SIR GEORGE GREY’S ISLAND HOME.

Evening Star, Issue 4151, 16 June 1876, Page 4

SIR GEORGE GREY’S ISLAND HOME.

The Auckland.' correspondent of'the I ’ writes “ Opposite?, to I the Waiwerahbt Springs, about seven miles j awayyiu the middle of the Hdnraki Gulf, is I Eawan, Sir George Grey’s ialand. It contains I abontflO.OOOttorea, of which 2,000 are in the I numerous bays indenting it, ■ leaving about I 8,000 acres of hilly 14nd and. valleys. Sir George>bought it of the'•Copper- Company formed in Englihatoany years ago, ana the ] ■whiains' of Whose ameltihg wt>fks are still to I

be seen-in one of-the bays. The copper was ' too poor to be profitably worked, | and nothing- has beep done with ■it for years past.- The island .abounds in beantifuf scenery. Sir George - has built a very .nice house, and surrounded :it • with rare plants, from all parts of the world. 1 The land is being gradually laid down in grass/ It has been customary for many years for pleasure parties to visit Kawau. ; A steamer goes loaded with people —generally from 150 to 200.-.-and Sir George has always thrown: Open house and grounds, orchard; and field, without. restraint/ Visitors wander through the rooihs,

admiring the pictures' oh the walls, and the rare black-letter books on the shelves. The' manuscripts are kept __ under ‘ lock and key:'- Among them isK the original treaty, between Cromwell and the Hanseiatic towns to support Protestantism. in Ehrope. , The treaty.-is" in Idiltbn’s handwriting, and sealed; and 'signed, by each of the ambassadors. * One of the signatories for; Gc»m,well is the husband of Alice Lisle. The Crom-

well' correspondence is voluminous, and much prized-by Sir George. There are many more of the Protector’s letters, and many more of the drafts, of despatches submitted to him by. his secretary, Thurlta, with Cromwell’s alterations thereon. Thus

in one case the Swedish ambassador is told by Thurles that His Majesty’s conduct is “barely civil.’.’ Old hi oil has dashed his pe through the words and written in bold hand ’“hardly borne.* Another despatch —from Sir Phillip Meadows, if I remember rightly—conveys to Cromwell in the most artful way the surprise of His Majesty of Sweden that he did not protect himself from attempts at assassination bv the

sacrednesa that would him. as king; and so on through a collection which those privileged to see are never tired of perusing. Sir George Grey has been a great collector all his life, and; bis collection 1 has been elftiched by‘ the bequests of bankers to whom, he is related j ana' Whose tastes were ih the same direction. He has been offered considerable sums for mjatuy of the papers by the British Museum; hut nas always declined to part' with them. Two large volumes of the Bible, in Latin, gold bound, and clasped, and-in antique boxes of book shape, are much sought by

visitors.' It is the Bible in'use before tbe translation into English, and similar to those from which the first translation by Wycliffe was made, A copy sold recently in England, for L6OO, I am told, and the book is very race. T hrowing his place open to pepple of all classes is characteris.ic of Sir George * Grey. He has done so for many years,, even when seeking the most complete retirement himself, and, when Governor, displayed the same liking for seeing people enjoy themselves about him instead of confining himself to society—a taste which has rendered him intensely popular among the mass of the people, though by no means admired among thje ex elusive clSsses and snobocracy of | the Colony.” ; . -■■ • .. ■ :