BOOKS.

CHOLMONDELEY'S ULTIMA THULE.* Trirs volume exhibits ability, vigour, and original thought, per- Imps to some degree excited by a society so fermenting as that of .New Zealand, which is the Ultima Thule of the title. The vigour and originality are somewhat wild, the mode in which they exhibit themselves is somewhat discursive, and the style though powerful often tainted by that obvious effort which belongs to the followers of Carlyle. The book, however, exhibits a lofty, thoughtful, and scholarly mind, applied to the condition and prospects of a new colony ; and contains a good deal of matter important to the co- lonist who has any thought beyond his body and his breeches- pocket. Some principles in connexion with man and Christianity, with ruling, and with taxing, (inseparable from ruling,) are of uni- versal interest, as if established they would be of wide application. These disquisitions are not equal to the ability they exhibit, being crude and incomplete; they somewhat fail of effect from being out

of place. The object of the book is practical in the sense of dealing with

things as they actually exist, and theoretical as regards the future of New Zealand. The theory occasionally extends, as we have hinted, to the principles of colonization, with reference to the foundation of colonies, the mode of ruling them after the fashion of the British constitution, and the best mode of taxing them. The spirit of the English Church, and the best way of organizing and planting it in New Zealand, are also handled, and there is more or less digression in each ease from the general principles of each subject. The contents of the book consist of twenty chapters ; a few are isolated, and only redeemed from rhapsody by a lofty though crude earnest- ness of purpose, and a relation, however slight, to " 'Ultima Thule." The topics of the others are the features and capabilities of New Zealand, with the classes of persons best fitted to succeed there ; the price-of-land question in its general bearings, and its special character in reference to the present state of the colony ; a view of the new constitution, of which constitution Mr. Cholmondeley ap- proves, and makes it the peg for a discussion on colonial rule ; a pro- position to raise the future revenue of New Zealand, if of no other colony, from direct taxation ; which leads, to a discussion of fiscal principles. In addition to these topics, there is an account of the natives, chiefly in relation to their present state, but with a glance at the past and a pretty full speculation on the future; inducing a disquisition (for Mr. Cholmondeley always must discuss) as to whether savage man is of the same race or creation as civi- lized man, and whether the savage can be civilized. There is a further discussion about society and its institutions, in which a good many matters are handled. The main subject, however, is so far adhered to that New Zealand is throughout the peg, or the starting-point; and though the conclusions of the author are not in all cases conclusive, he generally says something worth attend-

ing to. The education, ability, and position of Mr. Cholmondeley, as well

as his power of allowing and discriminating, render his opinion and advice of more value than the general run of colonists even when they happen to be free from the bias of interest or the sour feelings of disappointment. He opines that New Zealand is the best colony of any for the man of capital or skill ; for the farmer, or for the labourer. It is equally adapted for the breeding of sheep or cattle, or for agriculture if a man understands agriculture,—though the warm winters are a drawback, the land not getting into good heart, owing to the absence of hard frost. But good as New Zea-

land may be, England is better.

"I would commence, as a general rule applicable to almost every Eng- lishman, by impressing upon the minds of my fellow citizens the vast supe- riority of the country, which so many are without due reflection leaving, over any other country, whether in the Old or New World. It may be the Pressure of adverse circumstances; it may be, in some instances, merely some temporary pique or dissatisfaction, which causes a citizen, in emigrating from this country, to depreciate its extraordinary advantages and to extol the country to which his thoughts are directed. Yet it will,be found that even such a one, before many months have passed over his head in a new country, will recur with regret and passionate affection to the glorious land of his birth. He can then the better appreciate its blessings when he begins to feel their absence. Let it be remembered by all, that this country has for more than a thousand years been working its way to its present position, and that for that decade of centuries the progress of its destiny has been con- fided by Providence to a succession of the greatest of men. What individual labour has it not cost—what thought, what care, to tame and shape the Bri- tish islands into a civilized commonwealth, the greatest boast of which is that there is equal law for all its inhabitants ? Let us add the gradual effect of institutions the magnificence of which is the wonder of the world.

"It is, therefore, necessary as a first step, before presuming to offer either information or advice to one who leaves such a country, to warn him plainly that he will never look upon its like again. It is a fashionable error to in- stitute an invidious comparison between England and the United States of America. Unquestionably those States offer advantages to many English-

• Ultima Thule; or Thoughts Suggested by a Residence in New Zealand. By Thomas Cholmondeley. Published by Chapman.

men such as England herself does not at present afford; and yet it is well known to those who have followed the colonist to his new home, that, had the same amount of energy and sagacity which he has been obliged to put forth in Ohio or Illinois been exerted in ngland, they would have gone fur to render the move unnecessary ; they would have secured to him an inde- pendence in his native village."

" Having premised thus much by way of salutary caution' I need hardly say that any one proceeding to an entirely new country, such as is New Zea- land, must find the trial proportionally greater. The ordinary business and civil transactions of life, which are so noiselessly conducted in England. from the effect of long custom, and the facile adaptation of long-established means to gain certain well-known ends, cannot be altogether successfully carried on by merely extempore substitutes. There is no doubt that the in- dividual powers of man are brought forth in the new struggle which pre-

sents itself to him with a power and strength which they could know in England. There is no doubt that man is calculated by his Maker for the creative and even the improvisative part which circumstances thus force upon him. But the process is to the generality a most painful and distress- ing one. Never was a colonist yet who did not at some period or other of his colonial experience bitterly regret the country which he left behind him."

Although narrative or statement hardly forms a direct feature of the Ultima Thule, there is a good deal of matter the result of ac- tual observation, with some pictures drawn direct from life. Fern- land and clearing it is one.

"Where the fern grows luxuriantly, it is a tolerably sure indication of a good soil beneath. I have seen it ten or twelve feet in height, and of such a tangled and matted growth as to be perfectly impenetrable. On a fine summer night the effect of a fire raging over such a country is extremely fine. It completely destroys the upper growth of the fern, burning it down to the very ground, which it leaves covered with a thick crust of ashes. It does not, however, in the smallest degree further the removal of the under- ground growth or root, for the fern springs stronger than ever after a fire. The strongest ploughs, the stoutest teams of horses or oxen, may be fairly tired out and beaten in the futile attempt to cut through or rather to tear up the bed of fern-root beneath the ground. These roots sometimes run to a depth of two feet. It requires repeated ploughings to break up the sur- face. If this is continually done, the under roots at length die away. The upper roots are collected into heaps and burned, for the purpose of enriching the ground, which is often very much exhausted by the fern, which it has had to support in such immense quantities. Fern-land is, in the opinion of good judges, most decidedly inferior to forest or bush land. The crop which it yields to the husbandman is smaller, and it requires a renewal and re- freshment sooner. In some places, where it appears impossible to force the plough through the fern-root, grass-seeds are sown, and the growth of grass and fern is again and again burnt off as often as possible. Under this pro- cess, it is observed that the fern gradually dies away, and the grass takes its place."

The discursive nature and vigorous character of the author's mind induce him to present many sketches and observations, occa- sionally introduced by the by, sometimes closely connected with the subject in hand and enriching it. Such is the picture of the various classes in a colony, and the exclusiveness of the middle class.

"The prospect of sheep-farming in New Zealand tends to introduce a su- perior class of colonists ; and who are they likely to be, and whence do these valuable men proceed ? The highest and lowest classes of English society are generally to be found together, both in England and in the Colonies. The middle class are the real exclusives ; their reason probably being a feeling that they are worth more than the others—that they have more to lose by failure, and more to gain by success. They are brought up to businesslike habits, and are very knowing in money-matters. Such are the people who have made England so rich and comfortable a country as she is. larmers, tradesmen, and small country and town gentry—they are great middlemen, advancers, traffickers, managers ; they virtually govern, often without os- tensibly directing ; they work hard, but not as the servants of others. It is strange, indeed, to speak of the two great extremes of English society, the upper and lower, as being so intimately allied together ; but this at least is true, that our aristocracy and peasantry are much more closely bound to- gether by common tastes' by general and by continued intercourse, than either can ever be with the great middle class, which overrides them both, and which adopts and assimilates into itself all the successful thrift of the nation.

"it is principally from this class that men proceed in a condition to take up and stock waste lands adapted for pasture. In the hands of these the available wealth of the country is to be looked for. Possessions and property are elsewhere ; but hardly and seldom ready unencumbered wealth. Gentle- men colonists are almost universally poor, sometimes even discreditable, luckless, generally of a certain pretension, and an assuming manner, which seems to throw out a challenge to the far snore acute, persevering, and wealthy man of busiuess ; as much as to say--' You are very substantial, and I am almost ragged, (a half-paid official, perhaps,) and yet, mark you, there is not a soul does not recognize in me something you have not, and never can have, which pleases them,' &c.

"The gentleman generally goes out to a colony for something good—a Government situation, in short. The man of business is certainly desirous to get everything and anything he can ; but there is much to which he is too sensible to aspire."