1870 - Strachan, A. The Life of the Rev Samuel Leigh - CHAPTER II. IS INTRODUCED TO THE GOVERNOR...

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CHAPTER II.

ON landing in Sydney Harbour, Mr. Leigh inquired for Mr. E.; and, on approaching the residence of that gentleman, found him standing in the door. Expecting a hearty reception, he walked up to him, and, taking him frankly by the hand, said, "I am a Wesleyan missionary, just arrived from England by the ship 'Hebe.'" "Indeed!" said Mr. E., "I am sorry to inform you, that it is now doubtful whether the governor will

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allow you to remain in the country in that capacity. You had better, however, walk in, and remain in my house until that question can be settled." The manner and observation of Mr. E. gave a severe shock to a mind naturally sanguine and ardent. Mr. E. introduced him to his family, and invited him to partake of refreshments: but he became so variously exercised, as he sat at table, that, feeling it impossible to be either cheerful or communicative, he expressed a wish to retire to his bed-room. He spent the evening in serious reflection, and the greater part of the night in self-examination and prayer. The last sight which he witnessed at home--his aged mother in tears, and his sister on her death-bed,--the loss of the ship by which he was to have gone to America,--the labours and trials of the voyage,--and now the prospect of his ministry being interdicted--rushed upon his recollection, and, like the confluence of many streams, almost overwhelmed him. He was called to breakfast in the morning, and took the place assigned to him at table; but his appetite was gone. After family prayer, arrangements were made for landing his luggage, and getting it placed in a situation of security. In looking over the packages, Mr. E. observed, "It does not appear that you have brought any household furniture: in our application to the committee, we particularly requested them to send 'furniture for a house.'" "The committee understood you," said Mr. Leigh, "to apply for furniture for a horse, and I have brought an excellent second-hand military saddle, bridle, and all other requisites." "From the indistinctness of the witing, the secretaries had been led to substitute the word "horse" for "house."

It was regarded as a primary duty on the part of Mr. Leigh, to pay his respects to His Excellency the governor, present his credentials, and, if possible, obtain his official sanction. Accordingly, next day, at eleven o'clock, he called at the government-house, and sent-in his name and designation. After waiting some time, he was ushered into the presence of His Excellency by his aide-de-camp, and received with much formality. Addressing himself to Mr. Leigh, he inquired, "Who sent you here in the capacity of a Wesleyan missionary?" "The committee of the Society," said Mr. Leigh, "at the request of several British emigrants, and, as I understand, with the concurrence of His Majesty's Government." The governor replied, "I regret you have come here as a missionary, and feel sorry that I cannot give you any encouragement in that capacity." "The documents which I have now the honour of presenting to Your Excellency," said Mr. Leigh, "will show you that I am legally and duly authorized to preach the gospel in any part of His Majesty's dominions." The governor turned round

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upon his heel, and remarked, "You have come to a strange country. Those documents are of no value here. It is necessary we should be jealous and cautious; for, a few years since, we had a religious rebellion, aggravated by the bitter hostility of both Papists and Protestants. If you will take office under government, I will find you a situation in which you may become rich, and one in which you will be much more comfortable than in going about preaching in such a colony as this." After thanking His Excellency for his generous offer, Mr. Leigh informed him, that, having come to New South Wales as a Wesleyan missionary, he could not act in any other capacity while he remained in the country. He then briefly stated the objects of his mission, and the means he intended to employ for the attainment of those objects. The governor, who had listened with marked attention to his statement, observed, "If those be your objects, they are certainly of the first importance; and, if you will endeavour to compass them by the means you have now specified, I cannot but wish you all the success you can reasonably expect or desire. Call at the surveyor-general's office; present my compliments, and say, that I wish him to afford you every facility in his power in travelling from one township to another." At the close of the interview, His Excellency advanced towards Mr. Leigh, and shook hands with him in the most cordial manner.

Having thus secured the countenance and protection of the colonial government, Mr. Leigh began to mature his plans for a systematic attack upon the ignorance and immorality with which he was surrounded. We would remind the reader, that the state of society in that colony differed in many respects from that of every other appendage to the British crown. People look at a well-regulated commonwealth as they do at a magnificent building. They are struck with the nice adjustment of materials in the edifice, and the variety and richness of its decorations; but they overlook the labours of the men who quarried those materials, who chiselled them into beauteous forms, and blended them in symmetrical proportions. We shall not be able to "see the grace of God," as displayed in the extended fields of Australia, nor the obligations of the church to the men who first grafted the evangelical scion on the "wild olive-tree" of that continent, without glancing at the actual state of things when they commenced their labours.

The selection of New South Wales as a penal settlement originated in the separation of the North-American provinces from England. In that selection the Government proposed, "1. To rid the mother-country, from time to time, of the yearly increasing number of prisoners who were accumulating in the jails.

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AUSTRALIAN BLACK AND FAMILY.

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2. To afford a proper place for the punishment of criminals, as well as for their progressive and ultimate reformation. And, 3. To form a free colony out of the materials which the reformed prisoners would supply, in addition to families of free emigrants who might be induced to settle in the country." With these laudable objects in view, the Government fitted out a small fleet, with two years' provisions on board, for upwards of one thousand individuals; seven hundred and fifty-seven being convicts. This fleet sailed into Port Jackson, under the command of Captain Phillips, governor of the new colony, on the 26th of June, 1788. The massive timber that had remained undisturbed for ages, and the brushwood interlaced and covering the ground like net-work, fell in all directions under the saw, the axe, and the hedge-bill. Tents were pitched; the liye-stock was landed; the safe custody of the convicts provided for; the stores deposited in temporary buildings; and the colony, amounting to a thousand and thirty individuals, established.

The natives came down upon the colonists in considerable numbers, and hostilities soon commenced; in the course of which, many cruelties were committed on both sides. The effects of the musket were incomprehensible to the savages; they saw their men fall as by magic, at a much greater distance from the enemy than could be reached by the most dexterous use of either the spear or the bomerang, while the instrument of destruction was invisible. Being terror-struck, and feeling themselves unable to cope with civilized man, they fell back into the depths of their native forests. It is not our intention to trace the vicissitudes through which the colony has passed since that period; but, looking at its unprecedented progress in population, intelligence, commerce, and religion, we may say that "a nation has been born in a day." The poetic prediction, uttered when the first Europeans struck their tents in Sydney Cove, and regarded at the time as being just possible during the revolution of ages, is being rapidly fulfilled. The poet represents HOPE, standing upon a rock, and encouraging Art and Labour, under the influence of Peace, to pursue the employments necessary to give security and happiness to an infant settlement.

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The improvement of a country is ordinarily, like the cultivation of the soil, slow and laborious. Eegarding the apostles as spiritual husbandmen, the "field" assigned to them was "the world." They were to enclose it, drain it of its idolatries, "break up the fallow ground," sow it with the seed of the kingdom, and God was to "give the increase." During the first twenty-nine years, the government of New South Wales was employed in forming institutions adapted to the peculiarities of their social condition, in adjusting the civil rights of the different classes in the country, and in promoting their physical comfort. Although multitudes had been annually landed upon their shores, thousands of whom were the very offscouring of European society, yet no adequate means had been employed for their moral or intellectual elevation. The severe inflictions of justice were not sufficient to suppress the frequency of dishonesty and bloodshed; and there were few instructors in the land to remind them of the worth of their souls, or of their responsibility to God.

Few scenes could have been more discouraging than that which presented itself to the newly-arrived missionary. Beyond the frontiers of the colony, there lay a nation of savages, covering a territory extending, in a direct line, two thousand miles, and numbering nearly two hundred thousand souls. In the colony itself was a vast community of convicts, who--"being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful"--were suffering the "due reward of their deeds," and living "without God in the world." The free settlers and squatters were thinly spread over a large sec-

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tion of the country, and removed but a few degrees from the preceding classes in ignorance and vice.

In the mean time, what had the legislature done to stem the tide of ungodliness that was undermining the foundations of the social edifice, and threatening to sweep every vestige of truth, honour, and honesty from the country? It had provided military establishments, jails, and gibbets! It is true that the colonial government, as administered by Major-General Macquarie, was conciliatory in a high degree; but the criminal laws were still sanguinary. Such indeed were, at that period, the laws of the mother-country and of the other states of Europe. The Government maintained, that men who had forfeited their civil rights, and been convicted of every conceivable atrocity, ought to be subjected to a severe system of disciplinary control. It will be admitted, we presume, that such a system required to be worked with an equal regard to justice and mercy, to prevent its degenerating into one of oppression, inhumanity, and cruelty. Since then, the laws have been happily ameliorated; and the principal object now sought to be attained, by secondary punishment, is the moral, intellectual, and spiritual reformation of the criminal.

Governor Macquarie evinced a deep and humane interest in every expedient that seemed calculated to reclaim the convict, or promote his personal well-being. "His maxim," says Montgomery Martin, "was to make every convict consider his European life as a past existence, and his Australian one a new era, where he would find honesty to be the best policy, and good conduct its own unfailing reward. He raised to the Commission of the Peace a few who had been convicts; patronized the thoroughly-reformed; gave others colonial situations; and distributed among them large quantities of land. But noble, generous, and philanthropic as were the motives which dictated such conduct, it has been regretted that he was not more discriminating in the exercise of his patronage." He suggested and executed several new and comprehensive plans for the general improvement of the country, and the extension of the colonial trade and commerce. He erected many public buildings, constructed hundreds of miles of public roads, and established several model-farms. Without depreciating the talents of the able statesmen by whom he has been succeeded, we have no doubt, looking at the difficulties which he had to overcome, the few facilities which the colony supplied for aiding him in his arduous undertakings, and the bold and equitable principles of government which he permanently established, that the historians of other times will accord to him the honour of having laid the foundation of what must become, in the course of years, a

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great, populous, and wealthy state. Macquarie maintained a nicely-balanced administration; as remote from extreme severity as from culpable remissness. He combined with official dignity the blandness of a gentleman and the generosity of a national benefactor. After serving his country, in various important offices, with distinguished ability and honour, he retired to Scotland, where, after a painful affliction, he died in peace.

The changes which he introduced into the capital itself were as judicious and extensive, as they were necessary and beneficial. Each proprietor had been allowed to build on his land when and how his caprice dictated; so that, no attention having been paid to the laying-out of the streets, the town of Sydney was exceedingly rude and irregular. It did not contain one thousand houses; and, with the exception of a few private residences, these were generally small and of mean appearance. After much opposition and many efforts, His Excellency at last succeeded in establishing a perfect regularity in most of the streets; and even reduced to a degree of uniformity that confused mass of buildings known by the name of the "Rocks," which for many years was "more like the abode of savages than the residence of a civilized people." From the earliest times of the colony there had congregated, in this part of the town, the worst characters in the country;--the felon, whose ill-directed punishment had only rendered him more obdurate, cunning, and slothful;--the prostitute who, if such a thing be possible, had sunk yet lower; the fence, watching for a livelihood, by plundering the plunderer;--and many who, without great positive vices, were drawn, through ignorance or the want of energetic resolution, into the vortex of ruin. The following is a true picture of the actual state of the inhabitants of this section of the town:--

"We went into a house, which had been deprived of its licence on account of the practices and characters admitted by its landlord. We found it full to suffocation, in defiance of all law, of the lowest women, sailors, and ruffians, who supported themselves by waylaying and robbing, and often murderously wounding, any intoxicated sea-officer, newly-arrived emigrant, or up-country settler, who might chance to wander into their infernal precincts; and as part of the occupation of the women was to act as lures, of course this was no rare occurrence. The door was kept barred, and there was an outlet behind up the 'Rocks.' When our meal was over, I, who had no inclination to join in the frightful doses of raw spirits which those around me were swallowing, fell into conversation with a young woman who was sitting beside me. She was sallow and thin, and

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coughed almost incessantly. She told me, that she was given over by the doctors. When I asked her how she could think of coming into such a place, under such circumstances, she said she knew it to be wrong, but she could not sleep at night, and wanted company: 'when her sister came here,' (so they speak in the sisterhood of misfortune,) 'she came too.' My attention became wholly abstracted from the fierce riot around; I heard nothing but the broken voice that was answering my questions; I saw nothing but my own mental visions of the woes it told, till some one threw open the window-shutters and said it was sunrise. The return of daylight seemed the signal for a general dissolution of the assembly. I found that a few outcasts, like the invalid herself, had agreed to give a portion of their guilty earnings to support her while she lived.

"Several days passed without my having seen her: at last I found her in a little weather-boarded shed, in a small bed on the bare ground. The poor sufferer was too hoarse to speak, or rather could make no sound. She had caught the influenza, which was then about, and is the only fatal epidemic of the colony. Added to her previous complaint, it had made perfect havoc of her little remaining strength. Her eye was lustrous and wild, her face clammy all over with the heat, and her breathing one protracted struggle. If my Lord------, who took her from her father and mother ten years ago, at the age of sixteen, could have looked from amidst his luxury into this shed, he must have hated his escutcheon. As I could not understand what she was trying to say, I went out and got a pencil and paper, for she had had a first-rate education. An old Italian, who had been a prisoner, but who was now boating on the river, told me she understood his language as well as he did himself, 'and talked it like a lady.' She must also have had a good knowledge of music; for she knew the names of almost all the pieces played by the military band. She wrote on the paper that she should like to have a doctor. Off I went to Dr. Bland, the first medical practitioner in the colony. I met him at his own door. Like himself, when I described the case, that good man turned and went with me directly. As soon as he saw Jane, he pronounced the case to be hopeless. I went out, took a large first-floor room for her in a nice, cool, shady place, and had her removed to it, another unfortunate volunteering to go with her as a nurse. Having completed those matters, I felt as if I had never been in such perfect enjoyment of all the highest faculties of my being. Forgetfulness of self is surely the gate into the Divine places of the universe; and thus this night, for at least a little while, I was allowed to walk with God! I visited her frequently before she

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died, and read to her nearly the whole of the New Testament, of which she became more and more fond. I did not see her die; but they say it was the change of a minute--a wandering of thought into bewilderment--bewilderment becoming unconsciousness--unconsciousness settling into death. She was interred in the 'sand-hills.'

"If the world were searched from end to end, no where could there be found such another volume of unutterable woe as is bound up in this little spot. Here lie Jews, Protestants, Presbyterians, and Catholics: all wanderers far from home and kindred. What elements are here! Misfortunes wonderful, indescribable delusions, and direct criminality! The betrayed, driven from society, has become the betrayer, from the necessities of hunger, nakedness, and cold. To reclaim these outcasts is woman's mission."

The runaway convicts were generally concealed in the "Rocks." They were in strict hiding during the day-time, and only showed out at night, creeping through the darkness, up and down those intricate streets, to the place of assignation for concocting some desperate deed, or thence to the place of perpetration. Almost every house of the lower orders in this district partook, at this period, more or less of the same lawless character. It was astonishing what numbers kept illegal spirit-shops; what numbers, again, of those were receivers of stolen property; and what numbers either harboured bush-rangers on their premises, or received them and purchased their plunder at night. "So that this whole field of society may be said to have been undermined, where the superficial and visible life, bad as it was, concealed another unspeakably worse." Many of the constables themselves were no better than the rest. As might be expected, the police courts presented, from week to week, melancholy proof of the demoralized condition of the people. On a Monday forenoon, scores of men, women, and children might be seen, who had been dragged off the streets on the preceding night for drunkenness, fighting, and similar offences, standing before the magistrate to receive their sentences. "Six hours to the stocks"--"Ten days to the cells"--"Twenty days to the treadmill"--or, "Fifty lashes," were generally the awards of the bench. Among the motley group of culprits thus convicted of drunkenness, riot, and theft, might be seen elderly and young women dressed in silks.

In the vicinity of Sydney, and on all the principal roads leading to the interior of the colony, the most serious depredations were frequently committed by the bush-rangers. They were generally well-mounted and armed, and travelled in bodies of from two or three to half-a-dozen. Their main object being

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plunder, they seldom committed murder, unless resisted in their attempts at the commission of robbery. The numerous receivers of their stolen property, in Sydney, and especially amongst the inhabitants of the "Rocks," provided them from time to time with supplies of ammunition, food, and clothing; and informed them when valuable stores were about to leave Sydney, and by what roads; also, what gentlemen were supposed to keep money in their houses, and how they might be most easily robbed.

Does the reader inquire what had been done by the established Church to meet the spiritual necessities of her expatriated children, now perishing for lack of knowledge in a strange land? In the exuberance of her zeal she had sent out four colonial chaplains, at the expense of the state. These were indeed excellent men; but their attention was chiefly confined to the military and the convicts; and, besides, what were these among so many? To attempt the establishment of a Christian mission amongst such a population as has just been described, was surely one of the loftiest exercises of Christian benevolence! It was like entering the charnel-house, and" preaching Christ, as the resurrection and the life," to the dead; or making an experiment with the "balm of Gilead," after every other remedy had failed. Never was the efficacy of the gospel more severely tested; never were its triumphs more signal or complete! Men --who had despised parental authority at home, had outlived all regard for truth and honesty, had passed through the discipline of the prison and the treadmill, and who had finished their convict-life in the chain-gang--trembled, like Felix, under the gospel, became exemplary members of the state and of the church, rose to distinction and affluence, and bequeathed their fortune to the humane and benevolent institutions of the country. As might be expected, the sterility of this wilderness could only be subdued "by the sweat of the brow;" yet some of the first labourers have lived to see it bring forth "thirty, sixty, and even an hundred fold."

"When I commenced my mission in Australia," said Mr. Leigh, "there were only four clergymen of the Church of England, and but few communicants; now, there are ninety-three thousand, one hundred and thirty-seven persons in connexion with that church. Then, there was no Presbyterian minister in the colony; now, the members of the Church of Scotland number eighteen thousand, one hundred and fifty-six. Then, there were only fourteen accredited Wesleyans; now, there are above ten thousand, and nearly as many children receiving instruction in their day and Sunday schools. May we not say, in the language of admiration and gratitude, 'What hath God wrought!' " Surely it is our duty carefully to mark the progressive steps by

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which these wonderful results have been reached, and to "glorify God" in the men whom Divine Providence selected and employed in the work.

Being alone, with limited means and no patronage, Mr. Leigh felt it necessary to form his establishment in Sydney upon very economical principles. The few Wesleyans, who had sent to England for a missionary, had rented a house in the "Rocks," in which they assembled from sabbath to sabbath for exhortation and prayer. The partition-walls of this building were removed, and the interior fitted up as a place of religious worship. Here Divine service was celebrated on the Lord's day, at six o'clock in the morning, and again at the same hour in the evening. The congregations soon presented a singular variety. Persons attended who belonged to nearly all the great divisions of the human race, and of almost every shade of complexion; with European emigrants, soldiers, and convicts.

As for the juvenile portion of the inhabitants, they were growing up in ignorance and profligacy. Being in daily intercourse with drunkards, thieves, and prostitutes, they became familiar with crime, and imposed no restraint upon their passions or appetites while they could elude the vigilance of justice. Having received no educational training, nor been subjected to any domestic control, they were, in thorough depravity, on a level with the savage. They were emphatically "a seed of evil-doers, children that were corrupters."

The missionary soon became known to the inhabitants of the "Rocks," and well acquainted with their true character. Finding the adults generally deaf to reason, and impervious to conviction, he resolved to make a determined effort to rescue, at least, some of their children from impending ruin. With this object in view, he re-organized the Sunday-school, which just existed, and placed it upon a new and improved basis. Having obtained the assistance of a few pious soldiers and reformed convicts, he soon collected a considerable number of scholars. The blessing of God was upon the institution in a remarkable degree. While the children were obtaining a knowledge of the first principles of revealed religion, Mr. Leigh was brought into a constant and profitable intercourse with their families.

One of the most valuable auxiliaries in this and in every other good work, was Sergeant James Scott. Mr. Scott was converted and joined the Wesleyan church in the West Indies. The detachment to which he belonged was ordered to New South Wales, where he distinguished himself by the able and conscientious discharge of his duty as a non-commissioned officer. Having seen much service, and being now considerably advanced in life, he was anxious to retire from the army. On

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an application being made for a discharge to the officer in command, the case was referred to the governor. On looking at the Regulations of the Army, the governor informed him, that he could not retire upon a pension without returning to England. His Excellency had a high opinion of Mr. Scott, and, being wishful to retain him in the colony, offered him a clerkship in the commissariat department. He had not been long in the office, before one of the magistrates, between whom and the governor there existed some misunderstanding, applied to him for permission to inspect some of his books. Mr. Scott would neither give up the books, nor allow him to examine them in the office. When His Excellency was informed of the circumstance, he was so impressed with the integrity of Scott, that he at once promoted him, and gave him an official appointment. Those gracious interpositions of Providence were regarded by Mr. Scott as being intended to draw him into closer communion with God and His church, and seemed only to quicken his zeal and expand his benevolence. He opened his own dwelling-house for religious worship on the week-nights; and there Mr. Leigh had the pleasure of preaching, to his family and neighbours, from week to week, "the unsearchable riches of Christ." Mr. Scott himself began to exhort, and subsequently became a local preacher.

In the mean time, the congregations at the chapel had greatly increased, and were become more regular and settled. Just at this juncture an estate, consisting of a piece of land and several houses, situated in Princes-street, were offered for sale. The whole was purchased by Mr. Scott. He enclosed a portion of the land for his own use, and laid it out as a garden. Part of his purchase he sold to the little Wesleyan society for £300, who so altered the premises as to provide a comfortable residence for the missionary, and a mission-house for the transaction of business.

The Lord having raised up two or three lay-helpers, Mr. Leigh purchased a horse, and began to make excursions into the country. A gentleman in Sydney expressed a wish that he would visit a friend of his at the settlement of Castlereagh. "I will give you," said he, "a letter of introduction to him: he will be glad to see you; for, like yourself, he is a Staffordshire man." Mr. Leigh mounted his horse, and reached Castlereagh late in the evening. On riding up to the fence enclosing the premises, he observed the gentleman standing in the door. "Sir," said Mr. Leigh, "I have a letter from your friend, Mr. M., of Sydney. He wishes you to allow me, as a Wesleyan missionary, to preach to your people." The haughty settler replied, peremptorily, "I shall do nothing of the kind." "Perhaps,"

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said Mr. Leigh, "you will be so kind as to allow my horse to remain in your yard all night, and permit me to sleep in your barn? I shall pay you whatever you may demand for our accommodation." The gentleman repeated, in a tone and with a vehemence that settled the question, "I will do nothing of the kind." "Do you think," inquired Mr, Leigh, "that any one in the settlement will take me in for the night?" "I think John Lees will," said the farmer: "he lives about two miles off, in that direction,"--pointing with his finger.

Mr. Leigh turned his horse, and rode, as fast as the entangling nature of the underwood would admit, in search of the homestead of John Lees. On arriving at his wood-hut, he knocked with the end of his whip at the door, and called out, "Will you receive a Wesleyan missionary?" The door opened, and out came a little, stiff, ruddy lad, who laid hold of the bridle with one hand, and the stirrup with the other, and said, "Get off, sir! my father will be glad to see you." Mr. Leigh dismounted, and entered the hut. His astonishment may well be conceived, when he observed a number of persons sitting round a three-legged table in the most orderly manner. Directing the attention of the stranger to some books that lay on the table, old Lees said, "We were just going to have family worship. Perhaps you will have no objection to take that duty off my hands." "Not at all," said Mr. Leigh; and, taking up the Bible, opened it on Isaiah XXXV.: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." Here he was obliged to pause, and allow the tears to flow, until he could again command the power of utterance. He then proceeded with the second verse: "It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God;" but he could proceed no further. Five minutes before, he had felt himself to be a stranger in a strange land, enclosed in the woods of Australia at a late hour, and without a home: now he was in Bethel; while the verses which he had read opened to his view the moral renovation of the world. He was quite overcome; and his manly spirit, that could unbutton his waistcoat to receive the spear of the man-eater, was unable to breast the tide of its own feelings. The gurgling of restrained emotion interrupted the harmonious flow of their evening song, while their prayers, offered in broken sentences, were the simple expression of humble and adoring gratitude. When they rose from their knees, the farmer crossed the floor, and, seizing Mr. Leigh's hand, squeezed it until he felt as if the blood were dropping from the points of his fingers. "We

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have been praying for three years," said Lees, "that God would send us a missionary: now that you are come, we are right glad to see you. "We had not even heard of your arrival in the colony." After supper they retired to rest, exclaiming, "We have seen strange things to-day."

Next day Lees gave the missionary an account of the circumstances under which he became serious. He was formerly a soldier, belonging to the New South Wales corps. After the corps was disbanded, the government granted him a small allotment of land, with some other aid, to commence the "settler's life." He married, and soon had a rising family. After hard work, several acres of tall trees were felled by his own axe, and the timber burnt off. His live stock increased, and he began to thrive. But his former propensity for strong drink, checked for a while by industry, again developed itself, and grew on him, till he bore all the marks of a reckless, confirmed drunkard. It happened in his case, as in a thousand others, that one useful article after another went, till part of his land and all his live stock were gone, except one pig, now fat, and ready for the knife. The unhappy man was contemplating the sale of this last pig, to pay off a debt which he had contracted for spirituous liquors, when a circumstance occurred which changed the whole course of his future life, and, we believe, his final destiny. "While in bed one night, and in a sound sleep, his mind wandered to the usual place of conviviality: he was in the act of grasping the spirit-bottle to fill another glass, when, to his terror, he observed a snake rising out of the bottle with expanded jaws, and striking its fangs in all directions. Its deadly eye, flashing fire, was fixed upon him, and occasioned a convulsive horror, which awoke him. He thanked God that it was but a dream; yet the impression then made upon his mind could never be obliterated. He regarded the whole scene as indicating the inseparable connexion between intemperance, suffering, and death. The more he reflected upon it, the more deeply was he convinced of his guilt and danger. His distress of mind so increased, that he resolved to go over to Windsor, a distance of twelve miles, to consult the assistant colonial chaplain, the Rev. W. Cartwright. That gentleman spoke earnestly and kindly to him, recommending the reading of the scriptures, much prayer, and a believing appropriation of the promised mercy of God in Christ Jesus. "Having obtained help of God," he continued in the diligent use of these means up to the time of Mr. Leigh's arrival.

Having finished his affecting narrative, he called his people together, and desired the missionary to address them. Having done so, Mr. Leigh prepared for a long journey through the woods. He wished to obtain a guide, but could not succeed in

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hiring one. "If Providence," said Lees, "has brought you across the sea to this country to convert men, you may depend upon it, you will not be left to perish in the woods of New South Wales. You will have a difficult journey, I tell you; for the bush is very close, and the distance cannot be much less than forty miles. I will show you the direction in which the place lies to which you are going. Put your trust in God, and make the best of your way to it." The missionary soon found that there was no exaggeration in Lees's statement, either as to the length or difficulty of the journey. He carried a good axe, and was frequently obliged to alight, and cut a passage for himself and horse through the closely-compacted underwood.

While the animal was forcing his head and shoulders through a dense coppice that obstructed his progress, he suddenly started, and, falling back almost upon his haunches, stood trembling as if he would drop upon the ground. Mr. Leigh struck him; but he would not move. He then descended from the saddle, and took hold of the bridle to lead him. Turning his eye to the right, he observed the foliage moving, and heard a rustling noise; instantly a snake, nine or ten feet long, made his appearance, and deliberately crossed in front of Mr. Leigh and his horse, within a few feet of the spot where they stood. In passing, he threw off an effluvium, that induced sickness and vomiting. His bite would have proved fatal to either man or horse in a few hours; but he evinced no disposition to interrupt the travellers. Sometimes the cattle or sheep disturb them, or lie down upon them, when they become irritated, and bite severely, and generally fatally. Soon after the bite, the carcase of the animal swells to an enormous size, and bursts.

Mr. Leigh resumed his journey; and, shaping his course by the descending sun, and marking the trees along the whole line of his progress, for the guidance of others, reached the settlement to which he was going, at a late hour, and much fatigued. Next day he examined the neighbourhood, and returned to Sydney.

His next visit of observation was to Paramatta. This town was situated at the distance of fifteen miles by land, and eighteen by water, from Sydney. The town consisted principally of one street about a mile in length. The population, which was chiefly composed of small traders, publicans, artisans, and labourers, did not exceed, at that period, twelve hundred persons. The situation of the town was exceedingly delightful. It lay in a spacious hollow, covered with the richest verdure, and surrounded by hills of a moderate elevation. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the scenery which presented itself on all sides as the voyager proceeded from the capital to this provincial town by water;--the sea generally smooth as a lake, or

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but gently rippled by a slight breeze; innumerable little promontories, covered with wood to the water's edge, stretching into the sea, and forming a corresponding number of beautiful little bays and inlets in endless succession and variety. As the inmates of the jails of Great Britain were poured upon the shores of Australia with a rapidity and in such numbers as had not been anticipated, the colonial government made arrangements for removing a portion of the troops and prisoners to Paramatta.

This was the second place in the colony into which Christianity was introduced. Divine service was first celebrated here in 1791; just three years from the first landing of the English. Mr. Shepherd, of Kissing Point, was present on that occasion, and gave Mr. Leigh, in writing, the account we here subjoin:--

"The first assembly of people for the worship of God I ever witnessed in this country, was at Paramatta. We assembled in a carpenter's shop near the house of Governor Phillips. The military chaplain, the Rev. Richard Johnson, officiated. He subsequently divided his labours between the barracks and prisons of Sydney and Paramatta. I soon became acquainted with several persons who, I had reason to believe, enjoyed the favour of God. We agreed to meet privately for religious conversation and prayer. The place selected for our meetings was the banks of the little river which flows into the quarry. Here, under the open canopy of heaven, we read the word of God, prayed for Divine grace and the guidance of Divine Providence, and sang a hymn before we parted. Those meetings were continued for seven years. In 1798, the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, who had been driven from Otaheita, landed in New South Wales, and took up their residence at Paramatta. One of them, the Rev. James Cover, preached on the sabbath afternoon, from, 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' At the close of the service, two men from Kissing Point, who had been deeply impressed by the sermon, informed the preacher that many in their settlement were living like Heathens; that, if he would come over and preach to them, they would give him a hearty reception, and get a good congregation. Next sabbath, Mr. Cover and a few Christian friends walked to Kissing Point, and held a meeting for the exposition of scripture, and the worship of God. Much interest was excited. Perceiving a number of fine children running about, 'like the wild ass's colt,' Mr. Cover advised the people to build a school, and get them educated. They entered heartily into the undertaking; and, as I was appointed to raise subscriptions, I witnessed the frankness with which all contributed. 'I like your object,' said Captain Patterson, 'and

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will give you two pounds.' 'I as much approve of it,' said his lady, 'as my husband, and will give you other two pounds.' His Excellency the governor appointed Mr. Hughes schoolmaster. The house was soon finished, and the colonial chaplain opened it by celebrating Divine worship. We had no bishop; but the presence of the Lord consecrated the place. The missionaries preached on the Lord's day; and, after the arrival of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, he came out, and conducted a service on the week-night. Most of the young people in the district were educated at this school; and several of them are now honourably employed in preaching Christ in the islands of the sea."

The female convicts, amounting to several hundreds, were generally quartered at Paramatta. They were confined within the walls of an extensive building called "the factory," where they were kept under a strict, if not a severe, discipline, and engaged in various feminine occupations.

The governor, who had always manifested a deep commiseration for the mental and physical ignorance and degradation of the aborigines, and who had employed various humane and benevolent projects to overcome their repugnance to the society and habits of civilized men, and bring them to a free and beneficial intercourse with the colonists, resolved to establish an institution here for the education of their children. After it had been in operation for a short time, His Excellency issued a proclamation, inviting the natives to meet him in Paramatta on the 28th of January. On the day appointed, about two hundred natives, headed by their chiefs, entered the market-place at ten o'clock in the forenoon. Having seated themselves on the ground in a circle, the governor, accompanied by all the members of the native institution, entered, and walked round, inquiring after the several tribes, their chiefs, and residences. The chiefs were then assembled by themselves, when His Excellency confirmed them in their rank, and conferred upon them badges of distinction. Lady Macquarie, having arrived with the children of the institution, now entered the circle. Several of the children were examined; and it was delightful to witness the interest evinced by the chiefs on the occasion. One of them turned round to the governor, and, pointing to one of the children, exclaimed, with extraordinary emotion, "Governor, that's my pickaninny!" Several of the female natives were observed to shed tears. After an ample dinner of roast beef, and its usual accompaniments, they separated, wondering, as they retired to the bush, at this unprecedented display of European grandeur, intelligence, and hospitality. Such was the first dawning of civilization on this nation of savages.

There was only one church in the town, in which the Rev.

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Samuel Marsden, senior chaplain, officiated. This distinguished man was a native of Leeds. He was in early life a member of the Wesleyan society in that town; and several branches of his family still remain in connexion with that body. By a peculiar train of providential events, he was led to connect himself with the Church of England, and had assigned to him the chaplaincy of New South Wales. Characterized by a sound judgment, fervent piety, and enlightened zeal, he acquired great influence with the public, and long commanded the confidence and respect of the civil and military authorities in the colony.

We are aware of the severe strictures of Dr. Lang upon what he regarded as being the secular character of Mr. Marsden, and the incongruity of his combining the office of minister and magistrate. But though we admit, as a general principle, that to associate the ministerial office with the secular offices of state is, under ordinary circumstances, a degradation of the clerical character; yet it must not be overlooked that Marsden was put into the commission of the peace at a time when the government required the most vigorous co-operation of all the loyalty and intelligence in the country. We have no hesitation in saying, that the characteristic prejudices of this writer led him to form and to publish an erroneous estimate of Mr. Marsden's principles and conduct.

The religion of the senior chaplain was not an occasional emotion awakened by some new developement of the justice or mercy of God, but a vital and spiritual warmth, shedding its influence over his whole soul, and drawing out its sympathies and charities towards all men. Hence he put himself in communication with persons of all nations, when brought within his reach, whether civilized or savage. He presented to the eye a manly attitude, while his manner was peculiarly familiar and attractive. The very cannibal seemed to lose his ferocity in the presence of so much respectful and confiding attention. This apostolic man, finding that his own church was not prepared to respond to his numerous applications for missionaries, encouraged, by every means in his power, the agents of the London Missionary Society on the one hand, and opened the way to New Zealand to the Wesleyans on the other. To the former he sent, in 1815, the "historical books of the New Testament, Catechisms, and Hymn-Books, in the native tongue of several of the islands; and caused many copies of the Old Testament to be printed in New South Wales, in the language of Otaheita." In July, 1817, he had the happiness of hearing, that the inhabitants "of eight islands had renounced idolatry; that the immolation of human victims had ceased; that infanticide was suppressed; that Christianity had become general throughout these

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islands; that chapels had arisen instead of morais; that the sabbath-day was strictly observed; that about four thousand had learned to read, and many of them to write; and that part of the Gospels which had been translated into the native tongue, was then being printed." The work to which he gave so great an impulse has been in steady progress ever since; and there is reason to believe that very shortly all the islands of the Pacific will be gathered into the fold of Christ.

The senior chaplain received Mr. Leigh at Paramatta with great cordiality, and wished him "God speed!" The missionary commenced preaching in a private house, but some time afterwards obtained the government school-room, and formed a small class of invalided soldiers. One of his first converts was John W------: he was a native of Brighton, and a convict. The farmer to whom he was assigned, employed him as his stockman. This occupation rendered it necessary that he should travel and spend much of his time in the woods. He was consequently in frequent contact with the natives, who were constantly traversing the bush in search of their enemies or of food. A small party of them came suddenly upon him one day, and, as they appeared wild and mischievous, he prepared to defend himself. He was well armed, and expert in the use of the musket; but they succeeded in spearing him. He, however, escaped with his life; and the wound, the spear not having been a poisoned one, soon healed; but he was wholly unfitted for his duties, and obliged to leave his situation. He removed to Paramatta, in the hope of meeting with some light employment there. His almost miraculous escape from destruction, and partial recovery to health, made a strong impression upon his mind, and led him to hear the missionary. He was deeply convinced of sin; and, after many distressing conflicts, entered the fold of Christ. As he had a small family entirely dependent upon his own industry, he was advised to get a little horse and cart. It was suggested that by putting a board across the cart, he might carry a few passengers and light parcels to Sydney. With the assistance of a few friends, he commenced, and soon became known in the town. The integrity and punctuality with which he executed the orders confided to him, his obliging manner, and unwearied diligence, gained him the confidence and patronage of the public. His business increased so much, that he was obliged to get a larger horse and a covered conveyance. He became a great favourite; another horse was added to his establishment, and a stage-coach substituted for the covered cart. He would not be bound to carry any passenger who either swore or became quarrelsome on the coach. When any thing of the kind occurred, he would pull up and inform the party, no matter who he might be, that he was

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acting contrary to his regulations, and that he must desist, or quit the coach. He gained more than he lost by his firmness and consistency. The gentlemen settlers entered into a subscription, sent to London for four superb sets of harness, and set him up with a coach and four horses. John's was the first public conveyance in Australia. He had an affecting recollection of his early life, and of the distress and disgrace in which he had involved his parents. After the death of his father, he kept up a filial correspondence with his mother; and, as the Lord prospered him, he settled £20 per annum upon her for life. His children were also made partakers of the grace of God; and his son, the Rev. J. W., is now preaching that gospel, which, as a moral lever, raised his family to comfort and respectability.

After preaching at Paramatta on the Sunday, Mr. Leigh went to Seven Hills, a distance of only three miles, and preached at a settler's house on Monday evening. A journey of twenty miles brought him to Windsor on Tuesday night.

This town is built upon a hill, close by the river Hawkesbury, which now forms the boundary of the county, and which, after flowing one hundred and forty miles, pours its waters into Broken Bay. The buildings were weather-boarded without, and lathed and plastered within. There was a government-house, military and convict barracks, a court-house, and a jail. The population did not exceed three hundred; composed chiefly of farmers and their servants, with a few small traders, mechanics, and general labourers. They were mostly English, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish. They were rude and intemperate; while many of them had completely outlived all respect for even the "form of godliness." A sermon on the Lord's day was the only religious agency which the state supplied to check the turbulence and profligacy of the people. The lands in the neighbourhood of the town were exceedingly fertile; but this advantage was more than counterbalanced by their extreme liability to inundations from the Hawkesbury. This river had been known to rise to the height of ninety-three feet above its ordinary level. Inundations of seventy or eighty feet were of frequent occurrence; and the consequences to the settlers were often fatal to themselves and families, and always ruinous to their property. The town itself, which stands only a hundred feet above the level of the Hawkesbury, has hitherto escaped these tremendous overflowings; but as its elevation above the highest known floods is only a few feet, it cannot be considered free from danger. The clouds, attracted by the Blue Mountains, burst upon their lofty ridges, when the waters, rushing down with irresistible force, spread themselves in all directions for twenty miles, preventing all intercourse between the town

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and country for several days together. The chaos of confusion and distress that presents itself on these occasions, cannot easily be conceived by any one who has not been a witness of its horrors. A vast expanse of water, of which the eye cannot in many directions discover the limits, every where interspersed with growing timber, and crowded with poultry, pigs, horses, and cattle; stacks and houses, having frequently men, women, and children clinging to them for protection, and shrieking out in an agony of despair for assistance;--are the principal objects by which these scenes of death and devastation are characterized. These inundations have happened since the establishment of the colony, upon an average, about once in four years.

After a heavy fall of rain, Mr. Leigh was obliged, like other travellers, to apply the whip and spur and put his horse to his utmost speed, that he might keep in advance of the rising waters, and reach the town before they had taken possession of its entrances. The Rev. W. Cartwright says, in a note to Mr. Leigh, "The sun rose with uncommon splendour; and though an interval of gloom succeeded, yet, during the performance of Divine service, the heavens were beautifully serene. But no sooner were the doors and gates of the sanctuary shut, than the clouds collected, and the voice of God was heard in the thunder. The senior chaplain and myself stepped into a boat which was waiting for us in one of the streets of Windsor, and steered in a direct course over fields, and houses, and trees, and landed safe within twenty yards of our own door."

After some negotiation, the missionary succeeded in renting a skillion, or out-house, which he opened for Divine worship. The service was well attended; and all conducted themselves with quietness and propriety, excepting one individual. He was a notoriously profane convict, who had been subjected to the most humiliating degradation, and passed through the severest sufferings. Every expedient which the penal laws would sanction was tried, in order to bend this daring and incorrigible offender to the observance of his duty; but the sinning principle in him had become a "law," so that he seemed to be evil in an incarnate form, rather than human nature, corrupt indeed, but yet capable of the ameliorating influences of instruction and grace. This man entered the preaching-room, and, by various gesticulations and noises, interrupted the service, and created confusion. The other convicts expostulated with him, reminding him that the missionary was under the protection of the governor; and that, were he to complain to His Excellency, they would all be restricted and punished. He was so far influenced by these considerations that he retired, and left the congregation to worship God in peace.

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On Monday morning this man had occasion to go into the bush. The hot marshy jungles of New South Wales are infested with musquitoes. A sort of stinging ant leaps upon the person, like a grasshopper, and inflicts an irritable wound: while the marsh leech, a virulent and active tormentor, insinuates himself near the skin, in spite of all means of defence, and often fills the shoes with blood. The thickets abound with venomous snakes. "There are, at least, thirty varieties: of which all but one are dangerous in the highest degree." Though few accidents happen to either the aborigines or colonists from their bite, they yet require to be guarded against. In travelling on foot, Mr. Leigh invariably wore leather leggings as a protection. But the unhappy man already mentioned entered the bush, without any regard to his own safety, and was bitten by a snake in the foot. In his previous desperate career of wickedness his other foot had suffered amputation, and he was obliged to use an artificial one. After receiving the bite of the snake, he seemed to have resolved on returning home immediately; but the intensity of the poison soon developed itself, and his wooden leg so retarded his progress that he was unable to clear the bush. When the muster-roll was called over, it was ascertained that he was missing; a party was sent out to search for him, and apprehend him. They discovered his body, lying in the outskirts of the wood: he was quite dead. Mr. Leigh and several officers went to the place, and held an inquest on the body. It was swollen to twice its natural size, and the features were so distorted, and his likeness so completely obliterated, that, but for his wooden leg and the convict-dress, he could not have been identified. The commander offered a reward to any of the convicts who would dig a grave, and bury the corpse. Mr. Leigh and a military officer accompanied this little band of volunteers. As the weather was sultry, the body could not be approached. They scooped out a grave at a distance, and then, with long poles, rolled the corpse into its last resting-place. After the grave was filled up, Mr. Leigh delivered an address, and returned from this melancholy spectacle. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

Mr. Leigh employed the whole of Wednesday and Thursday in visiting the settlers, in Windsor and its vicinity, from house to house.

On Friday morning he rode to Portland Head. There was no religious teacher in that settlement. On Saturday forenoon he went round the neighbourhood, and published that he would preach that evening in the corn-shed of T. B., at seven o'clock. The attendance was so encouraging, that, at the close of the

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service, he told them that he would preach again, in the same place, on the following morning, which was Sunday, at the same hour. A few Presbyterians had erected a small house in the wood, in which they assembled on the Lord's day for reading the scriptures and prayer. They earnestly requested the missionary to give them a sermon in this lonely sanctuary at eleven o'clock. The news of his arrival had spread with surprising rapidity, considering how thinly this part of the country was populated at that time. When he reached the meeting-house, he found several persons who had come thirty miles to hear the word of God. They had crossed two rivers, and travelled along roads scarcely passable. "It was truly animating," he observed, "to see those distant settlers approaching this retired spot, in their one-horse carts, and arranging their vehicles round the house of prayer." The service brought the land of their fathers and early times to their recollection; and many a tear fell that day.

From thence Mr. Leigh travelled five miles to Wilberforce, and preached at a farmer's house, at two o'clock in the afternoon. When he came within sight of the house, the good woman began to prepare his dinner; and when he arrived, he found the damper and tea upon the table. Surrounded by his earnest congregation, he partook of her hospitality; then, all of them united joyfully in the worship of God.

On concluding the service he mounted his horse, and rode five miles further to Windsor, where he preached again in the evening at seven o'clock. Having travelled twenty miles, and conducted four public services, he retired to rest, at a late hour, wearied, but happy.

On the following day he rode to Richmond, a distance of only three miles, where he preached in a private house. It was then a rising town, and contained a considerable population. "The scenery around the town," said Mr. Leigh, "is varied and beautiful in a high degree. I was astonished when I crossed the main street, and, for the first time, looked down on the celebrated Australian river, the Hawkesbury, as it flowed, smooth and deep, at the other side of the eminence on which the settlement stands."

"When I reached the high-lands," said Knight, "and looked across the alluvial tract, which, in the language of the residents, is called the low-lands, and saw the fine expanse of rich cultivated land, with the Hawkesbury on the other side, and the dark blue misty mountain-outline beyond, I felt at once that I was in the country of the husbandman. Whichever way I looked, I could see fields of the tall green Indian corn, with its lofty tassel-tops, bending and waving under the fresh breeze

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that was sweeping over it. Here, again, a square of orchard, loaded with splendid peaches, broke the uniformity of the surface. There a piece of ground newly ploughed, or with the teams at work upon it,--and here a square of wheat-stubble, on which a boy tended a herd of pigs as they picked up the scattered grain,--still further varied the prospect: and, every few fields apart, some more or less simple edifice marked the homestead. In the neighbourhood I found all kinds of vegetables and fruit-trees flourishing. I saw a boy driving to the pigs a cart laden with peaches, which he had gathered from under the trees in the orchard. In another place I found a large tract planted with a species of tobacco. The men who were working among the plants were convicts, lent by the government to the settler on whose land they were at work. Their huts, which were at the edge of the tobacco-ground, were merely a few upright sheets of bark, with interstices of many inches, and only part of a roof." There was nothing, however, in the moral or religious condition of the people in harmony with the beautiful arrangements of nature or the fruitfulness of the soil. Yet, notwithstanding the ignorance and licentiousness which every where abounded, the commencement of the labours of the missionary was regarded as forming a new era in the history of their township.

On Tuesday morning he set out for Castlereagh. His road lay parallel with the Blue Mountains. He held several religious services at the huts of the settlers on his way, and concluded the day with a sermon at the house of John Lees in the evening.

On the day following he left Mr. Lees at an early hour, for Macquarie Grove, the residence of Mr. Hassal, where he arrived in time to hold an evening service. This was a dangerous and fatiguing journey. He had to find his way through one unbroken forest, without road or path of any kind, for thirty miles. He had to force his horse between the trees and through the entangled brushwood, frequently using his axe, and directing his course by the sun; whose rays were so condensed in the wood, that the brass mountings of the saddle burned the hand on being touched.

He rode to Liverpool on Thursday, a distance of twenty miles. The town was then in its infancy; having been founded by Governor Macquarie, about the time that Mr. Leigh received his appointment to New South Wales. On his arrival, he found the usual accompaniments of a town in that colony,--barracks for soldiers and convicts, several settlers, a few traders, artisans, publicans, and labourers. There was no place of worship. A small weather-boarded school-room had been built, a short time before, by subscription. Here Mr. Leigh preached his first ser-

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mon, and promised to "visit them again as soon as possible. The soil around the town is of a very indifferent quality; but as Liverpool occupies a central situation, between Sydney and some fertile districts in the counties of Camden, Argyle, and Westmoreland, it is likely to be a place of considerable importance. In consequence of its proximity to the Blue Mountains, which rise seven thousand feet above the level of the sea, and attract the clouds, it is occasionally visited with tremendous thunderstorms.

"I once spent a night," says a Presbyterian clergyman, "far away from any human habitation, among the mountains beyond Liverpool, during one of the most awful thunder-storms ever experienced in the country. The repeated flashes of lightning rendered darkness visible. The coruscations and lurid glare made it appear as if the atmosphere was on fire. The air was tainted with a sulphuric smell. The loud and rapid peals of thunder, reverberating from mountain to mountain, seemed like the artillery of heaven let loose to accomplish nature's dissolution. This war among the elements was succeeded by torrents of rain, to which I was completely exposed: for, soon after the thunder-storm had begun, I took the precaution of removing my bed from under the trees, for fear of attracting the lightning. Many a tree was that night struck, and instantly shivered to atoms: I slept none. My horses, which stood near me, refused to eat. When daylight appeared, extensive and fearful was the havoc effected by the combined power of the lightning and whirlwind. Trees which happened to attract the electric fluid were completely stripped of their bark, and split down the centre from top to bottom: while their branches, some of them a ton weight, were rent from the main trunk, and scattered in all directions, often to the distance of one hundred yards."

Mr. Leigh was overtaken by a similar tempest while travelling, one day in harvest, on the side of the Nepean River. The rain fell in torrents. Himself and horse seemed to be wrapped in sheets of lightning, and the wind blew a hurricane. He at last came within sight of a hut, and diverged from his path to seek shelter. As he approached it, he saw a tall ruffianly-looking man and a female emerging from the bush. The man called out to him, with strong Irish accent, "Get into the cabin, sir, and take your horse with you." These persons were the settler and his wife. The storm had driven them from the harvest-field; and, in returning home, the female had brought with her a sheaf of barley, which she carried on her head. On coming up to Mr. Leigh, the man took hold of the bridle, and pulled the horse into the hut. When they all got in, the cabin was full. While the man was getting up the fire, his wife was rubbing the barley

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out of the straw in her apron. She then sifted it on the table, put it into a frying-pan, and dried it well over the fire. Taking a little hand-mill, she ground it, made it into dough, and baked it in the frying-pan. The fire being now at liberty, she put-on an old saucepan with some water, put some tea into the water, with three eggs, and boiled them all together. Taking the eggs out, and pouring the water from the tea-leaves, she placed the whole upon the table, observing, "You see, sir, we live in a very homely way here: but you are very welcome." In the mean time the horse was served with a small portion of the barley. Mr. Leigh took one egg without hesitation, the second with a degree of reluctance, and nothing but the importunity of his hostess could have induced him to take the third. The man went out, and gathered a bundle of grass for the horse; and while it was eating, the missionary spoke kindly and earnestly to them about the necessity of preparing to meet God. They would not let him go, until he had given them a promise that he would visit them again, when he should come into that part of the country. He was frequently obliged to place himself wholly in the hands of this class of settlers, in lonely situations, where robbery and murder might have been perpetrated with impunity; and met with nothing but uniform kindness and hospitality. "About nine months since," he observes, "we were much disturbed by the natives, who speared a number of stockmen and others in the interior of the country. The governor sent out several detachments of soldiers, who drove them from the settlements, and shot many of them in the woods. I have often been exposed to their rage; but hitherto the Lord has preserved me. While travelling in the bush one day, far from any European dwelling, I observed a tribe of natives coming upon me. While I paused and hesitated, it seemed to be suggested to me, 'Go forward in the name of the Lord.' I did so; and as I passed through them on horseback, they bowed in silence. I can say, that on many occasions the Lord has delivered me out of the hands of bloody and cruel men. I have gone through troops of savages in safety. Blessed be the name of the Lord! August, 1817. LEIGH." On the following day, Friday, Mr. Leigh returned to Sydney.

He had now traversed the most important and populous districts in the colony, and made arrangements for supplying them with regular services at convenient intervals. The circuit which he thus formed, included the principal towns in the provinces, with several out-settlements, and extended one hundred and fifty miles. He proposed spending fourteen days in the city, and ten days in going round this circuit of one hundred and fifty miles, alternately. He could not multiply himself; but he could

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multiply his labours by riding up and down through the several townships, breaking, as he went along, the bread of life to perishing thousands. By adopting this plan, he was enabled to carry the gospel where it had never been preached before; and to awaken, throughout the country, that desire for religious instruction which has led to the establishment of churches of all denominations.

The example which he thus presented has been closely imitated; and now the established Churches of England and Scotland, and the various Nonconforming churches, have their preaching-stations and lay agents. Nor can the claims of the country be met, even now, but by working the same system with energy. "In a populous district on the Hume River," says Mackenzie, "the people are two hundred miles from the nearest church or clergyman. There is neither missionary, catechist, nor schoolmaster, in all the district. It cannot boast even of a burial-ground: and hence the dead are generally buried in sight of the huts. These graves may be seen here and there in the forest, fenced-in by a few rails. The very form of Christianity is lost among them. In one place the people kept, they knew not how long, the Friday instead of the sabbath day. One man stated, that, having been accustomed, when young, to shave on the Saturday night, he knew when the sabbath came by the length of his beard. Their children, eight or nine years of age, are still unbaptized. All that is wanted to change the habits of the people, are a few proper men to itinerate among them. They ought to have prudence, unconquerable zeal, and fervent piety. They should be good riders, able to sleep under a tree, and capable of enduring fatigue. They should learn to swim; and think it no hardship to dine, in the hut of a native, on a half-roasted opossum."

Mr. Leigh's plan required a large amount of lay agency; and, just as Providence supplied it, did he press it into his service. To settle the preliminaries of a scheme that contemplated nothing less than the diffusion of vital Christianity over so large a section of Australia, necessarily occupied much time, and involved great mental anxiety, physical effort, and pecuniary responsibility. So soon as the sphere of his labours had assumed a definite shape, he made the following communication to the committee:--

"I have just returned from my eighth tour through the different colonial settlements. My circuit extends one hundred and fifty miles, which distance I travel in ten days. I have fourteen preaching-stations, and have formed six classes,--three in Sydney, one at Paramatta, one at Windsor, and one at Castlereagh. We have established four Sunday-schools, which

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are in a satisfactory state. When I go into the country on the Sunday, I preach at ten o'clock in the morning; dine, ride seven miles, and preach at two; ride six miles, and preach at five; from thence I ride six miles more, and preach at seven in the evening. My constitution, I fear, will not long stand so much exertion in the heat of the day. But what can I do? The sight of the people flocking to the house of God, some with chairs, and others with stools on their shoulders, to sit upon, urges me to persevere; and, while I am praying and weeping for their salvation, I forget my fatigue. A poor man walked fourteen miles the other day to converse with me about his soul. We want chapels at several places, and more missionaries. The state of society here is awful. With regard to myself, I desire to live every moment to God, and to die in the missionary field."

To a correspondent in India he writes,--"Our place of worship in Sydney will hold about two hundred people, and it is generally crowded. I can only supply the country places once in three weeks. The clergy give me every encouragement. I have fifty-eight communicants. The intelligence from Otaheita is truly animating. The king has been converted, and has assumed a profession of Christianity. Numbers of the natives have renounced idolatry; and the Sunday-schools are in prosperity. What can we fear, if God be with us? Let us go on, looking to Jesus,' who has said, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.'"