CHAPTER XXXVIII 



PASTORAL MORALS 



The pastoral stage in Australia, like the same stage in 

 ancient Palestine or modern England, has left or is 

 leaving an indelible impress on the character of the 

 people. It bred in them a spirit of rude independence 

 that permeates the Australian of all classes and profes- 

 sions, so as to make him resist dictation and resent 

 even being " spoken to." It bred the simplicity of life 

 where the multitude of ranks in the " Byzantine hier- 

 archy " of Europe has almost completely disappeared, 

 and there only exist at most the squatter or the manager 

 (when these are not of the same class as the others), 

 his overseer, and his stockmen, while the scarcity and 

 urgency of labour put the employee on the same level 

 as his employer, when they do not give him the upper 

 hand. It bred or elicited no less the capacity for grap- 

 pling with gigantic evils, such as floods, droughts, epi- 

 demics, and attacks by the natives. It bred also the 

 loafing disposition and the wandering spirit that still 

 canker Australian life, and if it also bred that indiffer- 

 ence to wealth and show that is but now being lost in 

 Australia, it was the root of that religious indifference 

 and lazy tolerance that strike the immigrant and the 

 visitor. It was an educator in self-help, in wilUngness 

 to dispense with the indispensable, and make the most 

 of life " under bare poles " or reduced to its lowest terms. 

 No less did it nurture a readiness to aid others, if only 

 because on no other conditions could existence be 

 carried on. Independence, unworldhness, equality, tol- 



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