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pp. 415-421.
“We remained in Sydney a month, during which, we were chiefly occupied, in caring for the few person professing with us, circulating books and tracts, and preparing for a journey southward. The spring was now considerably advanced, and in our walks, in the country, intervening between Port Jackson and Botany Bay, many beautiful shrubs and plants were in flower, some of which were also remarkable for their fragrance. Many of these plants, which are amongst the most lively decorations of our English green-houses, present a strikingly gay appearance in their native locality, where they grow on a poor, sandy soil, thinly intermixed with vegetable matter, and very uncongenial to horticulture or agriculture.
“9th mo. 13th [13th September, 1836]. We went to Liverpool, in a four-wheeled car, on springs, drawn by three horses. The journey of nineteen miles, was accomplished in three hours. Having taken up our quarters at the Ship, a comfortable inn, we called upon several of the inhabitants, and made arrangements for a meeting with them, which was held in the Court House, in the evening; it was but thinly attended in consequence of the wetness of the weather. In the course of the day, we visited a patient in the Colonial Hospital, who had been confined to bed nearly three months. During the first seven weeks he was there, no one called upon him, and as he was very ill, one of the attendants inquired, if he would not wish to see some pious man, to which he replied in the affirmative. He was then asked, whom he would wish to see. He answered, he knew no one, but would be glad to see any good man. The attendant then mentioned a person, who he said was a good man, and very kind in visiting some of the patients in the wards. He was introduced accordingly, and proved to be a Roman Catholic priest. On his first visit, he expressed sympathy with the sick man, and advised him to exercise himself in prayer, as a means of obtaining spiritual comfort. On being told, that the young man had been educated among Friends, and entertained the views of that people, he inquired what their views were; on being informed upon some of the leading points. he said, they appeared to differ little from Roman Catholics, except in regard to transubstantiation. On this subject, he brought a book, which he requested the young man to read. Subsequently the priest debated with him on water-baptism, and urged his reading a book on that subject. After a few days, he proposed his submitting to that rite, and intimated that it might be administered by the hands of their bishop, who was expected in Liverpool, from Sydney. He also assured his hoped-for proselyte, that if he received baptism from this prelate, he would become as spotless as a new-born babe, and would go direct to heaven, without passing through purgatory, if he died the next moment. As an additional inducement, he proposed also, that the bishop, should bring with him a relic of a saint, which he said, had been of service, in the restoration of some other person, from grievous sores, such as the patient was suffering from. The young man found these importunities very unpleasant, in his weak state, and became rather alarmed, at the idea of a visit from the bishop, with his ‘old bones;’ but was relieved by receiving a call from a pious Protestant, to whom he communicated these circumstances, as he did subsequently, to George W. Walker and myself. His Protestant friend proposed, that a letter should be written to the priest, acknowledging his kindness in calling, and stating, that as a Protestant acquaintance, living in the neighbourhood, would now visit the young man, he had no further occasion for the visits of the priest. This step was taken, and the books were returned, accompanied by the letter, which had the desired effect. This may be regarded as a specimen of some of the attempts, used in this land, to gain proselytes to the church of Rome; and by which, many are lulled into false rest. Superstition is propagated and nursed, with a degree of persevering industry, that would ornament a better cause; and many of its dupes appear to go on carelessly in sin, regardless of its consequences, or presuming on receiving absolution before they die. Carelessness prevails to a lamentable extent, both among professed Protestants and Roman Catholics, to a large majority of whom it might be said, ‘Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.’ Cursing, swearing, drunkenness, and other open profligacy, proclaim, that Satan, and not Jesus, is their Lord.
“14th. After breakfasting with the Surgeon of the Colonial Hospital, and having a religious meeting with the patients, we walked to the Quarries, where the military officer in charge met us, and we had a religious interview with an Ironed-gang, consisting of sixty men, employed in raising stone, which is conveyed up the George’s River, to Lansdowne Bridge. We next proceeded to the bridge, where their is another Ironed-gang, of fifty men, and had a religious opportunity with them, and a few prisoners, out of irons. A few of the military and their wives, were also present, on both occasions. Some of these recognized us, having been stationed on Norfolk Island, when we were there. It was pleasant to find that some of them had adopted the principles of the Temperance Society, and that both of these gangs were visited weekly, by Episcopal Chaplain of Liverpool, and a Wesleyan local preacher. At both places, the men are lodged in caravans. The married soldiers have built themselves very small, slab-huts, covered with sheets of bark, and white-washed. Some of the ground we passed over to-day was sandy, and produced many of the beautiful shruns, common to similar situations in this country. The Lansdowne Bridge, which is on the road from Liverpool to Sydney, is a handsome structure, of sandstone, with one elliptical arch; it is the first of the kind, that has been erected in this country. The road over it, is metalled with a bluish, argillaceous stone, having vegetable impressions.
“15th. We visited a few prisoners in the Jail, a brick-building, containing two large rooms for prisoners of common order, one for debtors, a small one for females, and three good cells, all opening into one common yard, along with the dwellings of the turnkey and overseer, and the cooking-place, and the offices ! The number of prisoners varies, from a very few to about fifty. We next went to the Male Orphan School, about three miles distant, which is under the charge of a pious, retired lieutenant, of the navy. This establishment contains about 160 boys, of from twenty months, to fourteen years of age; many of them illegitimate. They exhibit, in numerous instances, the effects of the drunkenness and profligacy of their parents; many of them are unhealthy for two or three years after coming to the institution. They receive a plain, English education, and are taught the rudiments of tailoring, shoe-making, gardening, and husbandry. The premises are on a reserve, of 10,000 acres, in district that is badly supplied with water, the springs being salt. This circumstance, with the distance from the town, and other inconveniences, renders the removal of the institution to another site, desirable. The buildings are of a very temporary structure. It is inconvenient to have the children from the Factory brought hither so very young; but when they remain longer at that nursery of vice, they learn so much iniquity, that their early removal proves the less evil. In the evening, a few persons met us, at the Court House, at Liverpool, to whom we addressed some remarks on temperance. Most of them had previously signed the declaration.
“16th. We took places in an open coach, for Campbell Town, distant thirteen miles. On the way, there is a considerable extent of cleared land; the country is undulating, but the soil does not appear rich, though in some places, it seems to overlay basalt. Campbell Town consists of an Episcopal worship-house, of brick, with a steeple, and a Papal one, of stone, without a tower, and scattered houses, on both sides of the road: some of them are brick, but most of them wood; a large proportion are public-houses. We called on a young man, from England, who was just recovering from an attack of pleurisy, and was laid on a mattress, covered with blankets, on the floor of a little room, behind his shop, where he had been a fortnight. He made some feeling remarks on the privations to which persons so situated are subjected, and on the pain felt when, on reflection, they are sensible of having deprived themselves of the comforts of a home among their relations, and he expressed regret at having left his connexions in England. Almost all persons in this land, call Great Britain Home, and speak with desire respecting returning thither, casting ‘a longing, lingering look, behind,’ on that which they have left. While in Campbell Town, we took our meals with the family of the Police-magistrate, who was the first Commandant of Port Macquarie, when it was a Penal Settlement. He remained in office three years, during which, he prevailed on the military to commute their rations of spirits, by having it sold for them in Sydney, being aware of the difficulty of managing them, if they had access to strong liquors. The soldiers found no want of them, though living, much of the time, in bark huts, and at close service. This was before the existence of Temperance Societies. At that period, the Commandant of a Penal Settlement was not required to keep a record of punishments, but could flog any man at his own discretion. Happily such a toleration of tyranny no longer exists, but every man must be tried before he is punished, and his sentence must be recorded.
“17th. We visited the Jail, which is under the Court House, and below the level of the ground, in front. It has five, badly ventilated cells, and a room for general prisoners, 20.5 feet long, by 12.5 feet wide, and 8 feet high, with two insufficient, ventilating tubes, and two grated windows, opening into a low, covered place, that thoroughly obstructs the fresh air. There is no airing-court. The place is damp, and its atmosphere excessively oppressive and offensive, even now there are only two prisoners here. Sixty persons are sometimes confined, and ninety have been shut up in it ! The stench arising through the floor of the Court House, is so bad, that the windows have to be kept open, during the time of business, and sometimes, the court is obliged to adjourn to another place. This is the worst prison we have seen in the Colony, notwithstanding many others are very bad, in proportion to the number of prisoners occasionally confined in them. As the weather, in this country, is very warm in summer, the thermometer occasionally rising upwards of 100 degrees in the shade, the prisoners, not unfrequently, strip off all their clothes, for relief from the oppressive heat, when crowded in such places.
“18th. While conversing with a man, whom we casually met, when walking through the bush, to give notice of a meeting, a large limb dropped from a tree, apparently from the increasing weight of the foliage, for there was no wind at the time, and the limb appeared sound. It fell so close to us, as to impress us deeply, with a sense of the uncertainty of life, which might quickly be taken, even by such an accident as this, in the interminable forests of Australia, in which, many times, and occasionally in calm weather, we have heard the thunder of timber falling from natural causes.
“We had a meeting, in the Court House, but it was thinly attended, notwithstanding the notice was extensively given. The windows could not be closed, on account of the noisome effluvium from the Jail beneath, though the wind was boisterous at the time. Drunkenness, profligacy, and dishonesty, are notoriously prevalent in this district, in which a large proportion of the lower class profess with the Church of Rome; but they too generally, like many others, make a profession of religion, to quiet their consciences, while living in open sin.
“19th. We proceeded on foot to Appin, near which, we became the guests of a respectable widow, with a large family. The village of Appin, consists of two public-houses, a few slab huts, and a wooden lock-up house. The country between this place and Campbell Town, is undulating, and the soil strong. It is more extensively fenced, cleared, cultivated and settled, than nay other part of the Colony, we have visited. There are, however, few respectable settlers: most of them are low Irish. We felt nut little liberty in distributing tracts among the benighted population; and in a few cases in which we offered them, they were received with a sort of fear, the evident result of Popish restrictions. The people are afraid to receive religious instruction, lest their priests should find fault; and though the priests visit them, many of them seem to exercise much more care, to prevent their leaving the Church of Rome, than to turn them from the service of Satan.”
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