The harness of empire on him, had been at full strain
all the time. He had come through the passes, alike in the conduct of
wars, and in the higher mission of spreading light and happiness on the
wings of peace. But much sunshine had covered his track, and it was a
light which would not fail.
What think'st thou of our Empire now, though earn'd
With travail difficult?
No, the cold hand of Downing Street intervened; his second Governorship
of New Zealand slammed to a close. It was an era when the Imperial spirit
was niggardly, obscurantist. Brushing aside details, it is easy to see
how the servant and the official masters, choosing different roads, would
ultimately part. The 'dangerous man' was outcast, and thereon he said in
ripeness: 'If my going was equivalent to recall, I have nothing to regret
in what I did. Farther, I think history has vindicated my work as a
whole.'
XVII FOR ENGLAND'S SAKE
'Suppose,' urged Sir George Grey, 'that in my lifetime a hundred men have
died from disappointment and chagrin--that is enough to condemn the whole
system!'
He was speaking of Disraeli's discovery, that the great colonial
Governorships should go to those who had been 'born in the purple' or had
married into it. It was, in a way, a matter personal to him, because the
plan came into operation about the date his Pro-Consulship ceased.
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