The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-03

was not the only one of the early pas toralists in the back country of Austra-
 lia who learned to live alone till they al
 most lost the use of the ordinary spe ch
 of human intercourse. But his long
 and lonely life, in which there was no
 time to spare from arduous work for
 the formation of friendship or any of
 the common ties, no thought of seeking
 or enjoying any of the ordinary ele-
 menta of human happiness no room,
 apparently, for any aspiration but that
 which impelled him to the ever-expand-
 ing though peaceful conquest Of fresh
 territory, is typical of the instinctive
 energy by which the borders of the em-
 pire have been enlarged He was en-
 tirely Australian, and had no experience
 beyond the limits of the Australian col
 onies. At seventy-one years or age,
 having never had holiday in his life,
 he entertained for time the thought
 of winding up his affairs and starting to
 see the world before he died but finally
 condemned his own project as being too
 idle and self-indulgent.
 His life, except for the activity of hls
 work, which obliged him to spend the
 greater part of his time in journeys
 from one end of Australia to the other,
 was the life of recluse. He formed no
 special friendships with men, and had
 the reputation of being a woman hater.
 The reputation was probably no better
 founded than the reputation for m'serl1-
 ness with which he was also accred ted.
 His attitude toward women, based
 avowedly on a very narrow experience, was more properly to be described as ln- difference than hate. He thought that
 they needed more robustness and sim plicity alike of body and of mind, Wives generally, he held were fond of dress and had scolding tempers, and were spiteful to other women. They seemed to him to be bred in such way that they had their minds full of small things. and he summed it all up in the opinion that it is deal for husbands to bear" At the same time he de- scribed himself as one whom wo- man, who had been any way kind to him, might have twisted round her fin- ger. For which reason he thought that it was for the best that he hand not married A wife would, he supposed, have wanted him to settle down and do as other men, and waste his time, which
 
 would not have been done" He pre- ferred to be alone, and had always gone, he said, from first to last single handed As for friendship. he would not take the time for 1t; he could not be wasting his days.
 Asked toward the end of his life whether he had ever been happy, he re- piled with a certain brave simplicity: Sufficiently so; I am persuaded that attainment is nothing; the pleasure is in the pursuit and l have been pursu- ing all my life, Yes, I consider that l have been happier than most men" He was kind though a strict employer, a just and exact paymaster, and punctual in the performance of all duties that he Having read little, and, in | of his shy habits discussed ! few but practical problems with his fel- | lows, he had arrived by mere process of silent coeitation at many of the conclu- sions accepted in the more advanced circles of English thought. On ques tions of religion his creed was as sim pie and effective as the rest of his life. With theology he would not concern himself Tt ain't my business. I do what I think seriously right; I stand to take my chance. and I have no fear" Pressed with the obvious question:: Why do you do what you think sari- ously right? Why not drink and play the fool like other men?" he had an an- swer which satisfied himself You see, the fun is in the little game. Every man who chooses has his little game, with fair chance of winning if he keeps straight It is better worth his while to do what he seriously thinks right If he don't he is bound to lose Yes, I believe every man has good chance of winning That's enough for me, the rest don't concern me, I don't think Of it
 His view expresses the view of duty commonly accepted on the Australian continent In this, as in everything else, he was strictly of his time and country In his narrowness his vigor, 'is total lack of aesthetic cultivation, lis indifference to the use of the great financial instruments which he had ere tied as mere incident in his own ca 'eer, but above all in his latent re- erVes of heroism and tenderness, he of- cred a remarkable specimen of the ough rock from which British charac- CT is hewn. If there had been no Eng lShmen of MT. Tyson's stamp there would have been no British supremacy n an empire extending round the Times.