The West Coast Times. FRIDAY. JANUARY 8, 1875.
In an article on the subject of the alterations in the occupancy of the judicial Bench of the Colony, written apparently at a time when the arrangements had not been concluded, if they even now are, the Otago Guardian says: —
"Amidst the various rumours we are sorry not to hear any in connection with Mr Wilson Gray's name. His high character and legal ability would be a great addition to the Supreme Court Bench. But Mr Gray is retiring from the service, as it is understood, on account of his health. We are only speaking the sentiments of the whole Colony when we say that his absence from the Bench will be regretted by all." No doubt many of our readers, in other situations than that of those immediately behind the bar, have had opportunities of realising those qualifications of Judge Gray which make our contemporary's allusion a just one. But many of our readers will regret also that in losing the Judge who presides over the District Court on the West Coast they have not au opportunity of congratulating him upon elevation to a position among the Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court. -West Coast Times, 8/1/1875.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1875.
His Honor Wilson Gray, Judge, sat in the District Court, Clyde, on Wednesday last. He briefly referred to the case Phillippi v. Felton, and adjourned the Court till Tuesday, March 2nd. -Dunstan Times, 19/2/1875.
Many a sea-beaten mariner is now making his last cruise, homeward bound, ere he settles down for good in some "far countree" among his children and children's children. A dear old friend of mine is now inward bound, after ten years of hard life battered away in the public service of New Zealand. Ten years spent in coaches running over the roughest roads, in deep mire, under broiling suns, in piercing cold — ten years of roadside inns and shanties, of little comfort, much discomfort and endurance, and among many rough-tongued and hard-visaged men — his mission has been to deal out justice, and his aim to heal the broils and quarrels of men. His has been a life and his a service, not spent among the great of this world, but for the comfort and happiness of suffering humanity. His ambition has been to do good for his fellow men. A willing ear, an open heart, a ready purse have always been his, as many a poor and needy one has often known. His was the motto —
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. Ambition he had not, else would he have been a bigger, but not a greater man; with a larger office, but not a larger heart. Guileless as a child, he had a wit whose flashes were bright and sparkling as sunshine gleams on wintry days; a mind strong in all but its own consciousness of power; a will weak only when self-interest required that strength of purpose should predominate. Heaven grant that many happy days are still in store for thee, thou whose name still encharms the young and old. Aye, and when Nature demands thy last and only debt to all mankind, many a silent ocean shall be sung in honour of thee, my tender-hearted, noble, gentle friend — dear old Wilson Gray. -Otago Daily Times, 5/3/1875.
We made brief mention yesterday of the fact that Mr Wilson Gray was about to retire from the judgeship of the Otago goldfields. The present sitting of that Court at Queenstown will be Mr Gray’s last; and the ‘Mail’ informs us that it was intended to have marked in a suitable manner his Honor’s long connection with the goldfields of this Province, but Mr Gray declined in most kind and feeling language to accept any public recognition of his services. -Evening Star, 16/3/1875.
Dunedin, March 16. Mr Wilson Gray, district judge, is reported to be dangerously ill at Clyde. -Press, 17/3/1875.
. A REPORT was circulated in Lawrence on Monday that Mr. Wilson Gray was dangerously ill at Clyde. Our correspondent telegraphed last night that the Judge's health was much improved, the rest after travelling having done him good. He hopes to open the District Court at Clyde to-day. -Tuapeka Times, 17/3/1875.
His Honor Wilson Gray, Judge of the District Court, stated during the sitting of the Court on Wednesday that his jurisdiction in the district terminated with the present month. By our exchanges we learn that Judge Harvey succeeds Judge Gray next month. -Dunstan Times, 19/3/1875.
We received the following telegram last night from our Clyde correspondent: — "On Monday evening, a few of the leading inhabitants of Clyde presented His Honour Mr Wilson Gray, with an address expressive of their love and esteem for one whom they had so long known. Mr Gray was much pleased, but he has since requested his friends not to follow that example, preferring no public demonstrations on his retirement. He left by Tuesday morning's coach for Tuapeka in a very weak state — suffering from diarrhoea. When the coach arrived at the Teviot, he preferred to remain, then goes on to-morrow. The weather during the ride from Clyde was very wild and stormy. This afternoon Mr Gray was better." -Otago Daily Times, 25/3/1875.
In the 'Evening Star ' oi Monday appears an intimation, by authority, that His Honor Judge Gray will, at the end of the month, retire from the Bench. When Mr. Gray visited Naseby in February it was generally understood that he was making his last visit as District Judge, but, in the absence of any official notice of his retirement we did not feel justified in making any remarks respecting it. The notice to which we refer in the 'Star' is so positive that we feel absolved from the scruples of delicacy which previously restrained us from commenting upon a matter which was nevertheless of public notoriety.
It is not often that the retirement of an official elicits so much public feeling as does that of Mr. Wilson Gray. It would be difficult to find another instance of a gentleman in an official position so much respected, or whose retirement from office would be so sincerely regretted. We but give expression to the general opinion of the people of the Goldfields when we say that the retirement of Mr. Wilson Gray from official life is regarded as a public misfortune. It is the more painfully felt because it is well known that Mr. Gray is not voluntarily retiring — to enjoy upon a pension the ease and leisure to which he has so well earned the right — but that he is compelled, by long-continued illness, reluctantly to give up the work to which he has for some ten years past earnestly devoted hits energies.
Mr. Gray was appointed District Judge on the 7th of June 1864 and was the first Judge appointed for the District of the Otago Goldfields. The duties of the office were, from the first, very onerous. He had to travel a circuit embracing Naseby, Clyde, Queenstown, and Lawrence, holding Court in each of the places mentioned six times a year. Besides these heavy duties he had for a long time to act as Resident Magistrate, in the L100 jurisdiction at Tokomairiro and Waikouaiti and, for a shorter period, at Oamaru. How He discharged these varied duties is well known. His unwearied patience, his strict impartiality and gentle courtesy, could be appreciated by the roughest and least educated miner; and the name of Wilson Gray will long be cherished among the mining population of Otago, by whom he is regarded as the model of an upright Judge, and kindly gentleman. But while the general public admire, and affectionately regard him for the rectitude of his character and the kindness of his heart, it was reserved for those of higher culture to appreciate the intellectual qualities by which he has been no less distinguished. It was especially in the hearing of appeals that these qualifications came into play. Involving, as they often do, legal points of the highest interest, these appeals from the Warden's Courts afforded the opportunity for the exercise of all the faculties that a high class judicial officer should possess. The nice discrimination, the keen insight, the large grasp of a principle, or the subtle tracing of a difference - all of these by turns excited the admiration of those who were able to follow the arguments arising out of some of the heavy appeal cases heard before him. It is much to be regretted that so few of his judgments have been fully reported; but those that have been preserved will, we venture to think, be long as lucid expositions of sound law upon a very difficult and in some cases novel class of questions. It is not our object to give in this place any detailed account of Mr. Wilson Gray's career. But any notice of him would be very incomplete which failed to do justice to the high rank which he at one time held as a politician in the sister Colony Victoria. As a member of the Victorian Parliament he was long known as a bold and uncompromising advocate of reform, and especially as the resolute champion of the cause of the settlement of the people on the land. He was one of the leading men in the famous Victorian Convention, and his stirring eloquence contributed in no small degree to promote the success of the popular cause. It is difficult for us — who have so long known Mr. Gray as the most quiet and inoffensive of men — to conceive him as a popular leader and agitator. But it is an undeniable fact that he was so regarded in Victoria, and that the popular feeling in his favor was so strong, that a very large subscription was made for a testimonial, which, with his characteristic modesty, he declined to accept. Nor should it be forgotten that at a comparatively recent date his political friends in Victoria, being in power, offered him a very lucrative judicial appointment in that Colony, which, however, he refused, as he was resolved to accept no reward for his political services. Without going the length of asserting the principle that political services should not in any case be rewarded, we may yet admire the consistency of one who, in two striking instances, has adhered to the principle at great sacrifice of his own personal interest.
Mr. Gray's long and valuable service as District judge has in some measure been recognised by the Colony, a special Act having been passed at the last session in Wellington to grant him a retiring pension. That he may be long spared to enjoy it is our earnest hope. Let us hope also that when released from the harassing duties which for some time past be has so painfully struggled to discharge, may to some extent regain his former health and vigor. We cannot expect to see him again in his old position as Distinct Judge, but it is not unreasonable to look forward to the time when, with health re-established, he may be enabled to employ his splendid talents in some congenial, but leas laborious occupation. -Mount Ida Chronicle, 26/3/1875.
It is again reported that Wilson Gray is alarmingly ill. -Auckland Star, 29/3/1875.
Our Lawrence correspondent, writing on Monday, states that Mr Wilson Gray is now lying very ill at the Commercial Hotel there. It appears that he could only accomplish his journey to this place slowly, as he was obliged to rest at two different stages on fche road. He sent for a member of the Bar on Monday, and intimated his wish that no public notice be taken of his retiring from the Bench. He was unable to travel by coach from the Beaumont, and telegraphed for a buggy to be sent fpr him, and also instructions to have a nurse in readiness. -Otago Daily Times, 31/3/1875.
At Lawrence yesterday Judge Wilson Gray occupied the Bench of the Otago Goldfield’s District Court for the last time. The business was very trivial, and at its close Judge Gray, who is still very ill, had to be assisted off the Bench. But for his expressed desire to the contrary there would have been a public demonstration. -Evening Star, 1/4/1875.
Illness of Judge Gray.
A private telegram received in town yesterday from Laurence, intimated that his Honor Mr Wilson Gray is so dangerously ill, that faint hopes are entertained of his recovery. He gave judgment in some intricate cases last Monday. He was attended by two medical men, and then carried back to his hotel. -Auckland Star, 2/4/1875.
Our Lawrence correspondent telegraphed last night as follows: — Mr Wilson Gray still continues very weak. He is evidently getting worse, and cannot possibly last very long. Mr G. E. Barton is unremitting in his attentions towards him. -Otago Daily Times, 3/4/1875.
Death of Judge Gray
Judge Gray, better known as Wilson Gray died at noon yesterday at Lawrence. He was born in 1813, and arrived in Dunedin in 1862; remained two years on the barristers' roll of the Supreme Court, then accepted office as District Judge. He was universally respected, and died without leaving an enemy. The funeral takes place to-morrow in Dunedin, and will be numerously attended. His death has cast quite a gloom over the city. -Auckland Star, 5/4/1875.
The news of Mr. Wilson Gray's death will cause a feeling of general sadness wherever the deceased gentleman was known. Even those who were but slightly acquainted with him personally will feel as if they had lost a dear and valued friend. There were few more sterling genuine men than Wilson Gray, and he had a happy faculty of exciting something akin to affection in all with whom he was brought into contact. One of the most unassuming guileless men in the world, he was a highly educated gentleman and an able lawyer. As a magistrate he used almost invariably to do what very few magistrates are ever able to do — satisfy both parties. His lucid judgments and friendly advice did much to stop further litigation in cases once brought before him, Wilson Gray will be sincerely mourned throughout the Otago gold-fields, and in Victoria, where he was also well known, the, news of his death will also cause sincere regret. -Evening Post, 5/4/1875.
DEATH OF JUDGE WILSON GRAY.
The inhabitants of Otago will mourn with us the death of the universally and deservedly esteemed Judge Wilson Gray, which took place at Lawrence, at noon, yesterday, after a lingering and protracted illness. Judge Gray’s life, notwithstanding his unassuming disposition, was eventful and eminently useful, and we hope to be in a position to narrate, its leading features from authentic sources in a future issue. The funeral is appointed to take place tomorrow.
Tokomairiro, April 6. The body of the late Wilson Gray left Lawrence at 6.30 this morning. The Warden, Mayor, and principal inhabitants of the town accompanied it for a distance. At Tokomairiro the church bells tolled as the body was carried through the town, and Mr Maitland, R.M., and the principal inhabitants followed the hearse. The deepest feeling was exhibited throughout the whole district as the hearse passed by. -Evening Star, 5/4/1875.
PUBLIC NOTICE.
THE FUNERAL OF THE LATE JUDGE GRAY.
On Tuesday, April 6th instant.
THE Mayor respectfully suggests that, as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Mr Wilson Gray, the Citizens should close their places of business To-morrow (Tuesday), the 6th inst., the day of the Funeral, from two o clock p.m.
KEITH RAMSAY, Mayor. -Evening Star, 5/4/1875.
WILSON GRAY.
Moses Wilson Gray — or, as he was universally styled, Wilson Gray — the subject of this sketch, was so remarkably reticent concerning himself, and anything appertaining to his history or career, that there is probably no one in the Colony in a position to depict with more than an approximate accuracy an outline of his life. While this is so, there are thousands in New Zealand and Victoria who will long cherish with deep-seated veneration a kindly recollection of the late Judge's achievements, his guileless ambitions, his pure and holy life, his child-like simplicity of nature. The present is at best a poor attempt to collect together and place before our readers the scraps and fragments which we have succeeded in culling from various sources concerning the life of the late Judge.
Wilson Gray was the second son of John Gray, Esq., of Glaremorris, County Mayo, Ireland, and was born at his father's residence there in the year 1813. He was consequently at the time of his demise in the sixty-third year of his age. A younger brother of the late gentleman is the present Sir John Gray, of Dublin, and recently a member of the House of Commons for Kilkenny. A sister of theirs (who died not long since) was married to Mr McCallagh Torrens, who successively represented Dundalk, Yarmouth, and Finsbury in the Imperial Parliament, and who upon many occasions has ably advocated the interests of the Australasian Colonies, when questions affecting them have engaged the attention of the House of Commons. The deceased gentleman received his education at Cork — afterwards at Hazlewood, near Birmingham, under the eye of the father of Sir Rowland Hill — and he finally graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he took honours and obtained a scholarship. Wilson Gray had as his contemporaries at Trinity College the late Mr Justice Willes (whose tragic fate excited so much sensation a few years ago); Sir Redmond Barry, the acting Chief Justice of Victoria, Mr Isaac Butt, Q.C., M.P.; and Dr Kenealy of Tichborne notoriety. The first three of these, Mr Gray's contemporaries at Trinity, were all born in his own year — 1813; and one of them, Sir Redmond Barry, it is believed, was also a schoolfellow in earlier days at Cork. Of his youthful college friends Mr Gray was especially fond of alluding to his relations with Willes and Butt. Poor Gray used to say, "We called Willes 'Mad Willes' at Trinity College, for on one occasion he made a bet, and won it too, that he would run round the walls of the college in nttturalibus after nightfall." A strange coincidence is it not, that the "Mad Willes" of Trinity College should, after attaining the highest distinction on the English Bench, have put an end to his own life, as the Coroner's Jury found, in a state of "temporary insanity?" Willes, after taking his degree at Trinity, went over to London to read and work in a Pleaders' Chambers. Gray, when on a visit to London, found out his college chum, who was sitting up after midnight with a wet towel round his head poring over a huge volume of black-lettered Norman-French. "What are yon reading, Willes? What's the use of that antiquated stuff?" asked Gray. "I am trying." replied Willes, " to commit this to memory, and I don't see why the impressions in that book should'nt become as firmly stamped in my own mind as they are on that paper." Again, we remark, it is a singular coincidence that, in after years, Mr Justice Willes acquired the reputation of being the most profound black-letter lawyer on the Bench, and his memory for law was a thing simply marvellous. Of his college chum Isaac Butt Mr Gray often spoke in terms of the highest admiration. They attended the same debating society, and here Butt carried all before him by reason of a brilliant declamation, which no one could cope with. Mr. Buffs after-success at the Irish Bar fully confirmed the justice of Gray's youthful admiration. There was not, we believe, any marked intimacy between the late Judge and Sir Redmond Barry, or Dr Kenealy, at Trinity. But as Kenealy belonged to the Yonng Irish Party, it is probable that he and his College contemporary may have "foregathered" afterwards in the arena of political discussion and warfare.
In the same year in which Mr McCullagh Torrens was appointed a Commissioner of the Poor Law Inquiry in Ireland — l835 — Mr Gray was appointed an Assistant Commissioner. Whether the two Commissioners at that time held the mutual relationship o£ brothers-in-law, we know not; but it is probable that Mr Gray's appointment was in a measure owing to the efforts of Mr Torrens, whose influence was considerable, and who some years later became private secretary to Sir H. Labouchere (Lord Taunton). When the duties of the Poor Law Commissioners had been fulfilled, Mr Gray went out to the United States of America (of which, country he always retained the most pleasing remembrance); and it is believed that while there he was called to the Bar. He could not, however, have made much headway, as he returned to Ireland some years afterwards. The time of his return is supposed to have been about the year 1844. It was in this year that the O'Connell's (father and son). Mr Duffy, and Mr Gray's younger Brother John, took their trial on a charge of high treason, but the conviction which ensued was afterwards quashed in the House of Lords. Dr, now Sir John, Gray had about this time founded the Freeman's Journal in Dublin as one of the organs of the National Reform party, and his brother Wilson, the late Judge, was installed in his editorial chair. Contemporaneously, or nearly so, the Nation newspaper was established, and Mr (Now Sir Charles Gavan) Duffy, became its guiding spirit. The two editors, Gray and Duffy, read for, and were called to, the Irish Bar. They were, as kindred spirits both in law and literature, much attached to one another; and casting aside the aim and object of both journals, no one will refuse to recognise the fact that they were conducted with much ability, and often teemed with prose and lyrical writings of great beauty, pathos, and power. Gray never made a secret of his sympathy with the members of the young Ireland party but it is a question whether his feelings were not those more of admiration for the men than the measures of the party. This much is certain, that while no one was more anxious than he was to see the condition of his native country ameliorated, he was strongly opposed to measures which in any sense savoured of violence or disloyalty. The best proof of this is to be found in the fact that while his brother's and Mr. Duffy's loyalty were challenged, and both were arraigned before a Criminal Court, Wilson Gray's name passed scatheless through the fiery ordeal of thirty years ago. Nor can there be any doubt that he took Thomas Davis as his beau ideal of the model reformer. Davis was endowed with rare intellectual gifts — rich fancy, a critical judgment, and almost unexampled felicity of expression. But Davis, while he would wail a lament over the suffering and sorrow he saw around him, while he strove to arouse the national pride and through it the desire to be great, and good, and strong, would never have laid himself open to the imputation of being either a political firebrand, or a disloyal subject of his Queen. Wilson Gray was like minded, for on speaking recently to an acquaintance on the subject of Mr Mitchell's expulsion from the House of Commons,. he said, "A felon has no right to be there."
Poor Gray made no figure at the Irish Bar, and it should be said, with just candour, that he was not "made" for the Bar. He was too undemonstrative for the noisy warfare of nisi prius; too timid, too diffident, to mate headway against the loud and confident declamation of forensic gladiators. That he had an excellent head for law no one who enjoyed his friendship could doubt. He had the faculty of acquiring, with easy grasp, knowledge from any source; and he could discriminate, with fine and subtle distinction, between apparently conflicting authorities. But, somehow or other, there was a difficulty in applying promptly and with decision his great stock of acquired law. This failing, for such it was, arose out of his extreme conscientiousness, and the entire want of confidence in the soundness of his judgement. Many men with half his legal knowledge have amassed fortunes at the Bar, and earned high reputations on the Bench, while poor Gray went about hesitating, distrusting his own judgment; whereas the custom of clients, had he cared to look for it, should have taught him to affect a confidence if he had it not.
The two fellow-journalists and barristers Charles Gavan, Duffy and Wilson Gray, bad adieu to their native soil and went out to Victoria about the year 1856. Mr Duffy, the hero of a State trial and ex-member for New Ross, was feted and lionised in Melbourne and Sydney, and a property was purchased for him at Hawthorn, near Melbourne with moneys contributed by his friends and admirers. Mr Duffy announced his determination to put his trust in Roscoe, and stick to the law. He got a few briefs from some of the Irish attorneys practising in Melbourne, but he prudently abandoned the Bar and took to politics — Colonial, not Irish — and politics in Victoria have upon the whole paid Mr Duffy infinitely better than they ever paid him in Ireland. Wilson Gray, however, insisted that his old friend Duffy would have succeeded at the Bar had he continued. He used to say: — "I remember when Duffy held his first brief in Melbourne. There was a full Bar, for some curiosity was felt as to how Duffy would acquit himself. He had to examine a witness, and when he sat down I overheard Fellows — now the Judge — say: 'Well, he knows how to examine a witness, at all events.'" But, with all respect for Mr Gray's opinion, the common notion was that Mr Duffy was not cut out for the Bar, any more than he himself was. Mr Duffy's voice was against him, his manner was too diffuse, and he had not that technical knowledge which is all necessary for success — knowledge, moreover, not easily acquired when a man is getting on in years. Mr Duffy secured a seat in the first House of Assembly elected under the new Constitution, and became a colleague of Sir John O'Shannassy.
But while Mr Duffy was being lionised and feted, and rushing alternately from Roscoe to May, his old friend and fellow-worker, Wilson Gray, was dwelling as he ever loved to dwell, in the bye-lanes and under the shadows of life, dreaming of the old days, and wondering whether his friend Duffy would make Victoria the great nation that Ireland should have been. Gray used to haunt the Law Courts, but his share of business was small. He hadn't the art of pushing himself on or making himself known, and had he possessed the art he would have let it lie rusting in its scabbard. But he had to live somehow. So he took to reporting the decisions of the Judges of the Supreme Court in the Argus, and at this occupation he continued for two years. We believe that this was during Mr George Higinbotham's editorial connection with that journal; but whether this was so or not, a warm friendship sprung up between the two men, securing on Gray's part an admiration for Mr Higinbotham which never lessened or became stale. Of the reports furnished by Mr Gray, the Judges often spoke in terms of high praise. This connection with the Argus, it is believed, Gray severed, partly, if not, wholly, from considerations of delicacy. The tone and policy of the Argus were conservative, while Gray belonged to the advanced liberals. Thus, when he came to the front at last, and harangued nightly gatherings at the Eastern Market, and advocated a popular land law, and other kindred measures of reform, he felt that he could not well continue his connexion with a journal which daily issued its fulminations against the efforts of the little band to which he belonged. The Argus was not alone in its condemnation, The names of Gray, Don, Barton, Berry, and others, became to the conservative press and party the synonyms for turbulence, disloyalty, communism, and everything that was disagreeable. But Wilson Gray was no mob orator. As the haranguer of an Eastern Market assembly his influence was not the result of a boisterous outpouring of declamation and wrath, but the outcome rather of the quiet, nervous, dispassionate tones of a diffident philosopher. His hearers were confident that he meant and felt what he said, and that he had nothing to gain by saying what he did say. Speaking now by the wisdom of after experience, how many are there who would quarrel today with the programme of the little "Gray Band" of 16 years ago? The eight hours movement! Why, it is almost universal. The deferred payment and occupation license system have been recognised in almost every Australasian Colony where there is land to dispose of. The payment of members, whether it passes by the euphonious and high sounding title of "members' honorarium," or its more plain and truthful synonym, is becoming a generally recognised tribute to every constituency's right to return the object of its trust and faith, whether the elected member be poor or otherwise. The policy that the interests of the few should make way for those of the many in the settlement of people upon the lands, has produced many converts, going even to greater extremes than Mr Gray's party ever went. Mr Gray used to say, "As long as sheep and cattle require the land, let them have it to graze upon, but when men and women want it, let the sheep and cattle get out of the way." This was only a periphrastic way of putting the proposition, that our pastoral tenants ought to be regarded as the pioneers of the country, and as agricultural settlement follows in their wake, they must move on, if their delay would retard the comfort and well-being of permanent tillers of the soil. Mr Stafford, a few years ago, if we remember aright, went even further, and insisted that the Crown should have the right of taking back even freeholds from large monopolists, on giving adequate compensation. Protection to native industry was another feature in the programme of the Don, Gray, and Barton party, but that still remains a point of more than doubtful expediency.
Having fairly ventilated his opinions on the larger questions which engaged public attention in Victoria, Wilson Gray was more than once pressed to contest a seat in the Assembly. He, however, was always more inclined to help one of his party in that way than be helped himself, for his modesty and nervousness were almost insurmountable. At last, however, he gave way to the solicitations of his friends and supporters, and entered the Victorian Parliament as member for Rodney, an agricultural constituency. In the House he associated himself with "the Corner," a sect which, had it lived in later days, would have been known as "the Cave." The raison d'etre of this section of the House was the clamour for a popular land law. Don used to declare from is seat that he "hammered at stone in the day and squatters at night." Mr Duffy at the outset shared the fortunes of "the corner," but left it to join the coalition Ministry of O'Shannassy, Haines, and all the talents, in 1861. Wilson Gray remained steadfastly attached to his platform principles and the members of his party, and never forgave his old companion Duffy for his desertion. They differed over some statements of occurrences at an interview, made by each other in the House, and the estrangement to which the conflicting assertions led was never healed. In addition to the programme of his party, Mr Gray took an active part in the House of Assembly in securing the success of the Victorian Land Transfer Act. He endeavoured also, but in vain, to carry a measure for the amalgamation of the two branches of the legal profession. In a word it may be said that his voice was heard on almost every important question, while his advocacy of opinions which he avowed secured respect on account of their undoubted sincerity.
In 1862 Mr Gray came to Dunedin, abandoning Victoria, with all her charms, for ever. Before leaving Melbourne, many of his old supporters and opponents alike joined together in a desire to mark their sense of his political consistency and honour by presenting him with a handsome purse of sovereigns. Some £1500 was, we believe, either raised or promised, but on hearing of the movement Mr Gray resented it, and the good intentions of his friends and foes were frustrated. This surely was a rare act of self-denial, for pecuniarly he must have been very badly off. Members of the Victorian Parliament received no emolument in those days. Gray's connection with the Argus had ceased previously, and during his tenure of a seat in Parliament, his professional gains were very, very small — limited to a few County Court briefs. Concerning his County Court practice, he used to relate that, appearing before Judge Wrixon (who acted in the place of Judge Pohlman for a time), upon one occasion he argued a case at considerable length, when, without calling upon the other side, Judge Wrixon, in very curt terms, at once gave judgment for the plaintiff. Gray then pressed, for reasons which he stated at some length, that the judgment should be without costs. With dissembled patience the Judge heard him, and then said, with a strong nasal twang, "Mr Gray, I had only intended to have mulcted your client in £1 10s l0d costs, but, in consequence of your extreme pertinacity, I shall award £3 14s 4d costs. A very cruel thing to say was this, but poor old Gray used to laugh at it, for he rather admired Judge Wrixon's originality and dry humour. He used to tell another story of the same Judge, who in his own Court was usually styled "your Honour." Gray used to say that when Sir Redmond Barry first became Acting Chief Justice he sent a very polite note, written in the third person, to Judge Wrixon, informing him that; His Honour the Chief Justice had learned with surprise that Judge Wrixon was in the habit of permitting suitors and other persons to address him in a style and by a title appertaining only to Judges of the Supreme Court. To this Wrixon's reply, after an elaborately polite preface, was, that he was in the habit of being addressed as "Your Honour," "Your Worship," "Your Lordship," "Your Eminence," and "Your Holiness," and if the Chief Justice would be good enough to point out which of these appellations the Judges of the Supreme Court claimed as their special property he (Judge Wrixon) would act upon the intimation. It is needless to say that Wrixon heard no more of it.
After Mr Gray's arrival in Dunedin in 1862 he remained for two years on the barristers' rolls of the Supreme Court before he accepted the office of District Judge. During this interval he acted as "devil," to use a professional term, to Mr G. Elliott Barton. Mr Gray's reluctance to appear in Court was almost insurmountable, and as counsel he took part in the argument of two cases only, one being a case in which Mr Vincent Pyke was interested, and the other being an action in which the late Mr J. L. Burke was defendant. His opponent, on being asked how Mr Gray had argued his cases, replied, "Uncommonly well. He put his points neatly and clearly, and argued more like a philosopher than a black-letter lawyer." Mr Gray liked working up a case, and ferreting out law for another to make use of, as he thought that somebody else might make better use of the materials which he found, than he could himself. He once said, that distinguished as Plunket was, as a lawyer, he generally trusted to his junior to find the law, saying. "Now, Mr So-and-so, where are the tools." Given the tools, no one could make better use of them than Plunket could.
Although Mr Gray did not ostensibly practise at the Bar, yet his solid merits became so generally recognised, that it was felt something should be done to secure his services in some public office. During Mr Hyde Harris's Superintendency, a proposal was mooted to combine the office of Provincial Solicitor and Crown Prosecutor, with a salary of £1000 a year, in order that it might be offered to Mr Gray; but he wouldn't hear of it, urging, as he never failed to urge, his own unfitness for any office of the kind. The District Court system was extended to Otago in 1864, and a good deal of pressure was brought to bear upon Mr Gray, by Mr Harris, the Superintendent, Mr Justice Richmond, and Mr T. B. Gillies, the then Postmaster General, to induce him to accept the newly created Judgeship. The pressure and counsel brought to bear, had the effect of inducing Mr Gray, with very great misgivings, nevertheless, to accept the profferred post, and his appointment was made the subject of public congratulation by Mr Justice Richmond in the same address to the Grand Jury of Otago, which announced Judge Chapman's second elevation to a place in the Supreme Court.
For a period of nearly eleven years was Mr Gray engaged in administering justice, sometimes as a Resident Magistrate with extended jurisdiction, sometimes as a Goldfields Judge hearing appeals from Wardens' Courts; sometimes exercising an original jurisdiction under the Goldfields Acts; and sometimes administering the Bankruptcy Laws. The only matter of regret is that his decisions, important in view of the peculiar character and extent of the jurisdiction exercised, have practically become lost to the public. A few of them upon important mining questions corrected by himself, are to be found scattered over far distant pages of up-country newspapers but no attempt has been made, so far as we know, to collect them together, or even to compile a digest of them. As a Judge, Mr Gray was painstaking and conscientious to a degree that was almost grievous at times to witness. He never seemed to be satisfied that he had reached the real truth, and this fear, one result of a highly sensitive and critical judgment, often seemed in some measure to paralyze his energies. To get at the truth, and to overcome his work, he would sit on and on until all hours of the night, and even when he had finally pronounced judgment, there appeared often to be more than a lurking doubt in his mind whether he had decided rightly. He had an amusing way of putting things even from the Bench. A defendant's counsel having upon one occasion raised a number of non-suit points, some substantial, and others technical but sound, Judge Gray, turning to the plaintiff's advocate, said, "How will you have it? Will you be clubbed, or tickled to death?" Upon another occasion a witness speaking of a reformed drunkard as one who had abandoned his vices, Judge Gray quietly observed, "Or do you mean that his vices have abandoned him?" Again a witness was giving a highly exaggerated account of the productiveness of some piece of land about which there was a dispute. "Oh, that's nothing," said the Judge, "I have heard of a place in Galway where you may put in a tenpenny nail at night and wake up in the morning to find it a crowbar." His salary as a judge was £800 a year and £200 a year for travelling allowances; but as he was nearly always travelling, and sometimes in the early part of his judicial career doing very little work, he used to say, "The Government ought to alter it; they should give me £800 a year for travelling allowances and £200 year as salary." This, however, was not a mere joke, for he more than once wrote to the Colonial Government pointing out that there was so little for him to do that he was ready to tender his resignation if the Government would accept it. The offer was never taken advantage of, and any one who knew Wilson Gray well would be pardoned for thinking that he had some qualms of conscience in going through his endless round, receiving his stipend, and having little work to show for it.
We have already spoken of his self-denying and distrusting disposition. It is to the credit of Judge Gray's old political friends and party in Victoria that when they succeeded to office they made him the offer of the vacant County Court judgeship. That, according to his wonted manner, Mr Gray declined, although he would have exchanged £800 for £1500 a year. A similar refusal was given to the Colonial Government, when in 1868 Mr Stafford requested Mr Gray to become a judge of the Supreme Court in lieu of Mr Justice Chapman during his absence from the colony.
So far as pounds, shillings, and pence were concerned. Wilson Gray was a human puzzle. He not only seemed to fight against his own interests when any individual or Government of friendly disposition manifested a desire to help him onwards, but whenever he had money at his disposal his aim seemed to be to discover somebody upon whom it could be lavished. There are men in this Province who owe whatever they have to him; men to whom hundreds of pounds have been advanced without a particle of security. There are rough swagsmen who owe many a lift on Cobb's coach to the gentle little creature by whom the reckoning was paid. There are widows whose money was invested in unfortunate mining speculations, but which has chivalrously been repaid by one upon whom they had neither legal nor moral claim. And there are thousands of travellers by coach, and many publicans and sinners who can bear testimony to the quiet, unobtrusive, gentle manner and kindly disposition of a mere travelling judicial companion, while hundreds of Judges of a different stamp would only leave on the minds of the same persons the impression, "I am a Judge, and you are the canaille."
Judge Gray's failing health was the subject of comment among his friends long prior to his decease. They urged him to avail himself of the leave of absence to which he was entitled in virtue of his service, but this he would not hear of until he "had done his ten years." And then, when the ten years "had been done," he insisted upon waiting a little longer, he couldn't afford to go just then. Nolens volem, the Legislature insisted, with the best and most kindly intentioned meaning, that he should go, and have, moreover, a year's pay, and an annuity of £300 a year. Poor Gray took this to heart very badly. He was getting old. "They want to shelve me" said he; "why don't they send a shovel and wheelbarrow and put me decently into my grave at once." Everyone who knew Wilson Gray will excuse such wailing. It was the little burst of a broken spirit, broken because the physical tenement was crumbling to pieces. But, to the last, the same old sensitiveness of conscience stuck to him. He was very ill when he left Dunedin on his final round. "This is my last," said he; ''and when I come back, I'll laugh and grow fat." At Queenstown, Sir George Arney says that he had to be carried up to his bed, and was so ill that one coachman declared that he would not take the risk of carrying him. At Clyde he was even worse, and so impressed were those who saw him that that was the occasion of their final interview, that they pressed forward to say a kindly farewell to him. Then as he travelled on to Lawrence, his last halting place before reaching Dunedin, he became worse and worse, and had to leave the coach at Teviot. He was suffering much from dysentery, and the lamp of life was beginning to burn very dim. From Teviot he travelled to Lawrence by buggy, and reached his final destination on Tuesday last. He was at once attended by Drs Halley and Stuart, but the case was hopeless. On Wednesday, the 3lst March, Judge Gray's last judicial day, he insisted upon being carried to the Court House to discharge his remaining duties, even if he died in harness. Remonstrance proved unavailing, and the patient was carried down stairs, placed in a buggy, and assisted into Court, where he disposed of the business on the list, which was as it happened only formal. From the Court he was carried back to the bed from which he will be only removed as part and parcel of a funeral cortege. The sense of duty remained strong to the last. In one of his later moments of consciousness he said — "What day of the month is this?" On receiving a reply, he said —"Then I still have jurisdiction?"
As will be seen elsewhere, Mr Gray departed this life at Lawrence on the 4th inst. His end was, as his life has been, peaceful. The Rev Mr Beaumont, who had seen a great deal of Judge Gray, observed that if all his parishioners led as good a life as Mr Gray had done, his mind would be quite at rest. In his last moments Judge Gray was attended by his oldest and nearest friend resident in Otago, Mr George Elliott Barton.
The Act passed by the Colonial Legislature last session seems now almost a satire upon human hopes and happiness. Neither the year's salary, nor the annuity of £300 will be legally claimable by anybody, as both were personally voted to the late Judge, But in consideration of Mr Wilson Gray's eminent public services, both here and in Victoria, and regarding the circumstances that he has been literally broken down by over-work, and died in harness, it is to be hoped some portion of the retiring allowance granted last session to the late Judge may be made available for his family. He leaves a widow and son, who are resident in some part of the United States.
We cannot better conclude the foregoing sketch than by reproducing what a contributor, writing under a nom de plume, said some few weeks back in these columns: —
Many a sea-beaten mariner is now making his last cruise, homeward bound, ere he settles down for good in some "far countree" among his children and children's children. A dear old friend of mine is now inward bound, after ten years of hard life battered away in the public service of New Zealand. Ten years spent in coaches running over the roughest roads in deep mire, under broiling suns, in piercing cold. Ten years of roadside huts and shanties, of little comfort, much discomfort and endurance, and among many rough-tongued and hard-visaged men. His mission has been to deal out justice, and his aim to heal the broils and quarrels of men. His has been a life and his a service, not spent among the great of this world, but for the comfort and happiness of suffering humanity. His ambition has been to do good for his fellow-men. A willing ear, an open heart, a ready purse have always been his, as many a poor and needy one has often known. His was the motto
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Ambition he had not, else would he have been a bigger, but not a greater man; with a larger office, but not a larger heart. Guileless as a child, he had a wit whose flashes were bright and sparkling as sunshine gleams on wintry days; a mind strong in all but its own consciousness of power; a will weak only when self-interest required that strength of purpose should predominate. Heaven grant that many happy days are still in store for thee, thou whose name still encharms the young and old. Aye, and when nature demands thy last and only debt to all mankind, many a silent paean shall be sung in honour of thee, my tender-hearted, noble, gentle friend, dear old Wilson Gray.
Unfortunately, the prayer that many days might be in store for poor Gray has not been answered, but in all the rest of our contributor's expressions we fervently acquiesce. Search the whole wide world over, there are few who will be found whose purity of life, singleness of purpose, kindliness of disposition, or earnest desire to do and be good, will match, much less transcend, the sterling qualities of the gentle spirit which has just foresaken this for the better land. -Otago Witness, 10/4/1875.
Wilson Gray's body arrived in Dunedin this evening. There will be a public funeral to-morrow. The Government offices close, and the Mayor invites the citizens to close half the day. The procession will include the police mounted and on foot, volunteers, members of Provincial and Colonial legislatures, the Superintendent, members of the Colonial Executive, clergy, judges, members of the legal profession, the public. The Goldfields and country Municipalities send representatives, and the Blue Spur miners come down in a body. -Bruce Herald, 6/4/1875.
A FEW THOUGHTS ON CURRENT TOPICS.
“There is a daily beauty in their lives which makes his ugly.” The poet writes of good men. In this age of political whirligigs and testimonials in general, it makes one feel well to think of a man like Wilson Gray, even in the sorrow at his death. There is something genuine in the regret at the departure of a worthy man. We may fill obituary columns and indulge in elaborate mourning, and make believe to grieve at the death of political spouters and pretentious goodness. We know, hypocrites that we are, that the regret is hollow. Did it pay, we would dance a jig over their bones five minutes after filling up the grave, and shaking the hand of the chief mourner. -Evening Star, 6/4/1875.
FUNERAL OF JUDGE GRAY.
The remains of the late Wilson Gray were interred in the Southern Cemetery this afternoon. The request made by the Mayor that from two o'clock until after the funeral business should be entirely suspended was universally complied with. From the Shamrock Hotel, the starting point of the cortege, to the south end of the town, the streets were lined with people; and opposite the University Building, where the public bodies had assembled, there must at three o clock have congregated nearly 2,000 people. At three o’clock the cortege left the Shamrock Hotel — where the body has lain since its arrival in town yesterday evening, and has been viewed by several hundred persons — and reached the Southern Cemetery a little before four o’clock. The interment took place in the Church of England portion of the Cemetery, where had assembled some 1,500 persons. The coffin bore the simple inscription, “Wilson Gray, late District Judge. Died April 4, 1875. Aged 62.” It should be mentioned that the countrymen of the deceased wore in their coat button-holes a small piece of green ribbon, and that the various church bells rung during the progress of the funeral. The procession, which was about a quarter of a mile in length, was arranged in this order: —
Marshals Gourley, Mills, Scott, and Milner.
Three mounted troopers, headed by Sergeant-Major Bevan.
Fifteen foot police under Sub-Inspector Mallard.
Seventeen firemen under Captain Wain and Lieutenant Hobbs.
48 Volunteers, comprising Cadets and No. 1 City Guards; also Major Atkinson, Captains Copeland and Wales, Surgeon Bakewell, and staff-sergeants.
The Mayor and Councillors Beeves, Fish, Isaac, Beck, Gibson, Carroll, and Woodland, attended by the Town Clerk,
The Speaker (Mr J. Gillies) and the following members of the Provincial Council: — Messrs Armstrong, Bastings, Mollison, McGlashan, Stout. His Honor the Superintendent, Mr Bathgate, E.M., and Mr Bradshaw, M.H.E., also walked with members of the Legislature.
The Clergy, including Archdeacon Edwards, the Rev. Dr Stuart, Rev. L. Macule, and the Rev. E. L. Stanford.
Thirteen members of the H.A.C.B.S., headed by the President of the Society (Mr Burke).
THE HEARSE.
Pall-hearers: Sergeants Hanlon and Morkane, Messrs Farrell, Fair and Howard
Chief Mourners: Two lads, nephews of the deceased; deceased's brother-in-law (Mr Rutledge). Messrs Cahill, G. E. Barton, W. H. McKeay, J Reany, and Dr O'Donoghue.
Four mourning coaches, in which were Chief Justice Prendergast, Mr H. S. Chapman, the Hon. Sir J. L. C. Richardson, Mr Maitland, R.M., Mr Jas. Macassey, &c.
The legal profession, which included the whole of its members in Dunedin, representatives from Tokomairiro and Tuapeka, and Judge Ward.
Magistrates, Goldfields Wardens and Officials.
Medical and other Professional Men.
Merchants, Bankers, and others.
Citizens on Foot.
Citizens on Horseback.
Vehicles. -Evening Star, 6/4/1875.
Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.
