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twelve months' old stands beside her, with the breast in its hands, to which he now and again applies his mouth, squeezing and draining out the last drops of the envenomed nectar which has hitherto sustained life, but at the same time inoculated it with pestiferous disease, the result of its mother's prostitution, and which is painted in its countenance, and further betrayed by running sores in various parts of the body. Yon hag, with glutinous eyes and snivelling nose and mouth, which she now wipes with a piece of bark or other equally primitive nose rag, surrounded by whelps of all ages, is giving suck to the most favoured of her household dogs. Yes, suckling the whelp with that milk which nature supplied for the purpose of rearing her progeny. Her last was a female child, and no sooner was it born, than with savage rage she murdered it with her yam stick. A few dirty crusts, the sweepings of some hut, and the putrid remains of the lights of a sheep or bullock, are the sorry indications of the family's last meal.

This was written in 1849, the "Protectorate" having been in existence ten years! Is it any wonder that, after carefully taking evidence, the Legislative Council the same year concluded their report with this emphatic sentence.—

Your committee wish to express their opinion that, without underrating the philanthropic motive of her Majesty's government, in attempting the improvement of the aborigines, much more real good would be effected by similar exertions to promote the interests of religion and education among the white population, in the interior of this colony; the improvement of whose condition would doubtless, tend to the benefit of the aborigines.

Let us hope, however, that something will now be done to atone for the past. From Mr. M'COMBIE'S committee we may expect much, especially as we understand that it merely anticipated by a few days a proposition of Mr. DUFFY's, who has already, as President of Land and Works, given practical proof of his sympathy for the aborigines in Gipps Land and elsewhere.

Is not this rank abomination sending up foul odours to heaven's awful throne?

Here we see the customary adjuncts of the boasted civilizing influences of the white race; the rum bottle and the venereal disease, decimating by thousands and tens of thousands, the poor aborigines; not alone in America and Australia, but wherever the pale-face shows its angelic lineaments. The wish of the committee is plain enough, they desire to teach the white population better deeds than polluting and degrading their black neighbours, for it cannot be denied that the poor blacks were much better behaved folks before the civilized man introduced his social evils

amongst them. "But the Australians took to it promiscuous like." did they, Sir? Pooh! pray don't cant.

So Messrs. Plunkett and Stawell have no regular standard to guide them in morals better than expediency-Oh dear, dear!

The Argus, of 9th November, reports proceedings at another educational harmonic meeting; Bishop Perry in the chair; and the above Doctor of Laws, now Sir William Stawell, the Chief Justice, is said to have expressed himself as "trembling" when he saw the tendency in the home country, as well as in this colony, to secularise the Sabbath, and do away with its sanctity. Well, well, it is truly consoling to find that there is some piety in men in authority; but is this genuine, or is it only playing second fiddle to the bishop's "hey, diddle diddle," while Mr. Colin Campbell blows his "whoo-too-to-too" through a wheezy old flute?

These three unhappy fellows are in the predicament of the men who Came "all the way from Manchester, and got no work to do-o-o-o." So they try peripatetic philosophy, and, with hands under aprons in a row, solicit charity on the actual-starvation dodge; while they propose to spend all their means and energies in building a temple to illustrate the scriptures, wherein is written the promise, that the most high and mighty God, inhabiting eternity, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

But Sir William Stawell, I have not done your roasting yet, I must have you turned over and done brown on the other side. So you tremble sometimes, do you? Are you shaky in your legs? Try a course of Holloway's ointment and pills. I have seen some very astonishing cures advertised as effected by this truly wonderful panacea, where persons suffering from bad legs and blushing have been cured, after enduring indescribable agony for fifty years with exemplary patience. But you don't want to be cured of blushing? Oh well, perhaps it does look well in moderation. But your mind is somewhat palsied with cant; Holloway's pills will scarcely reach that complaint, at least there are no cases advertised. You may, perhaps, be the first to figure in the list. For my

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part, Sir, I know no cure for this wide-spread social ulcer but genuine religion; and as a man in your position in society ought to communicate a tone to its life, pray get well purged from this malady of cant. Your predecessor, on the judicial bench, always abstained from this disagreeable hurdygurdy sound of religion: allow me to hint that you drop him a friendly note, and request the loan of a text book on the subject of Christianity, illustrated with cases and marginal notes for ready reference and precedent; and, by the way, get a copy of the decalogue of Moses, you will find some useful hints when you have had sufficient leisure to peruse it.

Do not come before the public in this fashion again.

The following letter from an inhabitant of Fiery Creek, who sends us his name, displays so much earnestness, that we are induced to publish it, though we hardly approve of the composition :

"Sir,-As it is the duty of every Christian to believe that, by their faithful prayers to the Almighty, they can have their needful wants supplied, and which has been proved by our faithful prayers in the time of war, dearth, famine, and in cases of pestilence; and now as the summer months are on, and as the musquitoes and the blow-fly are so great a nuisance and a plague or pestilence to us, and which two insects are the cause of more cursing and swearing by men in this colony than through any other cause; therefore, could not the minister of every denomination have a prayer formed and offered up to the Almighty to have these two insects destroyed. In fact, go no further than see how much flesh meat is totally destroyed in this colony every year by the blow-fly, and the longer they live the more wickedness is the result. I have seen a good deal of life myself, and have scarcely ever heard so much cursing and swearing about anything as against the blow-fly and the musquito, and against the God that made them; and that they do not think there is a God, or he would not annoy them so with such troublesome insects. Is it not dreadful for a Christian man to hear his Maker cursed for such like, where, if some minister would kindly take it upon him to have a prayer formed for the occasion, to be offered up in all places of worship, for a Sunday or two; and should it please the Almighty to do away with those two insects through those prayers, it would then convince all ignorant people that there is a God, and will then seriously let them see what prayer to the Almighty will do, as this colony is mixed up with all sorts and conditions of men; and I am convinced, if some miracle as the above was granted by the Almighty, it would have more effect upon the minds of people than what a twelvemonth's lecture would have. And it must be allowed by every one, that the blow-fly and the musquito are as great a nuisance and pestilence as we can have or be burdened with.

"Trusting, Mr. Editor, for the good and welfare of all our fellow-creatures, and for the prevention of so much blaspheming, you will have no objection to

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insert this in your paper, and that it may be the means of publicly drawing the attention of some ministers to the matter; and oblige, Sir, a constant reader of your paper."

The above is also from the "Herald," and emanates from some "sudorifically" pious person at Fiery Creek. It is plain, however, that his aim is simply to bring all philosophy based upon the theistic hypothesis into contempt, for the writer inclines to ne-theistic speculations. The editor says this piously positive philosopher displays so much earnestness that he is induced to publish his letter. Perhaps the editor would like to favour his readers with the report of an earnest conversation carried on between four or five bullock drivers, and thirty-two animals of a lower development, upon the stock subject of "necessity and free will" as exemplified (not in American nigger-driving,) but in urging the cattle in their drays to get over the ground at somewhat increased speed. Earnestness indeed! Why what is the complexion of the thing but flat blasphemy? He insinuates what he dares not say openly, and thinking himself, pretends that others say his thoughts. If he does not, he is an awfully bad composer, or rather decomposer of the Queen's English, so the thing must be criticised as it stands.

He says in effect, that it is the duty of every Christian to believe that the Almighty alters the laws of his wonderously even-balanced creation to suit the convenience of a few heretical thinkers who demand this tribute to their seraphic intelligence. He says that it has been proved that faithful prayers for cessation of wars, dearths, famines, and pestilences have been answered, whereas it is transparent that he means his readers to pronounce the very opposite opinion, and that is one reason why the above theological effusion was penned. God does not, and never did attend to prayers in the way this man proposes to tempt him to answer them. He thinks that the petition of the musquitobitten proprietors of the fly-blown butcher's meat will not be answered, and then that will shew, what he desires to demonstrate, that there is no God. A true Christian never tempts his heavenly Father by asking for miracles to prove

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himself, and he petitions not for cash bag and gig respectability, well knowing that riches are snares, and a well filled belly disposes to slumber and death. The language of his prayer is, that he may be strengthened and sustained in his power of patience and endurance under what may be adverse circumstances. He does not pray for miraculous or special interposition in his favour, but that he, as a servant of eternal power, may conform to the conditions and collective arrangements of the surrounding universe, though they may be adverse to his own inclination. But this Fiery Creek correspondent of the impartial and ever neutral "Herald" says, "To go no further," (he could go further, that is, if he liked,)" than see how much flesh is destroyed "by the blow-fly," and then he proceeds to describe, with evident gusto, the extra quantity of cursing, swearing, and blaspheming, with which he has been regaled in the colony. He has seen a good deal of life, but never heard so much satanic language before. A great deal, however, depends upon where he has seen life. In the French galleys men swear in their own tongue, so doubtless our friend may not have comprehended, and perhaps he has, as yet, not been favoured with practical experience of the tone of conversation adopted in other convict stockades. He says that he never heard so many God-forsaken scoundrels cursing and blaspheming because they happen to be musquito-bitten, or lose a few pounds of butcher's meat, and they don't think that there is a God, or there would not be such troublesome insects as musquitoes and flies. But surely it is not necessary to eat so much butcher's meat in summer, and if it was not for the flies, the air would be poisoned by the effluvia of rotting

carcases.

So he endeavours to lay a trap for ministers, and asks them to concoct a prayer, knowing well that the Romanist and Anglican priests would not combine, even if Rabbi Cohen, and the other dissenters consented to do so. He laughingly says, "if these fellows don't get up this prayer, it "will shew that they cannot agree, and among so many "different religions, how is a poor cove like me to know