The Wesleyan Mission there, after much labour, had likewise to be given up, for a similar reason.
The mission of the Rev. Mr. Ridley, who acquired the language, and itinerated and preached to them, had likewise to be given up. Mr. Ridley has left a valuable work on their language.
Two or three missions were established—one in Western Australia, another near Adelaide; and two others, under Mr. Matthews and the Rev. Mr. Gribble, are now under the consideration of the Government, which has appointed the Honorable G. Thornton, M.L.C., Commissioner, and the Board of Missions, under the Church Synod, so that some hope remains that many, especially children, may be rescued from gradual destruction, hitherto the result of civilized Christianity with them. It may naturally be asked what is the reason of these failures in the attempts which have been made in various portions of New South Wales, Victoria, &c. The answer is in the constant encroachment and pressure of the whites and their rapid settlement in an open country, coupled with the helplessness of the natives when brought within their influences, dependent as they are on gratuitous support, and the vices and diseases of the white population which are so fatal to them.
The Government support of missions to 1838 appears to be—
| Wellington Valley | £500 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Lake Macquarie | 186 | 0 | 0 | besides land | |
| Moreton Bay | { | 450 | 0 | 0 | |
| 310 | 19 | 2 | |||
| Port Phillip | 534 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Provisions and clothing | 440 | 17 | 11 | ||
| Wesleyan—Port Phillip | 600 | 0 | 0 | ||
| General support | £2,691 | 16 | 11 |
In April, 1844, the Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts proposed to Lord Stanley to combine with the Colonial Government for supporting missions and schools for the European and aboriginal population of New South Wales, the Society offering to defray a certain portion of the expense. Four clergymen were to be maintained by the Church Societies on a salary of £250 per annum, and £50 for horse allowance, each; total, £1,200. Expenses to be borne by Government of four additional clergymen as before, £1,200. Two missionaries—one for the whites, and the other for the aboriginal population—were to be placed at each station: at Western Port, two; at Goulburn, two; at Mount Rouse, two; at River Lodden, two. At each station, four schoolmasters. The missionaries at each station were to devote themselves to the white and black population within a reasonable distance.
From the report of the Port Phillip District Committee of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, the following tables represent the numbers and localities of the white and aboriginal population in and about the Port Phillip District in 1844:—
| White Population in the Bush. | |||||
| Mount Rouse. | The Lodden. | The Goulburn. | Dandenong. | Total. | |
| Within Circuits | 1,046 | 1,102 | 750 | 290 | 3,188 |
| Beyond Circuits | 270 | 270 | 250 | 167 | 957 |
| Moving population | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 1,000 |
| —— | —— | —— | —— | ||
| Totals | 1,566 | 1,622 | 1,250 | 707 | |
| Total British population entirely destitute of religious ordinances | 5,145 | ||||
| On purchased lands | 1,000 | ||||
| In villages and farms near town | 2,000 | ||||
| —— | |||||
| 3,000 | |||||
| —— | |||||
| Total British population | 8,145 | ||||
| Aboriginal or Black Population. | |||||
| Mount Rouse. | The Lodden. | The Goulburn. | Dandenong. | Total. | |
| At stations | 400 | 300 | 400 | 200 | 1,300 |
| Accessible beyond the limits of occupation | 800 | 800 | 1,000 | ... | 2,600 |
| —— | —— | —— | —— | —— | |
| Totals | 1,200 | 1,100 | 1,400 | 200 | |
| Total black population | 3,900 | ||||
| White population | 8,145 | ||||
| —— | |||||
| 12,045 | |||||
These proposals were communicated to His Excellency Sir George Gipps, together with a letter from the Immigration Office with the views of the Land Commissioner on the project; but the result of this truly liberal and Christian proposal seems to have met with no response.
I may here venture to add my own testimony to that of the Rev. Mr. Threlkeld and Mr. Robinson upon this subject, as given in evidence before a Committee of the Legislative Council, in the year 1838; also Captain Grey’s opinion. I fear Mr. Robinson’s evidence is not obtainable; but the wonderful achievement of that gentleman in accomplishing single-handed what the whole power of the Van Diemen’s Land Government could not succeed in with a large military force, backed by the settlers, and at a heavy cost, is one of the noblest triumphs of moral over physical power probably ever accomplished. I have described this in the “Reminiscences of Tasmania.”