SIR WILLIAM JERVOIS, C.B., K.C.M.G.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 53, 5 October 1878, Page 2

SIR WILLIAM JERVOIS, C.8., K.C.M.G.

The following remarks mi Sir William Jorvois, the newly appoint oil Governor of South Australia, wo clip from the Home News:— It was the mischance of hi* military service, hitherto sufficiently .stirring, which stranded Captain .Torvois, then nn officer of some fifteen years' standßig, upon the Island of Alderney just when Kuropo was atlunie mid his comrades ami contemporaries were winning honours it the Crimean War, He was engaged, j was true, upon engineering works oi great scope and importance, still his enj ploymont was at host inactive and du| compared with tlie great game afoot else where. While other soldiers were grow ing famous, as true soldiers best lovo P grow famous —in the actual clash of coil diet—while coluagues and school friend wore fast distancing him, as it scorned, i) tho mco for perfermuut, while brothel officers of his own corps wore sound practical experience in their owl scientific walk of the military profes ioi it was hard fate to ho engrossed will contractors’ specifications, with the detail of draughtsmou and the shortcomings clerks of works. The enforced inm-tid must have been tho more irksome hfc young man who had already, like it-

race, '• fought not without glory.” lu t the first years of las career, when still j i quite a lad, he found no outlet for his < energies at the Cape of flood Hope he- I yomi purely civil duties, but the time , I I when no was called upon to do more than i , construct roads, build bridges, and cs- | I tablish frontier posts. The IC:dfir War ! «jf tall arrived opportunely to give him i many openings, of which he availed himself to the full, not only iu the execution of valuable surveys of vast tracts of land in close proximity to the enemy, but in the active operations of war. Not strangely, then, he looked askance at his more fortunate fellows, envying them their luck, and wondering whether his tarn would come again. It came—in truth, it was already close at hand, but the direction was not perhaps that which ho would have chosen for himself. A royal visit to Alderney brought him under the immediate approval of august personages, and the Queen's recognition of the good work he had done in the insular defences was followed by promotion I and removal to the London District as Commanding Royal Engineer. This, sis it 1 turned out, meant continued exclusion 1 from active service in the East, but the : move had other important consequences. > “ There is a “ divinity which shapes our i and, rough hew them as wo may.” 1 Something more than chance took Major ■ Jervois to the great centre of life, where I standing in the gangway, as it were, ho found himself unexpectedly called upon I to play a coimpioious part in great ! changes then pending. Tlio period was now approaching when | a fresh revolution was to take piece in ' war. The new and startling discoveries ! of machinists, and engineers were to bo turned to account in the development of the process of destruction. The inventions of our Armstrongs, our Whit-

worths, mid our Palll-icrs, bognu to invest modem artillery with the most terrible and deadly power. In length of range, in weight and calibre, modern guns daily became moro and more formidable, and the apprehension grew, not without cause, that no fortifications on land, and uo ships afloat, as then constructed, would have any chance in future struggles. A total revision of our navy and of the whole of our laud defences was imperative. The first were, moreover, proved to be as ludricrously inadequate in extent as in their character ; the latter, it was soon shown, would be sunk at the first encounter with ships armour-plated and properly armed. From this moment dawned a now era in defensive as well as in offensive warfare, and with the former Colonel Jervois was associated from the first. His official position had already secured for him a place upon that Barrack Accommodation Committee,

which had brought, about such great and salutary changes in the sanitary condition the services which he had then rendered, his shrewed, sagacious intellect, and his sound professional skill marked him out clearly as the man of all others to assist in development of the new ideas of attack and defence. Colonel Jervois was first nominated Assistant-Inspector-Gene-ral of Fortifications, his chief being the renowned Sir John Burgoync t he bosame Secretary next to the Defence Committee of the United Kingnom ; later he was appointed to serve as member of the special committee which was to report upon tho application of iron to tho defences of ships and of land fortification. Tho labours in these several and very onerous capacities, through which he pass.-d triumphant, were herculean in their character, but the success which attended Ins efforts paved the way to his further and rapid advancement Almost naturally, Colonel Jervois slipped into the post of genera! adviser and responsible authority on all matters of fortilieai tion.

The vast works which were growing into being at the most, vital points, at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Portland, on the Medway, at Harwich, or on the Thanes, were under bis immediate control; be might be buried near to one or othtr of our great, arsenals, and remembered like anewSirChristopher Wren, by the epitaph that his monument lay around. .More than this, such value by this .irne attached to his opinion that his counsel was eagerly sought on every side. He vent to Canada on the special invitation of tho Colonial Government to confer and report upon the frontier defences; In' did the same for the harbours of NovaSootk and Now Brunswick; he visited anil examined tie- seaboard fortifications of tho forts of the United States. Tho grejt Mediterranean fortresses next claimed his attention; Bormuda also ; Uuebcc was fortified acoording to bis recoiuliendation ; and he accompanied Lord Maw to British Burmah to do tho same for Rangoon and Moulmein. By this timq indeed,, he had earned a worldwide 1 reputation. Foreign States, Switzerland notably, submitlad to him tho whole scheme of their national defences, and were ghul to follow his advice. So highly was he esteemed upon the Continent that when a special mission of scientific otlicei* were despatched to inspect the fortifications of Antwerp, Goneral Brtnlmont sajd, surprised, "Why do you come to us, when you have in Colonel Jervois an engineer almost without equal in his tine?

To this high reputation OS n military engineer .South Australia owes its good fortune In scouring Sir William Jervouas its prosent Qovornor. Summoned hastily from the Straits .Settlements, to which his able management of the Peak troubles had at length given peine and quiet, be joined Colonel Bcratchlov at Melbourne to co-operate with him ami discuss the question of Australian defences. WhHeUuas engaged, the lijveianient of South Aus.

trail i w tdculy (el) laoant through the t deplorable illness of 81* William Cairn-. I and Sit William Jervois, t,> the delight of I the was forthwith inducted into \ the place. He has held office littlo more ] than six months, and yet the announce- I spent of his return to England—in which M hut within the lost few days arrived— I .vas hailed with unfeigned regret, not unmixed with apprehension that he docs not mean to return. Such rumours are probably absolutely groundless. Sir William's temporary loaveof absence has lieen rendered imperative- by the pressure of private affairs, and he himself affirms that he is most anxious in due course to return. But the general expression of regret at his departure, and the fear that accompanies is tho'best proof of the estimation iu which he is held. Already Sir William Jervois has given abundant evidence of that untiring energy which is one of his strongest characteristics. To matters of deep Colonial importance he has given already the fullest and most concentrated attention. In such works as the engineering operations for improving the mouths of the Murray, and reducing the difficulties of its navigation, he is naturally quite at home; but hi.s eager spirit throws itself also into all questions which affect the general welfare of tho province. He has a plain, straightforward method of dealing with men which soon wins them over to his views. His manner is short and sharp, after the way of his cloth, ami his speech rapid; he goes straight to his point without circumlocution or delay. This plain speaking, all who serve with or under him have already learnt to appreciate. He may tell colonists just as he has told colleagues or subordinates many home truths in somewhat brusque, decisive language, but the evident honesty of purpose which underlies them removes almost before it is formed any unpleasant impression they might occasion, when the scarcity of ' domestic servants in South Australia has , grown into a positive nuisance h~ will not hesitate probably to recommend the inportation of Chinese, just as he would have told the Canadians they must substitute new for old methods of defence. This conviction that bis advice and all his utterances have but one object—tho advancement of the public good —has secured for him, and will probably prc- . serve, his popularity. He will have the , opportunity of largely increasing it on . his return by his hospitalities at Govern- [ meut House, it is not too much to say l that the success of each regime is not a 1 little dependent upon social conditions. , Adelaide has so long been widowed in ithis respect that it welcomes with additional pleasure tie'return of a Governor wiio comes back as a family man.