or appointments made until the day fixed for the Proclamation for which everything was now in readiness.

The proceedings at the inauguration of the Commonwealth which took place in the Centennial Park, Sydney, at noon on the 1st of January 1901 were on a dramatic scale and full of thrilling interest. There was assembled a vast multitude numbering not less than 100,000 people including the official representatives of many countries and a brilliant detachment of Imperial troops. The Governor-General standing in a specially prepared pavillion, situated on an eminence in the centre of the Park, and immediately surrounded by the gentlemen chosen to be his political advisers, read the Queen's Proclamation of the Commonwealth. The letters patent and commission appointing him Governor-General were also read. The prescribed oaths of allegiance and of office were then administered to the Earl by Sir FREDERICK M. DARLEY, C.J., the Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales.

First Commonwealth Ministry.

The oaths of allegiance and of office were then administered to the nine gentlemen who had been chosen to be members of the Executive Council. Their names and the several offices assigned to them, at the first formal meeting of the Executive Council held during the afternoon were as follows:

Mr. (now Sir) EDMUND BARTON, New South Wales (Leader of the Federal Convention), Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs afterwards appointed a Justice of the High Court.

Sir WILLIAM LYNE (a member of the Federal Convention; retiring Premier of New South Wales), Minister of Home Affairs; afterwards Minister of Customs and Treasurer in the Deakin Administration.

Sir GEORGE TURNER (a member of the Federal Convention; retiring Premier of Victoria), Treasurer; afterwards Treasurer in the Reid-McLean Administration.

Mr. ALFRED DEAKIN (a member of the Federal Convention), Attorney-General; afterwards Prime Minister in three administra

tions.

Mr. C. C. KINGSTON (President of the Federal Convention; retiring Premier of South Australia), Minister of Customs.

Mr. (afterwards Sir) J. R. DICKSON (retiring Home Secretary of Queensland), Minister of Defence.

Sir JOHN FORREST (a Member of the Federal Convention ; retiring Premier of Western Australia), Post Master General; and shortly afterwards Minister of Defence in succession to Sir J. R. DICKSON; subsequently Treasurer in three administrations.

Mr. RICHARD E. O'CONNOR, N.S.W. (a Member of the Federal Convention) Minister without portfolio and Vice-President of the Executive Council; afterwards a Justice of the High Court.

Mr. (now Sir)-N. E. LEWIS (Tasmania), Minister without portfolio, subsequently succeeded by Sir PHILLIP FYSH.

On the death of Sir J. R. DICKSON, Mr. J. G. DRAKE, Secretary for Public Instruction of Queensland, succeeded him in the Govern

ment.

In addition to the principal personages who took part in the opening drama most of the leading federalists and distinguished public men of Australia, were present in the Park, silent spectators of the epoch-making scene.

There were seen, as honoured guests, members of the State Parliaments and the State Governments of Australia. There were in attendance a few of the surviving members of the National Australasian Convention of 1891; among them being Sir SAMUEL GRIFFITH (then, Chief Justice of Queensland who was destined to be the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia) and Mr. Justice INGLIS CLARK (of the Supreme Court of Tasmania); men who, in the Draft Bill of 1891, designed the framework of the Constitution; also the whole of the members of the Statutory Federal Convention 1897-8; men who finally framed and settled the instrument of Government which afterwards became law by an Act of the Imperial Parliament. Among the other guests present were Mr. (afterwards Sir) GEO. H. REID; to be the Leader of the

first

opposition in the Federal Parliament; Prime Minister and eventually the first High Commissioner of the Commonwealth in London: Mr. (afterwards Sir) JOSEPH COOK trusted lieutenant of Mr. REID and who became his successor as Leader of the Federal Opposition and afterwards Prime Minister. There was also present

Mr. J. C. WATSON who became the first Leader of the Labour Party in the Federal Parliament and Prime Minister of the first Labour Government; also Mr. W. M. HUGHES, a distinguished member of the Labour Party and marked out by qualifications to be its AttorneyGeneral and law adviser; afterwards Prime Minister in three Governments. Mr. ANDREW FISHER, too, who afterwards took the place of Mr. WATSON as Leader of the Labour Party and became the Prime Minister of three Governments was present.

Mr. BERNARD R. WISE the Attorney-General of New South Wales who rendered valuable service to the Federal cause and Mr. ISAAC A. ISAACS, Attorney-General of Victoria; afterwards AttorneyGeneral of the Commonwealth and Justice of the High Court were there.

One picturesque figure once well-known and whose name will always be respected in Australia as a Federal leader, was missingSir HENRY PARKES. His remains were at rest in a lonely grave in the Blue Mountains, but his name was on many lips and was recalled with reverence. With keen vision he had, from his lofty Pisgah, viewed the promised Commonwealth, but he had not been permitted to enter it. When health and strength failed him, he had committed the cause of union to the faithful hands of Mr. (afterwards Sir) EDMUND BARTON. On such a great day as that Sir HENRY PARKES magnetic appeal to the crimson thread of kinship" must have been felt by all who realized its significance and Mr. BARTON'S equally fine phrase, a Continent for a people and a people for a Continent," must always find a place in the literary records of the Federal Movement.

..

The Queen's Message.

Pulsating through the electric cable, attuned to the new impulse and throb of national life, came QUEEN VICTORIA'S noble message, transmitted by Mr. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN one of the greatest of Colonial Secretaries. The message was read by Lord HOPETOUN to the assembled multitude as follows:-" Her Majesty commands me to express through you to the people of Australia Her Majesty's heartfelt interest in the inauguration of the Commonwealth; her earnest wish that under Divine Providence there may insure increased prosperity and well-being to her loyal and beloved subjects in Australia. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN."

The Earl of HOPETOUN also read the following message from the Salisbury Government. "Her Majesty's Government sends cordial greetings to the Commonwealth of Australia. They welcome her to her place among the nations, united under her Majesty's Sovereignity; and confidently anticipate for the new Federation a future of ever-increasing prosperity and influence. They recognize in the long-desired consummation of the hopes of patriotic Australians a further step in the direction of the permanent unity of the British Empire. They are satisfied that the wider powers and responsibilities henceforth the sphere of Australia will give further opportunity for the display of that generous loyalty to the throne and Empire which has characterized the action in the past of the several States "

The First Parliament.

The first Federal Elections were held on the 29th March 1901. Each of the Australian States returned six Senators to represent them in the Senate-total 36. The people of the several States returned the following members to the House of Representatives, namely:-New South Wales 26, Victoria 23, Queensland 9, South Australia 7, Western Australia 5, Tasmania 5-Total 75. In the absence of Federal legislation the elections were conducted in each State according to the appropriate electoral laws and procedure in force in each State applicable to the State Legislature. One constitutional rule, however, was enforced, that in the choosing of members each elector should vote only once. Constitution, sec. 30.

Her Majesty QUEEN VICTORIA did not long survive the inauguration of the Commonwealth. As the Queen's first and last message to the Commonwealth was being read amid rapturous applause in Sydney, the angel of death was hovering over the Royal Palace. Her Majesty died on the 22nd January 1901, and EDWARD VII. became King. Pursuant to Her Majesty's desire expressed, that her grandson, then the DUKE OF CORNWELL AND YORK should visit Australia and attend the ceremony of the opening of the new Federal Parliament, arrangements were made to that effect with the approbation of KING EDWARD VII.

The King's Message.

The ceremony of opening the first Session of the first Federal Parliament took place on the 9th May, 1901, in the Exhibition Building, Melbourne. Under commission from His Majesty, KING

EDWARD VII., His Royal Highness the DUKE OF CORNWELL AND YORK (now KING GEORGE V.) formally opened the Parliament.

The High Commissioner, representing the King, read a message which he had been commanded by His Majesty to deliver to the members of the New Parliament. In that message the following passages appeared :

His Majesty has watched with the deepest interest the social and material progress made by his people in Australia, and has seen with thankfulness and heartfelt satisfaction the completion of that political union of which this Parliament is the embodiment.

· The King is satisfied that the wisdom and patriotism which have characterized the exercise of the wide powers of self-government hitherto enjoyed by the Colonies will continue to be displayed in the exercise of the still wider powers with which the United Commonwealth has been endowed. His Majesty feels assured that the enjoyment of these powers will, if possible, enhance that loyalty and devotion to his throne and empire of which the people of Australia have already given such signal proofs.

It is His Majesty's earnest prayer that this union, so happily achieved may, under God's blessing, prove an instrument for still further promoting the welfare and advancement of his subjects in Australia and for the strengthening and consolidation of his Empire."

The members of the Senate and the House of Representatives then took the oath of allegiance. During the progress of the ceremony the High Commissioner read the following cablegram which he had received from the King: My thoughts are with you in to-day's important ceremony. Most fervantly do I wish Australia prosperity and happiness."

The ceremonial proceedings in the Exhibition Buildings having been completed the newly sworn in members repaired to their respective chambers in Parliament House, Melbourne. The members of the Senate elected Sir RICHARD CHAFFEY BAKER to be the first President of the Senate and the Members of the House of Representatives elected Mr. (afterwards Sir) FREDERICK HOLDER as Speaker of that body.