OUR ILLUSTRATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1216, 28 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR ILLUSTRATION.

HON. WILLIAM BEDE DALLEY, Q,C, Mr. Dalley ™ born in Sydney, -in 1831, and was educated first at ,the : old Sydney College,'and then at St Mary's College, which at that time was under the immediate supervision'of the late Arohbishop Polding, His education, !finished, he read for and was called in 1856. !Even .before that as an orator, and was regarded by the native! party in New, South Wales as the legitimate l jraccessbr..of the, great Australian.,patriot, j [William Charles Wentworth, whose powers were'at that time'oh the'wane,. Mr.! Dalley combined in a very remarkable 'degree or'a{torical and literary powers!; his sympathies .'were thoroughly wi th the .people, 'and it was .confidently expected that with'the .opening for his great abilities which wouldbe afforded by. the, .inauguration of ,a Parliament from which-the objectionable nominee element was eliminated, and ".by .the introduction-of [responsible Government, Mr. Dalley would speedily attain'unto the very highest position at the bar and in the senate of l}is nativo land, , Nor were the expectations 6i his friends doomed to' disappointment.., 'Twelve i months, after he had bfcen called to the bfir, at which he readily obtained .a'consideribie amount of practice, Mr. Dalley was returned, to tlie Legislative Assembly for the city of Sydney, taving defeated Mr', John Fairfax, 'the head of. the family Iwliich owns the 1 Sydney' Morning Herald, the original; founder of that journal. 'Mr, Dalley was '.one of'the , dearest friends 'of .Mn Charles Cowper, and'haying, in'conjunctioh with'.the late Daniel Henry Den'eihy,' thprbughly identified himself ; with the policy of hia political •chief, was asked to'join, as Solicitor-Generiil, the Cabinet tfhidh'Mr. Cowper formed in '1857. Mr, Dalley consented with great re'luotance, 'for'he'felt'that. his'standing at;the bar was 'soarc'ely sufficient for -a' Crown law officer, and he surrendered his position,,after holding it for 1 three ihontha, .in.favor'of .Mr, "Hargrave, afterwards a judge of tlie Supreme Court, !.'''■.'

But'if Ur."Baiiflgr .had'-not at' that'time! won 'his, .spurs as a lawyer, ;he ,M already i acquired the reputation of & 'great Orator. In the words' of Mr. Bnrton, work blithe 'PotfaM'Prose Writers of New South' Wile;, AVith, unusual quietness of perception, 'he (Mr. 'Dalley) embraces .great command of language, 'irresistible Humor,' 'aiid all the! minor .essentials of oratorical success.' Is! ail impromptu humorist, 'he.has never'been; 'excelled in this' country. ' His'humpr :is an! instinct, and not a result of study.' In fact,! •he.possesses no'faoulty for study or elabora-| tion of any kind, So much is this the case 1 'thatit is questionable whether any .amount' of elaboration wbul'd at all improve hisj ' powers. There are men of letters who, while! ' totally devoid of all humor.in their conversa-j tion, and of all power to impress'a publici • audience by its means; can yet with pen and ink the finest and most delicate ! specimens of this delightful quality. But it' is probable that were Mr. Dalley to attempt! this kind of manufacture; his'humor would; 'evaporate in the;process, arid nothing •would; 'be left but a bare network of elegant seiiJ tences.' It ia'a natural result of this.pecn-! liarity'thathis writing should be no adequate! 'representation' of his'powers," "In, many ie-i J spects Mr, Dalley resembles the late Butler Oble'Aspinall. But he has his powers much' better under his command than the Victorian 1 'barrister. The happier efforts of the latter! [■were almost always impromptus, and it was 'rarely that either at the bar or in Parlia-: .ment he rose to the level of a great oppor-; : tunity, We recolhct hearing these two great •rivals pitted against each other ontwo occa.; sions. The first was a sort of mock trial at : which 1 the Duke of Edinburgh was present, i : when'a distinguished 'tragedian, the late ' Walter Montgomery, was tried for murdering Sbakspeare. We believe that we echo the' ■opinion of everyone who heard the witty,! scholarly and brilliant speeches which were' delivered upon that evening,' that Mr. Dalley was facile jrinccps. Singularly enough, a; ' (ew months afterwards we were present at the trial, at Sydney, of H.J; O'tacll, for shooting the Duke of Edinburgh, Upon that ; occasion Mr. Dalley and Mr Asphalt were retained for the defence, and we certainly con- ■ sider that the former showed to the greatest • advantage 1 as an ' advocate and as an orator,; Nor is it only in the forum and the senate •,that Mr,-Dalley has gained :his triumphs,: However inferior his writings to his speeches, l l it is none the less ? true that as a man of ■ letters he has few rivals, and no superior, in 1 New South Wales, His Political Biograp'hies, which appeared in the Sydney Punchy are masterpieces of exquisite irony, and the A u.| tobiography of a, Public Man of Four Weeks'. •' Standing is a very vivid picture of the brutali-' ■ ties, of anelection, as they must appear to every. 'sensitive and cultivated candidate, partiou-l larly if he' happens; to be unsuccessful, Un-' fortunately, i most of Mr. Dalley'a works 1 have been published in the shape of contributions to the daily'and weekly press of: Sydney. They do not possess the finish even of magazine articles, and their author has never taken the trouble either to rforreot' his; works, or to' publish them in a connected' form.

In 1859, Mr, Dalley visited Europe for the first time. Previous to his departure he was entertained by alarge number of leading colonists at a publio banquet at the Prince of Wales's Theatre. In England he made the acquaintance of Mr. John Bright, and had thri happiness of seeing a great deal of him'du'ring his brief visit. He travelled through Prance, 1 Germany and' Italy, and on his return to, Sydney accepted a commission from thq Government to revisit England in company with Sir' Henry (then Mr.) Parkes, for the purpose of representing the resources and advantages of the colony as a field for immigration. After remaining about twelve months in England Mr. Dalley returned to Sydney, He was again elected to Parliament, but ate the dissolution did not seek reelection, much to the disappointment of his friends, political and private, who. augured the most successful career for their favorite, But Mr.' Dalley appeared to have had enough of public life. A great social success, with a large practice at the ; bar,- possessed of considerable private fortune, and honored with the intimacy of the moat distinguished persons in the colony, he preferred to devote himself to his profession, and to employ his leisure in literary pursuits, His contributions to the Sydn«7 Morning Herald were very numerous,'and during the first year of the existence of Sydney Punch he was a constant contribute It was during this period of his life that Mr. Dalley married the sister of Lady' Martin. He is now a widower, and finds abundant occupation in superintending the education of his children,-, In 1875, at the earnestand persistent solid; 'tation of his old friend, Sir John Robertson, Mr. Dalley took office in" his Ministry as Attorney-General, with a seat in the Legislative Council, and remained with him till the defeat of his Administration in-March, 1877, During the period Of holding the position; of Attorney-General, Mr. Dalley had to deal with ii variety of puzzling and complex matters, and his opinions on cases submitted to him are contained in five closely printed volumes, which were published by : the .Government printer, -The Parkes Ministry; which succeeded that in .which Mr, Dalley

.-v M was Attorney-General,' lasted .0$ . .M months, and jwhen: Sir Jojm turned ; to office ,thg position ;pf Attorne, ; General was again filled by tiie uubjcot il' our,sketoh;• A feiv.monthe'later the Robe; ( • son Miniatry<was again defeated,,9nd a (ilition, Government to formed in whirl,' Mr. Dalley bad no place. le led the Oppsition in.the Council in Jts successful .effoi j •to repulse the onslaught which Sir Hem;, .Parkes, inade against Its independenci. .About 'this timej, the health of Mr, gave way and heretired from politiealUfe/ %-t a time .his life was endangered, and althsuj he. is now. yery much better, his appearances are few and fftf between.: Bv ; ! .he atllLdons his wigand:gown :on yory in;.iportant cases, and very recently lie' madei< verybriljiantapecch at the bar qf the Legi.r latiye,CnunciLori behalf of thoiChineae'ime;-- 1 chants. of Sydney against .the provisions ,c; "the CDhinese Regulation Act, , .; Mr.Dalley^as'.offered, and.,declined, ,» place ,upqn the Bench of the Supreme,Goun .after' the.denth of, Mr.. Justice .Cheeke,; ,am> it was his' advice ' that Sir Willian. Montague [Mapning ( was appointed ,to ,tlwVacancy, Mr. Dalley was made a .'Queen's .Counsel by Sir.Herculea Robinson upon his retirement from ]tlio .office ,of AttorneyGeneral. jMi*. Pulley's laafc greafc sjjopohwas on ,t|ie ocgasion qf, a dinner .given to,, ;Mj, .Archibald F.orbe'si to .welcome the. arrival '.of,'that...distinguished'war , correspondent iin 'Australia. Mr. D,alloy left his retirement at Moss'Me arid made : an oration .remarkable for its erudition, its„<;lopencp, .its .wit .and fancy Probably no bettor,after-dinnerbpepch w,as any .world. .Til'e ionly.'pity.'was that such ,riot, delivered on some greater ..occasion, and 'before .a larger audience,