AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE. 805 



had so lovingly painted ; but above Clarke's and Gordon's 

 graves bloom the wild flowers of that far south land, in which 

 they, doubtless, confidently trusted to gather easily won 

 wealth, and to quit with but scant regret. To each was it 

 denied 



" One day to stand by the grey old grange 



While the children would gather all shy and strange 



As he entered the well-known door." 



Still, as long as Australians forget not the language of their 

 forefathers, as long as Milton and Shakes])eare are among 

 the echoes of a bygone glorious day, so long will the 

 memory of these men be left green amid Australian wastes 

 by wood and wold. 



" While the stock are slowly stringing 

 And ' Clancy rides behind them singing,' " 



be sure that " How we beat the Favourite," " The Lay of 

 Britoraarte," "The Ride for the Wreck," or "The Sick 

 Stockrider " will be among the chants. Long years will pass 

 before more critical students will cease to measure the force 

 and beauty of certain verses of the " Rhyme of Joyous 

 Guard " with the Arthurian ballads of England's greatest 

 poet. And from generation to generation, so long as in tale 

 or in tradition lives the sombre legend of the historic prison- 

 house of Port Arthur, so long as the storm waves of the 

 moaning main beat against the rock walls of the Isle of the 

 Dead, Tasmania will shudder over the horrors of those 

 mouldering dungeons, and pilgrims mourn over the hapless 

 fate of Rufus Dawes as they read that terribly relentless 

 lurid record, " His Natural Life." 



Mr. John Lang (not related to the distinguished clergyman 

 of that name) was one of the Sydney Grammar School pupils 

 as far back as 1834. At an early age he began to exhibit 

 exceptional ability. He was fortunate in being able to go 

 " home " (long may it be ere this good old synonym for 

 Britain be discarded by Australians), and to be entered at an 

 English University. There he took his degree, was admitted 

 to the bar, and returned to Sydney with the intention of 

 entering the political arena under the segis of Mr. Wentworth. 

 After a short experience he decided to try his fortune at the 

 Indian bar. An admirable hnguist and admittedly brilliant 

 advocate, he there acquired both fame and fortune, more 

 than one of the latter, it is said, but unfortunately dispersed 

 almost as soon as made. He was connected at the time with 

 one of the leading newspapers ( The EnglishrnanJ , He amused 



