Australia, its history and present condition Part 9

[113] BARRINGTON'S _History of New South Wales_, p. 376.

The six years during which Captain King held the office of governor of New South Wales, under the crown of Great Britain and Ireland, were rendered remarkable, as has been already stated, by the partial abandonment of the colony of Norfolk Island; and, it may be added, yet more remarkable by the commencement of another settlement, the first ever attempted in Van Diemen's Land.

Norfolk Island, which is situated about 1000 miles from the eastern sh.o.r.e of New Holland, was settled almost immediately after the first foundations of Sydney had been laid; and although but a speck in the ocean, and without any safe or convenient landing-place, the first-named colony was altogether more flourishing in its early days than the other.

The natural fertility of the land, the abundance of food supplied by the birds of providence,[114] the number of free settlers, and the wise arrangements of Lieutenant-governor King, may all be recollected among the reasons of the superior prosperity of Norfolk Island. However, its career of prosperity was doomed to be but a very short one. Partly upon the plea of its having no convenient harbour, and partly because of its very limited extent, it was decided by the home government that it should be abandoned, and this decision was acted upon in 1805 and 1807, when the free settlers were compelled to leave the island, which remained unoccupied for about twenty years, and at the end of this time it was made a penal settlement for the punishment of refractory convicts, which it still continues to be,--one of the finest spots upon earth degraded into the abode of the vilest of human beings,--the sc.u.m of the outcast population of a great and civilized nation. And, to heighten the horror of the contrast between things natural and things spiritual in Norfolk Island, there was not, until recently, a single minister of Christ's Church resident within its bounds; so that where Nature's sun was shining most beauteously, and Nature's sights and sounds were most lovely and enchanting, there the outcast souls[115] of a rich and _christian_ population were left to perish, without being able to catch a ray of the Sun of Righteousness, without a chance (so to speak) of hearing the sound of the gospel of Christ: they might there listen in their lonely wretchedness to the rise and fall of the tide of that ocean by which their little island is surrounded, but they were shut out for ever, it would seem, from the voice of the great mult.i.tude of the faithful, "as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord G.o.d omnipotent reigneth!"

[114] At a time of great distress, when 270 additional inhabitants had just made good their landing at Norfolk Island, whilst the ships and provisions sent with them from Port Jackson were almost entirely lost, these birds of providence, as they were justly called, furnished a supply for the necessities of the people. Mount Pitt, the highest ground in the island, was observed to be crowded with these birds during the night, for in the day-time they go out to sea in search of food. They burrow in the ground, and the hill was as full of holes as a rabbit-warren; in size they were not bigger than pigeons, but they looked much larger in their feathers. Their eggs were well tasted enough, and though the birds themselves had a fishy flavour, hunger made them acceptable. They were easily taken, for when small fires were kindled to attract their notice, they would drop down faster than the people could seize them. For two months together, it is said, that not less than from two to three thousand of these birds were taken every night, so that it was with reason that the starving population of Norfolk Island called them birds of providence.

[115] A peculiar language prevailed in this horrid place. It is said that a bad man was called a good man, and that one who was ready to perform his duty was generally called a bad man; and so, in other respects, language was adapted to the complete subversion of the human heart there existing. See ULLATHORNE'S _Evidence before the Committee on Transportation_, 1838, No. 271, p. 27.

The relinquishment of the settlement at Norfolk Island, under Governor King's administration, after the money that had been spent upon it, and the success which was attending that expenditure, might well appear to be a hasty and imprudent act; but, undoubtedly, in its consequences it turned out beneficial to Great Britain. Instead of Norfolk Island, another much larger, and far more important spot, which might otherwise have been occupied by foreigners, was colonized by British subjects; and Van Diemen's Land, from the extent of its present wealth and population, besides its nearer resemblance than other Australian colonies to the climate of the mother country, may justly be esteemed one of the most valuable possessions of the British crown. The history of the foundation of this new colony may here be shortly detailed. It was resolved that a fresh settlement, which might be free from the objections brought against Norfolk Island, should be formed; and, in 1804, Port Phillip, an extensive harbour on the southern coast of New Holland, was the spot chosen for this purpose. But Colonel Collins, who had the command of the party of colonists, found the eastern side of Port Phillip very little suited to his object; and without examining its western side, which has been lately very rapidly and successfully settled, the colonel sailed at once along the western coast of Van Diemen's Land, took possession of that extensive island in the name of his Britannic Majesty, and, after various surveys, decided upon the spot where Hobart Town now stands, for his headquarters. The little settlement then consisted only of a few gentlemen holding official situations, fifty marines, and four hundred prisoners. The place selected for headquarters was well chosen, being upon the Derwent, a beautiful and navigable river, and having a good supply of water. In the same year, 1804, another settlement was formed on the opposite, or northern, side of Van Diemen's Land; it was situated at the mouth of the River Tamar, near George Town, and was called York Town, but it was afterwards abandoned. The usual trials to which newly-planted colonies are exposed, fell also to the lot of that settled by Colonel Collins in Van Diemen's Land; but its struggles into life were by no means so intense, or so prolonged, as those of its sister colony. At one time when a disappointment occurred in the usual supplies, the hind-quarters of kangaroos were received into His Majesty's store, at sixpence per pound, and it is said that in six months no less than 15,000lbs. of this meat were there tendered. After some years of occasional scarcity, during which, once, even kangaroo flesh was sold at one shilling and sixpence the pound, and sea-weed, or any other eatable vegetable, was equally dear, the colony began to take root and to increase, still continuing, however, its original character of a penal settlement--a place of punishment for the convicted felons of New South Wales. Cattle and live stock rapidly increased, land became more and more cultivated, houses were built, farms enclosed, free emigrants began to arrive, Hobart Town became a place of some trade and importance, and at last, in 1821, or thereabouts, _only seventeen years_ after the first establishment of the colony, St. David's Church, at Hobart Town, was, we read, "completed and opened."[116] What attention was paid to the spiritual welfare of the poor creatures in this new penal colony during the long interval that elapsed before the occurrence of that great event, it seems hard to say; but, judging from what we have already seen, we may be quite certain of this, that _no less care_ was taken of them, than had formerly been bestowed upon those of a similar character in Norfolk Island.

[116] See Montgomery Martin's New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, p. 257.

While Captain King held the government of New South Wales, a subject began to attract the notice of the colonial authorities, which afterwards proved to be one of the highest importance, both to the settlement and likewise to the mother country, namely, the introduction and increase of free settlers. According to Dr. Lang, the first free settlers who emigrated to New South Wales arrived there during Governor Hunter's administration, which began in August, 1795; but by other writers it is stated that five settlers and their families arrived by the _Bellona_, in January 1798, so that these may justly be considered the first free emigrants that removed from Europe to Australia.[117] The conditions under which they engaged to settle were, that their pa.s.sage out should be provided by government, that an a.s.sortment of tools and implements should be furnished them, that they should be supplied for two years with provisions, that their lands should be granted free of expense, and that convicts should be a.s.signed for their service, and provided with provisions for two years, and clothing for one. Besides these few emigrants, many of the soldiers and officers, and some of the released convicts, had grants of land given to them; but, generally speaking, their agricultural efforts were not very successful, and _military men_ seemed as little capable of becoming good farmers as _pickpockets_ were. Yet, as if to show what _might_ have been done by prudence and thrift, in many cases, a few instances of proper carefulness and attendant success are recorded; and one man, to whom, in common with many others, Governor Phillip had given an ewe for breeding, in 1792, having withstood all temptations to part with this treasure, found himself, in 1799, possessed of a flock of 116 sheep, and in a fair way of becoming a man of property.

[117] Compare Lang's History of New South Wales, vol. i. p. 71, and Collins' Account of New South Wales, p. 197 and 201. See also Barrington's History of New South Wales, p. 115.

But there was an individual, whose name and history are upon record, to whom the claim of a yet earlier settlement, as a free person, must be a.s.signed. His history is instructive, and may be worth repeating, since it is, probably, a specimen of what afterwards occurred in a vast number of instances. Philip Schoeffer was a German, who had been sent out with the first fleet that ever sailed to New South Wales, in the capacity of an agriculturist, and chiefly with a view to the cultivation of tobacco (to supersede that of Virginia,) in the proposed settlement. His first grant of land was one hundred and forty acres; but, unhappily, he fell into habits of intemperance, and got rid of it all. Afterwards, he obtained another grant of fifty acres, in what now forms a very valuable situation in the town of Sydney; but this he was induced to give up to the Colonial Government for public purposes, about the year 1807, receiving in return twenty gallons of rum, which were then worth 60_l._ and a grant of the same extent with his former one, but situated at Pitt Water, one of the inlets of Broken Bay--a large harbour to the northward of Port Jackson. Schoeffer then married a wife, a Scotch woman and a convict, and settled on his farm at Pitt Water, where he lived many years; but old age, poverty, and intemperance induced him to sell it by piecemeal, and he died at last in the benevolent asylum or colonial poor-house. This short history may serve to show upon what mere accidents the foundation of wealth frequently depends, and especially in a new country; for, if the German could only have kept his farm of fifty acres in Sydney for about thirty years longer, he or his successors might actually have sold it for 100,000_l._!

After the landing of the few free settlers already mentioned, which took place while Captain Hunter was governor, the next arrival deserving of notice appears to have been about a dozen families of Scotch Presbyterians, who established themselves under similar conditions with the first emigrants, and whose place of abode was near Portland Head, on the banks of the Hawkesbury. These men seem to have been a quiet and orderly, as well as a prudent, set of people; and their industry was rewarded by success. The zeal and devotion which were exhibited by them in religious matters were also very praiseworthy, and not less so because, according to Captain Bligh, it was the only case of the kind he had ever heard of, during his government of the colony. A building for public worship was erected by them,[118] at a cost of upwards of 400_l._, and altogether the conduct of these Scotch emigrants reflected credit upon the country and religious body to which they belonged. But, while we award to these persons the praise which is their due, we are by no means ent.i.tled to place to the account of their being Presbyterians the good order and right feeling which they exhibited. Scotchmen are proverbially more fond of colonization than Englishmen, and hence it naturally occurred that almost the first respectable settlers were Scotch farmers; but there is no reason to question,--nay, experience has since proved,--that Englishmen of similar character, and placed in the like circ.u.mstances, can conduct themselves not less piously and properly, and will not yield to the disciples of John Calvin or John Knox in their reverence and devotion for a more apostolical Church than that of Scotland. However, it must be owned with sorrow that these instances of religious feeling and zeal were by no means common among the first settlers; nor is this a subject of surprise, when we recollect that, even now, Australia is frequently looked upon as a last refuge for those who can do well nowhere else; and if it be thought so now, much more must this impression have prevailed in the days of its earlier settlers. But, from whatever cla.s.s, or with whatever failings, they might come, a few fresh settlers continued from year to year to find their way to the sh.o.r.es of New Holland; and, in due time, the tide of emigration was destined to set full into that quarter, carrying with it a portion of the population and wealth of the mother country, together with all its luxuries, its arts, its vices, and its virtues.

[118] "The first religious edifice that was ever reared in the great Terra Australis, by _voluntary_ and _private_ exertion." See Lang's Narrative of the Settlement of the Scots' Church in New South Wales, p. 8. The Doctor, in his Presbyterian zeal, had forgotten Mr.

Johnson's church.

In August, 1806, Captain King resigned his office, and was succeeded in the government of New South Wales by Captain Bligh, also of the royal navy. His name is well known from the history of the mutiny of the crew in the ship _Bounty_, which he had formerly commanded; and he was not less unfortunate on sh.o.r.e, in the art of governing his fellow-creatures.

With many good qualities and excellent intentions, his manner of ruling men was not either happy or successful. But before we proceed to the great event in colonial history, which brought to a sudden termination the reign of Governor Bligh, it will be well to notice a remarkable occurrence which happened soon after he came into power. The banks of the river Hawkesbury have already been stated to be distinguished for their fertility; and at this time they formed the chief source from which the supply of wheat for the colony was drawn. Many acres of land had been cleared there, and the whole district, with smiling farms scattered about upon the rising banks of the beautiful stream, offered one of the most pleasing scenes in the whole settlement. But, within the first year of the government of Captain Bligh, the farmers on the Hawkesbury, and indeed the whole colony, were doomed to undergo a severe trial.[119] In March 1799, the river had been known to rise suddenly to the enormous height of fifty feet, and the destruction of property which had been then occasioned was very great.[120] But now, without any considerable rains having fallen upon the eastern side of the Blue Mountains, between that range and the sea, the river rose, in one place at least, to the enormous height of ninety-three feet, so that buildings, stock, or corn, which were not secured upon rising ground equal in height to that of an ordinary church-tower, must have been overwhelmed and borne away by the flood. It is said that a settler, whose house stood on an eminence at a beautiful bend of the Hawkesbury, saw no less than thirty stacks of wheat at one time floating down the stream during a flood, some of them being covered with pigs and poultry, who had thus vainly sought safety from the rising of the waters. The consequences of this unexpected disaster were very calamitous, and before the ensuing harvest could be begun, wheat and Indian corn attained an equal value, and were sold at 1_l._ 8_s._ or 1_l._ 10_s._ per bushel. Even eleven years afterwards, when a similar overflow, though not equal to "_the great flood_," occurred, prices were raised enormously, and but for an importation of wheat from Van Diemen's Land, they would have been very little short of those in the year 1806.

Governor Bligh appears to have done all that a governor could do to lessen the distress that prevailed, by ordering a number of the cattle belonging to government to be slaughtered and divided among the sufferers, and by encouraging, to the utmost extent of his power, the cultivation of a large breadth of land in wheat for the ensuing season.

By these means, under Divine Providence, the colony again became able to supply itself with daily bread; a capability of which, like many other blessings, nations scarcely know the value and importance, until they are deprived, or deprive themselves of it.[121]

[119] One of the vain attempts of the present age is that of entirely preventing the various fluctuations to which, from accidents, bad seasons, &c., the price of bread is subject. It did appear as though a certain average of moderate prices was established in England; but, recently, the system has been again altered, and time must show how it works. Certainly the changes in the value of corn in New South Wales have formerly been violent enough, supposing the following statement to be correct: "I have nine years been a landholder in this colony, and seven years have cultivated my own farm. In this time I have twice given wheat to my pigs, because I did not know what else to do with it; twice I have known wheat selling at fifteen shillings per bushel, and once at twenty shillings!"--ATKINSON _on the Encouragement of Distilling and Brewing in New South Wales_, p. 3, ed. 1829.

[120] It is said that the natives foresaw the approach of this calamity, and advised the colonists of it, but their warning was not regarded.--_See Barrington's History of New South Wales_, p. 310.

[121] For the particulars here related of the floods of the river Hawkesbury, see Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. pp. 98-101; and also Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. p. 67 and 448-9. The latter writer speaks of wheat and maize being sold at 5_l._ or 6_l._ per bushel, but that seems to be a mistake.

From whatever cause it might arise,--whether from his opposition to the practice of all the chief persons in the colony making a profit by the sale of spirits,[122]--or from his dislike of the New South Wales Corps,--or from his own harsh and tyrannical conduct,--whether, in short, we listen to Governor Bligh's admirers or enemies, thus much is certain: he was excessively unpopular with a large and powerful party of men in the settlement. Without entering into the particulars of the extraordinary treatment to which his Majesty's representative in that distant colony was subjected, it may be sufficient to state that, in consequence of the imprisonment of Mr. Macarthur, an old officer, and a rich and influential settler, great disturbance was excited, which ended in the seizure of the governor's person, and in the occupation of his office and authority by Major Johnston, the commanding officer of the New South Wales Corps, who a.s.sumed the authority of lieutenant-governor in January, 1808, and issued some proclamations ordering various changes among those in authority. In one of these proclamations a day of thanksgiving is appointed to be kept for the recent transactions; and in the same precious doc.u.ment the Rev. Henry Fulton is suspended from discharging his duty as chaplain to the colony,[123] because, whatever may have been the faults of his former life,[124] like most other clergymen of the Church of England, on most other occasions, he had at this time stood fast to his loyalty.

[122] Still later the following evidence was given upon a trial: "The governor, _clergy_, officers, civil and military, all ranks and descriptions of people bartered spirits when I left Sydney,--in May, 1810." What a handle do such practices give to those that love to "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."--_Jude_ 8.

[123] Here is an example of the need of a bishop in every colony of any size or importance. What right or power had a usurping military officer to suspend from clerical duties _one_ of the _two_ or _three_ clergymen who were then in the settlement, and that without any crime alleged, any trial, or proof of his misdemeanour? Would not a bishop, to stand between the mighty major and the poor chaplain on this occasion, have been a guardian of "civil and religious liberty?"

[124] Respecting these, see the a.s.sertions in Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, page 6.

The confusion resulting from the seizure of the governor was lamentable indeed in a colony at the best of times so difficult to be managed. All public meetings were forbidden by the party in power, and our old friends, the Presbyterians at Portland Head, whose loyalty to the governor on this occasion was very creditable, had well nigh got into trouble from their meeting together on "the Sabbath" for public worship.

The object of the intruders was to get rid of Captain Bligh as well as they could, and accordingly he was sent off to England in command of the _Porpoise_, but he remained from March to December, 1809, off the coast of Van Diemen's Land, daily expecting despatches from the home government, until at last, on December 28th, his intended successor, Colonel Macquarie, arrived at Sydney. This last gentleman was ordered to reinstate Captain Bligh in the government of the colony for the period of twenty-four hours after his own arrival; but in consequence of Bligh's absence from Sydney, this was not done. However, Major Johnston was sent home under strict arrest, and, after various delays, he was tried for mutiny, by a court-martial, in May 1811, and found guilty, but was only sentenced to be cashiered, the court considering the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the case sufficient to excuse him from a more severe punishment. Captain Bligh was, upon his return to England, immediately promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and employed in active service; while the New South Wales Corps, which had certainly been long enough in the colony from which it drew its name, was ordered home, and the 73d regiment sent out to supply its place.

The first acts of the new governor, Colonel Macquarie, were to declare the king's displeasure at the late mutinous proceedings, and to render null and void all the acts of the usurping party, most of whose measures were, however, ratified, their bills upon the Treasury honoured, and their grants of land confirmed. The continuance of Governor Macquarie in power for no less than twelve years, during which peace and tranquillity, undisturbed by any very severe trials, prevailed throughout the settlement, offers but very few of those events which make a figure in the history of the past:--

"Famine and plague, the earthquake and the storm, Man's angry pa.s.sions, war's terrific form, The tyrant's threatenings, and the people's rage, These are the crowded woes of History's page."

During the period of which we are now treating, vast improvements and extensive discoveries were made in New South Wales; and in all these, or similar, arts of peace the governor delighted to bear an active and leading part. Availing himself of the means at his disposal, and of the abundance of convict-labour, he made, it is said, no less than 276 miles of good roads during his administration; and, when the nature of the country along which many of these were carried is taken into account, this exploit alone reflects no small credit upon Governor Macquarie. In the year 1813 the colony was enabled, by the courage and perseverance of three gentlemen, to burst those bonds by which it had hitherto been hemmed in within the limits of a narrow strip of land running along the sea-coast. In that year a pa.s.sage across the Blue Mountains, hitherto thought insuperable, was at length made good; and the hungry sheep and cattle which had been suffering from the prevailing drought in the settlement, were speedily driven over the hills to enjoy the less withered pastures and green plains of the western country. No sooner was this district thus opened than the governor commenced making a road over the mountains, and in this he succeeded after no very long delay, so that a good communication was formed between Sydney and Bathurst Plains, a distance of more than 100 miles, about 50 of which cross an extent of country the most rugged, mountainous, and barren, that can be imagined.

In public buildings Governor Macquarie showed no less activity than in road-making, although his efforts in the former line have not met with unmingled and universal approbation. Certainly, the means by which, what was then called, "the Rum Hospital" was built were, if they are correctly reported by Dr. Lang, disgraceful and mischievous in the highest degree.[125] However, the improvements that were made in the rising towns, especially in the capital, of the colony, may well demand our admiration, even though, as usual in estimating the deeds of fallen man, we must allow that much evil might have been avoided, and that a large proportion of moral mischief was mingled with the improvements.

[125] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. pp. 168, 169.

The great and distinguishing feature, after all, of Colonel Macquarie's government appears to have been the studious, and not always judicious, patronage extended by him to the emanc.i.p.ated convicts, whom he generally considered in preference to the free settlers. In consequence of this, the last-named cla.s.s were thrown into the background, a kind of check was given to emigration, and, what was worst of all, two parties were set on foot within the settlement, altogether opposed to each other;--the _exclusionists_, who were free settlers, refused to a.s.sociate at all with those that had ever been convicts; and the _emancipists_ considered that a convict, after his time of punishment had expired, was just as good as any other man. It was absurd, indeed, although no more than usually happens, to see men of the _humblest_, if not of the _lowest_, cla.s.ses in the mother country, suddenly aspiring to become _exclusive_ and _grand_ in the colony. And, on the other hand, it was a pretty sure sign that the convicts, though emanc.i.p.ated from their shackles, were not well rid of their vice or impudence, when they laid claim, even with the aid of a governor's encouragement, and often of great wealth not very scrupulously acquired, to the highest society and most important offices in the settlement. Undoubtedly, one great object in a penal colony should be that of gradually purifying the population from all disgraceful or vicious a.s.sociations; but the hasty attempts of a governor to elevate a cla.s.s like that of the emanc.i.p.ated convicts were sure to end rather in their depression. Time, and a succeeding generation, would have done quietly what Colonel Macquarie, with all his power, was unable to accomplish. If a governor cannot make pickpockets become good _farmers_, still less likely is he to succeed in endeavouring to make good _magistrates_ of them; but a few years, under judicious management, might easily produce from among their children admirable specimens of both. And nothing can be a greater hindrance to this desirable result than hasty and ill-timed, though well-intended, attempts to force out of their proper sphere those persons, who, if they are really possessed of any sense, would, of all men, desire to keep within it.

In reckoning up the princ.i.p.al occurrences during the twelve years in which Colonel Macquarie ruled the colony, the vast additions which were made to our knowledge of the country are by no means to be overlooked.

Bathurst Plains and the pa.s.s to them through the Blue Mountains were, as we have already seen, discovered; the district of Argyle to the south-westward was also made known. Two rivers, named after the governor, who was (it is reported) fond of such compliments, the Lachlan and the Macquarie, were traced westward of the Blue Mountains, until they were supposed to lose themselves in endless and impa.s.sable swamps.

Northwards, the River Hastings, and a large extent of country suitable for flocks and herds, called Liverpool Plains, were discovered. Besides which, three penal settlements for the punishment of unruly convicts were formed, one at Emu Plains, another at Newcastle, near the mouth of the River Hunter, and a third at Port Macquarie, at the mouth of the Hastings.

But the mention of new penal settlements, in which the punishment and removal of gross offenders were the only objects, while the reformation and salvation of those poor men were never thought of, forcibly recalls us to a subject of which we have for some time lost sight, and which must be once more noticed before the history of the rise and early progress of the colony of New South Wales is completed. Where was the Church all this time? What was the Church of England doing in the now flourishing settlement of Australia? How far did the state follow at once both its duty and its interest, and employ in the work of reformation in this land of criminals those heavenly instruments, the Bible and the Church? The reply to all these inquiries is briefly made, but the national sin and shame involved in that short reply it might need volumes to unfold.

In 1821, at the end of Macquarie's government, there was scattered about in the colony a population of 29,783, of whom 13,814 were convicts, and among these were found ministering _seven_ clergymen of the Church of England, with no bishop of that Church to "set things in order"[126]

nearer than the Antipodes,--the very opposite side of the habitable globe! Nor, if we look (as unhappily now in every English colony we must look,) beyond the pale of the English Church, shall we find either Romish superst.i.tion or Dissenting zeal working any of their usual wonders. Though the number of Romanists from Ireland was very great in the colony, yet they had, in 1821, only _one_ priest residing among them; the Presbyterians at Portland Head had a catechist only, and with respect to the other "denominations" little or nothing is recorded:--the _establishment_ had taken as yet so poor a hold of the soil of New South Wales, that the _voluntary system_, which seems often to need its support, as ivy needs the support of a tree, had scarcely been transplanted thither. One observation, before we quit for the present this painful subject, forces itself upon the mind. How utterly unlike are the ways of an All-Perfect G.o.d from the ways of imperfect fallen men! The King of kings desireth not the death of any sinner, and has wrought miracles upon miracles of mercy to provide for his salvation; whereas man regardeth not the spiritual life of his brethren, earthly monarchs and nations care chiefly about the removal of the offenders out of their sight, and, so long as this is effected, they trouble not themselves about the future lot of those outcasts; money is more willingly parted with for "penal settlements" than for religious instruction, and, although the earthly wants of the criminals are attended to, here humanity stops short;--if their _bodies_ are not cast out to starve and to perish _their souls are_. And who cannot read in holy Scripture the just doom of those that have acted, or are acting, thus? "The wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand."[127]

[126] See t.i.tus i. 3.

[127] Ezekiel iii. 18.

Having now brought down the history of the colony of New South Wales to a period when it might be said to be firmly established and flourishing, both party feeling and needless details may best be avoided by stopping here, yet it will not form an unsuitable conclusion to this chapter to borrow General Macquarie's account of his own doings, although this may be somewhat tinctured with that vanity, which is said to have been his greatest weakness:--"I found the colony," he states, in a Report to Earl Bathurst, "barely emerging from infantile imbecility, and suffering from various privations and disabilities; the country impenetrable beyond 40 miles from Sydney; agriculture in a yet languishing state; commerce in its early dawn; revenue unknown; threatened with famine; distracted by faction; the public buildings in a state of dilapidation, and mouldering to decay; the few roads and bridges formerly constructed rendered almost impa.s.sable; the population in general depressed by poverty; no public credit nor private confidence; the morals of the great ma.s.s of the population in the lowest state of debas.e.m.e.nt, and religious worship almost totally neglected.[128] Such was the state of New South Wales when I took charge of its administration on the 1st of January, 1810.

I left it in February last, reaping incalculable advantages from my extensive and important discoveries in all directions, including the supposed insurmountable barrier called the Blue Mountains, to the westward of which are situated the fertile plains of Bathurst; and _in all respects_ [?] enjoying a state of private comfort and public prosperity, which I trust will at least equal the expectations of His Majesty's Government. On my taking the command of the colony in the year 1810, the amount of port duties collected did not exceed 8000_l._ per annum, and there were only 50_l._ or 60_l._ of a balance in the Treasurer's hands; but now (in 1822,) duties are collected at Port Jackson to the amount of from 28,000_l._ to 30,000_l._ per annum. In addition to this annual colonial revenue, there are port duties, collected at Hobart Town and George Town in Van Diemen's Land, to the amount of between 8000_l._ and 10,000_l._ per annum."[129]

[128] How could public religious worship be attended to, when, in the year after Governor Macquarie's arrival, 1810, a widely-scattered population of 10,452 souls, mostly convicts, were left in the charge of _four_ clergymen? And in what respect were things improved at the time of that Governor's departure in 1821, when, to a similarly situated population of 29,783 souls there were _seven_ clergymen a.s.signed: and the Romish church had _one_ priest for New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, while the Presbyterians at Portland Head had their lay-catechist?--See BURTON _on Education and Religion in New South Wales_, pp. 8, 9, 12, 16.

We may add, by way of ill.u.s.trating the regard paid to religious worship, even in Governor Macquarie's time, that Oxley's first expedition into the interior was permitted to set out from Bathurst on a Sunday!

See his _Journal_, p. 3. Sunday, indeed, seems to have been a favourite starting-day with Mr. Oxley. See p. 37.

[129] See Governor Macquarie's Report to Earl Bathurst, in Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. _Appendix_, No. 8, p. 447.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NORTH VIEW OF SYDNEY.]

CHAPTER IX.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

The next objects that demand our notice in Australia are the British colonies, and their present inhabitants. We have already given our attention to the Bush and its wild inhabitants, and the lengthened yet rapid process by which a lonely bay was converted, within the s.p.a.ce of little more than forty years, into the flourishing capital of a rising country, has been fully traced. It now remains for the reader to be made acquainted with the natural features, civil divisions, and present state of the British Australian colonies,--especially of the oldest and most important of them, called New South Wales. Were we not already informed of the sad reality of things, we might be tempted to indulge in the daydreams of an explorer, and to join in the bright and hopeful visions of a most pleasing writer, respecting the blessings to arise out of a change of any district from wild bush to civilized colony. But dreams of this nature are little better than vanity, and so our explorer himself tells us at the end of his narrative:--"Whilst I stretched my weary length," says Captain Grey, "along, under the pleasant shade, I saw in fancy busy crowds throng the scenes I was then amongst. I pictured to myself the bleating sheep and lowing herds wandering over these fertile hills; and I chose the very spot on which my house should stand, surrounded with as fine an amphitheatre of verdant land as the eye of man had ever gazed on. The view was backed by the Victoria Range, whilst seaward you looked out through a romantic glen upon the great Indian ocean. I knew that within four or five years civilization would have followed my tracks, and that rude nature and the savage would no longer reign supreme over so fine a territory. Mr. Smith entered eagerly into my thoughts and views; together we built these castles in the air, trusting we should see happy results spring from our present sufferings and labours,--but within a few weeks from this day he died in the wilds he was exploring."[130] So little are the brilliant hopes inspired by discovery to be depended upon, nor less uncertain are the expectations which the colonization of a district awakens in our hearts. We cannot but look for good results, yet frequently are we doomed to disappointment.

[130] See Grey's Travels in Western Australia, vol. ii. pp. 29, 30.

For the particulars of Mr. Smith's death, see page 27.

However, the a.s.surance of the superintendence of Divine Providence may check all misgivings; and under this wholesome persuasion we may proceed to consider the present condition of that country, which has been recently settled and civilized on the eastern coast of New Holland, and which is known by the name of New South Wales. It is manifestly impossible, in describing a territory like this, continually increasing and enlarging itself, whilst at the same time much of the country already within its bounds is barren and almost unknown, to maintain that accuracy which we are accustomed to find in descriptions of the counties or districts of our own well-defined and cultivated island. Yet, in New South Wales, as in Great Britain, the territory is divided into counties, and occasionally into parishes; and it may serve to give the reader a general idea of the whole country, if each of these former divisions is briefly noticed.