is body might not be identical in
form and opinion with the Lower House, it was arranged that no one
should be eligible for election to it who did not possess at least five
thousand pounds worth of real property, and that the privilege of voting
should be confined to the wealthier part of the community.

Along with this new Constitution responsible government was introduced;
and Mr. Haines, being sent for by the Governor, formed the first
Ministry. Before the close of the year, the first contest under the new
system took place. Mr. Nicholson, a member of the Assembly, moved that
the voting for elections should in future be carried on in secret, by
means of the ballot-box, so that every man might be able to give his
opinion undeterred by any external pressure, such as the fear of
displeasing his employer or of disobliging a friend. The Government of
Mr. Haines refused its assent to this proposal, which was, nevertheless,
carried by the Assembly. Now, the system of responsible government
required that, in such a case, Mr. Haines and his fellow-Ministers,
being averse to such a law and declining to carry it out, should resign
and leave the government to those who were willing and able to
inaugurate the newly-appointed system. Accordingly they gave in their
resignations, and the Governor asked Mr. Nicholson to form a new
Ministry; but, though many members had voted for his proposal, they were
not prepared to follow him as their leader. He could obtain very few
associates, and was thus unable to form a Ministry; so that there
appeared some likelihood of a total failure of responsible government
before it had been six months in existence. In the midst of this crisis
Sir Charles Hotham was taken ill. He had been present at a prolonged
ceremony--the opening of the first gasworks in Melbourne--and a cold
south wind had given him a dangerous chill. He lay for a day or two in
great danger; but the crisis seemed past, and he had begun to recover,
when news was brought to him of Mr. Nicholson's failure. He lay brooding
over these difficulties, which pressed so much upon his mind that he was
unable to rally, and on the last day of the year 1855 he died. This was
a great shock to the colonists, who had learnt highly to respect him.
The vacant position was for a year assumed by Major-General Macarthur,
who invited Mr. Haines and his Ministry to return. They did so, and the
course of responsible government began again from the beginning.