The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 1/Chapter 31

by Edmund Finn

CHAPTER

XXXI.

O U R T W O OLDEST INSTITUTIONS.

SYNOPSIS—The Melbourne Club: Its Creation, Rise, and Progress—The Mechanics' Institute : Its Inception and Progress— First Lectures Delivered in Melbourne—Sir George Gipps Refuses a Grant of Land.—Early Financial Troubles.— Purchase of Land in Collins Street. —Election of Officers and Board of Management.—Government Grant Sanctioned. — Financial and Numerical Progress.—More Lectures.—£300 Voted by Government for a " Theatre."—Statistics of the Institution, 1832, 1881, and 1887.

|OT the least singular fact to be recorded in the history of Early Melbourne is that of the flourishing j existence of two Sodalities, originating in what must be regarded (measuring the age of the colony by its unrivalled progress) as a very remote era, one of them about a year the others ^1|T senior, each in its way initiated for a purpose praiseworthy in itself, yet both differing as day and night in the ends to be attained, and the means to be employed for such attainment. Rocked in their cradles at a time of yvhich nothing can be noyv discerned but a feyv puffs of mist—which are yearly growing thinner, and will soon be completely dissipated—their infancy was perilous, and their nonage beset by difficulties and perils of no ordinary character. Through the sea of financial embarrassment by yvhich Port Phillip was flooded, and almost overyvhelmed, in 1842-43, a risky course was steered. Breakers ahead, "poopers" astern, quicksands on each side, and often obliged by necessity to hug a lee shore, the storm was " weathered," the breakers cleared, and yvith favouring gales a haven of prosperity was reached. AA'ith these few preparatory remarks I proceed to briefly sketch the Institutions indicated. THE MELBOURNE CLUB

Was first mooted in that eventful month of November, 1838, when the first cricket match was played in the colony, at the foot of Batman's Hill. This happened on the 12th, yvhen the necessity for organizing a club wasfirstformally talked over. There was a fair muster of the Melbourne "respectabilities" of the time, and in the course of some casual conversation the Club question cropped up. O f all the gay young felloyvs sunning themselves on the green grass that day, there are only tyvo of them, Messrs. Benjamin Baxter and Robert Russell, noyv (1888) alive in Melbourne. Before the next evening a Prospectus yvas prepared by Mr. Baxter, yvho succeeded in obtaining several eligible signatures in approval of the project. O n the 17th November, 1838, a meeting of all taking an interest in the then hazardous venture yvas held at the quarters of the military officers at the south side of West Bourke Street, yvhen the formation of a Club yvas ratified, and the following names yvere announced as the original members: —Captain Lonsdale, P.M., Dr. Cussen (Colonial Surgeon), Colonel White, Captain Bacchus, Lieutenant Smyth, Messrs. Munday, Powlett, Yaldwyn, Murdoch, Meek, McFarlane, Darke, Bacchus, J u n , White, Arden, Baxter, Russell, Scott, Hamilton, Smythe, and the Ryries (three). T h e neyv-born Club went on sloyvly but surely, and ere thefirstweek of 1839 passed over, the Port Phillip Gazette, 5th January, thus reports progress : — " O n thefirstday of the year a general meeting of the members of the Melbourne Club yvas held for the purpose of appointing a committee, and to take into consideration the building of a house suited to the convenience of the service it is intended to be applied to. T h e list showed nearlyfiftynames, amongst w h o m w e m a y mention Mr. H a w d o n , to yvhose enterprise the district is indebted for having opened a communication by land to South Australia. About twenty of the members subsequently sat d o w n to a dinner at the Lamb Lnn, laid out on a most splendid scale, comprising all the varieties this infant settlement could afford." cc Mr. William Meek (Melbourne's first Solicitor) yvas appointed Honorary Secretary, and the next meeting yvas held at the residence of Dr. Barry Cotter (Melbourne'sfirstpractising physician), north-east corner of Queen and Collins Streets. This was on the 21st February, when thefirstballot came off, and Messrs. Arthur Hogue, J. Browne, H . N . Carrington, and Peter Snodgrass were enrolled. T h e Club had been three months in existence ; the members yvere increasing; a committee yvas appointed, and premises yvere being looked up to do duty until such time as funds yvould be available sufficient for the erection of a permanent Club-house. But m a n y years yvere to roll by ere this could come to pass. In June the Club had a house rented, viz, a rough, rakish-looking building at the corner of Collins and Market Streets, yvhere now this old friend, yvith a very n e w face, and so m u c h improved internally and externally as to be unrecognizable, appears before the public as the Union Club Hotel. In its original condition it yvas erected by Mr. J. P. Fawkner, as a third and revised edition of Fawkner's Hotel; but " Johnny" had grown tired of dram-selling, and retired to rusticate and grow grapes at Pascoe Vale, some eight miles from toyvn, on the M o o n e e Ponds Road, yvhere he had purchased a section of country land. A Club steyvard yvas next retained, and tyvo advertisements appeared in the papers, viz, (1) Inviting tenders for Club supplies ; and (2) AVanted a laundress, properly recommended. A n d so the Melbourne Club was n o w fairly started, and its beginning yvas quiet enough until September, when a row occurred, for the Port Phillip Gazette, of the 21st, announces that two gentlemen staying there (Messrs. Thomas and Cobb) "had fought yvith theirfistsover a card-table." In Kerr's Port Phillip Directory, 1841, amongst the local Institutions appears this announcement:— "Melbourne Club, established 1839. President, James Simpson, Esq.; Secretary, R e d m o n d Barry, Esq.; Club House, Collins Street." T h e Club remained at Fawkner's corner for some years, and throughout all its eventful career it never yvent out of Collins Street from those days to this. AVhere the Bank of Victoria is noyv built, Mr. Michael Carr, one of Melbourne's earliest publicans, purchased a half-acre allotment for £ 4 0 ; but it and its buyer soon obtained a divorce, the freehold passed into other hands, and a large brick house had been erected on the Collins Street frontage. This yvas occupied by the Port Phillip Bank during its short and troubled life, and when the Bank shut up shop there the Club moved doyvn from the western hill to the flat—then a swampy, uncomfortable place. But the house yvas more commodious than the one vacated, and it was soon turned into comfortable quarters. H e n c e again, after a sojourn for years, the Club migrated away far over the crown of the Eastern Hill, at a time yvhen the place yvas no longer in the bush, but becoming one of the mostflourishingand fashionable centres in the city. H o w it has fared since, how fat it has grown, and how respectable it has become, it is not for m e to chronicle, for I have nothing to do with those modern developments yvhich have been accomplished by the great changes wrought during the last thirty years, beyond stating that in 1882 there were 465 members on the books, and the premises are now the property of the fraternity, the capital value of the land and buildings being about £50,000. The Melbourne Club of 1882 is as the staid, comfortable, middle-aged, padded gentleman when contrasted with its boyhood of '42, when it yvas the rendezvous of the young rakes in town and the harum-scarum, full-blooded, full-pocketed, lightheaded scamps from the bush, whose frolics kept it, if not in hot water, in a state of almost continuous effervescence both day and night. If the biography of the old, or rather the young Club could be written, it yvould unfold a "strange eventful history"—the duels initiated, the practical jokes perpetrated, the nocturnal "wild oats" scattered about the town, in which no m a d freak seemed impossible, from the mobbing of a parson to pummelling a policeman, besieging a theatre or unbelling a church, demolishing a corporation bridge, or a wholesale abduction of signboards. Of such eccentricities a more detailed account will be given in another chapter. T h e Old Melbourne Club had many a hard struggle for existence; it had more than once run to the very end of its tether, yet it was always able to pull up just in time to avoid a smash. It seemed to have a charmed life, and so it lived, and struggled, and is n o w doing well and prospering.*

Particulars of the present state ofthe Melbourne Club (1888) are not obtainable. THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTE.

If there be any public Institute in Melbourne which should have respected the claims of its origin before changing its name, it is the Literary and Scientific Association now known under the pretentious designation of the Athenaeum ; for it had primarily and essentially a mechanical beginning. It yvas started by mechanics, called a Mechanics' Institution, and, no matter how the personnel of its management might have changed in after years, the name should have remained unchanged and unchangeable On the 14th February, 1839, a Union Benefit Society yvas established in Melbourne, and from this humble source sprang the Mechanics' Institution. In the course of the year the necessity for some such organization became apparent, and on the 4th October the few master-builders in town, yvho were also connected with the Union, assembled, and, with a Mr. A. Sim as their Chairman, passed the following resolution:—" That a Mechanics' Institution be formed in Melbourne for the promotion of Science in this rising colony, particularly amongst the young, as yvell as the operative classes, and that a public meeting for the formation of such an Institution will be held in the N e w Scots' Schoolroom on the first Tuesday evening in November at 7 o'clock, yvhen all persons friendly to such an object are respectfully invited to attend." The meeting yvas held, and the result yvas the issue of this announcement:— At an Adjourned Meeting held in the Presbyterian School House on the evening of 12th November, 1839 (Captain Lonsdale in the Chair) the following resolutions yvere adopted:— Moved by Mr. J. J. Peers, seconded by Mr. John Sutherland—" That the folloyving gentlemen be requested to act as Officers for the Melbourne Mechanics' Institution, being ex-officio members of the Committee:—President, Captain Lonsdale; Vice-Presidents, H. F. Gisborne, Esq, J.P, F. M'Crae, Esq, M . D , H. Yaldyvyn, Esq, J.P, T. AVills, Esq, J.P, Captain Smyth, J.P, George Porter, Esq, A. Thomson, Esq., Rev. J. Clow ; Treasurer, J. Gardiner, Esq.; Auditors, AA'. Highett, Esq, D. C. McArthur, Esq.; Secretary, Rev. James Forbes, M.A.; Assistant Secretary, Mr. W . Morrison ; Curators of a Museum, Drs. Holland and AVilkie; Librarian, Mr. Thomas Burns." Moved by Mr. George Coulstock, seconded by Mr. George Say—"That the following gentlemen form the Commitee for the ensuing year:—Messrs. Anderson, Beaver, Best, Bodecin, Brown, Burns, Caulfield, Dimvoodie, Graham, Kibble, Mayne, Murphy, McArthur, Hurlstone, Peers, Rankin, Rattenbury, Rusbton, Russell, Sim, Stevenson, Strode, Sutherland, AVintle, Breyvster, Craig, Reeves, Rucker, Welsh, and AVilliams." Moved by Mr. John Sutherland, seconded by Mr. P. Bodecin—"That the payment of an annual subscription of £ 1 , yvith an entrance fee of £ T , shall constitute membership, and shall confer all the privileges of membership ; and that a donation of £ 2 5 shall constitute membership for life, yvithout annual subscription." Moved by Mr. Rushton, seconded by Mr. Anderson—" That the Committee shall exclude all such works from the library as contain polemical, divinity, or other matter which the Committee may deem objectionable." Moved by Mr. Bodecin, seconded by Mr. Peers—"That the Committee be appointed to draw up a code of laws for the government of the Institution, subject to the approbation of a general meeting of members on an early day ; and that ten form a quorum." A n amendment " Thatfiveform a quorum " yvas carried.

THE FIRST LECTURES IN MELBOURNE. The Committee set to its yvork zealously, and prepared an elaborate code of rules in which the object of the Institution was defined to be the "diffusion of scientific and other useful knoyvledge among its members and the community generally." After considerable difficulties, an Inauguration Lecture yvas delivered on the 16th April, 1840, at the Scots' School, Collins Street East, by Mr. J. H. Osborne, a retired Presbyterian Minister, attached to the Synod of Ulster. The admittance was free, and the subject selected was "The Advantages of such Institutions." Mr. Osborne was appointed joint Secretary with Mr. Morrison, who some time after retired. The second lecture was delivered on the 1st May, by Mr. Redmond Barry, who produced a very learned and ornate discourse upon "Agriculture," its only fault being that the theme was not sufficiently popularized, for it was, in fact, an accomplished, scholarly, and recondite essay. The Rev. James Forbes, Presbyterian Minister, followed on the 15th May to a croyvded audience and in the presence of Superintendent Latrobe. He spoke on "Colonization," and his address was a deliverance of remarkable interest, and eloquence. On the 29th, Mr. George Arden, the Editor of the Gazette, gave an exposition of "The Mechanical Agency of the Press in the Dissemination of General Knowledge." Dr. Greeves lectured on "Geology," 12th June, and was succeeded on the 26th by Mr. Edward Sewell, a Solicitor, who discoursed very interestingly on "Heat." The Rev. P. B. Geoghegan, Roman Catholic Pastor, appeared 10th July as the expounder of "The Existence of a Deity, judging from Reason and Nature alone." As a speaker of rare gifts, he was at home alike in the pulpit and on the platform. On the 7th August, Dr. Wilmot, the Coroner, lectured on "The Science of the Present Day." Mr. Osborne followed (4th September), on "Phrenology," and Mr. Barry wound up the session on the 2nd October by a second essay on " Agriculture."

An application to the Government for a grant of land on which to erect a suitable building, and for pecuniary aid towards it, was refused by Sir George Gipps, considering the infancy of the movement, but if a building were commenced, and likely to be well supported, a contribution of £300 would be forthcoming. This qualified promise was not acceptable, and the promoters decided for the present to trust to self-reliance and public confidence to speed them onward. In neither of these allies were they disappointed, for at the close of the year they had 241 members on the books, and under one of their rules they were empowered to confer "honorary membership on persons in any part of the world, who have distinguished themselves by their researches or attainments in Science, Literature, and the Arts, or who might in any way have conferred signal benefit on the Institution." To secure a sufficiently central site for a building, and make a little money by the bargain, the Committee determined to purchase two allotments at a Government land sale, one whereon to erect the Institute, and the other to be re-soid at a favourable opportunity. This was done on the 13th August, 1840, and an old map of Melbourne shows the name of J. H. Osborne as buyer of lots two and three, of block eleven, extending from Collins to Little Collins Street, for £142 10s. each. This space adjoined eastward the reserve afterwards given to the Corporation for a Town Hall, and a portion—66 feet frontage by a depth of 155 feet was at once marked off for the Mechanics' Institution, and the remainder afterwards sold at a large profit. The Scots' School was used as a place of meeting until December, when a small brick bouse was rented in Bourke Street, where a library was commenced, which at first consisted mainly of free gifts of books. Tenders were called for the erection of a building not to exceed £2000, but no available offer followed.

In the course of 1840 the honorary sinecure of Patron yvas created, the eight V.P.'s were compressed into two, and the Committee reduced by 50 per cent, i.e., from 30 to 15. One Treasurer was considered a sufficient guardianship for the funds, and as the Museum was yet a myth, with nil to take care of, it was evidently useless to have one Curator helping another to do nothing, and one of those ornamental appendages was knocked off. At the commencement of 1841, the Board of Management, the first virtually of its kind, was thus constituted:— Patron—His Honor C. J. Latrobe. President—William Lonsdale, Esq. Vice-Presidents—The Rev. James Clow, and Farquhar M'Crae, ESq., M. D.—TreasurerWilliam Highett, Esq. Secretary—The Rev. J. H. Osborne. Curator of Museum—David E. Wilkie, Esq, M. D. Committee of Management.^[1]—Messrs. Joseph Anderson,* Redmond Barry, John Caulfield,* George Beaver,* J. M . Chisholm, Patrick Mayne,* J. R. Murphy, D. C. M'Arthur, A. M. M'Crae, Alexander M'Killop, J. J. Peers,* Robert Reeves, Thomas Strode,* John Sutherland, and P. W. Welsh. Auditors—Messrs. John Carey, and D. C. McArthur. There was also a Librarian, Mr. Thomas Burns, and a Collector (of cash, not specimens, it is to be presumed), Mr. F. Hitchins. In 1841, Mr. Osborne was obliged by the pressure of private business to withdraw from the Secretaryship, in which he was succeeded by Mr. J. Stephen, the reverse of an improvement. Great exertions were made to push on with the contemplated building, and tenders were at length accepted, in February, 1842, for its erection for £1920, the contractors-Messrs. Donovan and Crosbie. It was a hazardous venture, but the available funds were £1472. On the 6th June, 1842, an important meeting was held at the Royal Hotel, Collins Street, presided over by Mr. James Simpson. A liability of £1921 had been incurred for the building, and the assets from all sources were estimated to yield £1569 3s. 3d. This included about £600 unpaid donations and subscriptions. Loans had been offered by the Freemasons and the Melbourne Debating Society, and it was the Committee's opinion that it would be more advisable to borrow £1250 on mortgage in the ordinary way of business. The building was mortgaged for the sum required at 12½ per cent interest, and pecuniary obligations were incurred which it was afterwards at times difficult to provide for. The edifice, early in 1843, yvas occupied by the members. It was a substantial two-story brick building, some feet from and above the street level. It was reached by several steps, and during the winter season the footway and street approaches were in a terrible state of mud and puddle. Yet in those primitive times the progress of the erection yvas regarded with much interest, and not only the people, but the newspapers, actually felt a pride in it as one of the coming constructive wonders of the Antipodes. One of the latter thus gushingly referred to it:— "The Hall of Arts is nearly complete, and will be ready for occupation in the course of a few days; the size, arrangements, and architectural proportions of the building will make it, when finished, the noblest edifice in the Province." On the ground-floor were the Library and Reading-room, and for years the Town Clerk had his official quarters in another portion of the building. The meeting place for the Town Council was upstairs in the large room. This larger apartment or "hall," as it used to be grandiloquently styled, was one of the most historic places in Early Melbourne, for here were held some of the most important gatherings in Port Phillip—social, charitable, and political.

A small grant was ultimately obtained from the Government, and Mr. George A. Gilbert was, in June, 1844, appointed Hon. Secretary, vice Stephen, who was never suited by industry or habits for the post. Mr. Gilbert was professionally a drawing-master, possessed considerable talent of a general kind, was fluent of tongue and facile of pen, with a plausible, gentlemanly manner, which made him a favourite. In the middle of this year the Library contained 600 volumes, and the Museum began to exhibit faint signs of life. The lectures were renewed with much vigour, and in October a welcome present was received in the form of a twenty-guinea cheque from Mr. Benjamin Boyd, a Sydney merchant, who made a political swoop upon the district, and picked up one of the locally little valued prizes—a seat in the Legislative Council of New South Wales. In November intimation was received that the Governor would sanction a grant of £150 a year towards the undertaking, and in March, 1845, the Management got the first taste of the so-much-wished-for, but long-forbidden State-aid. Mr. William Roycroft was appointed Assistant Secretary at a remuneration of £50 per annum and quarters. In the report submitted to the annual meeting in January, 1846, the total debt due on the building was £1400, the income for 1845 slightly exceeded £500, and the number of members 129. A great effort was made "to raise the wind," and in a few months £416 accrued from donations and subscriptions. In 1846 the Members' Roll went up to 204, and in June, 1847, to 220.

In September, 1847, Mr. Redmond Barry again appeared at the lecturer's desk, and read a masterly paper on "Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture." Mr. Barry delivered another lecture (24th October) on "Music and Poetry." The subject was handled in an eloquent and artistically able style, was deemed a masterpiece, and had a good circulation as a pamphlet, in which form it was (as well as in some of the newspapers) published. At the annual meeting in February, 1850, the receipts for the past year were £586 17s. 4d, and the expenditure £494 10s. 2d, whilst the income ofthe current year was estimated at £766 17s. 2d. This year was distinguished by the appearance of some new faces as lecturers, the first being the Rev. W. Trollope, M.A., an Episcopalian Minister of high Academic attainments, and a writer of much power, but with too great a tendency to personal and sectarian acrimony. He delivered a course of lectures on "Mechanics," and though marked by much ability, his audiences were more select than numerous. On the 27th February Mr. David Blair, so well and deservedly known in after years as a public speaker and writer, made his début before a Melbourne public, with a lecture on "Poetry and its Influences." He was announced in the newspapers as a protégé ofthe Rev. Dr. Lang, and had only lately arrived from England in the ship "Clifton." Mr. Blair, then a young man, displayed great ability and research in handling a subject which he seemed to have, not at his fingers' but at his tongue's end, and most unmistakably evidenced the possession of those powers with yvhich Victorians have since been well familiarized.

At this time, the first Melbourne Gas Company was in embryo, and its projectors were making great efforts to bring it favourably before the public, to help which some interesting lectures were delivered, one by the Rev. John Allen, on the 5th July, "On the Manufacture and Employment of Gas, to be considered more especially with reference to its introduction in Melbourne." The Rev. A. Morrison followed with a brilliant dissertation on "Astronomy;" Mr. C. A. Gilbert on "Mesmerism;" and Mr. W. S. Gibbon on "Physiology and the Circulation of the Blood."

On the 29th January, 1851, the annual meeting was held under the Presidency of Mr. D. C. McArthur. The number of members was 451. The receipts showed £721 16s., which included £51 17s. 2d. from previous year (1849). The expenditure (including £200 paid off the mortgage) was £715 11s. 4d., leaving a balance in hand of £6 4s. 8d. The revenue of 1850 had exceeded the estimate by £66 2s. 6d., and the mortgage debt was reduced to £600. During 1850, the Library had received an accession of 348 volumes by purchase, and 33 by donation, and now consisted of 4055 volumes. The Reading-room was well supplied with periodicals and newspapers, but the Museum was rather stationary.

In 1851, the Rev. W. Trollope, Mr. T. T. A'Beckett, and others lectured at intervals. In the first Session of the First Legislature of Victoria, a vote of £500 was passed in aid of the erection of a "Theatre" wherein lectures might be delivered, in addition to £150 for maintenance for 1852.

The probable incomings for 1852 were put down at £720, but the working expenses would be increased in consequence ofthe gold discoveries. During the year 381 standard and scientific works had been added to the Library, i.e., eleven by gift and the rest by purchase. There were now 4436 books in the Library, and the Reading-room was well supplied with Home and Colonial magazine and newspaper literature. The contemplated Theatre or Lecture-hall could not be put up for less than £1000, and to claim the Government moiety another £500 who have to be raised by private contribution. Already £300 of this had been subscribed. The Museum remained in a state of coma in consequence, as was alleged, of want of room. A Music Class had been formed, for which all the available talent in Melbourne had been obtained. Weekly concerts were held with success, and the funds of the Institution had been thereby increased.

Of what the future effected for the Institution, some notion may be obtained by a perusal of a few of the facts disclosed by the Report of the Committee of Management for 1881:— (1.) "The total revenue amounts to £2643 15s. 9d. The expenditure for ordinary purposes of the Institution is £2220 0s. 4d. (2.) The payment on account ofthe mortgage has reduced the original debt of £7000 to £5500, and this reduction has been made within the last three years. The mortgagee, Mr. T. B. Payne, has agreed to reduce the rate of interest on the unpaid balance to 5 per cent, per annum from 8th June, 1882. (3.) The number of members is about the same as last year (1400), for although since the date of the last Report 326 new members joined, almost as many ceased membership. (4.) Hie number of books added to the Library during the year is 552. About £350 has been spent for books and magazines, £213 for newspapers, and £82 for binding. (5.) The Reading-room and the Newsroom have been well attended. The number of issues of works from the Library exceeds 34,000. The total number of visits to the Institution may be roughly estimated at 165,000, exclusive of those to the halls and classrooms."

The Report of the Committee for the year 1887 contains the following:— "In presenting their Report for the past year, the Committee have great pleasure in congratulating the Members on the continued progress of the Institution.

"The gross Receipts for the year amount to £4134 8s., and the Expenditure to £3333 14s. 3d. The following are the details of the Receipts:- Subscriptions, £1561 1s. 6d.; Front Shops, £1080 10s. 9d.; Large Hall, £882 19s.; Small Hall, £383 2s.; Rooms, £198 12s. 10d.; Sales, £28 1s. 11d.

"Among the items of expenditure there is the large amount of £990 for interest on the loan of £18,000. This item will be considerably lessened when the term of the present mortgage expires, as your Committee have commenced the formation of a sinking fund for that purpose, which already amounts to £1250, and is bearing interest almost equal to that paid on the mortgage. "After deducting from the gross Expenditure the sum of £990 for interest on mortgage, and £78 6s. 6d. for new catalogue, we have £2265 7s. 9d. left for ordinary expenditure. The principal items in this are:— Salaries and Wages, £939 15s.; Books, Magazines, and Newspapers, £591 15s. 5d.; Gas, £243 13s.; Repairs and Furniture, £122 12s. 10d.; Binding, £83 3s. 4d."

The number of books added to the Library was 613. The total number works issued to the Subscribers was 28,241, and 7150 magazines.

The number of Subscribing Members is 1568.

Mr. H. J. P. Curtis is Secretary to the Institution, and Mr. William Smith, Librarian (1888).

1. The "Trades" element was rather considerably eliminated from this Committee, for only the names asterisked could be in any sense put down as representative of the mechanic or artisan stratum of the community. The Committee, however, included much of the spirit of the day, and the influence and social position of the majority of its members helped on an undertaking of no ordinary difficulty, and which would in other hands have gone down in the surf of financial troubles which soon after burst upon the Province and kept it in tribulation for some years.