ce to its
principles. This discussion has been extremely fertile of controversies;
but the general reader would not be likely to enjoy them.

Should the reader infer from the record of ecclesiastical divisions that
the colonial temper is intolerant, he would be greatly mistaken. The
laity, often even the clergy, have given evidence of their charity in
friendly sympathy and generous assistance. The rights of conscience are
generally understood and respected; and although many are prepared to
liberate the churches from dependence on the state, but few would desire
to establish invidious distinctions. The tendency of colonial life is to
annul the prejudices of European society, and to yield to every man the
position which may be due to his talents and virtues. This feeling is,
however, found compatible with religious predilections. One hundred
clergymen, many wholly sustained by the people, labor to diffuse their
views of Christianity in the various districts of the island; and the
emigrant population are usually in attendance on their teaching. The
census is an imperfect index of actual strength, the smaller sects
exerting proportionately more influence. When the claims of prescriptive
authority are finally exchanged for a reliance on moral power these
discrepancies will disappear, and a vast apparatus, already supplied by
the state and private zeal, will bring within reach of every colonial
family some form of Christian doctrine. The tendency of small
communities is not unfavorable to the progress of religious
denominations. The only interruption to the monotony of life is found in
the church: the only association which can be readily offered to
strangers is provided by the religious bond. Opinion acts with increased
power where the social inequalities are slight. Thus, in the United
States of America every extravagance of sentiment is tolerated; but
there a man of no religion is suspected, shunned, and left to solitude.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 204: _Lang's History of New South Wales_, vol. ii. p. 258.]

[Footnote 205: An organist of St. John's Church, Launceston, refused to
play, and was sentenced to punishment; but was restored by the
intercession of the clergyman.]

[Footnote 206: _Macarthur's New South Wales._]

[Footnote 207: "Sir George Murray maintained that this country was bound
to provide the means of religious instruction for the people of our
colonies: at the same time he begged to say, that so far from