rapture I should have felt, had I been allowed to kiss them away led Ellen and her aunt to the carriage; was asked to go home and sup with them; scarcely took time to answer, but leaped after them into the carriage like a flying Mercury; never was in such spirits; was afraid lest they should think me tipsy; thought Ellen's hair more tastefully dressed than I had ever seen it; how beautifully her light auburn ringlets danced over her dark blue eyes! Sat with them till her aunt gave me a pretty broad hint, that it was time to be gone. Twelve o'clock.-An enchanting night; the moon travelling through a cloudless sky; composed half a sonnet as I walked homewards; passed Dick Oliver's; saw a light in his room; thought I would call in and tell him of the pleasure I had been enjoying; knew that Dick was my best-my very best friend; found him sitting over a tumbler of negus, was prevailed upon to take some also; repeated my half sonnet; Dick laughed, but I knew he was no judge of poetry; left him at two in the morning; went home, got into bed,-fell asleep, and dreamed of Ellen Tracey. "Eheu! fugaces, Posthume! Posthume! April 20, 1823. Eight o'clock, A.M.-Was awakened from a comfortable nap, by the horrid rumbling of a confounded dust cart; heard, at the same time, the horse neigh immediately under my window, and the dustman ring his bell with the most consummate violence, and cold-blooded impertinence; felt inclined to load a pair of pistols, and shoot both the man and his horse through the head; was convinced I should not get the better of the shock for a whole week. Ten o'clock.-Sat down to breakfast; eat nothing; the bread was sour, the eggs rotten, the tea too weak, the coffee too strong; started, when I recollected it was my sixtieth birth-day; went to the glass; thought there was something wrong about it, for most of my hair appeared grey, and innumerable wrinkles were visible on my face and forehead. Eleven o'clock.-Laid my hand on some old manuscripts; found among them part of my journal, written many years ago; read that part which was dated 20th of April, 1783: wondered how I could ever have given way to so much levity and frivolity, as it convicted me of: thought of my father and mother, and grandmother, whom I had long since laid in the dust, and could scarcely refrain from tears at the recollection thus excited in my bosom. Placing my elbow on the table, leaning my head on my hand, and involuntarily closing my eyes, I thought on my past life, as on a long and troubled dream: here and there, bright_objects flitted before me, but they, as well as the darker and less pleasing figures, were soon hid in a dim and uncertain twilight. A melancholy sensation of loneliness stole over me; I felt that the hey-day of youth and youthful enjoyment was gone for ever, when "Simply but to be, To live, to breathe, is purest ecstacy." One o'clock.-Ordered the gig to the door; wrapped myself up in my great coat, and set off on my morning ride; horse rather fiery; determined to sell him, and get another; met Mr. and Mrs Oliver; took no notice of either, but felt my heart beat irregularly for some minutes; found myself in an excellent mood for misanthropy. When a man becomes the dupe of his own erroneous opinions and false judgments, he often degenerates into a misanthrope, eager to revenge upon his fellow men those misfortunes, which, he imagines, they, and not his egregious folly, have entailed upon him. Felt, however, that my misanthropy had something like a just foundation to rest upon It is surely hard to be deceived by him, whom you consider your best friend, and to be jilted by her, upon whom all your reflections had been irrecoverably placed. Thought of my grandmother; recollected that I had often treated her advice with too little deference; wished that she were still alive, that I might have told her how exactly we agreed about Mrs. Oliver. Three o'clock.-Visited the family burying place; stood beside the tombs of my father, my mother, my grandmother, and my only sister; did not shed any tears, but earnestly prayed that I might soon lie beside them; felt as if all my previous existence had been a blank, destitute of thought and action; reflected, that the only sincere disinterested friend I had ever known, had long since gone down into the grave, and that I was left a solitary wanderer without one tie to bind me to the world; ruminated on the deceitfulness of youthful hope, and youthful love, and youthful friendship; felt something like tears trickling down my cheek; tried to dry my eyes, but could not. Five o'clock.-Dined with a newly married couple; there was a large merry party, but the bride and her young husband, seemed to be more than merry; they looked perfectly happy; they had known and loved each other from childhood; almost envied them, and could not help thinking just for a moment, of what Ellen Tracey once was; eat nothing; thought the young people very boisterous in their mirth; could not bear the loud peals of laughter; sought for refuge amongst several old ladies; found that they were all watching with delight, the merriment of their children, and their grandchildren; sighed deeply, and contrived to steal away unobserved; need not say contrived, for few knew I was in the room, and none missed me when I departed. Eight o'clock.-Went by myself to the Theatre; with me a very favorite place of amusement. Lady Howard, formerly Miss Aubrey happened to be in the box into which I went; I was received politely, I may even say cordially, by herself and her husband. Ꭰ Lady Howard must, at one time, have been a decided beauty, she is even now a fine graceful looking woman. Saw Dick Oliver and Ellen; Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, I mean, in an opposite box; did not think they looked happy; felt half angry at myself, but could not help pitying Ellen. Did not like the play; it was "Venice Preserved." Probably the acting was not good, yet Miss Kelly played Belvidera; observed, that the ladies never think of shedding tears in a theatre now-a-days. Did not stay to see the after-piece. Ten o'clock.-Felt no inclination to eat supper; read a few pages of Young's "Night Thoughts;" went to bed, and dreamt that I was wandering alone at midnight amidst the ruins of Rome. THE VAN diemen's LAND ALMANACK FOR 1833. Who that has seen this agreeable and most useful little volume, will sneer at the state of Literature in Van Diemen's Land? Here is a well, nay an elegantly, printed brochure of some three hundred pages, containing a vast variety of information, and presenting the reader with an accurate, impartial, and spirited account of the Colony, generally speaking, written in a good and masterly style, and, altogether, exhibiting abundant proofs of the painstaking care and tact of its compiler. Well acquainted as we thought ourselves with the history, condition, and resources of Tasmania, we are, nevertheless, astonished at their extent and interest, as viewed collectedly in the volume now before us; and we are very sure, that our friends "at home" will more than share our wonderment, as they peruse, delightedly, a work of so much interest. Thirty years ago, Van Diemen's Land was worse than a wilderness-the abode only of the brutal savage, and the no more brutal beast of prey. Human habitation it had none, save the wretched hut of the miserable native; and nature revelled throughout the whole Island in its most rude and wildest riot. What is the case now? The nucleus of a powerful territory has been planted; towns and villages have sprung up in the very heart of the apparently impenetrable forest; an extensive and increasing commerce has been established, and every where are seen the marks of man's power and perseverance, triumphing over physical obstacles with a celerity and certainty perfectly marvellous. Who, as he gazes upon any of the beautiful and finely cultivated estates, with which the Colony is now studded, can reconcile with their present luxuriant condition, the idea, that they were once-and at no very distant period-covered with timber and stone? True it is, there are in many instances, great facilities afforded, both by the soil and the climate of this country; but these would have availed but little, if they had not been judiciously turned to account, by the reflection and industry of man. Although we are fain to confess, that there is plenty of room in Hobart Town for architectural innovations and improvements, still, all things considered, it is a very surprising town. It has good shops, excellent inns, with excellent prices, a commodious church, with a very in-commodious steeple, and several public buildings of a character by no means conspicuous for elegance, while its inhabitants are computed in the aggregate at eight thousand souls. This is pretty well for a place not quite thirty years old, and must impress the stranger with some very pleasing notions of the spirit and perseverance of Tasmanians. But, if we continue our description of the Colony, we shall, ourselves, perpetrate a history, instead of inditing a short review of the Van Diemen's Land Almanack: we shall now proceed therefore, to the more immediate object of our present article-commenting, as we go on, upon such topics as we may select for quotation. Let us premise, however, that the mere business part of the Almanack is extremely well done. The geographical descriptions are concise and accurate; the Calendar, useful and perspicuous; and the observations upon Farming and Horticulture, especially plain and practical. We cannot say quite so much in favour of the Zoological information, which is meagre and unsatisfactory. So little indeed, is really and scientifically known of the Natural History of this country, that we are not surprised at any omission, in this respect, in the work before us; and as it contains so much useful matter of almost every other description, we must not be too fastidious upon a point, which, to many may appear, after all, of no great importance. May we, however, implore the Editor to pay more attention to this subject, during the coming year? It is by no means improbable, that we shall afford him some useful sources of information, through the medium of this Miscellany, as we are extremely anxious to elucidate, as clearly as we can, the interesting Zoological mysteries of this interesting country. The article on Exports and Imports, will be read with interest by every intelligent person. In wool, the increase is large and encouraging. In 1827, the quantity exported to England, was 192,075 lbs., while in 1831, it had progressively increased to 1,359,203 lbs. ; and as the quality of our wool is yearly improving, we may expect the increase to continue, till the exportation of this important article becomes a principal source of Colonial, as well as individual, prosperity. There are two subjects lightly treated of, upon each of which we shall make a few remarks. First, "Prison Discipline;" and second, "Aborigines." In the first, the writer has chiefly turned his attention to disprove the opinion, entertained by many persons "at home," that transportation to this Colony is no punishment. The most positive evidence in support of this opinion, is furnished by Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who, it will be recollected, was imprisoned in Newgate for three years, for the abduction of Miss Turner, of Cheshire. During his incarceration, Mr. Wakefield occupied a large portion of his time in gaining practical information respecting Prison Discipline; and, although his statements have been greatly questioned, especially those which refer to transportation, we have reason to know, that, as far as the statements themselves go, they are perfectly correct,-in other words, that if they are erroneous as to their application, they are true as to their existence. "I had particular opportunities," says Mr. Wakefield, "of observing the impression made upon the minds of convicts under sentence of transportation, because, in the first place, there is always a considerable number of such persons in Newgate; and, secondly, Newgate is a sort of lodging-house for convicts coming from the country prisons: they remain there for a short time, but quite long enough to give any body, who is an inmate of the prison, an opportunity of observing the impression upon their minds. I took very great pains," he continues, "during the course of three years, to observe the state of mind of those persons, and I do not now remember a single instance, in which a prisoner appeared to me to be deeply affected, by the prospect of being transported to the Colonies, when he expected to go there, and bent upon attaining a degree of wealth and happiness, such as he had no prospect of attaining in this country. Amongst a number of persons sentenced to transportation, and living together, I generally found one, and sometimes two or three, who had already been in the Colonies; and it is very seldom a session passes at the Old Bailey, without the conviction of some man, who has been transported before,-consequently, the convicts associating with these men, have the best opportunity of hearing reports as to the state of the convicts in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. These reports are always exceedingly favorable; in many cases, no doubt, they are much exaggerated in favor of the convict, because a man who returns from transportation, takes pleasure in making people believe that he has cheated the law, and that he has enjoyed himself, notwithstanding the sentence passed upon him. But whilst some allowance must be made, for this exaggeration of the returned convict, the story he has to tell is, when true, a very favorable one in the estimation of these people. He states such facts as, that a great number of the persons who keep carriages in Sydney, were once convicts, and he gives the names of these persons, and describes how they, in the course of a very few years, have raised themselves from the situation of convicts, to that of the most important persons, in point of wealth, perhaps, in the Colony. All these representations are received with great delight by the convict, and those who think upon the subject at all, go out with the prospect of benefitting themselves and doing well." Thus far Mr. Gibbon Wakefield, and Mr. James Busby, late Collector of the Internal Revenue of New South Wales, affords us |