The Traversing, For The First Time By Civilised Man, Of So
Large A Portion Of The Surface Of This Island, Could Not Fail To Be
Attended With Many Discoveries Deeply Interesting To The Scientific
Inquirer, In Botany, Geology, And Zoology.
Your contributions to each of
these departments of knowledge have consequently been equally novel and
valuable.
In a social and economical point of view, it is difficult, if
not impossible, to over-estimate the importance of the discovery recently
made of an all but boundless extent of fertile country, extending to the
north, soon to be covered with countless flocks and herds, and calculated
to become the abode of civilized man. In its political aspect, the
possession of an immense territory, now for the first time discovered to
be replete with all those gifts of nature which are necessary for the
establishment and growth of a civilized community, cannot be regarded as
a fact of small importance; nor the possession of a continuous tract of
fine and fertile land, that connects us with the shores of the Indian
ocean, and which would appear to render the Australian continent a mere
extension of the Anglo-Indian empire as a matter of indifference. It
would be almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of these
considerations; I shall, however, abstain from occupying your time by
dwelling upon what must be so obvious to all. The Colonists of New South
Wales, Dr. Leichhardt, have been anxious to evince their gratitude to you
for all that you have done in behalf of this their adopted country. As
soon as your return was announced, subscriptions were entered into for
the purpose of presenting to you a suitable testimonial. To the fund
raised for this purpose persons of all classes, and from every quarter of
the colony, have contributed. The sum that has been raised amounts to
1518 pounds 18 shillings 6 pence. The Executive, with a laudable
emulation, have presented you a sum of 1000 pounds from the Crown
revenue. Gratifying as this demonstration must doubtlessly prove to your
feelings, it is unquestionably beneath your deserts; and the substantial
reward due to your past exertions will be found in the undying glory of
having your name enrolled amongst those of the great men whose genius and
enterprise have impelled them to seek for fame in the prosecution of
geographical science - with those of Niebuhr, Burckhardt, Park,
Clapperton, Lander, and, in Australian geography, with those of Oxley,
Cunningham, Sturt, Eyre, and Mitchell. In these days of universal
knowledge, when there are so many competitors for distinction in every
department of science, few attain the desired goal of scientific
eminence. Perhaps no one has so fair a chance of giving immortality to
his name as he who has first planted his foot where civilized man had
never before trodden. The first chapter in the history of Australia, some
thousand years hence, will present a narration of those adventurous
spirits - of the exploits of those who may fairly be considered its first
conquerors, and by whose peaceful triumphs an empire had been added to
the parent state.
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