James Francis Hogan

“ Melbourne is the metropolis of Australia, the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere, the great centre of antipodean life and activity. When it is remembered that fifty years ago a forest of gum-trees occupied the site on which this bustling city now stands, and that, within the recollection of many living persons, black fellows have encamped where colossal banks and stately public buildings now rear their lofty heads against the blue Australian sky, it is not surprising that visitors should be amazed at what they see before them. ”

“ Oh, to think that a land so blest, so rich in all that renders life happy, bountiful and great—so kindly formed to be a refuge and a sweet abiding place in these latter times for the younger children of the old, decrepid, worn-out world at home—to think that such a land is doomed to be the prison, the workshop, and the grave of the empire's outcast poverty, ignorance and guilt This is a sad, revolting thought, and the reflections which spring from it cast a gloom over the purest and the happiest minds. ”

“ A huge monolith of granite marks the spot in the Melbourne Cemetery where Burke and his faithful coadjutor. Wills, sleep side by side, and on one of the city eminences their statues rest on the same pedestal, telling to each successive generation of young Australians a story of dauntless courage, chivalric heroism, rare fortitude, noble self-sacrifice, and ultimate triumph, only to be followed by the most painful and harrowing of deaths, with friends so near and yet so far. ”

“ The dead past has buried its dead; the island is now purified; as in the parent colony, free immigration has gradually extinguished the evils and almost the remembrance of the convict days, and a new Tasmania has arisen on the ruins of the old penal Van Diemen's Land. As the island has one of the finest climates in the world, it is a favourite resort for excursionists during the summer season. ”

“ One cannot walk about Melbourne without being struck by all that has been done for the welfare of the people generally. There is no squalor to be seen, though there are quarters of the town in which the people no doubt are squalid. In every great congregation of men there will be a residuum of poverty and filth, let humanity do what she will to prevent it. In Melbourne there is an Irish quarter and there is a Chinese quarter, as to both of which I was told that the visitor who visited them might see much of the worse side of life. ”

“ We are glad to know and to hear from themselves that they do not forget, and that they do not ignore, the little island of their birth. Gentlemen, it befits a man, whatever his nationality, to remember his own country, and to call it by its own name, not to ignore it, not to seem to think that no such geographical entity exists on the face of the earth. You are citizens of the British Empire, subjects of the British Crown, but, I ask you, are you not proud to be self-governing communities? Gentlemen, your connection with the British Empire is a link of love and affection ”

“ He was perfectly satisfied to leave his character to witnesses of that sort scattered over Australia. They could tell how the main part of his life in Ireland had been spent in combining hostile sects into a national party, and how in furtherance of that object he had co-operated with men of honour, wholly irrespective of creed. They must not shrink from the work before them, if they would not have that fine country swayed by the narrow spirit of a parish vestry, instead of the generous ambition of a young nation. ”

“ Yet, Sir, there is one heroic achievement open to us, and that is to confer upon this country that large measure of freedom, under the protecting shade and influence of which, an ennobling and exalting patriotism may at last arise, which will enable the youth of this colony—the youth of future ages—to emulate the ardour, the zeal and the patriotism of the glorious youth of Sparta and of Rome, and teach and make them feel that ennobling sentiment which is conveyed in the line of the Roman lyric, Dulce et decorum est pro patriâ mori. ”

“ No name could have been more suitable or appropriate during the decade that the locality remained a pastoral solitude, but it completely lost its significance when the mineral wealth of Ballarat became known to the world, and thousands of gold-seekers from every civilised country came rushing southwards like a mighty human avalanche. In every infant settlement it is only natural that adventurous spirits should be found forming themselves into exploring parties, with the object of ascertaining the capabilities of the back country. ”

“ Though no longer in Parliament, and though now hampered with judicial restraints, he is still their leading platform orator whenever the interests of labour are endangered or some new reform has to be gained, and the enthusiastic cheering that greets his appearance at a great public meeting in Melbourne is a pleasing proof that the populace is not invariably fickle. Mr. Higinbotham may be the exception that proves the rule, but here at least is one public man who has never forfeited the favour of a democratic people, and whose popularity has only been mellowed by time. ”

“ For more than thirty years two great streams of emigration have been flowing from Ireland, the larger shaping its course across the Atlantic and discharging its human freight on the shores of the Great Republic of the West, the smaller in volume turning to the South, and, after traversing half the circumference of the globe, striking against the sunny shores of Australia. As a consequence of the comparative proximity of America to the Old World, no difficulty whatever has been experienced in arriving at a true estimate of the position and prospects of the Irish transplanted to the West. ”

“ We, men of Ireland, claim no monopoly of patriotism, but we do say no country is more loved by its people than our dear old Ireland, whose brave generous children have at all times regarded their country with a loyal love second only to their love of God, and never with greater intensity than at the present time, for assuredly we look forward to a serene and happy future beyond the tearful clouds of this troubled present. ”

“ On the subject of the enchanting scenery of Tasmania, many writers have exhausted the vocabulary of praise. John Mitchel's "Jail Journal," in particular, contains some exquisite descriptions of the loveliness of the interior of this "isle of beauty." And his brother-exile, Thomas Francis Meagher, has written on the same theme in this rapturous strain: "So far as heaven has ordered, and the Divine Hand has blessed it, it is a beautiful, noble island. In most, if not all, of those gifts which constitute the strength, the true wealth, and grandeur of a country, it has been beneficially endowed. ”

“ Friends and foes alike have been enabled to closely follow their movements, to study their mode of life under altered conditions, to ascertain the opinion held respecting them by people of other nationalities, and to determine whether or not the virtues characteristic of the old land flourish on the soil of the new. And splendidly have the Irish-Americans as a body borne this crucial test. Not on the authority of friendly critics alone, but many foes of his faith and fatherland have been forced to acknowledge the genuine worth of the typical Irish-American. ”

“ On the Sunday after his arrival, Father Dunne celebrated the first mass that was offered up in what is now the episcopal city of Ballarat, and afterwards it became a familiar and a very edifying spectacle to see, every Sunday morning, hundreds of rough, red-shirted, long-bearded diggers devoutly kneeling outside in the open air, whilst the Holy Sacrifice was being offered up in the tent. The pioneer priest of the gold-fields made himself in all respects as one of the people around him. ”

“ Whatever differences of opinion may divide us—differences perhaps incidental to the working of constitutional government in a young community—we must all concur in testifying our admiration of a gentleman who has dedicated to the honourable, but arduous and unthankful, labours of political life, great abilities, vigorous thought, anxious study, and long experience, unquestionable honesty of purpose, indomitable energy, and a resolute devotion to what he believes to be the true and permanent interests of the country. ”

“ Chisholm, do be a mother to me and give me a wife; the smile of a woman has never welcomed me home after a hard day's work—you'll have pity on me—you don't mean to say No; you'll never be so cruel as to say No. It makes a man's heart light to look at your camp. Now, you don't mean to say you have not got a nice girl from Tipperary. Never mind the breakfast; I could keep the whole party for a week; and what peace of mind it would be to you to know what a kind husband I shall make for one of your girls. ”

“ It has often struck me, when sailing up the bay, what a thrilling spectacle it will be to a Catholic immigrant to see, as he approaches our shores, our noble tower crowned by the Catholic cross, telling him that even in this remote corner of the globe he will not be an outcast or a stranger, but will find himself amongst brethren of the faith. ”

“ Among the first of the visitors to the ship was a Catholic priest. As soon as he stepped on board, he called on all who might be Catholics to come forward. The most stalwart of the group of emigrants advanced at once and grasped the hand of paternal welcome held out by Father Geoghegan. That meeting was the commencement of a lifelong friendship. The discerning eye of the wise ecclesiastic took in at a glance the promising look of the new arrival; and his satisfaction was not lessened when he learned that the young emigrant had brought with him a young wife. ”

“ In its early days, the best classical scholar that Melbourne possessed was an Irishman rejoicing in the rolling name of Daniel Wellesley O'Donovan. He once held a good position in the colony, but he lost it through his fondness for the bottle. He then sank by degrees in the social scale, until finally he became a groom in the stable of Mr. Justice Willis, an irascible gentleman who prided himself on his classical knowledge, and who invariably opened each session of his court with a pedantic address crowded with Latin and Greek quotations. ”

“ No public man's speeches are more universally read than his, or have exercised a more ennobling influence on the formation and development of the Australian character. A born orator, he has supplemented his natural gifts with a rare and ripe scholarship, that enables him to draw from many sources a lavish wealth of illustration, a pleasing facility of application, and a command of the choicest and most convincing language. ”

“ It is a strange and striking anomaly that Ireland should be the only place on the face of the earth where Irishmen are not permitted to govern. History shows how Irish governors have been mainly instrumental in building up and consolidating the colonial empire of Britain, and yet, during the currency of the nineteenth century, Ireland has never had a viceroy chosen from her own distinguished sons. Englishmen and Scotchmen have been regularly sent to govern a nation that supplied rulers to every quarter of the civilised globe. ”

“ If this were a political demonstration—which it is not, and never should be—I might properly say that while our immediate duty is to provide for the removal of a paltry pecuniary deficit, which can be instantly effaced by a little self-denial and a slight immediate personal sacrifice there, at the heart of the Empire, the deficit to be met is one which has gone through centuries of accumulated indebtednessness—a deficit which retrenchment cannot help to extinguish nor fresh taxation efface; which can only be met and removed by heroic justice, and a statesmanship little short of inspiration. ”

“ Everywhere the axe of the woodman is heard resounding through the forest; cleared and cultivated spaces are beginning to be numerous; rivers are being bridged and brought under subjection, and the whole face of the country is losing its primeval wildness and gradually assuming an aspect of civilisation and advancement. Gipps Land is becoming, in short, what Henry Kingsley, the novelist, looking down from an Alpine height upon its untamed luxuriance more than thirty years ago, predicted it would one day be—"the garden of Australia." ”

“ Sydney is now approaching the close of the first century of its existence, and it may be aptly described as a fully-developed antipodean city of great commerce and industrial activity. Situated on the southern shores of Port Jackson, most lovely and capacious of harbours, Sydney is able to welcome the mercantile marine of the world, and to receive trading representatives of all nations at her very doors. As the oldest city of the colonies, Sydney presents a variety of quaint aspects that differentiate it from all its younger rivals. ”

“ Am I wrong, then, in thinking that, when the impartial historian comes to record the early struggles for Liberalism in Australia, the name of Wilson Gray will stand high amongst the statesmen and politicians of the past? I know of no one's career better fitted to inspire our young colonists with enthusiasm and with a desire so to act that their lives may not be forgotten. Gray strove to so frame the laws and carry on the administration of the government, that the evils which had afflicted? ”

“ Geoghegan told me how he was struck by the appearance of them both. As he gazed upon the young man, who was tall, athletic and of intelligent appearance, and on the young girl, who had more than an ordinary share of good looks and whose face was beaming with hope and gladness, he felt instinctively that those two were cut out by nature to help in making a new community prosperous, and he lost no time in trying to persuade them to cast their lot on the banks of the Yarra Yarra. He told them that Sydney was overdone, and Melbourne would prove a richer field for young folk such as they. ”