MR. LATROBE AS SUPERINTENDENT 241 



abnegation which sometimes unhappily permitted him to be swayed 

 in those decisions by stronger minds, too frequently animated by 

 selfish considerations. His conscientiousness was almost as pro- 

 nounced as that of George Higinbotham, but he lacked the firmness 

 of character and the indifference to public outcry which marked 

 the Spartan intellect of that eminent politician and judge. 



It was one of the favourite gibes of Latrobe's detractors in the 

 press to represent that Glenelg intended him for the position of 

 a kind of superior Protector of the aborigines, and that by accident 

 he had been pitchforked into that of a ruler of men of more capacity, 

 more spirit and more backbone than himself. Such taunts as these, 

 and many other misrepresentations, both of his actions and his 

 motives, he allowed to pass without vindicating himself, satisfied 

 in his own integrity, hating contention, and believing that truth 

 must prevail without his championship. 



And so he grew more retiring as the years went on, less ready 

 to be trotted out on every public occasion, and more wedded to the 

 happy domesticity of his Jolimont cottage, his books, and to the 

 absorption of his voluminous correspondence with Sir George Gipps 

 and the contentious Aboriginal Protectors. 



The extravagant panegyrics with which the Port Phillip Patriot 

 heralded his arrival were couched in the superlative degree, as 

 the following sample will show : " He comes to us as our good 

 genius, to assist to develop our resources, and place us high in the 

 scale of Colonies. Colonies ! nay, he comes here to found a mighty 

 Empire ! And if his conduct here may be judged of by his former 

 life, then he comes determined to perform for this country those 

 services which will hand him down to posterity as a patriotic 

 founder of a new state." 



Even before he had set foot in Melbourne the local press waxed 

 indignant over the paltriness of the salary allotted to the office. 

 It was impossible, they declared, that he could support the state 

 required by his position amongst " the rich proprietary of Port 

 Phillip " on such a miserable pittance as 800 a year, with a paltry 

 allowance of 225 for a secretary and sundries. They declared 

 that the colonists would not be satisfied until it was made 2,000. 

 Comparing these wild outpourings in 1839 with the tone of the 

 VOL. i. 16 



