Page:The Irish in Australia.djvu/316

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302
THE IRISH IN AUSTRALIA.

livery of this speech there were enthusiastic bursts of applause from the spectators in the crowded galleries, and, at the orator's pathetic allusions to his past career and the probability of his public life being brought to a speedy termination by the hand of death, many of his fellow-members were moved to tears. When he resumed his seat, the Speaker was unable to suppress the tumult of applause that broke forth from all quarters of the House.

Wentworth lived to the patriarchal age of eighty-one, and his remains were honoured with a public funeral by the decree of the Parliament of New South Wales. A noble statue of the "Australian Patriot" is one of Sydney's proudest possessions. "Wentworth's great public services must never be forgotten. He who obtained for his country trial by jury and other free institutions, including the blessing of Home Rule, which Ireland even now cannot obtain, will ever occupy a prominent position in the history of Australia."[1]

  1. Sydney Town and Country Journal, June 15, 1872.