ecame a passion with him; and he counted on making the
New World an influence towards regenerating the Old. The line, in respect
of both aims, was to retain the control of the New World for the Anglo-
Saxon. That meant freedom, because the non-intrusion of arrayed nations,
which would hinder it.

When Greece needed a king, Sir George Grey was mentioned as one with
likely parts for the post. 'I should think,' wrote Freeman the historian,
'he would be just the man to deal with any unruly elements in the
country.' The absolute offer of the crown of Greece would not have
tempted Sir George for an hour.

As he said seriously, while joking on the point, 'In the far south there
was literally nobody to lead, whereas Greece had men sufficient to mould
her destinies. Anyhow, one given the administration of Greece, would not
have had a work more honourable than the development of Australasia, a
larger business altogether. 'Here was a region where several kingdoms
were in the raising, where the pattern could take something from
yourself. What drew me to the far south, as a fairy-tale might, was that
charm, "Yes, it's all new. Hardly anything has yet been done. It's mine
to do with as I will."'

There was the white man's history to fashion, and the black man's history
to discover. Sir George did not neglect the second inquiry, because the
other was the more important. His explorations had given him the idea
that Australia was of a volcanic origin. He judged it to have been, at
some period, a series of islands, each with its own volcano. These
islands had risen from the sea, been licked into shape probably by
earthquakes, and coming gradually together, had formed a continent.
During his Governorship of South Australia, Sir George fell upon a piece
of evidence which materially supported this belief. The skeleton of a
whale, as Sir Richard Owen certified the specimen, was discovered quite
inland, beyond the first mountain range. If Sir George had arrived at
some view, after long deliberation, he liked it to be accepted, as we all
do. Therefore he welcomed the discovery of that whale.

'I was laughed at,' he commented, 'when I insisted that the natives of
Australia must have come from a race more civilised than themselves. A
variety of reasons supported my estimate of their origin; as that, all
over native Australia, there appeared to prevail a rigorous law governing
marriage.

'It demonstrated that the natives understood the effec