" PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY " 249 



price realised. And this notwithstanding the fact that another 

 4,000,000 loan had been floated in the interim, and Parliament 

 had authorised still further heavy borrowings. 



The strain of continuous and onerous work in politics, especially 

 in that larger area which was now bringing the colony in touch 

 with international issues, and the demands made upon him by the 

 control of extensive mercantile operations, began to tell upon the 

 health of Mr. Service, whose constitution was not of a robust order. 

 He was only entering his sixty-third year, but his advisers insisted 

 that rest was imperative. December, 1885, saw the close of Vic- 

 toria's twelfth Parliament, and Mr. Service resolved not to offer 

 himself for re-election. Several of his political comrades had 

 passed away during his Premiership, including his intimate friend, 

 Eobert Stirling Anderson ; his old colleague, J. G. Francis ; and 

 his one-time vigorous opponent, James McPherson Grant. At the 

 opening of the through line to Sydney in June, 1883, Mr. Service 

 had voiced his aspirations for a Federated Australia, and declared 

 that he hoped not only to see a Dominion Parliament, but to be a 

 candidate for a seat in it. Now that the Federal Council, the first 

 practical step in that direction, was established, he laid down the 

 insignia of office in Victoria to take part in its opening deliberations. 



In the last days of December, immediately after the prorogation, 

 rumours began to circulate that the coalition Ministry was about 

 to undergo reconstruction. It was said that Messrs. Service and 

 Berry, after representing Victoria at the Federal Council, which 

 was to meet in Hobart in January, would bid farewell to politics, 

 the former to find relaxation in European travel, the latter to 

 assume the position of Agent-General in London at the recently 

 enhanced emolument of 2,500 per annum. As Parliament had 

 but just now separated without any direct announcement that the 

 end was near, there were many expressions of incredulity, and 

 some outcry against the abrupt termination of a Government that 

 had triumphed over the sinister prophecies which heralded its 

 birth, and had also without friction placed to its credit three years 

 of useful legislative work. There were even louder murmurs of 

 discontent when the transfer of Mr. G. B. Kerferd from the 

 Attorney-Generalship to the Supreme Court bench was announced. 



