before its time, and then not beyond its capabilities, the pos-sessor of
capital, however small, need not fear to embark it in colonial
enterprise. The chief danger is the being tempted to use it
speculatively; this is the besetting temptation of the Australian
colonies, and if yielded to, the capital will go-where that of
thousands has gone before it—to the dogs.
To
the poorer of the aristocracy of this country, Australia oilers an
enticing field ; but they must be careful to leave their aristocracy at
home. Rank and title have no charms at the antipodes; and the most that
they could effect for the bearers, would be an occasional lionization
at snob dinners in the town in which the aristocrat may be wasting his
time and his money. Great family connections and ancestry would only
provoke, to any who should parade them, the remark that "he was like a
potato: all that was good belonging to him was underground." The
majority of the colonists are essentially snobs, and they are justly
proud of the distinction. " I landed in the colony without a shilling,
and am worth a hundred thousand pounds," has infinitely more charms for
them, than "I am the descendant of a lord, and am as poor as a rat."
Put the two men together,—the one will be worshipped, and the other
cut; unless with his aristocracy he evince a decided aptitude for
snobbish pursuits, and then he will receive a helping hand, which will
be of infinitely more use to him than his aristocratic reminiscences.
"When the scions of aristocratic houses do emigrate, they often display
more energy and enterprise than their less highly-born brethren. Till
they get out, they do not seem to suspect the latent spirit within
them, which has no opportunity for display in the fashionable lounges
of London,—it comes out, nevertheless. When, some years ago, the
.author of this book was in New Zealand, he observed there some
remarkable instances of this. The second son of a lord prided himself .
more upon his skill as a blacksmith, which useful art he had acquired
previous to leaving England, than upon his lordly descent. The brother
of a baronet was the most enterprising cultivator in the colony. The
son of another was unmatched
