xx Proceedings, Sec. 



Extract from private letter to His Excellency, the President, from 

 Sir Roderick Murchison, as also a dispatch from His Grace the 

 Duke of Newcastle, accompanying the gold watch forwarded for 

 presentation to Mr. John King, were read. 



His Excellency then addresssed Mr. King, as follows : — 



" I feel, Mr. King, that it would be almost superfluous on my part 



" to add much to the encomiums passed upon you by such high 



" authorities ; and to one so modest, as I know you are, I dare say it 



" would be even painful if I were to enter at any length upon a recital 



" of the claims which I consider you possess upon the gratitude and ad- 



" miration of your fellow-colonists. Gratifying as it must be toyou,after 



" the liberal honour and rewards which the Legislature and people of 



" Victoria have bestowed upon you, to receive this crowning mark of 



" recognition of your services from' your fellow-countrymen at home, 



" I can quite conceive that it would be more congenial to your own 



" feelings if I had delivered it to you in my own private room. Still 



" I felt it to be a matter of duty, on an occasion of this kind, to make 



" the ceremony as public as possible, not only in justice to yourself,, 



" but for the sake of the example which your conduct has afforded to 



u all who may be placed in similarly trying circumstances. I felt 



" sure that even if you entertained any idea of surviving, nothing 



" was further from your thoughts than any considerations of glory 



" or honour when you knelt by the side of the dying Burke to receive 



" his latest injunctions, or when you turned back to perform the last 



" sad offices for your departed comrade, Wills. You did your duty, 



" I am sure, simply because you felt it was your duty. A Christian — 



" you knew it was a privilege to minister to suffering humanity. 



11 A soldier — you never dreamt of swerving from the unalterable 



" fidelity which you knew you owed your leader. In such, a trying 



" position as that in which you were placed, with the bonds of dis- 



" cipline relapsed, the instincts of self-preservation have often led 



11 men to act selfishly. Others, in your position, might have thought 



" that, being stronger than the rest of the party — able to pursue game — 



" catch fish — or pound nardoo — it would have been consistent with 



" duty to escape to the nearest settlement, perhaps with the vague 



" idea of sending back assistance to your comrades. I feel satisfied 



" that any thought of deserting never crossed your mind — that you 



" abandoned all desire to save yourself alone, and that you were 



" determined to share the fate of your companions. The result has 



" proved that you acted rightly and properly. Your example may 



" serve to teach us that ' the path of duty ' generally under pro- 



" vidence is ' the path of safety,' and what is about to take place 



" to-night will also_teach another lesson, 



' That duty never yet did want its meed,' 

 " I may also refer to the fortunate circumstance that our meeting 

 (t should be graced by the presence of a gentleman who, partly from 



