THE CHURCH SETTLEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND. [From the Times, May 23.1

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 333, 7 October 1848, Page 3

THE CHURCH SETTLEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND. [From the Times, May 23.1

We have frequently expressed our surprise that among the many great and good men, the many splendid fortunes, aud the many philanthropic projects to be found in this country, there has not yet been an attempt at a systematic emigration worthy of the national character and resources. So natural and obvious appears such a design that the absence of it argues an almost judicial blindness. No

country in the world spends more in public and private charity. Oar poor-rate* amount to the revenue of a considerable State, while numberless religious and benevolent societies, hospitals, almshouses, asylums, and institutions, for every age, sex, and condition of ca-. lamity, spend princely incomes. The efficiency of all these institutions, national or voluntary, is miserably curtailed for mere want of space. We want room for growing poverty. The heart of the nation does its work, and is ever diffusing life, energy, and warmth to the languid extremities, but the human circulation is thrown back upon the overcharged vitals of the State. Humanity and even intelligence have to fight against increasing odds of destitution. In such a state of things, it is a wonder, or rather a madness, that the true British instinct does not break, loose from the narrow limits in which it is cribbed and cabined in these isles, andtake a wider range over our unparalleled colonial empire. Providence" shows that emigration is the mission of -this country. We said all this before three hundred thousand poor creatures were drifted by the blast of famine across the Atlantic within seven or eight months. We have said it when there seemed little hope that we should ever be listened to. We repeat it now, when there does appear some sign that England ii remembering her duty. A very distinguished body of noblemen and gentlemen, including many members of the Episcopal bench, have given their names as a nucleus of a society for " systematic colonization." In another column our readers will find a circular giving the outlines of their design. It is an attempt to plant in the desert an actual offshoot of English society, the exact resemblance of the parent stem. Nothing can be more patriotic or more rational on the principles of the British constitution. That constitution teaches us that the energies of the British race are developed to their greatest and most genuine excellence by a certain high state of organization. It implies that we do not thrive well in an equal and undistinguished crowd. If that constitution is necessary, our colonies are sadly deficient. If the colonies have all that Englishmen require, then we have much that is superfluous at home. We are, therefore, forced to admit the propriety of the present design, which is merely an appeal to Englishmen as Englishmen. We are unwilling to believe it impossible, because an unfavourable result would seem to indicate that the characteristics of British society are not so spreading, so vivacious, so hardy, and elastic as we had supposed. When a beginning is once made it will find many friends. For example, a gentleman wishes to give a poor fellow a chance. What can he do ? He cannot afford to take the man into his service, as he cannot employ gardeners, grooms, or gamekeepers ad infinituni. He cannot set the man up in a farm or a shop, and were be to make the attempt, it would probably cost him a hundred pounds, and fail in the end. Without, however, some sort of assistance the best labourer in England, in the southern counties, must take his chance in the labour market, where 9s. or 10s. a week is as much as he can ever expect. Everybody who has tried to befriend the poor will tell the same story. The difficulty begins from the earliest age. Take the best boy in the parish — what can you do for him ? Every trade is overstocked, and in any trade a responsible master will ask «£3O or more with an apprentice, besides other expenses. You cannot take the boy into your household, where it is probable yon have already more than enough. These are only examples of a difficulty experienced by every person who lives among the poor, and feels for their straitened condition. It is true the rural parishes do pour out their " surplus." They feed the towns. But this is not a satisfactory account to give of those who have been brought up in the purer atmosphere, as we are wont to think it, of a country village. What other outlet is there ? Emigration. A conscientious person, however, and especially a clergyman, will hesitate before he helps to send any one he cares for beyond the reach of those religious advantages he enjoys in this country. A systematic emigration, therefore, on religious principles, is that which the wants oi an overflowing population and the feelings of the kind hearted point to as the great desideratum of the age. We assume, of course, that the distinguished persons who have given their names to the design will also give their attention to it. It is not an easy undertaking. Colonies are among the greatest works of man, and require as much talent and devotion as the government of an empire. We only assert that there exist the material, the occasion, and the demand for such a work. We cannot read our own columns without having this truth painfully forced upon our notice. Let anybody compare two narratives in our paper this day. In the one he will read of a poor creature trying to drown herself and her child, in order to escape by an easier death the pang* of hunger which a whole family wai suffering

from want of employment. In the other he will r>ad of work standing still and property going 10 ruin in a British settlement for want of the very commonest class of labour. In Australia, last December, " the Pentonville people" were " greedily hired," and domestic servants were not to be procured at the most exorbitant wages. The poor girl who threw herself into the Surrey-canal last month wilh i her child in her arms would there have had the j opportunity of redeeming her character, and Jiving a life of usefulness and comfort. | There is a part of the design on which we shall be expected to say a word. The original members of the proposed settlement are to be also " bind fide members of the Church of England." Nobody can oiject to the Church of England establishing a settlement. There are Moravian settlements, Wesleyan settlements, and Roman Catholic settlements. In Canad*, as well as in the United States, there are many other religious communities established in comparative isolation. New England was founded by the Pilgrim Fathers, who were very strong religionists, and administered the affairs of the settlement with no little bigotry. Let the experiment be tried. Should Dissenters feel any jealousy at the design, we shall he glad to see them following the example, and so running a race of colonial ambitioa. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the settlement once founded, and the Churchman once settled, either as proprietor or tenant, he will be under the protection of the British laws, and will be free to worship his Maker as his conscience shall require. His obligations to the Church of England will be of the most voluntary chaTacter. If meeting-houses spring up in the heart of the settlement, they must be closed by argument, not force. We do not, therefore, regard this feature of the plan with any great apprehension. The Churchmanship of the colonists will mainly depend on the fideli- , ty and consistent lives of the clergymen sent out with them ; we are not, therefore, offending against our great constitutional principle of Toleration when we hope that they and their children will long reward the zeal of their pious benefactors.