THE SOUTHERN SPECTATOR; A MAGAZINE OF Religious, Philanthropic, Social & General Literature. FROM AUGUST, 1857, TO JUNE, 1858. EDITED BY REV. R. FLETCHER, ST. KILDA, MELBOURNE. VOL. I. MELBOURNE: W. FAIRFAX & CO., PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS. SYDNEY: SHERRIFF & ARMSTRONG. HOBART TOWN AND LAUNCESTON. WALCH & SONS. The Southern Spectator. No. 1. AUGUST, 1857. EDITOR'S ADDRESS. VOL I. WHY start a new Magazine? Have not many attempts been made in these Colonies to establish periodicals; and have not all, with the exception of one or two now on their trial, languished and died? and can any other fate befal the present undertaking? The fact of so many attempts having been made, indicates a sense of want in the community for publications of this kind,-a craving which will certainly not rest satisfiedtill it meet with its appropriate food. When magazines shall permanently exist here, is clearly a question of time only. They are sure to come forth, and to secure a footing when the community is ripe for them. But how shall that period be ascertained? By successive experiments alone. The chief causes of failure heretofore, have been the limited number of contributors, the contracted circle of readers, the difficulty of distribution of the works and collection of money returns, and the extraordinary fluctuations in the condition of the community. The sudden rise in the labour market, and in the monetary value of all articles of consumption in particular, extinguished not a few. These causes are now daily diminishing; population receives perpetual additions, and becomes more consolidated and settled in its habits; more and better channels of intercourse are opened up-continually; and it is believed that the disposition to appreciate publications of this kind, the means of purchasing them, and the desire to obtain them are sensibly on the increase. Whether they have reached the required point of development, so as to enable a periodical to secure for itself a lasting existence, can perhaps only be determined by putting the experiment to the test. The present attempt has this advantage over most, if not all its predecessors, that it is not local in its nature, the scheme of any one particular colony, and designed for it mainly. It is essentially an Australasian project, having its originators, contributors, subscribers, and general supporters, in all the Australias, including Tasmania. As the field of sympathy and support is thus widened, it is hoped that the aid rendered and the circulation secured, will be sufficient to keep the publication alive. In order to give time for a fair trial, sufficient funds have been subscribed to keep it in existence for one year at least. B The time has gone by to speak at any length in praise of periodical literature. Unrivalled as a channel for the quick conveyance of intelligence, as a medium of intercommunion of thought, as a means of collecting and using for the public good the nrusings and teachings of numerous able minds that never would have ventured on a volume, as a convenient depository for the discoveries of science as they come to light and the inventions of ingenuity as they are rapidly produced; and unrivalled too as an instrument of power for working upon the public mind in every possible way, it has won for itself a place in the estimation of the community, from which nothing can now dislodge it. Recent in its origin, and insignificant in its beginning, what a prodigious magnitude and wide-spread influence has it now attained! Probably, the larger portion of the authorship of the day-certainly of professional authorship-flows in this channel. Its operation is consequently felt and owned in all directions, on the opinions and conduct of every class, on the consultations of cabinets, the movements of armies, the tactics of party, the devices and labours of philanthropy. Religious, literary, scientific, mercantile, and political men, derive their most healthful impulses from the daily and weekly journals, or the monthly and quarterly serials, and are indebted to them for the chief means of carrying out their projects. Periodical literature has indeed become a necessary of mental, moral, social, and religious life in all civilised communities. One cannot but wonder how our forefathers did without it. In what manner the political rivalries and philosophical disputations of ancient Greece, the vast and complicated affairs of mighty Rome, the evangelizing efforts and the earnest controversies of the primitive Christians, were managed and sustained without the aid of a single periodical, seems to us inconceivable. One can hardly believe that so recently as the spiritstirring times of Elizabeth and Cromwell, such a thing as a magazine or a newspaper was unknown. Now, however, that the value of this class of publications has been found out, they have become indispensable. And there can be little doubt that the peculiar character of the present age, marked and rapid progress, is to be mainly attributed to this class of works, as they are the most powerful of instruments in concentrating public attention upon any one object, and in calling forth the union of energy necessary to its accomplishment. Periodical literature, carries forward, on the one hand, the education and mental development of the community more than any other instrumentality, and on the other, provides rich, varied, entertaining, and useful reading for the appetite it creates. We, emigrants from such a country as Britain, where reviews and magazines abound, naturally miss them when we arrive on these shores. Of course, endeavours are made to supply the lack by importation. But we receive our supplies irregularly. When they do come they come in heaps. Instead of being invited by a single number or two, we are appalled by the magnitude of a pile, the accumulation of months. They also taste somewhat stale from age, freshness being a chief charm in a magazine. And who is not conscious of a decaying interest in some at least of the periodicals we receive from home, as the changes every mail announces in the Dramatis persone on the stage of Europe, remove so many familiar names, and introduce others of whom we know nothing? In proportion as the affairs of this southern region, which we have adopted as our home, acquire a stronger hold upon our thoughts and our affections, those of the northern hemisphere sensibly diminish and decay. The periodical we propose to establish, will necessarily be more mixed and varied in its character than those of the fatherland. There, the wants of separate classes, the limited objects of particular sections of the community, the variety of taste, and even the whims and fancies of the eccentric, can be provided for by special magazines. There, every profession, every science, each department of art, every form of philanthropy, has its own periodical; high church and low church, high doctrine and low doctrine; the old theology and the new, orthodoxy and heterodoxy, have their appropriate organs. There are elaborate "Quarterlies' for the learned and studious, and simple " Pennies" and collections of scraps for the young and illiterate. This country will doubtless one day possess all this array; but the time is not yet. Many years may have to pass over it, before it be ripe for such a variety. In the mean time we must begin with our literature as we begin with everything else. Our houses, our stores, our places of worship, are, in the first instance, extremely colonial. This term has a special significancy here, which our friends at home cannot well understand. We are compelled to put up with many inconveniences, and to shut our eyes to many inelegencies until our necessities are supplied. Our stores and shops contain many incongruous goods. In young townships, a tradesman must not be very particular as to the articles he sells. It would not pay for every separate business to have its own depot. Our periodical literature must, we presume, run a somewhat similar course. It will be varied at first, and more select afterwards. We are, therefore, only yielding to the necessity of our position, when we propose that our new publication shall be a miscellany, embracing literature and [science, philosophy and political economy, education and philanthropy, morality and religion. But still our main element will be religion. The project has originated with a religious body; its articles will be written, in all probability, chiefly by religious men; our principle dependence for readers will be among religious communities; and our leading object is a religious object. We shall not here lay down the articles of any creed, to which every statement in our pages must be rigidly conformed, nor give a detailed explanation |