He had not a particle of pride or selfishness, hardly even of the
commoner infirmity of vanity. He would, whenever possible, take a
roundabout to escape observation, but if even the humblest colonist
persisted to address him, unrepelled by the evident tendency to "move
on," he would be as frank and unceremonious as our Queen in a Highland
cottage. We regret that so righteously-stored a man should make a bad
Governor; but so it was, none the less.
There was comparatively little damage during the day of smaller things,
prior to the gold. Still, even then, the characteristics told, in the
reluctance to resolve upon action in any departure from the red tape of
the beaten track, in a young settlement of men nearly all in the
exuberant prime of life, and almost daily called upon, amongst
Australian peculiarities, to confront their novel circumstances. For
instance, upon rumours, oft repeated, that there was good workable coal
at Western Port, a party is formed, with capital in readiness, to give
the case a thorough testing; and they, as of course, apply to the
Government to give them all those aids and concessions, or, at least, a
sufficiency of them, which could most easily have been given in that
quarter, for Mr.
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