SIR GEORGE GREY.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 390, 1 September 1876, Page 3

SIR GEORGE GREY.

IN addition to nil the higher refinements of life m enjoyed under the shelt-r of potico and it is well to consider the actual practical enjoyments which Sir George Grey resigned when, at. the call of an indignant people, he placed hi ngelf at their head, in the first, instance as Superintendent of Auckland —of a Province Mio treasury of which had been drained to the lust drop by Government agents, to be cast into the never satiate maw of Sir Donald M'Lean and his Native Office. Mr. J. Ernest Tinno has in hia work of traval placed on record a few delightful sketches of Kawau, the well known home of Sir George Grey. From his work wo select a few extracts, not sufficient, for our purpose, but ns much as our space will allow, or perhaps aB much an wo are justified in abstracting from the labor of another. JKawau was purchased by squatters in New South Wales, perhaps practical followers of Dr. Johnson's ideal happiness—the ownership, of an islaud. They actually despatched a cargo of beasts, which were landed, but next morning had disappeared in tho dome bush, and now form the herd of wild cattlo which infests the foreßt, nn.l number about five hundred head. After this Kawau fell into the hands of copper companies, until, in 1810, a discovery of gold in California took away tho labor. Lastly, tho island passed into the hands of Sir George Grpy, who is rapidly converting it—by the assistance of his own taste and the natural capabilities oi tho place—int.> the Utopia which I am about to deseribo At proseut the'ro are about forty souls or eight, fumi lies Hiring on the island. To each is allotted sufficient ground for a small garden, a comfortable cottage, and as much firewood as they can use. In return for this and their wages tbey are employed on road works, clearing bush, planting, and othor out-door works. 1 believe Sir George Grey intends to increase the number gradually to ooout two hundred, arid he tells me that tho only and the most severe punishment ho inilicts ia banishment from the Kawau, which I should suppose is regarded much in the same light as the driving our progenitors Adam and Evo from the Garden of Eden after the fall. Ho enforces Strictly temperance regulations ; no one is allowed to import spirits or beer into the inland except for nodical purposes. . . . Let us wander through the maze of wonders outside, while the Kawau wears its brightest autumn J»nrb. Pirsh in order con.es the garden. There ji u find bushes of scented daphne growing w th wild luxuriance, and a profusion of blos- *< m that I have never seen elsewhere; tho trees of geranium and heliotrope ; English violets breathing forth their modest fragvanco in retired nooks, and blushing beds of the ever welcome rose. Gigantic aloes guard the corners of the walks, whilst on the hillsides is a dense jungle or undergrowth of wild ginger, interspersed with a Japanese p!ant, from the pulp of which the exquisite rice paper of commerce is made. The india-rubber trees, tea and coffee plants, small dato palms, grow fide by side, and the only rule which prevents the garden becoming a small epitome of the vegetable universe is that Sir George Grey will not introduce any plant which requires artificial heat, or cannot thrive.naturally in the New Zealand climrte. J think the list' of fruit trees in itself is enough to attract emigrants to a country of sueh wonderful capabilities. . ... In tho single class of pines und •firs this little island is California ipsa Call/ornior ; nearly every kind you can mention is there, though naturally they will not.rival the American " big trees " in size for centuries to Come, far we havo followed Mr. Tinne. No wonder he concludes that Kawau is indeed a spot where one might be well contented to pass t.ho remainder of one's life in blissful tranquility ; amid scenes of exquisite beauty, with every variety of pbint, bird, and beast ; an ulmost perfect climate, and a complete absence of care, were it not for the everpresent thought, that such an existence is almost ti'o happy for mortal man to lead ; it is so completely »hut off from human misery tuut ono begins almost to think tho tales of I poverty in great cities, with their increasing) myriads of hunger-stricken squalid beings, aro but an ugly dream of the past. . . . This must surely be the Atlantis of tho dicicnts, where the earth gives forth her choicest fruits unasked, where animal life has found its utmost limits of variety ami health, and where, with Plato, wo may at length find perfect happiness in tho contemplation of beauty, and sympathise with nature in her divinest guise. Tins is the home and tho well earned rest which Sir George Grey has left in order to give the influfiico of his high position to the weaker side—to tho cause of freedom from autocratic tyranny and injustice. He has declared in tho House that office has no charms fo. f him. Ho has told us he only seeks to obtain for tho people of tho North and of the South tho right they claim to say under what Constitution they shall live. Sir George Grey is no deserter. He is not made of the stuff that threatens to take refuge in another country the moment he is out of office. He is contont to remain among us as a colonist, to share our hopes, participate in our misfortunes, arid earn for himself, as he cannot help, the thanks of hia fellows. It is well for New Zealand tlmt m the hour of her need she has one man in her midst as true as Sir George Grey.