Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

AUSTRALIA'S FOUNDATION DAY.
Douglas Jerrold once said that if
half London were swallowed up by an
earthquake the survivors would meet
among the ruins and have a dinner to
celebrate the event. TUc famous
satirist undoubtedly hit off one of the
habits of his fellow-countrymen in flu's ;
characteristic suggestion, but a habit
not altogether to be deprecated. - The !
landmarks of history are welt worth
preserving, and it is not enough for .
them to be entombed in : gq eneydo- ;
pcedia of dates, if they teach lessons '
that are worth remembering." The
custom of celebrating -great events
is sanctioned by high authorities, and
may be traced back to a remote
antiquity, for even to the present time
the Jews commemorate their1 emanci-
I>ation from Egyptian bondage, when
they marched out as an independent
nation under the leadership of Moses.
The annual observance of-the festival
was incorporated in the laws they
were bound to obey, and among the
regulations provision was made that
its true character and significance
should be perpetuated to all genera
tions. Since that time the chosen
people have been driven from the land
towards which they then were journey
ing and scattered over the face of the
earth, and yet through dozens of cen
turies, despite exile and persecution,
they, have preserved their race from
absorption and their religion I^om de
cay. The continually reiterated re-;
minders of their origin and' earij
history, with' the belief in a special
providence and coming glories, have
mightily aMed in the -work." -Some
thing.of the same kind-may be seen'
in = tiie history of: *be - United States,
which claimed to-be tree; sovereign,
and independent: .about «. fortnight
after the battle.of Bunker's UilL; At.:
that time the.union was loose aml'iwe-
■carious,;,The: persnanent Ladbesicai: af
several; pfv the £ St*rt«?; *vas donbtfvl*,
and several years elapsed before, the
war ..of independence was orer and a.
settled constitution^aldislied.ret.the
signing of, the declaiation_of indep^nr
dencc" on" July 4, 1776, has ever sirieje"
been recognised _. as o signalising .dip'
birth of'thes naHbn. Ttie 'annual "reipl- 1
tog of" that 'document? lt& liifliUal
proclamation i that' all ;meri; are W
nature- free and equal, tfie oratory i^
has inspired.ahdihe^tJembtistrations by"
which it is aecompanjed; hate doric
more' than any -otlieroTieXhmg'to -con^
6erre the solidarity of the -nation and
promote die assimilation of immi
grants from other lands. To this, and
to the : .coloring given •to ,hfstory in
national school books, is attributed .the
persistent antipathy to the British and
their institutions that lias, so fre
quently shown itself, and only of late
years seems to be yielding ; to. a intfre
just, intelligent, and noble sentiment.
A national holiday may appear to be
consecrated principally to recreation
and merrymaking, "but •underlying ail
this the occasion it commemorates aud
tlie i>riuciplee for which it stands are
present to the public ' consciousness;
and-exert a powerful influence'on cha
racter. ' :■ .. ■
Australia, when united must bare its
national birthday. The examples, that
have been cited show that on the
merest utilitarian grounds -such a. cele
bration iSA necessity, and -it is .almost
equally obvious that the date^shonld
lie one in which eyery part oi the-epii
tlnent and all classedwill, bare a com
mon interest . ,The' suggestion made
sometime ago by .Mr" Holder that Mtt£
24 should be selected has anuch" in ijs
favor, for it would "keep alive" fn a
special sense. the 'of the best
-and greatest Queen that ever rule* tn
out: owiTor any oi&er conntty, and :of
the most illustrious' reign in'the-an
jjals of the worid. In the meantime,
hoVeyer,' New South Wales, like other
colonies, observes Its own foundation
■day with: considerable and growing
enthusiasm. -'■■ The. Australian Natives*
, Association has done. much to popu
larise tills anniversary, of the -first
European settlement on January 26,
178$, and Queensland and Victoria,
though • each of diem celebrates its
.Separation Day, seem inclined to join
in the jubilations of the mother colony.
We are-keeping'holiday to-day, hot
nearly" so niuch because of our itite
rest in the traditions of the past as on
account of our action in the living pre
sent. In its way the departure
of our section of the second
Australian contingent is a land
mart: that will stand out as vividly
as the landing of Governor Phillip at
Sydney .Cove. The two events are ex
actly 112 years apart, which is but a.
hands-breadth in the lifetime of a
nation, and yet'when brought together
they present a contrast that is amaz
ing. When the first fleet anchored in
Port-Jackson uo European -foot -had
ever-trodden the soil of South Austra
lia, no European keel hail furrowed its
■waters, and froni the western ei
tremi^y of the Great Bight.to the
southern shores of Tasmania .was a
mare and a terra, incognita. The land
on which Tasman had touched, and to
which his name has been given, was
supposed to be a part of the mainland,
sighted first at Point Hicks, and
skirted ■ northwards by Captain Cook.
From what was then-ja-region more
absolutely -unknown than is the geo
graphy of.the South Pole now, there,
will go forth to-day a body of citizen
soldiers, after parading the streets of
a haudsome, busy, and populous city,
amid the ringing cheers, of. scores^ oiC_
thousands who have assembled to wish
them God-speed.
Considered simply as a celebration,
and in its practical aspects, a national
anniversary is nothing; if it! does not
jnspirc The development'of^patribtic
loyalty by means "of a reric^r^of tlie
.past, together with.anticipation of the
iftiturc, is and ought to be its puipose.
It has nlways been ftlt that the start
of Australian occupation is lacking in
the particular elements which such a
celebration should possess to gain ap
preciation and be permanently useful.
There was uotliing of the spirit of the
Pilgrim F&luers, immortalised by
Mrs. Hcniaus, about the pioneers who
disembarked from their floating
prison! in Fort Jackson. inflnl.Hg
-more of- tlnrt-khni-Df-thnig-maj—be
discerned in tuo founding of -South Aus
tralia, which was an independent en
terprise, permeated by religions and
pliiluiitkropic sentiment, and embody
ing a kind of protest against tho prac
| tire of shipping fflous to the
Antipodes. The British Government
had apparently no other idea than to
I got rid of criminals when they deter
mined to utilise Captain Cook's, dis
coveries. America had been dosed by
the revolt of the colonies, the gaols
wore overcrowded owing to the severe
penal laws in force, and hence it was
resolved to colonise Australia with.a
class of. persons who could not: be
managed at home. These arc histori
cal facts, but we shall not be the better
for being reminded of them erary year.
The one redeeming "feature about the
entire transaction of 112 years ago was
the speech of -Governor Phillip,which
was pitehed in a high key,-and evinced
a prescience almost incredible under
the circumstances. ' He is reported to
have, told his.hearers when hIs, com-
mission as Governor was read that'
they were ;'met to do for Australia"
what Frobisher, Grant,' and Delaware
did for America.' - He said—"We are
here to take possession of this fifth
division of the globe on behalf of the
British people, and to found a State,
which we hope will not only occupy
and this great country, but will
' also be the beneficent patroness of the
entire Southern ' Hemisphere. How
grand is -the prospect which lies before
the youthful nation !" It is perhaps,
cruel to doubt the authenticity of this
address. If Governor Phillip did not
say these words' they are very like
what he might have said, if he had
known. The wonder is by what extra-
ordinary intuition' he seized' on the
name of Australia, which it was com-
monly, believed was first suggested by
Captain Flinders after he had circum
navigated the continent. many years
afterwards, and why he spoke of tak-
ing possession of the fifth division of
the globe when he! formally claimed
only the eastern half of it The cele
bration, however, which is taking
place in New South Wales to-day looks
forward as well as backward.'' We' are
on' the eve of a great political.change:
which will the Australian colo-
nies into one organic whole. If the
achievements of the past in.the light
of - their - unpromising beginnings en-
courage pride they also justify confi
dence. A new era is about to dawn,
and it will arrive with accompani-
ments showing, like the military
pageant of to-day, that Australia has
a true sense of nationhood; The com-
mencement of that period will be for
the whole of the uniting colonies a real
Foundation Day.
$