206 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



personnel could be changed, and he had quietly made up his mind 

 to appeal to the Colonial Office to intervene by a direct Act of the 

 Imperial Parliament. For months he had been engaged with the 

 Speaker, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, elaborating the grounds upon 

 which he could invoke such interference. So long had this project 

 been contemplated, and known to the Governor, that before it was 

 submitted to Parliament Sir Michael Hicks-Beach had written dis- 

 couraging the idea, even upon the not unreasonable supposition that 

 any such appeal would presumably be the joint work of the entire 

 Legislature. 



In caucus Mr. Berry arranged that an embassy should proceed 

 to England, consisting of the Chief Secretary, the Speaker and Pro- 

 fessor C. H. Pearson. The latter was a recent acquisition to Par- 

 liament, a man of refined mind and cultivated tastes, courteous and 

 polished in speech, but revolutionary in his theories about property. 

 He was an ardent follower of Berry, in the honest but mistaken 

 belief that the sole aim of that politician was the amelioration of the 

 hard lot of the masses. As an erudite historian, a literary critic, and 

 an advocate and exponent of the principles of education in its best 

 sense, the Victorian Assembly has rarely seated his equal. But in 

 the practice of party politics he was often dragged into equivocal 

 positions, the simplicity of his nature rendering him unable to detect 

 in others the skilfully concealed trickery and finesse that so many 

 players of the game believe to be essential to success. Mr. Berry 

 desired to keep from the Opposition all preliminary knowledge of 

 his proposed embassy, and actually proposed a vote of 5,000 to 

 cover its expenses without submitting the names. When, in re- 

 sponse to the demand of Mr. Service, they had to be announced, the 

 Speaker looked uncomfortable, and during the three days over 

 which the debate was prolonged he endeavoured to minimise his 

 share of the business. He had originally fully intended, even 

 strongly desired, to go ; then he had doubts whether he could be 

 spared, whereupon he asked Mr. Berry to find some one else ; 

 when Berry declared he would not release him he yielded once 

 more, and prepared for an effective exit. Then the press began 

 to discuss the matter, and a widespread intimation that Sir Charles 

 did certainly not represent the democracy of the country gave him 



