NEW SOUTH WALES.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1577, 10 March 1879, Page 3

NEW SOUTH WALES.

[fbqm oub own oobbebpondbnt.] Sydney, February 26. Captain James Cook, the lion-hearted navigator of the Southern seas in the eighteenth century, has at last received fitting recognition from Australians. Yesterday the ceremony of unveiling the statue, which has been erected in honor of that distinguished English sailor in Hyde Park, Sydney, was witnessed by an enormous concourse of people, variously estimated at from 70,000 to 100,000. So grand a spectaole has never before been witnessed on this continent. Two or three crowds, ranging from 20,000 to 40,000, have assembled in this city, but the gathering of the clans yesterday beggars all Sydney precedent. The idea of helping to perpetuate the memory of Captain Cook's character and services by a costly and worthy statue in Hyde Park, originated about ten years ago with Captain Watson, one of our ex-harbor masters. Finding himself unable single handed, to work up the enthusiasm necessary to carry the project to a successful issue, he sought the aid of the Australian Patriotic Association —a body which would hardly be known now but for its honourable connection with this movement. That aid was given, and on March 27th, 1869, the foundation stone of the pedestal was laid by Prince Alfred, who said—" When the man whose fame we desire to commemorate has, by a life of great discoveries and scientific researches, increased so materially the territorial extent of the Empire, and has conferred so great benefits upon the whole civilized world by his valuable additions to geographical knowledge, and when, by these noble actions he has shed a lustre upon the profession to which he belonged, and to which I am so proud to belong —I mean the maritime service of the greatest maritime nation in the world—then, indeed, I feel that a very high honour is conferred upon me in having my name associated with this memorial of his greatness." The committee, however, did not win a very generous response to their appeal for private subscriptions ; only £IBOO represented their efforts, and then an appeal was made to the unfailing milch cow, the Government, with the result cf £IOOO being granted. The pedestal, constructed of poli9h< d Now South Wales granite, is very haudsomo, and has been completed for years. The statue is the work of Mr Theophihii Woolner, of London, and gives genursvl satisfaction. Criticism has, of course, found fault with one or two details, but as a whole it is a noble work of art. The site of the statue is moat excellent, and shows off the figure to the best advantage. " The attitude is striking and vigorous, with the right hand raised high in the air in a moment of immense delight, at having caught sight of land after watching i through the early dawn of morning, etrocg in

his belief that, land whs tbero, the telescope being held in the left hand as no longer necessary. The fine head is most expressive and characteristic of the observer and ductless discoverer, in the massive brow with d"ep furrows at the temple and strongly moulded nose and chin. There is no stronger point in the statue than this preservation of likeness on such a colossal scale, and so just are the proportions in the torso and the limbs, that it looks like the hero without being a giant. The dress, which is the well-known naval uniform of the day, with the openbreasted, broad-tailed coat, the long flap waistcoat, and the knee-breeches, with sliopb, is remarkable for good work, falling to the figure naturally and not ungracefully, the gold lace being to some extent represented by a lighter colored bronze. But all these points of detail are quito unobtrusive, _ and subservient completely to the noble air of brave self-confidence expressed in the intellectual countenance, tho broad and vigorous frame, and the general action of the figure." Certainly if tho statue in Hyde Park embolics no exaggeration, no hero worship of tho imaginative artist, the great navigator was a very handsome man indeed. Possibly, however, if Captain Cook had appeared in propria per'sona yesterday, he would h:lve declared that the " likeness " was a " picture "—that is to say, a highly flattering representation. And we might have agreed thereto if wo could have compared the man who was killed just a century ago with the magnificent statue which has been erected in his memory.

The demonstration yesterday commenced with an interminable and gorgeous procession. Guilds abound in Sydnoy, and they turned out on this occasion in all their feathers and finory. Imagine the discords of thirty brass bands, the colors of hundreds of banners, and a lino of men, habited in regalia and dust, that stretched along the streets for miles. Of courso the day was most religiously separated from business; and the fact that thousands of working men entered into the proceedings with enthusiasm was an acknowledgment that Cook had introduced a splendid territory to the British workman. I despair to give your readers the faintest conception of the scene in the park when everything was prepared, and Sir Hercules Robinson stepped forward to deliver his address. Platform accommodation had been provided for thousands of the magnates and elite of the city, and outside one great sea of upturned faces met the Governor's eyes. He never had such an audience before, and may never have another. Of course Sir Hercules was equal to the occasion; when is he not? I need not summarise his eloquent oration, for I suppose the name of Captain Cook is as profoundly reverenced in New Zealand as in New South Wales, and that Governor Robinson's sonorous periods will be placed before your readers. At the end of bis speech, his Excellency said, " In the name of tho people of New South Wales, I now direct that tho statue be unveiled." Six sailors pulled a cord, the flag unwound itself from the figure on the pedestal, and ran to the peak of a flagstaff at hand, the folds of the Union Jack fluttered out in the breeze, the statue was exposed to public view, and then ensued such cheering from the sevonty or more thousand people as made one's blood pulse wildly and one's nerves tingle. Everybody went home in a patriotic mood. Children were there who will recall the day with pride when they aro grey headed grandsires far on in the twentieth century. I write these paragraph close to Botany Bay, in which Cook's ships anchored, and on the shores of which he landed and took possession of the continent in behalf of Great Britain. Botany Bay indeed has changed but little in the hundred years. It has been sacrificed to Port Jackson, though ere long Sydney will stretch from the shores of Port Jackson to those "of Botany Bay. But how much on this eastern coast of Australia has followed Cook's voyagings and discoveries! To Jquote Sir Hercules, we see to-day " a country covered with flocks and herds; dotted over with cornfields and vineyards; with busy cities and peaceful hamlets; with churches and Bchools; with railways and telegraphs; the harbors and coasts alive with steam vessels and other craft, and the land the happy home of over two millions of our own race, who are in the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty to as full an extent as any people upon the face of the earth, and who, under these invigorating influences, have already so far advanced in all the outward and visible signs of civilisation as to be about to collect this year examples of the products of labor, art, and wealth from every known country in the world, with an International Exhibition !"

The Governor and suite are expected to leave New South Wales for New Zealand on or about the 15th or March. The new naval commandant, Commodore Wilson, will convey them to your shores with appropriate pomp. What Lady Robinson wants, however, is not pomp, but comfort, for, like the Princess Louise (another Governor's wife) she is a very bad sailor. The Governor's party consists of himself and Lady Robinson, Miss Robinson (who has not " come out" in society yet), Master Hercules Robinson (a little fellow), Captain St. John (A.D.0.), Mrs St. John (a daughter of Sir Hercules), and the Hon. Mr Lyttelton (Private Secretary. The Governor leaves one daughter on this side the water, Mrs Finlay, whose nusband is an immensely rich young Victorian squatter. The Robinsons will bemnch missed by the upper ten in Sydney, and Sir Hercules himself will be missed by almost everybody. People contrast his departure from this colony with that of Sir George Bowen from Victoria, and of course the comparison is all in Sir Hercules' favor. By the way, it is alleged here that the party now dominant in New Zealand politics has some leanings to Republicanism —that Sir George Grey is tainted in that direction. Your new Governor will not help that movement; he is an out-and-out Imperialist. The integrity of the Empire is very dear to Sir Hercules Robinson. Yesterday he said—" You will have some day, and I hope before long, to provide for the federation of the Australian provinces into one dominion. And above all, to arrange eventually for that closer political association with the mother country which will admit of many millions of self-governing Anglo Saxons at the antipodes advancing in national life, while still remaining an integral portion of the Empire of which it is now their pride and privilege to form a part." The Sydney Corporation has run out of funds, and will have to discharge nearly all its employes, the scavengers excepted, unless the Government should once more generously answer an ad misericordiam appeal. In a previous letter I explained how the Parliament i 3 "sponging out" the city's indebtedness to the extent of several hundreds of thousands, and is making provision for the future by liberally endowing the city, and conferring power on the Aldermen to levy a rate of 2s in the £, instead of Is as heretofore. But all this help really applies to 1880 and the years that follow, and what is wanted is help for the year 1879. Sydney Aldormen have a wonderful trust in Providence, i.e., in the Government, and will expect their necessities to be fully met out of the public funds.

It is rather odd that this new revelation of municipal impecuniosity should occur just when the Mayor has dazzled all private hospitality into invisibility by giving a fancy dress ball, the like of which has never been chronicled in this colony before. M-iyor Roberts —an ex-publican —is almost as popular a personage us Captain Cook. Mayor Boberls has become a great social power — not by mending the streets, not by extricating the Corporation from its humiliating insolvency, not by boldly facing the propertyowners and advocating the imposition of 2s in the £ not by any means so ignoblo aa those, but by giving a fancy drets ball he bus hoisted himself to the highe-t pinnacle of local fame. For he is the first Sydney Mayor who has presumed to do such a thing. Melbourne Mayors have indeed dispensed hospitality right royally ; the Town Hall in that magnificent city has wit-iessad many a splendid festivity; but Sydney Mayors have not had souls above omnibus picnics at Botany Bay and forty-guest luncheons in the Town Hall. I have had a private conviction thai most of the occupants of our civic chair have had a k'en a) d loving eye for the £BOO honorarium. One would have to deny the evidence of his senses to believe !hat much of the municipal aspirations had no connection with this £BO0 ', and it would puzzle the acutest de«

fceotive to discover how some of the gentlemen expended ihtit p-riount in sustaining the dignity of the pnn:i<m. la *«"* the ? sustain the dignity, but pocketed the #BOO. Now we have "taken a new departure, ft is understood that thia single act of generosity—which is but one of a series—cost Mayor Roberta nearly £3OOO, and the International Exhibition whiof comes on before the dose of the year will afford him numerous opportumtics for entertaining distinguished 2nd undistinguished strangers. He his made the fierce light of contrast to reveal the unutterable meanness of his predecessors, and if I were an ex-mayor I should hato him I should regard* him as having intentionally or unintentionally covered my name with infamy. And it is alleged that lie has weeded out the sham-aspirants to the chair. A few years ago there was a rush for that peat of honor and profit whenever it was em ptied by effluxion of time. Wow it is feared there will be a shrinking tiraorousness or humili y, and that it will be necessary to thrust a Orcesufl into the position. I am not sure that the aldermen will not hit upon the subtle device of electing Mr Roberts over and over again—though even his health mny_ break down under the strain of a perpetual incumbency. The fancy dress hall was a grand affair. About 3000 invitations were issued, and nearly two-thirds of them wore accepted. The old Exhibition Building in Prince Alfred Park, in which it was held, and which was decorated for occasion, was a little fairy world. Poets, philosophers, orators, kings, queens, princesses, courtiers, warriors, priests, brigands, naiads, gipsies, flower-girls of every country and century met together, and the fooling was excellently done. The names of the guests occupied soven columns of the leading journal, and the event has been society talk ever since. It is rumoured that, at least, the dresses worn must have cost £20,000. With the statue ceremony in view Sir Hercules hit happily upon Captain Cook as his impersonation, while his exceedingly substantial lady represented Britannia. It is said but don't believe it, fair readers—that her ladyship measured ten feet from her slippered heels to the apex of her helmet. But it is true that Bhe was the most imposing personage in the ballroom, the beheld of all beholders, eclipsing oven Captain Cook, whose make-up was perfect, and that when she strode into the midst of the brilliant assemblage, the bandsmen picked up their instruments and made the edifice ring to the strains of "Rule Britannia."

Parliamentary politics are not in a champagne condition. They have not been so dull for months. The Parkes-wm/s-Robertson period was much lesß satisfactory in regard to legislative fruitfulness than the Parkes-cwm-Robertson period, but it was more diverting and exciting. Mr Watson is experiencing the sensation of having his budget speech exposed to a pitiless fire of criticism from the Opposifion benches, but the Press has anticipated the severest things that could ba said in Parliament. The weak place in the fiscal policy of the Ministry is the evident intention to work out at the end of the year with a surplus, no matter whtit happens ; and this result can easily be manipulated either by rushing a little land into the auction market, or by charging items to the surplus revenue account—that very handy invention of Mr Watson's—which ought to be defrayed out of the ordinary revenue. The Golden* Calf has beon despatched in search of the Kelly gang, and it is hoped the creature will be nimble enough to catch them. That is to say, the Q-overnments of New South Wales and Victoria have "clubbed," and now offer £BOOO for the scoundrels, dead or alive. The courage which duty could not excite is to spring from the dazzling prospect of a fortune. We hear nothing about their movements except worthless rumors. The border towns are said to be infested by their confederates, who find out all the movements of the police and inform the outlaws. At present it is not known on which Bide of the Murray the gang is hiding. And already we have evidence of what this inability to catch daring criminals leads to in the origination of another gang of four young fellows, who have set up in the Kelly business on their own account in Riverina. Unless tbe police soon give a good account of the Victorian murderers they will soon have much more business of the same sort on hand.