[188] The following striking testimony in favour of the _system_ of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts comes from a quarter by no means unduly biassed in its favour. "How have thousands and tens of thousands been raised in Scotland, for the last forty years, to fit out and to maintain beyond seas whomsoever the dissenting ministers of London chose to ordain as missionaries to the heathen? God forbid, that I should ever whisper a syllable against missions to the heathen! But I have seen too many missionaries, not to have seen more than I choose to mention, whom men possessed of the least discernment would never have presumed to send forth on such an errand! _The colonies, however, were the first field to be occupied; and if that field had been properly occupied, it would have afforded much assistance to missions to the heathen._"--LANG'S _New South Wales_, vol. ii. p. 260. If any reader of this passage should feel disposed in his heart to help in a good work, which greatly needs his assistance, let him take at once his humble mite, or his large offering, as the case may be, to the clergyman of his parish, or to the office, 79, Pall Mall, London, for the use of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. CHAPTER XII. CONVICT POPULATION. Whatever may be the natural charms or advantages of any region, these are nothing without inhabitants; and however abundantly the means of riches, the comforts, luxuries, or necessaries of life may be scattered around, these are comparatively lost without man to enjoy and to use them. The garden of Eden itself was not perfected until beings were placed in it capable of admiring its beauties and rejoicing in its blessings. And in every country, especially in a civilised country, when we have gone through the length and breadth of the land, examining its natural features and speculating upon its capabilities and future destiny, there is still left a most interesting and important subject of consideration, nor can our knowledge of any region be reckoned complete, until we are acquainted with the present condition of its inhabitants. In the preceding pages it has been found impossible, indeed, to avoid frequently touching upon a topic, which is so closely interwoven with the whole subject; but there still remains abundance of miscellaneous information concerning the present state of the inhabitants of the Australian colonies to be detailed, without which, indeed, the task we have undertaken would be left altogether incomplete.