We regret to see the great figures of the Victorian
Era pass one by one away. Sir George Grey, who died on Monday evening at the great age of eighty-six, was never of importance in English politics ; but he was one of the ablest and most original of Colonial administrators, and in South Australia, New Zealand, and the Cape he did most effective work. He was a little too much of a democrat for us to think him truly wise, but he won the confidence of Australian settlers and the love of the native populations,—a very diffi- cult combination. One reason for his success was that he knew how to govern, defied rebels and the Colonial Office with equal nerve, and always carried out to the limit of his powers his individual views. His official superiors dreaded him, thinking him even "dangerous ; " but he removed many difficulties from their path ; and after eight years of retire.. ment no one doubts that he deserved the honour he is to receive,—burial in St. Paul's. We wish the successful agents of the Empire were more often honoured with public funerals.
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