ever had, and was all the more
effective in politics for his studiously conciliatory manner. Astute
and wary, Sir Frederick Whitaker was oftener felt than seen. But with
more directness than Whitaker, and more fighting force than Hall, it
was Atkinson who, from 1875 to his physical collapse in 1890, was
the mainstay of his party. He carried through the abolition of the
Provinces; he twice reorganized the finances; he was the protagonist
of his side in their battles with Grey, Ballance, and Stout, and they
could not easily have had a better. This chief of Grey's opponents was
as unlike him in demeanour and disposition as one man can well be
to another. The two seemed to have nothing in common, except
inexhaustible courage. Grey had been trained in the theory of war,
and any part he took therein was as leader. Atkinson had picked up a
practical knowledge of bush-fighting by exchanging hard knocks with
the Maoris as a captain of militia. Grey was all courtesy; the other
almost oddly tart and abrupt. Grey's oratory consisted of high-pitched
appeals to great principles, which were sometimes eloquent, sometimes
empty. His antagonist regarded Parliament as a place for the
transaction of public business. When he had anything to say, he
said it plainly; when he had a statement to make, he made it, and
straightway went on to the next matter. His scorn of the graces of
speech did not prevent him from being a punishing debater. Theories
he had--of a quasi-socialistic kind. But his life was passed in
confronting hard facts. Outside the House he was a working colonist;
inside it a practical politician. The only glory he sought was "the
glory of going on," and of helping the Colony to go on. When, with
tragic suddenness, he died in harness, in the Legislative Council in
1892, there was not alone sincere sorrow among the circle of friends
and allies who knew his sterling character, but, inasmuch as however
hard he had hit in debate it had never been below the belt, his
opponents joined in regretting that so brave and faithful a public
servant had not been spared to enjoy the rest he had well earned.

[Illustration: SIR HARRY ATKINSON

_By permission of_ Messrs. SAMPSON LOW.]

What kind of an assembly, it may be asked, is the New Zealand
Parliament which Atkinson's force of character enabled him to lead so
long, and which has borne undivided rule over the Colony since 1876?
The best answer can be found in the story of the Colony, fo