at one period alone, nearly ₤30,000; and that under one of the best and ablest men[1] that ever represented a sovereign. To remedy the error of his predecessors—in other words, to protect the settlers from being daily cut off by a people exasperated to revenge, and to save even a remnant of the natives from extermination—was found to be almost impossible. A kind and gentle policy, with one-fifth of the amount, not expended, but merely invested, and the proceeds annually applied to ameliorate the condition of those who had been plundered of their patrimonial inheritance, would have not only prevented that expense, but those scenes of murder which, continuing for years, have left an indelible stain on the annals of the early history of the colony.
The United States of North America acknowledge the right of the Aboriginal inhabitants to the soil; and, therefore, when they wish to enlarge their boundaries, they invariably acquire the additional territory by purchase; and, if I mistake not, at the same time make provision for the moral improvement of its original owners; thus conferring on them a double benefit. What a contrast to the policy of the British, who act the part of the assassin, and possess themselves of the lands they require by powder and ball. Bankrupt, as republican governments generally are, in benevolence, gratitude, morals, and public virtue, republicanism, in this instance, puts monarchy to the blush.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
Sir,
Her Majesty's colonies in these parts are at present all ruled by men of the most excellent disposition; but their time and talents are so occupied with the secular concerns of the people they govern, that a subject of the most momentous concern, imperatively enjoined by Christian duty, and deeply affecting our moral character as a nation, is almost entirely neglected. The report of your humanity, and your determination to protect the aboriginal inhabitants, so far as the laws of the empire permit, induce me to submit the following work to your perusal, in hope that it will rouse the energies of a mind so constituted, and that your government may be distinguished by some measure that will rise above the common puerilities of benevolence, with which men soothe their con-
- ↑ Colonel Arthur.
