HERE is a neat little volume on an important and

interesting sub- ject. A manual of the prit.ciples of Colonization, and a plain, popular, and matter-oh fact account of a new country, which seems to anvil, as fin. as Nature is enticerned, the elements of a future empire, would at any tine: have merited notice. It is still more interesting at present, when the principles which it develops are about to be reduced to practice, end the country it describes is about to be settled. Some of our readers or their friends may even meditate a trip to the colonial El Dorado that is to be ; and they of course are concerned in the volume. But, in truth, it ex- tends further. If tln: theory expounded in this hale book can be successfully reduced to practice in South Au tridia, every one will reap the benefit. There will be more corn, oil, mid wine, in Eng- land. The crowd of competitors who now jostle cavil other in every path of life, will be lesi.ened : those who 'main will have more scope and more room for exertion; those who remove will not only very much better their condition, but will assist to heti* the state of' the quondam rivals they have left behind, by produ- cing those commodities which the people of an old country hunger and thirst after, in exchange for the finer manufactures which a new people are too busy (lucky folks !) with their fields and their vine) arils and their gardens, to spend time aud trouble upon. The productive labourer, in the strict sense of the term, is not however the only person to whom this half. a-crown volume holds out en- couragement : it breathes hope into the heart of the poorest of human beings—the poor gentleman w kb a large family, or the young and aspiring professional man,who has spent his patrimony to give himselfan education and tastes beyond his means. The en- terprise, if successful, will evolve a problem more important even than all these matters: it is this—whether it be possible materially to benefit what Conservatives call the mere brute populace— whether, by applying the skill and capital of an old society to the virgin soil of a new country, wages and profits may be raised; or whether, with each improvement in art and science, the condition of the producer is fated to remain stationary or to retrograde. Look- ing at all these things, we may be allowed to devote a little more space to the subject of the volume than the volume itself might seem to require. The leading points of the book are three. From a brief but ex- tensive view of the circumstances which have attended the founda- tion of other settlements, to deduce a better theory of colonization, and to expound what that theory is. Minutely to describe the na- tural features of South Australia, and its relative position to other places, from whose productions it may derive benefit, or where it may find markets for its own. To explain the manner in which it is proposed to work the present plan of emigration; to describe the future government of the kiniended) colony; and to hint at the various inducements to going forth.

The first point enumerated—the philosophy of colonization— has been frequently and at great length discussed in the Spectator. Its exposition in the present volume lays no claim to originality ; but the obligation to England and America is fully acknowledged. The principle is briefly this—to preserve a due proportion between capital and labour—to apply the skill of an old to the fertility of a new country, so as to make industry as productive as possible. The mode by which this should be accomplished, is to prevent the dispersion of settlers, and the consequent loss of the advantages derived from the combination of labour. Instead of scattering people, they must be concentrated. A society must be carried out, not a number of single individuals. A community, in fact, will be taken from England, and set down in Australia: but when there, they must be prevented from dispersing, which experience proves they will certainly do if land can be had for asking. To prevent this, land will be sold, not given away : the lucre labourer must therefore either starve, or work for the capitalist. By the time he has saved enough to become a capitalist himself, other persons will have arrived to take his place as a labourer, and to serve him in the same capacity. For the produce of all the lands sold will be applied to pay the passage of young married labourers to the colony. The geographical position of the intended settlement, as regards other countries, is undoubtedly favourable. It is within six days' sail of Van Diemen's Land and twelve days' sail of Port Jackson. The settlers ate therefore, according to all human probability, se- cured against the dangers of starvation, either whilst raising their first crops or should their first crops fail. Three weeks will take the voyager to the Indian Islands; a calendar month to Madras or the Isle of France; six weeks to the Cape of Good Hope; for Eng- land be is more favourably situated than the Tasmanian or the Sydney coves. The export trade that can be carried on with all these places is minutely discussed in the volume. The articles are classed under three heads ; viz.

First—The Epuntaneous productions of its land and waters; Secund—Those productions which now form the exports of the Australian colonies; and, Third—Many of the articles which those colonies now import, but which they might grow and export, were the colonial capitalist able to avail himself of a constant and ample supply of labour.

They are enumerated seriatim as follows.

First—Slate, Coal, Woods of various kinds and for various purposes, Barks, Gums, Salt, Salt Fish, Seal. skins and Oil, Sperm Ind Black Whales. Second—Wheat and Flour, Fine Wool, Hides, Tallow, and Horns.

Third—Wines, Flax and Hemp. Cotton would form another article of ex- port., Specimens sent home are of the best quality ; but a sufficiently exten- sive trial has not been made to ascertain what would be the cost of production if followed with spirit and petseverance. Almonds, Aniseed, Bees' Wax and Honey, Barilla, Cheese for India and China, Carraway, Cochineal, Coriander, Dried Fruit, such as figs, currants, raisins, and prunes ; Hops, Vegetable Oils, Olives, Citrons, Oranges, Sic. Ste., may all be produced ; to avliich may be added the very important article Silk.

Another advantage, not exactly in the commercial way, but still tending to produce wealth, is mentioned by the author, who in this case shall speak for himself. Should his idea be realized, let Bath, Cheltenham, and GEORGE ROBINS look to it. The two former will lose many of their frequenters; the latter the subject matter of a sentence in capitals. Ile will no longer be able to recommend his bargains to the retired Indian with loom money than liver.

If the peculiar mode of colonization adopted should accomplish the end with which it has been devised, rendering South Australia different from all modern colonies, and far superior to any with respect to wealth, refinement, and the state of society, the existence of this colony will prove highly advantageous to the British inhabitants of India. As the European constitution suffers from the cliinate of llindostan, it is the practice with British residents in that country to remove their children at an early age (and generally accompanied by their mother) to be educated in a more healthy spot. The nearest country in which, under a healthy climate, good education can be obtained, is England ! It follows that parent and child, as well as, in many cases, husband and wife, are separated by an immense distance, for a RI eat number of years, ant! not unusually for life. In the next place, change of climate is the general prescription of Indian physi- cians to Indian invalids. But in order that the resident of 13onitsiv, Mathias, or Calcutta, should reach a cooler climate, he must either travel by land to a temperate Northern latitude, or sail across the Line (through the fire, as it were) into the tsniperate regions of the Southern hemisphere. This course being in- finitely more convenient to persons in bad health, is much prefeired by those who can affurd to pursue it ; and thus Cape Town, Hobart Town, and Sydney,

(the only towns in the South where an individual can remain to recruit his health ) are commonly visited by Indian invalids. But in none of these towro

does the Anglo. Indian gentleman meet with a state of society that is otherwise than disagreeable to him, or even with the physical conifin Ls, much less with the luxuries svhich long habit has taught him to consider as necessaries. Ite °Maim coolness for the body, but wants every thing else that would be of ser- vice to Ilit11,—a comfortable house, the company of his wife and children, plea. sant society, and entertainment for the mind. Yet what is there to prevent the formation, in one of the Southern Colonies, of a sort of pleasure-town, like one of our watering-placea, where, within five or six weeks' sail of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, the children of Anglo-Indians might, under the eye of their

inother, obtain as good an education as at Brighton ; and whither the Italian in- valid inight resort with the certainty of finding all that he could desire ? There is nothing to prevent it, but the state of all the Southern Colonies,—the poverty

and wildness of South Africa and Western Australia, and the hoi rid convict system of Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. The establishment of such a town at the Swan River was recommended to some of the founders of that miserable settlement ; and though the project appears ridiettlous now, when after five years the settlers do not raise enough food for themselves, still it is a project well deserving the attention of the founders of South Australia, whose aim it is to establish something widely different from any modern colony. The project, considering the facts on which it is based, must inevitably succeed, if the numerous precautions taken for rendering South Australia a civilized colony from the beginning should prove successful. Even the partial success of the

project at first, would tend to promote its complete success ultimately; for there can be no doubt, that every Angloslndian gentleman who should be induced to

visit the colony, would, by doing so, help to promote the wealth and civilization of the colonists. It seems more than probable, also, that many who should establish their families in the colony, and visit them from time to time, would afterwards invest their savings in the purchase of public land, and settle perma- nently on their property. To those who know how much retired Indians suffer from the damp and changeable etiolate of England, and how disagreeable English society with its purely English tastes, its coldness towards strangers, and its in- solent assumption of supetiority towards the first generation of new-rich, is to the greater pint of Anglo-Indians, this last speculation will appear by no means extravagant. But all depends On the merits of the novel system of colonization. In case the merits of that system should, as is expected, lead fl 'lies of an

order superior to the common run of emigrants to join the first body of settlers

in this colony—heads of families, that is, who would not fail to provide for the good education of their own children—then the colony will immediately offsr to Anglo-Indians the two grand desiderata of their situation,—pleasant society, and good schools, in a fine climate, and not far off.

The natural features of the country, according to the reports of a variety of superficial surveys (for we do not conceive that other

than superficial surveys have been made), are very promising. The climate is beautiful; the soil is good; the surface, now cham- pagne, now undulating, sometimes thickly wooded, sometimes open, sometimes thinly studded with trees. There is great plenty of good pasture; the wild graminivorous animals have attained the largest size of which they are supposed to be capable; and, from xatious experiments, fresh water, it seems, can always be found by digging, when there are no natural springs or lakes. The re- ports as regards the sea are more to be depended on ; for they are all made by nautical men. A glance at the map shows that there is 'great facility of water carriage and of water communication. The territory is deeply indented by the sea ; the river Murray has

been traced one thousand miles, and found navigable; two large

and most excellent harbours exist, there are several good ones, more are likely to be found; and the whole of the coast appears accessible in moderate weather—at least we hear nothing of surf or breakers. The sea teems with fish for the table, as well as with seals and whales. The proposed territory extends from the

tropic of Capricorn southward till it is bounded by the ocean, and from the 132nd to the 141st degree of east longitude. In other words, its surface is at least as extensive as France, Spain, and Portugal. Several islands are included in the territory ; the most important of which is Kangaroo Island. This spot is about SO miles long by a breadth varying from 35 or 30 to a few miles. It has a capital harbour; has been the most minutely surveyed ; and, judging from the volume, appears the best adapted to a settlement.

Some of the circumstances under which persons may advanta- geously emigrate, are mentioned in the book. This, however, is a matter on which every one must judge for himself. Of the in. tended manner of carrying the plan into execution, we have little account : but of this anon. The colony is to pay its own expenses; at least its expenses are not to be paid for by the Mother Country. At first, it is to be what is called a Crown Colony : it is to be go- verned by the King in Council,—that is, by the Colonial Secretary. When the population reaches 50,000 souls, it is to have a consti- tution, and we presume a legislative assembly. The following is an abstract of the leading provisions of the intended act under which the colony is to be established.

1. All that part of Australia which lies between the I32d and the 141st de- grees of east longitude, and between the Southern Ocean and the Tropic of Capricorn, together with the islands adjacent thereto, is erected into a British Province, by the name of South Australia, and declared, with respect to govern- ment, independent of every other colony. 2. All the lands within the above limits are declared to he public lands ; and are placed under the management of a Board of Commissioners sitting in London.

a There is hut one way in which every individual may obtain a private pi ,i- perty in any of the said lands ; namely, by paying for the same in ready money. 4. Subject to the above condition, and to the necessity of previous surveys, every one shall be free to acquirea private property in the said lands, and with- out limit as to quantity or situation.

5. The lowest price at which public land shall ever be sold in this colony, is twelve shillings per acre. 6. Subject to the above provision, Commissioners are authorized to raise or lower the price of public land, always giving public notice of any intended change in the price, and of the period during which the higher or lower price is to be required.

7. All sales to he conducted in public. S. The foregoing provisions declared to be fundamental articles of the consti- tution of South Australia, and not to be changed without the authority f Par- liament.

9. That the whole of the money obtained by the sale of public land shall form an emigration fund, and shall be employed by the Commissioners in con- veying poor labourers to the colony. 10. All the poor persons taken to the colony by means of the emigration fund, shall he, as far as it is possible to make the selection, young adult persons, of both sexes in an equal proportion.

But until land shall have been sold, there can be no emigration fund derived from the sale of land. Capitalists, therefore, going to the colony and buying land, would have to wait for about six months until labourers could be brought to them with the money that they bad paid for land. During those six months, the colony would perish for want of labour. To meet this difficulty—in order to provide emigrating capitalists with an ample supply of labour from the outset- 11. The Commission of Public Lands and Emigration is empowered to antici- pate the sales of land, by receiving purchase-money 011 account from emigrants intending to buy land, and, if necessary, by raising a loan or loans, to be secured on the whole public land of the colony ; and to employ such loan or loans iu conveying selected labourers to the colony.

The object of the Commissioners will, of course, be to furni:-.11 a sufficient supply of labour to the first emigrating capitalists ; and it may be taken for granted, that they will provide a passage for such labourers (being young adults, of both sexes in an equal proportion) as any capitalist may wish to hire in England.