AUSTRALIAN PROSPERITY. 367 In 1835, Port Phillip, now known as Victoria, was first colonised, and rapidly increased, agricultural pursuits being the chief occupation of the settlers. In 1839 (to glance at subsequent events), just after the colony of South Australia was founded, the practice of sending convicts thither was suspended; Melbourne was commenced, and soon grew into a large city. Subsequently, the western and northern districts were occupied; but, as yet, these colonies have made but little progress as compared with the others. The aborigines of this continent are supposed to be at the lowest point in the scale of civilization and intelligence, and have hitherto derived but little benefit from the efforts of the friends of education and religion. Rapidly diminishing in numbers, they will probably, in a few years, become extinct. The mineral capabilities of this vast region were likely to attract large multitudes of emigrants, both to Australia and Tasmania, forming the elements of future population in this country, where the Great Creator has bestowed such a profusion of physical gifts. May the zeal of the friends of the Redeemer keep pace with the efforts of those who are seeking only earthly wealth, and be the means of inducing the growing population to strive after durable riches and righteousness.' 66 AFRICA. The European possessions on this vast continent are few and small, compared with the extensive portions which are only desert, or in the possession of the natives: the Dutch and Portuguese have but few and very insecure stations; the Spanish claim only some insignificant places in the neighbourhood of the straits of Gibraltar, and Fernando Po. The colony of Liberia, intended for freed negroes, is the only part belonging to the Americans, and that was the result of private enterprise with which the government had no concern. Turkey asserts a nominal authority over the kingdoms and states on the northern coast; and France has a few places in addition to Algeria. The British are by far the largest claimants: Sierra Leone, Cape Coast, the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, and the Mauritius, are among the principal places which acknowledge the rule of this country. In 368 PERSECUTION IN MADAGASCAR. Kaffraria also in the interior, the power of England has been exerted: but she owes more to the influence of the Christian missionary in these regions, than to the prowess of her arms. Cape Town and the adjacent colony have prospered of late years, especially since their resistance to the transportation of convicts to their country. Various efforts have been made by enterprising travellers, such as Mungo Park, Lander, Clapperton, Richardson, and others; and recently by Dr. Livingstone, the missionary, to explore the interior of the continent, and open it alike to commercial activity and christian zeal-a consummation most devoutly to be wished. MADAGASCAR. This island, which is one of the largest in the world, lies off the eastern coast of Africa; it was discovered in 1506; it now contains a population of between four and five millions; the inhabitants are the descendants of different races. The Hovahs, who occupy the better portion of the island, are a powerful people, and remarkable for the advance they have made in civilization: the French have made repeated attempts to establish themselves, but the exclusive policy of the natives has hitherto prevented them from succeeding. Although idolaters, Christianity has made considerable progress among them by the means of pious missionaries. King Radama, a man of considerable mental power and intelligence, patronised the missionaries, though not it is to be feared a christian himself; being convinced that it was only the influence of the religion of the Bible that would secure the prosperity of his kingdom. Being succeeded at his death by one of his wives, the present queen, the missionaries were commanded to leave the island, and every effort was made to abolish Christianity; the most sanguinary persecutions were set on foot, and great numbers put to death or sold into slavery, because they would not renounce their faith. But, notwithstanding the cruelty with which the Christians were treated, their numbers multiplied, their piety increased, and their activity, though compelled to concealment, was redoubled; so that at the present time, the number of devoted disciples is many times larger than when they were allowed to profess the truth without fear ORIGIN OF HUMAN LAW. 369 of interruption. Thus, in Madagascar have been repeated again and again those deeds of faithful, pious heroism, which in past generations baffled the rage of the oppressor, and led multitudes to believe. May the same results follow the unflinching fidelity of those, who in Madagascar, are called to confess the truth in the face of difficulty and danger. CHAPTER XI. Government and Legislation. SKETCH OF THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT.-OPINION OF BURKE.- LAW.-REFORMS.-FEATURES OF How shall the order of a community be maintained without infringing upon individual rights? This problem, which contains the whole science of government, has always been of difficult solution. The complex character of society, renders it essential that personal liberty should be renounced to a certain extent, if the security of the many is to be preserved: just in proportion to the equitable adjustment of these seemingly conflicting interests, 370 THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT. will be the excellence of the political arrangement, or as we term it, the government; and also in proportion to the predominance of the one or the other, will be despotism or anarchy. Hence, it is apparent that all well-constituted authority is founded on general concession. 66 Government," says Burke, "is not made in virtue of natural rights, which may and do exist in total independence of it, and exist in much greater clearness, and in a much greater degree of abstract perfection. But their abstract perfection is their practical defect: by having a right to every thing, they want every thing. Government is a contrivance of human wisdom, to provide for human wants; men have a right that these wants should be provided for by this wisdom. Among these wants is to be reckoned the want, out of civil society, of a sufficient restraint upon their passions. Society requires not only that the passions of individuals should be subjected; but, that even in the mass and body, as well as in individuals, the inclinations of men should frequently be thwarted, their will controlled, and their passions brought into subjection. The moment you abate any thing from the full rights of men each to govern himself, and suffer any artificial positive limitation upon those rights; from that moment the whole organization of government becomes a consideration of convenience. This it is which makes the constitution of a state, and the due distribution of its powers, a matter of the most delicate and complicated skill: it requires a deep knowledge of human nature and human necessities, and of the things which facilitate or obstruct the various ends which are to be pursued by the mechanism of civil institutions." From these considerations, it is evident that the science of government is necessarily progressive; it was not, and could not be of sudden and spontaneous growth, complete at first, like the fabled Minerva springing from the head of Jupiter armed cap-à-pie. It was the expedient enforced by common necessity, and was wise or not, just as it was found adapted to the various circumstances which arose. The divine right of either monarchy or republicanism is a mere figment of the imagination, and destitute of any satisfactory support. As the social relations constitute the essential elements PATRIARCHAL rulĖ. 371 of society, the first form of 'government must of necessity have been patriarchal. The father was the head, the king, the priest of his family; and in the scriptural representations of the early ages of the world, we have pictures which commend themselves to our judgment as forcibly as they do to our credence. The notion of the primitive barbarism of our race we utterly reject, as at variance with the sacred records, and opposed to universal tradition. The one describes the condition of the earliest ages as simple indeed, but yet possessed of a degree of order, civilization, and security, the very reverse of the idea of barbaric ignorance and confusion; while the other is ever telling of some happy golden age in the far distant period of the past, when man was pure, when gods walked the earth, and the world was a peaceful Arcadia. The government of separate families by the paternal authority could not, however, have lasted very long. As the numbers of the branches and descendants of these families multiplied, the form of government must have altered from necessity; and as the family assumed more of the character of a tribe, the paternal ruler must have had more likeness to a chieftain: and probably, in the Scriptural accounts of Abraham or Jacob, we have as complete an illustration of the early arrangements of government as can possibly be supplied. The Arabian emirs, and the chiefs of the clans of the Highlands of Scotland, as they existed a century since, are fair specimens of the primitive policy: indeed, the fact that this kind of authority is found to exist generally in those places which have been most isolated from the vicissitudes and revolutions of more general society, most abundantly confirms the correctness of the statement. The restless passions of men, however, soon disturbed this state of things, and induced further changes. The grasping cupidity which coveted the possessions of neighbouring tribes, the haughty ambition which aimed at more extensive rule, and the fiery resentment determined to avenge a real or a fancied wrong, required leaders with qualifications which the hereditary chief did not always possess; and hence, violence on the one hand, and the need of self-defence on the other, led to the selection of individuals as captains and leaders, who |