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Show "A Nation Maker" THE NATION reviews the autobiography of Sir George Gray by Mr. James Collier. From it we make a brief synopsis, for as we esteem es-teem the man, Sir George Gray was one of the foremost men of his generation. Even as Carlyle in his own way said: "He was born of the Terra Glenldae, built four square, solid as one fitted to strongly meet the winds of heaven and the waves of fate." In his veins the blood of three races was mingled, but at different limes each had its influence upon his character and acts. He was allied with a famous English family with a strong Irish Infusion; then his mother was a Vignolles, and from her came a forceful strain of Huguenot blood. Then he was born in Lisbon, In 1812, shortly after his father at the head of the Thirty-third Thirty-third Regiment was killed at Badajoy. He grew up a soldier, but after 1815, there were no Important Im-portant wars for England and Gray turned to a bold exploration of Western Australia. Then ho became governor of Australia, twice governor-general governor-general of New Zealand and twice high commissioner commis-sioner lo South Africa. , In (these respective positions ho did more to- !' ward thesordering and upbuilding of the English societies inches south seas than any other dozen men. He was a past-master in dealing with savage sav-age races. He never assumed that the might of the white man made the absorption of the off-colored off-colored man's domain right. In his view the bar- $& barian had a right to his habitat, though but sparsely settled and mough ultilized only for the chase. He insisted that a full equivalent must be given and beyond that the obligation should be recognized that a hand should be extended to the inferior race to enable it to rise in the scale. This the statesmen of England held to be ex- I travagant and Quixotic. His policy with the i Maoris was that of a sympathetic friend and ' protector. He sought them in their huts, learned their language, studied their traditions, stood between them and the land-grabbers, $ schooled them, insisted upon tneir legislative rep- resentation and worked to secure a society in rf. which the two races could live together in peace. j He won their good wl'l and confidence and to this day that race holt, him as the only one who ever was a real governor. He went as high commissioner to South Africa j when the Boers were unfriendly and the Zulus and Kaffirs were fierce and hostile, but he In a j llttlo while by his strict justice and tactful discipline disci-pline tamed them. In the midst of his work there the Indian mutiny broke out, and he stripped his own state of soldiers and war ma-i ma-i terial to reinforce the British in Bengal. He had f just been at war with the natives around him and when he sent away the soldiers, the colonists j there thought they would be destroyed. But Gray f . went to each important chief, told them frankly i what had been done, that England was In a perilous crisis, that the colony was quite bare of defenders and Ue relieu upon the chiefs to observe in that straight and strict terms of peace and every chief stood steadfast to his agreement. Then he tried to form a federation with the Boers, something like that which exists today, but the Kome government would not permit it. Had he been listened to the Boer war with its . losses and humiliation might have been avoided. w But after all the ruling thought of his life was to secure more comforts and more rights for the poor. He toiled for this among the Boers, it was a hope that he might find a land where the poor on small estates might settle and make their way, that caused him to explore West Australia. In 1867 he stood for parliament, but was defeated de-feated by Gladstone because he favored home rule for Ireland. Some years later, true to his own variable nature, Gladstone came around to the views held by Gray in 1867. Sir George was self-willed and when opposed was insubordinate, but it was because he knew he was right and knew how narrow and small the men who opposed op-posed him were. He died in 1898 and was given sepulchre in old St. Paul, close beside Wellington and Nelson, and he was worthy of that company. |