advocated, they were more than acceptable to the country. It was in the time of quinquennial Parliaments, and he accused the Parliament to which he submitted his proposals, and which had existed for over three years, of having lived too long. What he needed, he said, was a new Parliament as well as a new policy.
A no-confidence motion, criticising his administration, but not his policy, was carried by a majority of fourteen. Obtaining a dissolution he went to the country, and preparations were made on both sides for a severe and bitter struggle.
For the first time the old Conservative party met organised opponents. Sir George Grey, in spite of his years, displayed extraordinary vigour. He flew from centre to centre, organising, advising, and exhorting. His voice was heard in all his opponents’ strongholds. Carrying the war into their camp, he contested the Christchurch seat as well as his old seat at the Thames.
The hot blood of action surged through his veins, and his heart throbbed with the great joy of battle. He felt that he had put on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, and that he would defeat his enemies and lead the people into the pleasant places of political reform he saw in his dreams.
He spoke of a great nation that would arise in the South Pacific. He drew upon the learning of his cultured intellect, and quoted Cicero’s orations and Pliny’s letters as embellishments to his addresses. Wherever he went he had the same cry: “Education for your youths, manhood suffrage, equality of rank, and the earth for men and men’s children.” The interest he had aroused a few years previously when he stepped from his romantic retirement into the centre of the colony’s politics induced large numbers of new men to turn aside from their vocations and enter the field of strife.
Among these was Mr. Seddon. He was one of Sir George Grey’s most ardent admirers from the first. In 1876, he had offered himself as a Liberal candidate for Hokitika. The other candidates were Messrs. R. C. Reid, P. Dungan, E. Barff, and C. E. Button. Two members were required, and Messrs. Barff and Button were successful. In 1877 Mr. Button resigned, and Mr. Seddon took
