Secretary. It was understood that Mr. Latrobe's salary was to be £800 per annum, with allowance for clerk and contingencies, and his patronage was to extend to all appointments not exceeding £100 a year, subject, of course, to confirmation at Head-quarters. On dis-embarking the following day, 1st October, he received a salute of nine guns—and on the 2nd made his official entry into Melbourne, but certainly not under the auspicious indications of Queen's weather, for torrents of rain flooded the almost impassable streets, and the crowd accompanying him were not only ankle but knee deep in slush and mud. He was accompanied by Captain Lonsdale and Mr. Webb. There then stood at the south-west corner of Collins and William Streets, the mart of Mr. Charles Williams, a well-known auctioneer. Here the first Governor made himself known to the community; and, standing on the door-step in the presence of a large concourse (a tithe of whom could not find room inside), and in "the pelting of the pitiless storm," the Governor's Commission was read by the Collector of Customs, and an address was presented to His Excellency. His speech in reply was much better than many of the unmeaning vice-regal utterances, since delivered in "another place." He said, "It was not by individual aggrandisement, by the possession of numerous flocks and herds, or by costly acres, that the people shall secure for the country enduring prosperity and happiness, but by the acquisition and maintenance of sound, religious, and moral institutions, without which no country can become truly great." He prayed to God "for strength and power, that, whether his stay among them be long or short, he may be enabled to know, and to do his duty diligently, temperately, and fearlessly." It must be said of him that he did his best to perform this promise. He was received with unmeasured enthusiasm, and the Gazette newspaper thus exclaimed:— "He comes to us as our good genius to assist to develop our resources, and to place us high in the scale of Colonies—Colonies! nay, he comes to found a mighty empire." On the 16th, Mr. Latrobe rode to Williamstown for the purpose of forming an opinion as to the capabilities of the port, and ascertaining what improvements might be made there. Two requirements were obvious to him, viz., the enlargement of the pier and the erection of a lighthouse. His salary was £8oo a year, but the Press declared that it should be £2000. It was afterwards increased by the Home Government to £1500. Mr. Latrobe brought out a wooden house from England, which was put up at Jolimont, where he purchased an allotment of land at the upset price of £500, no person bidding against him at the auction sale. When he left the colony in 1854, this was cut up into suburban building lots, and paid an enormous profit on the original outlay. He was a travelled and accomplished gentleman, and, though nothing of an orator, was an agreeable writer, of much culture, and no inconsiderable ability. He had previously acquitted himself to the satisfaction of the Home Government, by reporting, in 1838, on Negro Education in Trinidad and British Guiana. The son of a Moravian missionary, the influences of his religious training marked his whole career, for he was a thoroughly conscientious and honest man, who felt a sincere interest in the welfare of the colony, and always endeavoured to do right under difficulties of no ordinary kind. It was inconsistent with the nature of things that Mr. Latrobe's popularity should continue. He had no "bed of roses;" with little more authority than one of the permanent heads of some of our present public departments, he was often obliged to do things he could not help, whilst official obligations compelled him to bear in silence many an undeserved attack. His chief fault was an unsteadfastness of disposition, and a good nature which forced him at times to say "yes" instead of "no." In dealing with the claims of the several religious denominations, a delicate task was often imposed on him, and though with an evident leaning to Episcopalianism, on the whole he dealt out substantial justice to all. He was repeatedly accused of partizanship in the interest of the squatters, though in reality he was the reverse. He was an ardent promoter of every movement, tending to benefit the Province, and his services in resisting the introduction of transportation, were of incalculable value in bringing the agitation on that question to a successful issue. He was often the best abused man in the colony, though he had the good fortune of always retaining a large circle of influential friends. From 1851 to 1854 he was placed in a position of unprecedented difficulty, through the social disorganisation caused by the gold discoveries, and sufficient allowance has never been made for the exigencies of the situation. He left the colony, however, amidst the regrets of those who knew him best, and secured a retiring pension under an Act of Parliament, passed in the interests of ex-Governors of colonies. For some time before his death he suffered from a deprivation of sight, and died, near London, on the 2nd December, 1875.
