SIR, Permit me to avail myself of your columns for the purpose of stating to your numerous readers, and to the Christian public of Port Phillip generally, the principal object of my present visit to this district, and to the neighbouring colony of Van Diemen's Land, to which also I am now on my way.

It is well known to your readers that on my return to the colony from England per the ship "Clifton," I brought out with me, in addition to four ordained Ministers of the Gospel, not fewer than twenty-three promising young men, as candidates for the ministry; on the understanding and condition that they were to undergo such a preparatory course of training as might be deemed expedient and necessary, in the Australian College at Sydney, and to be sent out thereafter, as Ministers of the Gospel and Christian missionaries, to whatever stations they might respectively be called to occupy, in the good providence of God, throughout this vast territory.

During our stay in this Province, I was happy to find that the young men I allude to had made a strong and highly favourable impression upon the Christian public here, and I was actually offered pecuniary assistance from various quarters in the district, in support of the undertaking in which I had thus engaged, and of which, I may add, the whole burden has hitherto devolved upon myself. But in the state of uncertainty in which I then was as to the way in which the young men would be situated in Sydney and as to the nature and extent of the Educational Establishment we should have it in our power to form for the training up of a Christian Ministry in our Colonial Capital, I felt unwilling to accept of any such assistance from the public, either here or elsewhere till our arrangements should be definitively made in Sydney - till our Educational Institution there which had long been in abeyance, should be revived, and put into full and vigorous operation - and till the young men should be comfortably settled, for pursuing the course of study on which they were about to enter.

Now I am happy to inform those of your readers who may take any interest in the subject, that all these preliminary arrangements have been satisfactorily made, and that all these objects have been successfully accomplished - to a degree indeed far exceeding my own expectations.

The first thing to be done on our arrival in Sydney was to provide temporary accommodation for the young men. Now, as I had ascertained before leaving Melbourne, that my own house, a large house of fourteen apartments, had been kept untennanted for six months previous, in expectation of my return to the colony, I determined to have a portion of it fitted up in a temporary manner for the students, till we should be able to have a separate and more suitable building erected for the purpose. And as the Captain of the "Clifton," had ascertained the fittings up of the ship would, if sold either here or at Sydney, bring only the merest trifle, I directed them to be carted up to my court-yard, and set the students to work to fit up fine roomy apartments - one as a mess-room and parlour, and the other as sleeping apartments - for themselves.

They had all volunteered before leaving the ship, to lend a helping hand for anything of this kind that might be required, and I had told them, for their encouragement, of a certain eminent minister about a century ago, in America, who had collected a band of young men around him, as candidates for the ministry, with whom he went out himself into the woods, in the district in which they proposed to establish their institution (each with his axe upon his shoulder), where they cut down trees, and built a college, of course a very humble structure, for themselves. That college is now one of the most flourishing academical institutions in the United States, having all the requisite apparatus of building, professors, &c., and having risen to the rank of a University for the State in which it is situated.

Some of our young men had been accustomed at home to the use of the axe, the chisel, and the saw, and the rest being all willing to act under their directions, the five apartments were comfortably fitted up in a few days, with tables, benches, desks, book-shelves, beds, &c., &c., for the merest trifle of outlay. This was the first grand difficulty overcome; for a bill for house rent in Sydney, every Monday morning, would have been a serious affair in our circumstances. No doubt it subjected my own family to much inconvenience and discomfort for a time; but this is a small matter in comparison with the vast importance of the object to be accomplished.

The next object we had to accomplish was the revival of our Academical Institution, the Australian College and the formation of a suitable educational establishment for the general purposes of that Institution, and especially for the training up of suitable candidates for the ministry. It is now nearly twenty years since the Australian College was originally established, at a great sacrifice of valuable property of my own; and this is now the third time that I have had to supply it with a complete establishment of Professors from the mother country; the last three who held that office, previous to the year 1842, having all, during my own absence from the colony in the years 1839 and 1840, identified themselves with the enormous sheep and cattle speculations of the period, and thereby ruined the Institution for a time. For after this calamity, which was grievous enough of itself, the late Government of Sir George Gipps instituted a vexatious lawsuit against the Institution, which lasted upwards of four years, and of which although we ultimately gained the suit, I had individually to pay the entire cost. I was naturally, therefore, in considerable anxiety, during my recent stay in Melbourne, as to whether the arrangements I had then in contemplation, for the revival of this Institution, could be successfully carried out. I am happy to state however, that all anxiety on this subject is now at an end; for, on the 1st of April last, the Australian College was revived and recommenced, and is now in vigorous operation, with the following Educational Establishment:-

- Principal and Professor of Church History and Exegetical Theology - Rev. Dr. John Dunmore Lang.

- Professor of Diadactic and Pastoral theology, as also of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy - Rev. Barzillai Quaife.

- Professor of Ancient Languages - Latin, Greek, and Hebrew - Rev. William Ridley, B.A. of the University of London.

- Professor of Modern Languages - French and German, as also of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy - Rev. M. Goethe, formerly of Coblentz and Brussels.

- Classical Tutors, as assistants to Professor Ridley - Mr. George D. Lang, of the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Mr. John McGibbon.

The classes are conducted in the Lecture Room of College Hall, a commodious apartment for the purpose, capable of accommodating about 130 persons. It is at present undergoing repair; the floor, although quite new, having been undermined and destroyed during my absence by the white ants. The classes at present in operation are as follows, viz:-

From 7 to 8 a.m. - French Conversation and Mathematics on alternate days, by Professor Goethe, who delivers Lectures also on Natural Philosophy on Mondays and Saturdays when Professor Quaife does not attend.

From 9 to 11 a.m. - Classes for Latin, Greek and Hebrew, by Professor Ridley and two Classical Tutors.

From 11 to 1 p.m. - Professor Quaife four days a week.

I had myself delivered two courses of Lectures on the voyage out - to the Students on the poop, at seven in the morning, on the first four chapters of the gospel according to St. Matthew; on which I prescribed Essays which were written and criticised on board ship; the other, to the passengers generally on the quarter deck, on subjects of Universal History. I am therefore relieved for the present of the task of delivering lectures, as the time of the Students is otherwise fully engaged.

Now my principal object, in my present visit to Port Phillip and Van Diemen's Land, is to recommend this Institution and its objects to the Evangelical Non-Episcopalian communions of these colonies generally, and to solicit on its behalf their countenance and support. In doing so, I can speak in terms of the highest commendation of my esteemed friends and coadjutors in the Educational Department of the Institution; for although I have twice failed already in establishing a permanent educational corps for the Australian College, I have no fears of failure this third and last time, the men who are now co-operating with me, being men of a totally different stamp from the most of those with whom I was temporarily associated for the same object before. Permit me then to submit for the consideration of those whom it concerns the following particulars:

(1) Our Acedemical Institution in Sydney will supply a complete course of education for the ministry for all the Non-Episcopalian Evangelical communions that choose to avail themselves of its advantages, in Port Phillip and Van Diemen's Land, as well as in New South Wales. It is out of the question for any one of these communions to expect to maintain an Institution of the kind for itself exclusively in any one of these colonies; for if Bishop William Grant Broughton failed to keep up his Puseyite College in Sydney, with all the appurtenances of the Episcopal Church of our great colony at his command, how can those whose numbers and means are so much more limited, expect to succeed in a similar undertaking, except on the principle of union and combination?

The education to be given in the Australian College will be equally suitable for candidates for the ministry, whether they propose to study for the Presbyterian Church on the one hand, or as Independents or Baptists, on the other; and it is understood on all hands that as the young men who are now studying for the ministry in that Institution are of different communions respectively, they shall be at liberty, on the completion of their course, to join themselves to whatever Evangelical Denomination in the colonies they please. Besides, it is of great advantage to the students themselves, for a considerable number to be studying together. The quality of the education is almost always better in such circumstances, and the life and vigour which the students derive from their mutual association, is of the utmost importance for their general progress and advancement. Even a hen marches much more briskly, and carries her head a great deal higher when surrounded by a numerous brood of chickens, than when accompanied by a solitary one or two.

(2) There is an absolute necessity for some such Institution as the Australian College, for the training up of a native ministry for these colonies. The difficulty of getting out ordained ministers from home is extreme, and is increasing every day: the Churches at home being daily less and less able, from the pressure of the times, to supply the necessary funds for the purpose, and the calls for ministers from the different colonies of the empire, being now far more numerous than it is possible for them to supply. Besides, as the past history of this colony sufficiently proves, the ministers that do come out from home are, with only a few honorable exceptions, by no means of the first order, or well adapted for the colonies at all; and it would therefore be greatly preferable for the colonial Churches to have young men, either natives of the colony, or immigrants from the mother country, like the students per the "Clifton," trained up on the spot. They would thus get acquainted gradually with colonial life and manners, and they would be quite willing to go to stations in the interior, to which ministers from home could not be sent, and to accept of salaries in the first instance, that could not be offered to such ministers.

(3) If natives of the colonies, of the requisite qualifications otherwise, cannot be got in sufficient numbers for the wants of the different evangelical communions of this vast colonial field, the success of my experiment thus far in regard to the students per the "Clifton," sufficiently proves, that any number of eligible young men can be procured from home, if emigration to these colonies continues, as I expect it will. It is of the more consequence therefore, that that experiment should be carried out to a successful issue: for if these young men, after undergoing the requisite course of training for the ministry, should be settled in fields of usefulness, as I am sure they will, all over the colony, many others of the same class will be induced to follow them from home.

To send young men home from these Colonies for their education, for any purpose, or for any profession, is in the highest degree dangerous both to their health, and to their morale; and as a means of supplying the colonial churches with a native ministry, it is out of the question. These excellent young men, two of them natives of the colony, who were all residing in my family as candidates for the ministry in the year 1843 resolved, in consequence of our institution being in a state of abeyance at the time, to proceed to Scotland to complete their education in Edinburgh. They all three accordingly went home; but in the course of their third year in Edinburgh, two of them were unfortunately seized with consumption, from the extreme severity of the climate, and they only returned to Sydney to die, within a few weeks of their arrival.

Although the students per the "Clifton," are now all domiciled in my house, it is not desirable, for various reasons, that that arrangement should be permanent. They are packed up too close together at present, both for their health and for rapid progress in their studies; and it would be exceedingly desirable that we should have a separate apartment for each, with a refrectory, &c., on the American plan.

Independently of the cost of erecting such a building (which will amount at least to £1,000 or £1,500), the maintenance of the institution in its present state of efficiency, will imply an expenditure of £1,000 to £1,200 per annum. Now, although this may seem a large amount, it would be no great matter for the evangelical non-Episcopalian communions of New South Wales, Port Phillip, and Van Diemen's Land, to raise by their united efforts, for an object in which they are all so equally and so deeply interested - it would be a mere trifle in comparison with the sums that are actually raised for a similar object, through the united efforts of Evangelical Churches of different denominations in the United States of America.

On my visit to that country in the year 1840, I ascertained that the American Education Society which was supported exclusively by the Presbyterian, Congregational, and Dutch Reformed Churches, for the education of young men of piety and promise for the Christian ministry in these communions, had actually educated, up to that period, upwards of fifteen hundred ministers, most of whom were then settled throughout the United States, while the rest were missionaries among the heathen.

I would earnestly recommend, therefore, that an Education Society should be formed for a similar purpose, and on the same principle of combined effort, for Port Phillip; and that until this province shall be sufficiently advanced to warrant the establishment of a separate educational institution for itself, for the purposes and objects above mentioned, the beneficiaries of the said society should be educated in the Australian College, Sydney and the funds appropriated for the maintenance and support of the institution.

Such then is the principal object of my present visit to Port Phillip and Van Diemen's Land. My second object is the proposed delivery of Two Lectures on the Present Political Crisis in these Colonies, with the view to the formation, both here and in Van Diemen's Land, of branches of the Great Australian League, recently formed, under the happiest auspices and with the most favorable prospects of success (notwithstanding the assertions of the Sydney press to the contrary) in New South Wales.

My enemies in Sydney and my kind friends here, have no doubt assigned a different object altogether for my present visit to this District - viz. that of offering myself as a candidate for one of the two vacancies that are said to have taken place in the Representation of Port Phillip. But I certainly had no such object in view when I planned my present journey, which, for reasons which it is unnecessary to state, I was under the necessity or either undertaking during the present month, or of postponing indefinitely.

At the same time, I have no hesitation in stating that if the Electors of Port Phillip should again do me the honor (in the event of there being such vacancies as it is asserted there are in the representation of the Province), of electing me one of their members for the District, I shall be most willing to accept the honor, and should certainly do my utmost to obtain the best terms procurable for them, on the arrival of the proposed new Constitution for the Australian Colonies, which the present Legislative Council will have the important task of bringing into operation, and of thereby pre-arranging many of the details.

I should scorn to say a single word in reference to the impudent charges that have from time to time been preferred against me, and especially of late, by the "Sydney Herald," on the ground of my procedure in England for the promotion of emigration of a superior character to these colonies, had the subject not been referred to in the Port Phillip papers. I have pledged myself to vindicate my character and procedure in every particular as soon as I shall have access to a really respectable daily paper in Sydney, which it is expected will now be very soon.

But the object of the "Sydney Herald," which at present enjoys a complete monopoly of the press in New South Wales, is to put me down and to prevent the establishment of another paper. The managers of that journal however will assuredly be defeated in both of their objects; for I am not so easily put down as they suppose, and there are now men of energy and determination thoroughly engaged in the cause of public freedom and general advancement in New South Wales, and determined at all hazards to rescue that Colony from the shame and disgrace of being any longer represented exclusively by a press which has long been systematically prostituted for the basest purposes, and the gratification of the most malignant feelings.

Again, Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

JOHN DUNMORE LANG