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"Those ample plains,

Where oft the flocks without a leader stray;
Or through continued deserts take their way,
And feeding, add the length of night to day:
Whole months they wander, grazing as they go,
Nor folds, nor hospitable harbour know :.
Such an extent of plain, so vast a space
Of wilds unknown, and of untasted grass."

VIRGIL'S Georgics, III. v. 325.

• "In this beautiful passage Virgil has so exactly described this part of the world, that one would suppose he had the very spot in his eye when he wrote. There are settlers all along the coast, at intervals, from Swan River to Sydney, and the emigrant would do well, if he can afford it, to to go to Sydney first, making that his head-quarters; and not being in too great a hurry about actually settling. Never heed what another's abuse may be of the soil;-it is the interest of settlers to keep neighbours away. I recommend Cunningham's Two Years in New South Wales' to the notice of all settlers, and Moore's Journal.' I have now said as much about Sydney as my stay would allow; and do not profess to write an account of the colonies, but merely to escort a fire-side traveller to a few scenes in that remote region; - that he may profit by my experience, and never stir from his snug home, in search of ideal happiness in a wilderness."

Mr. Leigh fully corroborates the accounts of the beauty of the country between Adelaide and the sea; long, level, and luxuriant plains, sheltered with trees, succeed each other, wear the appearance of a fine park, and the view to use his own expression "defies description." The "City," however, disappointed him somewhat, as he seems to have forgotten the circumstance of its being but a year or two old when he saw it. Taking this into consideration, we think the wit of the following passage is quite thrown away :

"We soon fell in with the river running through Adelaide, and there we bathed. The situation of Adelaide is very picturesque, it being upon a gradual descent to the river Torrens, and studded with very large gumtrees, which afford an agreeable shade. I confess I was greatly disappointed at its appearance, for the first view, or, in fact, any view you obtain, reminds one of the miserable huts that we see in an extensive brick-yard in England, it being built after that fashion. I had read, a few days ago, of the various names of the streets-such high sounding names! this square and that square-east-end and west-end-such a terrace and such a street, -that I could not but fancy that my sight was suddenly failing me, when I strained my eyes in vain, to see either square, terrace, street, house, or even anything to lead me to the conclusion of there ever having been any. There was no volcanic matter; not even a stone could be found to indulge in the benevolent propensity of throwing it at a dog; and two or three people were jogging along together, talking calmly of bullocks, when one would have expected to have beheld them at public thanksgiving for their own preservation from the mighty earthquake, which had, doubtless, suddenly swallowed up the once noble city of Adelaide!"

The site he pronounces injudiciously chosen, on the ground of its distance from a navigable river, and the intricate and dangerous navigation of the port. It will, he thinks, cost as much to get merchandize from the ship at anchor in the port to the town, as the freight from England to Adelaide. The idea of selecting it as an emporium of commerce, he treats as an absurdity. To remedy these inconveniences, steam tugs and a railway are in contemplation, but a considerable time must elapse before an undertaking of the latter kind can be completed, as yet there is not a bridge, wharf, or road in the Colony.

Glenelg is seven miles from Adelaide. It is situated on the shores of Gulf St. Vincent, at the Bay of Hold-Fast. A most appropriate appellation, as it is exposed to the tremendous swell of the large gulf. After floundering through a swamp, and wading through a couple of rivers, our author and his party reached the town. The description is not very flattering :

"The situation of this place as a settlement will never do, unless immense expense be incurred by draining. There is, here, on the beach, a kind of hovel called a store, as empty as the pockets of the man who keeps it, and that, added to some half-dozen miserable and comfortlesslooking sledge huts, is the 'town of Glenelg,' named 'in honour' of that illustrious nobleman. They find it does not answer, and I understood were about to desert it. The four families who had fixed their residences here, were planted pleasantly under the gum-tree, when, lo! the place of their rest was surrounded in the night by a torrent four or five feet deep, and all hands were forced to run for it. Dr. Everard, who, from being so utterly surrounded by water, was unable to fly, got upon the table, and with his family waited till daylight, when he turned out, dug a trench in the distance, which carried off some of the flood. He has now a kind of embankment round his hut. On the right is a swamp filling round the remainder of his dwelling, which swarms with mosquitoes and bull frogs, that keep up their music day and night. 'Oh!" quoth the Doctor, when I visited him, these are the beauties of emigration.' The land about here is good, and in some places looked like a neglected English orchard."

Mr. Leigh's account of the natives corresponds, in every respect, with those of Cunningham and Moore. After dwelling on their habits and dispositions at some length, he sums up their character in this style :

• They are superstitious, revengeful, courageous, jealous, cunninggreat thieves and liars-idle-susceptible of friendship-capable of feeling sorrow, and excellent mimicks.

• The first flock of sheep they beheld going up a hill in the distance, they said was smoke, and they were terribly alarmed at the appearance of the first horse. They have killed many sheep in the vicinity of Adelaide, alleging in excuse-" White man kill black man's Kangaroo-Black man kill white man's Kangaroo."

This acuteness they display in numberless particulars. Thus, when feasted by the "Protector of the Aborigines" on brown bread, the keen eye of the savage saw "that white man lub white bread, make black man eat brown bread." This was a great oversight and led to much mischief..

• After remaining in the new Colony until he was heartily tired of it, Mr. Leigh proceeded to Sydney. The beauty of Sydney Cove, the picturesque appearance of the gay and well-built villas looking down upon the harbour, the regular and even magnificent streets, call forth his warmest praise. The only thing to dispel the illusion of his being in an English town, was the heat.

•The whirlwinds of sand and dust which suddenly envelop the stranger, remind him more strongly of Cape Town than England. The Botanical Gardens are finely situated, skirting the shores of a romantic bay, and the grounds of Government House.. Mr. Leigh thinks it is worth a trip to Sydney to see that garden. The view from the grounds of Government House is, he tells us, unequalled by any in those Southern Shores. Some idea of the progress of the settlement may be collected from the following facts :

"The reader would scarcely believe what enormous sums are given for town lands, it is literally covering the surface with gold. I saw a piece of land that had originally been given to some individual-'a careless wight,' who had not, according to articles, erected a building upon it; this, after certain terms, reverted to government; and though it is but an acre, the prodigious sum of 15,000l. has been offered and refused. Building goes on here blended with greater improvements than a commercial money-getting town might be supposed to contemplate; we would instance premises in the possession of a worthy who is a convict for life, and who has tempted government by an offer of 30,0001. for the remission of his sentence. This 'gentleman,' who has since been pardoned gratuitously, has amassed enormous riches; and the magnificent mansion in question he lets for 1000l. a year. Not many months ago, the respectable landlord of the best house in the colony might have been seen walking leisurely along George-street behind a cart, a friend of his at the same time accompanying him, and making certain legal memoranda on his back. I have forgotten his name; but I am told that occasionally he still performs a few sleight-of-hand tricks, and, for his legerdemain, is rewarded with the above-mentioned parade, escort, &c. The people in this town, who had never seen any other, tell us, with great gravity, that in a few years Sydney will be a 'city of palaces! If it does, they will most undoubtedly be 'Gin Palaces."

Touching the latter observations, the number of public-houses

in all Australian towns is very remarkable. Every third house displays a sign; the roads too are studded with pot-houses, and in front of them are to be seen smokers and drinkers all the day long. Of Paramatta and Windsor, our author says little-they are thriving towns with good business-like houses. We shall close our remarks on Mr. Leigh's Australian tours with his last admonition to would-be emigrants, which is couched in terms absolutely startling:

" It must be a most mortifying thing for the poor fellow who has emigrated, after having selected his land, toiled away in miserable solitude, distant from every humane being but his little establishment, in the midst of a gloomy wilderness, fifty miles from his next neighbour, when the drought or blight comes to blast the few straggling blades that scarcely give his field a verdant patch. I saw a poor fellow in this very predicament: he had the additional mortification of having bought all his sheep at as high as 14s. or 15s.; and at this moment they are at Sydney so low, that there is no established price from 6s. downwards; and yet, from his losses on the farm, he has incurred debts, and he must sell.

"I also knew another party who freighted a large vessel with wool, for which he paid some 2s. a lb., fine Merino. He insured it, &c.; and in England it realized the enormous profit to them of 7d. Cunningham advises no one to emigrate unless they have 'a couple of thousand pounds.' But I advise them, if they have that money, not to emigrate at all, unless they love vexation, severe labour, and privations of every description, which are seldom mentioned by the sufferer, because pride forbids; but I, who have shared them, and hope to be straightforward in my dealings with pen and ink, unhesitatingly say, that the privations to be endured at the outset are enough to discourage the stoutest heart."

ART. VI. Four Lectures on the Offices and Ceremonies of Holy Week, as performed in the Papal Chapels. Delivered in Rome, in the Lent of MDCCCXXXVII. By NICHOLAS WISEMAN, D.D. London: Dolman. 1839.

WITHOUT uttering a single word upon the subject of religion, in so far as regards our own sentiments of the differences of opinion and feeling existing between Roman Catholics and Protestants, we may, in perfect accordance with the character and purpose of the "Monthly Review," call attention to the religious forms observed, and the sentiments entertained by any one class of Christians. More especially does it fall within our province, if the subject be that of the relations which the fine arts are made to bear to doctrines and ceremonies. Now, it is notorious that in no church are the forms of worship more abundant or more splendid and imposing than in that of Rome. It is also, unquestionably, the fact, that however objectionable these forms may appear to Protestants, however unmeaning or ridiculous, they are full of solemnity to the professors of the Roman Catholic creed. Ignorance, as to the intent of each rite, and pre. judice, may combine to render the ceremonies of Holy Week, -the most sacredly and studiously observed season of religious festival of the establishment spoken of,-tiresome, and to be accounted idolatrous; but the members of that communion discover beauty and wisdom in every one of them, and derive instruction from what others deem absolute mummery. The present publication affords us deeply interesting and elegantly illustrated proofs of what we have said, and an occasion to notice some of the most impressive circumstances connected with the ancient system of faith mentioned.

Dr. Wiseman, as many of our readers must know, is a professor (of Oriental Languages and Literature) and an ornament in the English college at Rome. He informs his readers that the late Cardinal Weld was in the habit of having occasional courses of Lectures delivered in his apartments, upon the ceremonies of Holy Week. Some of these have already been published, others are about to appear, varying considerably in their modes of treating their subjects. It is, however, sufficient to state, using our author's own words, that his endeavour has been to represent "the passion of Christ viewed in relation to the arts of design, to poetry and music, to history and to religion," -to show the "intimacy of art with the sacred commemoration of the passion." We have accordingly placed before us, by a divine, a scholar, and a man of highly-cultured taste, explanations of works by many of the greatest Masters, in various departments, works, the marvel of the whole Christian and civilized world, -the objects of undying admiration, and their use or association with acts of religious homage, so as to instruct a stranger, and enable him to understand their symbolic or mysterious meaning. It will therefore be sufficient for our purpose if we follow Dr. Wiseman in the course of some of his illustrations and comments, convinced that whatever may be our opinion of the wisdom of the combinations described and explained, in a religious point of view, there can be no doubt with regard to the beauty of the light which he diffuses upon art itself, or of the intensity of devotion that may be excited by art's combination with religious rites.

The first of Dr. Wiseman's Lectures has for its immediate subject, the external relations between the Functions of the Holy Week and Christian Art, he being convinced that none can wish to witness them while totally ignorant of their intended meaning, and of the laws and the principles by which they are generally regulated, such arrangements having been the great foster-mothers of architecture, music, and painting.

The great and most illustrious scene of Roman Catholic religious ceremonies, is of course, identified with Rome and St. Peter's, and is witnessed when the Sovereign Pontiff is present, in Holy Week,

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