came acquainted
with gross abuses, and resolved thereupon to take up the cause with
which his family was so closely connected. He introduced himself to
O'Connell in order to learn some of the secrets of the great art of
agitation. Fortified by O'Connell's instructions, he proceeded to
organise the 'celebrated Agency Committee.' This committee, headed by
Zachary Macaulay, got up meetings and petitions throughout the country,
and supported Buxton in the final assault upon slavery. For his services
in the cause, George Stephen was knighted in 1838. He showed a versatile
ability by very miscellaneous excursions into literature. He wrote in
1837 'Adventures of a Gentleman in search of a Horse,' which became
popular, and proved that, besides understanding the laws relating to the
subject, he was the only one, as I believe, of his family who could
clearly distinguish a horse from a cow. A very clever but less judicious
work was the 'Adventures of an Attorney in search of Practice,' first
published in 1839, which gave or was supposed to give indiscreet
revelations as to some of his clients. Besides legal pamphlets, he
proved his sound Evangelicalism by a novel called 'The Jesuit at
Cambridge' (1847), intended to unveil the diabolical machinations of the
Catholic Church. An unfortunate catastrophe ruined his prospects. He had
founded a society for the purchase of reversions and acted as its
solicitor. It flourished for some years, till misunderstandings arose,
and Sir George had to retire, besides losing much more than he could
afford. He then gave up the profession which he had always disliked, was
called to the bar in 1849 and practised for some years at Liverpool,
especially in bankruptcy business. At last he found it necessary to
emigrate and settled at Melbourne in 1855. He found the colonists at
least as perverse as the inhabitants of his native country. He wrote a
'Life of Christ' (not after the plan of Renan) intended to teach them a
little Christianity, and a (so-called) life of his father, which is in
the main an exposition of his own services and the ingratitude of
mankind. The state of Australian society seemed to him to justify his
worst forebodings; and he held that the world in general was in a very
bad way. It had not treated him too kindly; but I fear that the
complaints were not all on one side. He was, I suppose, one of those
very able men who have the unfortunate quality of converting any
combination into whic