in political and literary circles. On his return the Government was defeated on a measure for amending the Land Act, and met with an unfavourable response when they appealed to the country, Sir Henry Parkes being himself defeated in East Sydney, and having to take refuge in a country electorate. For some time subsequently Sir Henry took very little active part in politics, and in the interval again revisited England. On his return he swept the country at the general election in Jan. 1887, free trade being nominally the question which decided the issue, but the result being really a vote of personal confidence in Sir Henry Parkes as the only man in the colony capable of grappling with the exigencies of the situation. He now formed his fourth administration, again repealing the ad valorem duties imposed by his predecessors, and held office until Jan. 1889, when he retired, owing to an adverse vote. Mr. Dibbs, who succeeded him, only held office until March, when Sir Henry commenced his last memorable Premiership. During his fourth term of office as Prime Minister, Sir Henry Parkes supported Sir Thomas McIlwraith's contention that the colonial governments should be consulted by the Imperial authorities in the appointment of Governors, and carried an address to the Crown, embodying this view, arguing that future Governors should be selected from the class of public men eligible for Cabinet office at home. In 1889, during Sir Henry Parkes' fifth term of office, General Edwards, who had been instructed to investigate the military defences of the Australasian colonies, handed in a recommendation that the forces of the seven colonies should be federalised for purposes of common defence. Sir Henry Parkes cordially endorsed the suggestion, and seized the opportunity to inculcate the desirability of a complete political federation of the Australasian colonies. The fact that Sir Henry Parkes had from the first treated the Federal Council of Australasia, in which the other colonies were associated, with ill-concealed contempt, and had been instrumental in preventing New South Wales from participating in its deliberations, rendered Victoria somewhat suspicious of the olive branch which he now offered, especially after his official attempt to appropriate the national title of "Australia" for New South Wales alone. Ultimately, however, all difficulties and jealousies were overcome, and an Intercolonial conference was held in Melbourne in Feb. 1890, at which, despite the fact that Mr. Gillies, the Premier of Victoria, presided over its deliberations, Sir Henry Parkes, as the promoter of the conclave, was naturally the most prominent and interesting figure. The greatest unanimity prevailed, and the Convention held in Sydney in March 1891 was the outcome of the resolutions arrived at and of the subsequent action of the Colonial Legislatures. Sir Henry Parkes was very fittingly elected to preside over its deliberations. Sir Henry, who was awarded the gold medal of the Cobden Club, and was created G.C.M.G. in 1888, married, in 1835, Miss Clarinda Varney, who died in 1888; and secondly, in 1889, Mrs. Dixon. He stands prominent amongst colonial statesmen for the generous encouragement which he has afforded to struggling literary and artistic merit. In 1890 he broke his leg; but, despite his advanced age, has apparently quite recovered from the effects of the accident The general election of June to July 1891 resulted in the return of a minority of Ministerial supporters, and gave to the labour members the deciding voice in the New South Wales Assembly. For some time the latter supported Sir Henry Parkes, but in Oct. 1891 they threw their weight into the scale against him, and he was compelled to resign office. He subsequently retired from the leadership of the Opposition.
Parnell, Samuel Duncan, generally regarded as the originator of the Eight Hours Movement in New Zealand, and probably in Australasia, was a native of England, and was born in Feb. 1810. So far back as 1884, while working at his trade in London, he was impressed with the idea of agitating for shortening the hours of labour, and when he landed at the infant settlement of Port Nicholson, New Zealand, early in 1840, his first employment, that of constructing a wooden house, was begun under the stipulation that eight hours should be a day's work for himself and his fellow-workmen. Within a few years an attempt was made to increase the length of the working day; but the men interested, navvies working on the Hutt
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