FEMALE MIDDLE-CLASS EMIGRATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 554, 12 July 1862, Page 6

FEMALE MIDDLE-CLASS EMIGRATION.

The following letter has boon addressed to the editor of The Times:—

" Sir, — ' J, X.' having given you her melancholy experience, and forwarded her four-year-old news aboi t Melbourne ,!illow me to make a few extracts from letters received by the la.st mail, which will place the picture in another, ami, happily, in a brighter !i"ht.

" The fir&t awoant is written by a lady who left this o(Tic« la.vb November, She was slightly deaf, and hnd been ei^ht months unsuccessfully seeking employment" here as a nursery governess, MUs was an exceedingly amiable and dependable, hut not accomplished, woman. She had never received more than £30 a-ycar as salary in England. She says :—: — " ' Aftei* landing at Sandridge Pier we went on by rail tn Melbourne, and obtained accommodation at the Hotel, for which we paid 30s. a-'.veek. We reached Melbourne on the 28th of January (Tuesday), and I obtained my present situation on the following Saturday. I agreed to take £50 a-year as salary ; but the family very generously promised to raise ie to £60 before I had been with them a week. I have six children to tcich, all under eleven 3 r eurs of age, and there are no lessons on Saturday. With regard to governesses emigrating, sis they tire principally required for the families of squatters in the bush (whore masters cannot be had), it is necessary that they should be accomplished. Music and dancing are more thought of than anything else, An accomplished governess may get ,£IOO a-year in the bush, and I have heard of one having L2OO at Bendigo. 3

" The next extract is written from South Ynvra, dated February 17, 18G2 :—: —

" ' I have much pleasure in writing, to toil you I am well, and in the enjoyment of much comfort and happiness. On aniving, I was claimed by re'atives, who had heard of my coming, and for the present I am domiciled with them. Do accept my wannest thanks for all your kindness. You have been the means of my finding a happy home earlier than I should luve done, and in this wide earth that is something^ " It may be interesting to my readers to know, that when thii young girl first wrote to me she did not sign her name, and afterwards gave as a reason for such singularity, ' that her name had been before the public in advertisements, and in the hands of the agents for &o long a time, that she was actually ashamed to sign it.' " Tlio third letter is written by a governess, who is located five miles from Sydney, and is as *bllows :—: —

" ' I think I may venture to send you a letter, as lam now beginning to undeistand something of colonial lite. On my arrival I was cngagetf, through the kindness of the captain of the vessel we sailed by, as a governess to a family living five miles from Sydney. I had offers of seven situations in one month, so I did not see after a school. I did not muke an effort to obtain tho situation I now hold, and have not even thought of any of the letters I took to the Jlishop. This is ft ■wonderful country, and must one day become considerable among the nations of the world; and it is something extraordinary what has been accomplished since emigration commenced. All Australians love luxury and money, they live vory much 'out of doors, and eat great quantities of fruit. Beef and mutton are very cheap here; rice is eaten as a vegetable, and ten very much taken. It is a grent mistake to bring clothes with you; they can be bought reasonably, and warm clothing is little required here. Boots and shoes are expensive, and a stock of them would be useful. It is also a mistake to. bring furniture f.om England. A house must be furnished suitable for the climate. People are wanted here, but not any sort. ! The people who come should be intelligent; idle I people will not do in Australia, (Where will' they do, and for what country are.they fitted?) Australians are keen, very quick, and very fur judges of English people. Pineapples, peaches, I and the finest fruits grow in tlie open air,' without] ewe; and the children are just like the vegetation

here — neither appear to submit to much control. I am certain it will be a long time before I see the old country again;i n ; perhaps never. I love it as ever, but I can earn more money here, aud I expect a !«■ ays to find something to do; there are enough of us at home. With kind remembrances and best wishes,' &c.

" I shall conclude by quoting from another letter received als<> by the last mail, from one of our lady correspondents (Mrs . Thomas Turner a'Beckett), to whose energy, forethought, and management our success at Melbourne is mainly due. After mentioning seriatim the arrivals of certain persons, and where they are now happily placed, she proceeds to say :—: —

" ' The appearance of the elder Miss Z (I did not see her sister) pleased me very much, and before I saw her she was spoken of very fayorably by Mr. , the first officer of the ship. There was no doubt of her superiority over Miss A (who, by the way, obtained a situation as nursery governess, at £45 a-year, very shortly after landing), but I must confess I was glad to see a lady of such unexceptionable address present herself. I was very much pleased to think that the lady who is the ' long headed work, r,' is impressed with the idea of sending out the best, of whatever class they may be, More and more do I feel the importance afc this distance from dear old England of setting good examples to our young Australians And what ought to be the standard ! Tho highest possible, I fuel, and have felt ever since my arrival, some seven years ago, how utterly young people here are left to themselves, to form their own opinions and manners, from the lack of those who would know how to teach them. At present the adults have too great, remembrance of the old country to forget all its time honored customs, but for the children I can expect nothing but deterioration if the best of old England's sous and daughters do not come and show us what we ought to bo. The precocity of children and insubordination to authority are continually presenting themselves to people who arrive here. People get content with inferiority if there is not something ever round them to show them what is better than themselves. I am not surprised at sensible people taking their families home for their education. They will have to do it unless the superior clas3 come out to teach them. We have a quantity of governesses who profess, but do not answer to their profession. I wish that you could persuade efficient clergymen of the Church of England to emigrate. The Bishop of Sydney has boen advised to proceed to England for the purpose of inviting some to come out. We have very few really efficient men. As I said before, people arc too apt to think that anything "will do for Australia, forgetting that we are not uncivilized beings, but have a vivid remembrance of everything great and gool belonging to the old country, and able to appreciate efficiency in every I position in life.'

" Any remarks of mine after such ample and efficient testimony would indeed be superfluous ; buc, with your permission, I hope to return to the subject in a feiv days, there being one or two points connected with emigration generally which it is highly important should be placed before the public. Believe me,

" Your most obedient servant, " Mama S, Rte.

"P.S,— I need scarcely add that the letters from which these quotations have been made can be seen any day at this office, " Lincoln's Inn, April 24."

Battery-Piate for the Great Exhibition. — On Friday, a gigantic hammered iron battery plate was forwarded by the Mersey Steel and Iron Company to London, to be placed in the Oeat Exhibition. It \yas 21 feet 3 inches in length, G feet 3 inches wide, 5^ inches thick, and weighed between 13 and 14 tons. This gigantic plate, which was more than double the size of those supplied for the construction of the steam-rams now in course of being built, is remarkable in several respects ; in none more than in ifs width. In this latter respect, it is, we believe, unparalleled, for a hammered plate. It wasa remarkably fine specimen ot iron-forging. — Liverpool Albion. It is stale.l that Paul Delaroche's celebrated picture of " Marie Antoinette led to Execution" has been purchased for the enormous sum ot £32,000 by a London brewer.

The " Female Blondin" was performing lost week at Sheffield, when the rope broke, and she fell a distance of twenty to thirty feet, and was seriously injuvad — Glasgow Post. Departure of Coventry Weavers for Canada.— On Sunday 240 poor Coventiy riband weavers were desp.Uchpd from Liverpool. for Quebec, in the Culloden, oue of the emigration ship 3 belonging to Messrs. Sabel & Searle, In addition to the weavers there were about 100 other emigrants on the Culloden. About the end of the month 85 female adults (weavers) will be sent to Queensland, by the Emisi'fttion Commissioners. They will be clothed by the Coveutry committee, and in addition each emigrant will receive £5.— Leeds Mercury.

Foreign Police koh the Intbihtational Exht« bition.— On Tuesday morning, the first of the Parisian defectives to ba employe.i at tlio opening of the International Exhibition, arrived in tue metropolis, and they will be followe I by some of the most experienced officers of the Berlin, lirussels, and Vienna police, to assist the metropolitan police force in the detection of offenders, and the protection of the public from plunder ; numbers of the most expert ihieves having already made their way to the metropolis from the chief coiitinent.il cities, iv expectation of reaping a plentiful harvest a f this great gathering of the peopk of all nations. — Glasgow Post. A curious case of manslaughter has occurred at Sundeihmd. Two pirls, named Williamson andKathI'urn, quarrelled in the btreet. The former seized the I alter by the. arm, and so violently twisted it, that inflnmination speeuily appeared, and death ensued. Williamson, who ie;i c ; seventeen years old, is in custody, charged \\ itli manslaughter. The deceased was ouly fourteen years of age. The following notice is posted on the estate of a liable marquis in Kent :— " Notice is hereby given that the Marquis of (on account of the backwardness of the season) will not shoot himself nor any of his tenants till after the lGth. of September."— Court Joui'iinl. A grand military review, which it is expected will be attended by a force of 25,000 of the regular troops ami volunteers, lm been arrrauged 111 1 take place at Aldorshott shortly after the opening of the International Exhibition, in the presence of various distinguished foreign visitors. The Late Sir Hobeut Peel and Catiiolio Emancipation.— Sir 11. Peel writes to the Times ■with reference to a statement iv its leading columns that his iather, so far from disapproving of Catholic emancipation, " has distinctly stated that in passing Catholic emiDcipation he acted on a deep conviction thalthe measuiv was not only conducive' to the general welfare, but imperatively necessary to avert from the Church, and from the interests of institutions connected with tho Church, an imminent and increasing danger."

The Cur/nvATiONOT? Cotton at Algiers. — Some interesting particulars are published in a French paper of the establishment of an English cotton cultivation company in Algiers. The company propose to take 7,000 acres of land on the plains of Habrn, and the Government has given them a grant of tiie territory, with what appears to be a proviso that they shall drain 30,000 acres of the marshes of the Macta. Negotiations have been completed, and the company are apparently going to work in a first-rate manner. Statistics op the Post Office.— Of monpy orders the total in 1839 was 198,000, amouuting to £320,000 In 1861, 755.000, amounting to £14.616,000. The number of letters in 1839 was 76 millions ; in 1861 it had been swollen to the stupendous number of 593 millions. The average number of letters to each person in 1339 was, in Bnidind, 4 : in Ireland, 1 ; iv Scotland, 3. In 1861, in England, 24 ; in Ireland, 9; in Scotland, 19 ; giving a general average of 20 to each individual ; thus showing the social advantage of the change. The weight of letcera carried in 1839 was 758 tons. In 1861 it was 4300 ton 9. The aver.i.'o daily mileage in 1839 did not exceed 54,000 nviles. In 18(51 it had lisen to 149,000 miles, or six liiues the circumference of the globe. The officers employed in 1839 were about 8000. In 1861, thert were 25.473 ; in addition to which there was a large class of others engaged for a portion of time. The gro°s revenue in 183:) was £,2,350,000. Iv 1861 it was upwards of 3} millions, and the million and a lnlfof nett revenue of iBO7. when Mr. Hill published his plan, stood restored !

A Sad Case.— A stacking ense of unintentioned self-mur.ler was disclosed in London on Wednesday, - at a coroner's inque.-t. Two lovers, who had some quarrel, appeared to have made up their differences in a public-house, and tlie girl called for a pint of rum to treat the company present. The young man, in the fulness of his joy at the reconciliation, seized the spirits, and, declaring that ho would drink her health as it had never been drunk before, swallowed the whole at a draught. He staggeied to a s,pat, b«came insensible, and iv a couple of hours iyas a corpse. — English Paper. Confessing.— A Russian serf goes to confess. "Ah. dear lather," he says. " I have stolen some pigeons." "Pilous, and v hat did) vu do v.ith them] Where are they 1 ?"—" They aye lying in that corner."— "Lef them lie there," and the confessor lays a penance on him, and confiscates the pigeons. The next time the peasant confesses. " I love a pretty girl, and'she has not proved unkind to me." " What, a pretty girl 1 What is her name ! Where i.; sho- V* '" Oh, no, dear father, that is not like the piceo-is." — The Journal* of Varhhagen yon J2nsc~(Tagebucher yon Karnliaatn yon Ense.)