Page:The Irish in Australia.djvu/265

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THE CHURCH IN THE COLONIES.
251

church, and that the only place where the church should be built was Tipperary Flat. I have a vivid recollection of the kindness and courtesy with which he was treated by the English officers in the camp, and of their anxiety that the bishop should stay with them, but his lordship politely but firmly declined their kind invitation, remarking, "I must go to my own people." And he went to his own people, and slept that night amongst them in a little tent. On the following morning I was present when he spoke. A more unobtrusive orator I never heard, and yet I do not think I ever heard one more effectual. I was assured by the officers and others that Dr. Goold's advice and exhortation to the people effected a revolution for good, and they personally expressed their gratitude to him for his timely visit and his tranquillising words." In those early days referred to by Judge Quinlan, Dr. Goold could easily have become a millionaire, or, to use the words of the Hon. John Gavan Duffy, "the richest bishop in the Christian world," had he preferred to place in his private purse the golden gifts that were showered upon him by lucky diggers during his periodical visits to the gold-fields, when they were at the height of their splendour and productiveness.[1] But all the riches he acquired were utilised in the building up of the Church throughout the extensive district that had been committed to his pastoral charge; and, after governing his Victorian diocese for thirtyeight years, he passed away in June, 1886—the Archbishop of Melbourne—leaving an honoured memory, but little of worldly wealth beyond a few thousands of pounds to be

  1. The Rev. Dr. Backhaus, the priest whom Dr. Goold placed in charge of the Sandhurst gold-field, died a few years ago, leaving £250,000 for the building of a cathedral and the endowment of the newly-created diocese of Sandhurst.