GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.
Having now rapidly surveyed the various British settlements in
Australia, taking them separately, a few observations may be added
respecting their general condition. And, first, of the _climate_ of
these countries, it must have evidently appeared from what has been
already stated that this is extremely healthy and beautiful. Every one
who has been in Australia appears to be surprised at the spring and
elasticity which the climate imparts to the human frame; and although it
does not seem that the average of life is at all more prolonged there
than in England, still it would really seem, that the enjoyment of life
was greater. Such declarations as these.--"To say we are all well is
really nothing;" "the full enjoyment of health is quite a marvel;"
occur in the letters of those who are settled in the great Southern
Land; and the descriptions with which we meet in books of its
exhilarating climate, completely justify and bear out the pleasing
accounts of it given us by its inhabitants. In so vast a territory, and
in so many different situations as the British colonies now occupy,
there must needs be great variety of climate; and the warmth of Sydney
and its neighbourhood forms a strong contrast to the cool bracing air
of Bathurst, which is only 121 miles distant; the heat of the new
settlements at Moreton Bay, which is nearly tropical, is strongly
opposed to the English climate, beautifully softened and free from
damp, which is enjoyed in Van Diemen's Land. In Australia, it has been
remarked, every thing regarding climate is the opposite of England; for
example, the north is the hot wind, and the south the cool; the westerly
the most unhealthy, and the east the most salubrious; it is summer with
the colonists when it is winter at home, and their midnight coincides
with our noonday. Near the coast, the sea breezes, which set in daily
from the great expanse of waters, are very refreshing; whilst in the
interior, except in Van Diemen's Land, or in very high situations, the
hot winds are extremely disagreeable. Especially in the colony of New
South Wales, during the summer season, the westerly wind, which blows
probably over immense deserts of sandstone, or over miles of country set
on fire by the natives, is scarcely endurable at certain times, but
feels like the heated air at the mouth of a furnace, and is then far
from wholesome or pleasant. However, this blast of hot wind is said
never to endure very long, and it is less oppressive than the same heat
would be elsewhere, because in New Holland the air is dry, and in other
countries, India for instance, when the heat is exactly the same, it is
felt much more intensely from the quantity of moisture with which the
burning atmosphere is surcharged. Still we may form an idea of the
occasional violence of the heat in the interior of New Holland, from
Captain Sturt's account of his expedition across the parched-up marshes
of the Macquarie River, where the sugar which his men carried in their
canisters was melted, and all their dogs destroyed.
The scourge of Australia is _drought_; and when a native of the British
Islands has lived a few years in that part of the world, he begins
to understand and feel better than he ever before did, the frequent
allusions in the holy Scriptures to water as an emblem and sign of the
greatest blessings. The Englishman in Australia soon learns what is
meant by the blessings of Christ's kingdom being compared to "rivers of
water in a dry place," or to "the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land,"[167] when that rock promises a spring of living water, a comfort
which in New Holland is occasionally found upon the bare top of a
mountain, where no other supply is to be had within thirty miles
round.[168] And the thankfulness of the inhabitants of our own green
islands may be awakened, the undue expectations of the English emigrant
may be checked, by reading complaints like the following, which are, at
intervals, only too well founded in many parts of the Australian
colonies. "We have now for upwards of four months been watching with
anxious interest the progress of every cloudy sky; but, overcast as the
heavens most usually are towards evening, the clouds have appeared to
consist more of smoky exhalations than moist vapours; and even when at
times they have seemed to break darkly over us, their liquid contents
have apparently evaporated in the middle air. The various arrivals in
our port (Port Macquarie) have brought us accounts of genial showers and
refreshing dews, which have visited the neighbouring districts; and even
the silence of our own parched coast has been broken by the sound of
distant thunderstorms, exhausting themselves on the eastern waves while
the sun has been setting in scorching splendour upon the horizon of our
western hills. Since the 30th of June last to the present date, October
28th, there have been but thirteen days with rain, and then the showers
were but trifling. In consequence, the surface of the ground, in large
tracts of the district, is so parched and withered, that all minor
vegetation has nearly ceased, and the wheat-crops that were sown in
June, are, we fear, doomed to perish."[169]
[167] See Isaiah xxxii. 2. The following proverbial saying in India may
serve to show how natural such comparisons are in the mouths of the
inhabitants of hot climates: "Ah, that benevolent man, he has long been
my shelter from the wind; he is a river to the dry country." See Roberts'
Oriental Illustrations of Scripture, _ad. loc._ p. 429. How different an
idea do the words "shelter from the _wind_" convey to the inhabitant of
England's bleak shores, and Asia's parching deserts!
[168] See an interesting passage in Major Mitchell's Three Expeditions,
vol. ii. p. 28. See likewise Oxley's First Journal, p. 75.
[169] See Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. iv. p. 234.
How expressive, after reading descriptions like this, do those
complaints of one of the inspired writers appear: "The seed is rotten
under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken
down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of
cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of
sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath
devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all
the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee, for
the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the
pastures of the wilderness." (Joel i. 17-20.)
Most of the productions of the soil which are to be found in the
mother country are raised likewise in the Australian settlements. The
wheat-harvest commences in New South Wales in the middle of November,
and is generally over by Christmas, so that to this festive season a
fresh cause of rejoicing is added, and men are called upon to be
thankful at once for the greatest temporal and spiritual blessings;
the same time of year supplies them with the meat that perisheth, and
reminds them of the coming down from heaven of Him who is the bread of
life. But, besides the ordinary produce of our English fields, many
productions of the soil are raised in Australia which will not grow in
the northern climate of Britain. The fruits of Italy and Spain, the
tobacco of Virginia, and the Indian corn of the southern states of
America, are all produced in the Australian colonies. And one fruit may
be particularly noticed, which is in England justly reckoned a delicacy,
but which in New South Wales is so abundant, that the very swine are
feasted upon it: _peaches_ are to be had in full perfection for full
four months in the year, the later varieties regularly succeeding to
those that are earlier. This fruit grows everywhere, it matters not
whether the soil be rich or poor; and if a peach-stone is planted it
will in three years afterwards bear an abundant crop of fruit. So
plentifully do they grow, that they are commonly used to fatten hogs,
for which purpose they answer very well, after having been laid in
heaps, and allowed to ferment a little; cider also of a pleasant and
wholesome quality is made from the same fruit.
The chief wealth of Australia consists in its flocks and herds, and
nothing in the progress of our settlements there is more astonishing
than the rapidity with which these primitive riches have increased.
Sixty years ago there was not a single sheep in the vast island of New
Holland; and now, from a few narrow strips of land upon some of its
coasts, millions of pounds of wool are annually exported to England. The
fine climate of Australia is especially suited for sheep, and it would
appear to have an improving effect upon the quality of that animal's
fleece, which nowhere reaches greater perfection than in New South
Wales. Cattle also thrive and increase very much in the Australian
settlements, and animals of all kinds in New South Wales are exceedingly
dainty: if shut up in a field of good grass they will starve themselves
with fretting rather than eat it, they are so anxious to get out upon
the sweet natural pastures. Although it is to be hoped and expected
that, under judicious management, these colonies will always be able to
supply their inhabitants with bread, still it is confessed on all sides
that pastoral riches form their natural source of wealth, and that it is
to these chiefly, together with their mineral productions and commerce,
that they must look for a foundation of permanent and continued worldly
prosperity.
The form of government is the same in all the British Australasian
colonies, and while the governor's authority is supreme, by virtue
of his being the representative of the British crown, his power is
restrained by an executive council and by a legislative council. The
former body, whose office is to assist the governor in carrying the laws
into execution, is composed of the colonial secretary and treasurer,
the bishop and lieutenant-governor, (if the last-named office is not
abolished,) under the presidency of the governor himself. The
legislative council consists of the same persons, with the addition
of the chief justice, the attorney-general, the chief officer of the
customs, the auditor-general, and seven private gentlemen of the colony,
who are appointed by the crown for life, and for whom, in case of death
or removal, the governor may choose a substitute, until the Queen's
pleasure be known. The office of this legislative council is, as its
name implies, that of making laws, in which, however, at least
two-thirds of the members must agree, and which must not be contrary
to the charter, or letters patent, or orders in council, or laws of
England. The proposal of new laws always belongs to the governor, who
must, however, give eight clear days' notice in the public papers,
stating the general objects of the intended enactments; nor can this
rule be dispensed with, except in cases of very great emergency. Such is
briefly the outline of the constitution at present established in the
Australian settlements, and under this form of government they have,
most of them, already run a race of prosperity, which, allowing for the
recent dates of their foundation, can scarcely be matched in the annals
of any nation. Nevertheless, the present form of government is a very
great subject of discontent among many of the colonists, and the _want_
of a representative house of assembly in New South Wales and Van
Diemen's Land appears to give as little satisfaction to many persons
_there_, as the _presence_ of such an assembly does _here_ in
England.[170] It may easily be imagined what a fine subject for oratory
is thus furnished among a mass of people, who, whatever elements of good
may exist among them, may, generally speaking, be too truly said to have
derived their birth and education from criminals and outcasts. In the
midst of a people thus constituted, a press "unshackled by stamps,
paper-excise, advertisement duty, or censorship," is doing its daily or
weekly work of _enlightening_ the minds of the people respecting their
_grievances_; and where, as in Van Diemen's Land, there is said to be a
newspaper for every 1666 free persons,[171] the people must indeed bask
in the sunshine of political illumination. "The press," it is asserted
on good authority respecting Van Diemen's Land, and it is not less true
of New South Wales, "The press, with few exceptions, finds ample support
in holding up to derision the authorities of the land, and even in the
invasion of the sanctity of domestic privacy."[172] The result, however,
of this state of things is that, actually, in the colonies of Australia
the grievances appear worse, the "wrongs" more galling, and the "rights"
less regarded, than even in England itself; and judging from the crabbed
tone of discontent prevailing in most of the colonial newspapers, the
people who live in a land almost free from taxes, and quite exempt from
tithes and poor-rates, can without much difficulty conjure up complaints
of taxation and oppression not less piercing than those which are to be
heard in a kingdom where taxgatherers, tithe-proctors, and aristocrats,
still exist. Perhaps, there is nothing more calculated to make an
Englishman tolerably satisfied with the state of things in his own
country than the occasional perusal of the newspapers of lands so
"highly favoured" in the way of "taxation" or "liberal institutions," as
the Australian colonies and the United States of America. The christian
patriot looks down with pity upon the strife of tongues and the turmoil
of party-spirit which Satan contrives to raise in almost every country
under the sun; and while the believer can always bless God's providence
for many good things, he expects not perfection in the institutions of
mortal men; it is true that
"Worldly reformers, while they chafe and curse,
Themselves and others change from bad to worse;
While christian souls for blessings past can praise,
And mend their own and others' future ways."
[170] A glance over the two ponderous volumes of the evidence before the
Transportation Committee in 1837 and 1838 will satisfy every unprejudiced
person that our penal colonies are not yet ripe for a representative
government. It is curious enough to compare the fearful picture of these
settlements drawn by one section of the so-called Liberal party, which
wages war against transportation, with the more pleasing and flattering
description of their social condition which is given by that other
section of the same party which claims for the colonists "constitutional
rights."
[171] See Mr. Montgomery Martin's New South Wales, p. 353.
[172] See Report of Transportation Committee in 1838, p. 32.
The great instruments by which the christian statesman will aim at
reforming mankind, and making them happy, while at the same time he
will be gaining the highest of all glory to himself, both in time and
eternity, are christian instruction and religious education. A corrupted
press and incessant agitation are instruments suitable enough to
accomplish the works of darkness for which they are usually employed;
nor are churches and schools less fit means of success in the better
and more honourable task of bringing a nation to righteousness,
respectability, and contentment. A short account of the establishment of
the Bishopric of Australia, and a statement of the means of religious
and sound education in that part of the world, will not be out of place
here; and if, as before, we are driven to speak of the neglect of "the
powers that be" upon these essential points, it is hoped that, since
this is done unwillingly,--more in shame and sorrow than in anger and
party-spirit,--it will not be done with a feeling at all contrary to the
Divine precept: "Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy
people."[173]
[173] Acts xxiii. 5.
"It is evident unto all men diligently reading holy Scripture and
ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these
orders of ministers in Christ's Church,--Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons;"[174] and the Church of England has never yet made bold to
dispense with what the Church of Christ did for 1500 years, without a
single exception, deem it necessary everywhere to retain. Never _in
theory_, indeed, has our Church made bold to work without the three
orders of an apostolical ministry, but, alas! frequently has she done
this in practice, and in no instance more openly or less successfully
than in Australia. For upwards of thirty years, no superintendent
at all was placed over the clergy and laity of our communion in New
South Wales, and when a step was taken, it was not made in the right
direction; an archdeacon was appointed, who, whatever might be his civil
authority, was, respecting spiritual authority, exactly upon a level
with his other brethren in the ministry; nor could he assume more than
this without assuming to himself that to which he was not entitled,--the
office of a bishop in the Church. Under these strange and irregular
circumstances was the infant Church, brought from the British isles and
planted in the wilderness of Australia, allowed to continue for about
twelve years. The witness of a layman concerning this state of things
may be here repeated: "I myself then saw a church without a bishop, and
I trust in God I may never see it again."[175] In 1824, the Rev. T. H.
Scott was appointed Archdeacon of New South Wales, and there were then
eight chaplains in the colony, which covered a vast expanse of country,
and contained, in 1821, (three years earlier,) 29,783 souls, of whom
13,814 were convicts. Thus was New South Wales provided with "a very
liberal ecclesiastical establishment," according to the liberal views of
one of its leading historians;[176] and as its population increased, so,
in some degree, if not in an equal proportion, did the number of its
clergy, so that, in September, 1833, the number of souls in the colony
was 60,794,[177] (of whom 16,151 were convicts, and 17,238 Roman
Catholics,) and the number of clergymen was fifteen, besides the
archdeacon and four catechists. Archdeacon Scott was succeeded, in 1829,
by the Rev. W. G. Broughton, whose zeal and activity reflect honour
alike upon himself and upon the discernment of the noble patron, the
Duke of Wellington, who, it is believed, first recommended him to that
office. After enduring labour, and toil, and anxiety, such as those only
know who have to bear the heat and burden of the day in the Lord's
vineyard, at length the archdeacon was made, by permission of the
English government under Lord Melbourne, in 1836, Bishop of Australia;
and the foundation of an Apostolical and Scriptural Church in the Great
Southern Land was at length duly laid, by the consecration of that
prelate, at Lambeth, on February 14th, 1836. The old stipend assigned to
the archdeacon was to be continued without any increase to the Bishop
of Australia; and since 2000_l._ a-year was undoubtedly a very ample
provision for the former, it was thought that it might be found
sufficient for the latter; and so it would be, if the British government
were willing to provide properly for the spiritual wants of the new
diocese, and thus preserve the provision made for the bishop from being
almost entirely swallowed up in endeavouring to satisfy the spiritual
need of his people. This observation, however, justice compels us to
make before we quit the present subject, namely, that, whatever opinion
may be entertained of the dispositions of the British government, during
the ten years following the passing of the Reform Bill, towards the
English Church, for one fact every member of that church must feel
deeply indebted to them. During the time of Lord Grey's and Lord
Melbourne's holding office, no less than _six_ new bishoprics were
erected in the British colonies, and the first impulse was encouraged
of that good spirit which has since sent forth into foreign parts five
bishops in one day to "preach the word, to be instant in season, out of
season, to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and
doctrine."[178]
[174] See the Preface to the Form of Ordaining and Consecrating
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, in the Book of Common Prayer.
[175] The subjection of New South Wales to the Bishopric of Calcutta
was a mere absurdity; it might just as well have been under Canterbury
at once.
[176] See Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. p. 366.
[177] Elsewhere stated to be 60,861. Perfect accuracy in these matters
appears almost unattainable.
[178] See St. Paul's charge to Timothy, the first Bishop of Ephesus,
2 Tim. iv. 2.
Among the five new sees thus recently established, the pressing
necessities of Australia have not been overlooked; and Tasmania, or Van
Diemen's Land, an island equal in size to Ireland, has been thought to
claim justly a separate bishop for itself. The capital of this island is
not less than 600 miles distant from Sydney, the seat of the bishopric
of Australia; and with a population of 50,000, rapidly increasing, a
large majority of whom are churchmen, its claims to have a bishop of its
own are undeniable. And to these just claims the British government have
listened so far as to devote the 800_l._ per annum formerly assigned to
an archdeacon of Van Diemen's Land towards the endowment of a bishop
there, in addition to which sum 5000_l._ have been set apart from the
Colonial Bishoprics Fund, and the remainder of what is necessary to
provide the occupant of the new see with a decent maintenance is now
being raised among those that feel interested in that particular colony,
or in the general good work whereof this endowment forms only a part.
Nor is it the intention of the promoters of this noble design of
founding in our Australian and other colonies the complete framework of
a Christian Church to stop short here. South Australia, a province even
more thoroughly separated from Sydney than Tasmania is, has appeared
well deserving of the attention of those that have the direction of
this important work; and the zeal of some of the landed proprietors
of the colony has already prepared the way for the establishment of a
bishopric in South Australia. The following extract is from the letter
of a layman residing in the last-mentioned colony:--"At present, we are
pronounced to be in a diocese, whilst the head of that diocese is living
nearly 1200 miles away, and has never been here, and, in all probability
never will be." One person has offered to build, at his own cost, with
the tenth part of his property in Australia, a church at Adelaide, to
endow the see with land to the amount of 270_l._ per annum, and to
furnish plans, &c. for a bishop's residence; other gifts of land have
likewise been contributed to the amount of 100_l._ per annum more. A
grant of 5000_l._ has been obtained from the Colonial Bishoprics Fund,
and it is hoped that, by the efforts of the friends of sound religion,
an endowment of 1000_l._ per annum may speedily be completed for the
intended bishopric.[179] And since the experience of the past forms a
stable foundation of hope for the future, we may form a judgment of
what _will be done_, under the Divine blessing, in Tasmania and South
Australia, by what _has been done_ in the diocese of Australia. In the
charge of the bishop of the last-named see, delivered by him to his
clergy in 1841, it is stated, that, before 1836, the date of his
consecration, there were in the colony of New South Wales nine churches,
eight chapels, or school-houses used as such, and five parsonage-houses;
whereas, in 1841, _nine_ new churches had been completed, _four_ had
been opened by licence, _fifteen_ more were in course of erection; and
twelve new parsonages had been completed, while eight others were also
in progress![180] So great a stimulus, during only five years, had the
presence of the full and effective staff of an apostolical ministry
added to the growth and increase of the Church in one single colony!
[179] See the Report of the Fund for providing Additional Colonial
Bishoprics, dated June 25th, 1842. Should the particulars stated above
induce any person to desire to lend a helping hand to so good, so
glorious a work, any donations for that purpose, small or large, will be
thankfully received at the office of the Committee, 79, Pall Mall,
London; and a post-office order supplies a sure and easy means of
conveyance for sums not exceeding five pounds.
[180] See Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts, for 1842.
The history of education in the colony of New South Wales is an
important and deeply interesting subject;--indeed, in what country is it
not so?--but the struggles and disappointments of the friends of sound
religious education,--of that education which an Englishman may be
thankful to be permitted to call National,--have been very severe and
trying. To borrow the language of an able statesman and eloquent writer,
"not contented with excluding religion from the province of government,
the spirit of the age struggles with not less zeal to introduce, as its
substitute, education; that is to say, the cultivation of the intellect
of the natural man instead of the heart and affections of the spiritual
man--the abiding in the life of Adam, instead of passing into the life
of Christ."[181] This is precisely what has taken place in Australia.
Only two years after the foundations of the colony had been laid,
George III. was pleased to provide for the Church and for schools, by
ordering the governor to allot in every township 400 acres of land for
the maintenance of a minister, and 200 acres for the support of a
schoolmaster. This provision continued to be assigned, and in many cases
the portion of allotted glebe became of considerable value; but, in
1826, a yet more extensive and promising support was afforded by the
British government to the cause of religious instruction in New South
Wales. The nature of this assistance may be detailed first in the words
of a violent and not very sensible or consistent enemy of the Church of
England, and then the reader may turn to the account given by one of its
ablest and best friends. "I was utterly astounded," says Dr. Lang, "in
common with most of the colonists, at the promulgation of a royal
charter appointing a Church and School Corporation for the religious
instruction, and for the general education of the youth of the colony,
_on the principles of the Church of England, exclusively_, and allotting
a seventh of the whole territory, for that purpose, to the Episcopalian
clergy, with free access, in the meantime, to the colonial
treasury-chest. It will scarcely be believed that so wanton an insult as
this precious document implied, could have been offered to the common
sense of a whole community, even by the late tory administration; or
that men could have been found in the nineteenth century to perpetrate
so gross an outrage on the best feelings of a numerous body of reputable
men." During the ensuing four or five years, we are told by the same
authority that it was completely in the power of the archdeacon and
clergy "to have formed a noble institution for the general education
of the youth of Australia with the very crumbs that fell from their
corporation-table."[182] They might, "if they had only been possessed
of the smallest modicum of common sense, have secured the exclusive
predominance of episcopacy in the management of the education of the
whole colony, _for all time coming_." And yet, adds the sagacious
Scotchman, in the very next paragraph, "the yoke must have proved
intolerable in the end, and would sooner or later have been violently
broken asunder during some general burst of public indignation." After a
grievous misrepresentation of the expenses incurred by the Church and
School Corporation,[183] and a sneer at the want of education which is
said to prevail among its members,[184] Dr. Lang contrives at last to
land himself, if not his readers, at the desired conclusion, namely,
that "ignorance is the mother of devotion" to colonial episcopacy!
[181] Gladstone's "The State in its Relations with the Church,"
chap. viii. p. 315.
[182] Lang's New South Wales, vol. ii. p. 317, &c. See also, at 265-6,
a series of similar statements. A good specimen of Dr. Lang's veracity
occurs at p. 267, where the Church and School Corporation is said to
have consisted chiefly of _clergymen_, whereas the majority were
_laymen_. See Burton on Religion and Education in New South Wales,
p. 21, and Appendix, No. 1.
[183] They are accused of spending 20,000_l._ a-year of public money,
under pretence of providing for religious instruction and education,
while nothing was really done; whereas, out of this sum, nearly
17,000_l._ were already appropriated for the existing ecclesiastical
establishment; and, during the continuance of the Corporation, the
schools increased from 16 to 40, and the number of children educated
in them from 1,037 to 2,426. See Burton on Religion and Education in
New South Wales, pp. 24 and 32.
[184] See the book just quoted for a list of the members of the Church
and School Corporation, p. 21. Whatever might be the education of these
gentlemen, it is evident that better educated men were not very likely
to be found in the colony than the great law officers of the crown, the
members of the legislative council, and the nine senior chaplains.
But it is time to turn away from the pitiable spectacle of a man calling
himself a minister of God's word, but far better qualified for his other
occupation, that of editing a party newspaper in a penal colony, and
taking our leave of Dr. Lang with feelings of regret that he has not
made a better use of those talents which have been given him: let us
turn to the statement given by Judge Burton, of the Church and School
Corporation in New South Wales. It is correct that one-seventh part in
extent and value of the land in New South Wales, was intended to be set
apart for the supply of religious instruction and education to the whole
colony. It is true, likewise, that the English government, in 1826,
entrusted this endowment for these good purposes entirely to the Church
of England; and to what other body could a thoroughly English government
have entrusted it? What course could be more suitable to the principles
of the English constitution? Or who in those days suspected the very
dissenters, who in England regard the help of the state as an
abomination, of being anxious themselves to partake freely of that help
in Australia? However, the arrangements were completed, and the charter
of the Church and School Corporation was signed in 1826; and at the same
time the burden of defraying the regular expenses of the existing clergy
and schools, was immediately transferred from the parliamentary grants
and the colonial revenue to the newly formed corporation. But, whatever
might have been the future value of the endowment thus bestowed upon the
Australian Church, its immediate produce was little or nothing; the
reserves are stated to have not been fairly portioned out, many of them
were allotted in inconvenient or distant situations and unprofitable
soils; private interest was allowed to take the first place in the
division of land, and persons who would have scorned to defraud men,
were happy to be allowed to rob God of his rights and the poor of the
means of having the gospel preached to them. Nor, even although these
hindrances had not arisen, would there have been any sufficient income
arising during the first years from the property of the corporation,
unless they had sold this with utter recklessness of the means of
securing a future permanent endowment. That portion of their lands
which was most improved, was either judiciously sold, or else let; and
other parts of it were gradually being brought under cultivation, and
improved in value; but meanwhile the increasing yearly expenses of the
ecclesiastical establishment were to be met. For this purpose, some
money was borrowed on debentures, and an advance was made to the
corporation from the colonial treasury; and thus, during three years,
were the exertions of the corporation crippled and restrained. When
they were beginning to get somewhat clear of these first difficulties,
when their estates were becoming profitable, and their flocks and herds
increasing, they were directed to suspend any further proceedings, no
more lands were granted them, and they were informed that their charter
was to be revoked. This notification was made in 1829, though the
revocation did not actually take place till 1833.
In reply to the inquiry, why the Church and School Corporation in New
South Wales should have been thus suddenly dissolved, and that, too, at
the very time when its means were beginning to be available for the
fulfilment of the intentions of its foundation, no other answer can be
found besides that suggested by Judge Burton. It was done, no doubt, by
way of yielding to the clamour of the secret and open enemies of the
Church of England; and the very opposition of Infidels, Romanists, and
Dissenters, combined, in jarring harmony, together, bears a strong
witness of the value of the object of attack. The sop that was thus
thrown to the greedy demon of religious strife, was by no means
successful in satisfying or appeasing him; like most other similar
concessions, it served only to whet the appetite for more; and it is to
God's undeserved mercies, not to her own efforts, or to the wisdom of
her rulers, that England herself owes the preservation at that time of
her national Church. And now that the Church and School Corporation in
Australia has been abolished these ten years, what are the results; who
is the better for its destruction? If this establishment had been
permitted to remain, "certainly, at this day its funds would have been
sufficient to relieve the government altogether of the charge of
maintaining the clergy and schools of the colony."[185] The estimated
expenses of "Church establishments," and "school establishments," for
New South Wales in 1842, were respectively, 35,981_l._ 10_s._, and
16,322_l._ 10_s._,[186] so that by this time the saving to government,
arising from the continuance of the corporation, would have amounted to
no trifling annual sum. But, what is of far more importance, and what
was foreseen by the enemies of the Church of England when they compassed
the ruin of the corporation, the means of "lengthening its cords and
strengthening its stakes," would have been placed within the power of
the Australian Church. And since, under every disadvantage, during the
short time in which the charter continued to be in force, "the churches
were increased in number and better provided, the schools were
considerably more than doubled in number, and their effectiveness
increased, while their expenses were lessened,"[187] what might have
been expected from the same instrument in a longer period of time, and
after the first difficulties had been overcome? However, for wise and
good purposes, no doubt, it was not permitted that the experiment should
be tried; and while we regret that the Church in Australia is not more
efficient and better supported than it is, we may yet feel thankful
that, by the grace of God, it is as it is.
[185] See Burton on Religion and Education in New South Wales, p. 31.
[186] See Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. i. p. 45. The sums
mentioned above include all the expense of grants to other bodies of
Christians besides churchmen, but the greater portion of the money is
expended upon the great majority of the population who are members of
the Church of England.
[187] See Burton, p. 37.
It affords a sad proof of the continued enmity of the world against
Christ, to turn from the noisy outcries of the children of Mammon about
economy and ecclesiastical expenses, and to fix our eyes upon the plain
matter of fact. When it was confidently asserted, by the highest
colonial authority, that the wants of the Australian Church were fairly
supplied, the Bishop, in 1837, mentioned by name no less than fifteen
places where clergymen were immediately needed. And it is no uncommon
occurrence, as in the church at Mudgee, (quite in the wilderness,) for
a consecration to take place, the church to be filled, the inhabitants
around delighted, their children baptized, and then the building is
closed for an indefinite period, until some clergyman be found to
officiate! Some persons may hold that to _save money_ is better than to
_save souls_, but let not these men aspire to the name of Christians.
But, in spite of such enemies, whether endowed or not, whether supported
or spurned by the state authorities, the Church is likely to prove a
blessing and a safeguard to our Australian colonies. The absence of
endowment, the want of worldly means of extension, these are losses not
to the Church, but to the state. And while each individual member is
bound to spare of his abundance, or even of his poverty, for a work
so good and holy as that of propagating the gospel in foreign parts,
especially in our colonies;[188] while every lawful effort is to be made
to do what we can to resist the progress of evil, we may be satisfied to
wait quietly the result. Nor, among other acts of christian charity,
will a faithful member of Christ's visible Church ever forget to pray
for those unhappy men whose extraordinary professions of religion are
too often found to end in fruits like these,--in opposing all extension
of what they deny not to be, in the main, a scriptural Church, in
straining at the smallest particle of endowment, or public assistance
for religious objects at home, whilst abroad they can swallow a whole
camel's load of public money or church plunder, when it serves their
occasion! May God, in his wisdom, overrule the mischief, and in his
mercy forgive the evils of which men of this description have recently
been the occasion, both in England and in its colonies!
[188] The following striking testimony in favour of the _system_ of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts comes from a
quarter by no means unduly biassed in its favour. "How have thousands
and tens of thousands been raised in Scotland, for the last forty years,
to fit out and to maintain beyond seas whomsoever the dissenting
ministers of London chose to ordain as missionaries to the heathen? God
forbid, that I should ever whisper a syllable against missions to the
heathen! But I have seen too many missionaries, not to have seen more
than I choose to mention, whom men possessed of the least discernment
would never have presumed to send forth on such an errand! _The colonies,
however, were the first field to be occupied; and if that field had been
properly occupied, it would have afforded much assistance to missions
to the heathen._"--LANG'S _New South Wales_, vol. ii. p. 260.
If any reader of this passage should feel disposed in his heart to help
in a good work, which greatly needs his assistance, let him take at
once his humble mite, or his large offering, as the case may be, to the
clergyman of his parish, or to the office, 79, Pall Mall, London, for
the use of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.