tellectual, of that part of the States
tells of the wisdom of the arrangement. Now why, argue the Company,
might not a similar result be produced in the present age, by
directing the Free Church portion of the outward stream of emigration,
or at least a sufficient part of it, into one locality? If the
disastrous effects of division cannot be prevented by reconciling the
disagreements of those who already differ, they may be obviated
surely, to a large extent, by bringing into juxtaposition those who
already agree. And on this simple principle the Company has founded
its Free Church colony of Otago. Of course, regarding the secular
advantages of the colony, we cannot speak. New Zealand has been long
regarded as the Great Britain of the southern hemisphere. It possesses
for a European constitution peculiar advantages of climate; the
neighbourhood of the settlement, for several hundred miles together,
is deserted by the natives; Government is pledged to the appointment
of a Royal Commissioner to watch over the interests of Her Majesty's
subjects in connection with the Company, and to afford them
protection; the committee for promoting the settlement of the colony
includes some of the most respected names in the Free Church; and
thus, judged by all the ordinary tests, it seems to promise at least
as well as any other resembling field of enterprise open at the
present time. But respecting the principles involved in this scheme of
colonization, we can speak more directly from the circumstance that we
find them recognised as just and good by the General Assembly of our
Church. The records of the Assembly of 1845 bear the following
deliverance on the subject:--'The General Assembly learn with great
pleasure the prospect of the speedy establishment of the Scotch colony
of New Edinburgh [now Otago] in New Zealand, consisting of members of
the Free Church, and with every security for the colonists being
provided with the ordinances of religion and the means of education in
connection with this Church. Without expressing any opinion regarding
the secular advantages or prospects of the proposed undertaking, the
General Assembly highly approve of the principles on which the
settlement is proposed to be conducted, in so far as the religious and
educational interests of the colonists are concerned; and the
Assembly desire to countenance and encourage the association in these
respects.'

We have seen the waste of mind which takes place