THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 203 



of Colonial Government his bias against the Council, which he 

 declared ought to be a nominee body and not electoral, and his 

 approval of Berry's methods generally is unmistakable. The final 

 decision of the Secretary of State was adverse to Sir George's claim, 

 that, during the whole controversy, he was ' ' the one public man in 

 the colony who kept his temper unruffled, his head cool and his 

 hand firm and steady," while maintaining absolute neutrality. Sir 

 Michael Hicks-Beach weighed all the evidence, he received deputa- 

 tions, pondered over Parliamentary addresses, and concluded that 

 it would not tend to political peace to renew the Governor's term 

 in Victoria, where his actions had aroused the expression of such 

 strong feeling. Sir George Bowen had written to the Colonial 

 Office: "I receive frequent proofs that no previous Governor of 

 Victoria has been so strong as I am in the general support and 

 sympathy of the great majority of the community, and the only 

 persons who regard me with hostility are a few members of the 

 faction who had previously assailed in a similar manner all my pre- 

 decessors in the Government of Victoria ". Apart from its bald 

 egotism the statement was far from accurate. It was appraised at 

 its proper value in London, and he was transferred a few months 

 later to Mauritius, then a Crown colony, where his robust per- 

 sonality and somewhat assertive egotism would find a freer scope 

 for action. 



But before his release he had to be further identified with the 

 Berry policy, especially in connection with the much ridiculed 

 " Embassy," which he had the pleasure of seeing off. In the 

 speech which His Excellency read at the opening of Parliament in 

 July, he promised a measure of constitutional reform which would 

 put an end for all time to the recurrence of these periodical dead- 

 locks which were disgracing Victoria. He said he felt sure, though 

 certainly his experience hardly justified the statement, that the 

 measure would be considered from a patriotic point of view by 

 members of both Houses, irrespective of party. He outlined many 

 other things, but this was the magnum opus of the session, and its 

 great importance would probably preclude members from giving 

 attention to any other legislation. In this surmise he certainly 

 proved correct. 



