larity respecting it. The truly religious soul,
indeed, when banished by circumstances from the temple of the Lord, is
always inquiring with the royal Psalmist, "When shall I come to appear
before the presence of God?" But the careless man, the worldly-minded
man, indeed the greater part of mankind, it is to be feared, feel no
longing desires of this kind. The further they are removed from the
courts of the Lord's house, the less they think about its blessings, the
less concern they take about religion; so that when an opportunity is
offered them of joining in public worship, it actually is viewed as a
trouble instead of a privilege, and no small pains are taken to escape
from it. For example, it is stated by Mr. Mudie, that when a clergyman
had been able to attend, and divine service was about to commence, upon
his estate, he noticed but few of the convicts there, the rest declining
to come, upon the plea of their being Roman Catholics. But this trick
was of no avail, for their master, being satisfied that they merely
wanted to escape attendance, and to employ the opportunity thus afforded
them of prowling about and thieving, insisted upon all these Romanists
coming up and sitting outside the building in which the others were
assembled. The next time the clergyman came, they were all Protestants.
But in what a wretched state of depravity must men be who can thus
deliberately tell a lie, in order to avoid joining in the worship of
the Lord their Maker!

To provide for the spiritual wants of our penal colonies would be, under
the most favourable circumstances, no easy matter; and in the actual
condition of affairs, it is a most difficult and discouraging task. For
not only are the ordinary obstacles arising from man's fallen nature to
be surmounted, but the effect of unusually evil influence and bad
example is to be counteracted in a convict population. And far from
opposing this mischievous spirit by "endeavouring to keep the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace," professing believers are nowhere more
at variance than in Australia; so that the work of turning the hearts of
the disobedient to the wisdom of the Just is perpetually being disturbed
by strife and jealousies among those who ought to be one, even as Christ
and the Father are One. There, as it has been well observed, "the Church
stands upon her own merits, her own divine right; there all the attested
grievances of the Dissenters, secular and political, are r