but something might perhaps plausibly be said of the hardship of depriving the mothers of their infant families. The general character of these mothers, however, is such, that to be saved the trouble of rearing their offspring would certainly be viewed as a relief rather than a hardship. But were it even otherwise, we do not hesitate to say, that we should regard it as a sickly and puling sensibility, which, to the gratification of private affections, could sacrifice the welfare not only of the community, but of the very individuals who are the objects of them. The right of government, indeed, to assume an arbitrary power, even over the illicit progeny of convicts, may be justly questioned; but there are various ways of obviating this difficulty, which we need not stop to particularize. Perhaps parliamentary interference might be desirable. We do not expect to hear it urged in this case, that to separate children from their parents is to make a fatal inroad on the domestic charities, or that the infant mind is best trained to piety and virtue amidst the endearments of the convict's family circle! It is undoubtedly true, that every thing estimable in the human character is best inculcated in the bosom of an affectionate, well-informed, and religious family ;-but, among convicts at least, such a domestic state is not to be anticipated; and, indeed, in the general application of the principle to the lower classes, even in our own country, we confess that we have frequently been disgusted with the utterance both of much ignorance and much sentimental nonsense.

The Society to be found in a convict's family in New South Wales cannot be greatly different from that which prevails on board the bulks, filled as they are with persons convicted of similar crimes. We may therefore safely refer to this latter place of punishment, in order to form a judgment of the effect which might be produced by the change of system we recommend. Mr. Bennet, to whose recent publication we have already had occasion to allude, in speaking of the hulks, mentions an affecting case of two boys, which is so much in point that we cannot resist the temptation to transcribe it.

"These two boys, of the names of Leary and Farrel, were confined in the same ship, the Bellerophon. Leary, being above 15 years of age, was sent ashore with the men. Two days before our visit, he had attempted to escape with another convict, in a boat which was alongside the dock-yard. They were soon apprehended, and were in double irons when I saw them. I was much struck at the change in the appearance of Leary; his former pleasing manner was quite gone, he was hardened and sullen, and would not raise up his head and look us in the face. Farrel, on the contrary, has distinguished himself by his good conduct since he has been at Sheerness; and the captain and chaplain of the Bellerophon spoke of him in the highest terms of commendation. prisoners have recently subscribed for a silver medal, to record their gratitude to their chaplain, on which is engraved the following inscription: This medal is intended to record the unwearied exertions made by the Rev. E. Edwards, chaplain of the Bellerophon, to reform the convicts on board that ship, and as a sincere mark of humble respect.' On the reverse: To Hugh Farrel, aged 14, for his uniform and approved good conduct-his faithful recital of several parts of the holy Scriptures, the church articles of religion, different homilies,' &c.

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The

This boy was called into the cabin, and produced his medal; his appearance was much improved; he spoke with propriety; and there was a pride of rectitude, and a consciousness of well-merited praise, which, when contrasted with the manner of his companion Leary, was most striking. Being asked if he had any message to send to

Mr. Bedford, (a benevolent and excellent person, who had endeavoured in vain to reform him,) he replied, Please, Sir, to give my thanks to him, and to the rest of the gentlemen, for their kindness, and for all the trouble they have had with me.' Farrel and Leary were unquestionably the two most enterprising boys who have come under the notice of that society, which, for some years past, has endeavoured to ascertain the causes, and arrest the progress of the contagion of crime, so prevalent among the youth of both sexes in the metropolis. Both these boys are remarkable for the sharpness of their intellect; they were associated in their pursuits, habits, and characters; the means of reformation were repeatedly offered to both, and as often rejected. Leary escaped from the Philanthropic, Farrel from the Refuge; but when they both left London for the hulks, the probability of reform appeared, of the two, to be on the side of Leary. It is not, however, difficult to account for the improvement of Farrel, and for the disgrace of Leary. The difference of their respective ages, agreeable to the rules of the hulks, has subjected these youths to a different discipline; the former, being under 15, was placed in the school with the boys; the latter, being above 15, was confined in one of the lower decks with the men, and, of course, exposed to all the evils resulting from such an association: thus the former has been subjected to a school of moral discipline, the latter to a school of vice. Can there be any wonder that both should be known by their fruits, and that Farrel should become better, and Leary worse ?”

On the whole, it appears to us, that, if ever there could be supposed a situation in which it would be beneficial to adopt the plan of the philanthropic Owen, so far as regards the education of children, the colony of New South Wales is precisely that situation. Indeed we are inclined to believe that the whole of Mr. Owen's scheme, with certain modifications, and the infusion of Christian principle, might be successfully reduced to practice in the settlement; and we should certainly have no objection to hear that, in any new plantation which may be established in Australasia, the very oblong square of which that gentleman has so industriously circulated a drawing, with its public kitchen, its chapel, its schoolhouse, its play-grounds, aye, and even its dormitories for male and female children, had risen into existence, and found "a local habitation and

The last subject treated in the work before us, relates to the advantages which the colony offers for emigration. This opens a wide field for speculation, on which we cannot now trust ourselves to any extent; but on which, from the pressing circumstances of the times, we may venture to make a few cursory observations.

Generally speaking, we conceive no fear to be more unfounded than that which anticipates calamity from any long-continued deficiency of hands to labour; and, in point of fact, the danger lies in the opposite direction,-as most of the miseries which assail the great mass of the people, in almost every stage of society, arise from a superabundance of inhabitants, compared with the quantity of food which they are able to procure. This being the case, our minds are perfectly easy on the score of depopulation, especially when we consider that the feeling of attachment to the place of our early associations, which is so strong and so universal, uniting with a natural aversion to change, and deriving additional force from the difficulties attending removal under the most favourable circumstances, will always operate as a sufficient check on the spirit of emigration.

The withdrawing of capital from the parent state, sometimes ad

duced as an objection to emigration, we allow might be regarded as a disadvantage, were that capital to be altogether lost to the country; and hence the propriety of diverting the stream of emigration from the United States;-but when it is remembered, that to colonize is only to extend the boundaries of the community, the subject must be viewed in a different light; and the money which was unproductive, perhaps, or at least not very beneficially employed at home, must appear to be merely transferred to another part of the empire, where it may be eventually used to greater advantage. Thus the wealth of the state, instead of being diminished, is increased by successful colonization. A similar mode of reasoning may be applied to the subject of population; and even if it were untrue, that the blank occasioned by emigration must be quickly supplied by the increased rapidity of propagation, it would still be certain, that so long as the emigrants only change their residence to another part of the British dominions, their labour is not lost to the state.

Unhappily, however, the present situation of our country furnishes us with an argument in favour of colonization altogether independ ent of this general reasoning.

The prevalent evils, if they do not derive their origin from the overburdened state of our population, are at least incalculably aggravated by it; and the great subject of examination seems to be, not if colonization would alleviate the disease, for that is unquestionable, but if there are any other practicable means which might be more efficaciously, and more judiciously resorted to. The chief remedy which has been set in opposition to the system of colonization, is the cultivation of our waste lands at home; and undoubtedly there seems to be something extremely reasonable in such a scheme. We therefore rejoice to observe that it is likely to be attempted with considerable probability of advantage; and we heartily wish success to the schemes which have been so judiciously proposed for opening a wider field to the operations of agriculture. So extensive, however, appear to be the distresses of the lower classes, and so numerous the hands which can be spared from the supply of labour, that we are far from being sanguine enough to hope that the proposed agricultural speculations will put a stop to the current of emigration; so that it still remains an inquiry of great importance, to what quarter this current may be most advantageously directed, and what are the steps most proper to be taken for giving it that direction.

With regard to the former of these questions, considerable hesita tion has arisen. The wide and fertile regions of Upper Canada have been recommended; and undoubtedly there is in that quarter much scope for the hand of cultivation. An inexhaustible soil, a genial summer, and the neighbourhood of navigable rivers and inland seas, which have procured for it the name of the garden of North America, hold out flattering allurements to adventurers;-the prospect of an extended commerce, and the necessity of a powerful population to save the country from becoming the prey of republican cupidity, are the inducements which government might chiefly regard. Against such encouragements, however, are to be weighed the disadvantages,

-and these, so far as the emigrant is concerned, may almost all be summed up in the severity of a northern winter. The cold, indeed, is less intense than in the lower province, and the weather is in general steady and serene; but the idea of being shut up in a wilderness, for such is the present state of the country, where, for five months of the year, the eye beholds nothing but an interminable waste of snow; where the rivers are bound in impenetrable chains of ice, and the labours of the husbandman cease, and the intercourse of commerce is cut off-such an idea is, to an inhabitant of Britain, like the image of death, dismal and horrifying. To the politician, also, there is one startling objection against spending the population and resources of Britain in this colony, arising from the consideration, that unless the inhabitants were to become so numerous, and to continue so united as to present a strong and imposing front against hostile invasion, to clear and to improve the country would only be to render it a more easy prey, and a more valuable prize, to the arms of that infant but ambitious people whose borders it touches.

Government probably judged wisely, therefore, in preferring the southern coast of Africa for an experiment in colonization. On the facilities and inducements which that country holds out for planting a new settlement, some interesting information is contained in the evidence taken last summer before the Committee of the House of Commons on the Poor Laws, and published along with their last report, now before us. We there find, that our possessions at the Cape of Good Hope, which extend inland, and along the southern and western coast for several hundred miles, are "dotted," as it is expressively termed, at irregular intervals, by the agricultural settlements of Dutch boors, who, whilst the colony belonged to Holland, were permitted to establish themselves without any organized plan, wherever a supply of water or other conveniences induced them to fix their choice; and farther, that the spaces between the improved grounds, which are from one to five miles in extent, though of inferior quality, might yet be cultivated to advantage. To the establishment of British settlers, however, in these intervening spaces, some discouragements are stated, founded chiefly on the want of water, and on ignorance of the localities, as well as on the language and manners of the present inhabitants. From these and other considerations, Mr. Burchell, an intelligent traveller, who lately published an account of his journey through the south of Africa, a work which we have not yet seen, but which is said to contain some curious and useful information, recommended to the Committee, that a settlement should, in preference, be founded in the district of Albany, which is on the borders of Caffraria, some hundreds of miles to the east of the Cape, and not far from Algoa Bay. This advice has been listened to, and as Government are now holding out encouragement for emigration to that spot, of a nature sufficiently popular to have induced upwards of ten thousand individuals, if we are rightly informed, to enrol their names as proposed settlers, our readers must feel some curiosity to be acquainted with the capabilities of the situation. The district in question is, according to Mr. Burchell's evidence, at present unoccupied by any settlers, and is the most

beautiful, and probably the most productive part of the Cape colony. It is about 100 miles in length and 50 in breadth, and might easily receive a population of several thousand emigrants. The soil is admirably suited for grazing, and both black cattle and sheep could readily be procured on very moderate terms, either from the Dutch farmers who reside on the western boundary, or from the Caffrees, whose pastoral tribes occupy the country to the east. The productions which might form the chief articles of commerce, would be corn, wine, tobacco, hides, ivory, ostrich feathers, and perhaps also wool, although the sheep, which are very numerous, are at present killed chiefly for their fat, which is used in the manufacture of soap. The climate is excellent. Mr. Burchell assures the Committee, that "it is exceedingly healthy, and that the temperature is very moderate, seldom excessively hot, and never so cold as to be below the freezing point, except on the mountains." With regard to the facilities which the situation affords to the settler on first commencing his operations, a point of material importance, we are informed that comfortable houses can be built, with the greatest ease, of mud alone.

"It is not easy to be credited," says Mr. Burchell, "by those who have not seen them, how excellent and strong a wall is made by this means." "To agricultural operations," adds the witness, "there is no impediment. The country is quite open for receiving the plough, so that neither expense or delay would be incurred in clearing the soil. The land to the northward, is exceedingly well suited for pasturing and rearing large flocks of sheep, by which, although the emigrant may not produce any thing from such a position, that he can send to market, he may be always sure of living without the fear of want. From what I have seen among the Dutch settlers, the very smallest exertion always procures an abundant supply of every necessary of life.”

There is just one drawback to all these advantages-the neighbour hood of the savage tribes of Caffraria, who proved so extremely troublesome to the former settlers in Albany, that they were under the necessity of abandoning this beautiful and fertile region altogether. But Mr. Burchell confidently asserts, that no danger is to be apprehended from these unwarlike hordes, provided only the settlers be considerable in point of numbers, and conduct themselves with common prudence. We give his reason for this opinion, in his own words: Q"The Caffrees are not very desirable neighbours, and they are very near this spot ?" A. I am aware of that, but I do not conceive that to be any discouragement. Q. State your reason for that opinion ?" A. "I think the Caffrees are only a predatory race of men, and their only object, is not that of destroying their neighbours, but robbing them of their cattle; and if the population of that part of the colony was as great as the country would admit of, I believe the Caffrees would not venture to commit their robberies in such a country." Again. Q. "What would be the best number to commence such an establishment ?". A. I should think about 300, as a small number. I think by a small number beginning at first, and preparing the way, another much larger number might come immediately afterwards; but it would hardly be judicious to throw a great number of people into a strange country at first." Q. Would 300 be sufficient to protect themselves from the Caffrees?" A. “ Yes.”

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We leave this evidence to speak for itself, but must confess, that we should augur much better for the success of the intended settlement if it were not surrounded by predatory tribes of Caffrees on the one

* This is Mr. Burchell's account, but on the map it measures somewhat less.