The History of Tasmania Volume II Part 33

The British government will not, if wise, rely on any abstract principles of loyalty, or conclude too confidently that no attempt will be successful. The distance of the central power; the peculiar structure of colonial societies; the mountainous regions of Van Diemen's Land and New Holland, where small bodies could resist all the armies of the world; the possibility of foreign sympathy: all these are considerations proper to moderate imperial confidence, and to teach that the integrity of the empire is only safe in the unity of interest and affection.[282]

The colonies have every motive for preferring the British rule to any other; yet the contingencies of war may expose them to extraordinary sufferings. Foreign nations would scarcely attempt a permanent occupation; but the cities which contain half the inhabitants, and more than half the moveable wealth, might be successfully a.s.sailed, pillaged, and easily destroyed. Thus, a powerful European state may expose her distant colonies to the calamities once endured by those of Spain. Such may be the expectation of the Australias. When they are required to support armies for their defence it will be felt that these are necessary chiefly because they are united with an empire whose interests are complicated with every government in the world.

To strengthen the authority of the British crown no measure would be more effectual than a federal union of these colonies. They require a senate exalted by station above the influences of mere localism, and capable of holding in check individual ambition. Statesmen, gathered from the various colonies, would restrain and moderate each other. The highest questions of colonial government being confided to their care, they would leave the internal improvement of the districts to be pursued by the local legislative a.s.semblies. The state and expense of colonial governments, which now maintain distinct departments in each colony, a.s.suming all but imperial style, might then be abated. Monetary establishments find no difficulty in conducting their affairs under a general inspectors.h.i.+p a.s.sisted by a local direction. The American states, by remitting all great questions to the federal government, are sustained at less cost than the branch establishments of the Bank of Australasia. It is true that a federal union would increase the importance of the colonies among nations, and contract the power of the ministry to a distant superintendence: it would, however, prevent many of the evils of political dependence, and secure to Great Britain all the advantages of imperial authority so long as it shall last.

It is infinitely important that intelligent and upright men should occupy their true position in public affairs. A reluctance to face the virulent and brutal opposition of low adventurers must be naturally felt by every refined and educated man. The future character of these colonies will, however, depend on the courage and perseverance of the respectable cla.s.ses. The widest extension of suffrage cannot be long resisted, and qualifications for office founded on property will inevitably break down. But the reputable and intelligent will be able to command the public mind if they think it worth while to instruct and conciliate it. Religious men must no longer avoid the strife of the hustings as inconsistent with piety, or set the claims of religion in opposition to the obligation of the citizen. Both are in reality one; and while churches in their corporate capacity stand best when they are most distant from the arena of politics, it is the duty of all who reverence the Almighty's will and regard the welfare of mankind, to devote themselves to the social and political amelioration of society.

Personal character and social position are distinct elements of political power. The Queen of England and her ill.u.s.trious husband are instead of armies: wherever they have moved they shed light and pleasure, not only through the mansions of the rich but the cottages of the poor. The theoretical republican is compelled to doubt whether an example so valuable may not be worth all the cost and prerogatives of royalty.

The settlers of Australia are as diversified in their habits as in their origin. Many in Van Diemen's Land are retired officers of the army and navy, masters of merchantmen, and persons of respectable connexions. The squatters of Port Phillip are a superior cla.s.s, although their habits will require time to recover from the deteriorating action of bush life.

The middle cla.s.ses const.i.tute the most influential body in South Australia. The German race are largely interspersed in the colonies of South Australia and Port Phillip. As they acquire the language they separate. Their condition improves more rapidly by diffusion, and their villages are rather asylums than homes. As might be expected the prevailing spirit of the colonies is democratic: the democracy of the middle cla.s.ses, not of the mob. There are no permanent springs of crime: the instinct of order, everywhere powerful, cannot but be strong where society is prosperous.

The social prospects of the colonists, though not without omens of ill, will not discourage the political philosopher. The various races are not sufficiently distinct to prevent an easy amalgamation. Nationality, whether of Germans, Irish, Scotch, or English, insensibly loses its political character. Hostile traditions cannot be naturalised in a new land: all respectable men condemn the revival of ancient feuds, and they will soon disappear for ever.

More fortunate in this respect than America, in these regions no African slavery exists--the brother will not sell his sister, or the father his son. The temporary inconvenience of transportation will leave no deep indent on colonial society; but the black brand of slavery is indelible.

The liberality and generosity of the Australians has been remarked by every stranger. In prosperous times money is at command for every project which professes to do good, and suffering is instantly relieved by bounty which is sometimes extravagant. The loss of a vessel a few years ago afforded an instance of this. The utmost lat.i.tude of beneficence could not exhaust the immense sum (1,200) contributed to make good the personal losses of a few pa.s.sengers and seamen. The liberality of the hand is here unrestrained by religious antipathies.

Bigotry a.s.sumes the character of ill temper and puffing. Two parrots in Philadelphia trained to polemics were set over against each other, one crying all day, "there can be no church without a prelate;" the other, "there can be a church without a prelate;" the pa.s.sengers were divided in opinion, but laughing walked on. Such is colonial life.

No believer in the glorious destinies of the Anglo-Saxon race can look upon the events of the last three years without wonder and hope. The American and British empires are seated on all waters; the old and new worlds are filled with the name and fame of England and her children.

The lands conquered by Caesar, those discovered by Columbus, and those explored by Cook, are now joined together in one destiny. There are indeed peculiarities in the various branches of the Anglo-Saxon race; but they are only the varieties of the same family, conscious of eternal unities. How awfully grand are their prospects. America attracted by gold has pushed forward her commercial pioneers, not only to the extremity of her territories, but to all the islands of the Pacific. The discovery of gold in California was scarcely less momentous to the Australasian than to the American continent. They are now our nearest neighbours: their markets are affected by our own; their territory offers the quickest transit to Europe; every hour will develop the immense importance of this contiguity--that pa.s.sage across the isthmus of Panama, once represented as the last achievement reserved for commerce and science in their highest maturity, has already been a.s.sured. The common interest of trading nations will strengthen the securities of peace, diffuse civilisation among the thousand islands of the Pacific, and facilitate the extension of Christian knowledge in the remotest portions of the earth. England, the parent--no longer the exclusive centre of Anglo-Saxon civilisation--will find auxiliaries only less powerful than herself in a work once entirely her own.

An impetus has been given to the Australian colonies by the discovery of still richer gold fields than those of California. In six months, more than two millions in value has been taken from the surface of the earth by laborers unskilled in the process, and who have perhaps wasted more than they have secured. The riches which remain scattered over many hundred miles can only be appropriated by the state as they flow through the coffers of commerce. A period cannot be imagined when the precious metal will be exhausted.

The interest excited in Europe by the discovery of new mineral wealth, is chiefly important from its tendency to change the current of emigration to these regions--certainly unsurpa.s.sed and scarcely equalled in the world. Here, under a tropical sun, no fever rages; here indigenous diseases are unknown; even those so fatal in Europe rarely visit this hemisphere. The small pox, the measles, and various other disorders fatal to infancy are only occasionally seen, and are scarcely ever mortal. No miasma arises from the marshes: no decaying vegetation poisons the virgin soil. The clement skies and light atmosphere stimulate and confirm the health. Whether long life is the gift of this quarter of the globe is hardly yet determined. Those of middle age who land here find their const.i.tutions recruited; but the country-born come more quickly to maturity. It is probable, however, that the highest average of human life will be attained: fewer will die in infancy, perhaps a smaller proportionate number reach old age.

If the productions of these countries are considered, they will be still more attractive than other unoccupied regions. Nature has multiplied her gifts with a liberal hand. It were more easy to enumerate those that are wanting than those that exist. Gold, silver, iron, copper, coal, and every variety of stone are included in our geological wealth. All the fruits of the tropics and of the most temperate lands may be easily brought to the same table. Taking Tasmania and Port Phillip as the central regions; on the right and on the left the fertile earth yields every variety of European fruits, until the meridian is reached where the sugar cane and cotton tree flourish. It is true, that some other lands present more comparative fertility, but the Australias contain sufficient alluvial soils to satisfy the wants of millions. Was.h.i.+ngton raised but twenty bushels of wheat per acre in his paternal lands of Virginia. The intelligent Australian farmer often far exceeds that quant.i.ty even with imperfect cultivation. Nor is there a season of the year when he cannot toil, or one when the garden is wholly unproductive.

But if the position of Australia in relation to the rest of the world be surveyed, the prospect is still more brilliant. An Englishman measures distance from his native land, and thus his pardonable vanity fixes the Australias at the extremity of the earth. But such is not the real position of New Holland. In reference to the most populous and fertile, or the most ancient and opulent,[283] it has been compared to the frog or soft part of a horse's foot in relation to the outline of the hoof.

With the face turning to the north, America is on the right, Asia and Africa on the left. Great Britain, the parent land, is far more distant from most of those mighty regions which feed her commerce and sustain her strength than her Australian colonies. They will soon meet her vessels on every sh.o.r.e. Steam navigation will flourish on the Pacific ocean not less than on the rivers of America. The eye that scans the future, guided by calculation rather than fancy, sees the ports of Australia thronged with steamers, or follows them traversing every sea and ocean, and bringing from every city of the civilised world both merchandise and men.

Thus the progress of the next quarter of a century will be multiplied by its years.

When North America separated from Great Britain, she exported not much more than four millions in value per annum. Australia already exports not less.[284] The commerce of England with her Australian colonies is without parallel. History affords no example of such rapid advancement; and this not as the result of protective laws, or of remarkable intelligence or enterprise, but as the fruit of that boundless opulence scattered by the hand of nature and gathered with unexampled facility.

The merchant laments the paucity of navigable streams. Yet there are rivers of many hundred miles extent, which will ultimately be available to commerce. The engineer of Europe would laugh at difficulties opposed by stones, and trees, and marshes. Population will one day justify the improvement by art of what nature has only partially accomplished. But in the level plains of the Australias there is a compensation for this deficiency. Hundreds of miles are almost prepared for the rail road; and as the cheap methods adopted in America become known, the inland communication will be rapidly enlarged.

The late date of the discovery of gold in Australasia has created much astonishment. It seems to have been concealed by Providence, or rather the signs of its existence were not permitted to arrest attention, until the colonies could endure the shock. A shepherd publicly sold at Sydney several ounces of gold in 1844. Years after a still larger quant.i.ty was exposed in Victoria (1849). These facts were recorded in the journals of the time; in the first instance scarcely awakening the slightest interest, and the last producing little but distrust and derision. The delay has probably upon the whole benefited both the colonies and the human race. Had gold been discovered before the era of free immigration it must have led to frightful disorders. California has added another to those warnings presented in the history of gold mining, that the absorbing pursuit, for a time, suspends the voice of reason and morality. The mult.i.tudes who have precipitated themselves on the gold fields of Victoria indicate the uniform direction of similar pa.s.sions; yet how superior are our present resources to those of former times or of other countries. The governments organised and intelligent, and sustained by the strong moral support of four hundred Christian congregations. The social interests of perhaps not less than fifty thousand families will be able to check, and probably to master, the spirit of anarchy and violence. That any lives should be sacrificed is of course a matter of regret; but the politician and the philanthropist may p.r.o.nounce in favor of a dispensation which though permitting the sacrifice of a few, will rapidly cover the regions around us with villages, towns, and homesteads.

Though rich beyond example, the mines will be abandoned by the many for whom the pleasures and the rest of home, the calm and even pursuits of industry, and the intercourse of civil and religious life have permanent attractions. Yet the unexampled profusion of the precious metal must rapidly augment our commerce and supply the means of mercantile enterprise. The capital we have so often coveted is now within our reach. The farmer desired a market; he has it in his neighbourhood, at his very door. The demand for foreign articles will give employment to s.h.i.+pping directly trading from the Australian to the producing market.

The increase of commerce will thus lead to its independence. The Australian merchant will acquire the same relation to the general trade of the world as the American possesses. The s.h.i.+ps of America carry her pa.s.sengers and convey her produce. She divides the profits equally with her customer.[285]

The happiness and prosperity of the people is by Divine Providence placed within their power. If they grasp at wealth to the neglect of their social and political duties; if, for the sake of selfish ease, they resign to ignorant and violent men the business of legislation; if they tolerate systematic debauchery, gambling and sharping; if they countenance the press when sporting with religion, or rendering private reputation worthless; if they neglect the education of the rising generation, and the instruction of the working cla.s.ses; if the rich attempt to secure the privileges of rank by restricting the franchises of the less powerful; if worldly pleasure invade the seasons of devotion; and the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d be neglected by the ma.s.ses of the people,--then will they become unfit for liberty; base and sensual, they will be loathed and despised; the moral Governor of the world will a.s.sert his sovereignty, and will visit a worthless and ungrateful race with the yoke of bondage, the scourge of anarchy, or the besom of destruction.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 281: A more venal and almost more desirable fault can scarcely be ascribed to a governor than a strong attachment to the people whom he is sent to govern.--_Coleridge's friend_, vol. 3, p. 325.]

[Footnote 282: It is very difficult to make the ma.s.s of mankind believe that the state of things is ever to be otherwise than they have been accustomed to see it. I have very often heard old persons describe the impossibility of making any one believe that the American colonies could ever be separated from this country. It was always considered as an idle dream of discontented politicians, good enough to fill up the periods of a speech, but which no practical man, devoid of the spirit of party, considered to be within the limits of possibility. There was a period when the slightest concession would have satisfied the Americans; but all the world was in heroics; one set of gentlemen met at the Lamb, and another at the Lion: blood and treasure men, breathing war, vengeance, and contempt; and in eight years afterwards, an awkward looking gentleman in plain clothes walked up to the drawing-room of St. James's, in the midst of the gentlemen of the Lion and Lamb, and was introduced as the _amba.s.sador from the United States of America_.--_Works of Sidney Smith, Vol. III., p. 336._

"If you are told of the existence of discontent in any of your colonial possessions, do not believe it; and if any application be made to you for the redress of the grievances of any of your colonial possessions, reject the prayer at once; for if you grant that, you may be asked for something more. Redress no grievance, lest it should lead to a pet.i.tion for the removal of another cause of complaint. Believe only the accounts which reach you from governors, and others officially connected with your colonies; and treat any statements in opposition to their accounts as the invention of demagogues, whom you should hang if you could catch them, and thus tranquillize the colony."--_Franklin._]

[Footnote 283: "Just before I embarked at Plymouth, I visited my grandmother, in order to take leave of her for ever. Poor old soul! she was already dead to the concerns of this life: my departure could make but little difference in the time of our separation; and it was of no importance to her which of us should quit the other. My resolution, however, revived for a day all her woman's feelings: she shed abundance of tears, and then became extremely curious to know every particular about the place to which I was going. I rubbed her spectacles whilst she wiped her eyes, and, having placed before her a common English chart of the world, pointed out the situation of New Holland. She shook her head.

'What displeases, you, my dear Madam P' said I. 'Why,' she answered, 'it is terribly out of the way; down in the very right-hand corner of the world.' The chart being mine, I cut it in two through the meridian of Iceland, transposed the parts laterally, and turned them upside down.

'Now,' asked I, 'where is England P' 'Ah, boy,' she replied, 'you may do what you like with the map; but you can't twist the world about in that manner, though they _are_ making sad changes in it.'"--_A Letter from Sydney; the princ.i.p.al town of Australia. Edited by Robert Gouger_, 1829.]

[Footnote 284: United States Returns, 1791. Population. 3,921,352; revenue, $4,771 000; exports, $19,000,000; imports, $20,000,000.--_Tomlins' History of America._]

[Footnote 285: At the close of the first year of our existence as a gold producing country, the mind naturally pauses and contemplates the past, the present, and the future--to those who look upon this land as their home and the scene upon which their children and children's children are to play their part, the year 1851 will ever be one of deep and solemn interest; the events have been of the most startling character, and its results no human intellect can fathom. The first hour of the present year was ushered in by a brilliant sun which rose above the horizon in all its majesty, shedding its gladsome rays over a happy and a prosperous people--every heart was gay--every industrious hand was employed, and our future prospects were as cheering as the most ardent mind could have desired. Our great staple was rapidly increasing, and had even then become an export which commanded the attention of the British nation. Our tallow was of considerable value--our copper mines were presenting indications of richness--our pastoral and agricultural interests were flouris.h.i.+ng, and it was evident to all, that we must at no very distant period become a great and prosperous colony. In fact it could have been almost impossible to suggest a discovery that could add to our importance; but before this memorable year had half sped its course, a colonist returned from San Francisco, impressed with the similarity that existed between the geological formation of this land and that in which he had been sojourning, and determined to bring it to light if possible. No sooner was he on sh.o.r.e than he set boldly out on his great expedition, notwithstanding the ridicule of his friends, who promised him disappointment for his reward. What wonderful events have frequently sprung from simple causes! Our mountains and glens had been visited by scientific men of several nations, but they had failed to trace anything beyond mere indications. Such, however, was not the case with Edward Hammond Hargraves, who, after spending a few weeks in the bush, announced to his brother colonists that their hills and valleys contained in rich abundance the precious metal by which the commerce of the world is carried on. All honor be to the man whose keen observation has brought into practical operation so vast a gold field for the employment of British labour and British capital. May he enjoy not only the reward which conscience yields to those who perform a good action, but may his merits be duly appreciated by an Australian public, and that appreciation a.s.sume a form that shall descend from father to son, as long as the name of Hargraves exists! Such an addition to our already developed colonial resources cannot fail to add materially to our position, and raise us, in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time, from a small colony into a n.o.ble and powerful nation. Our vast interior will be speedily populated; Britain will be relieved of her starving thousands; and Australia will stand prominently forward as the brightest jewel in Her Majesty's Crown.--_Lloyd's Gold Circular._]

HISTORY OF TASMANIA.

ALPHABETICAL ACCOUNT OF CHIEF PLACES.

LIST OF CHIEF PLACES.

The island of Tasmania is situated between the 40th and 44th parallels of south lat.i.tude, and between the 144th and 149th degrees of east longitude. Its greatest length is 190 miles, and its breadth, 170. It contains 24,000 square miles, or 15,000,000 acres, having a surface nearly equal to that of Ireland. Its general character is mountainous, with numerous beautiful valleys, rendered fertile by numberless streams descending from the hills, and watering, in their course to the sea, large tracts of country. The south-western coast, washed by the Southern Ocean, is high and cold, but the climate of the northern and inland districts is one of the finest in the temperate zone, and produces in abundance and variety all the fruits which are found under the same lat.i.tude in Europe. The harbor of Hobart is one of the finest in the world. The princ.i.p.al rivers are the Derwent, Ouse, Clyde, Jordan, Coal, Huon, and Dee, in the south; and the Tamar, North and South Esk, Macquarie, Lake, Mersey, Leven, Arthur, Blyth, Forth, and Meander, in the north. The chief bays are Adventure Bay, in Bruni Island, so named after Captain Furneaux's discovery s.h.i.+p, and where Cook anch.o.r.ed in his third voyage; Fortescue, Port Arthur, Fredrick Hendrick's (so named by Tasman), Prosser's, Spring, Oyster, and George's Bays, and the Bay of Fires, on the eastern coast; Storm Bay (so named from the weather which Tasman experienced there), Bad Bay (in Bruni Island), Recherche (named after the s.h.i.+p in which D'Entrecasteaux sailed in search of La Perouse), Esperance (after the s.h.i.+p which accompanied the admiral), and Port Davey, on the southern coast; Macquarie Harbor, on the western; Port Sorell, Port Frederic, Emu Bay, and East and West Bay, at Circular Head, on the northern coast. The princ.i.p.al capes are Cape Grim, the north-western and most northern extremity of the island, in lat. 40 47'

S., and long. 144 50' E.; Cape Portland, the north-eastern point; St.

Helen's Head, the most easterly point, in long. 148 25' E.; South Cape, in lat. 43 35' S.; and West Cape, in long. 144 40' E.; St. Patrick's Head, Cape Pillar, and Cape Lodi, on the eastern coast; Tasman's Head, Cape Raoul, and South-west Cape, on the south; Rocky Point, Point Hibbs, and Cape Sorell, on the west; and Rocky Cape, Circular Head, Table Cape, and Stony Head, on the north. The settled part of the island is divided into eleven counties,--three northern, Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall; four midland--Westmoreland, Somerset, Glamorgan, and c.u.mberland; and four southern--Kent, Buckingham, Pembroke, and Monmouth; each having an area of 1,600 square miles. These counties are subdivided into hundreds and parishes, the former containing 100 and the latter 25 square miles. To most of these divisions, as well as to the fifteen electoral districts, British names have been given. The island is also divided into nineteen police districts, each having a resident police magistrate, chief constable, police clerk, and deputy registrar of births, deaths, and marriages. In the country districts, the police magistrates act as coroners, and in the districts of New Norfolk, Richmond, Oatlands, Campbell Town, Longford, Horton, and South Port, as commissioners of the court of requests. In the first five of these districts they are also deputy chairmen of courts of quarter sessions. The chief and best constructed road in the island is that which connects the towns of Hobart and Launceston. It is 121 miles in length, and 30 years were spent in its construction. The population, according to the census taken on 1st March, 1851, is 70,130; of this number 30,488 are free, 21,590 were born in the colony, and the remainder are prisoners of the crown.

The number of places of wors.h.i.+p in the colony is 108, containing about 23,000 sittings; the number of ordained ministers is 100; there are also missionaries, lay preachers, and other persons, who supply the remote stations. Of Sunday schools belonging to all denominations there are about 60; of public and denominational schools, 74; of private schools, about 100; besides these, there are a high school, and an episcopal college and two grammar schools. The total number of schools is above 300. Of the public schools, 10 are wholly, and the remainder partly supported by voluntary contributions. There are 109 public inst.i.tutions of various kinds, inclusive of 2 local and 2 English banks, 2 banks for savings, 4 joint-stock companies, and 3 English and 4 local insurance offices. Of these societies 10 are literary and scientific (including 2 mechanics' inst.i.tutes, with large libraries, and a school of arts), 17 are agricultural and horticultural, 14 charitable, 9 missionary and religious instruction, 6 benefit, 10 temperance, 7 masonic and odd fellows, and 10 miscellaneous, including a mercantile a.s.sistants'

a.s.sociation, a turf club, and united service club. Excepting 12, which are partly supported by government, the whole of these inst.i.tutions are maintained by voluntary subscriptions. The number of houses is 11,844, of which 5,723 are of stone or brick, and the remainder of wood. The number of acres under cultivation is 177,600; the number of horses, 17,200; of cattle, 85,490; of sheep, 1,752,900. The number of vessels belonging to the colony is 240, besides vessels under 40 tons, and their collective tonnage 18,500 tons. There are four northern and two southern light-houses, and about twenty vessels are employed in the whale fishery.

_Abercrombie_--a towns.h.i.+p in the parish of Abercrombie and county of Somerset.

_Adamson's Peak_--a mountain in the south-eastern corner of the island, said to be 4,000 feet high.

_Alarm_--a river which falls into Ba.s.s' Strait on the western side of Rocky Cape.

_Altamont_--a village on the Derwent, 20 miles from Hobart.

_Andover_--a village on Little Swan Port River, in the parish of Brisbane and county of Somerset, about 50 miles from Hobart.

_Antill Ponds_--so called by Governor Macquarie, in honor of Major Antill of the 48th regiment--a district in the county of Somerset, 60 miles from Hobart, the road to which pa.s.ses through it. There is a post station here.

_Apsley_--a river in the county of Glamorgan, falling into Oyster Bay.

_Apsley_--a towns.h.i.+p in the parish of Apsley and county of Monmouth, about 40 miles from Hobart.

_Arthur_--a river, flowing into the sea on the western side of the island, about 30 miles south of Cape Grim. It receives in its course the waters of the h.e.l.lyer, Horton, Frankland, and Leigh rivers.