in everything except experience. The life was rougher than he had believed life among human beings could be, and the sights he saw on the goldfields were far more harrowing than those that had attracted his attention among the poor working classes of England. His optimism was tried as it had never been tried before; and it must be stated that the strain was too great. He broke down, and he went back to Melbourne to seek employment as an engineer. He found it in the Railway Workshops of the Victorian Government, at Williamstown. There he was engaged as a journeyman fitter. This was in the year 1864, and he was then nineteen years of age. He made friends with his fellow-workers, and some of them always had a place in his memory.
He was looked upon by the “hands ” in the shop as a good tradesman and a first-class athlete. “He was always a politician,” one of his mates explained many years afterwards when Mr. Seddon was a conspicuous figure in the Empire’s affairs. “Whether it was an election for a member of the House or for a town councillor, he was always head and ears in it, and would be discovered by old Houghton, the foreman, addressing a crowd of men in one part of the shop or the other. Houghton always knew who it was, and would say: ‘Now then, no more of that!’ and Mr. Seddon would reply quite cheerfully, ‘All right, Mr. Houghton;’ but ten minutes later he would be propounding the principles of his favourite candidate to another crowd not very far away. On one occasion he was reported for this to the head of the Department, or the Minister, for the Government employees were not then allowed to take any active part in politics. In the case mentioned, his man got into Parliament, so that nothing came of it.”
His fellow-workmen frequently admired his great physical strength. He took a delight in feats that were likely to cause envy. The shop in which he worked was 200 feet long. On one occasion, he walked its whole length with a 56 pound weight strapped to each foot, a 56 pound weight in each hand, and a 28 pound weight held by his teeth.
There was a gymnasium attached to the workshops. It was used by the men in the evenings, and Mr. Seddon was one of the
