Page:The State and Position of Western Australia.djvu/14

 only to the legislator, but to the simple citizen, no one in the present state of our population will be inclined to question. That it is felt to be so, the state of the press fully demonstrates. The published accounts of colonial resources and expectations held out to the emigrant form, at present, a considerable branch of our periodical literature, and are sought after with avidity. It is to be feared, however, that much of what is thus communicated to the public has no better authority than the expectations of the sanguine, or the prejudice caused by failures that arise from the absence of those qualifications which all emigrants, especially those to a new colony, should more or less bring with them; as their undertaking, even under the most favourable circumstances, is an arduous one, requiring judgment, perseverance, and fortitude.

The author writes for the enterprizing, but rational and sober-minded, emigrant. If the account he has to give of the resources of Western Australia present unexpected attractions, he has no explanation to offer. He only relates what he believes to be true. The task in which he engages he has undertaken with reluctance, literary composition being foreign to his habits; but since his return to England early in the past year, its urgency has been impressed upon him, from conversations he has had with persons of all classes (including well-informed individuals in and out of Parliament) who feel an interest in the settlement. He has found that the general impression on their minds is, that no satisfactory conclusion could be arrived at respecting that colony, the existing accounts of it being so contradictory; and that families in different parts of the kingdom are still in uncertainty, after having long since commenced arrangements for emigrating thither.

The information of the author respecting Western Australia has been acquired during a residence there of from