Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/291

 Hon.sirj. p. Boucaut ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 265 1872. Sir J. P. Boucaut's education was imparted in England ; and soon after his arrival in the Province he was articled to the law, and was admitted to practice in 1855. He became a barrister of leading rank, and attained renown in Ccjmmon Law. He was also an all-round practitioner, and enjoyed a very large professional connection. Important briefs were entrusted to him, and no one in the Province could pick out their subtleties and appraise their value better than he. Sir J. P. Boucaut had a powerful predisposition for politics, and he was never happier than when testing his prowess with political combatants. His heart was in the legislative arena, and he gave full vent to his talent there. His rise in law was rapid, and at the comparatively early age of 30 years, or 15 years after arriving in South Australia as a boy, he entered upon his Parliamentary career. In the stormy battles of the period he was destined to play a bold hand, and fortunately his astuteness was proportionate to his courage. He was elected to the House of Assembly for Adelaide in December, 1861, upon the resignation of the late Sir R. D. Hanson. But Mr. Justice Boucaut's career was at first chequered, and it was only the determination and enthusiasm of the man that ensured him a lengthened political life. He was defeated by Mr. Bakewell at the general election in November, 1862. In March, 1865, he was returned for West Adelaide at the head of the poll, although he was one of a very few candidates who refused to support Goyder's valuations, then considered infallible throughout the Province. His ability was already known, for on the day after his election he was offered, and he declined, the portfolio of Attorney-General, z>icc Mr. Stow, defeated for the District of V^ictoria, in the Government of Sir Henry Ayers. He sat until the dissolution in March, 1868, when he sought the suffrages of the Burra electors, and was returned. At the general election in March, 1870, he was rejected ; but in August, 1871, he re-entered Parliament as member for West Torrens, in succession to Mr. Strangways, being re-elected at a general election in December, 1871 ; in 1875 he became the representative for Encounter Bay, and re-elected in 1878. He was thus the chosen, at different periods, of five constituencies; and the circumstance is explained by the topsy-turveydom of politics in those days. When Sir J. P. Boucaut declined the Attorney-Generalship in the Ministry of Sir Henry Ayers, he showed an example which is not always followed in Australian legislative circles. He had attacked the Government policy on the hustings, and, in consideration of the vote of his electors and of his own conscience, he could not accept the portfolio. Although at this time he had been known in Parliament for only a year, when the Ayers Government resigned in October, 1865, he was largely instrumental in forming an administration under the nominal leadership of Mr. Hart. Sir James took the portfolio of Attorney-General, and in March, 1866, on Mr. Hart's departure for England, became Premier, an unusual dignity indeed for one who had passed so short a time in Parliament. But he was " a consummate Parliamentary manager, and a bold and far-seeing statesman." — Review of Reviews. Much useful legislation was initiated by the Government which he led, and for a time there was a lull in the political strife. Previous Governments had been principally occupied in no-confidence debates, and, as a consequence, few good measures were placed on the Statute Book. The state of affairs had been so strained that at a public demonstration, a resolution was carried animadverting .severely on " the S