Читать книгу Life of Sir Henry Parkes - Charles E. Lyne - Страница 5

Table of Contents

The boyhood of Sir Henry Parkes was spent in the Parish of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England, where he was born in the year 1815. The son of an English farmer, the most dearly remembered pleasures of his childhood, he once told a country audience, were enjoyed in an old English farmhouse, situated "in the centre of England, only a few miles from the birthplace of Shakespeare, and within sight of the historical spires of Coventry".

From a boy he was a hard worker. Misfortune befalling his parents in his young life, at eight years of age he was compelled to earn his own living, and from that period to the end of his days, he was, either with his hands or his brains, one of the world's toilers.

This obligation to labour during his childhood and his early manhood, was an insuperable obstacle to his obtaining a suitable education; but he did what other remarkable men have done in their youth: he read every book within his reach, and reflected upon what he read, and he strove generally to so inform himself that his mind should be familiar with everything going on around him. To the full extent of his power he cultivated habits of constant and careful reading and thinking, and with such success that though, at times, a want of educational polish was noticeable in his public utterances, they were remarkable for the wide range of information over which they extended, for their strong grasp of principles, and generally for the intelligent and convincing method employed in dealing with the subject under consideration. In respect of his being essentially a self-taught man, able to supply the deficiencies resulting from the want of proper educational training, so that he might with personal success and public advantage use his natural ability, he stood alone among the public men of New South Wales, and probably of Australia.

Men who were prominent in the early public life of New South Wales are, in comparison with those of the present day, sometimes regarded as giants. The comparison is extreme but not extravagant. Parkes, Wentworth, Lang, Cowper, Martin, Robertson and Dalley, are names which in the history of the colony will always stand high above those of their fellows. Others have been as much before the public, but none have planted themselves as firmly in the estimation of the community, or are so distinctly inscribed upon the roll of famous Australians. A nation had been born only a few years before these great colonists appeared in the country, and it fell largely to them to secure its welfare and progress both in its youth and in its maturity.

Sir Henry Parkes landed in Sydney in the capacity of an ordinary British workman, healthy and strong in mind and body, but poor in pocket. He sometimes told a public assembly of how useful to him was the finding of a sixpence in one of the streets of Sydney soon after he set foot for the first time on Australian soil. Previous to his coming to New South Wales he followed the occupation of a Birmingham mechanic,—a worker in ivory; and a glimpse of his life in the great English manufacturing town may be caught in the picture presented by some lines entitled, "Home of a Birmingham Artisan, twenty years ago", which appear in a small volume of poems he published in 1857:-

"One of a brick-built row in street retired,

A lowly dwelling, so for comfort plann'd,

No foot of room was lost; in nothing grand;

Yet wanting nought which humble heart desired.

Parlour,—with creeping plants the window wired,

The furniture soilless kept by woman's hand,—

In summer like some nook of fairyland,

For winter nights, well hearth-rugg'd and coal-fired.

Snug kitchen in the rear, with childhood's sports

Gracing the threshold, and the home-cured flitch

Within—fair picture 'gainst the poor man's wall!—

Ope to a garden-plot, not crowded courts.

Such our mechanic's home; nor wanted stitch

His decent clothing; and content blessed all."

He arrived in the colony in 1839, an immigrant, with little to bind him to the land he had left but the ties of birthplace and kindred, and with nothing to temper the discouragements surrounding a stranger in a strange land but the hope of being able to find a more comfortable livelihood in a young and necessarily progressive community than seemed possible in England. He was what was called a "bounty immigrant". In those days two classes of immigrants came to New South Wales: Government immigrants and bounty immigrants. The former were brought to Sydney at the expense of the Government; the latter came at the instance of the captains or agents of the ships which carried them, a bounty being paid the ships' representatives for each person whose qualifications were in accord with the Government regulations. The Government immigrants, on arrival, were provided with quarters in the Immigration Barracks, which were situated on the site of the present Government Printing Office, and there they were allowed to remain for a fortnight during which they were available for hire. The bounty immigrants were not so fortunate. No quarters were provided for them at the Immigration Barracks, and their only provision against discomfort, or, it might be, want, was the chance of immediate employment or the possession of a little money. Thus it was that on July 27th, 1839, the day after the barque Strathfieldsaye entered Port Jackson with 203 immigrants on board, including Henry Parkes and his wife, and one child born off Cape Howe, this paragraph appeared in the Sydney Herald:-

"IMMIGRATION. The following is an abstract of the immigrants by the ship Strathfieldsaye, which arrived on Thursday, and is now lying off Walker's Wharf: 29 married and 54 single farm labourers and shepherds; one married and 4 single carpenters; one single printer; 3 single gardeners; and one lawyer, one shoemaker, ONE TURNER, one painter, one whitesmith, one saddler, and one mason—all married; 21 dairymaids and female farm servants; 9 house servants and 2 needlewomen—singlewomen. These people having arrived by a bounty ship are not allowed by the Governor to enter the building erected for the use of immigrants, and therefore we earnestly recommend those persons who are in want of servants to engage them as early as possible in order to prevent them from falling into that distress which is inevitable if they remain long disengaged."

The young immigrant—he was but 24 years of age—suffered many hardships during the first few years after his arrival in Sydney. It was not easy for him to obtain permanent and suitable employment, and he followed two or three occupations before he was, in colonial parlance, able to settle down. After wandering about Sydney for several days he engaged himself as a labourer on the estate of the late Sir John Jamison, at Regentville, near Penrith, where he obtained the experience he was sometimes heard to say he possessed of washing sheep. Then he obtained employment in an ironmongery store, and afterwards in an iron foundry; and for a short period he was a tidewaiter in the Department of the Customs. The last-named position he relinquished in consequence of the results of his drawing prominent attention to what he regarded as malpractices or improprieties in some of the proceedings connected with the work of the Department.

Subsequently he betook himself to the trade he had acquired in England. Having apprenticed himself in Birmingham to an ivory and bone turner, he had learned to use the lathe with skill and effectiveness; and now with a little money he had saved during the time he had been in the colony he opened a small turner's shop, first in Kent-street, and afterwards in Hunter-street, Sydney.

In an old Directory—the City of Sydney Directory for 1844-45—there is the name of "Henry Parkes, Ivory and Bone Turner, Kent-street." In a second edition of the same publication, issued in 1847, but dealing with matters as they were in the year previous, there is, among a list of fourteen persons of similar occupation, the name of "Henry Parkes, Ivory and Bone Turner, 25 Hunter-street", and in another part of the Directory an advertisement of "Henry Parkes, Ivory and Toy Manufacturer, No. 25 Hunter-street", informing the public that he always had on hand a long list of fancy and useful little articles made from ivory or bone.

Few people now know where in Hunter-street this little shop was situated, for not many are alive who can remember the little shop-window showing a lathe, and a tall, strongly built young man, with a remarkable head and thoughtful countenance, hard at work behind it, and a stall-board in front of him containing the articles which were the products of his labour. It stood one door from Hamilton Lane, close to Pitt-street, and until very recently a building of the same kind, which adjoined it, was still in existence, unaltered from what it was fifty years ago. Small in size, quaint in appearance, and encroaching upon the footpath, this relic of the old days was very different from what is usual in the modern style of business architecture; and with an assortment of goods in the window somewhat varied from the curiosities it contained, the shop of the turner of 1846 could easily have been recognised.

From this place of business Henry Parkes removed to a shop built for him, and still standing, on the opposite side of Hunter-street, and near to the George-street corner, where he continued the manufacture and sale of fancy goods until journalism bent his energies in another and more important direction.

But while in the modest structure near Hamilton Lane, and long before a journalistic career was decided upon, it was a common thing to see the young turner hard at work at his lathe, with, more frequently than not, by his side or on the bench in front of him, the newspaper, which as his work would allow, he intently perused. In those days newspapers were neither so plentiful nor so easily obtained as they are now, and the future statesman was obliged to borrow the journal and read it as he worked. Even at the present time this habit of reading in the opportunities afforded by his work is spoken of in terms of admiration by some who observed him at that struggling period. Round about him in his little establishment, displayed for sale, was the collection of useful and fancy articles, most of which his handiness at the lathe had produced—billiard and bagatelle balls, chess and backgammon men, card-counters and whist-markers, ivory and bone whistles, paper knives, ladies' needle-cases, egg-cups, knitting-pins, children's rattles, humming-tops, cups and balls, studs, buttons,—all kinds of little things which a turner in ivory and bone manufactures; and in the production of such articles he was occupied day after day.

He was, however, no ordinary man, and those who were most intimate with him at that date, have asserted this most emphatically. One who knew him well, and can describe the interesting circumstances of the purchase by him of two whale's teeth, which he afterwards turned into bagatelle balls, declares that at all times he was in appearance and in manner superior to the usual type of men. His dress was better than that generally met with, and his bearing reserved and thoughtful. A story is told of him which is typical of his whole career. In the early lives of most distinguished men there have been incidents which have indicated their future prominence, and such are to be found in the early history of Sir Henry Parkes. Having assisted at the first election of Aldermen in the City Council, the part he had taken in the proceedings led a neighbouring tradesman to remark to him, in a conversation upon the result of the election—"Well, Mr. Parkes, we must put you up for Councillor." "Mr. Smith," said the future Prime Minister, drawing himself erect, and speaking in a lofty and, as subsequent events proved, prophetic tone, "if ever I put up for anything it will be for something higher than Councillor;" and Mr. Smith's well meant intention came summarily to an end.

2. CANLEY MOAT HOUSE, STONELEIGH, WARWICKSHIRE, ENGLAND BIRTHPLACE OF SIR HENRY PARKES

This apparent consciousness of future high position in the colony, which in various circumstances would assert itself, combined with a manner that stamped him as superior to most of his fellows, prevented him from being generally liked. He was respected,—he compelled respect, as he did throughout his life; but for a time he did not make many friends.

When he left England that country was in the midst of the Chartist agitation, the English laboring classes clamouring for reform with a view to improve their means of existence, and threatening A revolution if they were not granted what they asked; and it was somewhat singular, and, as events proved, appropriate, that he should land in New South Wales amongst a people who not long afterwards were agitating vigorously for the redress of their grievances and not altogether averse to resorting to physical force if their demands were not satisfied.

No better opportunity for the employment of a strong mind of pronounced liberal tendency than that apparent at the period of Henry Parkes' arrival in the colony, could have presented itself to the young immigrant.

New South Wales was in its early youth, almost its infancy. It had passed through the worst of the experiences which attended the transportation system, and was commencing the struggle to free itself from any further taint of convictism. There was manifesting itself a deep desire for the purification of society, and for the introduction of free institutions. It was beginning to be felt that the time had arrived when the community should cast off the fetters with which Imperial policy and officialism had bound it, and assert its ability and its right to go on in its own way regardless of all but that which conduced to its prosperity. The cry for self-government was heard. Years had yet to pass before the darkness of the system which then oppressed the colony was to give way to the light of better things, but signs of the approaching dawn were beginning to appear.

The general picture presented by the community at this period was not pleasing. There was a Legislative Council in existence, but the Governor was paramount in it, and possessed powers that made him virtually an autocrat. Transported felons were to be seen at work in the streets, and at the prison barracks, which the present generation of colonists know as the Court of Bankruptcy and formerly as the Immigration Barracks, the type of convict depicted in the vivid pages of "His Natural Life" might easily have been found. The gaol fronted George-street, in the neighbourhood of Essex-street, and the populace were in the habit of congregating above Essex-street, on what was called Gallows Hill, to witness the public execution of condemned criminals.

Society was in a very unsatisfactory state. In Sydney there was an unpleasant distinction of classes, unavoidable perhaps in the circumstances of the population being small and the convict element extensive, but excessively irritating to the respectable immigrant unconnected with officialdom and untainted by the committal of any offence against the law.

Bushranging was very prevalent. "The arm of Justice has not been stayed," said the Governor, Sir George Gipps, at the meeting of the Legislative Council on June 11th, 1839, "for during the last Session the last sentence of the Law was passed upon eleven unfortunate beings, and acting under the advice of the Executive Council only two of these have been spared. Five have been executed, and four have been respited, because they asserted they could prove an alibi, but that having failed they are destined to meet the same fate as the others." The burden of the Governor's address on this occasion was crime and it, punishment. "I believe", he declared, "it is too true that many deeds of rapine, blood, and villainy have lately been committed, and that there are now more armed depredators roaming about the colony than there have been for some months." Not very long before Dr. Wardell, a prominent colonist, was shot dead in an encounter with bushrangers on his private grounds in what is now the populous suburb of Petersham.

The City of Sydney and its environs were in a very primitive condition. There was no Circular Quay in existence. What is now a long line of well-appointed wharfs was, for most of its extent, a beach or muddy shore with the creek or watercourse known as the Tank Stream flowing into it. Pinchgut (Fort Denison of today) was a rocky barren islet. Sydney Cove, the site of the present Circular Quay, contained on the western side a wharf known as the Queen's Wharf, and another called Campbell's Wharf, and there were a few other wharfs scattered around Miller's Point and Darling Harbour. At the rear of Upper Fort-street was Walker's Wharf where Henry Parkes first landed on Australian soil.

The English and Foreign commerce of the Port for the most part was carried on in vessels so small that at the present day they would be considered as almost too insignificant for trading between the colonies.

Where the Town Hall and St. Andrew's Cathedral now raise their stately towers the old burial place of the colony stood, closed from further interments but intact, with quaint-looking weatherworn gravestones crowding the ground, and a brick wall which surrounded the cemetery projecting far into the street. This locality, in fact, so limited in extent was Sydney then, might be regarded as at that period quite out of town. St. Philip's Church crested the summit of Church Hill as it does now, and as the gaol and the principal military barracks were in close proximity, both prisoners and soldiers were in the habit of attending divine worship there. Charlotte Place was the chief official quarter of the town, and between Jamieson-street and Barrack-street, and facing George-street for almost the whole of that distance, the military barracks were situated.

The Church generally in the colony had begun to exert itself by the formation of religious organisations, but its efforts for the good of society were as yet very feeble. State aid to religion was in existence, and "Church and State, and may they never be separated", was a standard sentiment with Churchmen.

Newspapers were in their infancy, and though they displayed no small degree of ability, were outspoken, and exercised a certain influence, they had not at that period entered upon a career of continuous and solid advantage to the community.

Education had not been brought under a general and beneficial system, and schools were few, and for the most part inefficient. The Irish National System, which was subsequently introduced and retained until the present Public Schools came into existence, was being talked about, but some years had to pass before it was brought into operation. The future author of the Public Schools Act could see before him a clear field for the efforts which in 1866 were to lay for his name the foundation of an immortality.

The Drama, so far as it had been introduced into the colony, was in its earliest days. "The Theatre," said a newspaper notice of the period, "re-opens this evening, and if we may judge from the piece that is to be played the same description of trash that was brought out last season will be repeated." "If", it went on to say, "the 'Tempter', and such pieces are kept up through the season it will have the effect of driving the few respectable people who still go to the theatre entirely away." And, proceeding to allude to the manner in which the performances were conducted, the notice remarked,—"Generally speaking the tragedy or comedy is presented to the public without any care having been taken either as to the dresses or scenery, and the whole of the 'business' is managed in the most slovenly manner."

The railway, the telegraph wire, rapid and safe communication between one place and another, were dreams of the future. The country was in a large measure little better than a wilderness, but presenting opportunities of the highest kind for the guiding hand of the future Member of the Legislature and Minister of the Crown.