Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/180



In considering the proper mode of dealing with the aborigines of Australia, it is desirable that all extraneous difficulty should be got rid of. Many persons when arguing on this subject turn round and say, "Well, after all, I do not see what right we have to come and take away their country from them." This is a mixing up of two questions, which should be kept perfectly distinct. And it is of importance that the right to colonize should be settled in the first instance; for if we have no right to occupy the country, no course of subsequent dealing can, in the forum of conscience, cure the original defect of title; and the sooner that we retrace our steps, and that every European departs from the shores of Australia, the sooner shall we have shown a sincere regret for the injury we have already caused to the natives.