Lord Sherbrooke himself said to me some few years 
 ago : ' It was always a great regret to me that I had been 
 compelled to oppose Sir George Gipps so strongly, as ho had 
 always been personally most kind.' ' 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Speech delivered bij Robert Lowe in tho Debate on the Separat ion of 
 Port Phillijy. Legislative Council, Sijdneij, August '20, 1844. 
 
 INIr. Lowe said that far different from his friend, Dr. Nicholson, was 
 his theory with regard to the prosperity of the Colonies. As a general rule, 
 the interests of the Colonies were not consulted by frittering them away 
 into minute particles, but by combining as large a territory into a singlo 
 State as could be effectually controlled by a single Govornmont. Ho 
 cordially agreed in the abstract truth of the motto prefixed to the article 
 in the newspaper of this morning, that ' Union is strength,' and he would 
 extend that principle to the whole Colonial Empire of Great Britain. Ho 
 held and believed that the time was not remote when Great Britain would 
 give lip the idea of treating tlie dependencies of the Crown as children, to 
 be cast adrift by their parent as soon as they arrive at manliood, and 
 substitute for it the far wiser and nobler policy of knitting herself and her 
 Colonies into one mighty Confederacy, girdling the earth in its wliole cir- 
 cumference, and confident against the world in arts and arms. Neither 
 could he agree that the separation would be otherwise than injurious, in 
 some extent, at least, to New South Wales. It iiaiplied the loss of a fertile 
 and wealthy province, already paying much more into the Treasury than 
 it drew out of it ; and he was also fearful that a separation might be at- 
 tended with that animosity and ill-feeling which were so apt to prevail 
 between neighbouring States, and that the result might be a war of tariffs 
 and restrictive duties, which he held in utter horror and aversion ; but 
 still, compelled by the force of truth and justice, he was bound to say that 
 these considerations came too late. 
 
 When the district was first settled, it became the duty of Government 
 to consider, and they doubtless did consider, what was to bo its future 
 destiny, and he firmlj' believed that that destiny was separation. He could 
 not agree in the wisdom of the decision, but it was too late to object now. 
 The district had been placed out of the jurisdiction of the Sydney courts ; 
 its boundaries had been defined, its accounts kept separate from the first ; 
 it was provided with officers presiding over every department of the Service ; 
 the machinery was ready — all that was needed was independence. It was 
 
 ' See Australia and the Eminre, chap, i., ' Robert Lowe in Syliiey.' 
 VOL. I. R 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 I 
 
 '! t 
 
 '1 
 
 ^'1 
 
 „.i- 
 
242 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 I ' 
 
 ! 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 >i ^ 
 
 H 
 
 I! ' 
 
 1 I 
 
 1^ ii 
 
 I 
 
 f : 
 
 » \ 
 
 not natiirnl, it was not reasonable, that any comnnmity of Englishmen 
 should remain content with such a state of hiuRS— they would be despicable 
 if they did so. It was the essence of a good Executive Government that it 
 should be well acquainted with the concerns of its subjectp, and they with 
 it ; that it should act upon public opinion, and be reacted upon in its turn. 
 How were these conditions of good government realised for Port Phillip ? 
 The Executive knew little of the province, the province less of the Execu- 
 tive. The very arrangements of the post, which only gave a few hours for 
 answering a letter, rendered it impossible that due consideration should 
 be given to matters of urgency. The system might now be able to be 
 improved, but it had prevailed for years. The representation assigned to 
 I'ort Phillip in that Council was a still gi-eater evil. If Lord Chatham 
 was right in saying that the idea of virtu il representation was contempt- 
 ible : how much more contemptible was the actual representation of Port 
 Phillip. He did not scruple to say it was no representation at all ; he 
 granted the ability of these gentlemen, but what was their local knowledge ; 
 they did not profess to possess it. Representation in his opinion meant 
 something more than the sending ])ersons to vote and speak in a popular 
 assembly ; it meant the power and opportunity of sending persons well 
 ac<inainted with the wants and wishes of the community, of which they 
 formed a part, and able to turn that knowledge to the best account in 
 every emergency that arose. That power, that opportunity, was denied 
 to Port Phillip. Suiipose that Port Phillip were separated from this colony 
 and annexed to Canada, with the right of sending six representatives to 
 its Assembly. They might, no doubt, find six Canadians who would take 
 the ofiice on thcii.selves, but was that representation ? And if not, what 
 was the prr :tical difference between Canada and Sydney ? 
 
 The lasL and most intolerable evil he would mention was that Port 
 Pliillip was the dependent of a dependency ; was governed by a viceroy's 
 vicegerent ; was saddled with a double evil of two absentee governments. 
 Did the Council adopt his language, they would say to Port Phillip: 'Wo 
 have eaten too long the bitter bread of dependence to wish to have de- 
 pendents of our own ; we have felt too long the evil of having our money 
 sjjcnt on Ih'itish objects, to wish to spend the money of others; we have 
 felt too long the evil of being governed by strangers from England, towisli 
 to intrude strangers upon you.' 
 
 If they holil this language, tliey would be indeed apidying the golden 
 rule of Christianity, wliich is true in politics as in morals. He believed 
 with the Colonial Secretary tliat Si|i;iration would be eventually carried, 
 and he did not believe that an v vote ol' that House would eitlier accelerate 
 or retard it ; but tlu-y also had justice to ask, they also had irrievances to 
 redress. And if they failed in tlieir petition, they woidd have the bitter 
 rellection tliat they were only receiving liack in their bosom the same 
 measure which they had meted to tlieir bretln-en. 
 
» '/ 
 
 •243 
 
 (■] 
 
 %. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE EDUCATION QUESTION 
 
 Sir Richard Bourkc and Lord Stanley's Iriiih National System -Attitude of 
 Dr. UUathorne —Robert Lowe becomes its chief advocate-l'irst Sreech to 
 the people of Sydney— Royer Therry and M. Guizot -Mr. Lowe and the 
 Council checkmated 
 
 On the base of the statue of Sir llieharcl Boiirke in Sydney 
 may he read these words : — 
 
 Ho ostabhshcd rehjifions equahty on a just and firm basii^, and 
 sought to provide for aU, without distinction of sect, a sound and 
 adequate system of national education. 
 
 It is true enougli that he ' son«j;hl," Imt lln'ou<j;h no far.lt 
 of his own he failed to ' i)r()vide ' such an unsectarian system 
 of national education, which was avowedly based on Ijord 
 Stanley's Irish scheme. Sir rjchard was Governor-General 
 of New South Wales and its dependencies from 1831-1887, 
 when he was succeeded by Sir George Gii)})s. 
 
 It is not a little astonishing to find that tlu; chief sup- 
 porter of this plan of unscctarian education, Mliich Sir Richard 
 Bourke first tried to introduce into Australia, should have 
 been the Roman Catholic Vicar-General, J)r. L'llathorne, after- 
 wards ]3ishop of Rirminghani. It was also supported then, 
 and afterwards in the time of Sir George Gip})s, by the two 
 leading Roman Catholic laymen in the colony, IVfr. Roger 
 Therry and Mr. John Hubert Plunkett, botli of whom were 
 originally sent out to Australia as high ol'licials by tho English 
 Whig Government, then in alliance with Haniel O'Connell. 
 riunkett was a high-minded gentleman of strong religious 
 
 i'i 
 
 K!l' 
 
 -^i 
 
w^ 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 244 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 convictions ; so that his unwavering support of a system of 
 education now denounced as * godless ' is ahnost as note- 
 worthy as that of Dr. Ullathorne himself. It was doul)tles3 
 the co-operation of these three leading Eoman Catholics ' 
 which aroused the suspicious ire of Dr. Lang, and other 
 influential Protestant public men in the colony, who contrived 
 to defeat the well-laid plan of Sir Eichard Bourke. 
 
 It was inevitable that such a body as the newly constituted 
 Legislative Council, under Sir George Gipps, should revive 
 the subject of public education. All that was wanted was a 
 popular leader, who had now turned up in the person of 
 Robert Lowe. Unfortunately, after procuring the select 
 committee and presenting its report (which was, in a very 
 special sense, his own), Lowe felt himself compelled to resign 
 bis seat. This was a severe loss to the cause of which he was 
 the champion. After Lowe's retirement from the Council, 
 Mr. Robiii.^on, the Quaker member for Port Phillip, moved 
 a series of resolutions, based on the report of the select 
 committee, in favour of establishing a national unsectarian 
 system of education to be controlled l)y a Board whose 
 members should represent the various religious bodies. It 
 was on the occasion of this debate that Dr. Lang, who had 
 been converted from sectarianism, spoke, he tells us, for 
 three hours, ' during the whole of which time Mr. Lowe was 
 present in the House.' 
 
 But if Robert Lowe's voice was silent witliin the walls of 
 
 the Council, it was raised for the first time, and most effec- 
 
 ' Mr. lUiKclen'a more subtle explanation of this coinpuct is, that Sir Eichard 
 Bourke was attnated by the policy of his Whi},' masters in Lord Melbourne's 
 Cabinet : ' In his speech to the Council in IH.SH, ho (Sir Richard) was able to 
 say that he had it " in command from the Secretary of State to represent their 
 wants " ; and to promise the co-operation of that functionary in giving assistance 
 to lionian Catholic schools, and njipointing additional lionian Catholic chaplains. 
 Tlius early did the Wliigs bid for support in Ireland by offers of colonial 
 patrona^'e. . . . Between January ISii'i and December IHiJ'), they paid " outfit 
 and passage " for nine Roman Catholic priests and eatcchists. In the same 
 period, they paiil outfit and passage for one clergyman of the Church of 
 llngland.' lliatori/ of Aimtralia, vol. ii. pp. 144-5. 
 
 :1 
 
THE EDUCATION QUESTION 
 
 245 
 
 tively, on this education ([uestion, at public meetings in the 
 city of Sydney. The first of these meetings was convened by 
 the Mayor, Mr. J. AV. Wilshire, at the request of a number of 
 citizens, and took place on September 2, 1844, at the Sydney 
 theatre. Lowe's experiences on his first attempt to address 
 a mass meeting in the colony were by no means pleasant. 
 In fact, he and most of the speakers were refused a hearing. 
 The following attempt to report him on this occasion will 
 convey some notion of his rowdy audience : — 
 
 Mr. Lowe came forward to move the Ih-st Resolution [hisses]. 
 As Chairman of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council 
 [cries of ]>rivile(ie ! livivilajd !\ appointed to iiKn.ire into and report 
 upon the subject of education, he had thout^dit that it was only right 
 to come forward and to propose a Resolution which was one step 
 towards the carrying out of the reconnnendations of that Committee, 
 which had been submitted to the public in various ways, and which 
 he had no doubt that those present were prepared to discuss with 
 him. [Uproar.] 
 
 After several other persistent attempts to obtain a hearing, 
 he was comj)letely howled down. 
 
 One or two Roman Catholic priests and a journalist of 
 that persuasion here mounted the platform, and secured some 
 degree of trantpiillity for a time. ]\[r. Lowe, despairing, 
 however, of a hearing, concluded by simply moving the 
 resolution : — 
 
 That it is the duty of the State in every Christian connnunity to 
 provide the means of a good Connnon Education to be conducted 
 agreeably to the principles of the Christian religion. 
 
 The oidy speaker who succeeded that evening in getting 
 a hearing was the Rev. J. !M'Enci'oe, a well-known Roman 
 Catholic priest, who denounced at great length the judge and 
 packed jury who had tried Daniel O'Connell — which, as the 
 Mayor mildly pointed out, had no very direct bearing on the 
 subject in hand. 
 
 The iiuvitalile result of this disgraceful proceeding was 
 to enlist on the side of Mr. Lowe the sympathies of that 
 
 • I ; 
 
 I!' 
 
 I, . 
 
 1 ! 
 
 'ifl 
 
 ! 
 
 

 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ll 
 
 246 
 
 Lri'l': OF LOUD SHEinJIIOOKK 
 
 large but undemonstrative body of people who happily exist 
 in every British community, but who do not turn up at 
 public meetings, nor under excitement revert to the harsh 
 ni.iises of primeval man. Several letters in the press, written 
 evidently by this better type of citizen, attest the general in- 
 dignation that was felt at the ungracious reception accorded 
 to Mr. Lowe and liis friends. But the Mayor of Sydney — to 
 the end of the chapter a strong supporter — was not the man 
 to rest content with this abortive effort, and accordingly he 
 convened a second meeting, which was held on the following 
 Saturday afternoon at three o'clock in the theatre of the 
 School of Arts. The chief speaker was again Mr. Lowe, and 
 on this occasion he experienced an enthusiastic welcome and 
 was accorded a most respectful hearing. This speech may 
 therefore be considered as his hrst public address to the 
 people of Sydney. It was in every sense worthy of himself 
 and of the occasion. The following synopsis furnishes the 
 l)est commentary on the report of the select committee, and 
 will sliow the great difficulties which he and his colleagues 
 were contending against in a sparsely populated pastoral 
 country like New South "Wales — ' sown,' as it had been, with 
 the ' rotten seed ' of convictism — in their efforts to preserve 
 the rising generation from lapsing into unadulterated savagery. 
 After explaining at some length the object and practical work- 
 ing of Lord Staidey's system, Mr. Lowe thus proceeded : — 
 
 Such a system was especially adapted to a comnumity like that 
 of New South Wales, not only from its fairness to all, but on account 
 of its ductility and plasticity, which would onnble it to adapt itself 
 to the great variety of roliifions denominations into which the people 
 were divided. The system which was now proposed required no 
 compromise, unless, indeed, it shoiUd be argued by any that religious 
 instruction alone should occupy all the hours of every day which 
 were passed in the school l)y the child, lie had himself been at 
 school in former years, and he knew well that if he had attempted 
 to devote the whol(> of his time, diiy after day, to reading the Bible 
 instead of attendinij^ to his other studies, he should have been well 
 flogged — and well h(^ would have deserved it, and the only objection 
 
 If .' 
 
THE EDUCATION QUESTION' 
 
 24; 
 
 which anyone could nrpro against the system was that the Bihl(> was 
 not the subject of everyday study. He thought it an advantage that 
 the schools should he under the control of a Board rather than 
 under that of isolated and antagonistic clergymen. Twenty-one 
 witnesses have been examined hy the Select Conunittee, seven of 
 whom were in favour of a Denominational System, while fourteen 
 advocated a general sy-toii. of education. Among these seven, too, 
 it must be recollected, there were those w-ho had been called, not so 
 much to ascertain what system might best be introduced, but what 
 ternis they were willir g to accede to ; such wore the Lord l>isho[) of 
 Australia (Dr. Broughton), Archbishop Folding and Mr. M'Kenn} , 
 the head of the Wesleyan Connexion. The Committee did not 
 expect that these witnesses would assent to any proposition of ii, 
 general system ; they wished only to ascertain their opinions as to 
 the state of education in the colony — to hear from them the means 
 they would suggest to remedy evils the existence of which all 
 acknowledged, so that they might lay the matter before the Council, 
 fully and fairly, exhibiting all the dangers and all the difllcidties 
 against v/hich wo have to contend. But the evidence of the two 
 most important witnesses in favour of Denominational education 
 did not militate much against the general unsectarian system whicli 
 the committee proposed. 
 
 Mr. Lowo then proceeded to read from tlie ofTicinl records 
 of the Legislative Council the report of the evidence of Dr. 
 Broughton, the English ]>isliop, and — what was more to the 
 point — that of the Boman Catholic Archbishop, Dr. ]\)Iding. 
 When we bear in mind that Dr. Polding, unlike the former 
 Vicar-General, Dr. Ullathorne, was an avowed enemy of the 
 general, or unsectarian, system, his admissions in favour of 
 Lord Stanley's Irish scheme are well deserving of reproduction. 
 Dr. Nicholson, a member of the special committee, asked if 
 the Archbishop were accjuaintcd with the Irish system of edu- 
 cation. The Archbishop replied that he was ; and he was tlien 
 requested to state his views of that system. 
 
 'I think,' he said, 'it is a system well devised for the circum- 
 stances under which Ireland is placed. It is not, I acknowledge, the 
 system I would adopt, nor do I believe that any person in my situa- 
 tion would adopt it vohmtai'ily. Still, there are advantages 
 attending it. The bringiiig up of the children together —the ex- 
 clusion of books which misrepresent religious tenets ; which teacli 
 
 t i 
 
 I 
 
 
 ' :iii 
 
 .*'■ 
 
 I ' 
 I 
 
 I , 
 
 
 H: 
 
 4! 
 
 I! 
 
 m:^iic:r}mij'A^: 
 
248 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 I , 
 
 I ! 
 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 children to hate, and to hold others in contempt by reason of such 
 misrepresentation ; -which teach them practically that a lie loses the 
 oiliousness of its character in such matters, and perjury its dreadiul 
 wickedness; and the abstraction ' the food of religious prejudices, 
 Avhich tend so much to sour socii and to alienate men from each 
 other. These are advantages whicli Liumot be estimated too highly.' 
 
 On the platform, supporting the Mayor and Mr. Lowe, was 
 a remarkable and motley group, including Dr. Lang, Mr. 
 liogcr Therry (still staunch to the cause of unseetarianism), and 
 ^[r. Lowe's old duelling antagonist. Alderman Macdermott. 
 By far the most important speech after Lowe's was that of 
 Roger Therry. He was a somewhat subtle and obsequious 
 person, a man as fond of office as a cat is of the fire. During his 
 varied career he had seen much of men and things, had written 
 a ' Life ' of Canning, and was a kinsman as well as an early friend 
 of Daniel O'Connell. As was always said of him in the colony, 
 Therry was a legal Yicar of Bray in the skill and tenacity with 
 Avhich he stuck to lucrative office. It is therefore greatly to his 
 credit that he remained staunch to his convictions on the edu- 
 cation question, though the head of the State to whom he looked 
 for promotion, as v oil as the head of his Church, was opposed 
 to the policy of Sir Richard Bourke. Rising after Mr. Lowe at 
 this great public meeting, Mr. Then-y read an extract from a 
 private letter which he had received in 1830 from Sir Richard 
 Bourke, which showed how deternihi((l that able Governor had 
 Ijcen to introduce into the colony Lord Stanley's L'ish system. 
 
 In that letter Sir Richard observed : • The principal 
 feature in the Irish plan, namely, the separation of literary 
 and moral from religious instruction, will suit the mixed creeds 
 of our populat'on. The subject of general education in this 
 increasing colony is that upon which / ani most anxious. I 
 have set viij heart on lai/iiifi a f/ood foundation u'lilht I am in 
 ojjiee. I dreiid much, even in this reforming age, the blighting 
 influence of religious intolerance.' 
 
 Ml". Therry then became autobiographical, and told the 
 meeting that in 1822 he was the Secretary of the National 
 
f t7 
 
 THE EDUCATION QUESTION 
 
 249 
 
 Society of Education in Ireland, and that from that time he 
 had become convinced * that in a community of mixed creeds 
 the only system that could succeed was one that adopted as 
 its leading principle the affording the same facilities for edu- 
 cation to all classes of professing Christians, without any 
 attempt to interfere with the peculiar religious opinions of any 
 or to countenance proselytism.' 
 
 Mr. Therry then went on to prove that many of the Irish 
 Bishops, such as his friend the well-known Dr. Doyle, were 
 strongly in favour of Lord Stanley's plan. 
 
 In the course of his really excellent speech, Mr. Therry 
 gave what he truly regarded as a striking instance of the spread 
 of toleration, an instance which I venture to think very few 
 modern readers have ever met with, and which therefore I 
 quote hi his own words : — 
 
 Look to India, and see how the spirit of toleration and Christian 
 chanty has advanced there. An ofticer of the name of Martin, who 
 had risen from the position of a private soldier to the rank of a 
 Major-General in the British Army, left on his death the whole of 
 his property (which was very considerable) towards the endowment 
 of a public school. It was the wish of the Bishop of Calcutta, Dr. 
 Wilson, to found this school on the express doctrines and discipline 
 of the Church of En,i,dand ; but finding such was not the design of 
 the founder, that truly excellent and Christian bishop applied him- 
 self, in the spirit of that charity which hopeth all things and 
 believeth all things, to ordain the establislnuent, so that while it 
 afforded sound practical education to all sects of Christians, it should 
 offer no offence to the opinions of any. 
 
 Mr. Therry brought his speech to a conclusion by the 
 following words of a great French politician, which were 
 loudly cheered by the whole meeting : — 
 
 It is desirable (says M. Gui/.ot, with his usual wisdom), it is 
 desirable that children whose parents do not profess the same 
 religious opinions, slmuld early contract, by frequi'nting the same 
 school, those habits of natural good-will and tolerance which grow 
 into sentiments of justiic and union when tbeyl)eoonie fellow-citizens. 
 The strife and struggle of the world, do what we will, nmst always 
 give rise to differences and dissensions enough. Let us not promote 
 
 ;m 
 
 'I 
 
 » ■/■!■ 
 '1 1' , 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 
 i' 
 
 ft 
 
 m 1 
 
 'ii 
 
7 H5 ! 
 
 Hi 
 
 ill 
 
 250 
 
 LIIE OF LOUD SIIERHIJOOKi: 
 
 1: 
 
 and augment them — let us not embitter the conflict when come it 
 must — by artificial distinctions and divisions in the education of the 
 young. Depend upon it, that everything which tends to unite us, 
 whom all evil passions tend to separate, in aft'octionate good-will 
 towards each other, is a great advantage— is a great blessing ; but it 
 is to little purpose *^^hat wo inculcate fellowship and union to 
 persons of mature years, i<" we insist on teaching children severance, 
 and alienation, and distrust. 
 
 Truly a strange and memorable speech to ishiie from the 
 lips of the ' lay champion of Catholicism in the colony,' as 
 one of the subsequent speakers described Mr. Therry. It will 
 serve to show that v^c have retrograded rather than advanced 
 both in England and in Australia (to say nothing of Ireland) 
 if we bear in mind that fifty j'ears ago these were the views 
 held l)y the three leading Roman Catholics in Australia — Di'. 
 Ullathorne, Mr. Plunkett, and Mr. lloger Therry. 
 
 ])espite the activity and vigour of Mr. Lowe and othdrs 
 outside, and of Mr. Therry and the leading members insidt> 
 the Legislative Council, the friends of a general system of 
 State education were doomed to further disappointment. 
 Mr. Rol)hison, the Quaker member, sturdily moved reso- 
 lutions in favour of the adoption of Mr. Lowe's Report ; after 
 mueli debate Wentworth succeeded in carrying, by thirteen 
 votes to twelve, the following Address to his Excellency the 
 Governor : — 
 
 That it is advisable to introduce Lord Stanley's system of 
 National Education, with this modification, that instead of tho 
 clergy and pastors of tho several denominations being allowed to im- 
 part religious instruction in the schools, the children be allowed to 
 be absent from school one day in every week, exclusive of Sunday, 
 for the purpose of receiving such instruction elsewere, but that all 
 Denominational schools now in existence, having schoolhouses 
 already built, which have been or shall be wilhin the next twelve 
 months conveyed in trust for the purpose of tho school, and having 
 now, or which sliall have; within the nexttwf'lve months, an average 
 attendance of fifty scholars, shall be cntit^ '1 to aid from the l»oard. 
 
 Sir George Gipps dealt very dipk^wiatieally with this 
 Address — that is to say, while expressing s. general agreement 
 
THE KDUCATION (iUKSTlON 
 
 251 
 
 with it, he contrived promptly to shelve it. The persistent 
 Mr. Robinson, with the assistance of Wentworth, then suc- 
 ceeded in carrying another Address, by twenty-two votes to 
 five, requesting Sir George to place 2,000/. on the Estimates 
 to initiate the general system of State education. The 
 Governor, on the plea of national bankruptcy, vetoed it, 
 according to Dr. Lang, at the direct instigation of Bishop 
 Broughton (see X')t<' A), 
 
 So ended for the time being the struggle; for a com- 
 prehensive system of National Education, in which Robert 
 Lowe, b(4h in tlu> Council and before the country, bore the 
 leading part. 
 
 NOTE A. 
 Tu Df'/cuce oj' Bishop BroiujJdon. 
 
 On tho miuciple <nidi alteram j arfem, the fof1f>wing extract from an 
 artiv !(> iu inc; Hijdnrij Morninfj H,r<\U, of Scirt.. uibcr IH, 1844, is here 
 i\>>^un\iled. Bishop Broujj[hton, us head of the Af^'Hcan ("liiirch, was tho 
 chief oppoiuiit of thu State MVHteui of unsectariaii (Jncat ion. advocated by 
 Lord Sherbroolie, when in New South Wales, and by most of the leading 
 colonial public inon from his day to that of Mr. Gfoi<,'e llij^inbotham 
 and Mr. Wilhevforcc Stephen in Victoria, and Sir Iknry I'.ukes in New 
 South Wales: — 
 
 ' We are not afraid to say that we arc persuaded that much of this 
 new-fashioned zeal for the Irisli system arises fionijeidousy of the Church 
 of En<,dand. A\'o wonder, then, that it should not ha\ o oecurred to those 
 who are actuated by this feeling that the liberalised roLrulation is exactly 
 calculated to place the workinj; of the systfm. in most jiartsof tho colony, 
 in the hands of that Church. According to the Census of 1841, tho Church 
 of England throughout the colon v numbered thirty-six members to .en of 
 the Church of Scotland, forty to ten of all other Protestants, twenty to 
 ten of Roman Catholics, fourteen to ten of all other relitrions. Such being 
 its inunense ascendency in point of numbers, to say iiothing of its known 
 ascendency in point of wealth and intelligence, the upper classes belonging 
 chiefly to its communion, would there not be every reason to expect th« 
 in very many places the local patronage of schools would naturally a^nd 
 inevitably fall into tho hands of the clergy and laity ol the Church of 
 England'? In the north of Ireland, it appears to have fallen into the 
 hands of tho Presbyterians, because they are there the majority of th« 
 population ; in the south, into the hands of tho IJoman Catholics, foa: tltt: 
 same reason. And if such be tho plastic nature of the s\ stem in Irelanii 
 taking whatever form may be impressed upon it by local majorities,- 
 
 'M 
 
 ' !■ 
 
 . % 
 
 \ I ii I t 
 
 ■» '• i i i t 
 
 I 
 
 rh,! 
 
 I li 
 
 
 >' 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 .1 
 
 1 |! 
 
 ik' 
 
 1 • 
 
i 
 
 252 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD .SIIEIJBllOOKE 
 
 would it not bo equally yielding in Now South Wales, and thus become 
 moulded and fashioned by that very Church of which its advocates are 
 already so jealous.' 
 
 That Bishop Broujjhton took the decided stand he did against the 
 introduction of Lord Stanley's Irish system into New South Wales is, I 
 take it, proof positive that he considered it would not give his Church any 
 such ascendency in education matters. As well as being a very upright 
 and excellent man, he was not wanting in political shrewdness. His 
 policy has been followed by all the Anglican bishops in Austi-alia, even 
 including Dr. Moorhouse. 
 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
 Vi \ 
 
 I i 
 
253 
 
 ome 
 I are 
 
 tho 
 is, I 
 any 
 ight 
 His 
 ven 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE * atlas' and ITS CONTRIBDTOUS 
 
 Condition of the Colony— Appearance of tlic Atlas— Lowe's Articles and 
 Verses — Attacks Colonial Otlice— Satirises Sir George Gipps and Roger 
 Therry — Songs of the Sq alters — Principal Contributors 
 
 The next act in the Australian career of Lord Sherbrooke 
 reveals him in the role of a journalist. Ife resif^ned his scat 
 in the Council in August 1844, and all through Septemher 
 was very prominent at the great public meetings held in 
 Sydney on the education question. Politically, the colony 
 was in what is termed a state of transition, and the minds of 
 men were much agitated on public questions. 
 
 Financially, New South Wales was still in a deplorable 
 state ; but the Governor was resolved that he, and not the 
 Council, should provide the much needed remedy. Sir 
 George Gipps, like many leading English statesmen of the 
 day, was a disciple of that eccentric genius, Edward Gibbon 
 Wakefield, the most gifted but most misleading theorist who 
 ever bent his mind to the solution of colonial problems. It 
 was in obedience to the teachings of Wakefield that the 
 Imperial Parliament in 1841 (when Australia, as we have 
 seen, was in a state of general insolvency) passed an Act 
 fixing the minimum price of land at 1/. an acre. This caused 
 interminable disputes between the Governor and the Legis- 
 lative Council. Sir George's subsequent land policy led to 
 the establishment of the ' Pastoral Association of New South 
 Wales.' Piobert Lowe had joined this body just before he 
 
 » ( 
 
 I V 
 
 ! i 
 
 I 
 
 i i 
 
 
 
 
 1?^ 
 
 i 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 to 121 
 
 ■25 
 
 112.2 
 
 m 
 
 L25 III 1.4 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WIST MAIN STRUT 
 
 WIBSTIR.N.Y. MSaO 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 ^'V^ 
 "-^ 
 

 A 4 
 
 ^ 
 
!i! i 
 
 1 i 
 
 I ' 
 
 H 
 
 254 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEIIBROOKE 
 
 resigned his seat in the Council. He had devoted a great 
 deal of time to the study of the land question, and was 
 accounted the most active member of Mr. Charles Cowper's 
 Select Committee appointed to report upon all grievances 
 connected with the lands of the territory. He had, indeed, 
 made himself as familiar with the agrarian as he was with 
 the education question in the colony. 
 
 But what was the use of all this knowledge, as he had no 
 longer a seat in the Council '? It was this consideration, 
 doubtless, which led him, then a busy barrister in ex- 
 cellent practice, to assist in founding the Atlas, a * Sydney 
 Weekly Journal of Politics, Commerce, and Literature.' The 
 first number appeared on Saturday, November 30, 1844, and 
 opened with an exhaustive essay, entitled ' The Present 
 Condition and Future Prospects of New South Wales.' This 
 article, which was probably a joint production, was in effect 
 the manifesto of the pastoral tenants and settlers, who 
 were quite at the mercy of the Sydney executive — or, in 
 other words, of Sir George Gipps. But the Atlas was by no 
 means devoted merely to the advocacy of land reform. Not a 
 question bearing on the prosperity or future greatnesf of Aus- 
 tralia but was treated in its attractive columns, sometimes in 
 weighty and eloquent prose, often in light and pungent verse. 
 
 T have before me as I write the late Lord Sherbrooke's 
 bound volumes of * marked,' or 'office' copies of the vitlas, 
 which reveal to those who are acquainted with the initials the 
 names of all the chief contributors to this remarkable journal. 
 In the earlier issues a very large proportion of the leading 
 articles were from that powerful pen which, in after years, in 
 the columns of the Times, appealed often with irresistible 
 force to the statesmen and reading public of Europe. Most 
 of these A tlas * leaders ' were devoted to local and ephemeral 
 topics, which would no longer interest even the immediate 
 descendants of the old pioneer squatters of New South Wales, 
 v/ho so keenly relished them when they first issued from the 
 
THE ' ATLAS ' AND ITS CONTRUUTOUS 
 
 255 
 
 press. But l)y its treatment of what might be called Anglo- 
 colonial problems the A tlas may fairly claim to have been second 
 only in importance to the Legislative Council itself in achieving 
 self-government for Australia. 
 
 The prevailing ' note ' of the Atlas during the short period 
 that the late Lord Sherbrooke directed its style and policy 
 was its outspoken common-sense. He never allowed it to 
 rave, and though he freely used both invective and ridicule, 
 the journal was never hysterical. Take the following plea for 
 Australian self-government, and observe how fairly the balance 
 is held between the mother-country and the colony : — 
 
 The grand object to be attained, then, is legislative power com- 
 mensurate with our knowledge and our wants. We can only ensure 
 it by steadily and temperately showing that we understand and 
 shall not abuse it. It is galling, no doubt, to be treated as an infant 
 after the period of infancy has passed away ; but it is not a pleasant 
 display to see a child kicking itself out of its mother's arms merely 
 because it is conscious of legs and convinced that it can run alone. 
 Let us show that we have that high qualification for civil liberty 
 which consists in putting moral chains on our own passions. Let 
 our representatives have patience, while they steadily and i-espect- 
 fully press in the direction of the great object; the fi^ranting of 
 which by the mother-country will be the surest means of strengthen- 
 ing and continuing those amicable arrangements which both parent 
 and child must be anxious to retain. 
 
 
 t ':;) 
 
 I I 
 I 
 
 if 
 
 These are wise words ; and it may not be out of place to 
 remind the rising generation of Australians, who have merely 
 reaped the reward of the labours of their forefathers, that 
 the great men who really won for them their civil and political 
 rights were patriotic Englishmen, profoundly stirred by the 
 noble traditions of our common race ; and that, however 
 much they may have quarrelled with Governors and Downing 
 Street oflicials, their loyalty to England and to English insti- 
 tutions was the mainsprhig of all their actions. 
 
 The number of leading articles written by 'Mv. Lowe for 
 the Aihis during the time of his virtual editorslii[)— that is, 
 from its foundation up to May or June 1815- is simply 
 
25G 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERr.IlOOKE 
 
 l|f 
 
 > ! 
 
 f ' 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 II 
 
 i 
 
 astonishing. As a rule, in each numl)er he wrote two or three 
 long opening articles, in every one of which there is a vigour 
 of expression and a depth and originality of thought which 
 place the composition on quite another plane to that of the 
 mere semi-mechanical work of the practised hack leader- 
 writer. 
 
 Take the series of articles dealing with the different phases 
 of the relations between England and the Colonies ; they are 
 to this day as fresh and instructive as when they were written. 
 Many years afterwavc's, when the recent Chief Justice of 
 Victoria (Mr. Higinbotham), as Attorney-General of that 
 colony, carried on a bitter controversy with the late Lord 
 Cardwell, then Colonial Secretary of State, it will be still 
 remembered in Australia what effective use he made of the 
 phrase ' Government by despatches ' ; nor can any true 
 Victorian have forgotten his discovery that the affairs of 
 the colony, supposed to be self-governing, were not really 
 controlled by the local Ministry, nor by the Governor, nor 
 even by the Colonial Secretary, but by * a clerk named Eogers.' 
 This was Mr. Higinbotham's way of saying that the late Lord 
 Blachford, then Sir Frederick Eogers, chief clerk in the 
 Colonial Office, was tlie ultimate ruler of Victoria. But Mr. 
 Lowe had made a number of similar discoveries twenty years 
 before Mr. Higinbotham, and had explained the matter to the 
 people of New South Wales in equally epigrammatic language. 
 Read the article on * Eesponsible Government ' in the Atlas 
 of December 28, 1844 :— 
 
 Let us see what are the links in the chain. The Governor, who 
 knows little, and cares less, about the colony — whose hiterest is in 
 every respect anti-colonial whenever the interests of the colony and 
 the Empire are supposed to clash — is responsible to the clerks of the 
 Colonial Office, who care as little as he, and know even less about 
 us than himself. The clerks are responsible to the Colonial Secre- 
 tary,' who, equally unknowing and uncaring, is besides, for our 
 special benefit, a first-rate debater, whose head is full of Corn Laws, 
 
 ' Then Lord Stanley, the late Earl of Derby. 
 
 
 L 
 
■■ 
 
 MSI 
 
 TIIE'ATI.AS' AND 1T8 CONTRIBUTORS 
 
 257 
 
 and Factory Bills, and Repeal of the Union, whoso mornin<];s are 
 spent, not in going through that twentieth part of the business 
 allotted him as Colonial Minister which it is possible for the most 
 laborious of human beings to accomplish, but in excogitating sound 
 pummellings for Cobden, stinging invectives for O'Connell, and 
 epigrammatic repartees for Lord John Russell. This functionary is 
 in turn responsible to an Assembly chosen for a gi'eat number of 
 reasons — for wealth, for family connections, for moderate opinions, 
 for extreme opinions—for every conceivable reason except one — 
 their knowledge of colonial affairs. 
 
 In an article entitled * Colonial Loj'alty,' which appeared 
 on January 25, 1845, Mr. Lowe put the matter in still clearer 
 and more forcible terms : — 
 
 There are forty colonies belonging to Great Britain, all more or 
 less misgoverned. . . . Let us trace a despatch from this colony 
 and its answer. The despatch is opened by Mr. Gardner (the cleik 
 in Downing Street for the Australian group). If it does not strilvo 
 him as of any consequence, he puts it into a pigeon-hole, and it is 
 heard of no more ; if otherwise, it is forwarded to Mr. Secretiiry 
 Stephen, who is generally the ultima linea rcnuii. Few, very few- 
 are the despatches which he deems it necessary to submit to Lord 
 Stanley's eye. When this event does happen, his Lordship, not 
 having seen the despatches to which this is the sequel, requires to 
 be crammed as to the previous transactions, in which process the 
 most ample scope for false colouring is afforded. Thus the Under- 
 Secretary may be, and frequently is, made the tool of his clerk, and 
 the Principal Secretary the tool of his Under-Secretary. Now let 
 our readers attentively consider this system, and then ask themselves, 
 by whom are they governed. Say they receive the fortieth part of 
 the little time which Lord Stanley can spare for the Colonies, .i, 
 fortieth part of the whole time of Mr. Stephen, and perhaps a third 
 or fourth part of the time of Mr. Gai'dner, who, it nuist be remem- 
 bered, reads the despatches from the Governor, suppressing such as 
 he pleases, and writes tbe answers to them under very brief direc- 
 tions, when under any. Is it not transparent that we are governed, 
 not by the responsible Secretary of State, nor yet by the irresponsible 
 Under-Secretary, but by the doubly irresponsible, because utterly 
 unknown and obscure. Clerk ? 
 
 I* n 
 
 m 
 
 i fit 
 
 * 'i 
 s li 
 $ It 
 
 ! ; 
 
 m 
 
 ! '■:', 
 
 Is not the n^sult (Mr. Lowe contiimcd) such as might 
 naturally be expected from such a system '} That the Secretary 
 knows nothing about us, except as nuich cram as may be necessary 
 
 VOL. I. S 
 
 •I 
 
258 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD RIIEPvJJROOKE 
 
 to make a speech to an inattentive assembly a shade more ignorant 
 than himself ; that the Under-Secretary knows just enough of us to 
 adopt some crude and impracticable tlieory, like the one-pound-an- 
 acre scheme, or the civilisation of the aborigines, to which he adheres 
 with the desperate tenacity of ignorance and presumption ; and that 
 the clerk, our real governor, who is utterly unknown and irre- 
 sponsible — who will not be praised if we are governed well, nor 
 blamed if we are governed ill — should take it as easy as possible, 
 and content himself Avith echoing back the despatches he receives, 
 sometimes enlivening the matter by an occasional abuse of the 
 Governor for something ijcrfcctly right, just to shoio he Jtas an 
 opinion of Ids oivn. 
 
 This subject of the government of remote colonies by- 
 means of despatches from Downing Street seems at times to 
 have struck Mr. Lowe in such a ludicrous light that he could 
 no longer argue the matter in pungent leading articles, but 
 was compelled to fly for relief to j)arody and metrical skits. 
 His old schoolfellow, Edward Cardwell, who, in after years, 
 held the seals of the Colonial Office, figures amusingly in 
 one of these parodies. 
 
 LAW FOR A DEPENDENCY 
 
 Rofcrre scrmnncs Deonim ct 
 Magna viodis itcrnre parvis. 
 
 Scene : Downing Stkeet. Time : noon. Lord Stanley discovered 
 reading the advertisements in the Times. To him enters Mr. 
 Cardwell. 
 
 Lord Stanlcij. Oh ! Mr. Cardwell, I have sent for thee 
 Because they tell me that thou art a man 
 Quick in debate, and prodigal of words. 
 And one to help thy party at a pinch. 
 Sit down, I pray. 
 
 Mr. Cardwell. I humbly thank your Lordship, 
 And, as you do desire nie, take my seat. 
 
 Lord Sfanlcy. Fain would we have thy services, young man. 
 But lit this time there is no otlice vacant. 
 Nor dare we make a new one, lost Young England 
 Should sev we are corrupt. 
 
 Mr. Cardiucll {rlm'ii;/]. Thon, my Lord, 
 
 I think I have no further Ijusiness here ; 
 And so I take my leave. 
 
 [ - 
 
 y 
 
 L- 
 
THE 'ATLAS' ANJ) ITS CONTIMP.UTORS 
 
 259 
 
 i 
 
 Lord Staiileij. Stop, Mr. Card well. 
 
 We cannot make a vacancy, 'tis true. 
 Nor a new office, bnt we can revise one, 
 And will, for yon. Know, then, the Colonies 
 Say they'll no more be }j;overned without law. 
 Justice they shall not have -but law they must. 
 And so we want a lawyer sage and subtle, 
 By whose advice to act ; but ere I give you 
 Tliis high appointment, you must let me try 
 Whether you understand tlie law or «o ; 
 For ignorance I hate ; and Mr. Stephen 
 With the tirst lawyers in the land is even. 
 Here, take an instance. You have doubtless heard 
 That New South Wales has got a Constittition : 
 Such an Assembly, I should tiiink, was never 
 Seen since the time of llonmlus — all thieves — 
 Several who have not yet received their pardons ; 
 And Stephen says they voted it a breach 
 Of privilege to pick a Member's pocket 
 While in debate engaged. 'Tis sad to think 
 The spurious Liberalism of the age 
 Should give such rascals power. 
 
 Mr. Cardwell. Sad indeed ! 
 
 Lord Stanley. Well, sir, these rascals have presumed to make 
 A law about their filthy sheep and cattle, 
 For which we've written them a sharp Despatch, 
 Whereon I would interrogate you briefly. 
 
 Mr. Cardwell. My Lord, according to my utmost knowledge 
 I ready am to answer. 
 
 Lord Stanley. Tell me, then. 
 
 If any difference exist in law 
 Betwixt the pledge of personal estate and alienation ? 
 
 Mr. Cardwell. Very great, my Lord. 
 
 If personal estate or goods be sold, 
 Possession ought to follow the transaction ; 
 Or if the seller still do keep the goods 
 It is, so Twyne's case says — a badge of fraud : 
 But if the property be only pledged. 
 Possession in the pawner does not give 
 The siighest badge of fraxid ! 'Tis true, if bankrupt 
 The mortgagor become, his assignees 
 Will have a preference o'er the mortgagee, 
 Because the property does still remain 
 Within the order and disposing power 
 Of him they represent. 
 
 Lord Stanley {rising sternly). Sir ! I intended 
 To have promoted you to mighty honour, 
 
 :-l 
 
 \ ! 
 
 I. ' 
 ^ ■ 
 
 \- i 
 
II j 
 
 1 . J 
 1 -l 'l 
 
 260 LIFE Of LORD SIIERBIIOOKE 
 
 But, finding you so grossly ignorant 
 
 Of the first axioms of the legal science, 
 
 I do repent me of my former purpose. 
 
 Sir, had you Leen a lawyer, you'd have known 
 
 That mortgages of personal estate . 
 
 Are held by English law in perfect hate. 
 
 For law, indeed, we do not greatly care, 
 
 Save that injustice must not be too bare. 
 
 Away, young man ! and seek your specml pleader ; 
 
 If you talk thus you'll never be a leader. 
 
 At times the Colonial Office is let alone, and theology 
 takes the place of politics in the pillory. On these occasions 
 the devoted followers of Dr. Pusey and Dr. Newman were 
 often handled in unceremonious fashion. Now and then a 
 little sweet is mixed with the bitter. There is an article on 
 * Early Closing of Shops in the City' {Atlas, January 4, 
 1845), in which the present Duke of Rutland is very hand- 
 somely dealt with. The article strongly advocates the early 
 closing movement, and commends to the attention of the 
 wealthier classes of Sydney ' the example of Lord John 
 Manners and his friends, who have, indeed, on this occasion 
 nobly vindicated a humanity above their rank.' 
 
 The Atlas boasted a * Poets' Corner.' Sometimes this 
 little nook was filled by one of those * Swiss Sketches ' written 
 on the honeymoon tour ; but just as often a set of satirical 
 verses would appear dealing with Sir George Gipps and his 
 entouracie. These skits were often composed by others, but 
 unless signed they were invariably attributed by the Sydney 
 public to Mr. Lowe. He was, indeed, popularly credited with 
 writing the whole of the paper every week ; so that, an 
 announcement appeared one morning over the leading article 
 stating that the 'entire contents of the journal are not by 
 one hand.' 
 
 However, it is quite true that the Atlas owed its vogue 
 and popularity chiefly to Lowe's satirical epigrams and skits 
 in verse. It is not that these verses were always so very 
 witty or clever, but they were invariablv so a2)t. For instance, 
 
 y 
 
 A. 
 
THE 'ATLAS' AND ITS CONTRIlirTORS 
 
 201 
 
 when Mr. Eoger Therry, who had basked in the smiles and 
 favour of Sir Richard Bourke, had at length succeeded in 
 getting into the good graces of Sir George Gipps to the ex- 
 tent of securing the judgeship in Port Phillip, Mr. Lowe made 
 very merry in the ' Poets' Corner ' of the Atlas. Therry, like 
 Mrs. Gilpin, had a frugal mind, and prior to starting for Mel- 
 bourne advertised the sale of his furniture and effects, includ- 
 ing the portrait of his former patron. Sir Pilchard Bourke. 
 The subject, it must be admitted, was a tempting one, and in 
 its next issue the Atlas suggested the following 
 
 Inscription for the Portrait of Sir Richard Bourke. 
 
 Here goes the Portrait of Sir Richard Bourke, 
 For whom I long did all the dirty work ; 
 His way of ruling was a perfect see-saw — 
 The voice of Jacob, and the hand of Esau. 
 Unlike our dear Sir George, whose accents sweet 
 With his mild deeds in dulcet concert meet. 
 
 He's got a Statue and a long Inscription — 
 Here goes his phiz to pay for my subscription ! 
 But, sainted Gipps ! should limner e'er incline 
 To trace on steel those lineaments divine, 
 I'd never sell that superhuman face — 
 Never ! — till someone else had got your place ! 
 
 Eoger Therry, notwithstanding his support of Robert Lowe's 
 education policy, was ever the favourite subject for such satiric 
 shafts. There was no malice in this whatever, but, to a 
 man of the late Lord Sherbrooke's singular independence of 
 character, all forms of flunkeyism appeared supremely 
 ridiculous as well as contemptible. In the Poems of a 
 Life there may be found a most ludicrous parody of the 
 well-known song, ' Love Not,' the whole point of which was 
 lost on the London critics, simply because they were not ac- 
 quainted with the circumstances which called it forth and the 
 men whom it so happily ridiculed. 
 
 It seems that through the influence of Mr. James Mac- 
 arthur, of Camden (a mighty local magnate), Roger Therry 
 
 Jli^ 
 
 i 1 ! 
 
 ( ! 
 
 » • 
 
 
 K\ 
 
 1 
 
 v:.^ 
 
fT 
 
 i ■ 
 
 262 
 
 Lirj] UF L(niD SHERBllOOKE 
 
 had been returned as a member of the Legislative Council. 
 To placate Sir George Gipps he steadily voted against the 
 popular, or representative party, and supported the Crown 
 officials ; by which means he obtained the Port Phillip judge- 
 ship. Macarthur had made himself very unpopular by 
 nominating a mere place-hunter at such a crisis in the affairs 
 of the colony ; so that when the seat again fell vacant, one 
 of the candidates was supposed to serenade ' The Lord of 
 Camden ' with this ludicrous parody : — 
 
 Vote not, vote not for me, I pray ; 
 
 There's fatal weakness in \ our vannted powers ; 
 My foes will lauf^h, my friends will slink away, 
 
 Soon as they hear that 3'ou are one of onrs. 
 Vote not I vote not ! 
 
 / knoiv the value of your hate, and smiled. 
 Vote not ! vote not ! 
 
 Vote not, vote not ! Oh warning vainly given ! 
 
 Oh, why be generous at another's cost ? — 
 Against yonr vote alone I might have striven, 
 
 But ivheii you used your influence all ivas lost. 
 He votes — all's lost ! 
 
 In some humorous lines addressed to ' Humbug,' one 
 fears that Roger Therry is once more depicted : — 
 
 The Court of Sydney deigns to place 
 
 Me in the very highest place, 
 
 Amid an amiable choir, 
 
 While Envy grinds her teeth with ire. 
 
 Oh, Humbug ! thou whose dulcet note 
 
 So long has gurgled from my throat ; 
 
 Thou who canst strike, if such thy wish, 
 
 A patriot mute as any fish, 
 
 Or turn — let none the transit grudge — 
 
 A briefless bungler to a judge, — 
 
 'Tis all thy doing. Humbug — all, 
 
 That I am liked, if liked at all ; 
 
 That passers-by the finger point, 
 
 A.nd look one over joint by joint, 
 
 Wliisp'ring, with reverential awe— 
 
 ' There goes the man wot knows the law ! ' 
 
 I 
 
TIIH 'ATf.AS' AND ITS CUXTUIIJU'n^KS 
 
 •JOP, 
 
 ouncil. 
 :nst the 
 
 Crown 
 ) judge - 
 liar by 
 ) affairs 
 nt, one 
 jord of 
 
 '„ one 
 
 As I hav»? already said, it was a popular belief at the time in 
 Sydney that all the satires in prose and verse in the yl//rt.swere 
 from the pen of Mr. Lowe. This wan altogether a delusion. The 
 Atlas, indeed, could boast a staff of brilliant young men, many of 
 whom afterwards attained to the highest positions in the colony. 
 There was Mr. (afterward Sir James) ^fartin, who in later years, 
 as Chief Justice of New South Wales, so greatly impressed 
 Mr. Froude. James Martin, who was then a youthful solicitoi- 
 in Sydney, became a regular contributor to the Atlas, and 
 after a while its editor. Another contributor was a clever 
 young barrister, Mr. (now Sir Archibald) Michie, who, mi- 
 grating a few years later from Sydney to Melbourne, attained 
 to high office in Victoria, and was for some time Agent - 
 General in London. If I am not mistaken, Sir Archibald INIichic 
 never altogether relinquished journalism, but held for years 
 the post of Melbourne correspondent of the Times. Another 
 extremely clever young writer in the Atlas, ]\rr. AVillijtm 
 Forster, lived to become Prime Minister of New Soutli 
 Wales and afterwards its Agent-General. Lowe's intimate 
 friend, William Macleay, was also an occasional contributor ; 
 so, too, was Mr. G. W. Eusden, the Australian historinn. 
 There were at least two other contributors to the Atlas whose 
 names are quite strange to the present generation of Aus- 
 tralian colonists — James Lethbridge Templer, a man of good 
 West-countr}' family, who wrote rattling rhymes against Sir 
 George Gipps ; and John Eichard Hardy, an English Univer- 
 sity man, who was a police magistrate, and was made th(i 
 first Gold Fields Commissioner in Australia at the Turon. 
 Mr. Eusden tells me that Templer was killed by his horse 
 rushing against a tree ; he was much liked, a scholar and a 
 gentleman. At times in the ' Poets' Corner ' a string of senti- 
 mental verse would appear over the unknown signature, 
 * H. Parkes.' This aspiring young poet was then a toy-seller 
 in Sydney, but has since been several times Prime Minister 
 of New South Wales, was the friend of Tennyson, and is a 
 
 I 
 
 1 i. 
 
 ■ i 
 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
t 
 
 I ' <l 
 
 2G4 
 
 MTK OF LOIM) SlIKI.'I'.IIOOKi: 
 
 G.C.M.G. Tlicv were for the most part ambitious young men, 
 who {^'ladly enouf^'h enhsted under the banners of so dauntless 
 a chieftain as Robert Lowe. 
 
 Sir Thomas Mitchell, the explorer, was likewise a con- 
 tributor to the Atlaa. Tnlike most of its writers, he was a 
 man past middle life, and in the very meridian of his fame. 
 As far back as 1811 (the year of Itobert Lowe's birtli) he had 
 fought in the Peninsula ; already he had received the D.C.L. 
 of Oxford, and had been knighted for his achievements as an 
 Australian explorer. Sir Thomas IMitchell's connection with 
 such a journalistic firebrand as the Athis did not ingratiate 
 him with Sir George Gipps, with whom, indeed, he had already 
 come to an open rui)ture. He had been elected one of the 
 members for the Port Phillip district in the Legislative 
 Council, but as he held a Government appointment, Sir 
 George Gipps intimated to him that he was expected to 
 vote with the Crown officials. Sir Thomas Mitchell accord- 
 ingly resigned his sea ,, and devoted some of his leisure to the 
 expression of his disgust in the congenial columns of the 
 Atlas. But his one ambition in life was to lead exploration 
 parties into the trackless interior, and here Sir George Gipps 
 was able to have more than ample revenge by refusing to 
 furnish the money for such expeditions. This state of 
 things supplied Mr. Lowe with the subject of a pleasing little 
 ballad, which he entitled * The Two Knights ' : — 
 
 Tliorc was a knight in Payniin Land — 
 
 Vicerojj;al state liad he ; 
 And all tlie men that there did stand 
 
 Must do hiin fealty. 
 Tliere came to him an errant knight — 
 
 ' To the monntains let me go,' 
 That there I might essay my might ; 
 
 But the other knight said ' No.' 
 
 It was in the Atlas that Lord Sherbrooke originally 
 published his * Songs of the Squatters,' which give a graphic. 
 
 
 . J 
 
 /\ 
 
Tin: 'ATI-AS- AM) ITS COXTIMIU ToKS 
 
 2G0 
 
 ])ut by no means enchanting, picture of tin; life of a pioneer 
 settler. They deal, too, with all the points of dispute then 
 raging between Sir George Oipps, the Council, and the Crown 
 tenants, and it was this which made them so popular when 
 they first appeared in Sydney, and so unintelligible to English 
 readers when collected and published in a small volume a few 
 years ago in London. As an evidence of their early i)opulariiy, 
 it may bu mentioned that in an admirable but long-since for- 
 gotten work by Samuel Sidney, entitled I'hc Thnw Colonicn 
 of Aitstntlid, there is an entire chapter devoted to these 
 * Songs of the Scjuatters.' Several of those (pioted — though 
 the writer of the book was not aware of it — were from the 
 pen of Mr. Lowe. 
 
 These light and amusing verses naturally lose much of 
 their point in being detaciied from the columns of the news- 
 paper to whose more serious articles they formed a sort of 
 humorous conmientary. The modern i-eader who turns them 
 over is, as a rule, quite ignorant of the events to which they 
 refer ; he knows nothing of Sir George Gipps, or his District 
 Councils, or Border Police ; nor can he realise the dread 
 powers of that terrible personage, the Commissioner of 
 Crown Lands, who had the fate of the pioneer squatter very 
 much in his hands. But the readers of the Atlas could 
 thoroughly appreciate the point of such verses as these : — 
 
 The Coimnissioncr bet lue Ji pony — I won ; 
 So he cut ofC exactly two-tliirds of my I'un ; 
 For he said I was niakiiif? a fortune too fast, 
 And profit jijained slower the lonf,'er would last. 
 
 He remarked, as devonrinp; my mutton he sat, 
 That I suffered my sheep to grow sadly too fat ; 
 That the\- wasted waste land, did prerogative brown. 
 And rebelliously nibbled the droits of the Crown. 
 
 * The Squatter to his Bride ' gives anything but an idyllic 
 picture of early bush life. But to this day many of the 
 old pioneer bushmen regard it as unrivalled in its fidelity, 
 
 I 
 
 ''[ 
 
 M 
 
 ' f 
 
 m 
 
 
 i:, 
 
 I! 
 
 ■1 ' 
 
 'ill 
 
 I k 
 
 \ 
 
 i i' 
 
 
 . ^^ fi 
 
F 
 
 V 
 
 M 
 
 206 
 
 LIFi: OF LOllI) SIIERRKOOKK 
 
 1 h 
 
 f !i^ 
 
 8 H 
 
 i .11 
 
 and its grim humour has pmusecl more than one genera- 
 tion: — 
 
 Four hundred miles off 
 
 Is the goal of our way ; 
 It is done in a week, 
 
 At but sixty v da\ ; 
 The plains are all dusty, 
 
 The creeks arc all dried, 
 'Tis tlic fairest of weatlier 
 
 To bring liome my bride. 
 The blue vault of heaven 
 
 Shall curtain thy form, 
 One side of a gum tree 
 
 The nioonbe;'.m must wai'm ; 
 Tlie whizzing mos(]uito 
 
 Shall dance o'er thy head, 
 And the guana shall scpiat 
 
 At tlie foot of ihy bed ; 
 The brave laughing jackass 
 
 Shall sing thee to sleep. 
 And the snake o'er thy slumbers 
 
 His vigil shall keep. 
 
 In the same grimly playful strain he depicts the domestic 
 arrangements of the rude and primitive homestead, winding 
 up with this absolutely appalling statement to the truly 
 feminine mind : — 
 
 So fear not, fair lady. 
 
 Your desolate way, 
 Your clothes will arrive 
 
 h\ three months with my dray. 
 
 
 Mrs. Lowe naturally took a keen interest in the new 
 journalistic venture. In the following letter will be found a 
 reference to the Atlas, and also a minute and interesting 
 account of the daily life of the most distinguished of its 
 founders : — 
 
 Sydney: Jan, 20, 1845. 
 
 .... Wg live much as at home. Robert and I never were, 
 nor ever will be, fond of early rising, so we get up about half-past 
 seven, or eight o'clock — unless we were to rise at five o'clock we 
 should gain little. The heat bej^ins as soon as t.he sun has risen, and 
 continues great till ten o'clock, when the sea-breeze gets up, and in 
 
 f\ 
 
 •r • 
 
 » « » < 
 
 > \ 
 
;enera- 
 
 nestic 
 ndin*:; 
 truly 
 
 new 
 ind a 
 
 sting 
 )f its 
 
 845. 
 
 were, 
 f-past 
 k we 
 1, and 
 Qd in 
 
 THE 'ATLAS' A^l) ITS CONTFJBUTOKS 
 
 2G; 
 
 the shade it is doHcious. At ten o'clock Robert walks off to his 
 chambers, which are at the end of this street ; it is not above five 
 minutes' walk. There Anthony Pope, his clerk, is waiting for him, 
 and his labours begin. Anthony reads and writes law, and Robert 
 sits in an Amorican rocking-chair at his ease, dictating. Robert is 
 getting more and more employment in the Courts, and is also very 
 busy in politics. He has quite a lecec of people. Between three and 
 four he comes home, and Ave ride on horseback. Horses are cheap 
 beyond all idea. You can buy a very nice one for 7/., and their kee]) 
 is also very reasonable. My horse runs in the pony-carnage, and I 
 often drive myself. We ride frequently from 12 to 20 miles towards 
 the Heads or Botany Bay. This (>xercisc seems requisite here. 1 
 find I cannot walk far. I think at one time I walked too much, and 
 brought on swelling and pains in my knees, Avhich proceeded, they 
 said, from the nerves in the back ; so 1 took the warning, and have 
 not Avalked much since. In sunnner the heat is so great the 
 ground feels quite hot to the feet ; but it is delicious to ride or drive. 
 Everyone here has some sort of conveyance ; the rich, nice carriages, 
 and the poor, gigs and little pony-carriages. You would admire the 
 wild, uncultivated plains and marshes towards Botany, Close to the 
 sea the trees grow again and the shrubs are lovely. The sea is 
 most wonderful in colour ; under th<> horizor it is the deepest lilac 
 pu. pie, and fades towards you through every shade of blue into the 
 loveliest sea-green with white breakers on a golden shore. The 
 coast in parts rocky, in others with green grass down to the beach. 
 After our ride we dine ; at seven o'clock Anthony comes again and 
 reads for Robert. When he leaves I read and write, and then we 
 go to bed. We sometimes dine out, but refuse evening parties, ex- 
 cept the large ones at the O'Connells'. We also have little dinner- 
 parties at home ; beef, mutton, wine, and poultry are so cheap that 
 it makes very little difference having a few persons to dinner. 'sVe 
 are now feasting on peaches and nectarines ; I have an enormous plate 
 of them before me, and stop every now and then to cat. 1 draAV, and 
 play on the harp, and sing as usual, but not so much as I used to do. 
 1 have more trouble with servants than at home. Poor little Mary 
 and Bobby (the children of ^Irs. Jamieson) are very good, and give 
 no trouble. Bobby gave some symptoms of original sin the other 
 day, and Robert whipped him, which had a most excellent effect. 
 We intend, if possible, to find a house two or three miles from Sydney. 
 Robert could ride backwards and forwards, and I think the change 
 of air would be beneficial to him. As he gains health, his eyes 
 always strengthen. They are much better, and I never hear him 
 now complain of pain. He had a habit of putting his hands to his 
 temple and pressing it, from feeling pain ; I now never se(> him do 
 this. But I do not tell him I think his eyes are stronger, for fear ho 
 
 i . 
 
 '1. 
 
 1 '-fei 
 
 <: d 
 
n 
 
 ■nei 
 
 ^ F 
 
 ,. 1 
 
 I 
 
 268 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SlIERl'.ROOKE 
 
 should read again to himself. He also often sits in an evening with- 
 out his spectacles, unless 1 remind him ; formerly he never used to 
 forget tbem , . . . 
 
 I am forwarding the Atlas newspaper to you. Robert writes in 
 it, and you will see a series of Swiss poetical sketches,' which have 
 given great delight here. Sir Thomas ]\Iitchell expresses himself 
 quite charmed with them. Some were written in Switzerland, some 
 here ; ' The Eagle' I think you know of old 
 
 In a letter to her mother-in-law about the same time, Mrs. 
 Lowe excuses her remissness as a correspondent by saying that 
 her pen finds much employment in Robert's service. This arose 
 partly from his large access of business, and partly from his 
 contributions to the Atlas. In a postscript she adds : * Pray 
 forward the Atlas to Mr. Biddulph, and tell me what he 
 thinks of it, as regards the talent it displays. The politics 
 are difficult to judge of unless on the spot.' 
 
 We can now picture Eobert Lowe, barrister-at-law and 
 journalist, of Sydney, no longer a mere * new chum,' but a 
 seasoned colonist, his professional income displaying an 
 agreeably rising tendency ; while his fame and importance as 
 a public man had increased rather than diminished by his 
 surrender of his seat as a nominee member of Council. Then, 
 as he tells us, he was regarded as a toady if he voted with the 
 Government, and as a traitor if he voted against it ; while 
 now, through the columns of the Atlas, he could express his 
 opinions freely on every subject under the sun, with the 
 delight and approval of tlie great mass of his fellow-colonists. 
 
 ' See Poems of a Life, by Viscount. Sherbrooke. 
 
 , « 
 
209 
 
 f 
 
 i:' 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 'li 
 
 MEMBER FOR ST. VINCENT AND AUCKLAND 
 
 Sir George Gipps and the Legislative Council- -District Councils— Quit-rents — 
 Lowe stands for St. Vincent and Auckland — Address to the Electors - 
 Eeturned unopposed—Speech from the Hustings— Schedules A, B, C— 
 Takes his Seat in the Council 
 
 The rupture between the Governor and the Legislative Council 
 had daily increased since the evening when Mr. Lowe found 
 himself compelled to resign his seat as a Crown nominee. It 
 had become a case of war to the knife. Sir George Gipps 
 was an Engineer officer who had served m the Peninsula 
 with distinction ; he had been wounded at the siege of 
 Badajoz. Then he had acted as secretary to the Eoyal Com- 
 mission appointed to deal with the grievances of the rebellious 
 Canadians (1835). Here it was he first displayed his rare 
 talent for drawing up official documents in terse, lucid, and 
 intelligible language. He was appointed Governor-General 
 of New South Wales at the most critical point of her history, 
 just as she was emerging from a penal dependency into a 
 self-governing colony. 
 
 In his new post Sir George Gipps revealed a singular 
 mingling of the military autocrat with the Radical dovtrinaire. 
 He quickly made up his mind that all the ills of the colony 
 (including its bankruptcy) could be cured by means of 
 district councils. At his suggestion this scheme of district 
 councils had been embodied in the Imperial Act of Parliament 
 by which Lord Stanley conferred a semi-representative 
 Parliament on New South Wales. Briefly, the scheme 
 amounted to this : that the colony should be divided into 
 
 ^.* 
 
 ! i( 
 
 i' 
 1 1 
 
 ;f 
 
 ! j 
 
 It 
 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 Miff 
 
 
T ■; 
 
 270 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 y 1 
 
 
 I '^1 
 
 districts, and that each district should elect a council to 
 decide on the amount of money required for public purposes 
 for the year, half of which should be contributed from the 
 colonial treasury, and the other half raised by a levy on the 
 local property holders. 
 
 If any district declined to elect a council, the Governor 
 had power to appoint one ; and in default of a local treasurer, 
 the Colonial Treasurer — who was the Governor's nominee — 
 could, under his warrant, raise the amount by the forced sale 
 of property in the district. In a sparsely populated pastoral 
 country, possessing, it may be, countless flocks and herds, 
 but with little or no ready money, it is easy to see how 
 thoroughly unworkable this scheme of district councils must 
 have been ; and also, how it might be turned into an 
 engine of oppression in the hands of an autocratic Governor 
 whose power was practically unchecked. Mr. Sidney, in his 
 Three Colonics of Australia, pertinently observes : — 
 
 When Sir George Gippg attempted to introduce his district 
 councils, he found the colonists unprepared to travel for miles to 
 elect a councillor, or pay five or ten pounds per annum for roads 
 over which thoy never travelled, and bridges a, hundred miles from 
 their farms, and indignant at suddenly finding their property at the 
 mercy of the Colonial Treasurer, the irresponsible officer of the 
 Governor. The colonists determined to resist the district councils 
 scheme. The Governor was determined to enforce it. It was his 
 darling child ; he had conceived it while looking out from his stutly 
 on the dense population of a different state of society, and he was 
 not the man to be beaten by circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Lowe, as usual, ' dropped into poetry ' on the subject 
 in the columns of the Atlas. He wrote a kind of irregular 
 ballad with the title ' District Councils, or the Brazen Yoke.' 
 
 A statesman made a yoke of brass, 
 
 A heavy yoke to bear, 
 And said : ' I want some slavish ass 
 
 This brazen yoke to bear.' 
 
 It was not so much the scheme itself — though he thought 
 it sirgularly unsuited to a primitive pastoral community — 
 
MEMUEll FOU ST. VINCENT AND AUCKLAND 271 
 
 li: 
 
 but the arbitrary power with which it invested the Governor, 
 that drove Robert Lowe into the camp of Wentworth and the 
 squatters. In addition to the question of district councils, he 
 also objected to Sir George Gipps's action in the matter of 
 exacting * quit-rents ' — a tax long in abeyance. It had fallen 
 into abeyance for years, partly by reason of the widespread 
 bankruptcy of the pastoral settlers, and partly because the 
 Government had been unable any longer to furnish them 
 with * assigned servants ' — that is, convicts on ticket-of-leave, 
 who were farmed out to the squatters and oUier employers. 
 Now, on a sudden, Sir George Gipps demanded the whole 
 of the arrears of quit-rents from these unfortunate pastoral 
 tenants of the Crown. As most of these were in a state 
 of insolvency, this meant that Sir George Gipps or his agent 
 would step in and sell off the homesteads, cattle, sheep, and 
 all improvements. 
 
 To make this demand for the arrears of sucli a tax was a 
 most pedantic and impolitic course of action on the part of 
 the Governor. He was a strictly honourable, and even a 
 kindly man, but his object was to show the Home authorities 
 that under his regime New South. Wales could meet, out of its 
 own revenue, most, if not all of the expenses of its civil and 
 military establishments. This was not only impolitic, but th(! 
 height of folly ; for as long as England chose to regard New 
 South Wales as an Imperial penitentiary — a kind of huge 
 Newgate-over-the-Sea — it was only just that she should pay 
 all the expenses of its maintenance. 
 
 On this question of ' quit-rents ' Mr. Lowe wrote some 
 verses in the Athift of a much more serious character than 
 are most of his * Songs of the Squatters.' He thus depicts 
 the feelings of one of these pioneer S(]uatters on suddenly 
 finding himself sold up :— 
 
 Mil 
 
 
 it 
 
 Oh ! kindly spoko the ruler then ; 
 lie <,'a\e lue liuiil, he .<,'iive me men ; 
 And I WHS happy and content, 
 
 Vl 
 
! I 
 
 272 LIFE OF J.OKI) 8IIEURK(K)KK 
 
 My heart unsealed, my brow unbent ; 
 I loved the cot beneath the trees, 
 The 'florions li<,'ht, the healthy breeze. 
 And blest the hour and blest the liand 
 That pointed to that glorious land. 
 Another, and another came, 
 And then a man, his very name 
 Blisters my lips like burning flame ; 
 True to his masters he might be, 
 But fatal was that man to mo. 
 
 He told me that the land they gave 
 
 Freely to give they never meant ; 
 That I was but a wretched slave. 
 
 That toiled to pay them yearly rent ; 
 He said for twenty years 'twas due — 
 Alas ! his cruel words were true, 
 And I, fond wretch, I never knew ; 
 And I had braved the noontide ray, 
 
 The red sirocco's sultry kiss, 
 The watchful night, the toilsome day — 
 
 Had laboured, struggled, spared for this. 
 
 They sold my cattle, sold my farm. 
 And left me with this withered arm 
 And broken heart to stem the tide 
 Of woe, with none but God to guide ; 
 I was a man of iron frame 
 When to this glorious land I came. 
 But now am bowed by toil and shame, 
 
 And grown before my season old. 
 For he — I will not speak his u.ime — 
 
 Has sold me like a slaxc for gold. 
 
 These lines are very unsparing towards Sir George Gipps ; 
 but it was, as I have said, a time of war to the knife between 
 the Governor on the one side, and the * popular,' or repre- 
 sentative members of the Council, backed up by almost the 
 entire non-official community, on the other. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it was not hkely that the 
 popular party would be long content to see such a champion 
 as Robert Lowe without a seat in the Council. There was 
 some talk of finding him one oi the Port Phillip constituencies, 
 for which he would have been an ideal representative, if only 
 
.Mi:>[lii:il FOR ST. VINCENT AND AUCKLAND 273 
 
 ipps ; 
 iween 
 
 i the 
 apion 
 
 was 
 ticies, 
 
 only 
 
 on account of his views on the Separation question. Then 
 it was rumoured in the inner pohtical coteries that the 
 mighty ^Eacarthur, of Camden, wculd atone frr ]us sins in 
 having placed such a time-server as Therry in the Council 
 hy nominating the ultra-independent Mr. Lowe. On this 
 suhject the following characteristic letter appeared in the 
 Press : — 
 
 In the speech of Dr. Sherwin at Boi'rima on Monday, the 21th 
 ultimo, occurs the following passage ; * They (the Messrs. Macarthur) 
 have cast a slur upon the county of Camden which it richly de- 
 serves ; they were ready to hunt through the county for a strangei* 
 in the person of Mr. Lowe, who wou'd have accepted the patronage 
 of the Messrs. ^hicarthur if they would elect hiin free of expense to 
 himself.' 
 
 Whether the county deserves this slur or not, the Me'-srs. 
 Macarthur have not cast it upon them ; they never offered me their 
 patronage, and, had they done so, there is no conceivahle conjunction 
 of circumstiinces under which I would have accepted it. 
 
 I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, 
 Robert Lowe. 
 Hoibuiy Terrace : March 1, 1845. 
 
 However, a vacancy was soon found in tlic resignation of 
 the member for the Southern counties of St. Vincent and 
 Auckland. Mr. Lowe's address to the electors gives such a 
 terse statement of his views on the questions then agitating 
 the colonial public mind (except the education question, which 
 had been altogether shelved for the time being by the veto of 
 the Governor), that it may very well find a place here : — 
 
 To the Eloclors of the Counties of St. Vincent and Auckland. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Captain Coghill having, before saihng for England, 
 resigned his seat in the Legislative Coiincil, I have been invited to 
 offer myself as a candidate for the honour of representing you. I 
 therefore beg to solicit your support. 
 
 My opinions on most of the subjects which at present agitate the 
 public mind are pretty well known, and I will tliercfore recapitulate 
 them very briefly. I am decidedly opposed to district councils, 
 which appear to me un-English and oppressive, superlluous in those 
 
 VOL. I. r 
 
 ■Mi 
 
 '11 
 
 
 '■i!^ 
 
274 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBIIOOKE 
 
 countries which can afford to pay for them, and ruinous in those 
 which, like New South Wales, cannot. 
 
 I look upon the grinding exaction of quit-rents as a most dis- 
 creditable perversion of the Koyal Prerogative, and the high mini- 
 mum price of land and exorbitant rent demanded for sections as 
 founded on a mistaken policy, which loses all by grasping at too 
 much. I am friendly to the squatters, considering that upon their 
 success alone can the prosperity of the agricultural interest be 
 securely based. When in Council I endeavoured to promote that 
 prosperity by preparing an address to Parliament praying that the 
 British market might be opened to the grain of this colony as it has 
 been to that of Canada ; if this be done, a limit will be established, 
 below which the price of agricultural produce cannot fall. I am 
 most anxious to carry out the retrenchment commenced in the 
 public expenditure, and to obviate, as far as it can be done by law, 
 the difficulties of individuals. With this latter object, and also with 
 a view of striking at a pernicious system of credit, I proposed the 
 abolition of imprisonment for debt, by which I believe many persons 
 have been saved from insolvency. 
 
 Should it be my fortune to represent you, I will take care to the 
 best of my power that your district shall have its ftiir share of the 
 very slender means of local improvement which an expensive 
 Government and a falling revenue place at the disposal of the 
 Council. 
 
 Before the day of election arrives I shall do myself the honour 
 to solicit personally your suffrages. 
 
 Till then believe me. Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 Robert Lowe. 
 
 He was triumphantly returned, no one having the temerity 
 to oppose him. 
 
 Accordingly, on April 15, 1845, at noon, Colonel Mackenzie, 
 J.P., proposed Mr. Piobert Lowe as a fit and proper person to 
 represent the counties. Dr. Bell seconded the proposition. 
 No other candidate appearing, the returning officer declared 
 My. Lowe duly elected, and the announcement was received 
 with the usual manifestations of popular approval. Mr. 
 Lowe then came forward, and addressed his new constituents 
 as follows : — 
 
 Gentlemen, Electors of the Counties of St. Yincen;. and Auck- 
 land, — I am so fully aware of the important business which requires 
 
in those 
 
 nost (lis- 
 gh mini- 
 Btions as 
 ig at too 
 pon their 
 terest be 
 aote that 
 that the 
 as it has 
 ^ablished, 
 11. I am 
 id in the 
 le by law, 
 also with 
 30secl the 
 ly persons 
 
 ire to the 
 ire of the 
 expensive 
 il of the 
 
 e honour 
 
 Lowe. 
 emerity 
 
 [ckenzie, 
 •son to 
 )Osition, 
 leclared 
 •eceived 
 Mr. 
 ;ituents 
 
 Id Auck- 
 requires 
 
 MEMBER FOR 8T. VINCENT AND AUCKLAND 275 
 
 your attention this day that I will study to be as brief as possible in 
 returning you my cordial and heartfelt thanks for the honour which 
 you have just done nie. 1 am, as has been truly said by one of my 
 calumniators, a stranger to this county, not possessing a foot of 
 
 land or a head of stock within it We are now arrived at a 
 
 great crisis : two roads are before us ; the one will lead us to a 
 higher and more durable prosperity than we have ever enjoyed, the 
 other to still increasing misery and calamity, till we are blotted O'lt 
 of the list of colonies, like the unhappy islands of New Zealaiul and 
 Van Diemen's Land,' by the misgovernmeut of the Colonial Office. 
 For myself. Gentlemen, I have nothing to hope from a seat in the 
 Council — it will not add anything to the very moderate income 
 which I derive from my profession ; but I desire it because 1 wish 
 to save you, or at least to endeavour to do so, from the ruin with 
 which you are ^ reatened by the Executive (rovernment. When 1 
 entered the Council as a nominee of the Crown I considered that I 
 had undertaken a trust for the benefit of the people, for the faithful 
 execution of which I was answerable to God and man, and I 
 foolishly believed on so discharging it I should be carrying out the 
 wishes of the Government which sent me there. Such a novice was 
 I in colonial government, that I actually believed the interest of the 
 Crown coincident with that of the people. The only apology which 
 I can make for this error is the ignorance which then generally pre- 
 vailed concerning most questions at issue between this colony and 
 the mother-country. But, Gentlemen, when I found the Governor, 
 by a stroke of his pen, in defiance of the unanimous remonstrances 
 of the country and of the lessons of reason and experience, bent 
 upon annihilating the pastoral interests of the country, I was un- 
 deceived — I could not support that Government. 
 
 When I saw a system of district taxation introduced, and 
 persevered in after remonstrances from the Council, in which I had 
 the honour to bear a part, both by speech and vote — and introduced, 
 not, as I believe, for the sake of the mockery of self-government 
 under which their destructive nature was concealed, but for the 
 sake of fastening more firmly on the colony the enormous annual 
 expenditure of ninety thousand a year for police and jails, and of 
 taxing the land already sold — God knows how dearly ! — for the 
 purpose of making the remainder saleable by the erection of roads 
 and bridges— I would not, I could not, support that Government. 
 While they were playing this disgraceful thimble-rig, while they 
 were shifting this imposition from the ordinary i-evenue to the local 
 taxation, I would not play the part of a confederate, and wink and 
 connive at this trickery. When I saw the Government, straining 
 
 'i!.; 
 
 ;'l 
 
 ! 
 
 ; I 
 , > < ' 
 
 ' I, 
 
 Lit it be remembered this was spoken in 1845. 
 
 T 2 
 
 I 
 
mnr^ — ^^ 
 
 ^<iiH« 
 
 270 
 
 MKI'l OF LOHI) SHKIimiOOK!-: 
 
 I j 
 
 to tho utmost that prcro^'atlvo which is only ontrustcd to the Crown 
 for the good of the people, livin*,' upon tho <:frantoes of land, much 
 of which had heen dearly earned hy naval and military service, an<l 
 upon the accumulated arrears of (luit-rcnL, which it was well 
 understood would never bo demanded, every feeling of justice and 
 humanity revolted at it, and I could not support that (lovernment. 
 When I found that an enormous expenditure, utterly dispi'oportionatc 
 to the means and wants of the colony, instituted from bribing voters 
 in England at our expense by sinecure or half-sinecure otVices, de- 
 nounced by the Council, denounced by the judges of the land, and 
 defended by none but its recipients and their hangers-on, was to be 
 perpetuated, I could not support that (lovenniiont. It has been said 
 of me, and repeated time after time with a disgraceful pertinacity, 
 notwithstanding my repeated and public contradictions, that I 
 entered the Council pledged to tho (lovernor. (L^ntlenu-n, had I 
 done so, had I been capable of accepting a trust for your benefit, 
 and delegating the exercise of that trust to another, I should be 
 unworthy to stand before you as your representative this day ; but 
 it was not so, and when I resigned my seat, it was not because I 
 was pledged, but because I woidd not give anyone the opportunity 
 of taunting me with employing a power I derived from the Governor 
 systematically to thwart his measures. 
 
 As to your local matters, Ciontlemen, I will endeavour, by 
 making tho tour of the county before 1 return to Sydney, to make 
 myself better acquainted with them. I shall be very grateful for any 
 information which any of you may at any time communicate to 
 me on the subject ; at the same time, great as the claims of your 
 district are on the ground of former neglect, I can, I fear, do but 
 little for you. It is a penalty which must be paid by those who 
 return members to represent tho colony, that they will receive little 
 in the way of patronage from the Government. Hope nothing from 
 this Governor ; his whole attention is taken up by scraping to- 
 gether, by every discreditable expedient, a revenue which, being 
 emancipated from the control of the representatives of the people, 
 may serve the purposes of the Colonial Office. For you he cares 
 nothing, and will do nothing. Gentlemen, the sorrow which I feel 
 on taking leave of you is considerably alleviated by the reflection 
 that I shall probably very shortly come here again on the same 
 errand. The differences between the Governor and the Council 
 are concentrated, are brought to a point ; each party thoroughly 
 understands where and Avhy they disagree, and collision has become 
 unavoidable, and even desirable. Fire and gunpowder, the moment 
 before their meeting, do not more certainly portend an explosion 
 than the day which shall once more place the Governor and the 
 Council face to face. Whether he will shrink from the conflict, 
 
Mi::Min:it roi: st. mncknt anj) Auckland 277 
 
 ho Crown 
 11(1, much 
 I'vicc, and 
 was well 
 istice and 
 rernineut. 
 lortionatc 
 ing voters 
 iffices, de- 
 land, and 
 was to be 
 been said 
 3rtinacity, 
 s, that I 
 on, had I 
 .r benefit, 
 should be 
 day ; but 
 because I 
 iportunity 
 Governor 
 
 avour, by 
 
 , to make 
 
 111 for any 
 
 micate to 
 
 s of your 
 
 ir, do but 
 
 lose who 
 
 eive little 
 
 ling from 
 
 iping to- 
 
 1, being 
 
 le people, 
 
 le cares 
 
 ich I feel 
 
 eflection 
 
 he same 
 
 Council 
 
 oroughly 
 
 s become 
 
 moment 
 
 explosion 
 
 and the 
 
 conflict, 
 
 and sook some other land which, though he cannot find as nourish- 
 ing, ho may render us wretched as this, or wholher he will dissolve 
 the Council, and thus give; the constituencies a chance of riveting 
 tlioir own fetters, 1 do not know ; but in tho meantime your eye 
 will be upon mo, a'^d if tho latter event happens, as 1 rather think 
 it will, you will, I trust, seo no reason to give rao a reception less 
 cordial than that with which you have honoured me to-day. 
 
 There is but one further point in this trenchant speecli 
 from the hustings calling for explanation. "When Mr. Lowe 
 so strongly denounced the ' disgraceful thimble-rig ' in refer- 
 ence to the finances of the colony, he had in his mind 
 the reservation of the sum of 81,000^ a year which, by tho 
 Impeiial Act of Parliament conferring a qiia.^i-h'co Constitution 
 on New South Wales, was withdrawn from the control of tho 
 Legislative Council. This reservation was comprised under 
 three schedules, A, B, and C, by which the salaries of the 
 Governor and judges, the cost of gaols and judicial establish- 
 ments, were fixed, as well as the endowment to the three State 
 Churches of 30,000L a year. I should say, four established 
 Churches, or sects, for the Wesleyan Methodists had by this time 
 contrived to get access to the public purse. The following was 
 the Civil List removed from the control of the Council by 
 special Imperial Act — 
 
 A. Salaries of Civil Officers 
 
 B. Treasurer's and other Departments 
 
 C. Support of Religion 
 
 X33,000 
 18,G00 
 30,000 
 
 X81,000 
 
 ' Schedules A, B, C ' hardly sounds like a theme for the 
 Muses ; but Robert Lowe contributed nothing to tho Atlas 
 that more tickled the fancy of the early pioneer colonists. It 
 went straight, as Bacon says, * to their business and bosoms.' 
 As these playful rhymes ai'e thoroughly intelligible to any 
 reader who takes an interest in early colonial affairs, they 
 are here reproduced in full. 
 
 'f 
 
 I- 
 
 It j 
 
 il 
 
 : I 
 
I ; ^1 
 
 i ' 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ! I 
 
 ii I' 
 1 
 
 ■ y 
 
 • i 
 
 Si I 
 
 278 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIFIMJHOOKK 
 
 Schedules A, B, C 
 
 Fair Sisterhood with sweet, aUuriiiK faces, 
 Third of the Muses — total of the Griiccs : 
 ScHKDULEs — beloved alike of Gods and Men ; 
 Thoufjh Patriots cavil at ,von now and then. 
 As if your forms were hideous to behold, 
 And only loved, like ancient dames — for gold. 
 Who would not wish, secure from Fate's alarms, 
 To slumber sheltered in \ our civclinpf arms ? 
 Blest by your love, and basking in your smile, 
 No other Schedule shall he ever file. 
 Nor shall Insolvency, relentless dame, 
 Daughter of Tick and Misery, shriek his name. 
 Learning hath chainis, but what is like to thee, 
 Thou most delightful form of A B C ! 
 Children of Stanley, hail in glory trine, 
 "Where transport and security entwine ; 
 For not alone the claiming coin is sweet. 
 But knowing nothing can that claim defeat. 
 A drought may come — the land may reti'ograde — 
 The cattle die in thousands— still they're paid. 
 Wool may fall cent, per cent., a losing trade. 
 And 'whelm the land in ruin — still they're paid. 
 Embarrassed Banks refuse to give their aid 
 To sinking settlers — still the Schedule's paid. 
 The Governor and snmgglers make a raid 
 Against the Customs' revenue — still they're paid. 
 The broken compact has the land betrayed, 
 But what of that ? — the Schedules must be paid. 
 And when Australia low in dust is laid, 
 This be her epitaph — it's all been paid ! 
 If, 'mid a triad so divine, the Muse 
 Might just presume a favourite to choose, 
 I'd rather not be put in Schedule A — 
 In that the Council has too much to say : 
 And thougl it's safe beyond their greedy clutch, 
 It makes one nervous when they talk so much. 
 C has advantages, I'll not deny — 
 It's all so snug, so quiet, and so sly ; 
 And it would suit my fancy to a T 
 If Stanley's honour were but pledged to C. 
 The poet's burning wish were Just to clear 
 Five hundred pomids in each and every year ; 
 But if with castle -building e'er I meddle, 
 I'll wish myself within the second Schedule ; 
 
 
MEMIJKll FOR ST. VINCllNT AM) AUCKLAM) 27D 
 
 For it ahwne has f»ot n copious inarj,'iu, 
 
 Aiul a good salary will bear enlarf,'in}». 
 
 Where'er I turn, whatever berth I see, 
 
 I'll stick to lliddeH's ' berth in Schedule B. 
 
 Others with labour more or less are troubled, 
 
 He'd still do nothing, if his work wore doubled. 
 
 Eobert Lowe was now once more a member of the 
 Legislative Council. But there could be no longer any question 
 of the complete independence of his position ; he had, in fact, 
 secured his unopposed election, mainly by his avowed and un- 
 compromising hostility to the interference of Downing Street 
 in the domestic affairs of the colony, through its eminently 
 active and efficient servant, Sir George Gipps. 
 
 The session did not open till July 20, 1845, when we read 
 in the official records that Mr. Robert Lowe was introduced to 
 the Speaker by Mr. Windeyer, member for Durham, and ^Ir. 
 Benjamin Boyd and Dr. Nicholson, members for Port Phillip ; 
 whereupon he took the oaths and his seat as member for St. 
 Vincent and Auckland. 
 
 "We may well suppose that Mrs. Lowe did not allow her 
 English friends to remain in a state of ignorance with regard 
 to these stirring events. 
 
 I am sure (she writes) you will be glad to hear that Robert has 
 become a very prominent public character, and is said to bo by 
 far the best speaker in the Legislative Council. This is rather a 
 stormy position in the present state of politics here ; party spirit is 
 running tremendously high, and Robert is the leader on the popular 
 side. The whole weight of the Government is opposed to him and 
 his party ; there is nothing the Government would not do to put 
 Robert down. From his power of speaking and his general know- 
 ledge, and also knowledge of constitutional law, they find him a 
 dangerous opponent. Their hatred is gren' in proportion to their 
 dread. The Government newspapers abu&e him beyond measure, 
 and you would suppose from them that he was the most fearful 
 
 ' The- Colonial Treasurer, of whom in the Atlas, in a satirical ' Defence of 
 the Treasury Bench,' Mr. Lowe cruelly said : ' If he may not have all the 
 reputation of the others, it is owing to his having so little to do, rather than to 
 his not doing that little well. He is said, indeed, to sign his name with con- 
 summate skill and with considerable velocity. 
 
 I; 
 
 •J 
 
 i I 
 
 ',.t 
 
 \' I 
 
 t {'. I 
 
1 ■ \ 
 
 ! •« 
 
 t 
 
 280 
 
 LIFE OV J.OKD SIIEKlJlfOOKK 
 
 character. They go so far that, instead of being angry, I cannot 
 help laughing. I have almost entirely given up going out, except 
 to a few houses. I fear Sir Maurice O'Connell is to be recalled ; his 
 family will be a great loss to this place. The affairs of this country 
 would soon be iu a flourishing state would Lord Stanley and Sir 
 George permit ; the price of wool has risen immensely, and people 
 might now do really well ; but as long as this question of the Crown 
 lands hangs over the country no confidence is felt, and people fear 
 to invest. 
 
 Notwithstanding this state of things, Mr Lowe prospered 
 and made judicious investments in city property in Sydney, 
 which were almost immediately profitable. He, in fact, from 
 the very first, saw that the financial depression must pass 
 away, and that no amount, even of the most scientific 
 political bungling, on the part of the Secretary of State, or 
 the Governor and his local executive, could permanently 
 retard the prosperity of New South Wales. 
 
 ^i i 
 
281 
 
 , I cannot 
 )ut, except 
 sailed ; his 
 is country 
 y and Sir 
 nd people 
 he Crown 
 eople fear 
 
 •rospered 
 Sydney, 
 ict, from 
 ust pass 
 scientific 
 State, or 
 lanently 
 
 CIIAPTEK XVIII 
 
 AT NEl.SON HAY 
 
 At Nelson Bay Mis. Lowe's description of Nelson Bay- Sir Tlionias 
 Mitchell— W. S. Macleay Sir Alficd Stephen— Letter to Hev. B. Rlichell - 
 Success in Court and Council- -Wentworth's Dinner- Lowe's Imperialist 
 Speech -Alexander Macleay's Pension - Wentworth's oJifer lor the Speaker- 
 ship— Lowe's views on Dignity and Dining 
 
 It was at this time that Rohert Lowe purchased a small 
 estate at Nelson Bay, adjoining the fai -famed Coogee, on tlie 
 shores of the South Tacilic. 
 
 In a letter to her mother Mrs. Lowe writes : — 
 
 Robert is quite well and maidn.t,' for hini.self much fame and a 
 little money, which is a n-ood tiling' and certainly more substantial. 
 I still hope fame may in the end be turned into gold. The colony 
 is progressing, and if wool continues steady in price, is likely tc 
 improve nmch. Our friend, Sir Thomas ]\Iitchell, is oji the point 
 of setting off on an expedition of discovery to Port Essington ; ho 
 thinks he shall make discoveries of importance to this country, and 
 will then write a new book, lie says he will call one of the 
 mountains after me. 
 
 I have been most unfortunate lately : a few days ago my horse 
 threw me. I had a knapsack into which I put flowers, curiosities, 
 &c. ; it fell from my saddle, startled the horse, and 1 fell also, Avith 
 my face to the ground, and cut my lip open and bruised my cheek- 
 bone badly. I sent for a surgeon, who sewed up my lip, put leeches 
 on my temple, and I am now pretty well again and have very little 
 pain left. 
 
 We have bought a little estate of forty-two acres, four miles from 
 Sydney, on the sea ; it is lovely beyond conception. We have given 
 only 'I'iO/. for it ; it is fenced— and the foundation of the house laid 
 and roads cut -the value of the improvements about 200Z. 
 
 
 t 
 
 ii' 
 
 I, 
 
 i 
 
^ 
 
 ■ 
 
 t i-l; 
 • 1 ..jl 
 
 il 
 
 ' 1 11 
 
 > I 
 
 't III 
 
 N i t '• 
 
 iJi 
 
 282 
 
 J.IFE OF LORD 8IIER15IM)0KM 
 
 We arc finishing the house ; it was sold by an unfortunate 
 mortgagee in England, put up to public auction, and by a lucky 
 chance fell to us ; 4,000/. was refused for the land four years ago. 
 1 shall make some drawings of the views. The scenery resembles 
 Jersey, but is far more beautiful the vegetation is so lovely. Wo 
 have a beautiful bay to ourselves — I may say it is our own — the 
 trees line the shore with drives through them ; we have a waterfall 
 of sixty feet, and this runs through a fine valley : it is a most 
 romantic spot and just suits my tastes. 
 
 These views of their favourite home in the New World 
 always hung on the walls of Lord Sherbrooke's house in 
 Lowndes Square ; they were really beautiful, and gave his 
 English friends, accustomed to the low, leaden skies and 
 murky atmosphere of London, a most fascinating vision of 
 the shores of the South Pacific. 
 
 There is a sequel to the story not quite so entrancing to 
 those most nearly concerned. After returning to England, 
 Lord Slierbrooke, by the advice of his agent and friends in 
 the colony, was induced to dispose of this property for a 
 sum which would represent but a very small fraction of its 
 present value. 
 
 No doubt from the point of view of health this removal 
 to i\clson Bay was a very excellent change, ^[r. Lowe 
 had now not only such an increase of practice that he was 
 compelled to devote nuich time to it, but there was also the 
 never-ending work of a popular leader in the Legislative 
 Council ; of one, too, who, having put his hand to the plough, 
 was not likely to turn back. It is true that his general 
 health was extremely good, and that his eyesight had per- 
 ceptibly improved — an improvement which he declared began 
 from the moment that he shook off his medical advisers. 
 But to one conscious of such peculiarly delicate organs, there 
 must have always been the dread of a catastrophe. He had 
 himself found it essential to use his eyes only by means of 
 those light-excluding goggles, which at this time he devised, 
 and through which light was only admitted from the pin's 
 
AT NELSON IJAY 
 
 283 
 
 point in the centre. He also thought it wise to devote some 
 l)ortion of each day to active out-of-door exercise. In the case 
 of so busy a pubhc man this desideratum could only be obtained 
 by fixing on a place of residence which demanded a walk, or, 
 better still, a ride on horseback to and from the city daily. 
 Being very fond of horse exercise, Mr. Lowe chose that means 
 of getting from Nelson Bay to his chambers and the Legis- 
 lative Council. 
 
 Very soon their residence was completed, and although they 
 were now cut off from all general society, their picturesquely 
 situated sea-side home was a favourite resort of a select 
 few. Mr. T. B. Boulton, the artist, formerly of Sydney, has 
 sent a few notes, which give a pleasant picture of the select 
 circle which gathered by 
 
 The splendour and the speech 
 Of thy li<i;hts and tlninders, Coogec, 
 Flying up thy gleaming beach. 
 
 i !' 
 
 Ill' 
 
 * I was a frequent visitor at their charming residence near 
 Coogee Bay in view of the Pacilic Ocean ; and enjoyed the 
 lively and brilliant conversations on all subjects, but 
 particularly those on science and poetry. Many were their 
 pleasant guests, but chief of all was the late W. Sharpe 
 Macleay, whose descriptions and remarks charmed everyone. 
 Indeed, I have heard Mr. Lowe say that he knew the best 
 talkers in England, but not one of them was his ecpial in 
 conversational power. j\[r. Lowe I also met at Elizabeth 
 Bay, the residence of Mr. Macleay, and on one occasion, at 
 dinner, Mr. Lowe was speaking of an eclipse of the sun, and 
 said the disc was very nearly obscured, but he could not 
 distinguish the colours of the corona, when one of the guests 
 at table, Mr. Stuart A. Donaldson, asked, " What is a disc?" 
 to which ^Ir. Macleay, taking up a plitte which he held 
 before him, replied with great vehemence, " That is a disc," 
 to the great amusement of all the other guests. . . . One 
 
 Ui 
 
i I 
 
 i ; 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 If 
 
 I I 
 
 'I (i! 
 I I 
 
 1 If 
 
 Ii! 
 
 I 
 t 
 
 f 
 
 « ll 
 
 * '•! 
 
 284 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEllBROOKE 
 
 day as I was reading under the shade of one of the beautiful 
 honeycombed sandstone rocks, I observed Mr. L. and Mr. M. 
 walking on the shore, when two hulking " larrikins " 
 suddenly appeared on the scene, and they were at once 
 warned that it was private property, and that they had no 
 business there — to which they said they should go where they 
 liked. Mr. Lowe at once picked up a bamboo which had been 
 washed up by the lazy tide (being seconded by Mr. Macleay), 
 and applied it with such effect on their backs that they 
 roared out and soon " made tracks." . . . His memory was 
 wonderful, and I well recollect meeting him when on the 
 Bathurst circuit at Kirconnel (Dr. Palmer's), when he took one 
 of the children on his knee and repeated some of his nursery 
 rhymes. Some years after, on the same circuit, he stayed again 
 at the Doctor's, and took the same child on his knee and asked 
 her if she remembered the rhyme, but she had forgotten it, 
 on which he repeated it, and half a dozen more ; but it did 
 not signifiy if it was in his childhood or yesterday, everything 
 seemed stereotyed on his brain. . . . One day as he was 
 walking along Macquarie Street with Mr. Charles Cowper, 
 the conversation turned on some political question, and he 
 quoted a passage from Hallam's Constitutional History, which 
 Cowper said he had quoted wrongly. He replied, " I know 
 I am right." The other disputed the point, and said, " I 
 only read it yesterday." Mr. Lowe said, " I don't care if 
 you read it an hour ago, I know my quotation of the passage 
 is correct, though I have not readj[it since I was at Oxford ; 
 but to prove it, here is the Library, so let us go in and refer 
 to the work." He asked for the volume, turned up the 
 page, and was found to be right to the letter. 
 
 ' Not only did Mr. Lowe ride from his seaside home to Ins 
 office and back, but he usually travelled by the same means 
 when on circuit ; Mrs. Lowe, who was an excellent horse- 
 woman, very often accompanying him. On one occasion she 
 rode in one day along the coast and through the bush — 
 
AT NELSON BAY 
 
 285 
 
 for in those days there were no roads — from Woollongong to 
 Coogee. 
 
 * Mr. Lowe's own love of these excursions on horseback 
 once gave him that very unpleasant experience which every 
 Australian storyteller seems to have made the subject of a 
 tale. He was literally "lost in the bush." So lasting an 
 impression did this make on Mrs. Lowe's mind, that she often 
 described it as the most miserable experience of her life in 
 Australia. 
 
 ' It seems that he went on circuit to Maitland and thought 
 he would ride to Sydney, through the most difficult country 
 in the colony, intersected by swamps, rocks, and the river 
 Hawkesbury. As might have been expected, he lost his track, 
 and, having got off to walk by the side of his horse, then lost 
 him also. As the expected hour of his return had long gone 
 by, Mrs. Lowe was in the utmost anxiety, which was not 
 lightened by the fact that the people by whom she was sur- 
 rounded as workpeople were all convicts, some of whom she 
 despatched as a search party with no feeling of confidence. 
 Intelligence at length arrived that he was safe at a farmer's 
 on the Hawkesbury, but that he was in a sad plight and had 
 greatly suffered ; indeed, he paid dearly for his temerity, for 
 it took at least a month to bring him to his ordinary con- 
 dition.' 
 
 After the breach with Sir George Gipps, the Lowes wisely 
 determined to give themselves up to their few intimate friends, 
 avoiding mere social acquaintances and indiscriminate enter- 
 tainments. Neither of them entered Government House 
 again during Sir George Gipps's reijimc ; though the following 
 * item of intelligence ' in the local press would seem to show 
 that the relations between Lowe and the Governor were not 
 wholly broken off : — 
 
 Fashionable Movements. — On the day of the prorogation of 
 the Legislative Council [November 13, 1845], the Governor visited 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 i :l 
 
 I i 
 
 
 f ( 
 
286 
 
 LIJ'E OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 i H 
 
 il? 
 
 t ( 
 
 1 ■: 
 
 the grounds of Robert Lowe, Esq., ]\I.C., at Nelson Bay, and inspected 
 the cottage now building there. 
 
 In one of her letters to England Mrs. Lowe describes her 
 new home with all the glow of genuine enthusiasm. She 
 always enjoyed the climate of New South Wales, though after 
 the first two years its sultry and languid summers seriously 
 affected her health. But she writes thus in the year 1845 :— - 
 
 You can form no idea of the beauty of this climate : our winters 
 are delicious ; the finest October day you can recall to mind is only 
 a, faint resemblance of the weather here. I fear I shall look with 
 horror on the leafless trees when I return home ; all the native 
 trees are evergreens, and most beautiful ones. The flowers are 
 splendid ; the only fault is, they are all on bushes, so the ground 
 is never coloured by them. 
 
 It must be frankly admitted that Mrs. Lowe's letters of 
 this period are not very complimentary to the society of 
 Sydney. But she thoroughly appreciated the high qualities 
 of the one or two intimate friends whom they saw frequently 
 at Nelson Bay. Of these she specially mentions three : Sir 
 Thomas Mitchell, W. S. Macleay, and Sir Alfred Stephen. * Sir 
 Thomas Mitchell ' (she writes), * whc^-u work on this country 
 I dare say you have read, is a great friend of Robert's. We 
 have also a very clever man here, Mr. William Macleay, who 
 is a well-known naturalist, so that, though I am inclined at 
 times to abuse the society of this place, there are still some 
 very agrer able exceptions who would be considered an acqui- 
 sition anywhere.' 
 
 The work of Sir Thomas Mitchell alluded to bv Mrs. Lowe 
 was AustraUa Felix, a book which, in a very special sense, 
 may boast the rare distinction of having added a province 
 to the Empire ; for it was its admirable descriptions of the 
 rich pasture lands of Port Phillip which caused the influx of 
 pioneer settlers into what is now the colony of Victoria. 
 Apart from his fame and achievements as an explorer. Sir 
 Thomas Mitchell had all the acquirements and tastes of a 
 
AT NELSON RAY 
 
 28: 
 
 scholar ; he was fond of literature, and had published a 
 translation of Camoens's Lusi<uL Mr. William Macleay, 
 most welcome of guests at Nelson Bay, has already been 
 mentioned more than once. With these Mrs. Lowe couples 
 the name of Sir Alfred Stephen, who, at a very early stage of 
 their intimacy, would seem to have formed the highest opinion 
 of Lord Sherbrooke's capacity and character. He was already 
 Chief Justice of the colony, a position he held for many years, 
 and, though nine years Lord Sherbrooke's senior. Sir Alfred is 
 still living in Sydney in his ninety-first year — * a beautiful old 
 man, whom it was a delight to have seen,' writes Mr. Froude 
 in his Oceana, 
 
 Sir Thomas Mitchell, Sir Alfred Stephen, William Sharpe 
 Macleay, and the future Lord Sherbrooke, sitting together 
 as they frequently did at Nelson Bay, all in the full vigour 
 of their rare conversational jtowers, Mould have been con- 
 sidered a distinguished group in any city in the world. Lord 
 Sherbrooke always declared, though in after years he was 
 intimate with the cleverest and most cultured men in Eng- 
 land, that he had met no one whose conversation was more 
 varied and more charming than William Macleay 's. With 
 such companions, one could not be said to be out of the only 
 world worth living in — the world of ideas — and the leisure 
 hours which Robert Lowe enjoyed with these old colonial 
 friends, within sight and sound of the * wide Pacific,' were 
 amongst the happiest of his life. 
 
 The following letter, written at this time, shows that he 
 was then in friendly relations with his only possible political 
 rival in Australia — the late William Charles Wentworth. 
 
 Bobert Love to the Bev. E. Michell, B.D., Oxford. 
 
 Nelson Bay, Sydney : November 30, 18-1(5. 
 
 My dear ^Iichc41, -Never a very good correspondent at any time, 
 the absence of common topics and the weakness of my eyes havo 
 reduced my efforts in that line to almost nothinpf. I trust that you 
 and yours arc wending, on the quiet road of Oxford, your way of 
 
 
 •■ I 
 
 
 ^[: 
 
 ' 
 
 1 , 
 
 ; 
 
 i 
 
 
 'i-1 
 

 ^I'll 
 
 ^^ 
 
 I h 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 W ■ 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
 h ti 
 
 I 
 
 1 ; 
 
 288 
 
 LIFE or LOllD SIIEUHIiOOKi: 
 
 life with as few annoyances and as many pleasures as are consistent 
 with the condition of humanity. My prospects are very ^ood. I 
 have as much practice as I can well get through, and am rapidly taking 
 the lead at the Bar, which I assure you is no easy task in this 
 colony. I have got a beautiful place on the shores of the Pacific, 
 about five miles from Sydney ; am saving money and investing it at 
 good interest, so that in a few years it will be within my option to 
 return to England. My wife is quite well and happy in laying out 
 her grounds. My eyes are indifferent, but certainly better than 
 when I left England, and I am quite satisfied with the result of the 
 expedition. 
 
 The object of this letter is to ask your assistance on behalf of a 
 gentleman (Mr. Wentworth) well known as a writer, a lawyer, and a 
 politician, to all who have any knowledge of New South Wales. 
 He sent his eldest son, William Charles Wentworth, to Trinity 
 College, Cambridge, but on my advice has decided to place him for 
 a year with someone who is in the habit of taking charge of restive 
 colts ; and I am now writing to you to beg you to find such a person. 
 A Cambridge man would be preferred. Young Wentworth is 
 intended for a barrister. I know no one to whom I could apply 
 with so much confidence as yourself, from my long experience of 
 your judgment and discretion in all matters relating to the manage- 
 ment of young men. Any arrangement you may make will be 
 ratified by Mr. Wentworth's agents, who will attend to the pecuniary 
 part of the matter. Why.tever you do, please to communicate to 
 them. 
 
 I am very sorry to give you this trouble, but I am sure you will 
 feel for a parent who is quite unable, from the immense distance and 
 the pressure of business, to come to England himself, and has no 
 one to whom to entrust a matter of so much difficulty. 
 
 With kind regards to your wife, in Avliich mine begs to join, 
 believe me, my dear Michell, 
 
 Your old friend, 
 
 KoBEiiT Lowe. 
 
 The rector of Bingham passed away in the year 1845 ; 
 but the news of his death did not reach Nels^^n Bay for many 
 months, as communication was then painfully slow between 
 England and Australia. By the Rev. Bobert Lowe's will, his 
 lands in the town of Nottingham and in the county of Derby 
 were devised in equal shares to his second son Robert, and 
 his youngest son, Frederick Pyndar Lowe. 
 
 If 
 
280 
 
 consistent 
 7 good. I 
 (lly taking 
 sk in this 
 le Pacific, 
 sting it at 
 ' option to 
 laying out 
 ?tter than 
 )ult of the 
 
 ehalf of a 
 ■yev, and a 
 th Wales, 
 to Trinity 
 e him for 
 i of restive 
 a a person, 
 itworth is 
 )uld apply 
 )erience of 
 e manage - 
 £6 will be 
 pecuniary 
 unicate to 
 
 *e you will 
 
 tance and 
 
 id has no 
 
 ;s to join, 
 
 Lowe. 
 
 ar 1845 ; 
 or many 
 between 
 will, his 
 of Derby 
 jert, and 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE POrULAR LEADER 
 
 The Wentworth Banquet— llobert Lowe and Imperial Federation— Private 
 Friends and Public Funds —Tlie Speakership and Bi-weekly Dinners- 
 Lowe on Economy— Hon. Francis Scott, M.P. —Land Legislation— Death of 
 Richard Windeyer— Death of Lady Mary Fitzroy— Caroline Chisholm 
 
 In the letter to his old Oxford tutor, Robert Lowe makes not 
 the slightest reference to his activity as a popular leader in 
 the Legislative Council. If the reports of the proceedings of 
 the Council, however, be examined, it will be found that the 
 new member for St. Vincent and Auckland was one of the 
 most prominent public figures in the Colony. He went in 
 and out daily from Nelson Bay on horseback, attended the 
 Courts, where he was making an ever-increasing income, and 
 thence, to the Council Chamber, where he spoke with brilliant 
 effect on almost every political question of the hour. Mrs. 
 Lowe does not omit to let their English relatives know how 
 steadily and rapidly he is mounting the ladder of success. 
 * All who hear Robert speak ' (she writes) , ' both in Court and 
 Council, say he is greatly gifted ; and men who have been in 
 the habit of hearing the best speaking in the House of 
 Commons and at the Bar say he would make his way rapidly 
 in England. The judges. Sir Alfred Stephen and Mr. Dick- 
 enson [afterwards Sir John Nodes Dickenson], tell Robert it 
 is folly for him to remain here. Robert wishes to return on 
 my account, but he never shall destroy his prospects for me. 
 He has struggled hard, and, considering his sight, the result 
 surprises even me.' 
 
 VOL. I. u 
 
 il 
 
 .■ 
 
 J 
 
 Nl^ 
 
 t I 
 
 I ,1 
 
'I 
 
 f 
 
 ?i'l 
 
 
 j^ 
 
 If 
 
 290 
 
 LIFE OF LORD STIEIIIIROOKE 
 
 This is the first actual intimation of any intention of 
 returning to England ; and it will be seen that the imme- 
 diate cause was the failing health of Mrs. Lowe. She herself 
 says in this letter : * I now feel the value of my love for nature ; 
 to me it supplies society, and as long as I am well enough 
 to ride about our shore and above on the superb cliffs that 
 overhang the coast, I want nothing more. But I have not 
 been well, and my strength has failed me much at times ; 
 then it is that I feel so wishful to see old friends again.' 
 
 * Robert (she continues) is much away ; the Bar and the 
 Council engross so much of his time.' 
 
 The letter goes on to assure her English friends that the 
 prospects of the colony are brightening, and that her husband, 
 whose income has reached 1,000L a year, is making wise and 
 profitable investments. ' Is it not strange ' (she adds with 
 ndircti') ' that Eobert, so unlike a money-making man, should 
 be making a fortune ? ' 
 
 There was a great public dinner given in honour of 
 William Charles Wentworth in the hall of Sydney College 
 (January 26, 1846), at which most of the leading men in 
 Sydney, who were not Crown officials, were present. Chief 
 among these were Robert Lowe, M.C., Richard AVindeyer, M.C., 
 Dr. Lang, M.C., Mr. Archibald Michie, barrister-at-law, Mr. 
 Donald Larnach, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Martin. It 
 was on this occasion, in reply to the toast, * A speedy and 
 thorough reform of the Colonial polic}'^ of Great Britain,' that 
 Mr. Lowe delivered one of the most eloquent and effective 
 of his Australian speeches, and, according to the local critics, 
 entirely outshone Wentworth himself. The interest in the 
 following passage is heightened by the palpable allusion to 
 Gladstone, Cardwell, and others, with whom he had contended 
 in debate at the Oxford l^nion : — 
 
 Many of my college contemporaries have been called on to fill 
 offices of trust and importance to the State. . . . They have been 
 
ntion of 
 e imme- 
 e herself 
 ■ nature ; 
 i enough 
 liffs that 
 lavc not 
 ,t times ; 
 n.' 
 and the 
 
 that the 
 husband, 
 wise and 
 dds with 
 11, should 
 
 Dnour of 
 r College 
 
 men in 
 . Chief 
 er, M.C., 
 [law, Mr. 
 Irtin. It 
 sedy and 
 in,' that 
 
 effective 
 11 critics, 
 t in the 
 lusion to 
 
 tntended 
 
 m to lill 
 kave been 
 
 THE POPl'LAll LEADER 
 
 291 
 
 placed in those offices by the voices of the people, and wben they 
 acted unwisely, they mii,'ht bo rcniovt ; but by cominj:; out here, I 
 have not only closed to myself that path of ambition, but have 
 ceased to be a part of the governing body —have lost all control over 
 the political destinies of the community to which I belonged, and 
 have sunk into the slave of those who were once my equals. Even 
 if it were an offence to join one's lot with that of the struggling 
 colonists of Australia, political disfranchisement and degradation was 
 too severe a punishment for it. 
 
 It is noticeable that in this remarkable after-dinner speech 
 Mr. Lowe gave eloquent expression to strong Imperialist 
 views. He was not one of those, he declared, who looked 
 forward to separation from the mother country as inevitable. 
 * Were they not of the same language — of the same race ? 
 Had they not in common glorious recollections of the past, 
 high and lofty interests of the present ? ' He then painted 
 in the blackest colours the bungling and incompetence of 
 Downing Street, and proceeded to lay down a line of policy 
 by which he considered the tie between England and the 
 colonies could be perpetuated, and the rights and liberties of 
 both communities preserved. The political sentiment, no less 
 than the eloquent expression of the following passage might 
 have inspired the late deeply respected statesman, William 
 Edward Forster, and will surely appeal to the mind and heart 
 of Lord Eosebery : — 
 
 A line of demarcation should be drawn between Imperial and 
 Colonial legislation, and all meddling interference in matters of a 
 domestic nature should be utterly and for ever renounced. They 
 were the best judges of their own wants, their own circumstances, 
 and could legislate for their own Avelfare better than those who were 
 totally ignorant of both; he claimed for the Colony the right to 
 regulate her local affairs by her local Assembly, without the control 
 of any power on earth. In Imperial matters also, a voice should be 
 given to the Colonies — a share in the government of which they were 
 made to feel the effect : for if the Colonies were to share in the results 
 of Imperial policy, it was fit they should have a voice in its delibera- 
 tions. If it was intended to carry out the principle, that colonies 
 were integral parts of the British Empire, they had a right to be 
 represented in the British Parliament ; they would then be heard, 
 
 u2 
 
 ; I 
 
 111 
 
 III 
 
 !■ I 
 
 ,1 V 
 
 :!:t 
 
r 
 
 
 I*' 
 
 f! 1 
 
 I 
 
 is 
 
 Ill 
 
 : ( 
 
 292 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 their interests would then be cared for. If the representative of 
 Middlesex claims a right to control the destinies of New South 
 Wales, the representative of New South Wales should have a 
 corresponding influence on the destinies of Middlesex. Statesmen 
 were yet to learn that the prosperity of the whole is best secured ^y 
 making every part prosperous ; that there is no conflict between 
 the interests of the Colony and the Empire, and that the notion of 
 sacrificing the former to the latter always originates in the narrow 
 and selfish view of a part, and not in a comprehensive survey of the 
 whole. England herself is but a part of the Empire, and when she 
 treats us as if she were the whole, she is actuated by a narrow and 
 provincial spirit. If this were granted, then indeed would England 
 and her colonies be knit in an iron confederacy, supreme in her 
 strength ; then might she be, as I hope she ever will be, triumphant 
 in arms, in arts, in literature and in freedom. But if this should 
 not bo granted, then might she look for evil, for mourning, and 
 for woe. 
 
 It cannot be gainsaid that this is the doctrine — pure and 
 unadulterated — of Imperial Federation ; a doctrine which 
 Lord Sherbrooke, in later life, might not have felt altogether 
 able to endorse. But it should certainly stand as the expres- 
 sion of his opinions when he was a leading colonist and a 
 most popular public man in Sydney, engaged, too, in per- 
 petual warfare with the officials in Downing Street", whom he 
 so vehemently opposed mainly because he considered their 
 course of action calculated to detach the Colonies from the 
 mother country. 
 
 This was almost the last occasion on which Lowe and 
 Wentworth appeared as political allies. After the recall of 
 Sii George Gipps, the squatter party, of which Wentworth 
 was the natural leader, was, under Earl Grey's policy, 
 * transformed ' (to quote Lowe) ' from the suppliant into the 
 master.' He himself then, as we shall see, opposed the 
 squatters, who were led by his former ally, and became the 
 upholder of the rights of the great mass of the people. 
 
 In these lax days it is counted almost a virtue in a public 
 man to succour his friends at the public cost. Eobert Lowe 
 had no friend in all Australia for whom he had so affectionate 
 
THE rUPULAll LEADKU 
 
 293 
 
 ntative of 
 ew South 
 [1 have a 
 statesmen 
 secured ^y 
 t between 
 
 notion of 
 he narrow 
 vey of the 
 
 when she 
 arrow and 
 i England 
 ne in her 
 •iumphant 
 lis should 
 L-ning, and 
 
 pure and 
 le which 
 iltogether 
 le expres- 
 ist and a 
 in per- 
 diom he 
 L-ed their 
 rom the 
 
 lowe and 
 recall of 
 
 entworth 
 policy, 
 into the 
 
 osed the 
 
 !ame the 
 
 a public 
 rt Lowe 
 3ctionate 
 
 a regard as for William Mackay ; while for his friend's father, 
 the venerable Speaker of the Legislative Council, he, like the 
 rest of the community, had the very greatest respect. It was 
 eminently characteristic that when Alexander Macleay re- 
 signed the Speakership, and Wentwortli moved a resolution 
 to compensate him for the loss of his English pension during 
 the time that he had acted in that capacity, on the vote 
 being taken, it was found there were fourteen ayes and two 
 noes ; the two latter being Lowe and Cowper. 
 
 The question of a successor to the Hon. Alexander M'^^'leay 
 was the cause of a most amusing debate in the Counc 1. 
 Wentworth — among whose defects bashfulness was not pro- 
 minent — consented to be nominated as Speaker on condition 
 that he should be allowed to take part in the debates, and 
 that he should have a ' dinner salary,' and a residence pro- 
 vided for him. It was desirable, he told the members, 
 * that the Speaker should be placed in a position to extend 
 hospitality, which would promote the despatch of business by 
 softening the asperities so apt to spring up in the warmth of 
 debate.' He pointed out that in England the charitable 
 institutions would languish without the custom of public 
 dinners. Amidst shouts of laughter he declared that the 
 Speaker's dinner in the House of Commons had become * an 
 established part of the Constitution.' * And,' he added, * in 
 this colony, where the members of the Legislature receive no 
 wages for their labours, and are at a long distance from 
 their abodes, it is only right and reasonable that the public 
 should be at the expense of entertaining them once or twice a 
 week.' 
 
 Sir Maurice O'Connell actually rose and warmly supported 
 the proposition. 
 
 This was too much for Lowe, who had been fighting 
 the battle of retrenchment side by side with Wentworth for 
 years. At the same time no one perceived the ludicrous 
 aspect of the whole matter more clearly. His speech, which 
 
 liK 
 
 Hi; 
 
ii 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 « 
 
 » 
 
 ',1 i 
 
 i 
 
 it 3 T 
 
 : it.' • 
 
 ;i| 
 
 II 
 
 294 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 even in those slow days found its way into at least one 
 journal published in London, was a satirical masterpiece. 
 Apologising for speaking before any member of the Govern- 
 ment, Lowe said : — * I protest against this motion on 
 behalf of the constituency I represent, on behalf of the prin- 
 ciples which I have ever joined the lion, and learned member 
 (Wentworth) in advocating, and, I feel almost constrained to 
 add, on behalf of the hon. and learned member himself.' 
 
 He continued in a really high strain of eloquence to show 
 that in an impoverished colony the dignity of the Council 
 would not be maintained by increasing the salary of its chief 
 officer in order that he ni'ght entertain the members at 
 dinner. * When ' (to use his own words) ' in a season of 
 heavy and prevalent distress, the Council, in a spirit of 
 sympathy which it was bound to feel, gave moderate salaries 
 to its officers, it advanced its dignity in a far higher degree 
 than it could have done by investing the Speaker with the 
 most gorgeous panoply.' 
 
 Lowe said that he could not reconcile "Wentworth's 
 motion with his former persistent advocacy of a policy of re- 
 trenchment in accordance with which the House had cut down 
 salaries and abolished offices because the expenditure was more 
 than an oppressed and groaning community could bear. 
 
 Then he continued : — 
 
 I, for one, could never sit down to these bi-weekly feasts. To 
 nie, fancy would ever l.e conjuring up some bloody Banquo's ghost 
 — shades of displaced police magistrates, and curtailed clerks, to 
 push me from my seat ; while the banquet would vanisb like a 
 fairy feast, leaving nothing but rock, and dust, and ashes behind. 
 . . . Right and proper it is that the Speaker of the House of 
 Commons should be invested with all the pomp and state of cir- 
 cumstance ; but how different our position in New South Wales. 
 Here it seems to me that free institutions have been hung up, as it 
 were, in a pillory, deprived of all that renders them respectable 
 and respected in other countries. In such a condition it becomes 
 us rather to cast off' all empty forms, all outward show and display, 
 and to endeavour rather to assert our dignity by the ceaseless effort 
 
THE rOPULAU LEADEK 
 
 295 
 
 ; least one 
 nasterpiece. 
 he Govern- 
 motion on 
 •f the prin- 
 ed member 
 strained to 
 cnself.' 
 lee to show 
 ;he Council 
 of its chief 
 1 embers at 
 ; season of 
 a spirit of 
 ite salaries 
 [her degree 
 T with the 
 
 -'entwortli's 
 olicy of re- 
 d cut down 
 was more 
 jear. 
 
 feasts. To 
 quo's ghost 
 d clerks, to 
 nisi) hkc a 
 hes behind. 
 Houso of 
 tate of cir- 
 uth Wales, 
 ig up, as it 
 respectable 
 it becomes 
 lul display, 
 eless eftbrt 
 
 to retrieve our constitutional rights, than by investing this mockery 
 of u, Legislature with the forms and attributes of an entirely 
 different Assembly. 
 
 In the same earnest and eloquent spirit, the orator pro- 
 ceeded to express his regret that Mr. Wentworth, whom, on 
 ' so many occasions he had been proud to follow, and to whose 
 judgment he had often paid the greatest deference,' should 
 have made such a proposal, and for a reason, he added, that 
 concerned the honourable and learned member himself. For 
 he had entertained an opinion that the day might arrive 
 when that gentleman, retiring from the contentious arena of 
 debate, sated with the strife and applause of political discus- 
 sion, might have sought for repose in the Chair. 
 
 After this motion, how could such an event take place ? 
 Mr. Lowe then mentioned the cost of * this legislative esta- 
 blishment,' and pointed out that they had not been sparing in 
 censure of subordinate bodies that had cost more than they 
 were worth. If they carried this motion, the public would 
 soon suspect that they had no toleration for any joljs except 
 their ^ ^n. 
 
 Then, as though suddenly struck by the humour of the 
 whole thing, he drew a ludicrous picture of the two rival 
 candidates for the Si)eakership : — 
 
 I feel sure that the Houso will reject the motion which, if 
 carried, I should expect to sec followed up by two gentlemen with 
 two bills of fare as candidates, one coaxing a vote with champagne, 
 whilst the other tapped them on the shoulder \vith IJurgundy- -one 
 tempting them with turtle, whilst the other preferred some other 
 rccJierclic delicacy. 
 
 At this stage, Mr. Robinson, the (^)uaker member for 
 Melbourne, who had become a mere squatter's nominee, and 
 an abject worshipper of Wentworth, must have given some 
 indication of his views and intentions, for Mr. Lowe suddenly 
 turned round upon him and observed that ' he fancied from 
 the cheers of the hon. member for Melbourne that he intended 
 
 I . 
 
 ; I 
 
 Hi' 
 
 m 
 
 1 1 
 
 1: 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
'■'■' 
 
 M 
 
 1'^ I 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i t 
 ♦ t 
 
 29G 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEKBKOOKE 
 
 to follow humbly in the wake of the hon. and learned member 
 for Sydney, and no doubt in the speech he would address to 
 the House he would be able to reconcile the pomp and display, 
 which the motion was intended to encourage, with his own 
 modest-coloured and plain habiliments — ^just as he had found 
 it easy on another occasion to reconcile the transporting troops 
 and munitions of war with the principles of universal peace.' 
 Mr. Robinson did support the notion on the extraordinary 
 ground that the Lord Mayor of London had 14,000/. a year 
 granted him for state alone. An illustration that must have 
 lilled the lordly Wentworth with ineffable scorn. As might 
 be expected, Charles Cowper expressed his regret that one by 
 whose side, session after session, he had fought the battle of 
 retrenchment, should have brought forward such a motion. 
 Even the Colonial Secretary and Attorney General, in calmer 
 and more official phraseology, coiidcn!n(>^l it. But the Joseph 
 Hume of the Council, Richard Windcyer, who thoughout his 
 career was a most consistent reformer of abuses, was really 
 indignant, and pointed out * that the object of the hon. mem- 
 ber for Sydney, and the object of those who resisted any re- 
 duction in the salary of the Governor were precisely similar ; 
 they both wanted to increase the strength of the table-cloth 
 chains which are so binding in many instances — and as the 
 Governor had the power of giving good dinners, his learned 
 friend wanted to set up an ojiposition shop on the popular 
 side.' 
 
 In fact, almost every member was oppose^] k- the proposal, 
 and Mr. Wentworth, without a blush, announced that as the 
 feeling of the House was so thoroughly against him, he should 
 not press the motion, but would withdraw it. 
 
 In many respects the entire proceeding was eminently 
 characteristic of the two chief actors in the scene. One can 
 well imagine what a merry meeting it must have been when 
 Robert Lowe's personal friends next assembled at Nelson Bay, 
 and heard the story of Wentworth and the Speakership. 
 
 i , I 
 
THE POPULAR LEADER 
 
 297 
 
 [ member 
 Wress to 
 I display, 
 
 his own 
 ad found 
 ng troops 
 1 peace.' 
 lordinary 
 )/. a year 
 lUst have 
 ^s might 
 it one by 
 battle of 
 i. motion, 
 in calmer 
 le Joseph 
 ;hout his 
 as really 
 >n. mem- 
 
 any re- 
 similar ; 
 ble-cloth 
 d as the 
 
 learned 
 
 popular 
 
 )roposal, 
 t as the 
 e should 
 
 ninently 
 )ne can 
 ;n when 
 on Bay, 
 
 Lowe's activity as the representative member for St. Vincent 
 and Auckland was unbounded. He was in the very prime of life, 
 just turned thirty-five, and the position of entire independence 
 which he now held in the Council seems to have stimulated his 
 active and powerful mind. There was not a political question 
 in any way affecting the rights of the community or the liberty 
 of the individual colonist which he was not prepared to discuss 
 with point and settle with promptitude. 
 
 For some time Lowe had ceased to contriliute to the 
 Atlas, over which, indeed, he exercised no control whatever after 
 the year 184G. He now devoted his energies entirely to the 
 Council Chaml)er and the Bar. After the too early death of 
 Windcyer, he seems to have taken up the role of ' Joseph 
 Hume ' himself, and to have subjected all items of public ex- 
 penditure to a constant and most rigid scrutiny. One after- 
 noon, August 5, 1847, he entered the Council rather late, 
 having been detained in court, and, turning to iJeas Thomsoii, 
 the Colonial Secretary (for whom personally he had no small 
 measure of respect), he made some amusingly characteristic 
 remarks on the easy-going and rapid manner of voting away 
 public money. ' Most easily,' he said, * did the wheels of 
 legislation seem to run under the guidance of his lion, 
 friend the Colonial Secretary, and the tractable and guiding 
 disposition of the representatives of the people in that House.' 
 He would advise the constituencies, one and all, never again 
 to return a lawyer to represent their interests in the Council, 
 because he might be by chance detained in court half an hour, 
 unable to get away owing to some delay about a paltry sum 
 of five or ten shillings, and by such an accident the i)ul)lic 
 interests might suffer. He himself had been forced to wait, 
 sorely against his will, that very afternoon while a jury were in 
 anxious discussion whether they would give a plaintiff damages 
 to the amount of 1/. lo.s. or 2/. It was just four o'clock 
 when he entered the House, and although there was on the 
 paper a pre ,ious order of the day, he found in one short hour 
 
 ! • 
 
 I' 
 
 Hi 
 
 1 1 1 
 '] ■ 
 
 ■ii 
 
•^•o' ' 
 
 t I 
 
 i| ■ 
 
 I ; 
 
 1 1 
 
 III 
 
 298 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SlIEliimOOKK 
 
 the House had voted away 26,000/. of the pubHc money, and if 
 it had not been for the timely entrance of his friend, the hon. 
 member for Cumberland (Cowper), they would have added to 
 it the further sum of C,195/. 
 
 In May 1847, he moved for leave to bring in a Bill for 
 compensating the families of persons killed by accident — a 
 transcript of the Act then recently passed in the Imperial Par- 
 liament. But the subject which engrossed most of his atten- 
 tion from this time until his departure from Sydney was the 
 Land Question. 
 
 On May 11, 1847, he made an important speech in pre- 
 senting a petition signed by 138 of his constituents of St. 
 Vincent ar d Auckland in favour of the reduction of the mini- 
 mum price of land from II. an acre to 5.s'. In this speech he 
 even supported the plan of what is known in Australia as 
 ' deferred payments,' by which the settler pays for his land in 
 instalments. Only by these means, he urged, could the 
 Government hope to settle the people on the lands of the 
 Colony ; only in this way could a genuine yeomanry be formed 
 in i.\ustralia. 
 
 Daily the breach between liobert Lowe and the squatter 
 party grew wider. It only needed the promulgation of Earl 
 Grey's new Land Policy to make that breach irreparable. In 
 order to render intelligible his public conduct when that 
 Minister's famous Orders in Council were promulgated, it 
 is necessary to explain the transformation that had taken 
 place in the statu h and position of the squatters of New South 
 Wales, since the time when they trembled before the arbitrary 
 acts of Lord Stanley and Sir George Gipps. 
 
 Smarting under the aggressions of Downing Street and 
 the agrarian experiments which Lord Stanley and Sir George 
 Gipps had learnt from the too ingenious Gibbon Wakefield, 
 the squatters, being shrewd men, saw that their only hope of 
 rescue was to appoint and pay a vigilant agent in the House 
 of Commons. Men like Charles Buller and Bulwer Lytton, 
 
THE POPULAR LEADER 
 
 299 
 
 By, and if 
 the lion, 
 added to 
 
 I Bill for 
 ident — a 
 irial Par- 
 lis atten- 
 r was the 
 
 1 in pre- 
 ts of St. 
 ;he mini- 
 peeeh he 
 tralia as 
 s land in 
 3uld the 
 s of the 
 formed 
 
 squatter 
 of Earl 
 ble. In 
 len that 
 ^ated, it 
 d taken 
 w South 
 .rbitrary 
 
 eet and 
 George 
 xkefield, 
 hope of 
 ) House 
 Lytton, 
 
 with whom they were in constant correspondence, were either 
 too philosophical or too literary to make eflicient wire-pullers ; 
 but they found in the Hon. Francis Scott, brother of Lord 
 Polwarth, an almost ideal representative of their interests at 
 Westminster. Mr. Scott was a barrister, a director of the 
 South Western Railway Company, a first-class business man, a 
 country gentleman highly connected, and a Conservative M.P. 
 He accepted the post, the salary of which was fixed at 500L 
 a year. Mr. Scott's position with regard to the Australian 
 pastoralists was precisely the same as that held by Mr. 
 Eoebuck for the Jamaica planters, and by Edmund Burke 
 for the colonists of what is now the State of New York. 
 Some of his Australian principals were as well connected 
 as himself, having relatives in both Houses of Parliament ; 
 and Mr. Scott was soon able to organise a party in the House 
 of Commons ' which very narrowly watched the proceedings 
 of Colonial Secretaries of State. 
 
 It would be absurd to blame the squatters for doing their 
 utmost * by constitutional means,' as the phrase goes, to im- 
 prove their lot. But it very soon became apparent to Pobert 
 Lowe that the new Secretary of State, Earl Grey, had been 
 induced to surrender the entire rights of the Australian com- 
 munity in the public estate to the pastoral tenants of the 
 Crown. Up to this point he had in the main fought and 
 worked side by side with Wentworth ; but as soon as Earl 
 Grey's despatches were laid on the table of the Legislative 
 Council — and even before, as their purport had leaked out — 
 they became the leaders of two fiercely opposing parties. 
 Lord Grey had, indeed, little as he probably suspected it, 
 
 ' At a great banquet in Sydney, Mr. Arehil)akl Boyd remarked that ' In 
 paying tlieir (the squatters') just tribute to Mr. Scott, they should not be forgetful 
 of the claims of others. They had received the greatest assistance from Lord 
 Polwarth, from Mr. Mackinnon, M.P. for Leamington, and Mr. Pringle, M.P. 
 for Selkirkshire.' How many Victorians, I wonder, know why one of their 
 counties is named ' Polwarth ' ; or tluit so much of the colony was in these days 
 a sheep-run of the brothers Boyd. 
 
 ii,lr 
 
 .'! 
 
 !t li 
 
 ■ \ II 
 
 11 
 
 1,!)' 
 
„J « J 
 
 31 
 
 it 
 
 ii 
 
 ■ 4 
 I 
 
 "^1 I 
 
 
 r ■ 
 « < 
 
 ji'i • 
 
 i 
 
 : i 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 I" 
 
 Ml 5 
 
 I I 
 
 f; I 
 
 300 
 
 LIFE OF l.ORI) SIIERBROOKE 
 
 surrendered the entire colony into the hands of some five 
 hundred pastoral tenants of the Crown. For he had actually 
 been induced to bestow upon them fixed leases for fourteen 
 years of their runs in the * unsettled districts ' (that is to say, 
 the whole of what is now New South Wales, and Victoria, and 
 the South of Queensland, with the exception of a certain 
 radius round the few chief towns). At the same time he 
 retained the high Wakefieldian price of land, thus practically 
 prohibiting further settlement. 
 
 When Earl Grey's Orders in Council arrived, a select 
 committee, with Lowe as chairman, was appointed ; its report 
 was laid on the table of the House in September 1847. It 
 was a j)owerful * document.' Lord Grey, he said, had divided 
 the colony into the * Confiscated ' and the * Unconfiscated.' 
 
 To make confusion worse confounded, Earl Grey next at- 
 tempted to revive the practice of criminal transportation, to 
 the huge delight of the squatters, to whom he had given a 
 practical monopoly of the land, and thus proposed to follow it 
 up by the bestowal of free convict labour. By this means the 
 former suppliants became indeed masters of the situation. 
 
 The series of philippics — for they were nothing short of 
 that — which Robert Lowe delivered in the old Legislative 
 Council of New South Wales on the Land Question, would of 
 themselves form a volume. In the opinion of so good a critic 
 as the late Sir James Martin, Chief Justice of New South 
 Wales who as a young man listened with rapt attention to 
 them, the speeches were never surpassed even by Lord 
 Sherbrooke's greatest efforts in Engl&^nd — the famous series 
 of Anti-Eeform speeches. 
 
 It will be possible to glance, and no more, at one or two 
 of these orations, towards the end of this volume ; but it is 
 worthy of note in passing that these Australian speeches were 
 on the popular side of a burning question ; by means of them, 
 though he alienated most of his old squatter friends, he became 
 
mm 
 
 THE POPULAR LEADER 
 
 301 
 
 ome five 
 actually 
 fourteen 
 s to say, 
 )ria, and 
 , certain 
 time he 
 aetically 
 
 a select 
 ts report 
 847. It 
 I divided 
 ated.' 
 next at- 
 ation, to 
 
 given a 
 follow it 
 cans the 
 
 ion. 
 
 short of 
 gislative 
 i^ould of 
 
 a critic 
 South 
 ition to 
 y Lord 
 s series 
 
 or two 
 ut it is 
 es were 
 f them, 
 became 
 
 nothing less than the popular idol. Working men and the 
 honest poor emigrants who had voyaged to the other side of 
 the world only to find themselves more vigorously cut off 
 from their ' common mother the Earth ' even than in 
 England, were loud in his praises ; finding their way 
 into the gallery of the old Council-Chamber, and seeing 
 him standing up almost alone against a phalanx of Crown 
 officials and pastoralists, now in complete alHance, they v;ere 
 unable to restrain the expression of their admiration. How 
 different was the effect of his more famous orations against 
 Eeform in England need not now be dwelt upon. 
 
 By the death of Richard Windeyer in 18^7, at the com- 
 paratively early age of forty-two, Lowe lost the one henchman 
 whose services he would have valued at this crisis. It is 
 singular that Sir George Gipps and his most persistent 
 opponent should have passed away, one in England, the other 
 in Launceston, Tasmania, at about the same time, and, I be- 
 lieve, from the same cause — internal cancer. Eichard Windeyer 
 had devoted so much of his energies to public matters, that he 
 died leaving his private affairs in a far from prosperous con- 
 dition. 'After my father's death,' writes his distinguished 
 son. Sir William Windeyer, Puisne Judge of New South Wales, 
 Lord Sherbrooke proved himself a most generous friend, and 
 to his kindness it was owing that my interrupted education 
 was continued.' In the same letter, which will be found in 
 the second volume of this work, Sir William remarks that the 
 y^uth of Australia owe to Lord Sherbrooke the Act by which 
 they are enabled to go to the Bar without, as before, having 
 to enter themselves at one of the Inns of Court in London. 
 
 Before the new Orders in Council reached Sydney, and 
 were laid on the table of the House, Robert Lowe sounded the 
 note of warning : — 
 
 The squatters now look on me as their enemy ; but certain am 
 I that, if they would open their eyes and look to their own true 
 interests beyond the little vista of selfishness to which they at 
 
 ; ' \- 
 
 \ ' ■! 
 
I 
 
 m 
 
 Hi 
 
 r 
 
 
 1 
 
 ■it 
 
 ! I 
 
 i 1 
 
 illh 
 
 302 
 
 IJFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 present confine their gaze, they would not call me their enemy. In 
 this cause — the cause of the colony — no selfish feeling shall deter 
 me from what I feel to be my great and responsible duty, and it is 
 with proud feelings instead of shame that I am able to assert that 
 I represent the opinions of almost every colonist in New South 
 Wales who is not a squatter. 
 
 In the same strongly personal vein, showing how greatly 
 he was moved by the change in his relations to his former 
 friends, he went on to declare that he ' was not opposed to 
 the squatters — he would make the burden upon them as 
 light as possible ' : — 
 
 I Avould give them every encouragement to go forth into the 
 wilderness, to gather the wealth of the colony, and to bring it back 
 in wool ; but to give them a permanency of occupation of those 
 lands — those lands to which they nad no better right than that 
 of any other colonist — which were the inalienable possession of 
 generations and generations yet unborn, I can never consent to. 
 Its effect would be to lock up all the lands of the colony, to reduce 
 the rest of the population to a state of vassalage and serfdom, to 
 throw abroad in the land the torch of discord, jealousy, and 
 dissension. It would be to leave succeeding generations an 
 agrarian law as a legacy, to be a bone of contention through future 
 ages, such as history told them it had ever been. It would be to 
 create in the social and political structure of the colony an element 
 of perpetual strife, violence, and anarchy, till, wearied out with 
 ceaseless struggles, it ended in the abrupt and total subversion of 
 the order of things. The prophecy which I had ventured to make 
 when urging the land resolutions on the Council, is now about to 
 be fearfully fulfilled. I then predicted that a system of conciliation 
 in lieu of one of oppression towards the squatters would be adopted 
 by the Home Government. The measure now proposed by the 
 present Minister is far more dangerous, though not so harsh and 
 insulting, as the policy pursued by Lord Stanley. For against 
 regulations intended to oppress a class, all could unite — it forced 
 them to unite, and kept them together ; but in the present circum- 
 stances, the bait of immediate selfish emolument is held out, and 
 many would, in the greedy contemplation of that, lose sight alto- 
 gether of the general good. 
 
 From the time of the delivery of this speech, Robert Lowe 
 assumed the post which Went\vorth had relinquished — that 
 of the popular leader in the Legislative Council. 
 
w 
 
 THE roprr.AR leadki; 
 
 
 my. In 
 all deter 
 md it is 
 5ert that 
 w South 
 
 greatly 
 1 former 
 )Osed to 
 :liem as 
 
 into the 
 g it back 
 of those 
 ban that 
 3ssion of 
 nsent to. 
 to reduce 
 rfdom, to 
 Lisy, and 
 :ions an 
 h future 
 dd be to 
 element 
 3ut with 
 ersion of 
 to make 
 about to 
 iciliation 
 adopted 
 by the 
 rsh and 
 against 
 t forced 
 circum- 
 out, and 
 ht alto- 
 
 d Lowe 
 I — that 
 
 Although his political position was now one of singular 
 isolation — for he had both the Crown officials and the squatter 
 party against him — he renewed to some extent his social 
 relations with Government House. Thus, on the Queen's 
 birthday, May 24, 1847, we find * R. Lowe, Esq.' amongst 
 those presented to Sir Charles Fitzroy at the Icn'e. 
 
 Mrs. Lowe about this time writes to IMrs. Sherbrookc of 
 
 Oxton : — 
 
 I have seen more of Sir Charles and Lady Mary Fitzroy. They 
 are most polite to us, and I like them very much. I have just been 
 planting seeds that were collected on Dr. Leichhardt's expedition ; 
 a gentleman who accompanied him gave me a few seeds of each 
 new flower which they discovered. I intend to make drawings of 
 our new place. I only fear you will think that I have exaggerated 
 its beauties, but I assure you that it would be beyond my power to 
 do so. I load a very quiet life, and now seldom go into Svdney. 
 Robert rides backwards and forwaids every day, and I am sure the 
 exercise is most beneficial to him. The horses of this country are 
 as safe and sure-footed as the muli'S of Switzerland, and display a 
 surprising degree of intelligence, ^\ hich I attribute to the life they 
 lead as colts in the bush. They Lave a most extraordinary facility 
 in finding their road, and seem to be aware of the habitation of man 
 miles before reaching the spot. 
 
 After giving a rather deplorable account of the social 
 condition of Sydney, both as to its so-called higher and lower 
 classes, Mrs. Lowe pays a special compliment to the female 
 emigrants from the north of Ireland. In another letter to 
 the same correspondent she refers to the two little charges 
 who were part of the Nelson Bay household. 
 
 The I'uo little children are very good. Polly is now sitting close 
 to Robert reading Burke's works ; she reads beautifully, and is not 
 yet quite nine ; she will have been Avith us three years next Christ- 
 mas. Bobby, I think, is my favourite ; he is such a nice little boy, 
 with a sweet temper, and is growing really quite pretty ; he has 
 dark eyes, and a most faithful countenance. You Avould be quite 
 amused to see him wait at dinner. Our new Governor, Sir Charles 
 Fitzroy, is very popular, and Lady ]\Iary Fitzroy is liked. 
 
 Lady Mary Fitzroy, indeed, became a greater favourite 
 daily, but was unfortunately killed in a carriage accident 
 
 ir 
 
 ill 
 

 
 i 
 
 1 
 » ) 
 
 till 
 
 • 
 
 K 
 
 M 
 
 ■ ( 
 
 ; 
 
 III 
 
 
 hi' ': 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 304 
 
 LIl'E OF LORD 8IlERnU00KK 
 
 toward the close of 18^17 at Paramatta, to the great grief of 
 Mrs. Lowe and all who were admitted to lier intimacy. 
 
 A somewhat dramatic scene took place at this time between 
 Mr. Lowe and Bishop Broughton, against whom, it must be 
 admitted, he displayed at times his strong anti-clerical bias. 
 Mr. Lowe introduced a Bill to give clergymen a freehold in 
 their benefices ; the Bishop begged to be heard against it at 
 the Bar of the House. * The scene,' writes Mr. Rusden, * was 
 striking. . . Throughout his address, of which Mr. Lowe 
 admitted the eloquence, the Bishop was heard with respectful 
 attention.' The Bill was withdrawn. 
 
 It was also about this time that Lord Sherbrooke was 
 brought into relations with Caroline Chisholm, 'the emigrant's 
 friend.' That lady, an English Eoman Catholic, had first 
 arrived in New South Wales in 1839 with her husband, Captain 
 Archibald Chisholm, of the Iiidian Army, then on sick leave. 
 "What she saw of the misery of the poor emigrants deter- 
 mined her to return and devote her life to their cause. 
 Naturally, Lord Sherbrooke had as great a horror of pro- 
 fessional female philanthropists as had the creator of Mrs. 
 Jellyby ; but, like most of the leading colonists a,t that time in 
 Sydney, he freely acknowledged that Caroline Chisholm was 
 a clear-headed and practical woman, with plenty of self- 
 reliance, and fully able to carry into practice her charitable 
 schemes. There was something, too, in the courage with 
 which she had, single-handed, fought the battle of the poor 
 and helpless outcasts of the Old World, which appealed to his 
 sense of chivalry. 
 
 When Mrs. Chisholm first arrived she was received with 
 marks of favour by the Roman Catholic clergy ; but, as Mr. 
 Samuel Sidney observes : * As soon as they found it was to be a 
 universal, or, to use the Irish term, a "godless," scheme of prac- 
 tical philanthropy, and not sectarian and proselytising, they op- 
 posed it vehemently.' As the same writer points out, the Crown 
 officials were not very enthusiastic about housing and looking 
 
grief of 
 
 between 
 must be 
 Leal bias, 
 eholcl in 
 nst it at 
 len, ' was 
 [r. Lowe 
 espectful 
 
 )oke was 
 aigrant's 
 had first 
 , Captain 
 Lck leave. 
 ts deter- 
 ir cause, 
 of pro- 
 of Mrs. 
 ,t time in 
 lolm was 
 of self- 
 haritable 
 age with 
 ,he poor 
 ed to his 
 
 ved with 
 t, as Mr. 
 as to be a 
 eofprac- 
 they op- 
 le Crown 
 looking 
 
 THE IMJPULAIl M:AI)EIt 
 
 30i 
 
 after shoals of immigrants, as it meant ' more work, some super- 
 vision, and no increase of pay.' The squatters — who were 
 the chief employers of labour — preferred single men * without 
 encumbrances ; ' whereas Mrs. Chisholm's pet scheme was to 
 settle married couples and their families on the lands of the 
 colony. Dr. Lang, who was a host in himself, at first, on 
 account of Mrs. Chisholm's faith, raised the * No Popery ' cry, 
 though afterwards he somewhat reluctantly acknowledged the 
 honesty of her motives. Thus, like most persons who do a 
 work in the world, Mrs. Chisholm had to do it alone. Even- 
 tually she won the hearts of the poor of all races and creeds, 
 and the admiration of all worthy colonists. In August 1847 
 a committee was formed, of which Robert Lowe was a pro- 
 minent member, to raise a subscription to augment Mrs. 
 Chisholm's slender income in order to assist her in her emi- 
 gration scheme. Among those who supported this movement 
 with their names and subscriptions were : Alexander Macleay, 
 W. C. Wentworth, Charles Cowper, Dr. Nicholson, J. B. 
 Darvall, S. A. Donaldson, J. P. Eobinson, W. H. Suttor, 
 Francis Lord, W. H. Manning (Solicitor-General), William 
 Bland, Captain O'Connell, and Clarke Irving — all repre- 
 sentative colonists. As well as supporting the movement by 
 pen and purse, Piobert Lowe wrote some verses in honour of 
 Caroline Chisholm, which I transcribe, partly Ijeeause their 
 authorship has lately been disputed in various Australian 
 journals. 
 
 TO MliS. CHISHOLM 
 
 The f^iiai'dian angel of her helpless sex, 
 Whom no fati^jfue could daunt, no crosses vex, 
 "With manly reason and with judgment sure. 
 Crowned Avith the blessings of the grateful poor ; 
 For them, with unrepining love, she bore 
 The boarded cottage and the earthen floor, 
 The sultry day in tedious labour spent. 
 The endless strain of whining discontent. 
 Bore noonday's burning sun and niidniglit's chill, 
 The scanty meal, the journey lengthening still ; 
 
 il 
 
 !ljt 
 
 , 1 
 
 I ' ' I 
 
 1 ( 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 X 
 
 'n 
 
 i ;i 
 

 M 
 
 ': 
 
 it;; t 
 
 ■Itti ' ' 
 
 I) t 
 
 306 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD STIElJimOG . 
 
 Lavished her scanty store on their distress, 
 And sonj^ht no other guerdon than success, 
 Say, ye who hohl the balance and the sword — 
 Into your lap the wealth of nations poured — 
 ^Vhat have ye done with all your hireling brood 
 Compared with her, the generous and tlie good ? 
 Much ye receive, and little ye dispense : 
 Your alms are paltry, and your debts immense ; 
 Your toil's reluctant, freely hers is given : 
 Yoix toil for earth, she labours still for heaven. 
 
307 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 MR. Gladstone's proposed penal colony 
 
 Arc^bkhop Whately and Charles BuUer-Dr. Bland and the Australian 
 Patnots-Keview of the Transportation Question -Mr. Gladstone's dT 
 spatches to Sir Charles Fitzroy -Wentworth's Select Comin itee-Tl o 
 Unal Colony n. North Australia-Eobert Lowe in the Atlas -A Popular 
 
 In order to complete the narrative of Lord Sherbrooke's 
 career in New South Wales, it will be necessary to lay special 
 stress on the two groat colonial questions in the discussion of 
 which hu took so large a share, namely, the settlement of a 
 genuine yeomanry on the public lands, and the stoppage of 
 the transportation of criminals from Great Britain and 
 Ireland. 
 
 But before entering into these matters, it may be well to 
 pause and note that the chief actors heretofore on our stage 
 had now disappeared. Sir George Gipps was succeeded ^,v 
 Sir Charles Fitzroy as Governor of New South Wales, and 
 Lord Stanley, the Colonial Secretary, was succeeded, firstly 
 for a brief while by Mr. Gladstone, and then by Earl Grey 
 During Mr. Gladstone's tenure of the office he attempted an 
 experiment in Northern Australia, so remarkable in itself and 
 so suggestive, in the light of his successor Earl Grey's 
 transportation poHcy, that it may be well to consider it with 
 some degree of care and fulness. 
 
 When Mr. Gladstone stepped into Lord Stanley's place, an 
 article appeared in the Atlas headed ' British Politics,' in which 
 the new Colonial Secretary was thus referred to : ' Whether Mr. 
 
 X 2 
 
 
n 
 
 ;! 
 
 113 
 
 i< 1 
 
 It 
 
 j: 
 
 ii 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 I ■■' 
 
 :< I 
 
 II 
 
 i il 
 
 ll :! 
 
 !: : 
 
 308 
 
 LIFE OF LOI.'T) SIIFUHIfOOfCK 
 
 (iliulstonc will prove liimHolf to be morn conciliatory and moro 
 conHtitutionfU [than Lord Stanley] rcmainH toheHecn. Ilois, 
 we believe, an amiable and kind-luarted man, wliose only 
 failing is Htatcsd to be a l(!aning towardH tlie fooliHli doctrines 
 of Pusoyism. Tf be ban a due rcHpect for tbc civil liberty 
 of bin fellow-HubjectH in tbe colonieH ;.s well as in tbe mother 
 country, and ban good Hense and independence enough to 
 liberate biniHelf from the trarauHslH of bis undcrlingH, he may 
 do Home good — as nuicli perhaps as the present system will 
 admit of.' 
 
 Little did the writer imagine that the first act of Mr. 
 Gladstone as Colonial Secretary would be to send out de- 
 spatches to Sir Charles Fitzroy in favour of the resumption of 
 criminal transportation. To realise the conmiotion that the 
 pubUcation of thes(! des[)atches caused in tlf colony it will be 
 necessary to explain the state of public; feeling which had 
 grown up both in England and in Australia on this question. 
 
 Mainly through the exertions of that wo/iderfully dear- 
 luiaded and able man, Itichard Whately, Archbishop of J)ub- 
 lin, Sir William ^tolesworth's Committcse of tbe Tb)Uso of 
 Connnons (1888) had pronounced against transportaticm to 
 Australia as the accepted form of what was called 'secondary' 
 as distinguished from capital punishment, lieforc! this com- 
 mittee Dr. Ullathorne, the lioman Catholic Vicar-General, 
 gave some appalling personal testimony as to the social con- 
 dition of the island of New Norfolk, whither were drafted all the 
 worst and most incorrigible convicts from New South Wales. 
 Nothing, howev(!r, even in the pamphlet which he subsequently 
 published on this subject, is more horrible than the plain 
 statement made to Sir V/illiam IJurton by an intelligent con- 
 vict when tbc judge visited New Norfolk for the purpose of 
 trying a nund)er of refractory i)risoncrs in 18IM. * Lot a 
 mai/s heart,' he said, * be what it will when he comes here, 
 his !Man's heart is taken from hhn, and there is given to him 
 the lu'art of a Beast.' Of course, the colony of New South 
 
 Ji. 
 
r 
 
 Mil. (JI.ADSTONK'S I'llOI'OSFJ) I'KNAI, ( or.ONV 
 
 ;oa 
 
 and more 
 II. 11(3 is, 
 lioHo only 
 (locti'inoB 
 n\ liberty 
 10 mother 
 snough to 
 H, ho may 
 f^stom will 
 
 3t of Mr. 
 1 out do- 
 niption of 
 1 that tho 
 it will be 
 /hieh had 
 (juostion. 
 illy clear- 
 ) of J)ub- 
 TTouHO of 
 tation to 
 ;3rondary ' 
 tluH com- 
 -Gonernl, 
 jcial con- 
 tod all tho 
 th Walos. 
 •sequontly 
 the plant 
 i^ont con- 
 
 lU'pOBO of 
 
 ' Lot a 
 
 uoH horo, 
 
 n to him 
 
 ow South 
 
 WalcH waH by no moans in tho awful stato of its wntchod 
 insular Hatollito, which was ontircily roKorvod an a roccptacle 
 for inc{)rrif,'iblo criminality. For all that, tho ovidcmco f^'ivon 
 boforo th(! Soloct Committoo of tho IIouko of Connnons clearly 
 hIiows that it was in a condition that no civiliHod and Koif- 
 rcBpccting community could nuich lonj^or tolerate, while Van 
 J)iemen'K Land was only a shiido better, if at all, than Norfolk 
 Island. 
 
 ]3ut it should be clearly statcsd that there is no grcat(!r 
 myth than tho provailinf? impression that shi[)loads of crimi- 
 nals wore forced by hard-hearted English olVicials on unwilling 
 colonists. This statement, which may sound rather heterodox, 
 especially in tho ears of ' Young Australia,' can bo proved to 
 demonstration. Dr. William JMand, one of the leading colo- 
 nists of New South Wales, who was then the colloagiui of 
 Wontworth in tho representation of tho city of Sydiuiy, wrote 
 on behalf of tho Australian I'atriotic Association a series of 
 * Letters to Charles Luller, Jun., Esq., IM.P.' These * Letters ' 
 were published, and dedicated to 'William Charles Wont- 
 worth, Esq., M.C., in Admiration of his Talents, and as a 
 Token of sincere ll(!gard.' (Sydney, 18 19.) 
 
 Tho purpose of this correspondence with Charles Buller 
 was to endeavour to convhicc him that the transportation of 
 criminals, aiul the assignment of convicts to [)rivate service, 
 were alike beneiicial to England and to Australia. These 
 *Letters ' alford conclusive evidence that wliile blading English- 
 men, notably such men as A; chbishop Whately, Sir William 
 Molesworth, and Charles Luller. wore on the broadest and 
 most disinterested grounds v^orking for the cessation of 
 criminal transportation, many leading colonists, among whom 
 were tho ' Australian patriot,' William Charles Wontworth, his 
 friend and colleague J)r. Liand, and Sir John Jami(!Son, th(j 
 most prominent of pastoralists, wtsre moving heaven and 
 earth — or, rather, doing a vastamotnit of subterranean political 
 wiro-pulling—to stock their country afresh with English and 
 
 
 ! ti 
 
 ii':^ 
 
 I ; 
 
 ! i 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
310 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIE11I]R()0KE 
 
 m 
 
 Irish jail-birds." In one of these letters to Charles Buller 
 Dr. Bland unblushingly observes : * We arc aicare of the diffi- 
 culties in our waj/ — that the leaders of every party in the House 
 of Commons are opposed to the continuance of those systems ^ par- 
 tieularly to that of pnrate assiynment.' 
 
 The patriotic doctor then goes on to explain to his correspon- 
 dent that an * assigned convict ' is, in respect to his * assignee/ 
 precisely in the same position ' as the free servant is to his 
 master.' 
 
 It is startling, but perhaps wholesome, to compare such 
 views with the notable utterance of Archbishop Whately, who 
 wrought a revolution on the subject in the minds of thought- 
 ful Englishmen. 
 
 The punishment (said Whately to Judge Dcnman) is one which 
 causes move mischief than it does pain, and which is the more 
 severe to each in proportion as he is less of such a character as to 
 
 be deserving of it When Shakespeare makes someone 
 
 remark to Parolles : ' If you could find a country where but 
 women were, who have undergone so much shame, you might begin 
 an impudent nation,'' he little thought, probably, that the experi- 
 ment of beginning such a nation would be seriously tried, and from 
 not ha\'ing quite enough of shameless women, we should be sending 
 out cargoes of girls to supply the deficiency.- 
 
 Charles Buller, in reply to Dr. Bland, pointed out to him 
 and the other ' Australian Patriots,' that, as long as trans- 
 portation existed, they could not hope to have responsible 
 government. Buller knew well what he was talking about, 
 and did not mince matters. ' I am fully convinced,' he 
 wrote, ' that it is idle to make any effort for the establish- 
 ment of representative institutions in New South "Wales as 
 long as transportation to it continues.' 
 
 For, as he pointed out, even the most liberal-minded Eng- 
 lish statesman would hesitate to confer such institutions on a 
 
 ' At no time were many Scottish criminals sent to Australia, which is a 
 reason generally overlooked for the superior energy and morale which have 
 made the Scotch so pre-eminently successful as colonist there. 
 
 - Life and Correspondence of Archbishop Whately, third edition, p. 90, 
 
 » '• 
 
MR. GLADSTONE'S TROPOSED PENAL COLONY 311 
 
 convict-ridden community. Free emigrants of a better class, 
 too, would not choose a penal colony for their adopted home, 
 and that of their wives and children. ' Nor will that prejudice,' 
 he added, ' be removed while men of great influence like the 
 Archbishop of Dublin, and periodical publications of no less 
 influence, continue by denunciations of the state of the Penal 
 Colonies to foster and augment the dislike to emigrate to 
 them.' But Dr. Bland and the ' Australian Patriots ' were 
 quite unabashed, and even ventured to controvert the Arch- 
 bishop's unanswerable arguments against transportation ; for 
 which of us cannot find arguments in support of a profitable 
 practice ? 
 
 The following brief letter from Bland to Charles Buller is 
 quite an historical curiosity in its way : — 
 
 Sydney : November 22, 1840. 
 
 You state that all parties are agreed in withholding free insti- 
 tutions from New South Wales while it continues to be a penal colony. 
 We regret the error on which this determination is founded, and 
 not less the lateness of the receipt of information hi this country in 
 respect of that error, and which alone prevented its timely refutatioii 
 on our part. This circumstance we attribute to the unfortunate 
 interval in the representation of this country in Parliament between 
 the years 1887 and 1839. For though on the retirement of Mr. 
 Bulwer,' that office was nominally transferred to yourself, yet from 
 your unn voidable absence in Canada we have been possessed of the 
 benefit of your important services only from the opening of the 
 session of 1839. 
 
 li 
 
 !«• H 
 
 I 
 
 on a 
 
 Despite these * Australian patriots,' transportation practi- 
 cally ceased from 1840, and no criminals were sent to New' South 
 Wales during the governorship of Sir George Gipps. As often 
 happens in the conduct of human affairs, this great moral 
 reformation came at the very worst possible time. It came 
 
 ' Lord Lytton, the novelist, who afterwards became Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies. He had previously written to the Patriotic Association, advisinR 
 them to appoint a Parliamentary agent in London ; they accordingly appointed 
 him, and forwarded a cheque for 500?., the amount of the annual honorarium, 
 wliich, however, lie declined to accept, and gave his services gratuitously. 
 
 (-! I, 
 
II 
 
 f 
 
 If 
 
 1 
 
 I 't 
 
 
 II I' 
 
 312 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIEKBKOOKE 
 
 at tliat time of terrible financial depression when the whole 
 colony seemed to be in a state of insolvency ; and it increased 
 the commercial gloom and j^ade the lot of the squatters and 
 other settlers still harder. For it must be remembered that as 
 long as the colony was an Imperial penal station, there were 
 thousands of convicts and hundreds of soldiers to be fed, and 
 consequently fortunes were made (chiefly by rascals) out of 
 Government contracts. Trade, especially in the sale of rum, was 
 brisk. Nor can it be denied that for some years the free emi- 
 gration to New South Wales was very inadequate both in quality 
 and quantity, so much so that these ' Australian patriots ' and 
 their friends all over the country were able to make out a 
 case in favour of the resumption of transportation. 
 
 Still, any keen and impartial observer on the spot could have 
 discerned that New South Wales was steadily improving socially, 
 morally, and financially, and that, as a consequence, free and 
 untainted immigration would soon set in. Even before Sir 
 George Gipps left there was every sign of increased mate- 
 rial prosperity, when suddenly, like a thunderbolt, came Mr. 
 Gladstone's ill-omened despatch to Sir Charles Fitzroy, in 
 which he threw amongst the colonists, like the apple of discord, 
 the renewal of criminal transportation, and, as a consequence, 
 * cheap labour.' 
 
 This despatch was dated Do^^ning Street, April 30, 184(5, 
 and began as follows : — 
 
 To Governor Sir C. A. Fitzroy, Nctv So7ith Wales. 
 
 Sir, — I am desirous that at the commencement of your adminis- 
 trative duties as Governor of New South Wales, you should be 
 possessed, in a form as definite as the state of the case admits, of the 
 views of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the introduction 
 of convicts into that colony. 
 
 You are aware that the practice has been for some years past to 
 exclude New South Wales from the sentences of transportation 
 passed in this country Her Majesty's Government sym- 
 pathises with the impatience of the colonists of New South Wales 
 under the system which prevailed there some years ago 
 
MR. cjlai)st()Nf;s ruorosEi) penal colony 313 
 
 But the question is essentially and entirely difterent, whether it 
 might not be a measure favourable to the material fortunes of New 
 South Wales and unattended with injury to its higher interests to 
 introduce, either directly from England at the commencement of 
 their sentences, or from Van Diemen's Land at some period during 
 their cours3, a number of prisoners, small in comparison with tlu; 
 numbers that were carried to that colony under the former system 
 of transportation. 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine tho joy of Wentworth, Bland 
 and the Australian Patriotic Association, when Sir Cliarles 
 Fitzroy made this despatch public, as he did at once, with 
 a view of eliciting colonial opinion. The present colony of 
 Victoria, whose boast it is that it never directly received 
 English criminals, was selected as a corims vile for the ex- 
 periment. 
 
 The labour of such persons [convicts] would be more liberally 
 remunerated in Port Phillip than in Van Diemen's Land. They 
 would be much more thinly dispersed among the population, would 
 form a scarcely perceptible element in the composition of society, 
 and would enjoy those favourable opportunities of improving habits 
 and character, which transportation, according to its first theory, 
 was designed to afford ; and if this disposal of them, during the 
 latter portion of their respective terms, should follow upon a period 
 of really efficient discipline in the probation gangs (which as yet I 
 by no means despair of their being ...ade to yield) during the earlier 
 portion, in such cases I conceive, while the economical benefit to Port 
 Phillip would be great, the hazard from which such an immigration 
 can never perhaps entirely be set free, would be reduced t its mini- 
 mum, and the hopes of the ultimate reformation of the convicts 
 proportionally raised. 
 
 One can again picture the jubilation of the Messrs. Boyd and 
 those other pastoral tenants who had made Port Phillip ' one 
 vast squattage,' at this prospect of cheap convict labour. 
 Mr. Gladstone did not even stop here, but threw out the 
 suggestion that a limited number of convicts from England 
 might be introduced into New South Wales itself for the 
 execution of public works, such as the making and repair 
 of roads, * always presuming that they are neither destructive 
 to health, nor essentially liable to moral ol)jections.' 
 
 ;! ,! 
 
 1 1 
 
 -n 
 
 \ .1 
 ■I I 
 
i! ' 
 
 m. 
 
 ■I- 
 
 'W 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 1 lil 
 
 \i ^ 
 
 !l 
 
 ! I 
 
 
 i 
 
 3U 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKK 
 
 This is the gist of the despatch. Never did the happy 
 Epicureanism of Sir Charles Fitzroy display its superiority 
 over the severer sense of responsibility in Sir George Gipps 
 than when, on receipt of this document, he at once published 
 it, and so gave the colonists, as he said, an opportunity of 
 deciding the matter for themselves.' Such a despatch would 
 have given Sir George many a sleepless night, and, probably, 
 have led to a fierce conflict with the Legislative Council in 
 which (like the brave gentleman he was) he would have borne 
 the brunt, and done his best to shelter his master in Downing 
 Street. 
 
 This despatch threw the community into a state of 
 wild commotion. "Went worth, who had now become the 
 chief of the * transportation party ' and the political leader of 
 the * squattocracy,' moved in the Council for a select committee 
 to inquire into and report upon the entire subject of the trans- 
 portation of criminals into New South Wales. It was duly 
 appointed, with Mr. Wentworth himself as Chairman, and 
 Eobert Lowe as one of its members. 
 
 If anyone will take the trouble to read the evidence given 
 before this transportation committee, he will be simply 
 astonished to see how uncompromisingly the squatters gave 
 their evidence in favour of again receiving English criminals. 
 Mr. Benjamin Boyd, for instance, stated that ten thousand 
 convicts could be taken ' beyond the boundaries,' and be profit- 
 ably assigned to the squatters. He would land them at 
 Portland Bay, Twofold Bay, and Moreton Bay, so as to avoid 
 Sydney and Melbourne. Every employer preferred ticket- 
 
 ' Sir Charles Fitzroy was in reality of that type oi aristocratic viceroy, 
 now almost universal in our great self-governing colonies. He was the third 
 son of General Lord Charles Fitzroy, brother of the Duke of Grafton. His wife, 
 Lady Mary, was daughter of the Duke of Eichmond. A man with such con- 
 nections was not likely to fear the powers of Downing Street, as did the class of 
 ' official ' governors, whose pension and promotion depended entirely on the 
 Secretary of State. On landing on the lovely shores of Port Jackson, Sir Charles 
 ia said to have observed : ' I cannot conceive how Sir George Gipps could permit 
 himself to be bored by anything in this delicious climate.' 
 
^m 
 
 the happy 
 iiperiority 
 rge Gipps 
 published 
 rtunity of 
 tch would 
 probably, 
 'ouncil in 
 ave borne 
 Downing 
 
 state of 
 iome the 
 
 leader of 
 )mmittee 
 ;he trans- 
 was duly 
 Qan, and 
 
 ice given 
 ) simply 
 ters gave 
 riminals. 
 ihousand 
 )e profit- 
 them at 
 to avoid 
 tieket- 
 
 ic viceroy, 
 1 the third 
 His wife, 
 I such con- 
 he class of 
 sly on the 
 5ir Charles 
 uld permit 
 
 MR. GLADSTONE'S PROPOSED PEXaE COLONY 315 
 
 of-leave men to bounty emigrants. * I have few immi- 
 grants,' he added, * in my employ,' He maintained that the 
 Americans had got control of the South Sea fisheries in the 
 Pacific because of the scarcity of laijour in the Australian 
 colonies.' Mr. Lowe plied Mr. Boyd with many pertinent 
 questions, to which he gave careful and guarded replies ; but 
 there was evidently the happiest understanding between him 
 and Mr. Wentworth, as the following questions and answers 
 will show. 
 
 By the Chairman.— Do you not think the ticket-of-leave system 
 one of the happiest devices possible foi reforming those people ? — 
 Yes : I have already mentioned that I believe 1 am one of the 
 largest employers of labour in the colony, and I have always found 
 the ticket-of-leave men the most efficient servants. 
 
 By Mr. Loioe. — Would there not be an outcry raised if you were 
 to pay these people wages, that they were placed on the same 
 footing as free men ? — Such has been the demand for labour, and 
 the exorbitant rate of wages demanded by the bounty emigrants, 
 that we have been obliged by necessity to hire expirees from Van 
 Diemen's Land ; and until there is a fall of at least 50 per cent. 
 in their demands, the emigrants will have no right to complain. 
 
 By Mr. Loivc. — Might not this state of things be a means of 
 deterring free people from coming to this colony altogether ? — I do 
 not think it would have that effect, as the prosperity of the colony, 
 with an ample supply even of convict labour, would soon induce 
 free immigrants to seek it as a field for employment. 
 
 Mr. Wentworth then proceeded to ask the witness some 
 questions about ' systematic religious instruction ' for these 
 ' exiles,' which Mr. Boyd answered in the most beautiful and 
 becoming spirit.^ The report of this select committee bears 
 
 ' Mr. Boyd said Great Britain and her colonies had only fifty-nine vessels ; 
 America 670 whalers in the Tacific, employing 20,000 men, consuming upwards 
 of '200,000Z. worth of provisions annually, and importing into American harbours 
 1,()06,000Z. ; yet these vessels came 10,000 miles to fish on our coasts. 
 
 ■^ Mr. Benjamin Boyd actually indited and published a letter to Sir William 
 Denison, then Governor of Van Diemen's Land, ' On the expediency of trans- 
 ferring the unemployed labour of that colony to N.S.W.' (1H47), in which he 
 observes : ' England formed penal colonies at the uttermost ends of the earth ; 
 the capital and free labour which followed were not enticed hither under any 
 provisions of abolishing the convict establishments ; capitalists and labourers 
 
 I ■ i 
 

 11 
 
 1 
 
 i i 
 
 i ! 
 
 !fi! 
 
 H 
 i * 
 
 h f 
 t 
 
 316 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEKUROOKE 
 
 evident traces of Wentwortli's masterly hand, though it is 
 not difticult to perceive the restraining touch of Lowe, who 
 was about to become the principal agitator against transpor- 
 tation in any shape to any part of Australia. 
 
 In this report there is a clause about a * new penal 
 settlement immediately to be formed on the very northern 
 boundary of this colony.' This refers to a subsequent scheme 
 propounded by Mr. Gladstone to Sir Charles Fitzroy. He 
 required only a week after the sending off of the original 
 despatch to concoct an entirely new plan for the revival of 
 transportation to Australia. Writing from Downing Street 
 on May 7, 184G, he proposed to found a convict colony in 
 Northern Australia, northward of the 26th degree of south 
 latitude, by letters patent under the Great Seal of the 
 United Kingdom. Sir Charles Fitzroy, like most of the 
 disciples of Epicurus, was not without a sense of humour ; 
 but it is difficult to say whether he sighed or smiled as he 
 read this eminently characteristic despatch, and thought of 
 the rising tide of popular indignation in Sydney when he 
 should publish it in the newspapers. Mr. Gladstone thus 
 began his discourse to Sir Charles : — 
 
 No truths can at onco be more familiar, weighty, and indisput- 
 able, than that the first rudiments of every nevr colony should be 
 selected from the most virtuous, intelligent, and hardy classes of 
 the colonising State ; and should be composed of capitalists and 
 manual labourers, bearing a due proportion to each other. 
 
 I sincerely and deeply regret the impossibility of taking those 
 great principles for our guide in the present instance. 
 
 Public opinion has demanded, and Parliament has enacted, the 
 abolition of the punishment of death in almost all cases except 
 treason, murder, and the infliction of wounds or injuries with a 
 murderous intention. Hence the importance of an effectual 
 
 eagerly flocked to shores where the large disbursements of the public treasury, 
 and the sustained demand for labour, presented a standard of profit and re- 
 muneration unattainable in the mother country, and in the attractive rates of 
 interest and the high scales of wages and rations, both the employer and the 
 employed waived all reference to the " moral contagion " ichich a feiv alarmists 
 now profess to dread.' 
 
MR. GLADSTONE'S PROPOSED PENAL COLONY 317 
 
 secontlary punishment has become f];reater than ever. — [Ilonce — to 
 cut ^Ir. Gladstone a little short —transportation to Australia to be 
 revived.] 
 
 But here a difficulty presented itself. ' It has happened, 
 either by the enactment of positive laws, or by pledges said 
 to have been made by her Majesty's Government, that no 
 place is left in Australia for the reception of transported 
 convicts, except Van Diemen's Land and Norfolk Island.' 
 
 Hence, Mr. Gladstone argued, the necessity for the erection 
 of the new convict colony of Northern Australia under Colonel 
 Barney. 
 
 The despatch concludes : — 
 
 I cannot but advert to the possible, though I do not doubt 
 improbable, difficulty with which you may have to contend. I 
 advert to the dissatisfaction with which the Legislature and the 
 Colonists of New South Wales may contemplate this measure. I 
 should much lament the manifestation or existence of such a feel- 
 ing. It would be with sincere regret that I should learn that so 
 important a body of Her Majesty's subjects were inclined to oppose 
 themselves to the measures which I have thus attempted to ex- 
 plain. Any such opposition must be encountered l)y reminding 
 those from whom it might proceed, in terms rlike respectful and 
 candid, that it is impossible that her Majesty sjould be advised to 
 surrender what appears to be one of the vital interests of the 
 British Empire— [i.e., to create a fresh Alsatia at the Antipodes] 
 
 Having practically relieved New South "Wales, at no small 
 inconvenience to oursel/es (as soon as it became a burden), of 
 receiving convicts from this country, we are acquitted of any 
 obligations in that respect, which any colonist the most jealous for 
 the interest of his native or adopted country could ascribe to us. 
 
 In a second despatch, covering two newspaper columns, 
 dated May 8, he gives minute instructions as to the method of 
 establishing the new convict colony of Northern Australia. Nor 
 was this all. The Lord Auckland sailed early in .January for 
 Northern Australia, having on board : Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Barney, superintendent of the projected colony, Mrs. Barney, 
 and family ; W. W. Billyard, Esq., chairman of quarter sessions ; 
 James S. Bowling, Esq., crown prosecutor ; E. C. Merewether, 
 
 H 
 

 n 
 
 I 
 
 V ■ 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 ^i li 
 
 
 It; 
 
 ' 
 
 \h 
 
 318 
 
 I.IFK OF LOUD SIIERBROOIvE 
 
 Esq., acting colonial secretar}' ; Mr. G. H. Barney, clerk ; 
 Assistant Commissary-General Darling ; Captain Day, 99th 
 Eegiraent, Mrs. Day, and family ; Mr. W. A. Brown, deputy- 
 sheriff ; Mr. Robertson, surgeon ; M :. George 0. Allen ; Mr. 
 W. K. Macknish, wife and family. These, with twenty 
 soldiers, and some labourers and servants, comprised the 
 nucleus of Mr. Gladstone's penal colony. 
 
 However, Mr. Gladstone retired from the Colonial Office 
 at this juncture, and his successor. Earl Grey, wrote promptly 
 to Sir Charles Fitzroy, on November 15, to this effect : — 
 
 I cannot conceal from you that her Majesty's present con- 
 fidential advisers dissent from the view taken of this subject by 
 their immediate predecessors, even in reference to the state of facts 
 under which they acted, and to the considerations by which they 
 were guided. . . . Since the decision was taken there has been such 
 a change in the state and circumstances of society in the Australian 
 colonies as would, could it have been foreseen, have doubtless been 
 regarded by the authors of the project as conclusive against it. 
 . . . Her Majesty will, therefore, be advised to revoke the letters 
 patent under which North Australia has been erected into a separate 
 colony ; and the establishment formed there must be immediately 
 discontinued. 
 
 Mr. Lowe rose to the occasion. His pen now rarely found 
 journalistic employment, for, after re-entering the Council, he 
 soon ceased his connection with the Atlas ; but such a subject 
 as Mr. Gladstone's proposed penal colony was altogether too 
 tempting. In the first instance, he dealt with it in a stirring 
 leading article, written in his most pungent style. Then, 
 when the expedition under Colonel Barney sailed out of Port 
 Jackson, lie wooed the comic Muse: — 
 
 How blest the land where Barnej''s gentle sway 
 
 Spontaneous felons joyfully obey, 
 
 Where twelve bright bayonets only can suffice 
 
 To check the wild exuberance of vice — 
 
 "Where thieves shall work at trades with none to buy, 
 
 And stores unguarded pass unrifled by, 
 
 Strong in their new found rectitude of soul, 
 
 Tiiuied without law and good without control. 
 
MR. GLADSTONE'S PROPOSED PENAL COLONY oil) 
 
 Still more ludicrous was the subsequent wail over the 
 fiasco, which appeared in the form of an inscription on tin? 
 monument proposed to be erected on the spot where Colonel 
 Barney landed at Port Curtis : — 
 
 Here Bnrney landed — memorable spot 
 
 ^Vhich Mitchell never from the map shall blot . . . 
 
 For uix lon<? hours he did the search pursue, 
 
 For six long hours — and then he thirsty grew ; 
 
 Back to tlie rescued dteamer did he steer, 
 
 Drew the loud cork and (juaffed tlie foaming beer ; 
 
 Then ate his dinner with tremendous gnst, 
 
 And with champagne relieved his throat adust, 
 
 Fished for his brother tlat-fish from the stern, 
 
 And thus victorious did to Sydney turn ! 
 
 Passing from poetry to the hard facts of the cost of 
 this futile experiment, I find, from an official memorandum, 
 that it amounted to some 15,402L 6s. 2d., all of which was 
 simply thrown into the sea. 
 
 However little one may accept the aljsurd saying, Vox 
 populi vox Dei, it is quite true that it was the bulk of the 
 respectable labouring men and women of Australia who won 
 the battle that cleared their shores of the taint of convictisni. 
 As will be shown in a succeeding chapter, they found in 
 rt()1)ort Lowe a valiant and eloquent leader, who threw himself 
 heart and soul into the question, and became — what he never 
 was before or after — the idol of the masses. 
 
 U 
 
 1 !'' 
 
 I ■ J 
 
 ■\\ 
 
V I 
 
 W 
 
 J I 
 ( 
 
 1 * 
 
 f 
 
 'ill'. 
 
 11 ; 
 ill I' 
 HI. 
 
 ^! 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 i' 
 1; 
 
 
 n 1 * 
 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 V 
 it 
 
 1 
 
 
 .. i 
 
 
 320 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBIJOOKE 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 NOTES OF A GREAT SPEECH 
 Legislative Council, Sydney : Oct. 9, 184G 
 
 Before passing on to the stormy scenes, many of them en- 
 acted under the bhie vault of heaven, when Robert Lowe, in 
 defiance of all his inborn traditions — his love of close reason- 
 ing, his keen but scholarly wit, his distaste for mere empty de- 
 clamation — found himself compelled to be the leading agitator 
 in the colony, let us take a glance at some notes of a fine and 
 thoughtful oration delivered by him in the Legislative Council 
 on his favourite subject of education. 
 
 This was on the evening of October 9, 1846, when he rose 
 to move : — 
 
 That an Address be presented to his Excellency the Governor, 
 prayi:\: that he will be pleased to place on the Estimates of 
 Expenditure the sum of 2,000Z. to meet the expenses of schools to 
 be conducted on the principles of Lord Stanley's National System 
 of Education ; and that his Excellency Avill be pleased to appoint 
 a Board favourable to that system, and take all other steps necessary 
 for bringing it into immediate and effective operation. 
 
 It will be remembered that almost from the time he 
 entered the Council as a Crown nominee, Mr. Lowe had 
 been the chief educational reformer in Australia. The ques- 
 tion, moreover, had for the last two years been amply dis- 
 cussed both in the Council and on the public platform. 
 During this period the clergy had organised their forces, 
 
NOTHS OK A (IIJHAT SPEKCII 
 
 
 4. ,t ,t 
 
 them en- 
 Lowe, in 
 le reason - 
 Bmpty de- 
 g agitator 
 i fine and 
 'e Council 
 
 n he rose 
 
 Governor, 
 imates of 
 schools to 
 il System 
 to appoint 
 necessary- 
 
 time he 
 ■ewe had 
 he ques- 
 ply dis- 
 latform. 
 1* forces, 
 
 while the leaders of tlio Roman Catholic church liad mudo. a 
 complete voUi'-facc. It was from that quarter that the re- 
 formers had most to fear ; for its flocks wore hoth iiiimeroiis 
 and ignorant. Mr. Lowe hcgan to see that the victory would 
 not ho won easily, and that, do what he might, it would in all 
 likelihood take some years simply to ' educate his masters ' — 
 the voters in the community. But he remained undaunted ; 
 and, on the evening referred to, set himself the task not only 
 of explaining the advantages of a general system of educa- 
 tion, hut of mecthig and controverting the position taken \\\) 
 by his opponents, who declared that he was advocating a 
 ' godless ' system. His answer to this charge will furnish 
 the first extract from his speech, which is given as nearly as 
 possible in the words he used in addressing the Legislative 
 Council. 
 
 A * Godless ' System. 
 
 The objection urf^ed to this system when it was first bronglit 
 forward was that it was a godless and irreligious system. Now, I 
 am ready to confess that I am an advocate for irreligious teaching — 
 that I would have people made shoemakers or tailors without the 
 aid of religion at all -that all mechanical arts should in fact be 
 taught irreligiously. I am of opinion that religion should be mixed 
 up with none of these things, on the principle that it is sufficient to 
 teach one thing well at a time ; and if cliildren are to be taught to 
 read and write, their attention should be confined to reading and 
 writing, and I repudiate the idea of teaching reading and writing 
 according to any system of religion. So also I am for an irn-ligious 
 system of arithmetic, for I can see nothing but evil from Wending 
 theology with simple addition, or cosmogony with subtraction. 
 God forbid that I should wish children to be brought up irreligiously. 
 I would have a child instructed in religion as in anything else, l)ut 
 what I want is that religion should not necessarily be mixed up with 
 instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The whole fallacy, 
 indeed, turns on the word education ; if the word meant reading and 
 writing, then ought religion to have nothing to do with the matter ; 
 but if it embraced a wider scope— if it contemplated the entire 
 training of man — the fitting for higher views and nobler purposes 
 than those for which his original nature fitted him if it was to 
 raise and improve the whole faculties of his being, to make him a 
 
 , II 
 
 
 'I 
 
 . 1 I 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
I' 
 
 I 
 
 
 II 
 
 a 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 1 'i 
 
 , ! 
 
 322 
 
 LIFE OF LOKD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 more exalted creature — then would religion become a jiart of that 
 education, but in its proper place. 
 
 But who, I would ask, is there that really wishes the people to 
 be brought up irreligiously ? Who is it indeed that asks more than 
 to let children be educated, without offending the opinions of 
 peculiar sects? Money is given for the purpose of education by 
 the State because it is a general good to be applied in the same 
 way to all denominations. At the rate we are going on we shall 
 soon be obliged to have different roads as well as different schools, 
 in order that the Roman Catholics and Protestants might not meet 
 for fear they should attack each other. 
 
 The Duty of the. State. 
 
 I contend that it is the duty of the Crown to put this spirit down. 
 To see that men are not brouglit up to dwell on these differences in 
 the forms and modes of worship, or let them assume the mere 
 appearance of religion, till in the heat of controversy and bigotry 
 tliey forget that they are Christians. It is the part of the Govern- 
 ment to repress these things, and to introduce a system which will 
 teach them to live in harmony, to enlighten men, to soften them — 
 to teach them that religion is a blessing and not a curse, and that 
 the great principle of all religion, whatever garb its doctrine might 
 assume, is the same. It is no part of the duty of a State to see that 
 its population is instructed in the doctrines of a finely drawn, meta- 
 physical faith ; and to attempt such a system would only result in 
 the degrading spectacle of a community torn, not by social or 
 political disagreements, but by the more rancorous and deeply 
 seated war of religious dissensions. No doubt the Anglican Church 
 lias had a good effect in Engliiiul, where people are taught to look 
 up to it as the established church of the land, and dispensing 
 peculiar blessings as such ; but here, where there should be com- 
 plete religious equality, what are v.e to anticipate will bo the result 
 t)f this incessant struggle on the part of each denomination to 
 establish an bnpcriwn in iiiipcrio, within its own precincts, instead 
 of striving to live in the links of one common brothoiliood. What 
 system that calls itself Christian can lead to these heart-burnings 
 and jealousies — which, directing its attention to the promulgation of 
 these principles of disunion, teach the Protestant to look on the 
 (^atholic as an idolater, and Hie Catholic to regard tlie Protestant as 
 a heretic ? How much wiser, how much nobler, to invite a common 
 people— common by birth, by language, and every national tie — to 
 acknowledge in one brotLerhood of feeling, one (iod, one faith, and 
 one revelation. 
 
NOTES OF A GIIEAT SrEFX'lI 
 
 
 In an article written about the time this speech was de- 
 livered, Mr. Lowe defended the selections from Scripture hi 
 the class books compiled for the Irish National Schools, on 
 the ground that they supplied the only religious instruction 
 that could be embodied in the ordinary lessons of ' connnon ' 
 schools. He then showed why, in his opinion, the clergy of 
 the various denominations were alike dissatisfied with this, 
 and demanded something more in the way of religious in- 
 struction. The priest, he said, whether Anglican or Eoman 
 Catholic, objected to these selections because they were 
 unaccompanied by the definite credal teaching of his 
 church; 'while the Dissenter who, in his dread of tra- 
 dition, finds the whole of his religion in braying forth the 
 empty words, " the Bible, the whole Bible, laid nothing but 
 the Bi' 'e," objects because the Scriptures are not put entire 
 as a school book into the pupils' hands. The objection of the 
 first tv.o arises from a desire to exercise priestly power — the 
 objection of the last from most contemptible ignorance.' 
 
 Reverting again to the speech, Mr. Lowe put before the 
 Council the two systems — the general or 'common ' system of 
 education, calculated to weld the rising generation into a 
 united Australian people, and the denominational system, 
 which could only foster differences and dissensions. 
 
 11' 'I 
 
 ..liii 
 
 '■.I 
 
 The. Two Sijstcms. 
 
 Wliich system, T ask, is tlie best and most holy ; wliich will most 
 conduce to the happiness and cnlightonmcnt of mankind ; which is 
 the system Avhich will most harmoniously load the scattered 
 population of the colony to a sense of the blessings that education 
 is desi^'nod to bestow '.' Is it not the general system — the system of 
 education in connnon — that we should prefer in it young conmiunity 
 like this, while it is yet ductile, whi'e the fountains of the river of 
 cdueation are yet un|)()llut('d by the prejudices of older nations ? 
 Are we 'villing to sell this right to give the means of enlighti'nment 
 to a comnumity to disseminate a spirit of hai-mouy ;ind i)r()- 
 therly lo\e-for the sake of a littU' tr.msient concoid '.' Which is 
 the nobler, purer feeling ; to adopt the intended system of social 
 
 V 2 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 - ll 
 
 324 
 
 T.IFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 enlightenment, or to encourage the splitting u}) of the community 
 into sectarian parties ? Apart from the selfishness, or cowardice, 
 involved in submitting to the latter system for the sake of a little 
 peace, could there be a doubt on such a question ? Would that 
 Council stop to calculate when such a chance was ofter'^d ? I ap- 
 prehend not. It will not be excusable if it does not by every means 
 in its power seek to put a stop to the spirit of bigotry and sectarian- 
 ism everywhere prevailing. Some there are too old to be instructed, 
 from whom these pernicious principles cannot be extracted, people 
 who have come out with all their burning prejudices deeply instilled 
 into them, and who will bear them to the grave. But finite as its 
 power is for good, and infinite for evil, it is within the sphere of 
 that House to say that these prejudices shall wane, if not entirely 
 perish with the present generation — it is Avithin its sphere to prepare 
 a happier soil in the minds of the rising generation, for those great 
 principles of religion which are inherent in every shade and denomi- 
 nation of Christianity. 
 
 Common or Conjunct Schools. 
 
 The result was that those schools did enlighten the people— did 
 free them from crime, the offspring of ignorance — did make them 
 wiser, happier, better. AMiat, on the contrary, had i^een the effects 
 of the denominational system '? It had been to keep the many in dark- 
 ness, whilst for the sake of shoAV it had educated the few ; nor could 
 there ever bo any otlier result while the teaching of doctrinal points 
 of religion was mixed up with the princii)les of ordinary education. 
 I will now touch on another branch of the subject, or rather view 
 the subject in another light. It would appear, whether tliey would 
 or would not, that this colony was to receive convicts, that the Home 
 Government had so willed it ; and whether they received them 
 direct, or as expirees, convictism was to be its destiny. If then we 
 do not at once decide on some general plan of elementary instruction, 
 even that Volume on which our religion is based, in which its pre- 
 cepts are to be read, and its promises made known, will be a sealed 
 liook to two thirds of thi' rising population of the country. And 
 what must be tlie result'? That the ignorant population will 
 greedily receive the invitations to vice and crime, and the lenven of 
 convictism will leaven the whole lump. Instead of rising u[)wards 
 in the scale, for the reformation of the convicts, they must degrade 
 down to a level with them. What elements, I would ask, are we 
 not letting loose over the land if we shut our face< to the extension 
 t)f education ? If we refusi' to gi\e the power to read to the many, 
 in ordei" that the few nuiy be instructed in accordance with religious 
 prejudices instead of becoming the seat of religion, of morality, of 
 
y 
 
 NOTES OF A (J HEAT SPEECH 
 
 32-3 
 
 enlightenment and civilisation to which it might have been convertcil, 
 the colony must sink down into the depths of degradation too 
 dreadful lO describe. Polluted and lost, her state would only be 
 that which the poet had pictured, and which, except in the words 
 of the poet, I will not attempt to picture. 
 
 Ileligion, blushing, veils her sacred fires, 
 And unawares Morality expires ; 
 So thy dread empire, Chaos, is restored. 
 Light dies before the uncreating Word. 
 Thy hand, great Anarch, lots the curtain fall, 
 And imiversal darkness covers all. 
 
 That, I believe to be the destiny reserved for this colony if a 
 more extended system of education be not immediately set on foot ; 
 and whatever might be the opinion of those whose eyes are blinded 
 in this matter, and who would reserve them for that fate with a 
 dogged determination, I believe it to be the duty of this Council, 
 its imperative duty, to take this matter into its own hands, 
 regardless of clamour out of doors, and to legislate for the present 
 and future enlightenment, the present and future welfare and 
 happiness, of the people by adopting the system I have advocated. 
 
 Although the famous lines from the Diinciad may seem 
 somewhat forced in the eyes of Australians and Englishmen 
 of the present day, they were singularly ai)propriate at a time 
 when English ministers and colonial capitalists had leagued 
 together for the revival of criminal transportation. 
 
 With all his elo(juence, Lowe only succeeded in carry- 
 ing his Address by twelve votes to ten, and Sir Charles 
 Fitzroy, following the precedent of his predecessor — prompted, 
 it was said, by the same adviser, Bishop liroughton — refused 
 to place the 2,000/. asked for on the estimates. But, as the 
 subsequent history of Australia has shown, these statesmanlike, 
 if at the time unsuccessful, efforts have borne good fruit. It is 
 to the broad and philosophical teaching of Bobert Lowe in 
 these early years, more than to that of any other Australian 
 public man, that our fellow subjects at the Antipodes owe 
 their existing State school svstem. 
 
 t 
 
 'I 
 
 tfi 
 
H 
 
 < i- 
 
 
 9 
 
 ; 
 
 ! 
 
 i ! 
 
 I 1 
 
 I i 
 
 /! i 
 
 2G 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEIJ BROOKE 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 MR. LOWE AND THE SQUATTERS 
 
 Earl Grey's Land Bill — Mr. Lowe on Downing Street solicitucle — Wentworth 
 ami the Waste Lands — Eonian Nobles and Australian Squatters— Lowe's 
 appeal to the Squatters — To the Council— Lowe's Reply to Wentworth — His 
 Pamphlet — The Division— Eeview of the Land Question — Agrarian Gamblers 
 — Character of Wentworth — Lowe determines to return to England 
 
 On June 1, 1847, Earl Grey's despatches relative to his new 
 Australian Land Bill were laid on the table of the Legislative 
 Council. They had the effect of consolidating the squatters' 
 influence, and of winning over the dreaded Wentworth to the 
 side of the Government. The bribe M'as a tremendous one. 
 By the regulations of the Orders in Council, the whole of the 
 Crown lands of New South Wales^ — which, let it be borne in 
 mind, then included the present colony of Victoria — were 
 divided into three classes, the ' nettled,' the * intermediate,' 
 t.;nd the * unsettled ' districts. In the settled districts the 
 squatters' ' runs ' were to be leased from year to year ; in the 
 intermediate, eight years' leases were granted to the Crown 
 tenants, subject to two months' notice in the event of any part 
 of the run being recjuired for sale ; while, in the unsettled 
 districts, the occupying squatters were granted fourteen years' 
 lease with the right to a second term of fourteen years if the 
 lands were still unsold. Moreover, the squatters of the inter- 
 mediate, as well as of the unsettled districts were to have 
 what were called * pre-emptive rights,' by which, if they 
 themselves chose to become the purchasers at the upset price 
 of 11. per acre, their runs were exempted altogether from 
 
MR. LOWE AND THE SQUATTEU8 
 
 327 
 
 public auction. Consider for a moment the effect of this 
 portentous agrarian experiment for which Earl Grey was re- 
 sponsible. 
 
 The colony of Victoria, then the district of Port Phillip, 
 was, as Mr. Bo3'd said, at that time ' one vast squattage.' 
 Although so few years had elapsed since Sir Thomas Mitchell 
 had first gazed upon the rich pastures of what he called 
 ' Australia Felix,' it was completely divided from the Murray 
 to the sea into sheep and cattle runs. An enterprising young 
 Englishmnn with capital, arriving about this time to ' take 
 up country,' went overland to Sydney and informed the 
 Governor tliat every acre in Port Phillip was already appro- 
 priated. Now, under Lord Grey's Orders in Council the whoh^ 
 of the present colony of Victoria, with tb.e exception of a small 
 area round three towns, Melbourne, Geelong, and Portland, 
 was to be practically handed over for what seems ivi indelhiite 
 period in the life of a young community, to these squatters. 
 We have here the origin of the long and bitter agrarian strife 
 in that colony, as well as an explanation of the deep-rooted 
 feeling of hostility felt towards the squatters as a class by the 
 bulk of the community — a feehng which did not die out until, 
 by successive local Land Acts, the Crown lands were clumsily 
 ' unlocked.' 
 
 It is a striking proof of the provincial spirit which is still 
 so prominent a characteristic in all the Australian colonies, 
 that the best informed writers in Victoria, in dealing with the 
 Land Question, always attribute their partial (^mancipation 
 from the squattocracy whom Earl Grey had made into a 
 privileged caste, purely to their own local efforts, to the Land 
 Convention of Melbourne, or to Mr. J. M. (i rant's • 4'2nd 
 clause,' in an amended Land Act. They entirely overlook, or, 
 i-ather, have quite forgotten, the magnificent stand which 
 Robert Lowe made in Sydney in 1847, before Victoria existed 
 as a colony, when it was merely a pastoral adjunct of New 
 South Wales, known as the Port Phillip district. 
 
 iMI 
 
 \ <' 
 
 ;1 ;, 
 i^ l' 
 
328 
 
 LIFE OF LOliD SIIKKBRUOKE 
 
 ,1 
 
 .1 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I i 
 
 If, however, they investigate the matter, they will 
 find that to Eohert Lowe, and to him alone, belongs the 
 honour of upholding, almost single-handed, the rights of the 
 whole comni unity to the Crown lands of Australia; and they 
 will also find, further, that it was he who firs^ fought their 
 battle against the combined forces of the English Govern- 
 ment, the local Executive in Sydney, and the whole \'eight of 
 the squatter party, led by the former champion of the people, 
 William Charles Wentworth. 
 
 As soon as the Orders in Council were made public, this 
 unequal battle began. Before they were promulgated, Mr. 
 Lowe, on September 25, 1846, had moved and carried a re- 
 solution as to the reduction of the upset price of land. It is 
 noteworthy that Wentworth and his party still supported thi^ 
 line of policy. On June 21, 1847, with Earl Grey's despatches 
 on the table, he moved a resolution : * That with reference to 
 the proposed Orders in Council laid on the table of this House 
 on June 1, 1847, this House reafiirms the resolution agreed 
 to on September 25, 185G, that is to say, that while the 
 minimum upset price of 11. per acre is maintained, the squat- 
 ting system can never be settled on a just and satisfactory 
 basis.' On this occasion he failed, and the Council stultified 
 itself by negativing its previous action. Robert Lowe, however, 
 delivered a most memorable speech, which contains a fuller 
 exposition of the Australian Land (Question than any ever 
 delivered. Seizing upon an admission of Lord Grey in his 
 despatch * that this squatting occupation is only to be tem- 
 porary,' he exclaimed : — 
 
 Glad o,ni I to find that the noble Socivtiiry had not so far for- 
 gotten his own English feelings, liad not so abandoned his duty as 
 an adviser of his Sovereign, as to have contemplated the perpetua- 
 tion, m this dependency of the Crown, of so pernicious, so degraded 
 a system. That he looked forward to a period — if these orders 
 were carried out I fear an imaginary period — when the broad wastes 
 of New South Wales would cease to be wastes, but would become 
 the abode of civilised men, and flourish with the arts of life. I say 
 it is an imaginary period to which Earl Grey, through the ignorance 
 
 U 
 
Ml{. J.OWE AND Tin-: SQIATTKIJS 
 
 ;2i) 
 
 will 
 
 or hallucination in which he is involved, looks forward — and if this 
 dream of settling the squatters on the Crown lands, and at the 
 same time maintaining the minimum price is acted on, it nmst 
 remain for ever an imaginary period. The principle of the desi)atch 
 was right, hut the means of working out that principle were utterly 
 wrong ; and this was one of the hlessings which we owe to legisla- 
 tion 10,000 miles off. The intention of Earl Grey was evidently to 
 correct an abuse. But were these leases the wav to avoid tlu' 
 abuse of favouritism? Did they not involve a moi-e glaring, a 
 more extended system of favouritism than was ever before displayed 
 in the world ? What right had any particular class of a com- 
 munity to the grant of particular rights and privileges denied lo 
 others ? On what ground — 1 reiterate the challenge of the other 
 night — on what ground did the squatters stand forth and claim these 
 concessions extended to them in favouritism over the whole of the rest 
 of the colony, who had an equal right and an equal claim ? \\'here 
 were the great services they had rendered to the State '? A\'here 
 were the records of their noble deeds, and high achievements, and 
 their devoted services '? Where were these to be found '? The 
 splendid estates conferred on a Wellington or a ^larlborough were 
 no marks of favouritism, were in no sense the abuse of patronage, 
 but the just reward for distinguished services ofl'ered by a grateful 
 people. But could the squatters put in any such claim as this ? 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 He then proceeded to argue with cutting irony that if this 
 were Lord Grey's plan for averting favouritism, it would have 
 been better to hand over the freehold instead of the fourteen 
 years' leases to the squatters. Another argument that Earl 
 Grey used for granting these leases, and at the same time 
 maintaining the high upset price of land, was a favourite one 
 with the disciples of Gibbon W^akefield, that it would prevent 
 the dispersion of the people. This word dispersion seems 
 to have had a most terrifyhig effect upon all the colonising 
 theorists of that time. Wakefield had taught them that to 
 encourage, or rather not to check, this tendency to seek ' fresli 
 woods and pastures new,' which is surely the very essence of- 
 the colonising spirit, was to bring about a return to barbarism. 
 So we lind Earl Grey supporting this wholesale alienation of 
 the public estate on the ground that it would act as a check 
 ' to that tender.cy to an undue dispersion of the inhabitants. 
 
 11 
 
 I 
 
;,i ?; 
 
 
 330 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERB1500KE 
 
 which is found so strong in countries in progress of settle- 
 ment, and where the population is still very small in propor- 
 tion to the extent of territory.' 
 
 Lowe's reply to this form of Downing Street maternal 
 solicitude is worth preserving. 
 
 It is somewhat strange that such a doctrine as this should 
 he inculcated hy Earl Grey, the strenuous, the uncompromi.sing 
 advocate of Free-trade, the enthusiastic admirer and follower cf 
 Cobden, and the consistent supporter of all the great measures 
 which have been passed of late years for ensuring the freedom of 
 the commerce of (Jreat Britain. In England this statesman would 
 have the channels of trade to run free and uncontrolled, but he 
 disclaims this natural and social right when dealing with Australia. 
 In England, the butcher, the baker, the builder, the farmer — all 
 trades, all callings, are left unrestricted, and men follow their 
 own inclinations. But the rule is not to be applied to the colony, 
 where we are not able to judge what is best for our own interests. 
 Here, if left to themselves, men would disperse — and why should 
 they not disperse, if they thought it fit and profitable to do so ? 
 Could not Earl Grey see that if men felt it to be their interest to 
 disperse, impelled bv the hope of gain, or even the mere love of 
 adventure, they would do so in spite of all these absurd restrictions 
 intended to concentrate them ? This policy of compulsory concen- 
 tration, if it could be carried into effect, would operate with innnenf e 
 power in checking those hopes and feelings of the human breast 
 which were the soil in which the spirit of enterprise had root and 
 growth. Concentration is the result of wealth, not the cause of 
 it. When men — Avhen a community — grew wealthy, they would 
 always concentrate ; it was the nat ural tendency of human nature. 
 But while wealth remained to be acquired, while that which gave 
 concentration its attraction and charm, while the comforts that 
 attached to it, and which the division of labour alone could afford, 
 were still wanted, men would follow the natural bent of their dis- 
 positions and disperse to seek for wealth where they thought they 
 would best find it. 
 
 By this line of argument ho again demolished the Wake- 
 tieldian policy of keeping up a high or fancy price for the free- 
 hold of the Crown lands. Lord Grey, in fact, seems to have 
 eschewed that wise judicial law never to give a reason in 
 delivering judgment, for his despatch literally teems with 
 
Ml{. LOWE AND THE SQUATTE15S 
 
 001 
 
 theories and generalisations as to the vahie and proper dis- 
 posal of the waste lands in a dependency. Every sentence in 
 these despatches seems to have been seized upon and contro- 
 verted by Lowe. It would be tedious, and it is perhaps un- 
 necessary, to attempt to reproduce this elaborate refutation 
 of the policy of these Orders in Council. He showed that, 
 with all the literary artifice employed by Edward Gil)bon 
 Wakefield, his pet theory, ^;hich had entangled and fascinated 
 so many English public men, only amounted to dear land 
 and cheap labour in a new land whither most of the people 
 had come to avoid both. In this, as in all his speeches, it is 
 difficult to condense Lord Sherbrooke's utterances and yet 
 bring out all the points, because, as the bewildered sub-editor 
 said, ' they are all points.' He deals with the question of im- 
 migration in a most fresh and suggestive manner ; but at 
 this time he never long kept away from his main theme — the 
 iniquity of handing over so much of the public lands to the 
 squatters. 
 
 Those who are familiar with the subsequent history of 
 Australia will be the first to recognise the truth of the warn- 
 ings which he uttered, as to the injustice and impolicy of 
 favor '"ing a class whose prosperity depended rather on the 
 state of the home-market than on the social or material 
 advancement of the colony. In eloquent words he predicted 
 in this very speech that which actually took place by the 
 creation of a favoured pastoral oligarchy, whose interests 
 must be diametrically opposed to those of the rest of the com- 
 munity. All these evils, he declared, had fallen upon them 
 because one or two men, high in office, had failed to under- 
 stand the constitutional law that the public lands of the 
 colony were vested in the Crown, as trustee for the whole 
 people of the colony. He maintained that these Crown 
 lands could not be bestowed on any individual or class of 
 individuals, any more than a man's private estate could be 
 made over without the consent of the proprietor. 
 
 I i 
 
 , ,.( 
 
 1 ■ " 
 
i 
 
 J 
 
 T 
 
 I 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 332 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIKIlimOOKE 
 
 At this novel doctrine the squatters in the Council be- 
 came very restive, and the Quaker representative of the great 
 pastoral interests controlled by Messrs. Boyd and Co. (Mr. 
 liobinson) seems to have interjected something about these 
 pastoral leases being a great boon to the community. 
 
 The hou, member for Melbourne (retorted Mr. Lowe) might 
 like to have my coat, if the colour suited him, but it was not for that 
 reason that anyone might give it to him ; and it was equally true 
 that he might, with respect to this land, wish to stand in the shoes 
 of the colonists, but that gave no right to anyone else to give the 
 shoes of the colonists to him. It was not the land of a class, but of 
 a community, which was not prepared to make this great boon to the 
 squatters for their expljits in vanquishing kangaroos and cutting 
 down gum-trees. 
 
 Lowe then turned to his most redoubtable foe, and 
 proceeded to reply to the assertions of Wentworth, who from 
 this time forth had one most convenient argument — viz. that 
 the waste lands of Australia were practically valueless for all 
 purposes of settlement, and only suited to nomadic tribes. 
 
 ' If L y are so valueless,' retorted Mr. Lowe, * then the 
 hon. and learned member for Sydney can have no objection 
 to returning these leases.' As to the claim of occupancy, 
 that presupposed the abolition of all law and the return to 
 the social condition favoured by Hob Eoy — 
 
 That they should take who have the power. 
 And they should keep who can. 
 
 Then came the claim of discovery. Were those who set up 
 this claim, asked the speaker, prepared to give to Dr. Leichardt 
 the whole of the territory just discovered by him ? Now, he 
 was a genuine discoverer, a great explorer, and a man of 
 scientific mind, who richly merited the tribute of thanks and 
 admiration which that House had awarded to him. But Dr. 
 Leichardt would be the last man to prefer such an absurd 
 claim ; and, if so, what claim had those who had obtained 
 their runs from shepherds and insolvent people who had got 
 jammed in the pressure of the times ? * If you advance this 
 
MTf. LOWE AM) TIIT, SQUATTKIiS 
 
 333 
 
 claim of discovery,' si id Lowe, 'as a reason why yon 
 sliould have the people's lands, ])e honest and consistent, and 
 give to Dr. Leichardt a like title to every foot of ;^round over 
 which his horse's feet passed.' 
 
 Wcntworth having challenged Lowe to cease criti- 
 cising the schemes of others and to propound one of his 
 own, the latter said that his system was very simple : it was 
 merely to reduce the upset price of land to live shilhngs or 
 less an acre, and to leave the squatter in his present tenure 
 until the land was actually purchased by the houa-Jidc settler. 
 The speaker then said : — 
 
 I will call the attention of tho Houso to the great similarity in 
 the Land Question in this remote and ii ^i.t^nificant dependency to 
 that in wh.ch it stood on that far greater stage, and with those 
 infinitely greater actors of the forum, who were concerned in it ; 
 for I am not one of those flippant theorists who, because we have made 
 some discoveries — because we happen to have discovered gunpowdei', 
 the art of printing, and other improvements, believe that we are at 
 present equal in intellect and power to the great men of old. Let 
 the House carefully mark this resemblance, and ponder over what may 
 be coming. Their Sylla, their Marius, might yet be unborn, but the 
 same causes would bring about the same eti'ects ; the same system oi 
 oppression and tyranny, if history were not a fable and experience a 
 liar, would in its own time brin.i^ fonli these bitter fruits. The 
 bones of those who were urging on this system might go down into 
 the dust ere the evil they had occasioned should be consummated. 
 Generation after generation might pass away, but let them beware, 
 for even now they were lighting the torch which, flung upon the 
 land, might smoulder for a time, but in the end would burst forth into 
 universal conflagration. 
 
 Lowe then read a passage from the history of the 
 Eoman Eepuhlic describing the social and political condition 
 of Italy in the time of the Gracchi, and begged the Sydney 
 legislators to ponder over the picture, and the many analogies 
 it presented to their own condition. He drew a ch)se parallel 
 between the policy of the squatting party and those who had 
 wrought the ruin of Italian husbandry. In Eome we read of 
 the increase of slaves ; was not the demand for labour at the 
 
 Ml 
 
 ■ Ii 
 
 % 
 
334 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIERBIIOOKK 
 
 ''■] 
 
 I 
 
 
 a 
 
 111 
 
 II 
 
 iir 
 
 ill 
 
 minimum rate on which beings could exist already loud in 
 Sydney ? Were they not having cannibals' poured upon them 
 in consequence of their aggression on the lands. Again, the 
 lloman nobles seized on vast tracts of land, as the squatters 
 are doing now. 
 
 There was one fine dramatic incident in this great and 
 impassioned speech. Turning away from men like the Boyds 
 and Robinson, who were mere speculating gamesters in land 
 and labour, Lowe made a direct and personal appeal to the 
 genuine pioneer squatters : — 
 
 I appeal to those only who are interested in the colony ; to those 
 who think of, and have faith in, her future glory and after destiny ; 
 those whose names were, and would be, recorded in her future 
 history ; those who in her critical conjunctures and times of need 
 had rendered her good service ; those who were cherished and 
 esteemed by her inhabitants, and whom I should be sorry to see go 
 <Iown to the grave with the tarnished fame which an act like this 
 must involve. To these I may not inappropriately address such an 
 appeal ; but not to those mercenary speculators who, solely influenced 
 in all their actions by the sordid love of gain, those heartless, selfish 
 men who came out here, not to make it their abiding-place, not to 
 bring with them to it those high English feelings, that love of 
 liberty which alone could make a country great and good, but to 
 sell the colony into degradation that they might aggrandise them- 
 selves ; those deceitful men who made professions concerning 
 education wliich they never felt nor strove to carry out, of improve- 
 ments Avhich thay never made, of capital which they never invested 
 — to these I would make no such appeal, but, with that contempt 
 they deserve, bid them take their pound of flesh and begone. 
 
 It would be possible to cull more than one such indignant 
 passage as this from this powerful speech, which constantly 
 soared into flights of lofty eloquence, and seems to palpitate 
 with passion, with noble invective, or with withering scorn. 
 We are often told of some favourite tragedian who, after 
 middle life, holds the most critical and fashionable audiences 
 
 • The kidnapping of the savages of the South Tacific for hibourers and 
 shepherds wastlien in full force, and carried on openly by the Boyds, llobinson, 
 and others interested in squatting. 
 
MK. LO^VE AND THE SQTATTKHS 
 
 oo - 
 
 gnant 
 antly 
 Htate 
 Iscorn. 
 after 
 ences 
 
 in London spellbound by his dramatic intensity, but who had 
 acted the same part with the same fire to small provincial 
 audiences twenty years before. Such seems to me to have 
 been the experience of Lord Sherbrooke as a Parlia- 
 mentary orator. In reading these impassioned sentences, 
 laden, too, with thought and the fruits of a ripe scholarship, 
 one cannot but feel that the stage was too small on which 
 such talents were then being exhil)ited. But we should, per- 
 haps, bear in mind— and I do not think that the thought was 
 ever absent from Lord Sherbrooke whilst ho dwelt in Aus- 
 tralia — that this handful of men in the old Legislative Council 
 of Sydney were laying the foundations of a great English- 
 speaking commonwealth and of free institutions at the 
 Antipodes. 
 
 At all events, on this question of the right to the waste 
 lands of the colony there is no mistaking his terrible 
 earnestness. He was evidently conscious, too, that his 
 was the voice of the people of the colony, and he told the 
 squatters in the House that he intended to leave no stone 
 unturned to avert or overthrow Lord Grey's new Land Bill. 
 
 * I know,' he exclaimed, ' that you would gladly shun these 
 discussions, and that you wish I should not speak above my 
 breath on these matters ; that you would willingly hide from 
 the English Government the intense desire you have to retain 
 these lands.' 
 
 He then made a last appeal to their enlightened selfishness. 
 Eeduce, he said, the upset price of land, give over the dream 
 of acquiring a monopoly of the colony, and let there be 
 something left to attract the stream of healthy immigration, 
 and you may yet reap the reward in a remunerative market 
 for your stock at your very doors. Then, referring to the 
 division of the colony into * Settled ' and ' Unsettled ' districts, 
 lie drew a most gruesome picture of its inevital)le effects : — 
 
 I would ask thosL- wlio arc possessed of this desporat© avarice, 
 and, like Alexander Selkirk, long to reign lords of all they survey, 
 
 li' 
 

 s 
 
 ;' ■* 
 
 H 
 
 I- 
 
 5 |: 
 
 ^: !• 
 
 ' \ I 
 
 i- ■ 1 
 
 
 i.ii i; ()|- i/)i:i) siii:i:r.i;o()Ki: 
 
 wliat, will tlicy fio for llirir cliildnin ? TIk^ Iii,n«l iirnhr tlicso 
 rc^'iiliifion.s will Ixioomc ji, »livi .■'] Ijirnl; it, will Ix- lib; ii, Iniiiiaii 
 !»('iri;^' st.nick wit.li piini.lyHiH, oru' Kidrt vi;.^f)rf)iiM, jirul j.^lf)wiri;,' with f,li(! 
 l)j« ssiiijfs of civiliKjition, jukI tlic Ixisy hum of iri<ii ; the other, dull 
 ii,nil r;ol<l Jitnl Loipid. 'I'Ik re must he !i, line driiwn throuj^'h tlu; 
 land tlir- line hetween life ;ind death. Wluit would tliey «lo with 
 tlieir cliildnri in tliiK stunt(d re;.M'on of slief)li(i-dH nrid HtillneHS, 
 froni wliiidi all the lihei'iil |)rf)fesHif)nH were shut out, find from 
 ujiich wciiltli, IIh! n(;jtlth of a community, must Ix' exeluded ? 
 I luilieve there Ih Kom< tfiin;.'; in population which in itself t(!ndn 
 to weiilth. liook at Ciiiiadii,, with n, harren soil, on(! pjiltry export - 
 of tindier with ji, fdiniiitr; that shuts th(! door ;ij'!i.inst the enerj^ieH 
 (.f tlie people lor li;i,lf the year, with ii, revt^nue (;((ntemptihl(! fiH 
 (•omp!i,red uitli ours ; yrl <!ven there tlu; yri'-.d (stfihlishments of 
 (iduciition foi' professional instruction iire l<ept iif), and flourish. 
 How ililTerent tli(! desolate, re^-dons f)f the s'piiittcrs ! Kor, would 
 they come forwjird tf) hrin;^' population round th(.m would they 
 ercftt villfi<.;/s, iind hiunhits, !i,nd chiirches, and schools, on tlie 
 land on the fnith of tlnse fourtcien-yeiir iejises, or do they even 
 [iretend to s;iy tlu^y would if th(:y liiid the fee-simple? C'nrry 
 this measure into ed'ect, !i,nd it coidd liii.ve hut one of two issues 
 either the Icjises )nust he with(|rawn, or nhrllion muHt ensue. 
 IIr)W lon.L', when they lia.d jin all-|)Owerfid inlhunce in thf; House, 
 \\r,;ild tl.; s'|u;illers continue tf) [)ii,y their niitsV How would thty 
 ^^et 'iihour ? hid they third< the native populii.tion wouhl hf; con- 
 tent to i/u \)iyr.U iind live this df'^'nided nnd iti;inim!i,t(' life of a. 
 shepherd ? A ijr(-i\.l «leii,l tia,rl heen hjiJ'! ahout riiilwiiys, hut wlia,t 
 ohject could th(i-e Ix' in iria,kin;^' railways if n,ll tfie. land was to he 
 locked ii|) in hiisfs ? Would tha,t Council rv( r do so de;.M'a.ded :\\\ 
 act !iM to \()te modf'y for any such purfiose, inr-rea-sin^' the va,Iue 
 of lands thus |ea,se(| away, and of which tlifi lessf;es posse,ss»'d the 
 pr(!-(!inptise ri;,dit of purchasfj? 
 
 Mr. IiO\v(! wound up MiiH reiniirkiihl(! oration l)y un ii,[)p('!i,l 
 to Hie li» jMHiiitivr; hody JtHfdf which, he, HJiJd, niie;ht he trite, 
 hilt \V!is none, the Ichh woilhy of their wei^dity coiiHideration. 
 
 It wiiH, tiiiit if popular rojiroHnntiitivc! inHtitiitionH were 
 ever to take Hini root in the Hoil of AiiHtnilia, then ' the 
 deliliei;itif»ns of that ('oiincil oiij^ht tf) hf; an iiiitin<.^ed, as 
 untaiiiteil hy fiiiy siiHpieifin, as th(! (V)in'tH f)f Jiidicatiin;.' Me 
 rectfij-'iiiseii his own sf>l(!iiin reK|»f)nsil>iIity in hrinf^^in;^' sf) 
 • hiiiheiiiteiv Micli a HcricH of char^^'f^s a^'iiinst m,ii iiilliieiitial 
 
mi; \.()\\v. AM) TiiK s'^r \rTKi:-; 
 
 o t» *• 
 
 • )■> i 
 
 HC(;tion of Dm; '•oiiniiiiiiity, iirid In; Knew flmt, pcrluiits for tin- 
 lirHt tiriif, llic, oiitHidn piiMic wi'vc keenly \v!it,fhiii<.^ tlieir 
 conduct, and diHcuHsifxiH. Wliiit t.liey liiid to jtvoid !i,t, smli it 
 criHiH vvaH Riving fjcciiHion for t,li<i fin^';(;r f»f slmtneiind ridicule. 
 'It i'h tliiH,' lie concluded, ' iluit I fejir : tliai Diey ulio ouf^lit, 
 to ^MV(! tin; tone to the piiMic virtue jind HJiMjje the politicMl 
 education of tlir; colony hIiomM ^iv'(! to sceptics in |)olitic;il 
 virtue a pretence to sneer iit tliost! InHtitiitioiiH winch it oii^'jit 
 to he our (toinnion ^dory to revere.' 
 
 N<;ver li;i,fl Lowe ris<;n to hikIi liei^^htH, never liiid he 
 or any otlier nieinlxir confronted ho pf)werfnl !in opiioniti'tn, 
 coinpoHr-d nf)t only of the ordinary oHiciiils Jiiid Ciown nominees, 
 hnl. of the iihle hjind of politicii.l S'|iiatl(;i's now under the 
 lead(!rHhip of Wentworth. 
 
 Wh(!ti the former popidar trihiin«! rose, it is triK; lie spokft 
 of hiH HiiccesKor with iiiiffsij^iied admiration, ms possensine; 
 'an (!lo(puinc(; fjir t^o'eiiter thud my owrj, or than tlutt ■)f fiiiy 
 other ^'entlemiin in this CoinKtil.' Uiit he ()iii(kly descended 
 into niei'e sciniilities, and liis one charier: fi,;^'ainst Fiowe 
 was that he was !i, theorist, without prjic^tic'-il Kriowledj^re of 
 pastoral niatterH. There is only one point in Wentworth's 
 r(!ply whicdi neod Ix; specijiJIy commented ii[)on, aH showing 
 the hitt(!rnesH of this jiolitical controverHy, in wliifdj, it seems 
 to m<;, Iiohert fiOWC! waH Ixiarin^' so gallant and ho disinterested 
 fi piirt. In on«! portioji of yds Hf)e(!ch liOwe had siud, with 
 evident (!!i,rnestii«!SH, tluit if tliesf; Orijers jn Council weic 
 put into (dTect he should leave tiie country ;ind ret in i. to 
 I'ln^^land, nnd h(t iii'^^ed upon the (loiincil to reject Marl 
 drey's Ljind I'dll !i.lto;^'etlier a course which W'rnl worth 
 would hiivo h(;en the lirst to iidvocato in the days when In; 
 was really the ^reat ' Australian |)atriot.' The wiiy in which 
 Im! now took- up this (diiilhin^e is worth rehitin^' : — ■ 
 
 The lioti. iuid leioiicfl liieiiiher for Ailcldiind (he t .clliilned) 
 Ilild told tlielii thiit if l,ll(!H(; OrdrTH were |)Mt, illlO (ill'ect, lie woiild 
 
 l(!ii.ve the country. If the ('oniK;il could !)(■ "iiiliy of ronduct, so 
 vot,. I. / 
 
 ■f 
 
 it 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
<>0 Q 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD 81IEKI5KOOKE 
 
 11 
 
 <lisrepntal)Ie, so unworthy, and so contomptible as to flinj? back 
 upon a Minister a Bill the otlspring of their own resolutions, he, 
 Mr. Wentworth, would leave the House. He should feel that its 
 dijj;nity, its influence, its self-respect, its honesty, were j,'one, and 
 henceforward the post of honour would be the private station. 
 
 Anyone familiar with the parliamentary history of New 
 South Wales can picture the same vehement orator using the 
 very same words if the Council did not fling back upon a 
 Minister a Bill of which he hhnself disapproved. 
 
 This tremendous discussion was adjourned from night to 
 night,' and on the evening of June 21th Lowe rose, and in a 
 speech of equal length and power to that with which he had 
 opened it answered his opponents on every side of the House. 
 Jiut the iinest and most efTective passage was his dignified 
 reply to Wentworth : — 
 
 The lion, and learncMl member, in a strain which he had never 
 adopted before, proccided to denounce the colony as a barren waste, 
 unlit for cultivation, unlit lor the reception of civilised man. It 
 was with pain that I heard him deliver these denunciations. I 
 have always delif^'hted to contemplate New South Wales as a great 
 aud f,'l()ii()us country, and to picture the hon. and leai'ued f,'entleman 
 as takinjj; the lirst place among the native-born who have attained 
 honours and distinction in their own land. I had thought that it 
 would alike be his ])ri<h' and his glory to shine the lirst in the annals 
 of the colony — as hv had ()utstri[)pod the comers from older Europi; 
 in the nuirch of intelliLfence and ))ii.triotism. It was, therefore, with 
 deep reuret that I heard him from time to time speak so harshly of 
 the capabilities of his native land. Even 1, a stranger, a cork 
 Moating on the ocean, one wlui mi,ii;ht bo hero to-day and away to- 
 nu)rro\v, cannot but feel some sentinu>uts of gratitude to this 
 country— not, perhaps, like thos(' which swell my bosom for my own 
 hind ; bull have drunk her water and bieiitlied her air, and, grateful 
 
 ' Nothing' will tiioro i-learly show liow kocii was llic duel between Tiowe imd 
 Wentworlii tliiiii a ri'iiiiuk in tlie Si/iliifji MuniiiKi Ifcnihl on one of these Lund 
 lebatcs: -'As n)enil)er after nieinlxT rose to make their olfservations, it was 
 evident that Mr. Lowe anil Mr. Wentworth were walehinK the dcltate. A pro- 
 tracted <lel)ate was expeeted, lint suddenly a lon^r pause ensued, and the Speaker 
 put the (piestion. . . . Mv. Wentworth was determined not to speak imtii Mr. 
 r.owo had addrcsHod thn House, in ordor tlial he mi;,dit have the reply ; antl 
 Mr. liowe had ado|)t(!d the same course with respect to Mr. Wentworth. The 
 ipiestion was put while the one wiis waiting for the otiier.' 
 
MR. LOWE AND Till': SQUATTilKS 
 
 339 
 
 if]f back 
 ons, he, 
 that its 
 ne, and 
 [1. 
 
 of New 
 ing the 
 upon a 
 
 ight to 
 nd in a 
 he had 
 House, 
 ignitied 
 
 ad never 
 n waste, 
 nan. It 
 ions. J 
 i a ju:reat 
 ntlenian 
 attained 
 It that it 
 e annals 
 
 I'iuvope 
 )vo, with 
 
 rshly of 
 a cork 
 
 way to- 
 
 to tliis 
 Imy own 
 ]<j[rat('fvil 
 
 Li)\vi' and 
 lose Liiml 
 [lis, it was 
 A pro- 
 Speaker 
 Liiitil Mr- 
 
 am 
 
 ll'I.V 
 
 Itli. The 
 
 for those bcnelits, T could not travel owx the couritry and find all 
 barren from Dan to Boershuba. But to licar this dispraise from a 
 son of the soil, one born and bred in the land, was move than 
 displeasing,'. I hope it may not bo so, but it looked as if the hon. 
 and learned member was depreciatin<f the article he wanted to 
 secure. He (Mr. Wentworth) has accused me, perhaps rijj^htly, of 
 i<,'norance of the physical stale of the country. I have but little 
 judgment in such matters, so I do not entirely rely on my own 
 opinion. But I believe I give him no mean authority when 1 name 
 Sir Thomas Mitchell, the Surveyor-General of the (,!olony, who tells 
 me that the stations of the hon. and learned member for Sydmy 
 are like paradises. Sir Thomas passed through them on liis late 
 journey, and returned enchanted with the beautiful scenery and 
 pasturage which he had witnessed. These were the stations of th" 
 hon. and learned member, but, perhaps, as they appertained more 
 nearly to bini, his modesty would not permit him to piaisi' them. Sir 
 Thomas, liowever, spoke of them as a man in raptures ; and pt'r- 
 hapaeven his hon. and learned friend would pause before he accused 
 the Smweyor-General of ignoiance. 
 
 These (continued Mr. liowe in the same V(in of raillery, and 
 using his opponent's actual expressions) -these were the wastes, 
 the sterilities, the Saharas, the lands withered with the blast of the 
 desert, \\hich had been so prominently dwelt on and so con- 
 temptuously depicted, although it must be admitted that the 
 occupant bad evinced no ill-will towards having the i)ossession of 
 them secured to him. 
 
 The nK)dern reader, even if bred and born in Australia, and 
 to some extent familiar with the history of its Land (^tuestion, 
 can form no idea of tlie marvellous grasp and the knowledge of 
 every detail displayed by Mr. Lowe in this elaborate reply t(j 
 the squatters. It was a veritable four dc force The future 
 historian, anxious to know the various stages in the evolution 
 t'nnn a purely pastoral and noniadie condition to the higher 
 and more complex social state to which Australia has now 
 attained, will find in these agrarian speeches of Mr. Lowe 
 most suggestive matter. Reference might also liero be made 
 to the remarkable panqdilet which about this time lie pub- 
 lished in Sydney, under the title, .1// A<hlrrxx to tin- Colonhts 
 of Xcir Soiidi W'dlcK on tin' propo^icil Lninl Onlcrs. in tin's 
 pamphlet, in a highly condensed and purely argumentative 
 
 If 
 
 /. - 
 
mm 
 
 340 
 
 LIFE OF LORD STIERBROOKE 
 
 iii 
 
 it; 
 
 II 
 
 
 form, will bo found the substance of his matured views on the 
 Land Question in Australia. If, as may be confidently pre- 
 dicted will be the case, a complete volume of Lord Sher- 
 brooke's speeches, addresses, and pamphlets should one day 
 be given to the world, this address, though dealing ^ "th a 
 bygone controversy in a remote colony, should assuredly find 
 a place. 
 
 Mr. Lowe thus concluded his speech in the Council : — 
 
 The present motion would be defeated, not by the Avill, the 
 opinion, the sense of that House, but by the junction of a party 
 governed by self-interest with the unwilling, but fettered members 
 of an irresponsible Government. To say, after what they had seen 
 that night, that there was no danger to be apprehended from tlu^ 
 growing influence of the squatters was simply to close the ears 
 to the warnings of human experience. They saw an unwilling 
 (rovernment dragged at the wheels of the chariot of the hon. and 
 learned member for Sydney — -while they might have spread life and 
 vigour, and wealth and prosperity through the wide range of tlio 
 Colony. ' If they had done these things in the green tree, judge ye 
 what they will do in the dry.' 
 
 The division was then taken, and mav bo here recorded 
 as showing the names and opinions of the members of the 
 Legislative Council of 1847 : — 
 
 
 Ayes 
 
 Noes 
 
 Mr 
 
 , Lowe 
 
 Mr. Dangar 
 
 
 Murray 
 
 ,, Darvall 
 
 
 Lamb 
 
 ,, Foster 
 
 
 Lord 
 
 „ Parker 
 
 
 Bowman 
 
 Capt. Dumaresq 
 
 
 Brewster 
 
 The Commander of the Forces 
 
 
 Bland 
 
 Mr. G. Macleay 
 
 
 Suttor 
 
 Capt. O'Connell 
 
 
 Icely 
 
 Mr. Wentworth 
 
 
 Cowper (teller) 
 
 „ Wild 
 
 „ Allen 
 The Attorney-General 
 TMr. Bobinson (telU r) 
 
, ' I 
 
 :MU. l.OWE ANJ1 THE SQUATTIlltS 
 
 :]41 
 
 The figures of the division, it will be mvn, are close ; the 
 names, for the most part, save to a very few survivin" old 
 colonists, will convey little or nothing. JJut to the people of 
 New South Wales in 1847, those names eonvej-ed a great deal, 
 for, as Mr. Lowe said, the division list proved his assertion — 
 that every member of the Council who was not a Crown olli- 
 cial and therefore compelled to vote in favour of Earl Grey's 
 measure, or else a squatter and therefore directly interested 
 in its provisions, was on his side. This entirely disproves an 
 assertion, frequently made by colonial writers even up to the 
 present day, that Eobert Lowe was an inconsistent, and to that 
 extent untrustworthy, political leader in Australia, because he 
 had first of all been the chief champion of the squatters, and 
 afterwards their principal opponent. The answer is that he 
 was their chief champion when they were fighting foi their 
 constitutional rights, and their principal opponent when they 
 were grasping at the patrimony of the whole pe()[)le. As he 
 said himself, he may, perhaps, have made mistakes, and not 
 even have been altogether i onsistent in the plans lie had put 
 forward during the years he had been in the colony, * but his 
 lips had ever been the organ of his heart.' 
 
 It was, indeed, the nodal conditions tliat had changed. 
 Itobert Lowe's land policy for Australia was, in brief, while 
 treating the pastoral tenants of the Crown with strict fairness, 
 and in no wise subjecting them to any arbitrary exactions, 
 to make every effort to establish a genuine yeomanry. This 
 was the meaning of his constant efibrts to get Australian wheat 
 into the English markets duty free ; it was for this that he 
 devoted night after night to the discussion of the question of 
 what were called the ' waste lands ' of the colony, which ho 
 maintained could never be pei'manently settled save l)y means 
 of a minimum, and not, as Gibbon Wakefield held, by a maxi- 
 mum upset price. As already stated, Lowe was chairman of a 
 special committee appointed by the Council on this subject of 
 the price of land, and he himself prepared, with his own 
 
mmm 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 342 
 
 LTl'E OF L01{I) SIIEIMJROOKK 
 
 hand, the report of that committee, which agrarian reformers, 
 even of the advanced school of Mr. Heniy George, might do 
 well to peruse. It great enhanced his reputation at the time, 
 and the Si/dneij JMorninn ^T<rald, in a leading article (Oct. 10, 
 1847) thus commented on it : — 
 
 Wo must not conclude without oft'ering to the Committee, and 
 especially to their gifted Chairman, our hearty thanks for their 
 valuable services. ... Of the report we can, with all sincerity, 
 declare that we prize it as an ornament to our official literature, an 
 honour to the colony, and an acquisition to the course of political 
 science. 
 
 Wentworth and most of the squatter part}' supported 
 Lowe at first in his strenuous endeavours to cheapen the 
 price of land. But when Earl Grey offered them the fixed 
 tenure of their ' runs,' with the proviso that the high price of 
 Crown lands should be maintained, they speedily forgot all 
 their former liberal professions. "We can hardly wonder at 
 it, for human nature is weak, and the Orders in Council 
 converted th'^'n — a handful of men — from tenants at will into 
 something very like proprietors of the enormous territory 
 which now forms the two chief colonies of Australia, with a 
 population of over two million souls. 
 
 It does not fall within the present narrative to relate how 
 after all most of them proliled wry little by Earl Grey's ill- 
 considered land legislation. Briefly, it may be added, that 
 with the gold discoveries of 1852 there came an enormous 
 influx of immigration, (piickly followed by the granting of 
 responsible govennnent to New Houtli Wales and the newly- 
 creatr ' colony of Victoria. After violent public agitation, 
 these newly-created colonial legislatures in answer to the cry 
 ' Unlock the lands,' wrested from the s(piatters the privileges 
 which Earl Grey had conferred upon them by an Imperial Act, 
 and, so far as they could, carried out tlie agrarian principles 
 which Bobert Lowe had laid down some years before in tin,' 
 Legislative Council of Sydney. Lord Sherbrooke, tlierefore. 
 
MR. LOWK AND THE SQLATTIOKS 
 
 o4o 
 
 while baffled by the coalition of the Crown officials and 
 squatters, may be most justly rej^arded as the true father of 
 the yeoman class in New South Wales and Victoria, and as 
 the first of Australian land reformers. 
 
 Before bringing this chapter to a close, a few words with 
 reference to the pcrKottnel of the leading squatters of this time 
 may throw light on this fierce controversy. It must not for 
 a moment be supposed that they were in all cases utterly 
 selfish, grasping, and unpatriotic. Many of them were, as 
 Lord Sherbrooke himself declared, high-spirited and cultured 
 men, and some of them of the best blood of England. In 
 one of the most striking passages in the particular speech of 
 the series of agrarian philippics, from which extracts have 
 been reproduced in this chapter, he appeals personally to this 
 class— the class of genuine pioneer squatter — those who 
 in Australia's critical conjunctures and times of need had 
 rendered her good service. At the same time he contrasts 
 with these 'those mercenary speculators' who gave no 
 thoughts to the welfare of their IVUow-subjects or to tlic 
 future of Australia, so long as they miglit aggrandise tlieni- 
 selves. To these he says : ' I would make no sucli iqipi al, 
 but, with that contempt they deserve, bid them take their 
 pound of flesh and begone.' 
 
 It was really these latter — mere land jobbers and specu- 
 lators carrying on vast undertakings with borrowed EnglisJi 
 capital — who, by their political machhiations and inlluciice in 
 London, liad managed to get control both ov(.'r the Colonial 
 Office and the local Legislative Council. Tlie story of tlu; 
 two brothers, Archibald and Benjamin Boyd, and of their 
 linancial and political agent, the (^)uaker Iiobhison, would 
 furnish the subject for a striiiing colonial romance. Ben- 
 jamin Boyd had arrived in the colony in a yacht of the 
 royal scpiadron sonu; tinn; in the early ' forties,' and, as 
 lie had a ihu; n])pearanc(>, a glib tongue, and apparently 
 unlimited money, dressed well and talked much of his aristo- 
 
 :|li 
 
m^' 
 
 ' 9 
 
 ' 
 
 ^4-4 
 
 MFK OK LOIM) SIIKI{1U!()()KE 
 
 cratie connections, ho was at once a('ci'i)ted in Sydney as a 
 {^'iciit man wliose rosonrces and capital would revive the 
 di()()i)in«4 fortunes of the place. He be<j;an gambling in land 
 on the most gigantic scale, and projected a town, or rather 
 city, at TwoloiJ Lay, the details of which make ])ickens's 
 account of Eden in Martin Clit(z::l<'nit seem quite matter 
 of fact. lie and his brother had started a huge linancial 
 institution, at the head of which he placed the unfortunate Mr. 
 liobinson. They owned whaling vessels, which they manned 
 chielly with ^laoris and South Sea Islanders. They beguiled 
 poor inunigrants hundreds of miles from Sydney to one or 
 other of their innumerable runs ; then offered them the 
 princely wages of 10/. a year, with beggarly rations. If they 
 refused, they were compelled to walk back, and an old colo- 
 nial chronicler tells us that ' while a few strong men walkt «l 
 back over the mountains, those who remained created such a 
 ftieling in the country that Mr. Boyd could not venture to 
 visit his stations until the time of the year when the police^ 
 magistrate, with a guard of policemen, took his animal round.' 
 The extent of country which Arehibald rnd JJenjamin Boyd 
 at one time controlled was simply enormous. These Napo- 
 leonic operations were all carried on by borrowed money from 
 London, and so one day the crash came. 
 
 Then Benjamin Boyd, broken in fortune, started oft" in his 
 yacht for the South Sea Islands, where he was killed and 
 eaten. It was a horrible death, but there seemed a rude 
 justice in it, for he and his brother and their agent Eobinson 
 had kidnapped hundreds of these unfortunate natives and 
 shipped them to New South Wales to work for little or 
 iu)thing on their stations, where they died hi shoals. Mr. 
 ArchibaM Boyd, who was (juite as dazzling a personage as 
 his brother during this brief diampagne time of froth and 
 excitement, iiianagtid to get luit-k to England, where he ended 
 his days in a, garret in Blonni-bury. writing novels of the 
 FainUji Herald type. Jlad he l)Ut toUi the story of hi.-< (jwii 
 
Mil. lAJWK AM) Tin; SQlATTllUS 
 
 
 1 imd 
 
 ■nd(;(l 
 
 r the 
 
 - own 
 
 In-icf cariicr us a pastonil kiiifj;, it iiuist have lu'cii the uu)>t . 
 l'aHeiiiatin«,' of Australian narnitives. The (^)iiaki'r llohiiison, 
 who sc'L'inod at first to have a really promising career hLt'ons 
 him, became the dupe as well as the aj^eiit of the Jioyds, and 
 after the crash died suddcidy in Sydney — it was rumoured by 
 his own hand. It seems almost incredible that such nun as 
 these could have aifectcd the political history of a {^reat 
 colony : yet nothiu}^ can be clearer than that it was tlnouj^h 
 their intluence and astuteness that the Hon. Fra])cis Scott 
 had been appointed ihe paid agent of the pastoralists in the 
 House of I'onimons, and that by this means the squatters hud 
 been trans|\a nu'd from suppliants into masters. 
 
 Had WeutwortI* veuuuiud true to his former patri')li',- 
 convu'lions, tliese nun would have beeJi powerless. Jini this 
 venuvrKable man the on» truly ^i 'UC man of our race bo'P in 
 iliis strange new world ot Australia proved deaf to the ajtpeal 
 so elc piently made by Lowe to his nol)ler nature. The bril«r 
 was too great; the Orders in ('ouncil made securf his position 
 and gave'^him Ihe virtual mastery in the local legislatun . 
 Mixed with the line gold of his great spirit iiiid masterful 
 personality, there was a strain of base alloy; and, Iruili to 
 tell, the Wentworth of nearly sixty years of age, liiough he 
 could still rouse himself to great intellectual elforts, was no 
 longer the earnest vehement relormer and patriot oi earli* r 
 days. 
 
 Itobert Lowe had publicly declared that if, bv ilie un- 
 principled alliance of the Crown olUcials and the i)astoriUi,^ts, 
 this sc^uatter oligarchy was to be set up, he would no longer 
 remahi in the country. It was, hideed, after the divisitu <\i 
 this memorable night had been taken in the old Legis*;ii.i •; 
 Council, that he coniided to his one intimate friend, Willirxia 
 Madeay, that as soon as he could arrange his affairs lu would 
 return to England. There were evils, he said, in the sy.-. ui 
 of an old established aristocracy ; but to have a brand-iiu w. 
 overbearing, traditionless S(]uatthig oligarchy placed over ^vou 
 
34G 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERlilJOOKK 
 
 was simply intolerable. He had, however, still a work to do. 
 He was yet to stand forth as the champion of the rights of 
 the free immigrants — the mitainted population of the colony 
 — against the further deplorable attempt of Earl Grey to 
 revive the practice of criminal transportation. Moreover, 
 Robert Lowe was to become member for Sydney. 
 
347 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A SLAVE-TRADE VIIILIPPIC 
 
 The ' Orator ' in llcods of the People— Gc\mi\.n nnd French Inimigrants- 
 Tho Squatters and the South Sea Islanders 
 
 The series of brilliant and impassioned sijccches on the Land 
 
 Question had raised the fame of PtobertLowe as an orator to the 
 
 very lu*ghest pitch among the whole of the colonists, urban and 
 
 pastoral, of New South Wales. This is shown by the fact that 
 
 an enterprising joiirnahst of Sydney who had projected an 
 
 illustrated weekly newspaper called llcmh of the People (a kind 
 
 of humble forerunner of Vanity Fair), singled him out for his 
 
 issue of Sept. 4, 1847, as the type of the ' Orator.' It is rather 
 
 amusing to find that the editor was unable to induce ' Mr. 
 
 Itobert Lowe, M.C.,' to sit for his portrait. He, however, 
 
 managed to produce a caricature, representing the * Orator ' 
 
 in a frock-coat, and with his hands (very ill-drawn) spread out 
 
 on the table, over which he was leaning in the act of addressing 
 
 the House. This rude portrait has been at times reproduced 
 
 in Australia ; but it is absolutely worthless as a likeness, as, 
 
 indeed, the editor of this long-forgotten Australian journal 
 
 admitted in the accompany ing letterpress. 
 
 The portion of the article, however, dcbcribing Robert 
 Lowe's qualities as an orator may still be read with some 
 interest : — 
 
 Mr. Lowe (observes his early colonial critic) has many advan- 
 tages, Avith some disadvantages, as an orator. His advantages—and 
 in this respect he leaves all competition far behind him— are a rapid 
 and fluent delivery ; a splendid command over figures of speech and 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 // 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 
 1.4 
 
 IIM 
 IIIM 
 
 1.6 
 
 ^ 
 
 V] 
 
 ^a 
 
 >> 
 
 Ov^ 
 
 "'^^■a 
 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 \^ 
 
 iV 
 
 •SS 
 
 :\ 
 
 \ 
 
 4$ 
 
 
 
 ^^' 
 
 <<^J% 
 
 23 WCST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (7)6) 873-4503 
 
 ■^ 
 

wm 
 
 m 
 
 ii 
 
 I'- 
 ll I 
 
 IJ 
 
 f 
 
 
 111 
 
 348 
 
 LIFE OF i.OlID SIIEIIl'.KOOKE 
 
 rhetorical ornaiuonts, soinetiuios, inclcetl, verging on the tnrgid ; a 
 l)erfect acquaintance with the chissics, and with modern hterature, 
 and a good knowledge of the law. 
 
 The writer then goes on to stcate that the contest in the Legis- 
 lative Council for leadership * lies between Mr. Wentworth 
 and Mr. Lo^Ye.' For himself, he gives the palm to the former, 
 though admitting that he has none of the * wonderful com- 
 mand of well-chosen words possessed by his rival.' With these 
 two the colonial editor links the name of a man who was then 
 almost at the close of his short earthly career — liichard 
 Windeycr. 
 
 * Mr. Windeyer's for^i',' he says, ' is satire. His sarcasms 
 are more unpleasant to bear than the most virulent abuse.' 
 After Lowe, Wentworth, and Windeyer, this not altogether 
 injudicious critic considered that in Deas Thomson, the 
 Colonial Secretary, the old Legislative Council of Sydney 
 possessed ' a plain, matter-of-fact, business-like orator,' whose 
 speeches would win the confidence and attention of any 
 parliamentary body. 
 
 Lowe had, of course, completely alienat'>d the most in- 
 fluential section of the community — the squatters. This he 
 knew perfectly well, and during the remaining couple of years 
 of his public life in Sydney he fought them, so to speak, with 
 his back to the wall. The handing over of the millions of 
 broad acres of New South Wales and Port Phillip to the 
 pastoral tenants and land-gamblers seemed to haunt him like 
 a nightmare. There is no doubt that it was the selfishness 
 displayed by the squatters in thus getting possession of the 
 public patrimony which drove him, during his last year in 
 Sydney, into the leadership of the anti-transportation party. 
 This was after his election to the city of Sydney, when, as I 
 shall show, he was for a brief while the leadirig agitator and 
 the most popular tribune of the colonial democracy. 
 
 Before narrating the events following on the general 
 election of 1848, there are still one or two stirring episodes to 
 
A SLAVE-TRAD !•: riHLIPPK! 
 
 340 
 
 tnri,M(l ; a 
 
 1 literature, 
 
 the Legis- 
 Yentwortli 
 lie former, 
 31'ful coni- 
 Nith these 
 ) was then 
 — Pilchard 
 
 ! sarcasms 
 nt abuse.' 
 altogether 
 nsoii, the 
 if Sydney 
 or,' whose 
 n of any 
 
 most in- 
 This he 
 e of years 
 leak, with 
 aillions of 
 ip to the 
 t him like 
 elfishness 
 )n of the 
 t year in 
 ion party, 
 .'hen, as I 
 tator and 
 
 i general 
 lisodes to 
 
 recall in connection with his public conduct as the member for 
 the joint counties of St. Vincent and Auckland. On August 
 27, 1847, a petition was presented from a number of German 
 residents in Sydney praying to be allowed the privileges and 
 immunities of Enghsh subjects. The German element has 
 always been strong in the colony of South Australia, raid 
 very law-abiding and prosperous in all the colonies. It is 
 pleasant to f^nd that Lowe seconded the motion on their 
 behalf; there was, however, a difficulty in the way, as no 
 general statute affecting the naturalisation of foreigners 
 had been passed by the Imperial Parliament. The (^^uaker 
 member, Mr. Robinson, who cculd be very liberal where the 
 pubhe lands were not concerned, urged that the sooner they 
 got rid of all restrictions, the better; in his opinion, they 
 should encourage all foreigners to come and settle. These 
 innocent remarks aroused Lowe's sense of irony at once. 
 He rejoiced, he said, to hear that the hon. member for 
 Melbourne was disposed to offer every inducement to foreigners 
 to come amongst them, but the * very strongest inducement 
 would be the offer of a little of the land of which he and his 
 class had been kind enough to relieve the colony.' 
 
 If French emijifrants should come hither, driven out of their 
 own country by the abolition of the law of primoi^'cniture and the 
 consequent subdivision of the land, it would be highly rofreshin.t,' to 
 them to see in how few hands the lands are vested hero. They 
 would say, at all events, ' Whatever rock those New South Wales 
 fellows have split upon, it is not on the subdivision of the land.' 
 (Roars of laughter.) 
 
 On October 1st, 1847, two days before the Legislative 
 Council adjourned, Robert Lowe made a much more serious 
 attack on the enterprising ]3oyd Brothers and their nian-of- 
 all-work, the Quaker Robinson, for kidnapping South Sea 
 islanders, and shipping them to New South Wales to 8upi)ly 
 on their stations the free convict labour which was no longer 
 accessible. As just now the South Sea labour traffic is u 
 
 i: 
 
^w 
 
 350 
 
 lifp: of loud siierbrooke 
 
 M !!< 
 
 ' i 
 
 burning question between various religious philanthropists 
 and the Government of Queensland, it may be as well to point 
 out that the kidnapping system of the Boyds, which Lord 
 Sherbrooke so powerfully deiiounced, was totally different 
 to the proposed * regulated ' Kanaka labour. These selfish 
 and masterful men, who had gone out to Australia merely to 
 make money as fast as they could, and who had become 
 virtual masters of the colony for the time being, felt them- 
 selves under no restrictions, moral or legal, in their transactions 
 with the unfortunate savages of the South Sea Islands. This 
 system of employing, even under governmental restrictions, 
 the labour of these inferior races is by no means yet settled 
 in Australia ; but it is plain that there can be no analogy 
 between the social condition of New South Wales and Port 
 Phillip in 1847, and that of North Queensland in 1892. In the 
 former case the islanders were kidnapped and conveyed in many 
 cases to the high plateau and more mountainous portions of 
 these southern and colder regions. There was no Government 
 supervision whatever, and whether the unfortunate islanders 
 died on these vast sheep-runs, or were speared by the aborigines, 
 then comparatively numerous, seemed to be a matter that con- 
 cerned no one. We shall never know the proportions to which 
 this Polynesian slave trade attained in these early years ; but 
 of the hundreds of South Sea islanders who were imported by 
 the Boyds and Eobinson alone, it is hardly likely that any 
 ever again beheld their native shores. 
 
 It is evident that this illegal traffic must have attained 
 considerable proportions when Robert Lowe from his place 
 in the Legislative Council gave notice of the following 
 motion : — 
 
 That an Address be presented to liis Excellency the Governor, 
 setting forth that this Council begs to call the serious attention of 
 the Executive Government to the incipient slave trade which is 
 so rapidly springing up between this colony and the islands of the 
 Pacilic Ocean. 
 
 That this House desires to point the attention of his Excellency 
 
A SLAVL-TPtADE niiLirric 
 
 ^51 
 
 6b. 
 
 -nthroiDists 
 ill to point 
 Inch Lord 
 '• different 
 ese selfish 
 merely to 
 d become 
 felt them- 
 msactions 
 ds. This 
 strictions, 
 ^et settled 
 analogy 
 and Port 
 I. In the 
 d in many 
 ortions of 
 vernment 
 islanders 
 borigines, 
 that con- 
 i to which 
 iars ; but 
 ported by 
 that any 
 
 attained 
 his place 
 following 
 
 Governor, 
 
 tention of 
 
 which is 
 
 ids of the 
 
 ixcellency 
 
 to the third and ninth clauses of the Imperial Act 5 Geo 1\ 
 c. 118. 
 
 That the existing traffic in human creatures obviously unable to 
 contract for themselves, and who must, therefore, be brought from 
 their native land either by force or fraud, is clearly within tbe 
 spirit (perhaps the letter) of this enactment, and that it is the dutv 
 of the Government to take immediate and vigorous steps for its 
 suppression. 
 
 His speech in proposing this resolntion on October 1st, 
 1847, was one of the longest and most impassioned ever de- 
 livered by him in that Council. The public excitement that 
 it evoked is shown by the number of columns it occupies in the 
 somewhat clumsy report of the next day's Si/dnei/ Moniimj 
 Iferald. It is much to be regretted that Lord Sherbrooke 
 in later life did not find time to revise this report, for the 
 subject is an important one, and after almost half a century 
 is still a question of AustraHan, if not of Imperial import and 
 significance. 
 
 In his indictment of this traffic in Polynesian labour Lowe 
 did not hesitate to characterise it as * a new form of the slave 
 trade,' into the past history of which he entered with great 
 fulness. But he admitted that the materials on which ho had 
 to build this charge were few and scanty ; it was but an 
 incipient slave trade, against which he wished to guard the 
 colony : — 
 
 I stand not in the same position that Wilberforce did when he 
 raised his voice against this trade. Then its supporters came un- 
 blushingly forward and avowed their acts, for they were not tben 
 legally criminal. But a dark, mysterious veil is thrown over tbis 
 traffic : we hear of frays and bloodshed, of the cutting off crews of 
 boats, we hear of presents to chiefs ; but of detailed accounts of 
 this commerce we have none. We know notiiing of tlie condition 
 of the people that are brought here : whether they were prisoners 
 of war, whether they were slaves at home, whether they came of 
 their own free Avill, or were at the disposal of the chiefs. 
 
 The speaker then proceeded to analyse the nature of the 
 alleged contract under winch these South Sea islanders were 
 
 

 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 it 
 
 H! 
 
 J J 
 
 brought to work on the sheep-runs of New South "Wales and 
 Port Phmip: — 
 
 The form of the precious contract was as follows : — ' I 
 
 [blank, to be filled up by some hard name], 'native of [blank 
 ai^ain], 'in the Pacific Ocean, have tbis day agreed with' [here 
 follows the name of the captain of the vessel], ' on tlie part of Mr. 
 P)enjarain Boyd, of tbe City of Sydney, N.S.W., to serve the said 
 Benjamin Boyd in the capacity of a seaman in any of his ships or as 
 a whaler, either on board or on shore, or as a shepherd or other 
 labourer, in any part of the colony of N.S.W., and to make my- 
 self generally useful for the term of five years.' 
 
 Now, what abstract idea could these savages have of Benjamin 
 Boyd, with whom they were contracting ? The Hindoos in India, 
 it was said, took the East India Company to be an old woman, and 
 the same sort of feeling in the present case was not unlikely. But 
 what could these savages know of Mr. Benjamin Boyd ? How could 
 they know whether he was a demon of good or evil order ? It was 
 not pretended that they could form an opinion. What abstract 
 idea of a shepherd could these natives have, when they had never 
 seen a sheep on their native island at all ? But there was a further 
 stipulation, that the servant thus introduced should make himself 
 generally useful. Now, the gentlemen who frequented the registry 
 offices knew very well what were the duties this term involved. But 
 Avas anybody foolish enough to believe that the savage did so "? 
 Then, again, it was stipulated that they should serve for a period of 
 five years ; and perhaps the hon. member for ^lelbourne (Robinson) 
 would inform them what powers of enumeration were possessed by 
 these savages to enable them to comprehend what the period of five 
 years Avas. Perhaps they might be similar to the Cherokees, who 
 were unable to reckon more than three, and when asked as to any 
 greater number, pointed to the hairs of their head to signify that they 
 were innumerable. Then followed the other part of the agreement, 
 in which this man-stealer, on the part of Mr. Benjamin Boyd, agreed 
 to pay these savages wages at the rate of 1/. Os. per annum, with the 
 following weekly ration, viz. :— meat, ten pounds ; and he supposed, 
 although it was a matter of some difficulty among civilised people to 
 determine her Majesty's weights and measures, they, the savages, knew 
 what ten pounds was. Maize, Avheat, or flour, seven pounds ; doubt- 
 less the savages have a knowledge of wheat, maize, meal, and a correct 
 abstract idea of a mill. Then, as to clothing, there was, first of all, one 
 pair of moleskin trousers, the savage being, doubtless, well acquainted 
 with the texture and manufacture of moleskins ; a pair of linen 
 trousers ; a woollen shirt, which ho ought as a shepherd to know 
 something about ; a cotton shirt ; and next he came to an article of 
 
A SLAVE-THAUE PIIll-IPPlC 
 
 oOo 
 
 'ales and 
 
 )f' [blank 
 ith ' [hero 
 irt of Mr. 
 3 the said 
 ihips or as 
 I or other 
 make my- 
 
 Benjamin 
 in India, 
 oman, and 
 vely. But 
 How could 
 •? It was 
 ,t abstract 
 had never 
 s a further 
 ke himself 
 lie registry 
 Ived. But 
 ;e did so ? 
 1 period of 
 [Robinson) 
 )ssessed by 
 riod of five 
 okees, who 
 I as to any 
 y that they 
 igreement, 
 )yd, agreed 
 ii,with the 
 supposed, 
 people to 
 ages, knew 
 Is ; doubt - 
 d a correct 
 of all, one 
 icquainted 
 r of linen 
 to know 
 I article of 
 
 peculiar interest, doubtless, to the savages it was ' one Kilmarnock 
 cap.' Now, though neither a cannibal nor a native of Tanna, I am 
 myself utterly unacquainted with the meaning of a Kilmarnock cap. 
 One blanket completed the outfit. 
 
 Thus, with one shirt and a blanket these poor wretches were to 
 be sent from the burning heat of a tropical sun to ^laneroo, wliich 
 has a winter of almost European seventy. Whether this was slave- 
 trade or not, it svas a piece of inhumanity which ouglit to call 
 down the execration of the House, and of which I trust there are 
 members who will not shrink from expressing their opinion. 
 
 The agreement then went on to say ' that the full meaning 
 and terms of this agreement, as read in English, having been 
 
 first truly and clearly explained tome by , who understands 
 
 my native language, I affix my mark hereto in testimony of my 
 concurrence in this present engagement.' 
 
 The date followed; but I am glad that the words cDiiin Dmniiii 
 are left out, as it shows that even the most obdurate consciences 
 shrank from the introduction of the name of Christ into this 
 document. 
 
 Speaking in this strain of mingled irony and indignation 
 for a couple of hours, Lowe moved the resolution, wliich was 
 seconded by Charles Cowper. Eobinson rose and defended 
 himself and Benjamin Boyd. He stated that the importation of 
 South Sea islanders into the colony arose in this way : Some 
 five years ago the whaling industry, previously an important 
 one, was abandoned ; the whaling boats were in consequence 
 idle. They could get no seamen. At first New Zealanders 
 were shipped to the extent of the third of a crew of a whaling 
 vessel, and then increased to one-half. This proved success- 
 ful, and was the foundation of ' savage ' labour. They then 
 went to the Pacific Islands. True, some of these islanders 
 were cannibals ; so were the aborigines of Australia. Mr. 
 Robinson then solemnly read Boyd's instructions to one of 
 his station-managers as to these imported islanders, from 
 which it would seem that it was necessary to keep them in 
 bodies, as a safeguard against the attacks of the * old hands ' 
 (meaning the convict shepherds). As for their rations, Mr. 
 Eobinson explained that they had no tea or sugar, but 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
 ii! 
 
 
 I ■' 
 
im 
 
 h ! 1 
 
 fl: 
 
 3 I 
 
 i a 
 
 8 
 
 , ' i 
 
 i! 
 
 I* 
 
 it 
 I* 
 
 it 
 
 I! 
 
 3o4 
 
 LIFE OF LOltl) SITKinUlOOKE 
 
 plenty of potatoes ; they were very intelligent, and could 
 count. 
 
 Mr. liobinson further read the articles of agreement with 
 the Chinese at one of the stations controlled by the IJoyd 
 syndicate. By article eleven three days were allowed in every 
 year to the Chinaman for the performance of his religious 
 rites. 
 
 In the subsequent debate the Colonial Secretary (Deas 
 Thomson) avowed his intention of voting against the motion, 
 but admitted that the importation of * savage ' labour might 
 ruin the colony. The Atcorney-General (Plunkett) — the 
 official whom the Boyds and Robinson most dreaded — was 
 more outspoken than his colleague. He unhesitatingly con- 
 demned * savage labour at sixpence a week and a shirt a 
 year.' 
 
 Robert Lowe then rose and said the object he had had in 
 view was completely achieved. He had called the attention 
 of the House and the country to what he had designated an 
 ' incipient slave trade ' ; and an incipient slave trade nine out 
 of ten would now consider it. After the remarks of the 
 Attorney-General he was quite willing to withdraw his motion 
 and leave the matter in the hands of the Government, on 
 whom he had not the slightest intention of casting any 
 imputation. In answer to Wentworth's taunt that he had 
 agitated this question of Polynesian labour merely out of ill- 
 feeling towards the Boyds and Robinson, Lowe replied with 
 great feeling and indignation : — 
 
 The lion, member for Sydney has condescended to charge me 
 with being actuated by ill-feeling towards the hon. member for 
 ^Melbourne and those with whom he is connected. I can assure 
 the House that I wish to blast no man's character ; that I have 
 no feeling against either of the persons named — but I have a 
 feeling respecting the things which they do. I have a strong 
 feeling respecting monopoly, against griping, over-reaching and 
 tyrannous oppression ; and it is because I believe that they, and the 
 lion, member for Sydney also, did tlicso things, that I have any 
 
•■■^^■■^■P 
 
 m^^tm 
 
 nd could 
 
 lent with 
 he Boyd 
 . in every 
 religious 
 
 17 (Deas 
 I motion, 
 ar might 
 3tt)— the 
 led — was 
 igly con- 
 , shirt a 
 
 d had in 
 attention 
 lated an 
 nine out 
 
 of the 
 3 motion 
 aent, on 
 ing any 
 
 he had 
 \t of ill- 
 ied with 
 
 A SLAVE-TnADK PHILIPPIC 355 
 
 fc'lin- of opposition towards thcni. What is it to mo that they have 
 innndatca the country with cannibals ; that hy their .rrasninff 
 monopoly they made that whicli nii^dit bo a garden intoawildei^ 
 noss ? I am only a sojourner ; I could cut the cable and Icavo the 
 colony to them-some of them sons of the soil, who had accom- 
 phshed Its rum-to the enjoyment of the fruits of their own work. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to repeat that the Labour problem 
 has assumed quite a different phase in Australia in our day. 
 In fairness one must admit tliat the proposal to introduce 
 Kanaka labour into North Queensland has received the support 
 of Sir Samuel Griffith, a Liberal statesman of distinction. 
 Whether Lord Sherbrooke would have supported the policy of 
 introducing, under strict governmental regulations, the labour 
 of South Sea islanders on the sugar plantations of northern 
 Queensland is perhaps doubtful. But that he would have felt 
 very little sympathy with the tyrannical policy of the Austrahan 
 Trade Unions is certain. Nothing stirred him so much as 
 the sight of oppression and injustice, whether exercised by 
 individuals or by classes. 
 
 large me 
 aiber for 
 n assure 
 it I have 
 '. have a 
 I strong 
 ing and 
 and the 
 ave any 
 
 M>^ .'I 
 
 A A 2 
 
35G 
 
 I, IFF, OF I,()Ill) .SIIKUHUOOKF 
 
 CIIAPTEH XXIV 
 
 \ •' t. 
 
 n- 
 
 i: II 
 
 TIIF. GRKAT ELKCTION OF 1818 
 
 Lowe's Atldrcss to the Electors of St. Vincent — Action of Henry Pavkos and 
 Sydney Electors — Returned for Sydney without canvass or expense — His 
 last Letter ' home ' 
 
 Thk CJeneral Election of 1848 was the most excitiiif:f and the 
 most important that had ever been lield in the colony. Mr. 
 Lowe decided to stand again for his former constituency, and 
 on July Ist issued the following Address to the electors of tlu; 
 united counties of St. Vincent and Auckland : — 
 
 Gentlemen,— When you did nie th(> honour to elect me as your 
 representative, 1 was earnestly desirous of carrying out three 
 objects — the reduction of the miuinuun price of Crown lauds to a 
 ivasouable sum ; tlie removing from us the impending danger of 
 district councils ; and the applying a searching and systematic 
 economy to the public expenditure. 
 
 On the first of these subjects, the reduction of the price of lands, 
 a majority, consisting of olHciids who are obliged to vote according 
 to the direction of the Government, and large squatters, who con- 
 sider the maintenance of this price essential to their private interests, 
 have, in the last session, declined to express any opinion, and I have 
 thus the mortification of seeing that, while the Legislative Council 
 is hesitating, tlu^ question is practically settled by the division of 
 the most valuable and saleable lands of the colony among about 
 one thousand colonists, who can neither sell, cultivate, nor improve 
 them. 
 
 As to the question of district councils, we are threatened with 
 a Constitution which not merely adopts them, but makes them the 
 point upon which the whole system of government is to revolve. 
 And yt. upon this subject also the Legislative Council hjis felt itself 
 imequal to express any opinion. The country has spoken, but its 
 representatives have been silent. 
 
 ! I 
 

 rh 
 
 TilK (IIJKAT KLKirriOX OF l.s|8 
 
 
 Parkos iind 
 cpcnsc — His 
 
 ; and tliu 
 ny. Mr. 
 3ncy, and 
 
 Jl'S of tll(! 
 
 le as ymn- 
 out tlii'eo 
 ands to a 
 danger of 
 systematic 
 
 D of lands, 
 according 
 who con- 
 ; interests, 
 and I have 
 :c Coimcil 
 livision of 
 Dng about 
 ir improve 
 
 ;ened with 
 them the 
 
 revolve. 
 
 1 felt itself 
 ill, but its 
 
 As to the public expeiidilui'e, 1 have been one of a small minority 
 usua''y outnumbered by the oHicials and Crown nominees in our 
 ell'orts to stein the torrent of corruption. Our ill-success may be 
 attributed to three causes — the unaccountable conduct of many 
 representative members, who have absented tluunselves from the 
 ('ouncil altogether ; to the almost uniform support given on principlo 
 by the nunnbers from i'ort LMiillip to any measure of the Govern- 
 ment ; and by the lamentable want of indc[iindeiice of some of the 
 members of the middk; district. From these causes, after all our 
 boasted economy, we leave tlu; expenditure! of the country as large 
 as we found it, and have given the sanction of a partly-elected 
 assembly to abuses which we ought not to have tolerated for an 
 instant. 
 
 It is under these discouraging circumstances, Gentlemen, 1 again 
 olfer my services to you as your representative. As far as depends 
 on me, those services shall bo rendered with the same zeal and in- 
 dependence ; but the constituencies of the country must determine 
 whether they shall be attended Avith better success. 
 
 I regret that the shortness of the period fixed for the return of 
 the writs, and my indispensable professional duties, will render it 
 impossible for me to attend personally at the election, and to give 
 to you that account of the trust you have reposed in me which you 
 are entitled to ask, and which I am willing, and I believe able, to 
 render. 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RoBEUT Lowe. 
 
 It is clear that Lowe had created widespread popular 
 enthusiasm on behalf of himself and his political convictions ; 
 for without his consent, or even knowledge, a number of the 
 leading electors of Sydney met together and decided to requi- 
 sition him to allow himself to be put in nomination for the 
 metropolitan constituency. In the only daily journal that 
 Sydney then boasted — the Herald — for July 5tli, 1848, the 
 following announcement appeared : — 
 
 City Electoks. 
 
 The friends of Robert Lowe, Esq., are requested to sign the 
 requisition, copies of which are lying at the undermentioned 
 places : — 
 
 Mr. H. Parkes's, Hunter Street ; &c. itc. 
 
 ■I 
 
1^^ 
 
 
 1,11 K or i,(n:i> siii:i!Mi.MMH\K 
 
 ;i'i 
 
 Tlir City of Sydney Iiad two ropnscntiitivcs in tlu! Tjcf^is- 
 liitivo Coimcil, uiul Itotli the old incinlxTs were, Hcokiii}; rc- 
 ckH'tion — ^Villillm Cliarlcs "Wciitworth and Dr. William JMaiid. 
 It is voi'v clear that (lie ohject o'" Mi\ (now Sir lleiny) I'arken 
 and Ills IViends in l>rin^;in^ forward llohert liowe was to 
 eliallen}j;e, and il'poKsil>l(« ('on(|M(>r. tliestroni^lioldol" Weiitwortli. 
 However, at lirst tlio lat(> nuMnber and candidate lor St. Vin- 
 cent and Auckland was cl(>arly averse to ho hazardous and 
 apparently hopeless an enterprise. 
 
 On tlu> same day tha,t ^Ir. Jlem'y Parkes's annonnceintuit 
 appeared in the i)ai)er there was a re[»ort of a political nieetin{» 
 held on the [)revious evening in th(! Mechanics' School of Art, 
 Pitt Street, on which occasion llohert Lowe had supported tho 
 candidature of INFr. flohn Lanih for the city in a reniarkahly 
 nhle address. But tlu^ anti-Wentworthitt!S - or, as the squatters 
 called them, the Radicals were det{>rniin(>d that Lowe should 
 himself stand. Accordingly, the followin;^; reijuisition was 
 hastily prepared and si}j;ncd hy a nund)er of his enthusiastic 
 admirers :— 
 
 To Jiobcri Loire, Esq. 
 
 Sir, — We, tho undiTsij^rncd Electors of the City of Sydney beg 
 you will allow yourself to be put in nonilnation as a candidate for 
 the representation of our interests in the Legislative Council at tho 
 forthcoming (u^ncral l^ilectiou. lu tho eveut of your complying 
 with our request, we pledge oiu'selves to use our utmost endeavours 
 to secure your return. 
 
 S. Samuel. 
 
 J. li. WiLsniHK, Aldernum. 
 W. S. jMaclkay. 
 Anthony Houdekn. 
 Henry Pakkes. 
 John Roheutson. 
 
 P. N. IIUSSELL. 
 
 G. A. Lloyd. 
 W. W. Billyaud. 
 
 The committee formed to collect signatures to the above requi- 
 sition have determined to put Mr. Lowe in nomination at the 
 approaching election and to poll the last vote. 
 By order of the Committee, 
 
 J K. He VDON, I j^.^^^ Secretaries. 
 Henky Parses, i 
 
 Itll 
 
MM 
 
 'riiK (ii:i:.\'i' iw.iiction of ihis 
 
 :;:>:> 
 
 tlio TiCf^is- 
 
 iuiUjIhikI. 
 ■y) I'lirkcs 
 
 (' WilH to 
 
 ciiiwoiUi. 
 r St. Viii- 
 (loiis jiiid 
 
 IllU'OlllOIlt 
 
 1 incotiiifT 
 ol of A it, 
 )()rtcHl tlio 
 iiiiirkiiMy 
 squattors 
 vo should 
 
 tioil WilH 
 
 -huHiastic 
 
 'diiey bog 
 (lidate for 
 icil at tlio 
 ioniplying 
 ideaM)urs 
 
 ). 
 
 ive lequi- 
 n at the 
 
 ines. 
 
 With llio oxccptioii of th(! tx-Miiyor jiiid William Araclcny, 
 those (doctors of tlu! (!ity of Sydney uci'o all yoiiii^' uiikiiowii 
 iiuui at tli(! tiiiio. Jiut it is iioLcwoitliy that two of th(!iii aftor- 
 wards lillod uioro than oiio(! the oftico of I'rimo Minister, while 
 two others hocanic! Tnsasnrers iind l'ostniastor-(jioiiorals of tlie. 
 colony; and tsvory one of the nine who thus ro(|iiisition( d 
 hord Shorhrooke to stand for the; metropolis luicame, in some 
 way, a man of marK. 
 
 liohert Ijow(! atiirst luild hacdi, Jio douht for th(! reason that 
 ho had ah-oady olfered a renewal of hJM services to the 'joint 
 counties. ' Mr. I'arkes, how(!ver, as all who know him can 
 testify, was never tlio man to he li-^ditly put aside from iii^ 
 purpose. Me lost no tinjo in iisin^ his persuasive [HJwerH, and 
 to some eifect, for on tiie followiiif^'day, July 8th, this startlin;.!, 
 announcement appoiired ni the cohnnns of the I/cnild: - 
 
 To lite /'Uectoia of l.hc, Cllj/ of Sydney. 
 
 IJrotlior I'lloctors, Wo ank you to voto for Mr. Lowe because 
 wo holicvo ho v/ill strcniuousiy oudoavour to eidii.rgo the elective 
 lnuiciiis(( [siu'oly a Rtrau^^o reiLSon when w(! think of tho groat anti- 
 rolbrm spooclios in tho Jlouso of CoiinuonH|. 
 
 Wo ask you (it continiujd) to vote for him because wo believe lus 
 will bo tho successful advocate of an ofiuitablo alienation of tho 
 public lands and an ocononiical expenditun; of the [)ublic money. 
 Jn short, W(! ask you to vote for Mr. JjOwo because wo m our hearts 
 believe ho will bo tlu; ablest defeiuUir and most iiicorruptihle pro- 
 moter of our connuou rights and liberties, not being bound by any 
 predilections of sfilf-inierest. 
 
 Electors and i''roomon. You have been told that Mr. Lowe 
 will not take his seat for Sydney if elected. This is not true ; hero 
 are Mr. Lowe's own words : — 
 
 ' In answer to a question from you, whether I would sit for the 
 city if elected, 1 repeat, Yes. 
 
 * I could not so far insult tho citizens of Sydney as to refuse. 
 
 ' Yours very truly, 
 
 ' RoHEiiT Lowe.' 
 
 Mr. Lowe was thus placed somewhat in the tantalising 
 position of Captain Macheath between the two charmers ; and 
 although his enthusiastic admirers in Sydney offered to defray 
 
;go 
 
 LIFE OF LOIiD SnEUr.lJOOKE 
 
 I! 
 
 his expenses, lie did not definitively consent to stand. But 
 on July 13tli a letter written by him appeared in the newspaper, 
 apparently in reply to some hostile criticisms as to his inde- 
 cision in the matter. 
 
 To the Editors of the ' Sydney Morning Herald.' 
 ' Non fumam ex fiilgore, sed ex'funio dare lucem.' 
 
 Gentlemen, — As it appears from your paper that there is some 
 misconception abroad as to my position with respect to the Sydney 
 election, I beg to make the following statement : — 
 
 When I was asked to become a candidate for the City of Sydney, 
 I said No, because I was a supporter of Mr. Lamb, and because I 
 had already addressed my former constituents. When I was asked 
 whether 1 would sit for the City if elected, I said Yes, because to 
 refuse would have been to insult the citizens and to forego the 
 possibility of a triumph for those principles with which I am 
 identified ; and because neither my duty to Mr. Lamb nor to my 
 former constituents seemed to me to require such a denial. In this 
 I can see neither coquetry nor contradiction. It is one thing to 
 refuse to solicit an honour, it is another to refuse to accept it when 
 obtained. I will not solicit the votes of the electors of Sydney, but 
 if they return me unsolicited I will not refuse the seat. I know 
 no words which can make this statement of my intentions more 
 explicit ; if I did, 1 would use them. 
 
 ] am. Gentlemen, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RoBEiiT Lowe. 
 
 The election was fought out with the utmost determina- 
 tion on both sides. The nomination took place on July 27th, 
 and dense crowds began to assemble at the hustings as early 
 as ten in the morning. When Lowe put in an appearance 
 on the platform he was greeted with tumultuous applause ; 
 while Wentworth, now self-depose>d from his position of 
 popular idol, was hissed by the crowd, though cheered by his 
 immediate friends. Wentworth was nominated first, and 
 received with cries of ' Coolies ! ' ; but when Alderman 
 AVilshire came forward to propose Robert Lowe, deafening 
 cheers rent the air, which were renewed again and again when 
 his proposer declaimed : — 
 
THE GREAT JILECTIOX OF ]848 
 
 361 
 
 ' Mr. Lowe bad been represented as tbe idol of tbe people. 
 • . . Tbe people bad formerly tbeir political idols, but mis- 
 sionaries had come in among tbem, wbo bad taugbt tbem tbe 
 folly and ^jrong of such worsbip.' 
 
 Tbis very palpable bit at Wentwortb was of course 
 migbtily relisbed by tbe surging crowd. Mr. Weekes, Lowe's 
 seconder, drove tbe wedge borne :— 
 
 Wbo so fit (be asked) to represent tbem as Mr. Lowe ? 
 Had be not stood almost alone in tbe late Council ? Would 
 tbey allow sucb a man to be tbe representative of some fifty 
 bark buts in a distant district? If tbey returned Mr. 
 Wentworth, tbey sbould take care to send in Mr. Lowe to loolv 
 after bim. Mr. Lowe was tbe only man in tbe colony able to 
 grapple witb tbat intellectual giant. 
 
 As migbt naturally be supposed, tbese observations bad a 
 decidedly rufHing effect on Wentwortb, and be proceeded to 
 abuse tbe new popular idol in bis mos^ vigorous style. Nor 
 eid be fail to remind tbe electors of tbe splendid eulogy ^\bicb 
 Lowe bad passed upon bim, wben tbey were political allies, on 
 occasion of tbe Wentwortb Banquet. ' Only two years ago 
 tbis man,' he said bitterly, ' bad heaped praises on me— bad, hi 
 his flattering, eloquent way, designated me as tbe great son of 
 the soil.' 
 
 When Lowe came forward be was received witb rap- 
 turous applause, again and again renewed. Silence being 
 at length obtained, he addressed tbe electors witb tbe utmost 
 animation and vigour. He began by sayiiig tbat be stood 
 before tbem in a very peculiar position. He was not a candi- 
 date for tbe representation of tbe city. He had not solicited 
 a single vote. He bad not either addressed or canvassed the 
 electors. But a number of gentlemen wbo approved of tlic 
 principles which actuated his conduct in tlie Legislative Council 
 had thought fit to give tbeir support to those principles, and 
 had that day put him in nomination. 
 
 Then, point by point, he calmly reviewed his own public 
 
 i: 
 
 
 II !^ 
 
^^i^mmmBmmifi^mmmmm 
 
 3G2 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEKBROOKK 
 
 career, and met the plausible taunts of "Wentworth as to his 
 inconsistency ; with emphasis he declared that it was the 
 squatters who had lost sight of their political principles, not 
 himself : — 
 
 I have been consistent in fighting for liberty ; the squatters have 
 been consistent in fighting for money. I would remind Mr. Went- 
 worth that, at the very meeting at Avliicli I praised him, he had said 
 that he spurned ' fixity of tenure,' which he Avas now so anxious to 
 retain. Mr. Wentworth had then declared that he sought no tenure 
 beyond that of occupation until the land was wanted for sale. When 
 Mr. Wentworth made that declaration I thought of him only as a 
 patriotic and gifted son of the soil, and in the simplicity and folly 
 of my heart praised him as an example to the rising generation. 
 
 Electioneering crowds in Australia are among the quickest 
 in the world to seize a point or appreciate a palpable hit, and 
 this sample of the * retort courteous ' was loudly cheered. 
 The battle thus begun was fought out to the bitter end. 
 It was soon seen that though W^entworth's own seat was im- 
 pregnable, that of his old friend and follower. Bland, was 
 by no means secure. Wentworth, like a wise general, em- 
 ployed all his strategy to defend the weak spot in the citadel. 
 'Whatever your verdict may be with regard to myself (he 
 declared), * if it be the last public service I am to render you, I 
 charge you never to forget your tried, devoted, indefatigable 
 friend, William Bland.' It was all of no avail. When the 
 poll was declared it was found that the candidates had polled 
 as follows : — 
 
 Mr. Wentworth 
 Mr. Lowe 
 Mr. Lamb 
 Dr. Bland 
 
 1,108 
 
 1,012 
 
 950 
 
 874 
 
 After the declaration of the poll Lowe returned thanks 
 in a speech of great force and fervour, saying that if he 
 were to live for a thousand years, and to employ the whole of 
 the time in contesting elections, he could never again expect 
 to achieve so signal a triumph. And what made it the more 
 
 Ijif. 
 
 Al^' 
 
THE GREAT ELECTIOX OF 1848 
 
 3C)3 
 
 s to his 
 was the 
 
 pies, not 
 
 ters have 
 r. Went- 
 had said 
 ixious to 
 10 tenure 
 B. When 
 nly as a 
 md folly 
 ition. 
 
 quickest 
 hit, and 
 cheered. 
 :er end. 
 was im- 
 nd, was 
 :al, em- 
 citadel, 
 lelf (he 
 lY you, I 
 atigahle 
 hen the 
 d polled 
 
 08 
 12 
 50 
 74 
 
 thanks 
 ,t if he 
 vhole of 
 1 expect 
 le more 
 
 valuable in his eyes was, that it was not a mere personal 
 triumph, but a triumph of the political principles which he had 
 stood almost alone in vindicating. It is surely a singular 
 thing that the future English statesman, who in after years 
 showed the greatest distrust of the vox populi, should have 
 thus been returned by pure popular enthusiasm, without any 
 solicitation on his part, and at no expense to himself.' 
 Despite the fierce contest, he spoke in the highest terms of 
 his colleague's political capacity:— He knew of no man in 
 Australia, no man out of Australia, with whom he should bo 
 more proud to act ; nay, if Mr. Wentworth would but regard 
 pubHc affairs from a national, and not a merely personal 
 standpoint, there was no one whose leadership he should be 
 more proud to follow. 
 
 Notwithstanding his deep distrust of the worth and stability 
 of the wealthier classes, Lowe advocated the immediate esta- 
 blishment of responsible government, or, as he expressed it, the 
 giving to the people * the power of expending their own money 
 and making their own laws.' He despaired of the * petty 
 aristocracy' of the colony, which was banded together to 
 uphold a giant monopoly opposed to the public interest. And, 
 just as he had learnt to distrust the pastoral class, so he 
 could not look to the mercantile interest to support him in his 
 desire to promote the welfare of Australia— an interest, he 
 declared, that had long been rocking to and fro— now in the 
 
 ' ' The committee who conducted the free election of Mr. Robert Lowe beg 
 to lay before the electors the following statement of their gross receipts and 
 expenditm-e, and to append acknowledgments of the appropriation of the sm-plus 
 to the funds of the Benevolent Asylum and the Sydney Infirmary : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Total amount of receipt 118 10 9 
 
 Total amount of disbursements in the election 
 Half surplus to Benevolent Asylum 
 
 Ditto Sydney Inlirmary .... 
 
 Aug. 23rd, 1848. 
 
 109 8 3 
 4 11 3 
 4 11 3 
 
 £118 10 
 
 9 
 
 
 ;. i 
 
 W. Coleman, Treasurer.' 
 
LJB — l,«lLirj»Ptf»i 
 
 timmmmmtmmmmfm 
 
 ^•w 
 
 *( 
 
 K 
 
 5! 
 
 li! 
 
 }■• 
 
 ( 
 
 
 (■; 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 , ' 
 
 
 ■j 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 1 
 
 -'liiai 
 
 
 
 41 
 
 
 
 ■■'■^ 
 
 
 
 h ' i^'^, 
 
 ■■Pi 
 
 364 
 
 LIFE OF LOPtD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 insolvent court, now out of it — without stability, without con- 
 sistency. He would as soon think of building a fortress on an 
 earthquake as he would of depending on a class like that. 
 To the pick of the working classes alone, the skilled artisans 
 and the sober, vigorous, free immigrants, could he turn in his 
 hope of a brighter future for the land of Australia. 
 
 Many, on reading this declaration, will rub their eyes, and 
 doubt if this can indeed be a faithful echo of the warning 
 voice that so eloquently denounced the widening of the fran- 
 chise in England, and the admission of the working classes 
 to a share in the government of this country. It was the 
 same voice, the same man ; the essential difference lay in the 
 circumstances. Eobert Lowe at this period saw no salvation 
 for Australia save in the worth and manhood of the free, 
 untainted working-class immigrants — the honest, plodding 
 toilers from English fields and cities ; above all, the shrewd 
 Scotch artisans of skill and character, such as Dr. Lang was 
 sending out. These were beginning to pour into Sydney ; 
 and it was Kobert Lowe's most earnest hope that they would 
 overpower and eventually root out the * rotten seed ' with 
 which the land had been so freely sown. 
 
 That his words about the working classes were no mere 
 politic flattery of the mob is at least clear enough ; for he 
 wound up by telling the working men of Sydney who had 
 returned him that, while he promised to listen to their repre- 
 sentations, he reserved to himself the right of exercising 
 unfettered his own judgment. In the excitement of the hour 
 his hearers may not have noticed the significance of these 
 words ; but they were no idle utterance. However, the pro- 
 ceedings of the day terminated by the new member being 
 dragged home in triumph by the people in Alderman Wilshire's 
 
 carriage. 
 
 Eobert Lowe keenly appreciated the honour conferred upon 
 him, as the following letter — the last written by him from 
 Australia — will sufficiently show : — 
 
THE GREAT ELECTION' OF 1848 
 
 Bohert Lotce to Mrs. Pyndar of MadrcsficUJ. 
 
 365 
 
 Nelson Bay, near Sydney : Au^'ust 17, 1848. 
 
 My dear Grandmother,— I cannot allow anyone else to deprive 
 me of the pleasure of telling you of a very great compliment which I 
 have recently received, and which, in our little community, is quite 
 as important, and looked upon as quite as great a distinction, as if I 
 had been appointed a member of any provisional government. I 
 was requested on the recent deposition of our little Colonial Parha- 
 ment to become a candidate for the City of Sydney, which is a very 
 considerable place, containing a population to the number of 50,000, 
 or one quarter of the whole Colonies. I declined the honour, but 
 the people would not be refused, and without my becoming ;i 
 Candidate, returned me after a very severe contest, in which a great 
 deal of money was spent, and immense exertions made against me. 
 It is gratifying to me, and will, I hope, be so to you, to find that in 
 this remote place I have been able to create for myself so strong a 
 feehng in the minds of so many of my fellow-colonists, and to reflect 
 that for this, and all else of good that I enjoy, I am indebted entirely 
 to your generosity, which has saved me fr:im an odious drudgery 
 which, I am firmly convinced, would have ended in the loss of my 
 health and sight. I hope most sincerely to hoar by the next ship 
 as good accounts of you as we had by the last. No one knows better 
 than I do how great a misfortune it is to have the use of the 
 inestimable organs of sight in any Avay impaired. But even this I 
 find the mind may be schooled to bear, and I know no one to whom 
 their eyes have been a source of such inestimable pleasure as to 
 you. 
 
 How strange this new French Revolution must seem to you, like 
 a dream of the past which you must so well remember. The 
 historical parallel is very striking : the fixing the rate of wages and 
 food, the intimidation by the mob under which all parties act, and 
 under which the new Constituent Assembly will meet like tlie old 
 National Convention. 
 
 My wife begs to join me in kindest love to yourself and your 
 guests. 
 
 Believe me always 
 
 Your grateful and dutiful grandson, 
 EoBEKT Lowe. 
 
 This was written to his mother's mother. She, too, it will 
 be seen, had sympathised with him in his trials and struggles. 
 
 r 
 
 1 
 
 . i 
 
 ; .. 
 
 i^ i^ 
 
ai*L 
 
 BR 
 
 U 
 
 I 
 
 
 i ■ 'I 
 
 -I 
 
 K : 
 ll ■ i 
 
 V:/ii 
 
 I ' i > 
 
 
 i 
 
 '!:i 
 
 36G 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEllBROOKE 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 MEMBER FOR SYDNEY 
 
 Tort Phillip tleclinei? to send Membery— Lowe's Letter — Earl Grey elected for 
 Melbourne— Lowe and the Sydney Unemployed 
 
 During the progress of this Sydney election Lowe told the 
 electors that it appeared to him somewhat doubtful whether 
 the newly-elected members would ever take their seats in the 
 Legislative Council. The reason of this strange announce- 
 ment was that certain leading residents in the then district of 
 Port Phillip (now the colony of Victoria) had openly expressed 
 their determination not to elect any members to the Sydney 
 Legislature. This caused great alarm in Sydney, and the 
 Herald of August 2, 1848, appeared with a startling leading 
 article headed, ' The Port Phillip Conspiracy to Strangle the 
 Legislative Council ' : — 
 
 * A set of hare-brained fellows having on the day of nomina- 
 tion at Melbourne determined that no members at all should 
 be returned frcm that part of the colony, and having thereby 
 caused the returning-ofiicer to retire from the hustings with- 
 out the means of endorsing a single narae on the back of his 
 writ, the very grave question arises. Will it be competent for 
 the Legislative Council to sit ? ' 
 
 It was on this grave constitutional question that Mr. 
 William Kerr, town-clerk of Melbourne, and founder of the 
 AnjHs newspaper, wrote to Mr. Lowe, and received the follow- 
 ing reply, which is of historical interest so far as the present 
 colony of Victoria is concerned. It will be noted with pleasure, 
 
 f 
 
MEMBER FOR SYDNEY 
 
 3G7 
 
 by all Victorians worthy of the name, that there had actually 
 heen a movement on foot to nominate Lowe as one of the 
 members of the province : — 
 
 Mr. 
 
 )f the 
 )llow- 
 •esent 
 Lsure, 
 
 Bohcrt Loioe to the Toion Clerk of Melbourne. 
 
 Sydney : July 29th, 1848. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter an- 
 nouncing to me the decision of the constituency of I'ort Philhp not 
 to elect any members at all, and the consequent abandonment of 
 the intention which you Avere so kind as to entertain of putting me 
 in nomination to represent the electoral district of Port Phillip. 
 You will have heard before this reaches you of the result of the 
 Sydney election, winch has been equally gratifying to me and con- 
 firmatory of my principles. 
 
 I merely allude to it to show you that I am perfectly disinterested 
 in the suggestions which I take leave to offer to yourself and my 
 brother-colonists of Australia Felix. All who take the trouble to 
 read the proceedings in Council are well aware that I have ahvays 
 endeavoured to give Port Phillip fair play, and have never joined in 
 the dead set which has been most injudiciously and improperly 
 made against it by men who ought to have had more enlightened 
 views, and to have treated with more deference and respect the 
 unanimous opinion of the province. I trust, therefore, you will 
 receive my advice as that of a friend anxious to ser\e you, not of 
 an enemy anxious to mislead you. I\Iy opinion is, that you are 
 acting unwisely in not filling up the seats of your six representatives. 
 
 I do not presume to give an opinion whether it is better for the 
 province that those seats should remain vacant than be filled up by 
 such persons as have hitherto been sent, and as a colonist of the 
 ^[iddle District I must candidly say, that if Port Phillip sends us 
 nothing but gentlemen who confine their attention to inflating the 
 price of land and the amount of Government expenditure, we are 
 better without such gentlemen than with them. It is a mistake to 
 say that tbe absence of the Port Phillip members will throw us more 
 into the hands of the Government. For the last two or three years 
 the Port Phillip members have contributed much to tlie strength of 
 the Government — nearly as much as the nominees of the Crown ; 
 but what I am afraid you have done, or at any rate will do if you 
 persist in the same course, will be to prevent the Legislative Council 
 from being constituted, so as to proceed to the despatch of 
 business. 
 
 As regards the Squatting Question, this is much to be regretted. 
 The election seemed to inchne against the squatters in the Middle 
 
 ,1!. 
 
 l^i) 
 
I 
 
 K? 1 ■ . 
 
 i 
 
 V: 'I i 
 
 if • i 
 
 308 
 
 IJFE OF LOKI) SIlERBI'tOOKE 
 
 District, and I feel confident that the nominees of the Crown will ho 
 of the same way of thinkint,'. 
 
 Thus, had the Council heen allowed to meet, had Port Phillip 
 merely elected five memhers who absented themselves from the 
 sittings of the Council, J should have been able to have brought this 
 struggle for the preservation of the lands of the colony to a suc- 
 cessful issue ; but now every selfish and unworthy influence is left at 
 liberty to be eniployed upon the Government, and the lips of those 
 who would speak for the colony are sealed, livery effort will be 
 used to induce the Government to make intermediate districts as 
 small and the unsettled as large as possible. AVhether it resists 
 this pressure or no will mainly depend on the strength of the anti- 
 squatting party in the Council. That party you, in your zeal for 
 separation, will not permit to act, and thus you hand over your 
 beautiful district to the clutches of a despicable monopoly, from 
 which ages of the most enlightened and patriotic exertion may not 
 suiKce to free you. 
 
 I would also beg to suggest that your contumacy — for such it 
 will be regarded by the Home Government - though it v/ill probably 
 accelerate the period of your separation, will probably render that 
 separation much less advantageous to you than it would otherwise 
 be. As a friend of freedom, I should much regret to see you handed 
 over to a nominee Council, or, what is still worse, to a Council elected 
 by local cliques, elected according to Lord Grey's nostrum. 
 
 I cannot believe that if you abdicate your franchise now you 
 will get it back at the time of separation. It appears to me, that 
 in your natural desire to get rid of us you are abandoning your 
 lands to the squatters and your franchise to the Crown. I would, 
 therefore, beg respectfully to recommend you to fill up the seats of 
 your districts with five anti-squatters, which I apprehend you are 
 well able to do ; but if you do not choose to be represented in the 
 Legislative Council, at any rate fill up the vacancies ; and thus give 
 the Council an opportunity of meeting, and of fighting with the 
 squatters on your behalf that battle which you seem unwilling to 
 fight on your own. 
 
 If you think the publication of this letter will serve any good 
 purpose, it is much at your service. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obedient, humble Servant, 
 
 Egbert Lowe. 
 William Kerr, Esq., Melbourne. 
 
 Mr. Kerr published this letter in the Avjus on August 11 ; 
 but in the meantime the ' hare-brained fellows ' of Melbourne 
 
MKMnKi; R)R SVDNKV 
 
 :;(;9 
 
 , 
 
 had (Ihsfrancliised tliemselvcs, an the wi-it liad In-eu uliculy 
 returned without any name havin- been endorsed on the Lack 
 of It. The Sydney Government, however, consented to re- 
 issue the writ, but, to punisli Melbourne, made Geelon- tlie 
 place of nomination. It was then that the enterprisinc. 
 resulents of Port Phillip determined on a sensational n.np in 
 order to brin- their -reat -ri* ^ ance home to the minds of the 
 English authorities. To show the absurdity of the svstem by 
 which the affairs of their province were conducted by half a 
 dozen gentlemen in the remote city of Sydney, the separation 
 party nomm-ted (of course without asking consent) the Duke 
 of Wellington, Lord Brougham, Lord Palmerston, Lord John 
 Russell, and Sir Pobert Peel. This farcical proceeding was 
 intended to show Earl Grey how absurd the then existin- 
 system had become. They even went further, and actually 
 elected Earl Grey himself as the member for Melbourne in the 
 Legislative Council of Sydney. 
 
 The Colonial Secretary, little knowing what these irreverent 
 Port Phillipians were capable of doing, was duly proposed and 
 seconded in opposition to a widely-respected local s.piatter, 
 Mr. John Fitzgerald Foster, a gentleman who subsequentlv 
 hecame Acting-Governor of Victoria, and who, in compliance 
 with the will of his uncle. Lord Fitzgerald and Vesey, assumed 
 those names by which he is known to this generation. Mi-. 
 Vesey Fitzgerald still Hves to tell the members of the Carlton 
 Club how he contested Melbourne in 1848, and was beaten l,y 
 the * phantom Earl.' 
 
 The poll was declared on August 20 as follows :— 
 
 Earl Grey 
 Foster . 
 
 295 
 202 
 
 It was a pure frolic, but it gave a great deal of trouble to 
 the Sydney Government, and made the Sydney newspapei- 
 fairly frantic. ' An affair of treason against tho majesty of 
 common-sense'; 'its perpetrators deserve to be whipped'; 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 M 
 
 ]! 15 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
370 
 
 I. hi: of i.ori) siieubijooke 
 
 'ii forfoiture of the fnaichise ' : such were the journalistic 
 comments. 
 
 Wo thi)ik (siiys the Ilendd) Earl (Irey, when lie comes to know 
 of the ^lelbounio atrocity, insultinf,' to the noble Lord's own person, 
 as well as to the Imperial Lej^'islature, will pronounce the people of 
 Port Phillip unfit for the franchise, and will give them a Council of 
 Crown nominees. 
 
 Earl drey himself, however, took the matter in a much 
 lighter si)irit when chaffed in the House of Lords about being 
 the new member for Melbourne. The proceeding, however, 
 was not so purely farcical as it looks, and, as a matter of fact, 
 Earl Grey had to plead formally a want of qualification as 
 the reason for not taking his seat in the Sydney Legislative 
 Council. The Crown law officers declared his election to be 
 valid, but that, should he allow two sessions of the Council to 
 elapse before going to the Antipodes and taking the oaths, 
 then his seat as member for Melbourne would be legally vacant. 
 It was, indeed, a thoroughly characteristic colonial device for 
 forcing on the attention of the Secretary of State a specific 
 grievance, and there can hardly be an}' doubt that Earl 
 Grey's sham election expedited the creation of the colony of 
 Victoria and the granting of Australian self-government. 
 
 • >.i ■ : i: 
 
 M]^ 
 
 Piobert Lowe had not very long been member for Sydney 
 before he exhibited to the working classes in a very character- 
 istic way that independence of judgment of which he had 
 forewarned them on the hustings. Sydne}', from that day to 
 this, has always been more notorious even than Melbourne 
 for what are called * meetings of the unemployed.' Like all 
 cities, young or old, Sydney has alwaj's had what the late 
 John Bright called a residuum ; that is to say, a number of 
 utterly unfit or miserably unfortunate persons who, especially 
 in democratic communities, clamour for State assistance at all 
 times of personal distress or public difficulty. 
 
 Ai't.'r the triumphant return of the * popular idol ' a 
 
 ;: ^ 
 
MKMBKK lOK .SYDNEY 
 
 71 
 
 lalistic 
 
 ;o know 
 person, 
 eople of 
 uncil of 
 
 L much 
 t beinj^ 
 owever, 
 of fact, 
 ,tion as 
 ;islative 
 ii to be 
 uncil to 
 5 oaths, 
 vacant, 
 vice for 
 specific 
 it Earl 
 )lony of 
 it. 
 
 Sydney 
 iracter- 
 16 had 
 day to 
 bourne 
 ike all 
 he late 
 niber of 
 pecially 
 e at all 
 
 idol ' a 
 
 number of these men, who had called a public meeting to air 
 their grievances, were thoroughly taken aback by the reply 
 which they received from the new member for Sydney. 
 "Writing to a Mr. Cunninghame, who, it seems, was editor of 
 a journal called the Peoph-'a Advocate, and had organised 
 the meeting of unemployed operatives, ^Ir. Lowe thus 
 replied to the invitation to attend : — 
 
 Sir, — I must beg to decline to attend your meeting for the 
 following reasons : — 
 
 liecause the revenue (which is principally raised from the wages 
 of the people) ought to be expended for the good of all, and not of a 
 particular class. 
 
 Uecause it is just as improper to spend public money to keep up 
 wages as to keep up rents or profits. 
 
 Because I do not think the mechanics of Sydney ought to put 
 themselves in the position of paupers receiving charitable relief at 
 the expense of their equally distressed fellow-colonists. 
 
 Because those who anticipated an immediate profit from the 
 intended expenditure are the worst possible judges of its 
 necessity. 
 
 Because the attempt to prevent labour finding its level must, in 
 my opinion, be either useless or mischievous. 
 
 Because I will never be a party to spending public money in 
 order artificially to raise the price which employers of mechanics 
 in the interior must pay for their services, and thus to arrest the 
 progress of improvement throughout the colony. 
 
 I have stated my reasons thus at large out of respect to the 
 meeting, with whose wishes I regret it is not in my power to 
 concur, 
 
 And I remain, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Eobp:rt Lowe. 
 Sydney : December 19, 1848. 
 
 The meeting was fairly aghast. It is true that two other 
 well-known members of the Legislative Council also wrote 
 declining to attend ; but their letters were of the vague and 
 shuffling description. As soon as the assemblage could 
 recover itself, a Mr. Lynch rose in a frenzy to his feet — and 
 anyone familiar with such public meetings can hear the rich 
 
 n n 2 
 
 iil 
 
372 
 
 I-IIE OF LOUD SIIEHBROOKi: 
 
 !•: k 
 
 I 5 
 
 ¥ '■ ■' ^ 
 
 JH 
 
 roll of tliG Irish brogue in these; disjointed and indignant 
 sentences : — • 
 
 You have hcen tonned paupers ! And that l)y tlie pet of the 
 people ! For your pot. Robert Lowe, on the evenin.t,' of the election^ 
 from his own verandah in Eli/abcth Street, declared that the 
 mechanics, the woi-kinj,' men of Sydney, were the only real freemen 
 in the colony. And now, by Heaven ! 700 to 1,000 mechanics are 
 walking about Sydney idle. . . . We applied to two country 
 members, who declined to attend, but did not write such an insult- 
 ing document as our own city member, livery syllable of which 
 (hissed out by Mr. Lynch) ^'rated on the ear. [The audience 
 demanded to hear Mr. Lowe's letter again, and it was read 
 accordingly]. In the name of God ! (yelled the exasperated 
 Mr. Lynch) what does he mean '? If the money was given by the 
 Council to the mechanics, would they keep it buttoned up in their 
 pockets ? Would it not every Saturday be expended with a small 
 shopkeeper, from whom it would travel on to the middleman and 
 the merchant ? 
 
 A subsequent speaker, in a somewhat more connected and 
 relevant manner, said that though he was one of Mr. Lowe's 
 most enthusiastic admirers, he could scarcely believe his eyes 
 when he first saw this letter. Mr. Lowe had declared himself 
 the representative of the mechanics of Sydney, he had 
 applauded their public spirit, and told them that they were the 
 real people of the colony. Now he refused to support them, 
 on the ground that they were a class. 
 
 This is quite enough of the oratory of these early leaders 
 of the unemployed movement. It was inevitable that they 
 should quickly fall to loggerheads with the new member for 
 Sydney — a city which to this day so many of their kind 
 have loved so well that no offer of regular work ' up-country ' 
 can ever induce them 'o leave it. Robert Lowe had now a 
 much weightier question on his hands, for Earl Grey had set 
 about in earnest to re-introduce the evil system of transporting 
 the criminals of the old country into Australia. 
 
l> '" .> 
 
 CHAPTEll XXVI 
 
 ROr.ERT LOWE AND KARL OREY 
 
 Theproposed Constitution -Lowe and Wentwoith at ti.o Victoria Theatre- 
 Earl Greys ' Kxiles ' Tlie Convict Ship JIasltrmi,~Lom'. at Circular 
 Quay Alarms Sir Charles Fitzroy-His plea for llesponsible Government 
 
 Earl Grey was possessed by the laudable ambition of enrolling 
 his name among those whom the late Walter Bagchot terms 
 * nation-builders.' In a remarkable despatch to Sir Charles 
 Eitzroy, published in Sydney on December 25, 1847, the 
 Colonial Secretary elaborated a new political Constitution for 
 Australia. This scheme, to which he had evidently given a 
 considerable amount of thought, proved so unpalatable to the 
 colonists that even this masterful Minister was foi-ced to 
 abandon it when Sir Charles Fitzroy informed him that it 
 had met with universal condemnation. Briefly, Earl Grey 
 proposed that the district councils, those languishing and, 
 indeed, all but non-existent bodies, should form 'electoral 
 colleges ' for the purpose of returning a representative assembly, 
 while a second Upper Chamber was to be composed entirely of 
 Crown nominees. 
 
 The immediate effect of the publication of this scheme was 
 to reunite Lowe and Wentworth. In fact, all the leading 
 colonial poHticians and the whole body of tlie electors ranged 
 themselves into one solid, overwhelming 0^4 osition. A meeting 
 was promptly held to consider Earl Grey's new Constitution, 
 with the Mayor of Sydney in the chair, when resolutions 
 were passed expressing astonishment and regret that a mere 
 modification of the old close-borough system should originate 
 

 ^^M 
 
 374 
 
 LIFE OF I.OKD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 i,( 1 
 
 w ' 
 
 with the son and representative of the noble earl to whom 
 Britain was indebted for the Reform Bill, 
 
 It is unnecessary to quote the full text of these resolutions, 
 although they bear evident traces of the handiwork both of 
 Lowe and Wentworth, who were the two most prominent 
 figures at this meeting. The resolutions were indeed with- 
 drawn, and a committee appointed consisting of a number of 
 leading and representative public men of that day in New 
 South Wales, of whom Robert Lowe and W. C. Wentworth, 
 from a political point of view, were decidedly the foremost. 
 
 This committee at once organised a great public meeting, 
 which was held on January 21, 1848, in the Victoria Theatre. 
 The pit and boxes, we are told, were densely thronged, while 
 the stage was crowded with the ' most influential gentlemen 
 of the colony of every shade of political opinion.' It was on 
 this occasion that Mr. (afterwards Sir James) Martin made 
 his first notable speech in Sydney ; while among the other 
 speakers were Mr. Archibald Michie, Mr. S. A. Donaldson, 
 Mr. James Macarthur, and other leading colonists. But the 
 two great guns were, of course, the members for Sydney 
 — Wentworth and Lowe ; now standing again side by side 
 on the same platform. Next day the Sydneij Morniiifi IJcralil 
 referred to ' that brilliant orator, ]\Ir. Robert Lowe, whose 
 eloquence on such a theme is the more impressive from l)oing 
 associated with a professional knowledge of the law.' 
 
 This unstinted praise is by no means too lavish. It is not 
 possible to read even a summary of this speech without 
 recognising its power and brilliancy ; as stated with regard to 
 some previous colonial speeches, it is probable that Mr. Lowe 
 never rose to loftier flights in England. Indeed, it is evident 
 tliat in one respect he was heard in these early days of 
 the colony to greater advantage ; for in Australia he took rank 
 net only as a foremost speaker in Parliament, but as a most 
 moving orator at mass meetings. 
 
 The burden of his discourse Avas that, instead of accepthig 
 
 : 
 
 I 
 
nor.EIlT LOWE ANJ) KAIIL (iUEY 
 
 o ^ o 
 
 () 
 
 Earl Grey's pedantic constitutional experiment, it would be 
 wiser for the colonists of New South Wales to transphmt as 
 far as possible the Constitution of the mother-land. This, 
 indeed, was the burden of all the speeches, notably of Went- 
 worth's. Such an enthusiastic and united expression of public 
 feeling could not be ignored ev^n in Downing Street ; and on 
 receipt of Sir Charles Fitzroy's despatches this scheme of E;irl 
 Grey was promptly abandoned. The Colonial ^Minister, indeed, 
 met with equally hostile criticism within, as without, the walls 
 of the Legislative Council. 
 
 On May 2, 1848, Wentworth, in a speech of great argumenta- 
 tive power, l)rouglit forward in the Council a series of resolu- 
 tions against this new Constitution of Earl Grey. His chief 
 supporter was Piol)ert Lowe, who spoke enthusiasticnlly of 
 Wentworth's * clear and luminous speech, entitling him t 
 the thanks of the country and the House.' He went on to say 
 that he agreed with nearly every word uttered by his colleague ; 
 but he would enter into a friendly discussion with him on the 
 advantages of the bicameral system. 
 
 It was true they could not have a house of dukes ;ind 
 marquises like the House of Lords. Nor did he think, let it Ix 
 composed of whom it might, that it would command much re- 
 spect, but there were plenty of men fitted for it. As to a 
 chamber entirely composed of nominees, he held that it would 
 be unconstitutional for it to take part in money votes. 
 
 Wentworth, who had once again become filled with demo- 
 cratic ideas, wound up what was really a very great night's 
 debate with unflagging ability. ' Give the Governor this 
 shelter,' he declared in his denunciation of Upper Houses, ' and 
 let what will arise, he might sit quietly in some snug parlour 
 of his palace, where the gale of popular opinion or indignation 
 could nevei reach him.' 
 
 It was to this speech that the late Lord Sherbrooke made 
 special reference after he had returned to London, when ho 
 delivered his luminous address on the Australian Colonies Bill 
 
t 1, :'- 
 
 37G 
 
 JJFE OF LOIU) SIIEIJIJIJOOKE 
 
 rt 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 1m 
 
 I ■. ■' 
 
 
 III. 
 
 i.r. 
 
 V > : 
 
 'II 
 
 before the members of the Society for the Reform of Colonial 
 Government in 1851, on which occasion Sir William Moles- 
 worth presided.' 
 
 Upon the withdrawal of Earl Grey's scheme, the English 
 Ministry handed over this constitutional problem to a com- 
 mittee of the Privy Council. But the usual delays, not to be 
 wondered at in the settlement of so grave a question, ensued, 
 and it was not until after endless discussions in the British 
 Parliament that the present system of responsible government 
 in Australia was established. By this time Pobert Lowe had 
 left Australia and become once more a citizen of London, and 
 was indeed a member of the House of Commons. 
 
 Before his departure from New South Wales, Lowe was 
 called upon to take a yet more prominent part in opposition 
 to another and more dangerous innovation on the part of 
 Earl Grey. On this subject he had no longer the powerful 
 support of his colleague, but had to face instead the combined 
 forces of the Crown ofticials and those of the dominant 
 squatter party led by Wentworth himself. 
 
 This question was Earl Grey's attempt to renew criminal 
 transportation, the frustration of which may be regarded as 
 the turning-point in the history of Australia. To no part of 
 his colonial career did Lord Sherbrooke look back with greater 
 pride than to the decisive stand which he took against the 
 policy of Earl Grey on this question. And rightly so, for he 
 manfully assisted to make Australia what she is — an uncon- 
 taminated, self-respecting and self-governing English commu- 
 nity — instead of what she was intended to be, and what so 
 many of her own sons would have liked her to remain — a 
 wealth-producing, but utterly degraded penal settlement. 
 
 Li a previous chapter, the one entitled * Mr. Gladstone's pro- 
 posed Penal Colony,' some slight fore-glimpse has been given 
 of the state of public feeling in Australia about this time with 
 
 ' See vol. ii., p. 5. 
 
KOIIKIIT LOAVE AND EAKL (iKEY 
 
 oi t 
 
 regard to the transportation of British criminals. In that 
 chapter it was pointed out how strongly popular feeling was 
 excited when Sir Charles Fitzroy published Mr. Gladstone's 
 despatches. This arose from the ever-increasing number of 
 free, untainted immigrants, who had made their home in this 
 new world at the Antipodes, relying on the express declaration 
 of Lord John Russell, that from ' August 1840 transportation 
 to New South \Yales would cease for ever.' Earl Grey was 
 now the Colonial Minister, and several years had elapsed since 
 this fiat had gone forth. In the meantime, owing mainly to 
 the untiring efforts of Dr. Lang, numbers of sturdy Britons, 
 in the prime of life, full of energy, with good practical abilities, 
 and with unblemished characters, had made Australia their 
 adopted country. It was from this ever-increasing body of 
 genuine colonists that Earl Grey was to receive his most severe 
 rebuff and Australia to secure her freedom from imported 
 criminality. 
 
 It has been shown that the squatters as a class — and thc\ 
 then formed the dominant class in New South "Wales and Port 
 Phillip — were strongly in favour of the revival of transportation. 
 This is revealed in the most unmistakable manner by the 
 correspondence that passed between Dr. "William Bland, repre- 
 senting the ' Australian Patriotic Association,' and Charles 
 13uller, the deeply lamented young English statesman, whose 
 death was in no ordinary sense a loss to tlie Empire. Earl 
 (rrey, a man of the highest ability, who without doubt as 
 Colonial Minister gave more time and attention to the Colonies 
 than has any English Mhiister before or since, now made a 
 fatal blunder. He was unfortunately a man of the doctrinaire 
 type — one who was likel}' at a crisis to evolve a cut-and-dried 
 scheme without duly taking into consideration the temper of 
 the people upon whom he was prepared to experiment. I 
 have already stated that a new and ever-increasing class of 
 free immigrants had been for some years past pouring into 
 Australia, and that these men and not the faxs' hundred 
 
Ill 
 
 1'il 
 
 ^1 
 
 m 
 
 H ■ 
 
 h 
 
 1*14 
 
 l^5| 
 
 I' 
 
 
 11 
 
 ,1 
 
 \\i 
 
 
 878 
 
 LIFE OF LOlfl) SIlEHjmOOKE 
 
 squatters, with their vassals the * ticket-of-leave men,' would 
 now decide whether Australia was to hecome a free and worthy 
 En<];lish State, or to remain in .^rcat part a remote Imperial 
 penitentiary. 
 
 It was at this critical period that Earl (irey devised what 
 he douhtless considered to be a new and most innocuous system 
 of transportation. The cargoes of criminals were no longer 
 to he known as * convicts,' hut (such is the virtue in a name !) 
 as 'exiles.' It was, as Earl Grey explained in his despatch 
 of September 8, 1847, * a scheme of reformatory discipline.' 
 These ' exiles ' were to be sent to the colonics only after they 
 had undergone a term of imprisonment in Groat Britain, and 
 in all cases ' the wives and families of such exiles, togcjther 
 with a number of free emigrants, ecpial to tlie number of such 
 exiles, shall be sent out at the cost of the British Treasury.' 
 Truly a nice-sounding scheme W'ith a brand-new beautiful 
 name — but meaning in plain unofRcial language that Australia 
 was to remain the ignoble receptacle of British rascality. 
 
 Mr. Lowe at first adopted a cautious and tentative attitude 
 with regard to this question of the revival of criminal trans- 
 portation. There is an old saying, * Once bitten, twice shy.' 
 He had already found that by throwing the weight of his great 
 eloquence* and talents on the side of the squatters, he had not 
 so much helped them to assert their constitutional Yights, as 
 he had unwittingly enabled them to secure a monopoly of 
 almost all the land of South-eastern Australia. This was 
 indeed a severe lesson, and the very hardest which, as a public 
 man, he was forced to learn in the strange school of colonial 
 experience. Absolutely independent, and then, as always, 
 beyond che reach of those personal ties and considerations 
 which warp the judgment and opinions of even honest men, 
 he now found, owing to his previous alliance with the squatters, 
 that he could not utter a svllable without being taunted with 
 inconsistency, if not with mere caprice. 
 
 Bobert Lowe, under the circumstances, no doubt felt that 
 
,1 
 
 ItOBERT LOWE AM) EAT{L fJKl'A' 
 
 o i 
 
 it behoved him to be wary. He saw— no man so ckarly— that 
 the squatters, having got possession of the pubhc lands, now 
 wanted as a further boon a supply of unpaid labour to work 
 them. The eagerness of Wentworth and his henchman, Bland, 
 in supporting Mr. Gladstone's crude experiments in transporta- 
 tion, and later on the more systematic scheme of Earl Grey, 
 became daily more and more apparent. From the first, Went- 
 worth, in the Legislative Council, warmly supported * exile- 
 ism ' and proposed a series of llesolutions on the subject 
 on April 10, 1848. In the course of the del)ato Lowe merely 
 insisted that, if this new plan were put into operation, the 
 colony should at once demand military protection at the ex- 
 pense of England, and Imperial loans for public improvements. 
 It must be frankly admitted that up to this time Lowe 
 had expressed no strong indignation against criminal trans- 
 portation. On the contrary, he spoke with great caution and 
 moderation, and apparently in the tone of a man not altogether 
 averse to a somewhat perilous social experiment. Eead 
 between the lines, however, his speech on this occasion showed 
 clearly enough the direction in which his mind was trending. 
 Turning to the squatters, now, in conjunction with the Crown 
 officials, the absolute masters of this primitive semi-representa- 
 tive Parliament, Lowe warned them that their visions as to 
 what the effect of this measure might be were perhaps rose- 
 coloured. 
 
 The results look brighter in the vista of anticipation than in 
 reality. It reminds me of an elegant engraving in a recent number 
 of the Illustrated London News of a thriving town in the remote 
 parts of the colony, with houses erected, streets laid out and built 
 on, and where a beautiful harbour, crowded with vessels and crowned 
 by a magnificent lighthouse, appeared in most majestic picturesque- 
 
 ness.' 
 
 There was nothing yet, however, to show that Lowe 
 meant to separate himself still more widely from his old 
 
 ' Probably the city which Mi: llciijamin Eoyd piojectod on these lines, on 
 the shores of the still desolate Twofokl Eay. 
 
380 
 
 lAi'E OF UnU) 81li:iil51iOOKK 
 
 squatter friends and allies by directly opposing them on the 
 transportation question. In fact, when he sat as a member of 
 Wentwoi'th's special committee, he did nothing to show any 
 distinct divergence of view, save that he * heckled ' Mr. 
 Benjamin Boyd rather vigorously. But when in the year 
 1848 Earl Grey thought fit to revoke Lord John Russell's 
 policy of 1840," and to revive criminal transportation through- 
 out the whole of Australia, Robert Lowe ranged himself with 
 the popular democratic party against the squatter and official 
 aristocracy. 
 
 We shall have now to contemplate the late Lord Sherbrooke 
 in a character that may well astonish those who knew him best. 
 From the moment that Earl Grey attempted to revive criminal 
 transportation, not only to the whole of Australia, but also to 
 South Africa, in defiance of local public feeling and without 
 any of the conditions as to sending out the wives and families 
 of the ' exiles ' and an equal number of free immigrants, 
 Robert Lowe stood out in the streets and public places of 
 Sydney as the leading * agitator ' of the day. It is not 
 difficult to divine that it was the arbitrary methods of Earl 
 Grey, as much as the evils of his transv. rtation policy, which 
 so aroused the fury and the indignation of this strange 
 popular Tribune. 
 
 It is rather unfortunate that the only systematic work 
 deserving the name of a history of Australia should have been 
 written by a gentleman who was at this time engaged in 
 
 ' Great credit is due to Earl Russell, but he was merely a bird of passage. 
 It was his successor, Lord Stanley, the late Earl of Derby, who was head of the 
 Colonial Ottice from 1841 to 1845, to whom Australia owes that long respite 
 from imported convictism which enabled her free population eventually to get 
 the upper hand. This wayward statesman, but great English noble, deserves, 
 on this account alone, a statue in every capital city of the Antipodes. Had 
 Lord Derby put in force, during these years, the transportation policy after 
 wards adopted by Lord Grey, he would have met with little or none of the 
 strenuous opposition in the Colonies themselves, which proved too strong for 
 that ill-fated minister ; and it is diilicult to see how Australia could ever have 
 emerged from being an Imperial penitentiary. 
 
riOr,Ei;T t.owk and faul ghev 
 
 381 
 
 pastoral pursuits in New South Wales, and was therefore a 
 supporter of ' exileism.' But though Mr. Piusden loses no 
 chance of sneering at the anti-transportation leaders, he is 
 compelled to confess that Earl Grey acted in a most wrong- 
 headed and impolitic fashion. Be that as it may, the Colonial 
 Minister acted promptly ; he sent out his shiploads of con- 
 victs, first in the Ncpttoic to the Cape of Good Hope, where 
 the colonists refused to allow them to land, much to the delight 
 of John Mitchell who was a prisoner on board, and of course 
 loved to behold the Saxon at strife with his kind. After a 
 weary delay, the captain had to sail away and land his criminals 
 in ill-fated Van Diemen's Land, now the fair island of Tasmania, 
 from which it will be remembered Mitchell subsequently made 
 his escape by in reality, if not technically, breaking his parole. 
 By the Order in Council of September 1848, Earl Grey, in 
 defiance of Australian sentiment, had, on his own initiative, 
 once more made Australia a penal settlement. It was now 
 1849, and during the last two years public feeling had intensi- 
 fied. The most prominent anti-transportation leader up to 
 this time was Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) Cowper, who in after 
 years very fitly rose to be Prime Minister of New South Wales, 
 and later on its official representative in London. The people 
 in the then comparatively small township of IMelbourne, 
 emulating the colonists at the Cape, refused to allow the ' exiles ' 
 to land when the first convict ship sailed into the waters of 
 Port Phillip. Mr. Piusden's comment on this is simply that 
 * Melbourne, as usual, was demonstrative.' To my mind, 
 considering that Mr. Eusden for so many years filled the respon- 
 sible post of Clerk of Parliaments in Victoria, and that he was 
 one of the most prominent and most favoured residents of 
 Melbourne, this bald comment in a voluminous history is un- 
 worthy of himself as well as of the occasion. There were men 
 quite as respectable and quite as law-abiding as Mr. Piusden 
 (for one, the Chief Justice of Victoria, Sir William Foster 
 Stawell) among those * demonstrative ' early colonists, who 
 
382 
 
 Mir OF r.ORI) SHEllRllOOKK 
 
 h. , 
 
 iiiiirclied down to Ilob.son's Bay with tlic view, it' necessary, of 
 preventing by force the binding of this first batch of Earl 
 Grey's criminal hordes. 
 
 Mr. Piusden, who requires three bulky volumes to record 
 the more or less parochial affairs of Australia, dismisses the 
 historic action of the residents of jMelbourne in preventing the 
 landing of these convicts by a short contemptuous phrase. 
 This seems to me a strange way of writing Australian history, 
 and I mudi prefer the allusion to this episode made by Sir 
 Archibald Michie in a popular lecture delivered some years ago 
 at St. George's Hall, Melbourne : ' Take the convict question, 
 for instance, on which public opinion here once showed itself 
 nearly to the point of rebellion, when a large body of spirited 
 colonists, amongst whom was the present Chief Justice (for 
 which I honour him), marched down to Sandridge, resolved 
 that a newly arrived cargo of convicts, per ship Jfa^ihemi/, 
 should not land here.' ' 
 
 The convict ship Ibisheiuji, being unable to land her cargo 
 at Melbourne, sailed for Port Jackson with a view of deposit- 
 ing them in Sydney. It was then, on July 11, 1849, that 
 liobert Lowe appeared in his new role of Tribune of the People. 
 The vessel had been looked for from day to day by crowds 
 scanning the harbour from the quay-side. When, at last, the 
 convict-ship entered the far-famed Heads, and sailed up the 
 lovely expanse of blue waters, the leading merchants on the 
 wharves and the chief shopkeepers in the city closed their 
 establishments and quietl}', but resolutely, proceeded with 
 hundreds of their fellow-citizens to the open space above the 
 Circular Quay. Here the only coign of vantage was a dis- 
 used public vehicle, from the top of which the speakers, in full 
 view alike of the convict-ship and the Governor's residence, 
 addressed the assembled thousands, standing in the pelting 
 rain. To make the scene still more dramatic, there lay at 
 
 ' .1 Lecture on the Westminster Rcvieiver's Version of Victorian History. 
 13y the Hon. Aicliibalcl Michie, Q.C. (Melbourne, 18G8.) 
 
]i()i5i:ijr i.owi.] AM) i;ai;l (miey 
 
 '-> o o 
 
 anclior, almost aloi.osi.le tHo Ihsh-mj, witli lier felons, a mimbi.i- 
 of emi^n-ant ships full of frc-e iintaiiitea Ei.olisli men an.l women 
 eager to become Australian colonists and settlers. 
 
 The crotNcl awaited patiently their accepted leader the 
 popular member for S.ydiu^y, but Mr. Lowe came not' At 
 . lon-th Mr. llobert Campbell, a much respected merchant was 
 called on to preside. A loyal but strong protest was then read 
 by Mr. Lamb against the re-introduction of British criminals 
 when suddenly llobert Lowe made his appeara,nce amidst entliu- 
 siastic applause, and proceeded to second the adoption of this 
 protest ' of the people of the colony of New South Wales a-ainst 
 the outrage which had been so insultingly and olfen"siveIy 
 perpet/ated upon them.' 
 
 The new Tribune was in excellent form ; and, after readin- 
 some of his fuie denunciations we may well be]ie^•e the story 
 related by Mr. liusden of the old woman in the crowd who, 
 unable to restrain her enthusiasm, exclaimed, « Ah ! bless his 
 dear old white head ! ' 
 
 The threat of de-radution has been fulfilled. The stately pre- 
 sence of our city, the beautiful waters of our harbour, are this day 
 again polluted with the presence of that rioating hell-a conyic-'t 
 s up. Ln the port lies a ship freighted, not with the comforts of 
 iite not with the luxuries of civihsed nations, not with the com- 
 modi les of commerce in exchange for our produce, but with the 
 moral degradation of a community-the picked and selected 
 criminals ot Great Britain-educated in her crowded streets, amon-^ 
 her starying masses. Ne^v South Wales must be the uniyersity a] 
 which these scholars in vice and iniquity must finish their course of 
 instruction. New South Wales must alone supply the college where 
 these doctors in crime can take their last degrees. 
 
 Lowe then reviewed, in a series of short, pungent sentences 
 the action of Cowper and himself in the Legislative Council 
 in opposition to Wentworth, who, it will be borne in mind, 
 was his colleague in the representation of the city of 
 Sydney. But even when, full of indignation against the high- 
 handed methods of Earl Grey in forcing British criminals 
 
^sssf^^smmmm 
 
 M 
 
 H i 
 
 'i" i 
 
 
 if 
 
 
 iff 
 
 1 
 11 
 
 Pt 
 
 
 f M'l' 
 
 
 It 
 
 f 
 
 |j|i 
 
 
 M- 
 
 : 
 
 111 
 
 isr 
 
 u 
 
 f( 
 
 1: 
 
 <A, 
 
 8-S4 
 
 I. hi; oi' \Ani\) sukiiiji.mhjki: 
 
 on tlui colony, Lowe was not aMci to s[)('iik for lon<j; witli- 
 ont n.'vertin}; to tlio question of the piiltlic lands. lie viewrd, 
 he said, this atti^nipt to intlict a dej^radinj; slavery on tiie 
 colony only as a secfuence to the reccnit confiscation of th(5 
 puhlic lands hy the sciuattei's. * That class had felt their 
 power — they were not content to get th(> lands alone ; without 
 lahour they were worthless — and, therefore, they must (nu-ich 
 themselves with slaveys.' 
 
 This WHS not a question of the injury which the *2i">0 felons on 
 hoard tlu^ ILts/wiiii/ would do the colony. It was a (|Uostion 
 whotlior the inliabitants of this colony should bo subjected to tlio 
 contamination of trebly convicted felons, and whether they shoidd 
 submit to a measure to enhance the value of their confiscated lands. 
 It was not the mere fear of competition amongst operatives which 
 now unite >l them on this question ; it was not a mere breeches-pocket 
 ([ucstion with the labouring classes, though it might be with the 
 employers. It was a struggle for liberty — a struggle against a 
 system which had in every country where it prevailed been destruc- 
 tive of freedom. 
 
 Lowe closed with a most eloquent warning in reference to 
 the loss of the American colonies ; and the protest which he 
 had seconded was put to the vast meeting and passed with 
 acclamation. 
 
 Then uprose a young artisan who has for many years heen 
 the most celebrated public figure in Australia, hut who on this 
 occasion, as he declared, was the mouthpiece of the * largest 
 class in the colony — the working class.' It was in this vein, 
 as a working class representative, that Mr. Henry Parkcs 
 spoke throughout with marked force and ability. Save as a 
 working man, he said, it would have heen unwise and pre- 
 sumptuous in him to detain the meeting longer ; hut this was 
 pre-eminently a workman's question. 
 
 Did the 1,400 emigrants now afloat on the waters of Port Jackson 
 believe when they left Great Britain that they would find a convict- 
 ship in the midst of the vessels that brought them hither '? Would 
 they, had they dreamt of such a thing, have sacrificed all home ties 
 and volunteered to degrade themselves ? The only course consistent 
 
HOIJKJiT r.OWE AM) KAFM. (illKY 
 
 38: 
 
 with justice to the colonists at large was that the coiivict-shii, an.l 
 cargo should he sent haek. ' 
 
 After Ur. Parkcs had finislicd, M,-. (,k,w Sir Arcliihuld) 
 IMichic moved that — 
 
 A deputation he appointed to wait inniiediately upon the Governor 
 .with a protest, to rerpu'st hi.n to forward it to the (^ueen, and that 
 the deputation consist of the followin"- "•entlenien •— 
 
 The ('hairnmn (Mr Canipl,ell), Uv. Kohert Lowe, Mr. Lamh, 
 Mr N.choUs, Mr. M.ch.e, Dr. Aaron, Mr. l>arkes, Mr. I{ l>,.<,k 
 Mr. Ileydon, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Ilawkesh-v, Mr. K. Cnrtayne Mr' 
 Knight Mr. K.M'Kncroe, Mr. Pemhroke,' Mr. Strong, Mr. llam' 
 Mr Mulhns, Mr. .J. Ii. Wilshire. Mr. Simmons, Mr. Je.mings, Mr'. 
 C. Kemp, and Mr. (lilbert Wright. 
 
 This somewhat formidal)le host at once proceeded to 
 Government House, but Sir Charles Fitzroy, who appears to 
 have discovered that worry and anxiety mi-ht heset a man 
 even in that ' delicious climate,' would seem to liave lost all 
 his usual sa,ni froid. In fact, what between Earl Grey, the 
 convict-ship in the harbour within si^ht of his windows,'and 
 the deputation clamouring at his gates. Sir Cliarles, for an old 
 soldier, had quite lost his head. He sent out to say that only 
 six gentlemen could be admitted to his presence, ai'id the gatJs 
 were then promptly closed against the others. Lowe was of 
 course one of the six. The private secretary, doubtless in 
 the inimitable manner of his class, then proceeded to inform 
 the favoured half-dozen that it would be necessary to forward 
 a copy of the protest in writing to Sir Charles, who would ap- 
 point a time to receive the deputation and return an answer. 
 
 In due course tliis was done, and a request was at the 
 same time forwarded to his Excellency asking him to appoint 
 a time when he could meet them. And so, for the time being, 
 the proceedings at the Circular Quay ended. ' The meeting^' 
 (says the Sydncij Mornhui Herald) ' dispersed without any noi?se 
 or tumult, and the conduct of the people throughout was grave, 
 decorous, and becoming.' 
 
 VOL. I. CC 
 
«■■ 
 
 ^■■i 
 
 38G 
 
 I-IIK OF LORD SIIEIMU.'OOKE 
 
 I:;: 
 
 On the following Monday, .Inne 18tli, a public meetin}:^, 
 called by the * Deputation Comniitttie,' was held on the samo 
 spot. 
 
 Lowe, who was received with enthusiastic cheering, begged 
 to read the resolution which was put into his hands — 
 
 That, considering the discourtesy shown by His Excellency the 
 Governor to the former meeting and to its deputation, this meeting 
 abstains from appointing a deputation to wait upon His I'jxcellency 
 with the preceding resolutions and address, but requests the Chair- 
 man to transmit them to him, with a written request that His Ex- 
 cellency will be pleased to forward thorn to Her Majesty the Queen 
 for her gracious consideration. 
 
 He began by saying that he was rather at a loss to know 
 why he had been pitched upon to move this resolution, un- 
 less it was that they had selected him ' to bell the cat ' — 
 and if such was the case, * bell the cat he would.' This was, 
 of course, taken as a preliminary attack on Sir Charles Fitzroy, 
 and was lustily cheered accordingly ; but Lowe said that he 
 was not inclined to deal harshly with the Governor, as he 
 believed that that gentleman entertahied a kind of languid 
 sympathy with the colonists, and would even help them so long 
 as by so doing he did not risk his reputation with his masters 
 in Downing Street, or imperil his own situation. But Sir 
 Charles Fitzroy had rescued Port Phillip from the infamy of 
 receiving the criminal cargo, which he now wished to inflict on 
 Port Jackson. Both harbours were in the same colony, and 
 the Governor's conduct was, therefore, a direct insult to the 
 people of Sydney. Lowe then proceeded to give a very 
 graphic account of the precautions taken by Sir Charles 
 Fitzroy to guard against the presumed violence of the pre- 
 vious meeting. 
 
 The gates of His Excellency's palace were closed, a double 
 military guard with bayonets fixed, as if expecting an attack, was 
 stationed there, the cavalry of the colony 4he mounted police were 
 quartered in the stables, and the kitchen of the house, filled witli 
 soldiers, was garrisoned as kitchen never was garrisoned before. All 
 
UOIJEIIT LOWi: AND KMlL OlIKV 
 
 387 
 
 meeting, 
 he saniu 
 
 Uency the 
 s meetinj^ 
 Excellency 
 the Chair- 
 it His Kx- 
 the Queen 
 
 to know 
 tion, un- 
 le cat ' — 
 This was, 
 s Fitzroy, 
 d that he 
 or, as he 
 
 languid 
 im solonj; 
 
 masters 
 
 But Sir 
 infamy of 
 
 inflict on 
 
 ony, and 
 lit to the 
 
 e a very 
 Charles 
 
 the pre- 
 
 a double 
 ttack, was 
 lice were 
 filled with 
 efore. All 
 
 these precautionary measures against any attack on the person of 
 the Governor took place for what '?— because the people had met 
 peaceably, calmly, but determinedly, to protest against the grossest 
 outrage that had ever been perpetrated on any community. 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 What did the friends of Sir Charles Fitzroy say for him in excuse 
 on this occasion ? That he was afraid ! He a ' soldier and afeard ! ' 
 ' He, an old Waterloo hero, and afraid of a few people, shivering and 
 hungry, and who would have been most glad to have got rid of the 
 duty entrusted to them as quickly as possible ! He knew well tliat • 
 the object of the people in meeting on the former day was to dis- 
 cuss this convict (juestlon, not to attack his palace ; and, although 
 the Governor might have been frightened, there was no intention 
 to frighten him. 
 
 At least (added Mr. Lowe with great gravity), 1 did not intend 
 to frighten him, and, if I have done so, I beg his pardon, and hope 
 never to do so again. 
 
 But what had the Government to be frightened at ? Did they 
 take the deputation to be robbers and murderers ? If Sir Charles 
 Fitzroy wanted to look for such characters, l)etter for him to go and 
 seek them on board tiie convict-ship in the harbour. Great dis- 
 respect had been shown to the people, in that, out of a deputation of 
 twenty-three gentlemen sent to Government House by the meeting 
 held last Monday, only six were admitted. What was the reason of 
 this ? Was the Governor afraid of his silver spoons, or did he think 
 the deputation would proceed to a general sack of the house, and 
 drink all the claret in his cellars ? Or was it thought suflicient that 
 six pair of dirty shoes should be allowed to intrude upon the vice- 
 regal carpet ? Surely in this matter the people had met with great 
 insult. Then, again, the deputation had reason to complain of the 
 manner of their reception when they were admitted to the viceregal 
 presence. It was very natural that they should, beyond merely 
 formally presenting the protest and resolutions to His Excellency, 
 desire to have a little conversation with him. They endeavoured to 
 do so, but they did not succeed. 
 
 For my own part, I can say that I behaved nmch more civilly 
 than usual. I was unusually polite, and yet the deputation, in- 
 stead of being allowed to address anything to His Excellency, were 
 quietly and coolly bow-ed out of the room. The fact is that the 
 Gover , of a colony is necessarily surrounded by parasites and 
 sycophants, who are always anxious to keep him from any pre- 
 sence save their own. There was also a certain class of paid officials, 
 Avlio, though their principles might be of a higher and better cha- 
 racter, still were anxious to advise His Excellency to measures which 
 
 c c 2 
 
mmmmmmmm 
 
 88S 
 
 I.FI'K OF F/)]{1) SlfKinillOOKK 
 
 K i 
 
 » ,r i^ 
 
 ft ' 
 
 '■' ^ 
 
 ■would enable tlioin to retain thoivown salaries. To these two classes 
 only was the Governor j^enerally accessible, and it was not, therefore, 
 surprisinji; that he should not be very well pleased to meet a deputa- 
 tion from the people. 
 
 Having disposed of the Governor, Rohort Lowe took a 
 higher llight, and proceeded to defend a resolution asking Her 
 Majesty to dismiss P]arl Grey from her Council. 
 
 He said that though this coarse might appear foolish and 
 quixotic to many persons, it wonld have an appreciable effect 
 on the English Government, and on English public opinion. 
 It would be a most effective way of showing that New South 
 Wales resented this policy of criminal transportation. He 
 then proposed a resolution in favour of the establishment of 
 responsible government. Lowe's principal argument was 
 given in this form : — 
 
 There were forty-five dependencies of the Jiritisli Crown ; of these, 
 some few had responsible i>:overnment ; these few were limited to 
 Canada, New Drunswick, and Nova Scotia. Was this invitation to 
 receive the convicts of Great Jiritain sent to those colonies '? Dare 
 the Government have sent it ? No ! But here, mocked as the colony 
 was with a wretched monii:rel imitation of representative lef3;islatin-e 
 — in the Cape of Good Hope, without any representative li'i>islaturo 
 at all in South Australia, in Van Dienien's Land, and in New Zea- 
 land, with their wretched Nominee Council, the people were solicited 
 to recei\e the convicts of Great Britain. 
 
 What stronger illustration could be advanced in favour of the 
 necessity of responsible government ? How many hours, how many 
 minutes would this (luesiion have been discussed h.id responsible 
 gov( rnuient prevailed".' Vlie very entertainment of such a question 
 by any Government would have been sutlicient for its decisive 
 destruction. 
 
 He then declared that the existing government of New 
 South Wales was a small second-hand burcsancracy. He 
 went very far indeed in denouncing the lavish expenditure 
 entailed on the colonies by the Imperial authorities, and even 
 urged the policy which Lord Granville carried out many years 
 afterwards, of the removal of British troops, which he declared 
 were useless in Australia. 
 
sc twoclassofi 
 lot, therefore, 
 loet a (loputa- 
 
 owe took a 
 1 asking Her 
 
 foolish and 
 ciable effect 
 )lic opinion. 
 
 New South 
 tation. He 
 (lishment of 
 ^ument was 
 
 wn ; of these, 
 re limited to 
 invitation to 
 >nies '? Dare 
 as the colony 
 vc legislature 
 ve lef^islaturo 
 in New Zea- 
 ivero solicited 
 
 favour of the 
 rs, how many 
 1 responsible 
 ch a question 
 its decisive 
 
 ent of New 
 cracy. He 
 expenditure 
 is, and even 
 many years 
 I lie declared 
 
 KOMKIIT LOWK AM) KAI5L (IIIKV 
 
 381) 
 
 He said, und witli trutli, that it was far too nnicli thehahit 
 of the mo.n in olHce in England to regard the Colonies as in- 
 tended, not for the henelit of the hulk of the Englisli people, 
 and as the great means for the expansion of our race, language, 
 laws, and religion ; hut merely as places where tlu'ir sons and 
 relatives could be provided for with light Ixnths at heavy 
 salaries. There is no one who has studied the history and 
 development of colonies, from the late Sir George Cornewall 
 Lewis down to the humblest scribe in a i-emote bush news- 
 paper, who has not found out that this is one of the chief 
 reasons why Crown dependencies have, as a ruh;, been utter 
 failures compared with those colonial communities which have 
 acquired the right of managing their own alfairs. 
 
 Lowe illustrated the broad distinction between a love 
 for, and loyalty to, the traditions and inheritances of the 
 English race and a mere submission to Downing Street 
 olticialism, by the Ibllowing apt allusion to the battle of 
 Waterloo : — 
 
 To-day is the iHth of June; thirty-four years ago n victory, the 
 greatest, the most decisive, the most important, the most noble that 
 had evergrai, ^ the aimals of a civilised nation was achieved by the 
 valour, the unconquerable ene t-gy, of IJritish soldiers. Many amongst 
 those wlio stood around him might be the descendants of the heroes 
 that fought that day. Those heroes did not brave death on that occa- 
 si(m, they did not obtain that great and glorious victory, to provide 
 for the sons and nephews of olKcials only. It was not for that that 
 they fought and bled it was for the rights of their country and 
 their kind ; and base would the men of Austialia be if they sat down 
 contented with one shadow l-^ss of the rights which th(>:,e soldiers, 
 their ancestors, earned for u:iem with the sword, and which they had 
 bequeathed to them. 
 
 ' The meeting dispersed <iuietly, and it is our duty,' writes the 
 Herald, ' to say from our own experience of such assemblies in 
 the home country, a more respectable, (in every sense) a more 
 calm, peaceable, and well-conducted ])olitical meeting could not 
 take place in any portion of the British dominions.' 
 
 These two monster open-air meetings, in which it will be 
 
■peip 
 
 mtm 
 
 ^mr^ 
 
 T 
 
 390 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIEIlBlfOOKF 
 
 seen that the late Lord Sherbrooke was altogether the prmcii)al 
 figure, did much towards the settlement of the question of the 
 transportation of criminals into Australia. None of the 
 convicts on board the Ilashcmij, says Mr. Rusden, were allowed 
 to be employed in the metropolitan county of Cumberland ; 
 they were removed ' up country ' at the expense of their 
 employers, or sent on by sea to Moreton Bay. The convict 
 ships that subsequently arrived at Port Jackson were compelled 
 to carry^their cargoes also to this northern settlement, now 
 the flourishing colony of Queensland. 
 
 It was some years before transportation ceased throughout 
 Australia. But by the refusal of the district of Port Phillip to 
 receive the prisoners on board the ITaalioii!/ and the public 
 protests headed by the late Lord Sherbrooke when that vessel 
 appeared in Sydney Harbour, the transportation policy with 
 which Earl Grey had so unfortunately linked his name received 
 its death-blow. The subsequent resijtai v. o this evil and ill- 
 considered policy, which flourished for some time longer so 
 rankly in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and in Western 
 Australia, led^to the banding together of the various colonies 
 in an anti-transportation league. This was the actual begin- 
 ning of that policy of colonial co-operation, based on the feel- 
 ing of colonial interdependence, which must eventually lead to 
 Australian Confederation. 
 
7 
 
 391 
 
 e prmcii)al 
 tion of the 
 ne of the 
 }re allowed 
 mberland ; 
 3 of their 
 'he convict 
 ! compelled 
 ment, now 
 
 hroughout 
 i rhillip to 
 the public 
 that vessel 
 )olicy with 
 le received 
 vil and ill- 
 longer so 
 1 Western 
 [s colonics 
 iial begin- 
 n the feel- 
 lUy lead to 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE CLOSING YEAR IN AUSTRALIA 
 
 Lowe's Attack on the Sydney Corporation- Proposed University foi' Sydney- 
 Challenged by Dr. Inland— Lowe's Offence to the ' Emancipist ' Class- Sails 
 for I'ingland" A Footnote on Stanley, Gladstone, and Grey 
 
 Eor.EiiT Lowe's colonial career was now drawing to a close. 
 He retained his scat in the Legislative Council as member for 
 Sydney until the last ; and he also continued to take an active 
 part in public affairs almost up to the very hour of his 
 departure. There were, indeed, two public (luestions in which 
 he took a most promintmt part during his closing year in 
 Australia. One was the motion to abolish the Sydney Corpora- 
 tion ; the other was the Bill to ejtablish the Sydney University. 
 
 On September 9, 1849, Lowe proposed the adoption of the 
 report of a select committee recommending that the Sydney 
 corporation should be abolished. His speech on this occasion 
 might well startle a generation dry-nursed on county councils, 
 liut the select committee of which he had been chairman had 
 indeed drawn up a report in favour of the abolition of the 
 corporation — mayoral robes, aldermanic dinners, and all — and 
 it was in support of this dreadful thing that Lowe delivered 
 not the least remarkable of his colonial speeches. 
 
 Certainly his arguments for the abolition of municipal insti- 
 tutions generally, and the municipality of Sydney in particular, 
 will sound strange in the ears of most men whether • Progres- 
 sives' or 'Moderates,' Liberals or Conservatives. But Pobert 
 Lowe had the rare merit (if it be not rather a defect in a poli- 
 tician) of never being commonplace ; and consequently, whether 
 
802 
 
 LIFE OF r.ORl) SIIEIIBIIOOKE 
 
 -'I 
 
 one agree with him or not, it is generally refreshing to follow 
 the line of his arguments on any subject, enforced as they 
 always were by a clear, pointed, and vigorous phraseology. 
 
 If we look to the origin of municipal institutions, he 
 declared, we find that they were commenced in barbarous 
 times in order to do in a bungling way that business which 
 the Government could not do itself. They were the offspring 
 of the Feudal system, and it was absurd to say that because they 
 were then useful in protecting the many against the few, the 
 weak against the strong, that such elective boards are specially 
 fitted to look after the cleansing and lighting of modern 
 cities. 
 
 It was mere cant to affirm, parrot-like, that the elective 
 principle should always be upheld. No less an authority than 
 Edmund Burke had asserted that popular election was in 
 itself a great evil only to be endured because it sometimes 
 obviated a greater. There was no inherent virtue in popular 
 election ; like all human contrivances it could only be tested 
 by results. 
 
 If in any case the good did not exceed the evil, let them 
 discard the elective principle altogether. 
 
 There bad been elective monarchies, but I liave yet to learn that 
 I am giiilty of anything unconstitutional when I say that I prefer 
 hereditary monarchies. There have been elective judqcs, but I have 
 yet to learn that I am guilty of anything unconstitutional in saying 
 that I had rather see the judges of the land appointed. There were 
 elective magistracies, and 1 know not why I sliould be deemed un- 
 constitutional because I wisli the magistrates to be appointed rather 
 than elected. And by the same reasonin,^', it was not unconstitu- 
 tional to seek to divest tlie Municipal Corporation of Sydney, and 
 all other municipal corporations, of the elective principle. The 
 question, therefore, narrowed itself to this, not whether the course 
 proposed is constitutional, but whether the elective principle, as 
 apphed to corporations, is attended with beneficial results. 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 In this age belief in numicipal institutions will be exploded. 
 Reverenced by antiquarians, they are condemned by economists ; 
 they have ceased to be bulwarks against oppression and sanctuaries 
 
; to follow 
 (1 as they 
 eology. 
 itions, he 
 barbarous 
 3SS which 
 offspring 
 iause they 
 ! few, the 
 ! si^ecially 
 :' modern 
 
 3 elective 
 »rity than 
 1 was in 
 )metimes 
 I popular 
 be tested 
 
 let them 
 
 earn that 
 I prefer 
 ut 1 have 
 in saying 
 liere wore 
 iined un- 
 B(l rather 
 eonstitu- 
 ney, and 
 e/ The 
 e course 
 iciple, as 
 
 xploded. 
 loniists ; 
 ictuarics 
 
 TJIE CLOSIXG YEAR IX AUSTllALIA 
 
 of freedom ; and they have proved themselves to he totally 
 adapted lor admmistrative fiinnt,inii=: "^ 
 
 ^9? 
 
 o'Jo 
 
 un- 
 
 This was the general line of argument which Lowe adopted ; 
 but when he went on to support tlic petition of -2,000 of the 
 citizens of Sydney for the abolition of their corporation, he 
 ■ adduced some very startling local facts. He declared that'the 
 expense of working the corporation had been about 90 pci- 
 cent, on the gross expenditure ; and that instead of improving 
 the city council was growing worse daily, ' until it had at la.st 
 reached the lowest point of municipal pessimism.' Why should 
 such an unsatisfactory and corrupt body be perpetuated :> In 
 this connection he even denounced what he called the ' pot- 
 house argument,' that there should be no taxation without 
 representation. In the face of its misdeeds tlie city council 
 had approached the House to ask for greater powers and 
 extended funds ; but the House would not fulfil its duty if it 
 lent any ear to such a request. Year after year, as mayoraltx- 
 succeeded mayoralty, no one had taken the trouble to loolv 
 into the city expenditure and r. eipts ; the collectors had never 
 been called on to give an account of their stewardship, until, 
 almost by accident, defalcations to an unknown extent were 
 discovered. 
 
 Becoming epigrammatic, as was his wont, Lowe alleged 
 that municipal bodies ' combine the maximum of dilutorin'ess 
 M-ith the maximum of rashness.' He then dragged to 
 light some of the evidence given before the select committee, 
 which would seem to point to the fact that Sydney could Iwast 
 a kind of infantile but thriving Tammany Eing "in the year 
 1849. According to this evidence, the tenants of councillors' 
 houses were invariably employed on the city works ; and the 
 'houses of a councillor were always tenanted when the 
 said councillor was on the Improvement Committee, and 
 mostly untenanted when he was not.' The great thorough- 
 fares of Sydney had been neglected, while roads on the very 
 
394 
 
 LirE OF LOIM) SlIKRlUJOOKi: 
 
 outskirts had been put in complete repair —roads in which 
 there were no houses or traffic, but which skirted the private 
 property of some enterprising city father. 
 
 Mr. Lowe vent on to say tliat what he as a taxpayer 
 wanted was to see the streets cleansed, drained, hghted, and 
 paved in the most efficient and most economic way. In heu of 
 the idle frippery of mayors, aldermen, and councillors, he would 
 appoint — not elect— a body of paid commissioners. These 
 commissioners would have a plain, businesslike duty before 
 them, which they could perform without any long speeches 
 before or after dinner. He therefore moved — ' That the Acts 
 incorporating the city of Sydney ought to be repealed.' 
 
 A lively debate ensued, in which Wentworth and the 
 Colonial Secretary bore the chief part against him and his 
 select committee. Lowe replied at considerable length and 
 with remarkable vigour. It had been urged by Wentworth 
 that the great achievement of the Whig Government was the 
 passing of the Municipal Reform Acts. This, Lowe admitted, 
 was an achievement ; not so much for what it did, as for what 
 it undid. It served to sweep away the old rotten corporations ; 
 but since the passing of these Acts, into such great contempt 
 had these institutions fallen, that it was with difficulty people 
 could be found to accept office in them. 
 
 The motion on being put to the vote was lost ; but, strange 
 as it may seem, public feeling in Sydney was undoubtedly in 
 favour of the proposal to abolish its own city council. Com- 
 menting on the debate and the division, the Sydney Morniny 
 Herald observed : * Many of them would have preferred that 
 the resolutions had been carried in their original integrity ; 
 but all must be pleased that the charge preferred by Mr. Lowe's 
 committee has been declared proven, and that to this long- 
 neglected and deep?y- injured city something like justice is at 
 length to be done.' 
 
 Three nights afterwards, Lowe rose to withdraw certain 
 resolutions of which he had given notice in favour of the 
 
THE CLOSING YEAR IX AUSTRALIA 
 
 noo 
 
 in which 
 le private 
 
 taxpaj-er 
 
 hted, and 
 
 In heu of 
 
 he would 
 
 3. These 
 
 t}' before 
 
 speeches 
 
 the Acts 
 
 i: 
 
 and the 
 and his 
 ngth and 
 entworth 
 t was the 
 admitted, 
 for what 
 orations ; 
 contempt 
 ty people 
 
 t, strange 
 btedly in 
 1. Com- 
 Morning 
 •red that 
 ntegrity ; 
 r. Lowe's 
 liis long- 
 itice is at 
 
 V certain 
 r of the 
 
 immediate establishment of responsible government. His 
 reason fordoing so, he said, was that Mr. Hawes, the Under- 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies, had given a pledge in the 
 House of Commons for the alteration of the Constitution of 
 the Australian Colonies. His second reason for requesting to 
 withdraw his motion was that his political friends and sup- 
 porters considered the time inopportune owing to the disturb- 
 ances in Canada. He himself had found nothing in what he 
 read of the proceeedings in Canada to justify any opposition 
 to the granting of self-government to Australia ; but these 
 circumstances weighed more heavily on the minds of his 
 friends, and so he consented most reluctantly and most un- 
 willingly to withdraw his resolutions. 
 
 The question, however, on which Lowe took the most 
 prominent part during this closing year was Weiitworth's Bill 
 for the foundation and endowment of a University in Sydney. 
 Lowe was, indeed, at first, Wentworth's warmest supporter 
 in this matter, and was nominated as one of the original 
 members of the Senate.' 
 
 This plan of Wentworth's in nominating the members of 
 the Senate off-hand was resented : first by Mr. James Martin, 
 who was not included in the list, and subsequently by 
 Mr. Lowe, who was. Furthermore, Lowe objected to the 
 manner in which Wentworth had attempted to rush the mea- 
 sure through the House, and to the presence on the proposed 
 Senate of Wentworth's friend Bland, who, though a man of 
 some education and of good standing in Sydney, had had 
 the i: isfortune to have been transported in the earlier days to 
 the colony for his share in a duelling transaction in India. 
 
 • The names of the Senate as proposed by Wentworth were as follows :— 
 Sir Alfred Stephen, Chief Justice ; Edward Deas Thomson, Colonial Secretary ; 
 J. H. riunkett, Attorney-General; Charles Nicholson, Speaker; W. C. Went- 
 worth and Itobert Lowe, Members for Sydney; James Macarthur ; S. A. 
 Donaldson ; Edward Hamilton ; William Macleay ; Hastings Elwir ; William 
 iJland; Francis Merewether ; E. Broadhurst; A Denison ; Matthew Hcnrv 
 Marsh. "^ 
 
■r 
 
 396 
 
 LIFE OF LOUD SIIEllIJIIOOKE 
 
 :!t I 
 
 At the same time Wentworth had proposed to exckide the 
 clergy altogether from the governing body of the University. 
 This anomalous state of things caused Robert Lowe to make 
 a characteristically pointed remark which led to some un- 
 pleasantness at the time. * It would take much discussion,' he 
 said, * to convince that House that it was a good principle to 
 exclude the clergy as a body, and to admit convicts into the 
 government of such an institution.' 
 
 Bland was no longer a member of the Council, but at once 
 applied to be enabled to present a petition in defence of his 
 social fitness to take his place on the University Senate. But 
 though in no sense of the word an ordinary criminal, for it was 
 admitted that he had committed no offence that a man of the 
 highest rank at that time would have blushed to own, still, he 
 was an ' emancipist ' ; and, under the circumstances, it was 
 eminently injudicious on the part of Wentworth to place him 
 in what was in reality a false position. The Legislative 
 Council ruled that the petition of Bland was inadmissible ; and 
 he then issued a challenge to his assailant couched in the most 
 violent terms. Such matters as these should be lightly passed 
 over, as things done in the heat of the moment ; certainly no 
 friend of Bland (who it will be remembered had attended Lowe 
 during the period when he was threatened with blindness, and 
 who knew well that he was almost as disqualified for duelling 
 as a man born blind) would repeat the charges he thought fit 
 in his anger to make against the personal courage of one 
 who, throughout life, was absolutely deficient in the sense of 
 fear. Mr. Archibald Michie obtained a rule ?iisi on behalf 
 of Mr. Bobcrt Lowe calling on William Bland to show cause 
 why a criminal information should not be filed against him 
 for attempting to provoke a breach of the peace. 
 
 It is noteworthy that the Chief Justice, Sir Alfred Stephen, 
 and his two colleagues, in their very impartial judgments, 
 deliberately declared that Bland had no just cause of offence 
 whatever. 
 
THE CT.OSIXn YEAR IX AUSTRALIA 
 
 397 
 
 The debate (said Sir Alfred Stephen) turned upon a principle of 
 vital importance to this colony, and to the proposed University, vi/. 
 whether persons who had been transported to this colony were 
 eligible to be on the Senate. That question was fairly debated, it 
 Avas argued, by Mr. Lowe as a question of principle, and no particular 
 reference was made to Mr. Bland, nor was his name mentioned. 
 
 Sir Alfred added that — 
 
 From the bench he could only recognise Mr. Bland, for the 
 purpose of the debate, as one of those who came to the colony as a 
 convict. Ott' the bench, he had the highest esteem for him, for his 
 very good qualities ; he knew that his case was a peculiar one, and 
 had been distinguished from others by sooiety here. 
 
 This affair passed over harmlessly. But the * emancipist ' 
 class was then numerous and influential enough to make its 
 resentment felt. This was a consideration, however, that would 
 never have made Lowe hesitate to expi-ess his views with the 
 greatest force and freedom. His attitude in regard to th.s 
 question of the Senate was regarded not only as a personal 
 attack on an individual, but as a clear denunciation of an 
 entire class, and from the point of view of his own ease and 
 comfort it was most injudicious. The profound hostility of 
 many old colonial settlers to Lowe may be attributed to the 
 stand which he took in trying to exclude the ' emancipists ' 
 from the University Senate. 
 
 The constitution of the original Senate, however, was not 
 the only point on which Lowe widely differed from Wentworth. 
 In Wentworth' s scheme of a University it was provided that 
 when the number of graduates amounted to fifty, they should 
 elect tiicir vwix Senate. According to Lowe's forecast this 
 meant that at the end of six years the management and 
 government of the University would be in the hands of these 
 local graduates ; and as certain of these would hail from the 
 other colonies,* it meant that the University would be placed 
 * in the hands of some twenty or thirty Sydney youths who had 
 
 ' The totally different social conditions of Australia in 1892 to some extent 
 nullifies this criticism ; but the provincial spirit is still strong. 
 
308 
 
 \AVK OF LOKD SIIEUIlKOOKI-: 
 
 m 
 
 never been out of the colony, and knew notliiiii^ of University 
 matters whatever.' 
 
 This fact should be noted, he said, by the scholars from the 
 home Universities who might be invited to Sydney to fill pro- 
 fe8Sorshii)s. It was in discussing this part of Wentworth's 
 University scheme that Robert Lowe, as far as I have been able 
 to glean, showed for the first time his deep dislike to that 
 narrow provincial spirit which, it must be confessed, is so sadly 
 prevalent in all colonial communities. His words, spoken 
 almost five and forty years ago, are true to this day, and 
 could be pondered with advantage not only in the city in 
 which they were delivered, but in every city and township of 
 Australasia. 
 
 When that collegiate i\Iillennium should have arrived, in whicli 
 age should give way to youth, experience to inexperience, in which, 
 in all probabihty, the narrowest local and provincial sentiment should 
 take the place of a broad, general, aiKl catholic spirit, then perhaps 
 might flourish the principles so much in fashion among the native 
 youth with their favourite maxim, ' Australia for the Australians ! ' 
 Then might the new senate, with its handful of local youthful 
 graduates, appropriate the ample salaries provided for the professors 
 to appointments of their own making of men chosen from amongst 
 themselves. Those who knew anything at all of University manners 
 — those who had mingled in a world wider than this scattered com- 
 munity — would be the first to admit the danger and to dread all such 
 inducements to the fostering, especially in a seat of learning, of a 
 nari'ow and provincial standard of excellence. 
 
 Without any allusion, open or covert, to Bland's case, 
 Lowe, in this really excellent speech, in which he scattered 
 so much good counsel as to the lines on which the first uni- 
 versity in Australia should have been laid down, thus referred 
 to his own Oxford experiences ; in doing so, he boldly grasped 
 that dangerous and unpleasant * emancipist ' question, which 
 most of the members found it so much more convenient to 
 ignore. 
 
 I was for eleven years at the University of Oxford, I have taught 
 in that University, and can say that out of the hundreds of high- 
 
THK CI.()SIN({ VKAIJ IX ArSTlJAIJA 
 
 30<| 
 
 minded yonn<r men with whom I became associated as their tutor 
 there was barely one who would have consented, for the largest sum 
 ol money, to sit as a professor under a direction in which any person 
 who had been transported for crime could form a member. If the 
 Council wished to ruin theii- infant University, let them ignore this 
 warnmg ; then must they fall back on the native talent before alluded 
 to. They might connnand a kind of talent from England, but a 
 •talent without honour and without character ; an importation that 
 would do but little for the fame and stability of their I'niversity. 
 
 Wentworth was, however, deterniined to rush his University 
 Bill thronsli the Council jind to nominate whom he chose for 
 the Senate. With all his rrreat qualities, his superb energy, 
 and his natui-ally broad imperial views, by long domination 
 over inferior men in a small isolated community Wentwortli 
 had himself degenerated into an overweening provincial. He 
 was, moreover, the accredited leader of the old squatter 
 oligarchy, whicii was unfortunately closely associated with so 
 much that was evil as well as so much that was good in the 
 social condition of early New South Wales ; and thus, as Gold- 
 smith so happily says, he 
 
 Narrowed his mind, 
 And to pai-ty jjf.ive up what was meant for mankind. 
 
 The consequence of Lowe's opposition to tliese provisions 
 iii the University Bill was that the measure was rejected. In 
 a very fair and impartial leading article entitled ' The Fate of 
 the University Bill ' {S,/,h,rij Morninfj Ilemld, October 12, 
 1849), Wentworth is entirely blamed for this misadventure.' 
 That remarkable man, however, in October of the following 
 year, succeeded in passing the measure, and so he may justly be 
 regarded as the founder of the first University established hi 
 Austraha. By this time Bobert Lowe had returned to England, 
 and for a brief while Wentworth held undisputed sway in the 
 Legislative Council of New South Wales. Under the new Con- 
 stitution, however, he was to find himself entirely overthrown 
 by the new democratic forces of the time. In September 
 1851, when Sydney sent three members to the new Legislative 
 
,. I . ■ ^.1 *..<ava.--l««^lMl4lk 
 
 400 
 
 IJFK OK i/)i{i) smmmjooKK 
 
 C!onncil, Wentwortli was the lowest on the poll of those 
 returned ; while his chief opponent, Dr. Lang, triumphantly 
 headed it. Wentworth felt the blow acutely, and the rest of 
 his life was chiefly spent in retirement in England, where ho 
 died, in his eighty-first year, at Marleigh House, Wimborne, 
 Dorsetshire, in 1872. 
 
 By this time the late Lord Sherbrooke had attained to his 
 highest distinction in the Imperial Parliament ; but there is 
 no record to show that he and "Wentworth ever met during 
 the last sixteen years of the life of the latter in this country. 
 
 To revert to the closing year of Robert Lowe's sojourn in 
 Sydney, it is worth pointing out that almost up to the very 
 last hour he took an active part in public matters which he 
 thought likely to advance the interests of the community. As 
 late as January 8, 1850, we find him attending a meeting of 
 the Sydney Eailway Company, of which the late Sir Charles 
 Cowper was in the first instance p''^sident and afterwards 
 manager. On this occasion Lowe " ^ a most sensible and 
 businesslike speech, showing the great importance he attached 
 to the development of the country by means of railway com- 
 munication. It will be borne in mind that what are now the 
 large and flourishing capital cities of Australia, connected by an 
 enormous trans-continental railway system, were then, with the 
 exception of Sj'dney, mere isolated bush townships. In his 
 opening remarks at this meeting, Lowe announced that he 
 should not be much longer in the colony to • watch the progress 
 of this great national work ; ' but none, he said, took a deeper 
 interest in it than himself. He was a large shareholder — indeed, 
 he believed the second person to take shares in the Sydney 
 Railway Company — 
 
 The first being the late respected Mr. James Simmons, a gentle- 
 man whose public spirit, and whose zeal and confidence in the 
 establishment of railways in this colony, made his death a severe loss. 
 
 Had Mr. Simmons been present that day, I am sure we should 
 
THE CLOSIX(i YKAIJ IN AUSTIfAMA 
 
 401 
 
 have found him ready to support, witli his sound jiid<,'mcnt andcaha 
 common sense, not the interests of any man or of any party, hut tlio 
 interests of the great object we have in view in the estabhshment of 
 railways. I for one trust that the result of this meetinj^ will be the 
 healing of all our differences and the concentration of all our energies 
 to that one great end. I shall bo proud to go home and be able to 
 proclaim that no other British colony had yet dared to attempt the 
 "establishment of railroads out of her own resources, except the de- 
 pressed and trampled-on dependency of New South Wales. 
 
 Lowe then delivered a very warm eulogium on the tact 
 and business-like abilities of Mr. Cowper, who was forthwith 
 appointed manager by the meeting. 
 
 Cow^yer subsequently devoted himself exclusively to the 
 affairs of the Sydney Railway Company, until it was absorbed 
 by the government, when he returned to public life, and after- 
 wards became Prime Minister of New South Wales. 
 
 Robert Lowe had for some time made up his mind to 
 resign his seat in the Legislative Council, and return to 
 England. Hv would not in all probability have taken the 
 step when he did, but would have preferred to remain in 
 order to bear his part in the first Colonial Legislature under 
 responsible government ; but Mrs. Lowe's health had become 
 seriously impaired, and for some time past her one desire 
 had been to return to her friends and her native land. 
 
 Accordingly, on January 27, 1850, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 
 Lowe, with their young charges, the orphan Jamieson children, 
 sailed from Sydney in a small vessel for England. 
 
 To the deep disgust of his most active constituent, the 
 present Sir Henry Parkes, Robert Lowe was permitted to 
 leave the colony without that •' farewell banquet ' which now 
 marks the departure of every pushing politician or popular 
 player, who looks upon it as a necessary advertisement in his 
 precarious calling. 
 
 In closing this record of the brief but brilliant colonial 
 career of the late Lord Sherbrooke, it may not be amiss to 
 
 VOL. I. D D 
 
 { ! 
 
 
402 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 ■i i! 
 
 i\ 'i 
 
 iiifl • ::! 
 
 .'■'I;; 
 
 11 
 
 ! 'i 
 
 add a few sentences by way of a footnote on the three remark- 
 able EngUsh statesmen who filled the office of Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies during his fiojoiirn in New South Wales. 
 These were : Lord Stanley (the late Earl of Derby), who was 
 Colonial Secretary from 1841-5 ; Mr. Gladstone, who held the 
 office for less than a year ; and Earl Crey, whose tenure 
 lasted from June, 1846, to February, 1852. Readers of these 
 pages cannot fail to have noticed that Lord Sherbrooke 
 denounced the official actions of each of these three remark- 
 able men witii absolute impartiality. He was, however, always 
 careful to point out to his fellow-colonists that the evil was 
 in the system, and not in the particular politician who might 
 happen to represent the Colonies in the English Cabinet and 
 Parliament. Still, to many English readers, Lowe's words 
 and actions towards Lord Grey may seem too ha :sh, especially 
 when it is borne in mind that this high-minded and assiduous 
 nobleman sacrificed his political career hi the cause of colonial 
 self-government. It was this self-sacrifice which made so 
 kindly and impartial a critic as Mr. R. H. Hutton, declare, 
 * Earl Grey is one of the wasted forces of politics.' To Lord 
 Derby, and still more to Mr. Gladstone, the tenure of the 
 Colonial Office was but a brief and passing episode in a great 
 and successful public career, terminating in each case in the 
 Premiership of England. But Earl Grey will only be 
 remembered as the Colonial Secretary. He probably gave 
 more time and attention to the Colonies than any half-dozen 
 other Secretaries of State. To him undoubtedly belongs the 
 credit of establishing the system of responsible government, 
 though Lord Stanley had initiated the parliamentary system 
 in Australia. But Lord Grey well nigh destroyed his boon 
 by saddling it with unworkable conditions. Moreover, he irre- 
 trievably ruined his reputation in the Colonial communities, 
 for whicl^. he had sacrificed so much and laboured so diligently, 
 by his determination to revive the evil practice of criminal 
 transportation. 
 
403 
 
 ENVOI 
 
 In his latter years, Lord Sherbrooke frequently reverted to 
 these early times in New South Wales. Often he would ex- 
 press a desire to revisit the once so famihar scenes— his old 
 home at Nelson Bay; the beautiful gardens of his friend, 
 William Macleay, at Elizabeth Bay; his favourite township of 
 Goulburn, and the fair and fertile region of Illawarra. 
 
 * But I might not recognise them,' he would say ; ' all will 
 be changed.' He, however, always declared that lie would be 
 able to find his way in the well-remembered streets of Sydney, 
 and to recognise almost every stone in the older portions of 
 that still picturesque city. If at any time he chanced to refer 
 to tho fierce poHtical battles of those days, he invariably added, 
 * no doubt I made many mistakes ! ' 
 
 It must be admitted that he had excited considerable per- 
 sonal antagonism, but at the same time he enjoyed a far 
 greater measure of popularity than, to his own -egret and to 
 the misfortune of his country, ever fell to his share in 
 England. I do not think, how wer, that he could have re- 
 mained for long the Tribune of the Pfiopln even in Sydney ; 
 there were indeed signs that his popularity would have inevit- 
 ably waned. He was, with all his great gifts, his high courage, 
 his earnest convictions, his skill in debate, and his frequent 
 flights of genuine and most moving eloquence, a man not 
 made to woo the general ear. He was constitutionally unable 
 to condescend either to platitude or cant, which nre absolutely 
 essential to win, or at least to retain, populai- favour ; and 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 h ^^ 
 
 ■v. 
 
 he would always liave felt it a personal degradation to secure 
 the votes and voices of the crowd by pandering to prevailing 
 prejudice or popular ignorance. 
 
 Such a man can be known only to intimate friends 
 or kindred spirits — and these will ever be few. At every turn 
 he is sure to have his motives, his words, his actions misre- 
 presented or misunderstood. The great mass of mankind are, 
 in one sense, not so much to blame ; for it is a distorted image, 
 and not the man himself, that is presented to their dim vision. 
 It is always this image which they passionately reject or pas- 
 sionately acclaim. 
 
 ! I 
 
 I have often speculated on Lord Sherbrooke's actual reflec- 
 tions and feelings as he sailed out of Sydney harbour in 1850. 
 In later life he saw it all through the softening haze of years, 
 and would merely express his regret that he had never found 
 time to revisit Australia. On the eve of his departure he in 
 all probability regarded things differently, and was perhaps 
 not sorry to quit the place and close his colonial career. 
 
 But had he been a man consumed with self-complacency 
 and prone to keen appreciation of his own merits and abilities, 
 he might have reviewed the eight years of his colonial life 
 with no httle personal gratification as he gazed on the quickly 
 receding shores of that country in which thty had been passed. 
 He was still in the prime of life, with his brave wife by his 
 side confident as ever of his coming greatness. With his own 
 fine brain and resolute will, unaided by friends or favour, he 
 had achieved success, and even a measure of fame. At all 
 events, in Sydney, as at Winchester, he had * effectually shown 
 by a most crucial experiment that he was not too soft for the 
 business of life.' He had now secured, so to speak, a firm 
 foothold in the world ; it was quite open to him to try what 
 fortune awaited him in his native land. And he had laid the 
 foundations of his fortune purely by hard v/ork in defiance of 
 difficulties and by honourable means that knew no deviation. 
 
ENVOI 
 
 405 
 
 He had taken from no man his due, nor had he turned his 
 pubHc trusts to private ends. 
 
 It would be untrue to say that Lowe either Hked the social 
 life of Sydney or respected the tone of public morality in the 
 colony. Popular as he became with the masses, there were 
 things that deepened rather than destroyed his innate distrust 
 of the unreasoning passions and prejudices of the * many ' ; 
 while, with regard to the * few,' he saw much that must have 
 made him almost despair of the future of Australia. 
 
 To Eobert Lowe remained the one supreme consolation — he 
 had fought the good fight. His eight years had been indeed one 
 long battle against Colonial Secretaries, Governors, Society, 
 Squatters, Emancipists — one unceasing battle. But, with 
 absolute truth he could have declared that he had drawn the 
 sword only for the well-being of the people to whom he 
 would become little more than a passing stranger, and for the 
 future greatness of the country that he was never again to 
 behold. 
 
INDEX 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME 
 
 AAll 
 
 Aah, falls of, 117 
 
 Abbott, Dr., 122, 126 
 
 a Becket, Arthur Martin, 173 
 
 Address, Lowe's, on Land Orders, 339 
 
 Argus, Melbourne, 366, 368 
 
 Articles construed by Themselves, 123 
 
 Atlas, 131, 254, 318 
 
 Australia, Eobert Lowe's rirst impres- 
 sions of, 166 ; Mrs. Lowe first im- 
 pressions of, 156, 158 
 
 — Northern, proposed penal settle- 
 ment, 317 
 
 Australian Colonies Bill, 181 
 
 — Patriotic Association, 30'.) 
 Autobiography, a chapter of (Lord 
 
 Sherbrooke's type-written Me- 
 moir), 4-44 
 
 Bab, called to, 139 
 
 Barker, Mr., Lowe's description of his 
 
 station, 179 
 Barney, Colonel, 317, 818, 319 
 Bathurst, 176 
 Beauchamp, Earl, 56 
 Becher, family of, 57 
 Becher, Rev. J. T., 48 
 BeWs Life, 84 
 Billyard, W. W., 317, 358 
 Blair, David, 171 
 Bland, Dr. William, 172, 234, 309, 310, 
 
 311, 362, 396, 397 
 Blindness, Lowe's threatened, 170 
 Bloxsome, Mr., 220 
 Boulton, Mr. T. B., 288 
 Bourke, Sir Eichard, 214, 243, 248, 261 
 
 DEN 
 Boyd, Archdeacon, Lowe's regard for, 
 95 ; Lowe's letter to, 96 
 
 — Archibald, 299 n., 344 
 
 — Benjamin, 314, 315, 344, 353, 354 
 
 — story of the brothers, 343 
 
 Boyle, Richard, Archbishop of Tuam, 
 58 
 
 Earl of Cork, 58 
 
 — Robert, 58 
 
 Bradley, Dr. (Dean of Westminster), 84 
 Broughton, Bishop, 161, 251,304, 325; 
 
 and Duke of Wellington, 141 
 Buller, Charles, 298, 309, 310, 311 
 Burton Crescent, 134 
 Burton, Judge (Sir William West- 
 
 brooke), 200, 205, 308 
 Bush, , nderings in, 174-184 
 Byron, Lord, 46 
 
 — letter to Rev. R. Lowe, 47 
 
 Cardwell, Earl, 67, 256, 258 
 Chaplain, Parliamentary, 212 
 Chisholm, Caroline, 304, 305 
 Church, Dean, 82, 122, 127, 131 
 Circular Quay, meeting at, 382 
 Clough, Arthur Hugh, 67, 95 
 Colonial loyalty, 257 
 Congreve, Dr. Richard, 95 
 Corn, Australian, 222 
 Cowper, Sir Charles, 189, 193, 212, 
 
 225, 284, 296, 353, 383, 400, 401 
 Cranbrook, Earl of, 82, 94 
 
 DAnRiDOECouuT, family of. 58 ♦ 
 
 Denison, Henry, 180 
 
408 
 
 LIFE OF LORD SIIEKlillOOKE 
 
 DIA 
 
 Diary, Continental tour, 108, 113 
 Dickenson, Sir John Nodes, 289 
 Dissenters and the Bible, 323 
 Dog, verses on, 116 
 Donaldson, Stuart A-, 283 
 Dowling, Chief Justice, 188, 209 
 Doyle, Bishop, 249 
 Duelling (in Sydney), 221 
 Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, 236 
 Dutch merchants. 111 
 
 Education, Australia ; Lowe's work 
 
 on, 156, 216, 225, 237, 244, 322 
 Elective principle, 392 
 EUiotson, Dr., 205, 206 
 Envoi, 403 
 Ethics of Mr. Lowe, 207 
 
 Farker, Sir Thomas, 72, 142 ' 
 
 Ffoulkes, Rev. Edmund S., on Lowe's ' 
 
 classic verses, 90 j 
 
 Fitzroy, Lady Mary, 303 | 
 
 — Sir Charles, 303, 3.12, 314, 385, j 
 387 j 
 
 Forster, William, 263 ! 
 
 Foster, Mr. Fitzgerald (Vesey Fitz- 
 gerald), 369 
 
 French emigrants, 349 
 
 Froude, James Anthony, 87, 94, 119, 
 122, 126 
 
 Giles, Archdeacon, 85 
 Gipps, Lady, relative of Mrs. Lowe, 
 158 
 
 — Sir George, 158, 166, 176, 176, 181 
 182, 185, 186, 187, 188, 253, 269, 
 270, 271, 272, 276, 285, 301 
 
 — Lowe's rupture with, 238, 240 
 Gladstone, W. E., 79, 80, 81, 222, 307, 
 
 312, 313, 316, 317, 402 
 Glasgow, Lowe and Greek Professor- 
 ship, 102 
 
 — freedom of the city, 105 
 
 Grey, Earl, 298, 300, 318, 326, 369, 
 
 373, 388 
 — ' his failure as Colonial Minister, 
 
 402 
 
 LOW 
 
 Griflith, Sir Samuel, 355 
 Guizot, M., 249 
 
 Hampden, Dr., 133 n. 
 
 Hampden, John, 58 
 
 Hardy, Gathorne {see Earl Cranbrook) 
 
 — John Richard, 263 
 Hfshemy, convict ship, 382 
 Heads of the people, 347 
 Higinbotham, Mr. George, 256 
 Hutton, A. W., 128 
 
 — R. H., 402 
 
 Illawarra, 174, 184 
 Insolvency Act, Lowe's work on, 194 
 Ireland and the Poor Law (appendix 
 to Chap. I.), 59-63 
 
 Jackson, Prebendary, 85 
 Jamieson orphans, 209, 267, 803 
 
 Kkble, Rev. John, 119, 126, 131 
 Kerr, William, Lowe's letter to, 367 
 Kingsley, Charles, 126, 127 
 KnatchbuU, trial of, 199 
 
 Lambie, Mount, adventure on, 177 
 
 Lang, Dr., 141, 189, 212, 214, 215, 216, 
 217, 225, 233, 248, 290 
 
 Lawson, Mr., 177 
 
 Leichardt, Dr., 332 
 
 Lowe children, 64 ; laws for the nur- 
 sery, 64, 65 
 
 — Henry Porter (see also Henry 
 Sherbrooke), letters to, 86, 98, 99, 
 101 
 
 — Mrs. R., of Bingham, portrait of, 
 facing 55 ; Pyndar family, 66 ; 
 letters to, 145 
 
 — Rev. Robert, portrait of, facing 
 46 ; Byron's letter to, 47 ; sports- 
 man, 47 ; social reformer, 48 
 letter to Rev. J. T. Becher, 48-60 
 l)ioneer, Poor Law Reform, 50-62 
 
INDEX TO THE FIRST VOLUME 
 
 409 
 
 LOW 
 letter to Oddfellows, 52 ; elocu- 
 tion, 53; Prebendary and family, 
 55 ; Gulson's letter to, 59-63 ; 
 death of, 288 
 
 Lowe, Robert, of Oxton, 54 
 
 — Samuel, of Southwell, 54 
 
 Lytton, Bulwer, 298, 311 n. 
 
 Macaronic Poem on Princess Victoria's 
 visit to Oxford, 88-90; Robert 
 Lowe's letter to H. P. Lowe on, 86 ; 
 Bishop Wordsworth on, 87 ; Sir 
 John Mowbray on, 87 ; Professor 
 Froude on, 87 
 
 Macarthur, James, of Camden, 178, 
 261, 273, 395 
 
 Macdermott, Alderman, 216 
 
 Macleay, Alexander, 186, 293 
 
 — family, heraditary genius of, 162 
 
 — Sir George, 162, 163 n. 
 
 — William Sharpe, Lowe's tribute to, 
 41, 183; at Elizabeth Bay, 163; 
 legacy to Lord Sherbrooke, 183 
 
 — W. S., 263, 283, 286, 358, 395 
 Magdalen, Lowe Fellow of, 97 
 Manning, Cardinal, 79, 128 
 Marriage, Robert Lowe-Georgiana 
 
 Orred, 107 
 Martin, Sir James, 263, 290, 300 
 Massie, Edward, 81, 87 
 Melbourne, early, Robert Lowe on, 40, 
 
 153 ; Mrs. Lowe's account of, 
 
 152 
 Melbourne Review, 154, 236 
 Michell, Rev. R., 103, 108 ; letters to, 
 
 104, 105, 132, 139, 140, 287 
 Michie, Sir Archibald, 199, 263, 290, 
 
 374, 382, 385, 396 
 Miles, Alfred, 58 
 Mill, J. S., 65 
 Mitchell, John, 381 
 
 — Sir Thomas, 179, 225, 264, 268, 
 281, 286, 287, 339 
 
 Molesworth, Sir William, 308, 309 
 Mowbray, Sir John, 83, 84, 87 
 Municipal bodies, 392 
 Musters, Mrs. Chaworth, 46 
 
 POIt 
 Nelson- Bay, 281 
 Neptune, convict ship, 381 
 Newman, Cardinal, 67, 119, 127, 128, 
 
 131; Tract 90, 121 ; Lowe's letter on', 
 
 132 
 — Francis William, 78 
 Nicholson, Dr. (Sir Charles), 193, 225, 
 
 233, 234, 247 
 Nimeguen, 112 
 Notts Hunting Song, 47 
 
 Obskrvatios's, Lowe's, on Tract 90, 129 
 O'Connell, C°ptain, 176, 221 
 — Sir Maurice, 176, 221, 293 
 Oddfellows, Rev. R. Lowe's letter to, 52 
 Oxford, Lowe at. Lord Selborne's 
 reminiscence, 76, 77, 92; Canon 
 Melville's, 77-79 ; Francis W. New- 
 man's, 78 ; Sir Francis Doyle's, 81 ; 
 Earl Cranbrook's, 82; Sir John 
 Mowbray's, 83 ; Deai- of West- 
 minster's, 84 ; Earl Cranbrook on 
 Lowe as private tutor, 94 ; Dr. 
 Richard Congreve, 95 ; Canon Mel- 
 ville, 93 ; J. A. Froude, 94 
 
 Palmek, Dr., 177, 284 
 
 — Roundell {see Lord Selborne) 
 
 Parallel, Lowe's, between Canada and 
 
 Australia, 223 
 Paramatta, 158, 160 
 Parker, Sir Henry Watson, 176 
 Parkes, Sir Henry, 263, 357, 358, 359, 
 
 384, 385, 401 
 Pastoral Association, 253 
 Pattison, Mark, 105 
 Peacock, Sir Barnes, 139 
 People's Advocate, 371 
 Plunkett, John Hubert, 161, 186, 193, 
 
 225, 243, 250, 354 
 Poems of a Life, history of, 118 
 Folding, Archbishop, 247 
 Poor Law, 50 
 Port Phillip, separation, 232 ; supported 
 
 by Lowe, 234; Lowe's speech on, 
 
 241; convicts for, 313; conspiracy, 
 
 366 
 
ii 
 
 ! ' . 
 
 410 
 
 LTFE OF LORD SIIERBROOKE 
 
 PBI 
 
 Privilege, breach of, 219 
 Pusey, Dr., 120, 131 
 Tyctoit,'Rev.James(Oxford Memories), 
 
 86, 92, 94, 199 
 Pym, John, 58 
 Pyndar family, 56 
 
 — Mrs., 365 
 
 — Rev. R., 45 
 
 Robinson, John Phelps (member for 
 Melbourne), 212, 225, 233, 244, 250, 
 295, 332, 349, 353, 354 ; death of, 
 345 
 
 Rotterdam, 110 
 
 Rusden, Mr. G. W., 214, 244 n., 263, 
 381, 383, 390 
 
 St. Vincent and AccKiiANo: address 
 
 to the electors, 273, 356 ; speech on 
 
 the hustings, 274 
 Schedules A, B, C, 278 
 Scott, Dean, 85 
 Scott, Hon. Francis, 299 
 Selborne, Earl of, 67, 69, 73, 76, 92, 
 
 121, 132 
 Senate, Sydney University, 395, 397 ; 
 
 Lowe's criticism of, 398 
 Senior, Master in Chancery, 142 
 Sherbrooke, Lady, of Calverton, 142 
 Sherbrooke, Mrs., of Oxton Hall, 134 ; 
 
 letters to, 135, 137 
 Sidney, Samuel, 265, 270 
 Simmons, Mr. James, 400 
 Simon, Sir John, 210 
 Sinclair, Rev. Thomas, 85 
 Some Account of the Taylor Family, 
 
 57 
 • Songs of the Squatters,' 264, 271 ; 
 
 ' Squatter to his Bride,' 266 
 South Sea labour traffic, 350 
 Stanley and Cardwell, 258 
 Stanley, Lord (late Earl of Derby) : 
 
 his Australian Constitution, 185, 
 
 211,222 ; system of Irish education, 
 
 246 
 Stawell, Sir W. Foster, 381 
 Stephen, Sir Alfred, 188, 196,287,289, 
 
 395, 396, 397 
 
 UPP 
 
 Strathfleldsaye, 58 
 
 Swiss Guards, Lowe's lines on, 74 
 
 • Swiss Sketches,' 118 
 
 Swiss tour, 115 
 
 Sydney, address to the electors, 359 
 
 Sydney, Robert Lowe's description of, 
 157, 159; harbour, 156; commer 
 cial depression, 165 ; college, 196 ; 
 corporation. 391 ; university, 395 
 
 Sydney Mm-ning Herald, 186, 187, 206, 
 207, 209, 221, 234, 235, 239, 338 n., 
 342, 357, 360, 366, 370, 374, 385, 389, 
 394, 399 
 
 Sydney Railway Company, 400 
 
 Syme, David, on the Unearned Incre- 
 ment, 154 
 
 Tait, Archbishop, 82, 83, 103, 104 
 
 Tariff, colonial, Lowe on, 194, 195 ; 
 Wentworth on, 194, 195 
 
 Taylor, Peter, and Lord Sherbrooke, 57 
 
 Templer, James Lethbridge, 263 
 
 Thackeray, W. M., 58 
 
 Therry, Sir Roger, 161, 193, 225, 238, 
 248, 249, 261, 262 
 
 Thomson, Sir Edward Deas, Colonial 
 Secretary, 161, 18G, 225, 354 
 
 Transportation, criminal. Select Com- 
 mittee on, 314, 380 ; Earl Grey's 
 attempt to revive, 378 ; Mr. Glad- 
 stone's proposals, 312 ; Lord John 
 Russell's policy, 330 
 
 Trevor, Canon, 82, 84 
 
 TroUope, Anthony, 66, 67 
 
 — Thomas Adolphus, 66, 08 
 
 Twofold Bay, 344 
 
 Ullathoiine, Dr., 243, 250, 308 
 Unemployed, Sydney, Lowe's letter to, 
 
 371 
 Uniomachia, Lowe's speech in, 85 
 Union, Oxford, debates, 79-85 ; fining 
 an archbishop, 83 ; Lowe and 
 Trevor, 82; BelVs Life, 84; Mr. 
 Gladstone at, 79, 80 ; Lowe and 
 Ward, 82 ; Edward Massie, pre- 
 sident, 83 
 Upper House, Colonial, 375 
 
INDEX TO THE F^^ST \'()LrMj: 
 
 411 
 
 VIC 
 Victoria (colony), see Port Phillip 
 Victoria, Princess, visit to Oxford, 
 Lowe's macaronic poem on, 86, 88- 
 
 Vojage to Australia : Lowe's account 
 of, 147 ; Mrs. Lowe's account, 148 
 
 WAKEFiELn, Edward Gibbon, 253, 329, 
 
 Ward, William George, 67, 82 
 Waverley Novels, 66 
 Wentworth, William Charles, 177, 192 
 193, 195, 196, 287, 290, 293, 328,' 
 337, 338, 360, 361, 362, 363, 373, 
 374, 375, 395 ; character of, 399 • 
 death of, 400 ' 
 
 Westgarth, William, 164, 165 
 Whaling industry, 353 
 Whately, Archbishop, 308, 310 
 Williams, Dr. (of Winchester), 71 
 Wilshire, Mr. J. W., 245, 358, 300, 
 364 
 
 Wilson, Bishop, 249 
 
 Wilson, Professor, nephew of, 174 
 
 Winchester: Robert Lowe entered as 
 
 ZOI 
 
 commoner, 36 ; Spartan discipline, 
 67 ; Adolphus Trollope's reminis- 
 cence, 69 ; Lord Selborne's reminis- 
 cence, 69-72 ; Sir Thomas Farrer'a 
 story of. 72; Bishop Chai'les Words- 
 worth's reform of, 73 ; Lord Sher- 
 brooke's verses at, 74, 75 
 Windeyer, Richard, 189, 225, 279, 290, 
 -96 ; Mrs. Lowe concerning, 189 • 
 his Monetary Confidence Bill, 189-^ 
 191; Lowe replies to, 192; death 
 of, 301 
 Windeyer, Sir William, 301 
 Windyer, sen., Disraeli on, 189 n. 
 Wollongong, 174 
 
 Wordsworth, Dr. Charles (Bishop of 
 St. Andrews), 66, 71 n., 72, 73 n., 80, 
 87 
 Wordsworth, Dr. Christopher (Bishop 
 of Lincoln), 68, 73 
 
 Ykomaxky, Australian, Lowe's effort 
 to create, 341 
 
 ZoisT, 205 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME 
 
 rUIXTEU J!Y 
 
 eponiswouDB and co., nkw-strekt svcauk 
 
 LOMJOX