In reply to the inquiry, why the Church and School Corporation in New South Wales should have been thus suddenly dissolved, and that, too, at the very time when its means were beginning to be available for the fulfilment of the intentions of its foundation, no other answer can be found besides that suggested by Judge Burton. It was done, no doubt, by way of yielding to the clamour of the secret and open enemies of the Church of England; and the very opposition of Infidels, Romanists, and Dissenters, combined, in jarring harmony, together, bears a strong witness of the value of the object of attack. The sop that was thus thrown to the greedy demon of religious strife, was by no means successful in satisfying or appeasing him; like most other similar concessions, it served only to whet the appetite for more; and it is to God’s undeserved mercies, not to her own efforts, or to the wisdom of her rulers, that England herself owes the preservation at that time of her national Church. And now that the Church and School Corporation in Australia has been abolished these ten years, what are the results; who is the better for its destruction? If this establishment had been permitted to remain, “certainly, at this day its funds would have been sufficient to relieve the government altogether of the charge of maintaining the clergy and schools of the colony.”[185] The estimated expenses of “Church establishments,” and “school establishments,” for New South Wales in 1842, were respectively, 35,981l. 10s., and 16,322l. 10s.,[186] so that by this time the saving to government, arising from the continuance of the corporation, would have amounted to no trifling annual sum. But, what is of far more importance, and what was foreseen by the enemies of the Church of England when they compassed the ruin of the corporation, the means of “lengthening its cords and strengthening its stakes,” would have been placed within the power of the Australian Church. And since, under every disadvantage, during the short time in which the charter continued to be in force, “the churches were increased in number and better provided, the schools were considerably more than doubled in number, and their effectiveness increased, while their expenses were lessened,”[187] what might have been expected from the same instrument in a longer period of time, and after the first difficulties had been overcome? However, for wise and good purposes, no doubt, it was not permitted that the experiment should be tried; and while we regret that the Church in Australia is not more efficient and better supported than it is, we may yet feel thankful that, by the grace of God, it is as it is.
It affords a sad proof of the continued enmity of the world against Christ, to turn from the noisy outcries of the children of Mammon about economy and ecclesiastical expenses, and to fix our eyes upon the plain matter of fact. When it was confidently asserted, by the highest colonial authority, that the wants of the Australian Church were fairly supplied, the Bishop, in 1837, mentioned by name no less than fifteen places where clergymen were immediately needed. And it is no uncommon occurrence, as in the church at Mudgee, (quite in the wilderness,) for a consecration to take place, the church to be filled, the inhabitants around delighted, their children baptized, and then the building is closed for an indefinite period, until some clergyman be found to officiate! Some persons may hold that to save money is better than to save souls, but let not these men aspire to the name of Christians.
But, in spite of such enemies, whether endowed or not, whether supported or spurned by the state authorities, the Church is likely to prove a blessing and a safeguard to our Australian colonies. The absence of endowment, the want of worldly means of extension, these are losses not to the Church, but to the state. And while each individual member is bound to spare of his abundance, or even of his poverty, for a work so good and holy as that of propagating the gospel in foreign parts, especially in our colonies;[188] while every lawful effort is to be made to do what we can to resist the progress of evil, we may be satisfied to wait quietly the result. Nor, among other acts of christian charity, will a faithful member of Christ’s visible Church ever forget to pray for those unhappy men whose extraordinary professions of religion are too often found to end in fruits like these,—in opposing all extension of what they deny not to be, in the main, a scriptural Church, in straining at the smallest particle of endowment, or public assistance for religious objects at home, whilst abroad they can swallow a whole camel’s load of public money or church plunder, when it serves their occasion! May God, in his wisdom, overrule the mischief, and in his mercy forgive the evils of which men of this description have recently been the occasion, both in England and in its colonies!
CHAPTER XII.
CONVICT POPULATION.
Whatever may be the natural charms or advantages of any region, these are nothing without inhabitants; and however abundantly the means of riches, the comforts, luxuries, or necessaries of life may be scattered around, these are comparatively lost without man to enjoy and to use them. The garden of Eden itself was not perfected until beings were placed in it capable of admiring its beauties and rejoicing in its blessings. And in every country, especially in a civilised country, when we have gone through the length and breadth of the land, examining its natural features and speculating upon its capabilities and future destiny, there is still left a most interesting and important subject of consideration, nor can our knowledge of any region be reckoned complete, until we are acquainted with the present condition of its inhabitants. In the preceding pages it has been found impossible, indeed, to avoid frequently touching upon a topic, which is so closely interwoven with the whole subject; but there still remains abundance of miscellaneous information concerning the present state of the inhabitants of the Australian colonies to be detailed, without which, indeed, the task we have undertaken would be left altogether incomplete.
Though intellectual man is the principal object in God’s creation upon earth, yet it is not the mere “march of intellect,” but it is the advancement of truth and righteousness,—the gradual outpouring of that knowledge of God which shall cover the earth as the waters cover the seas,—that can cause “the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose.” The recollection, therefore, of the sort of men with whom Great Britain has partly peopled the lonely shores of Australia,—the remembrance that these men, too morally diseased to be allowed to remain among ourselves, have been cast forth to die, with little or no thought about bringing them to the Great Physician of souls to be made whole,—these reflections have before been offered, and must here be repeated again. We read with pleasure and interest of benevolent travellers, anxious to benefit the countries which they are exploring, scattering around them in favourable spots the seeds of useful plants and noble trees, in the hope that these may hereafter prove beneficial to generations yet unborn. And in like manner may the mother country be said to scatter abroad in her colonies the seeds not only of good, but of evil also. Many admirable institutions, not a few excellent individuals and christian families, have been planted in Australian lands; a branch of Christ’s Church has been placed there, and has taken firm hold of the soil, and numberless other promises of future excellence may be traced by the thankful and inquiring mind. But then, on the contrary, we must not lose sight of the tares that are so abundantly springing up together with the wheat; it is impossible to deny that rank and poisonous weeds have there been scattered along with the good seed, nay, instead of it. What might have been the present state of Australia, if all, or almost all, its free inhabitants had been faithful Christians, steadfast “in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers?” How great an effect might the “salt,” thus placed in those remote parts of the earth, have had in rescuing from corruption that mass of uncleanness, which has been removed thither from our own shores! Now, alas! nowhere more than in some of the Australian settlements “are the works of the flesh manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.”[189]
One cause, unquestionably, of the peculiar prevalence of many of these evil works is the strange elements of which society in Australia is composed. In its lowest rank is found the unhappy criminal, whose liberty has been forfeited, and who is, for a time at least, reduced to a state of servitude in punishment of his offences. Next to this last-named class come the emancipists, as they are called, who have once been in bondage, but by working out their time, or by good conduct, have become free; these and their descendants constitute a distinct and very wealthy class in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. The third and highest class is formed of men who have settled as free persons in the colonies, and of their descendants; and between this last class and the two first a considerable distinction is kept up, from which, (it has already been noticed,) miserable dissensions, jealousies, and heartburnings, have frequently arisen. To an impartial person, beholding these petty discords from the contrary side of the globe, it is pretty plain that both classes are in fault.