Page:Literature in New South Wales.djvu/9

 LITERATURE IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

To trace the growth of letters in this commumty, from the earliest period of our history to the present time, and to shew in what manner that growth has been influenced by the productions of the Mother Country, are the objects sought to be accomplished in these pages. "With us. Literature requires to be considered in two aspects : first, as a native or indigenous product ; and secondly, as a foreign or imported one. Too young to possess a " national literature" of our own, the consideration of foreign influence becomes an all-important one. With respect to the literary productions of the Colony, a detailed account of them will be found in subsequent pages. It seemed desirable to map out the whole field of intellectual energy, and, by adopting a critical as well as a chronological method, to ascertain the precise result of our labours. This would amount to a literary history of the Colony, and it was hoped that such a history would serve more than one useful purpose. It would enable the reader to form an exact idea of the progress, extent, and prospects of literary enterprise among us, more readily than could be done by means of any general statement ; it would constitute a bibliographical account that might be practically useful, not only to those who are interested in our literature, but also to those who may hereafter be engaged in historical inquiries ; it would serve to throw some light, from a new point of view, on our social history ; and lastly, it would preserve the memory, and give some notion of the achievements, of men whose name could scarcely be expected to survive their generation. These were the expectations which induced the writer to enter

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