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LETTER EIGHT
43

shed; that I have no doubt of being happy and prosperous in Australia. And I have much better opportunities of getting correct information on the subject here than you in Birmingham can have. With respect to the tales of private individuals, they in general are altogether unworthy of attention. There is a person lodging in the house where we live, who has been to Sydney. And there was a surgeon's family in the rooms under ours, when we came, who went out at their own expense last month; but we never asked a single question of either party. A girl that was apprenticed to Miss Irvine went out to New South Wales some years ago. She returned to England about four years ago, the wife of a celebrated missionary. She made Miss Irvine's her home during her stay in London. After laying out several hundreds of pounds in expensive articles of furniture she went back again to New South Wales, more glad again to leave than she was when she arrived in her native country. So you see we could obtain some news about Australia without going far afield, but we can go to sources so much superior that it would be waste of time to do so. That an 'official' account should appear in the True Sun, or any other paper.