Though intellectual man is the principal object in God's creation upon earth, yet it is not the mere "march of intellect," but it is the advancement of truth and righteousness,--the gradual outpouring of that knowledge of God which shall cover the earth as the waters cover the seas,--that can cause "the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose." The recollection, therefore, of the sort of men with whom Great Britain has partly peopled the lonely shores of Australia,--the remembrance that these men, too morally diseased to be allowed to remain among ourselves, have been cast forth to die, with little or no thought about bringing them to the Great Physician of souls to be made whole,--these reflections have before been offered, and must here be repeated again. We read with pleasure and interest of benevolent travellers, anxious to benefit the countries which they are exploring, scattering around them in favourable spots the seeds of useful plants and noble trees, in the hope that these may hereafter prove beneficial to generations yet unborn. And in like manner may the mother country be said to scatter abroad in her colonies the seeds not only of good, but of evil also. Many admirable institutions, not a few excellent individuals and christian families, have been planted in Australian lands; a branch of Christ's Church has been placed there, and has taken firm hold of the soil, and numberless other promises of future excellence may be traced by the thankful and inquiring mind. But then, on the contrary, we must not lose sight of the tares that are so abundantly springing up together with the wheat; it is impossible to deny that rank and poisonous weeds have there been scattered along with the good seed, nay, instead of it. What might have been the present state of Australia, if all, or almost all, its free inhabitants had been faithful Christians, steadfast "in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers?" How great an effect might the "salt," thus placed in those remote parts of the earth, have had in rescuing from corruption that mass of uncleanness, which has been removed thither from our own shores! Now, alas! nowhere more than in some of the Australian settlements "are the works of the flesh manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like."[189] [189] Gal. v. 19-21.