580 OUR COLONIES. 



colony, and 1iave given rise to considerable personal hostility in 

 many instances, equally injurious to the state and to the social in- 

 terests of the community. The free settlers, who look upon them- 

 selves as the aristocracy of the colony, both as to morals and respect- 

 ability, have perhaps pushed their prejudices, goaded on by personal 

 feelings, much too far. The question is one of some nicety, and will 

 occupy our attention at a future period. To say that a man who 

 has been convicted of an offence shall for ever be under the ban of 

 society, sounds not only harsh, but carries with it an air of injustice ; 

 and yet it is founded upon a moral prejudice, which is one of the 

 most powerful safeguards of public and private morality. In the 

 instance before us, we see this prejudice operating on a large scale, 

 and in connexion with well-defined masses; and it is therefore a 

 favourable opportunity for examining its bearings upon the present 

 and future prospects of the colony. 



The whole of this division of Mr. Martin's work is exceedingly 

 valuable, and presents, in a clear and simple form, a mass of informa- 

 tion not to be met with in any other quarter. Great industry is dis- 

 played ; and although the statistics are not quite so perfect as could 

 be wished, they are as complete as circumstances would permit the 

 author to make them. Asa matter of economy, there can be no 

 doubt but that it is preferable to transport than to imprison at home; 

 thus, in the Millbank Penitentiary, the average expense per convict 

 was, in 1829, upwards of 30, which is nearly twice the expense of 

 the transported convict. 



Mr. Martin gives us a very satisfactory account of the Aborigines 

 of New South Wales. They form about the lowest link in the scale 

 of humanity, and are rapidly disappearing before the progress of the 

 settlers. Every effort which has been made to improve their con- 

 dition, has been rendered nugatory, by their irrepressible barbarous 

 propensities. Huts have been built, dress provided, comforts placed 

 in their path, and all to no purpose ; and there can be little doubt but 

 that, like wild animals, they will entirely disappear before the steps 

 of civilisation. We have witnessed, in America, a similar process 

 of extinction, with a race of men infinitely superior to the New 

 Hollanders : the extremes of social life cannot exist together : order 

 and savage license are mutual repellents; and disorganised tribes 

 perish before the steady march of industry and cultivation. But 

 this is not all not only cannot the extremes of social order live 

 together, but they cannot amalgamate ; the inferior seems to be in- 

 capable of profiting by the example of the superior, and dies in his 

 barbarism, either unwilling or unable to elevate himself into a fitting 

 associate with his more refined fellow-man. Thus it would appear 

 that civilisation must be the work of a long series of gradual ame- 

 liorations the working and developement of intellect and morals, 

 operated by slow but continuous influences ; and that attempts to 

 accelerate this either signally fail, or end in the destruction of the 

 savage. This is a subject to which our attention has been called, in 

 reference to religious missions; and we shall shortly devote some 

 space to its examination. 



