a commission (given him in the previous December) to replace Colonel Gawler in the government of the settlement, the latter having "outrun the constable" in promoting the development of the colony, and had his bills dishonoured by the Home Government, when he drew upon them to defray the cost of the works which he had started. By a rigid system of economy, not very pleasant for those whose position was affected by it, Captain Grey restored the balance of the finances and gained the good opinion of the Colonial Office to such a degree, that in 1845 he was appointed Governor of New Zealand, where even greater difficulties awaited him—difficulties which the imperial authorities relied (not in vain) upon his courage and statesmanship to surmount. Lord Stanley (afterwards Earl of Derby) showed his acumen in selecting him to succeed Governor Fitzroy (q.v.). Sir George arrived at Auckland on Nov. 14th. A short time previously Kororarika had been sacked by the chiefs Heke and Kawiti, who were at open war with the Government; but, by his judicious treatment of the neutral chiefs, and his vigorous operations against the rebels, Captain Grey succeeded in quelling the revolt. During the remainder of his term of office he had continual difficulties with the Maoris to settle, and was also involved in difficulty in regard to the grants of land to missionaries. On Nov. 29th, 1848, he issued an "Ordinance to provide for the establishment of Provincial Legislative Councils" as a preliminary to the granting of representative government to the colony. He desired to establish a Legislative Council, elected by the provincial councils, and an Assembly elected by the people: unicameral Provincial Councils, of which one-third should be nominated by the Crown and two-thirds elected; municipal corporations, with a £10 burgess and £5 rural suffrage for Europeans who could write and read and a suffrage for Maoris owning property worth £200. On Dec. 19th he appointed six members of the Legislative Council of New Munster. But this action roused the hostility of the colonists, who decried it as a piece of "absolutism," and in 1849 a "Settlers' Constitutional Association" was formed, including amongst its members Mr. (afterwards Sir) William Fitzherbert, Mr. (now Sir) William Fox, Dr. Featherston, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) Frederick Weld. Earl Grey, however, supported the Governor's action, and on Dec. 22nd, 1849, the royal approval of the Ordinance was given. The discontent in the colony increased; Mr. Godley joined the agitation; and Mr. Fox sought an interview with the Colonial Secretary to protest. In Feb. 1852 Lord John Russell's Government went out of office; and Sir John Pakington, who succeeded Lord Grey at the Colonial Office, brought in a bill in May by which six provinces were created in New Zealand—namely, Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, Otago, and New Plymouth. On Jan. 17th, 1853, Sir George Grey proclaimed this Constitution Act, and on Feb. 28th he defined the limits of the provinces which had been left to his discretion, and made other regulations as to Crown lands, superintending registration of elections, etc. In 1849 he had persuaded the Home Government not to deport convicts to New Zealand. In Dec 1853 he left the colony, at first merely on leave of absence, but was appointed Governor of the Cape in 1854. There he exhibited extraordinary administrative and military capacity, breaking the back of a threatened Kaffir uprising of very dangerous proportions by his diplomatic skill, and on his own responsibility sending troops and money to India during the mutiny. The latter incident is thus described by an evidently well-informed writer: "In 1857, while Governor of Cape Colony, he was called upon by Lord Elphinstone, then Governor of Bombay, to assist in the defence of the British Empire in India; and it so happened that just at this time a part of Lord Elgin's army, on their way to Canton to punish the Chinese, touched at Cape Town. These Sir George Grey, on his own authority, directed to Calcutta, two days only after receiving Lord Elphinstone's letters, together with a part of the artillery stationed there, fully horsed, and transmitted from the Cape Treasury £60,000 in specie, continuing to forward both men and horses. Knowing the cavalry and artillery must be supplied, he dismounted his own cavalry and artillery, even taking the horses from his own carriage to keep up the supply.
199
