MR. MATTHEW'S EMIGRATION FIELDS. •
THE tendency of the public mind .towards emigration is not only indicated by the number of books which are continually appearing upon the subject, but by 8 little story told by Mr. MATTHEW in his prefitee. The original design of his work only embraced New Zea- land ; when he stated th:! subject to his publishers, the canny gangers of the public deinand strongly advised him to " treat also of Australia." 1LTpon this hint the author considerably extended the plan of his work ; which now contains a brief description of CVery country to which an Englishman is likely to emigrate —em- bracing our North Ammican Colonies, the United States,
Southern Africa, Australasia, and New Zealand ; together with accounts of the difficulties, economical, physical, and of' climate, with which the settler will have to contend, and suggestions as to the class of persons to whom the respective countries are most adapted.
The merit of the author, and the value of his matter, vary simul- taneously with his subject. Of New Zealand, our own Colonies, and the 'United States, he has considerable knowledge, if not a prac- tkal experience ; and he has attentively observed and studied the influences which geographical situation, climate, soil, and the dis- tribution of land and water, exercise upon a country and its inhabi- tants : of' government, political economy, or the practical art of ma- naging great affairs, he knows nothing. Hence, his suggestions as to climate and soil, with the effects they produce on the material pros- perity of' the emigrant, or his bodily health, are stated with clear- ness, vigour, and seeming truth ; and his views on these points are entitled to considerable attention—subtracting, perhaps, some bias against or in favour of particular regions. On the other hand, his political and economical notions are either wild, or abstract, or im- practicable ; and his suggestions or hints, when rising beyond indi- vidual eases, very often partake of the same character. Even his judgment in such matters is often unsound; and he affords a re- markable proof how very little will sense or shrewdness alone avail a mind when exercised upon subjects of which it has no knowledge. Leaving New Zealand ffir a time, we shall give a brief and running commentary upon the various " Emigration Fields" which Mr. MATTHEW treats of; and which are doubtless all that arc fitted for the habits and constitution of natives of Great Britain or Ireland.
Mexico is one Of Mr. MArrunw's schemes. He would have us quarrel with the United States about Texas and, having settled that matter, make an arrangement with our Mexican ally for the colonization of the North-western parts of the country, by some 4‘ million ".of Irishmen. In the North-eastern parts of the United States, he thinks hard-working mechanics, or agricultural labourers, may do well enough, as skilled labour is in sufficient demand there, and the density of population with the habits which flow from it more resembles those of England : but consumption sweeps off " about one-fifth" of the community. The basin of the Missis- sippi presents everywhere a fertile soil, with plenty of water-car- riage ; and in the boundless expanse of the Prairies land is already cleared for the settler : but miasma taints the atmosphere. "Fever and ague, and in the foil dangerous remittents, are more or less common over all the region, increasing in malignity as we get lower down in the system of rivers, till at New Orleans, "the wet grave," we reach the ne pins Ora of insalubrity." The highlands of the Southern States and Kentucky are well suited for fruit and pas- turage ; but the blight of slavery is spread over this region ; and many delicious spots are remote from roads and markets, and prac- tically inaccessible : so this district is for emigrants fifty years
henve. The Western territory, and that beyond the Rocky Moun- tains, are for other reasons in a similar category ; and the Atlantic seabord in the Southern States is, of' course, altogether put aside, from its pestiferous climate, and the degradation attached to labour in all slaveholding communities.
Of the British North American Colonies, Mr. MATTHEW speaks very unfavourably, without regard to the present disturbances..
The soil is soon exhausted ; the " clearing" very heavy work ; the country thinly settled; and Englishmen are not so well fitted as Americans for contending with the difficulties of the " bush." The climate is in extremes ; and the severity of the winter forces all agricultural labour to be done in a limited time, under us burning sun, with the additional toil, unknown elsewhere, of storing im-
mense quantities of hay, &c. for the sole winter consumption of cattle, which are yet emaciated in the spring. These evils aggra- vate a climate not naturally healthy to Englishmen : and the country has no natural riches ; it is too cold for wool, and scarcely furnishes an export.
As the passages descriptive of the features of these countries are written with vigour and a picturesque character, we will select a few as a specimen of the writer, as wellas•for the information they contain—not perhaps new, but newly and practically put. We begin with an Important point for an emigrant
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