, 1893-04-29

had exhausted themselves and there were no
shops loft to wreck. The Governors mistake
on that occasion cost the colony a very heavy
bill, for although . portion of the sacking was
carried on during daylight the greater portion
of it was done after there had been time
enough to have had the streets protected with
. strong force of special constables- But II
lis Exceliency failed to exercise his guberna-
torial powers on these two signal occasions,
he was usually to be foun;i alert to all that
concerned the colony's vital interests. We
have referred to his praiseworthy sxertions to
promote theGold Industry and settle the dis
puted boundary question. We all know from
recent disclosures in Combined Court that at
the very tins he was being maligned
by captious critics for his supposed in
difference to the railway extention scheme,
he was carrying on all animated CORES
pondence with the Railway Company and
informing the astonished directors that if
thew did not come to terms, the Government
would be constrained to utilise Their legal
right to run trains over the oonpany's metals,
or buy the present company up. Thanks to
him, this measure of plain speaking has
practically obtained for us the completion OF
the railway from Georgetown to Berblce,-
for we cannot suppose that the most suplne
legislator would allow the scheme now to fall
through. But possibly it is not SO well
known that during the reckless agitation for
q wholesale lowering of the franchise quail
,foation, he took a determined stand, and
denounced the madness of thrusting political
power upon thousands of persons who intel
lectually were not in. the position to be
entrusted Herewith. He diagnosed the So
called Reform movement very correctly,
and recognised how far it was advisable to
ell oxen the old political bands so as to give
the people additional freedom; but not more
than was good for them. In the reformed
Court, with its greater number of tongues,
the Governor succeeded in discouraging
loquacity, for he had little patience with Any
member who reared himself upon his hind
legs to bray but he occasionally fell into
the mistake of interrnpting a speaker where
his interruption fell nething short OF rude
ness, and in Otherways he trsspsssed upon the
forbearanoe of the Court. On the whole, how
ever, he made an excellent president, and
when he did speak it was always to the point
and with an eloquential force that in his earlier
DAYS. rather took his hearers by surprise.
UnquestioDably he possesses great ability az
a speaker, and his constant habit of perusing
the best books on the leading questions of
the day. qualities him still further for taking
part in public debate. As Lord Gormanston
was the first Roman Catholic Ito our know
ledge) wh9 filed the Office of Governor Of the
colony. there was fear in the minds of certain
Protestants at the time of his advent, thatlhis
patronage would ba qualified by warm consid-
Grafton for those of his own faith. Never
was there more groundless apprehension.
During the FIVE years of his residence here,
the number of Roman Catholics appointed
to the service, or promoted out Of The regular
sequence, has been very very few, and
the one or two appointments that might
possibly be traced to denominations in
Auenoe, are really of no account. We have
never known a Governor of the Protestant
faith who has not been p~estered by the priests
thereof, into presenting some ne'er-do-w"el
or other to an appointment, Ito the misuse
of public funds. Possibly those who have
the greatest reason to complain ~ Lord
Gormanston's case, are Roman Catholics
themselves, for in his desire to show no
favouritAm, he may occasionally have refused
to give a Roman Catholic applicant tie
fullest consideration. At all events to pre-
sum upon obtaining his patronage solely
on the ground Of similarity of religious
faith, was one Of the surest ways of provoking
him into that exceeding plainness of speech
which was rough and disagrsesble, but in our
candid opinion most admirable as long as 1t
was in place. Personally he is an excep-
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