It is stated on good authority,--that of Sir George Arthur, who was formerly governor of Van Diemen's Land,--that not more than _two_ convicts in every _hundred_ quit the colony and return to England.[198] The expense and difficulty of procuring a passage home operates as a sufficient check to prevent this being frequently obtained; nor, supposing that the English people would act in a kind and christian spirit towards the most deserving men of this class, would either they or the nation be losers. If the wives and families of the most meritorious men could be brought out to them at the public cost, what reasonable cause of regret would an emancipated convict feel for his home,--the scene of his crimes and of his disgrace,--in the mother country? And with respect to the great objection,--the _cost_ of such a system,--what would that be compared with the advantage which the rapid increase of an English population in Australia is sure to bring, by creating fresh demands for our goods and manufactures? If ours were a wise and understanding nation, if we would spend a portion of our riches in promoting the morals, the comfort, and the religious instruction of our outcast population, we might, in numberless instances, turn the very dregs of our people into means of increasing our prosperity; we might frequently render those that are now the mere refuse of the earth, happy, contented, loyal subjects; and the blessings of them that were ready to perish spiritually would be continually resounding from the far distant shores of Australia upon that Divine Mercy which would have all men to be saved, and upon that nation which would thus have offered itself to be a willing agent and instrument for the furtherance of this gracious design. [198] "I think the longer the sentence, the better will be the conduct of the individual," because his only chance of obtaining any degree of liberty is from good conduct. See Evidence of J. MacArthur, Esq., before the Committee on Transportation in 1837. No. 3350-3, p. 218. Dr. Ullathorne expresses a contrary opinion.