"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance."

change in his father's own business views and prospects; and the discovery about that time-1851-52—of the Australian gold fields causing no small stir and speculation in the old world, it was decided that young Mr. Kerferd should visit Victoria for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility or otherwise of opening a branch business in Melbourne.

Leaving Liverpool, therefore, at the latter end of 1852, by the good ship "Albatross," he landed on these shores sometime in April of the following year. For the space of some months his time was occupied with negotiations for the above purpose, but without any definite result. Guided, however, by indications coming under his observation during this period, on the occasion of a visit to the Ovens district, on behalf of the firm of W. M. Bell and Co., he determined to make a business start in Beechworth, the principal town of that district, and at that time, the central depôt for all the surrounding "diggings." Accordingly, associating with himself a young English barrister friend, who had abandoned his profession, he entered upon the then profitable business of a wine and spirit merchant; afterwards retiring therefrom in favour of the still more lucrative calling of a brewer, in which he continued for many years with

success.

During all these changes, and amidst the inevitable wear and tear, and anxiety, incident to the vicissitudes of such pursuits (of the wearying and grinding effect of which no one who has not "gone through that mill" can have the smallest conception), Mr. Kerferd, it would appear, never once lost sight of the goal of his ambition-his first love -the bar; but, night after night, and at times after a hard day's work in the brewery or a scorching day's ride over the rough country roads (for he was for a considerable time his own traveller), would he be found "burning the midnight oil," immersed in the classical and legal studies, which he even then continued to prosecute with assiduity under the guidance of a gentleman learned in those mysteries, then resident in the capital of the whilom "May Day Hills." And not only this: he was

at the same time daily qualifying himself to take that place in the Parliament of his adopted country which he has since so ably filled with both honour to himself and credit to his constituents, as well as with satisfaction to the colony at large, and which doubtless he looked upon as but a natural stepping-stone to the acme of his aspirations. Thus, on the 22nd May, 1857 (only a few months after Sir-then Mr.-Andrew Clarke gave to this colony that inestimable boon, its first Municipal Act, 18 Vic. No. 15) we find Mr. Kerferd elected a member of the Municipal Council of Beechworth, then but recently established under the presidency of Richard Upon that Mellish, Esquire, J.P.

municipality being subsequently, under a later statute, created a Borough, he was, we are informed, unanimously elected its first Mayor, and subsequently was re-elected to that honourable post either three or four times, thus gaining the well-known appellation of "the inevitable Mayor."

It was during this-if we may so term it-apprenticeship to legislalative duties in the Beechworth Local Parliament, that evidences of his judicial "turn of mind" came to the fore. Whilst occupying the Mayoral chair, it was especially noticeable that he made it an invariable practice never to interfere in, or allow himself to be drawn into, discussions during the heat of a debate. He would calmly "bide his time" till all the other speakers had concluded, and then, prior to, or in, "putting the question," would, in a clear and decisive manner, state his own views on the subject in hand, and generally with no small effect upon the result of the voting, as shown "when the numbers went up."

And not only so, but during the whole term of his membership in the Municipal and Borough Councils of his day his strict and resolute impartiality was most marked. Many a time, when some hot-headed partisan had urged that a petition or complaint before the Council should be at once dealt with, and decided upon in a certain way, down came his fiat— always of course by way of a suggestion-but none the less for all practical purposes his fiat-audi alteram partem.

"Don't you think, gentlemen, we had better refer the matter to the party complained against, and let us hear his version, and not do hastily something that we may afterwards have to undo, and so stultify and make ourselves ridiculous ?" And Britons and their descendants being always ready to "give fair play," such views were generally adopted without hesitation, and the further consideration of the matter postponed to allow of the other side being heard.

Now, we take it that calmness and impartiality are qualities that are essential to the successful sustainment of both the dignity and influence of a judge.

Judicial Bench sometimes amenable to, eventuating in some instances in the loss of their own personal dignity, and in others even in the miscarriage of justice.

Aristotle, to the self-asked query "What is justice ?" answers, "To give to every man his own." And it certainly is not difficult to believe that this most desirable result is much more likely to attend the decrees of a judge not possessed of too sensitive a disposition, than those of one liable to be biassed by, it may be, overwrought susceptibility, or the emotional excitement of the moment.

In 1864, Mr. Kerferd, finding himself sufficiently prepared to make a move towards the front, quitted, at one and the same time, trade and the circumscribed area of municipal duties, conflicts, and honours, and entered the more extensive arena of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was elected at the head of the poll-to represent the "district of the Ovens," or, as it is more generally known, "The Beechworth district." This honourable position he continued to fill without intermission down to the 28th day of December last (when he donned the judicial ermine), a period of over twentyone years, being re-elected time after time-oftentimes unopposed, and sometimes in the face of most strenuous opposition. It is a fact worthy of record that throughout the proverbial excitement of electioneering campaigns he always had the good taste to abstain from disparaging his opponents a fact which speaks volumes in support of his claim to a character for calm uprightness.

It is a much easier task to write of a man after his decease than during his lifetime. Under the first named circumstances, good feeling prompts to a strict compliance with the maxim, "de mortuis nil nisi bonum." But the historian of the living statesman or other public man is bound, in honesty, to place on record not only what redounds to the credit of the subject of his memoir, but also matters which may not be altogether so construed. Hence, we are bound to observe that Mr. Kerferd, during the municipal portion of his career, gave evidence of the possession of other characteristics than those to which we have hitherto referred, characteristics which, however much they may be qualifications for his new position of Supreme Court Judge, and prove of service to him in it, certainly did not obtain for him much kudos with his confrères in days gone by. At that time he was considered essentially self-contained, and one who never displayed any of the finer traits of feeling, in the usual acceptation of that term. We are, however, the less reluctant to make reference to these features in his character or temperament, inasmuch as we have heard it argued by some to whose opinion we have ere this seen occasion to defer, that the possession of the one and the absence of the other are likely to operate in making Mr. Kerferd a really useful judge; one not likely to be swayed by outside influences of a nature such as we have known other occupants of the

But during the turmoil incident to political life, Mr. Kerferd had by no means lost sight of the main object of his exertions, indeed we might say, of the main object of his life. Upon quitting Beechworth for the metropolis as before mentioned, he forthwith gained admission to the professional sanctum of the then well-known barrister-and afterwards equally well-known and erudite judge-Fellowes. Under his agis he thenceforward so successfully pursued his legal studies, that, after the lapse of the usual probationary period, he was enabled (in 1867) to

acumen

From this time forward his legal - his continued application and research-together with his tact and general knowledge of mankind, soon brought him to the front, and caused his services to be more than once sought for in the formation of the Government of the day. Thus we find him a member, successively, of the Sladen Ministry, in 1868, as Minister of Mines and Railways; of the Francis Ministry, in 1872, first as Solicitor-General, afterwards as Attorney-General, and subsequently upon the retirement of Mr. Francis, as Premier as well; of the McCulloch Ministry, in 1875, of the Service Ministry, in 1880, and, lastly, of the Service-cum-Berry Coalition Ministry of 1883, again as Attorney-General. By the unanimous voice of his colleagues in this Ministry he has now received his appointment to the Supreme Court Bench, a position which he has studied for, and honourably striven to attain, from, we might almost say, his earliest youth.

And when it is remembered that, during his twenty-one years continuous Parliamentary career, questions of vast import were agitating the respective parties in the Assembly--many of which indeed, such as the "Darling Grant," gave rise to violent conflicts of opinion and that he has passed he has passed through the excitement of such times, often as the responsible legal adviser of the Government, with unsullied reputation, and has now retired from the arena of politics without having made a single enemy within the walls of "The House;" we consider that he has shown himself worthy of the continued confidence of the colony in the new sphere to which he has

been elevated, and that he has honourably qualified himself for, and fairly gained, the position conferred upon him.

In closing this short and imperfect memoir of Mr. Justice Kerferd, it is with feelings of pride and satisfaction that we can refer to the graceful act which marked his retirement from the official post of Attorney-General; and we are glad to record that on leaving office he indited a manly and grateful letter to Mr. B. C. Harriman, the Secretary to the Law Department, acknowledging the many and inestimable services rendered to him whenever in office by that gentleman. There can

not be the least doubt that such publicly accorded thanks were well deserved, it being universally acknowledged that to the erudition and the ever-courteously accorded assistance of Mr. Harriman, as the permanent head of his Department, to the political heads thereof for the time being, much of the success in office of the latter has accrued.

Mr. Kerferd being then the man we have shown him to be, it was with sincere pleasure that we learnt from the Premier, Mr. Service, in his recent deliverances at Castlemaine, that those amongst whom Mr. Justice Kerferd now goes as a colleague had previously expressed a desire that he, as eminently fitted for it, should receive the appointment. And we are of opinion that those few of the general public who have expressed a contrary opinion, have done so simply in ignorance of his qualifications as evinced by his previous history. For ourselves we heartily congratulate both his adopted country and Mr. Justice Kerferd himself on his well-earned elevation. If in the future he proves himself as good a judge as he has been an Attorney-General, Victoria may well continue to be justly proud of him. Even now he can exclaim, in the words of the immortal Shakspeare

"I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness."