the greater part of
whom were remarkable for their intelligence, their industry, and their
enterprise, which, in the instance of the Burra Burra, and other copper
mines had met with such signal success. When it became known that gold
in vast quantities could be found within 300 miles of their own
territory, they could not remain unmoved. The exodus was almost
complete, and entirely without parallel. In those days there was no
King in Israel, and every woman did what was right in her own sight."
Another reason I had for writing the book. Thackeray had written about
an emigrant vessel taking a lot of women to Australia, as if these were
all to be gentlemen's wives--as if there was such a scarcity of
educated women there, that anything wearing petticoats had the prospect
of a great rise in position. I had hoped that Smith, Elder, & Co. would
publish my book, but their reader--Mr. Williams, who discovered
Charlotte Bronte's genius when she sent them "The Professor," and told
her she could write a better, which she did ("Jane Eyre")--wrote a
similar letter to me, declining "Clara Morison," as he had declined
"The Professor," but saying I could do better. J. W. Parker & Son
published it in 1854, as one of the two-volume series, of which "The
Heir of Redcliffe" had been most successful. The price was to be 40
pounds; but, as it was too long for the series, I was charged 10 pounds
for abridging it. It was very fairly received and reviewed. I think I
liked best Frederick Sinnett's notice in The Argus--that it was the
work of an observant woman--a novelist who happened to live in
Australia, but who did not labour to bring in bushrangers and convicts,
and specially Australian features. While I was waiting to hear the fate
of my first book, I began to write a second, "Tender and True," of
which Mr. Williams thought better, and recommended it to Smith, Elder,
and Co., who published it in two volumes in 1856, and gave me 20 pounds
for the copyright. This is the only one of my books that went through
more than one edition. There were two or three large editions issued,
but I never got a penny more. I was told that nothing could be made out
of shilling editions; but that book was well reviewed and now and then
I have met elderly people who read the cheap edition and liked it. The
motif of the book was the jealousy which husbands are apt to feel of
their wives' relations. As if the most desirable wife was an amiable
orphan--if an heires