ties and rejoicing in its
blessings. And in every country, especially in a civilised country, when
we have gone through the length and breadth of the land, examining its
natural features and speculating upon its capabilities and future
destiny, there is still left a most interesting and important subject of
consideration, nor can our knowledge of any region be reckoned complete,
until we are acquainted with the present condition of its inhabitants.
In the preceding pages it has been found impossible, indeed, to avoid
frequently touching upon a topic, which is so closely interwoven with
the whole subject; but there still remains abundance of miscellaneous
information concerning the present state of the inhabitants of the
Australian colonies to be detailed, without which, indeed, the task we
have undertaken would be left altogether incomplete.

Though intellectual man is the principal object in God's creation upon
earth, yet it is not the mere "march of intellect," but it is the
advancement of truth and righteousness,--the gradual outpouring of that
knowledge of God which shall cover the earth as the waters cover the
seas,--that can cause "the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose."
The recollection, therefore, of the sort of men with whom Great Britain
has partly peopled the lonely shores of Australia,--the remembrance that
these men, too morally diseased to be allowed to remain among ourselves,
have been cast forth to die, with little or no thought about bringing
them to the Great Physician of souls to be made whole,--these
reflections have before been offered, and must here be repeated again.
We read with pleasure and interest of benevolent travellers, anxious to
benefit the countries which they are exploring, scattering around them
in favourable spots the seeds of useful plants and noble trees, in the
hope that these may hereafter prove beneficial to generations yet
unborn. And in like manner may the mother country be said to scatter
abroad in her colonies the seeds not only of good, but of evil also.
Many admirable institutions, not a few excellent individuals and
christian families, have been planted in Australian lands; a branch of
Christ's Church has been placed there, and has taken firm hold of the
soil, and numberless other promises of future excellence may be traced
by the thankful and inquiring mind. But then, on the contrary, we must
not lose sight of the tares that are so abundantly springing up together