FOOTNOTES:

Bligh was permitted to embark on board thePorpoise[67], toproceed forthwith to Great Britain, engaging not to communicate with any intermediate British colony. He bound himself upon his honor as an officer and a gentlemen to attempt nothing to the disturbance of the existing government, pending the reference to Downing-street. This agreement he made with Colonel Paterson, who had no part in the revolt. When upon the quarter-deck of thePorpoise, he repudiated these engagements, and ordered Lieutenant Kent, then in command, to batter down Sydney, and to restore his authority by force;—a task he declined. He, however, sailed for the Derwent, where his vessel was still lying, when unknown to him Macquarie arrived in New South Wales. Bligh had dispatched information of the insurrection at the earliest opportunity, and the ministers lost no time in forwarding new troops. The ships approached the harbour, prepared to pour in a broadside, but the government was instantly delivered up to the newly appointed head, by Colonel Paterson, the officer in command. The greater part of his official acts were prudently confirmed by Governor Macquarie, although the gifts and appointments of the interim government were declared null and void.

When Bligh arrived at Hobart Town, he was received by Collins with the respect due to his station; he was, however, soon followed by despatches, which informed the lieutenant-governor of the movements at Sydney. Collins, Bligh stated, intended to arrest him; at all events he re-embarked, and the settlers were interdicted from holding communication. A free man, Mr. Belbin, was flogged for the infraction of this order, but afterwards received a grant from the crown in reward for his loyalty. Mr. George Guest espoused the same side: the vessel was ill-provisioned, and he secretly drove down his cattle to the beach, where some were slaughtered for the use of thePorpoise.

In extenuation of the conduct of Collins, it will be remembered that Bligh was already deposed, when he appeared in the Derwent; and that his attempted resumption of office was a breach of his parole. The impression prevailed that Bligh, if restored, would exact sanguinary vengeance. Theunion of the officers was requisite to preserve order, even in the most quiet times: when deprived of military authority, it was the moral duty of Bligh to await the interference of the supreme government, and not needlessly expose those whom he was unable to protect, to the double danger of disloyalty and faction.

Bligh returned to Port Jackson: though the time for his honorary restitution was passed, he was received with respectful formality. A proclamation had already been issued, prohibiting suits of law for injuries suffered from the usurping government, and giving indemnity and protection to all who had acted under its authority; but Bligh was empowered to carry home all who might be able to throw light on his deposition. This order must have terminated the government of Collins, had he survived. Colonel Johnstone was tried and cashiered (but permitted to sell his commission), and the mildness of his sentence was attributed by the crown to the extraordinary circumstance of the case.[68]

This was the last important occurrence in the eventful life of Collins: he died on the 24th March, 1810, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, having held the administration six years and thirty-six days. His death was sudden: except a slight cold, there was little warning of its approach. He died whilst sitting in his chair, and conversing with his attendant. His funeral was celebrated with all the pomp the colony could command, and 600 persons were present.[69]The share he accepted in the responsibility of the deposition of Bligh, disturbed his tranquillity, and it was thought hastened his end.

In 1810, Collins attempted to establish a newspaper—The Derwent Star, and Van Diemen's Land Intelligencer.[70]Though but a quarto leaf, with broad margin, and all the contrivances which dilate the substance of a journal, it was much too large for the settlement—where often there was nothing to sell; where a birth or marriage was published sooner than a paragraph could be printed; where a taste for general literature had no existence, and politics were excluded. The chief contents were droll anecdotes and odd exploits. The second number contains a rather pompous account of Governor Macquarie's inauguration at Sydney.The next issue, beside a government order or two, describes the feat of Barclay, the pedestrian—a thousand miles in a thousand hours; the wonderful longevity of Joseph Ram, a black of Jamaica, who died in his 140th year; then the greatness of Lambert, whose body weighed 52 lbs. fourteen times told; and who was sent by an inclined plane into his grave. Then follow an eulogy on the governor's profession, one trial, one ship, two births, and one marriage. The notice of a wedding is characteristic and unique—the first published by the Tasmanian press:—"On Monday, 26th ult., R. C. Burrows to Elizabeth Tucker, both late of Norfolk Island. They had cohabited together fourteen years, verifying at last the old adage—better late than never."[71]Such were the topics of this ephemeral journal, which, however, survived the governor himself. In the number published a few days before his decease, are the following lines:—

"And thou, dear Cobham, with thy latest breathShall feel thy ruling passion strong in death:Such in that moment, as in all the past:'O, save my country, heaven!' shall be thy last."

Collins was the son of General Arthur Tooker Collins and Harriet Fraser, of Pack, in King's County, Ireland: he was the grandson of Arthur Collins, author of thePeerage of England.[72]At fourteen years of age he was lieutenant of marines; two years after, he commanded the military guard which attended Matilda, Queen of Denmark, to her brother's Hanoverian dominions, and had the honor of kissing her hand. It is said that, three years subsequent, he distinguished himself in that fatal conflict already noticed—the battle of Bunker's Hill. In 1774, he was captain of marines in theCourageux, of 74 guns, commanded by Lord Mulgrave, and was present with Lord Howe, at the relief of Gibraltar. At the peace of 1782, he retired to Rochester, in Kent, with his lady, an American, who survived him. The despatch, announcing his decease, was filled with lamentations: "I am sure," said the writer, "when I speak the feelings of my heart on this melancholy occasion, that it is not my single voice, but that of every department whatsoever in the settlement, who with the most heartfelt regret acknowledge him to have been the father and the friend of all," His person was remarkably handsome, and his manners prepossessing: to a cultivated understanding, and anearly fondness for literature, he joined a most cheerful and social disposition.

Colonel Collins was buried in the church-yard of St. David's, Hobart Town. To provide a temporary place for public worship, a small wooden church was erected on the spot, and its altar was reared over his grave. This building was blown down in a tempest, and its materials being carried off, left the resting place of Collins long exposed to the careless tread of the stranger. Sir John Franklin, always generous to the memory of official worth, reared a monument, bearing this inscription:—

Sacredto the Memory ofDAVID COLLINS, ESQ.,Lieutenant Governor of this Colony,and Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Marine Forces.On the first establishment of the colony ofNew South Wales he was employed as Judge Advocate,And in the year 1803he was entrusted by his Majesty's governmentwith the command of an expedition,destined to form a settlement at Port Phillip,on the south coast of New Holland;but which was subsequently removed toVan Diemen's Land.—————Under his direction as Lieutenant Governor,the site of this town was chosen,and the foundation of its first buildinglaid in 1804.He died here on the 28th of March, 1810,[73]aged 56 years.And this monument long projectedwas erected to his memory in 1838,by direction of His ExcellencySir John Franklin, K.C.H., K.R.

FOOTNOTES:[41]Ross's Almanack, 1829.[42]Ibid, 1835.[43]Wordsworth's Sonnet to the Derwent.[44]Colonel Paterson had been distinguished by his researches in Africa, and had gained considerable reputation as a botanist. This spirit of enterprise and intelligence he always preserved: he directed the government botanical establishment at Parramatta, and the French delineated his attainments with more than their usual enthusiasm. He superintended the exotic plantation provided for the colonies, and the repository of native shrubs intended for the gardens at Kew. His name not unfrequently occurs as an adjunct to the scientific descriptions of the botanist. Formerly acting governor and commander of the military corps of New South Wales, he was not unsuitable for the more direct duties of his office. It is, however, as a naturalist that he is remembered.He planted trees: some are still growing amidst the desolation of York Town. He was the first who attempted to improve the grass of the country. He was the author of a volume of travels, published in 1789, entitled,Narrative of Four Journies into the Country of the Hottentots and Caffraria, in the years1777-8,and9.[45]Sydney Gazette, 1806.[46]Ibid, May, 1812.[47]Ibid, May, 1807.[48]Lieut. Lord's Evidence, Par. Pap., 1812.[49]Johnstone's Trial, p. 337.[50]Sydney Gazette, 1808.[51]"After numerous observations, we found it—Lat. 29° 4' 40". Long. 161° 12' East Greenwich."—Hunter's Historical Journal.[52]Backhouse's Journal.[53]Collins.[54]Holt gives the following curious anecdote:—"The Rev. Henry Fulton was reading the commandments, when Tony Chandler sung out—'turn out, you d——d villians, and launch the boat!' As I was going out, I said to Mr. Fulton, 'I perceive Tony Chandler's word has more power here than the word of God.' Fulton smiled, and shook his head."—Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 232.[55]"At a distance, I saw about fifty men at work, as I thought dressed in nankeen jackets, but on nearer approach I found them naked, except trousers: they had each a kind of large hoe, about nine inches deep and eight wide, and the handle as thick as a shovel, with which they turned up the ground."-Holt's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 79.[56]The work is written with considerable strength of delineation; although his accounts are not quite safe authority for the character of his enemies. His words he spelled after a provincial pronunciation: thus, describing the crew of theSydney, he writes, instead of Sepoys and Lascars, "Saypies and Glascars."[57]Of the women at Rio, he says—"Their skin is equal in clearness to the skin of a new laid egg: their eyes black as sloes; their hair like polished jet; their teeth as even as rows of printing, and as white as pearls; their eye-brows like those of a doll: their feet and legs, as if they were modelled in wax-work. They are the most complete patterns of the neatest form of a woman!"[58]Wentworth.[59]Derwent Star, January, 1810.[60]Cunningham's Two Years in New South Wales, p. 201.[61]Derwent Star, February, 1810.[62]Peron's Voyage.[63]"It was, we must confess, very provoking to see the officers draw goods from the public store, to traffic in them for their own private gain, which goods were sent out for the advantage of the settlers, who were compelled to deal with those huckster officers for such articles as they might require; giving them from 50 to 500 per cent. profit, and paying them in grain."—Memoirs of Holt, vol. ii. p. 296.[64]The instance given by Mr. Wentworth (p. 202), of a man who was sent by Bligh with a note to the constable, who was directed to flog him, without informing him of its purport, however it might read in London, will not seem enormous to a colonist, who could produce many parallel cases; it was a practice too common.[65]In 1702, Colonel Bayard was tried in New York, charged with having used divers indirect practices and endeavours to procure mutiny and desertion among the soldiers in the fort, &c. For sending a petition to the home government, which received a few military signatures, against the governor and the ruling faction, he was condemned to death—in the horrid terms included in the penalty of high treason. Before the sentence was executed, Lord Cornbury arrived: the chief justicefled to England; Lord Cornbury, however, it is said; destroyed the factions of New York, by oppressing them both: "and the contest soon began, which ended in the establishment of a free and independent nation."—Chandler's American Trials.Boston: vol. i. p. 294.[66]Lang's History of New South Wales, vol. i. p. 110.[67]Dr. Lang states, that "he was obliged to sign an agreement to quit the colony forthwith; but instead of proceeding to England, Governor Bligh landed at the Derwent."—(vol. i. p. 121). And seems rather to extenuate this breach of faith. Were no agreement of this class binding the rigours of captivity and civil strife could never be mitigated. The following is Bligh's own statement:—"I took thePorpoiseon the terms they proposed to me, and the moment I got the command of thePorpoise, I took care to keep it, and would not suffer any of these terms, or any thing which they said to have the least influence on my mind."—Johnstone's trial, p. 33.[68]Horse Guards. July 1811.[69]New South Wales Gazette, 1810.[70]Printed by J. Barnes and T. Clark, at the Government Press, Hobart Town.[71]Derwent Star, March 6th, 1810.[72]Collins's Peerage: of venerable authority.—Quarterly Review, 1820.

[41]Ross's Almanack, 1829.

[42]Ibid, 1835.

[43]Wordsworth's Sonnet to the Derwent.

[44]Colonel Paterson had been distinguished by his researches in Africa, and had gained considerable reputation as a botanist. This spirit of enterprise and intelligence he always preserved: he directed the government botanical establishment at Parramatta, and the French delineated his attainments with more than their usual enthusiasm. He superintended the exotic plantation provided for the colonies, and the repository of native shrubs intended for the gardens at Kew. His name not unfrequently occurs as an adjunct to the scientific descriptions of the botanist. Formerly acting governor and commander of the military corps of New South Wales, he was not unsuitable for the more direct duties of his office. It is, however, as a naturalist that he is remembered.He planted trees: some are still growing amidst the desolation of York Town. He was the first who attempted to improve the grass of the country. He was the author of a volume of travels, published in 1789, entitled,Narrative of Four Journies into the Country of the Hottentots and Caffraria, in the years1777-8,and9.

[45]Sydney Gazette, 1806.

[46]Ibid, May, 1812.

[47]Ibid, May, 1807.

[48]Lieut. Lord's Evidence, Par. Pap., 1812.

[49]Johnstone's Trial, p. 337.

[50]Sydney Gazette, 1808.

[51]"After numerous observations, we found it—Lat. 29° 4' 40". Long. 161° 12' East Greenwich."—Hunter's Historical Journal.

[52]Backhouse's Journal.

[53]Collins.

[54]Holt gives the following curious anecdote:—"The Rev. Henry Fulton was reading the commandments, when Tony Chandler sung out—'turn out, you d——d villians, and launch the boat!' As I was going out, I said to Mr. Fulton, 'I perceive Tony Chandler's word has more power here than the word of God.' Fulton smiled, and shook his head."—Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 232.

[55]"At a distance, I saw about fifty men at work, as I thought dressed in nankeen jackets, but on nearer approach I found them naked, except trousers: they had each a kind of large hoe, about nine inches deep and eight wide, and the handle as thick as a shovel, with which they turned up the ground."-Holt's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 79.

[56]The work is written with considerable strength of delineation; although his accounts are not quite safe authority for the character of his enemies. His words he spelled after a provincial pronunciation: thus, describing the crew of theSydney, he writes, instead of Sepoys and Lascars, "Saypies and Glascars."

[57]Of the women at Rio, he says—"Their skin is equal in clearness to the skin of a new laid egg: their eyes black as sloes; their hair like polished jet; their teeth as even as rows of printing, and as white as pearls; their eye-brows like those of a doll: their feet and legs, as if they were modelled in wax-work. They are the most complete patterns of the neatest form of a woman!"

[58]Wentworth.

[59]Derwent Star, January, 1810.

[60]Cunningham's Two Years in New South Wales, p. 201.

[61]Derwent Star, February, 1810.

[62]Peron's Voyage.

[63]"It was, we must confess, very provoking to see the officers draw goods from the public store, to traffic in them for their own private gain, which goods were sent out for the advantage of the settlers, who were compelled to deal with those huckster officers for such articles as they might require; giving them from 50 to 500 per cent. profit, and paying them in grain."—Memoirs of Holt, vol. ii. p. 296.

[64]The instance given by Mr. Wentworth (p. 202), of a man who was sent by Bligh with a note to the constable, who was directed to flog him, without informing him of its purport, however it might read in London, will not seem enormous to a colonist, who could produce many parallel cases; it was a practice too common.

[65]In 1702, Colonel Bayard was tried in New York, charged with having used divers indirect practices and endeavours to procure mutiny and desertion among the soldiers in the fort, &c. For sending a petition to the home government, which received a few military signatures, against the governor and the ruling faction, he was condemned to death—in the horrid terms included in the penalty of high treason. Before the sentence was executed, Lord Cornbury arrived: the chief justicefled to England; Lord Cornbury, however, it is said; destroyed the factions of New York, by oppressing them both: "and the contest soon began, which ended in the establishment of a free and independent nation."—Chandler's American Trials.Boston: vol. i. p. 294.

[66]Lang's History of New South Wales, vol. i. p. 110.

[67]Dr. Lang states, that "he was obliged to sign an agreement to quit the colony forthwith; but instead of proceeding to England, Governor Bligh landed at the Derwent."—(vol. i. p. 121). And seems rather to extenuate this breach of faith. Were no agreement of this class binding the rigours of captivity and civil strife could never be mitigated. The following is Bligh's own statement:—"I took thePorpoiseon the terms they proposed to me, and the moment I got the command of thePorpoise, I took care to keep it, and would not suffer any of these terms, or any thing which they said to have the least influence on my mind."—Johnstone's trial, p. 33.

[68]Horse Guards. July 1811.

[69]New South Wales Gazette, 1810.

[70]Printed by J. Barnes and T. Clark, at the Government Press, Hobart Town.

[71]Derwent Star, March 6th, 1810.

[72]Collins's Peerage: of venerable authority.—Quarterly Review, 1820.

On the demise of Colonel Collins, the government devolved on Lieutenant Edward Lord, until the arrival of Captain Murray, of the 73rd regiment.

The governor-in-chief visited Van Diemen's Land during Captain Murray's administration. This auspicious event wasthe subject of great exultation. Macquarie was received with all possible formality and tokens of gladness: a salute from a battery of no great power; an illumination in the small windows of the scattered cottages; and addresses delivered by delegates, not bound to declare the number of their constituents.[74]

Nothing remarkable is remembered of this visit, exceptthat Macquarie traced the future city. He complained of the utter neglect of right lines in the erection of dwellings, which advanced or retreated according to the whim of the builder. The centre of the projected town he called St. George's Square: in this he intended to rear a church and town hall, and the quarters of the main guard: the open space he designed for a market. The streets which intersect each other he called by the names which still distinguish them: Liverpool-street after the minister of that name; Macquarie-street after himself; Elizabeth-street in honor of his lady; Argyle-street, of their native country; and Murray-street in compliment to the officer in command. The plan sketched by Macquarie has not been absolutely followed, nor has it been improved. He ordered the erection of a signal staff on Mount Nelson, named after the vessel which brought him to port, and conveyed him safely to Port Jackson. The settlers on the Derwent expressed a fervent admiration of his devotedness in thus venturing to face the dangers of the visit; especially accompanied by his consort—so they distinguished Mrs. Macquarie. The governor merited their gratitude, for his hand was liberal.[75]

In February, 1812, Colonel Geils became acting Lieutenant-Governor, and remained until the arrival of Colonel Davey. Colonel Geils devoted great attention to agricultural pursuits, and first formed at Risdon a considerable farming establishment. Ordered to India with the troops under his command, he forwarded his youthful sons to the Cape of Good Hope, thence to be conveyed to England. The colonists heard soon after with deep commiseration, that the vessel in which they re-embarked was lost.

Colonel Davey, the second Governor of Van Diemen's Land, arrived on the 4th February, 1813. His manner of entrance indicated the peculiarity of his character, for the weather being warm he carried his coat on his arm, andannounced himself at the house where he sought temporary accommodations: nor did his subsequent administration differ from its unceremonious beginning. He took pleasure in practical jokes and rough humour: his countenance was strongly marked, and, by a peculiar motion of the scalp, he delighted to throw his forehead into comical contortions. He shared in common a taste for spirituous liquors, and was not unwilling to participate wherever he was welcome as a guest. On what principle he was selected to conduct the affairs of a remote and reformatory settlement, it would be useless to conjecture. As a marine, he had been present in many important actions; among the rest, at the battle of Trafalgar. His intended departure from England he concealed from his family, by whom it was discovered accidentally: they reached the vessel by extraordinary exertions, and in neglect of all the usual preparations for the voyage. The ship which conveyed his luggage was taken by the Americans, during the war—for him a fortunate loss: indemnified by the largest grant ever conferred in this island (3,000 acres); for it was not pretended that the captors could have made an extensive prize.

Mrs. Davey, a lady of a meek and uncomplaining spirit, is spoken of with respect, and the governor himself with kindness; for under a rough exterior was concealed a generous disposition.

During Davey's government, two hundred female prisoners were brought down from Sydney, in the brigKangaroo: proclamation was made, and the settlers were invited to receive them. There was little delicacy of choice: they landed, and vanished; and some carried into the bush, changed their destination before they reached their homes. Yet such is the power of social affections, several of these unions yielded all the ordinary consolations of domestic life!

The conveniences of civilisation were not wholly neglected. The ports were opened for general commerce (June, 1813): houses of trade were established, and Messrs. Kemp and Gatehouse, Messrs. E. Lord and J. H. Reibey, supplied the colony with English goods: the most necessary articles had often been wanting. The settlers purchased even the clothing of the prisoners, as preferable to the skins of animals by which they were often clad.

The resources of the colony were developed: Mr. Birch, an enterprising merchant, fitted out a vessel to survey the western coasts (1816), and Captain Kelly discovered Macquarie Harbour and Port Davey: Captain Florence founda new species of pine, very highly valued by artificers. Mr. Birch was rewarded with one year's monopoly of the trade he had opened.

The whale fishery was considerably enlarged: corn was exported; the plough introduced, and gradually superseded the hoe; a mill erected; and (February, 1817) the foundation of St. David's Church was laid. Passage boats connected the banks of the Derwent; a civil court for the recovery of debts, not exceeding £50, was established. A newspaper—a second time attempted in 1814 without success, when the commercial strength of the community was indicated by two or three advertisements—was at length published under better auspices. On the 1st June, 1816, Mr. Andrew Bent issued the first number of theHobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, and thus brought into permanent action an agency which has promoted as well as recorded the advancement of the community. Nor can it be recollected without regret, that he, an undoubted benefactor of the colony, is left to an indigent old age, cut off from the prosperity to which his early labors contributed.

The welfare of Van Diemen's Land was greatly retarded by the number, daring, and prolonged depredations of the bushrangers. In some districts, the inhabitants offered a sanctuary to criminals, and, as their scouts, gave notice of the approach of danger; while in others the settlers were driven before them. To check their ravages, Colonel Davey declared the whole colony under martial law: he punished with flogging persons, whether free or bond, who quitted their houses by night. Several offenders were captured, and suffered death.[76]The inhabitants, to the number of six hundred, expressed their approval of this stretch of power, but it was promptly disallowed by the governor-in-chief. On many previous occasions the same course had been pursued. To constitutional law, the lieutenant-governor was both indifferent and a stranger.

Colonel Davey, when he relinquished his office, remained for some time as a settler; he was not, however, successful. He returned to England, where he died on the 2nd May, 1823. His contemporaries speak of his character in terms of eulogy. The modern colonist will remember, that the tastes of society have since that period been modified, even in Great Britain; and that character can never be fairly judged when separated from the circumstances in which it isdeveloped. Then, the town was a mere camp: the etiquette of office, necessary when a community is advanced, would be folly in its infancy.

FOOTNOTES:[73]Collins, according to most authorities, died on the 24th March, 1810.[74]"To his ExcellencyLachlan Macquarie, Esq.,Captain-Generaland Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's Territory of New SouthWales and its Dependencies, &c. &c. &c."We, the inhabitants, settlers, and freeholders of his Majesty's settlement established at the Derwent, Van Diemen's Land, impressed with the most fervent zeal for his Majesty's government, and the most profound respect, esteem, and veneration for your Excellency, most dutifully congratulate you on your arrival at Hobart Town."When men, whose characteristic is industry, consider themselves governed by an Officer in whom his Majesty has reposed merited confidence, who in order to promote agriculture, encourage morality, efface dissension, and patronise the industrious and deserving part of our community, leaves his seat of government, and exposes himself and his worthy Consort, under many privations, in a small vessel, to the dangers of a coasting voyage on these seas, a natural emulation must necessarily arise in the breasts of the inhabitants to merit, by an inviolable attachment to the laws, and an adherence to the regulations of the colony, the patronage, favour, and protection of such an unequalled Governor."We humbly presume to hope that the favorable impressions which our industrious exertions have made on your Excellency's mind on your seeing Hobart Town and its vicinity, will become much increased on your return from that tour through the different settlements which your Excellency's intuitive mind may induce you to make."Independent of the high consideration in which we hold your Excellency as the Representative of our Most Gracious Sovereign, we presume to solicit your acceptance of our most unqualified respect for your Excellency's person, and with duty, in the name and on the behalf of the inhabitants in general, subscribe ourselves your Excellency's most devoted servants,"R. W.Loane, J.Ingle,"T. W.Birch, A.Whitehead.""Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, November 26, 1811."Gentlemen,—The address which I have this day the satisfaction to receive from you has been gratifying to me, and I beg you to believe that the inconveniences I have experienced in my voyage to Van Diemen's Land, have been amply compensated in the pleasure I feel on seeing one of the finest countries in the world in a state of rapid improvement by the exertions of his Majesty's loyal subjects settled here, in whose welfare I shall at all times feel a warm interest; and sincerely hope that the industry so happily begun will be persevered in with success."I return you many thanks for the sentiments of regard you have been pleased to express towards me.—I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your most obedient and most humble servant,"(Signed)Lachlan Macquarie."To Messrs. R. W. Loane, J. Ingle, T. W. Birch, andA. Whitehead, the Committee who presented theAddress from the inhabitants of the Settlement atHobart Town, in Van Diemen's Land."[75]The complimentary style in which the settlers addressed the Macquarie family was not without reason. It is said that Mrs. Kate Kearney, when the high price of her butter was complained of by the governor, stopped the supply. Mrs. Macquarie, curious to see this independent milk-seller, paid her a visit: when she entered, the old lady received her very graciously, and asked after the health of the Governor, and added, "how is the young Prince?" The story goes, that she received a valuable grant of land for this well-timed compliment. A bullock driver, who attended Mrs. Macquarie during one of these visits, annoyed her by swearing at the cattle: she promised to obtain him his free pardon, if he would only treat the animals with more civility. A hundred such stories are current; but he who has been accustomed to sift them, may take them for their worth.[76]See vol. ii, p. 129, of this History, for an account of bushranging.

[73]Collins, according to most authorities, died on the 24th March, 1810.

[74]"To his ExcellencyLachlan Macquarie, Esq.,Captain-Generaland Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's Territory of New SouthWales and its Dependencies, &c. &c. &c."We, the inhabitants, settlers, and freeholders of his Majesty's settlement established at the Derwent, Van Diemen's Land, impressed with the most fervent zeal for his Majesty's government, and the most profound respect, esteem, and veneration for your Excellency, most dutifully congratulate you on your arrival at Hobart Town."When men, whose characteristic is industry, consider themselves governed by an Officer in whom his Majesty has reposed merited confidence, who in order to promote agriculture, encourage morality, efface dissension, and patronise the industrious and deserving part of our community, leaves his seat of government, and exposes himself and his worthy Consort, under many privations, in a small vessel, to the dangers of a coasting voyage on these seas, a natural emulation must necessarily arise in the breasts of the inhabitants to merit, by an inviolable attachment to the laws, and an adherence to the regulations of the colony, the patronage, favour, and protection of such an unequalled Governor."We humbly presume to hope that the favorable impressions which our industrious exertions have made on your Excellency's mind on your seeing Hobart Town and its vicinity, will become much increased on your return from that tour through the different settlements which your Excellency's intuitive mind may induce you to make."Independent of the high consideration in which we hold your Excellency as the Representative of our Most Gracious Sovereign, we presume to solicit your acceptance of our most unqualified respect for your Excellency's person, and with duty, in the name and on the behalf of the inhabitants in general, subscribe ourselves your Excellency's most devoted servants,"R. W.Loane, J.Ingle,"T. W.Birch, A.Whitehead.""Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, November 26, 1811."Gentlemen,—The address which I have this day the satisfaction to receive from you has been gratifying to me, and I beg you to believe that the inconveniences I have experienced in my voyage to Van Diemen's Land, have been amply compensated in the pleasure I feel on seeing one of the finest countries in the world in a state of rapid improvement by the exertions of his Majesty's loyal subjects settled here, in whose welfare I shall at all times feel a warm interest; and sincerely hope that the industry so happily begun will be persevered in with success."I return you many thanks for the sentiments of regard you have been pleased to express towards me.—I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your most obedient and most humble servant,"(Signed)Lachlan Macquarie."To Messrs. R. W. Loane, J. Ingle, T. W. Birch, andA. Whitehead, the Committee who presented theAddress from the inhabitants of the Settlement atHobart Town, in Van Diemen's Land."

[74]

"To his ExcellencyLachlan Macquarie, Esq.,Captain-Generaland Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's Territory of New SouthWales and its Dependencies, &c. &c. &c.

"We, the inhabitants, settlers, and freeholders of his Majesty's settlement established at the Derwent, Van Diemen's Land, impressed with the most fervent zeal for his Majesty's government, and the most profound respect, esteem, and veneration for your Excellency, most dutifully congratulate you on your arrival at Hobart Town.

"When men, whose characteristic is industry, consider themselves governed by an Officer in whom his Majesty has reposed merited confidence, who in order to promote agriculture, encourage morality, efface dissension, and patronise the industrious and deserving part of our community, leaves his seat of government, and exposes himself and his worthy Consort, under many privations, in a small vessel, to the dangers of a coasting voyage on these seas, a natural emulation must necessarily arise in the breasts of the inhabitants to merit, by an inviolable attachment to the laws, and an adherence to the regulations of the colony, the patronage, favour, and protection of such an unequalled Governor.

"We humbly presume to hope that the favorable impressions which our industrious exertions have made on your Excellency's mind on your seeing Hobart Town and its vicinity, will become much increased on your return from that tour through the different settlements which your Excellency's intuitive mind may induce you to make.

"Independent of the high consideration in which we hold your Excellency as the Representative of our Most Gracious Sovereign, we presume to solicit your acceptance of our most unqualified respect for your Excellency's person, and with duty, in the name and on the behalf of the inhabitants in general, subscribe ourselves your Excellency's most devoted servants,

"R. W.Loane, J.Ingle,"T. W.Birch, A.Whitehead."

"Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, November 26, 1811.

"Gentlemen,—The address which I have this day the satisfaction to receive from you has been gratifying to me, and I beg you to believe that the inconveniences I have experienced in my voyage to Van Diemen's Land, have been amply compensated in the pleasure I feel on seeing one of the finest countries in the world in a state of rapid improvement by the exertions of his Majesty's loyal subjects settled here, in whose welfare I shall at all times feel a warm interest; and sincerely hope that the industry so happily begun will be persevered in with success.

"I return you many thanks for the sentiments of regard you have been pleased to express towards me.—I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your most obedient and most humble servant,

"(Signed)Lachlan Macquarie.

"To Messrs. R. W. Loane, J. Ingle, T. W. Birch, andA. Whitehead, the Committee who presented theAddress from the inhabitants of the Settlement atHobart Town, in Van Diemen's Land."

[75]The complimentary style in which the settlers addressed the Macquarie family was not without reason. It is said that Mrs. Kate Kearney, when the high price of her butter was complained of by the governor, stopped the supply. Mrs. Macquarie, curious to see this independent milk-seller, paid her a visit: when she entered, the old lady received her very graciously, and asked after the health of the Governor, and added, "how is the young Prince?" The story goes, that she received a valuable grant of land for this well-timed compliment. A bullock driver, who attended Mrs. Macquarie during one of these visits, annoyed her by swearing at the cattle: she promised to obtain him his free pardon, if he would only treat the animals with more civility. A hundred such stories are current; but he who has been accustomed to sift them, may take them for their worth.

[76]See vol. ii, p. 129, of this History, for an account of bushranging.

In planting the colony of New South Wales, it was requisite to provide a form of government adapted for a community without precedent. That instituted was equally alien from established usage. It conferred powers on the governor beyond the dreams of ordinary princes, and violated all the constitutional guarantees which support the rights of subjects. The American colonies derived their constitutions, some from the prerogatives of the crown, others from parliament, under acts prescribing their structure and limiting their jurisdiction. In some cases the British legislature authorised the crown to convey the powers of government at its own discretion, and its own agents. In the reign of George III.[77]the parliament passed the Quebec Act, which defined the powers of Canadian legislation and judicature, and thus established a course that has never since been abandoned.

The immediate design and composition of the Australian colony precluded the forms of constitutional freedom: the object of the laws and regulations were but remotely connected with the ordinary interests of British citizens. Having obtained, therefore, the authority to institute a government, the crown put into commission the powers it received, but left to the local authorities to interpret and apply them.[78]

The court of criminal jurisdiction was composed of seven officers, of whom the judge advocate was one. It could only assemble on the summons of the governor: his precept determined who, or whether any should sit, and thus regulated the jury: as their commander his influence was great—greater, as the dispenser of royal patronage.

The powers of the grand jury devolved on the judge advocate, who framed the indictment, and determined beforehand the probability of guilt: he thus sat in a cause which he had judged already. The prosecutor conducted his own case: witnesses were examined in open court, and the accused was unassisted by counsel. Nor was unanimity required: yet five in seven were necessary in capital cases, to authorise an immediate execution. The judge advocate deliberated with his co-jurors in secret, and the court was re-opened only when they had agreed upon their verdict, and determined the sentence. Thus in ordinary cases the weight of authority in deciding guilt, as well as apportioning punishment, usually rested with an officer officially connected with the government. The operation of this court was liable to serious constitutional objections. It was in the power of the governor to exclude the subject from the protection of the law, by shutting up the court, and by the arbitrary selection of its members to anticipate its decision.

In conducting the business of the court, its members dispensed with the niceties of law, and gave their verdict upon what appeared to be the substantial merits of the case. From the age of fourteen, the first judge advocate had been employed in the royal marine service, and whatever intelligence his writings display, they exhibit utter disregard of rights recognised by the British constitution. His successors in office, for two-and-twenty years, until the appointment of Mr. Ellis Bent, were gentlemen connected with the military profession, who were unassisted, except by such lawyers as the lottery of transportation threw in their way: thus, while they were limited by parliament to a jurisdiction according to the laws of the realm,[79]they were more than usually unacquainted with their nature, and indifferent to their observance.

Such were the inherent defects of this form of judicature, from the large influence possessed by the executive; which could determine the time of sitting and the members of the court; which denied the right of challenge, and accepted the concurrence of five voices only in cases of life and death—and those of persons subject to the influence of the governor and unaccustomed to weigh evidence, or to defer to themaxims of civil tribunals. But if the constitution of the court was a subject of just complaint, the creation of new offences by unauthorised legislation, was still less acceptable to English statists.

The court proceeded smoothly, so long as none but convicts or persons of trivial influence were in question; but the dispute with Governor Bligh disclosed the dangers with which it was fraught: the sympathy of the jurors with the accused frustrated his prosecution, and overthrew the executive.

Theesprit du corpsof the jurors occasionally appeared in their verdict: the decision of a cause in which an officer was the aggressor, or one which interested the passions, did not command the confidence of the people.

The jeopardy of justice was illustrated by a dispute, in which the Rev. Mr. Marsden was complainant, and the secretary of the governor the defendant. Mr. Campbell was the censor of the New South Wales press: he admitted an article, which imputed to Mr. Marsden (1817) the abuse of his office as agent for the missionary societies, and of using muskets and gunpowder as articles of traffic with the natives of the Pacific. The judge advocate in this instance was said to attempt to shelter the offender by the influence of his three-fold office—as the law adviser of the governor, the public prosecutor, and member of the court of criminal jurisdiction. His reluctance to admit the evidence, and to take the preliminary steps in the prosecution, and his direction to deliver an inoperative verdict, were held fatal evidences that impartiality could not be secured by uniting functions so inconsistent with each other.

The jurors were not unfrequently interested: in some instances the prosecutor sat as witness and judge, giving the principal evidence in the case in which he was both to decide the guilt and apportion the punishment.[80]

The establishment of a court of criminal jurisdiction was alone authorised by the parliament: the necessity for supplemental laws was not foreseen, but was soon perceived. The governors assumed the legislative authority, under the disguise of orders and regulations, often contrary to the principles of English law, and sustained by penalties unknown in Great Britain. These were not collated until a late period: their provisions were imperfectly promulgated. In enforcing them, the governors relied on the impotenceof resistance, and justified their enactment on the ground of expediency.

Had the parliament conveyed a legislative power, the ordinary precautions and limitations would have been embodied for that purpose: thus the free subjects of the king would have known the extent of their liabilities, both to prohibitions and penalties. An unfettered despotism drew no distinction, but rejected all questions of legality as contumacious.

Among the subordinate officers, were some high in rank, natives of France, who had emigrated during the revolution, or had by incurring the hatred of its government deserved the patronage of our own. Profoundly indifferent to the rights of freedom, and ignorant of the forms or proper subjects of judicial investigation, an "order" was far more sacred in their eyes, than the volumes of Blackstone. English gentlemen might have recalled the solemn warnings of history which check aggressions on private liberty, but an exiled adherent of Bourbon princes was not likely to be embarrassed by educational prejudices. Not that British officers were really more scrupulous, or offered by their habits a better guarantee for the legality of their administration.[81]

The minor offences of prisoners passed under the summary adjudication of magistrates. They often indulged in the lowest humour or furious passion: they applied torture to extract confessions, and repeated flagellation until it became dangerous to life.

The long delay of legislative remedies, when omissions and defects were discovered, is a proof of ministerial indifference. The crown provided a court of criminal jurisdiction for Port Phillip: the jurisdiction was strictly local, and the judge advocate ceased to act when Van Diemen's Land was occupied; but twenty years elapsed before the deficiency was supplied. Again, the criminalcourt of New South Wales was limited to islands adjacent to theeastern coast.[82]The discovery of Bass's Strait proved that Van Diemen's Land was not included in this geographical definition, and the scrupulous or idle judges for a long time evaded the holding of courts in this island, which was thus surrendered to disorder. In the absence of a legal court, the magistrates set up a jurisdiction of their own. Criminal trials were dispatched by the simplest process, and the mixed penalties of a military and civil court inflicted on the assumed offender.[83]Thus, the negligent provision for the administration of justice secured impunity to crime, or seemed to require an arbitrary tribunal.

The proclamation of martial law, was to relieve the government from the restraints of forms. The facility with which justice could be administered by it, was illustrated at the Castle Hill insurrection: no life being lost on the government side, the victorious troops arranged that every third man convicted should be hanged. They drew the names of the sufferers by lot, and were proceeding with great vigour, when the appearance of the governor suspended the execution.[84]The dangerous usurpation in both Norfolk Island and Van Diemen's Land, led to the hasty sacrifice of life.

The scarcity of corn was once deemed a sufficient justification, when there was no appearance of sedition: at these times the government seized boats, or whatever was deemed useful for the public service, and imitated the most irregular actions of the Stuarts.

The subordinate authorities were supposed to partake the license of their superiors. One commandant, Colonel Geils, fixed a spiked collar on the neck of a free woman; another flogged a female through Hobart Town for abusive language; and another tied up a free man on the spot, for placarding a grievance, when as yet there was no press.[85]Davey, havingordered a person to the triangles, answered his remonstrances with a pleasant jest: the sufferer reminded him that he could not flog him; the governor answered that "he would try," and the flagellator soon determined the problem in favor of authority. Indignant exclamations of free men were deemed preposterous by a body of officials, who regarded the diffidence of civil government as absurd, and considered power as the standard of right.

The administration of justice is described by a work of the times:—"I have known," wrote a contemporary witness, "men, without trial, sentenced to transportation by a single magistrate at his own door: free men, after being acquitted by a court of criminal judicature, banished to another of the dependant settlements. I have heard a magistrate tell a prisoner (then being examined for a capital offence, and who had some goods, supposed to be stolen, for which he would not account), that were he not going to be hanged so soon, he (the magistrate) would make him say whence he got them. I have known depositions destroyed by the magistrate."[86]

The courts were limited by the laws in force within therealm, but the realm was not defined;[87]and thus what portion of the law was applicable, was left in thirty years' doubt, until the commissioner royal stated that the omission had prevented several executions.[88]The same number of years were required to ascertain whether laws passed in Great Britain subsequent to the era of colonisation were the laws of the colony.

Law officers of the crown were permitted to define authoritatively the import of acts of parliament, and on their official decisions the colonial judge convicted, and the governor executed a criminal.[89]

The persons commissioned as justices constituted a court in avowed conformity with such tribunals in England, but they adjudicated on the orders of the governor, and inflicted the penalties he appointed; though the supreme court, sitting concurrently with these "benches," rejected the legislation of the governor as invalid, when the basis of an action: one judge supported them by his moral countenance, although heknew them to be without legal authority.[90]Judge Advocate Wylde, however, declared the legislative authority of the governor equally binding with acts of parliament—a doctrine never surpassed by the most subservient advocates of an unlimited monarchy.[91]

The crown authorised the governor to grant remissions, but while he omitted the formalities requisite to perfect those pardons, the minister neglected to require them. For thirty years the error was undetected, and until a fraudulent creditor evaded a bill due to an emancipist; but several years were allowed to pass, even when the mistake was discovered, before it was fully corrected.

The ministers authorised the governors to grant land to settlers. For forty-six years these delegates divided the domain of their sovereign, as if it were his personal property, and without the consent of parliament, when a court of this colony decided that all such titles were void in law, whether acquired by purchase or under the old quit-rent tenure.[92]

Above two hundred thousand pounds had been levied by successive governors since the illegality of taxation was first submitted to the notice of the cabinet. In gathering this money, not only had property been seized, destroyed, and confiscated, but many persons had been imprisoned, and suffered all the miseries of felon bonds: yet when arrears, which the indulgence of the government had permitted to accumulate, were made a subject of legal procedure, the whole fabric of taxation and legislation by the governor's will, fell down.[93]

The judge of the supreme court could not be insensible to the serious personal responsibility of longer supporting illegal taxation: he privately admonished the governor, who withdrew his actions. An act of indemnity released the ministers who advised, and the governors who enforced their demands, from the punishment of usurpation; and granted them power to do by law, what in defiance of law they had done so long.[94]

Ingenious aggravations were made to the common penalties of a crime: Collins relates that a witness convicted of perjury, was condemned to the pillory: his ears nailed to the post as an additional punishment.[95]

The courts of those times confounded everything together, and deciding the perjury of a witness, often tried two parties at the same moment. Flogging witnesses was an ordinary result of investigations, when they did not end in convictions: so late as 1823, Judge Wylde ordered a witness to be taken outside, and receiveinstanterone hundred lashes.[96]

The long privation of this colony of judicial protection, not only hindered the due administration of justice, but encouraged imprudence and fraud. In the year 1814, when the crown erected a supreme court at Sydney for the decision of civil causes, Major Abbot, a member of the New South Wales corps, was commissioned as deputy judge advocate in Van Diemen's Land. He adjudicated in petty session as a magistrate, and by the accommodation of law to the circumstances of the colony, dealt in a summary manner with capital offences where prisoners were concerned. Thus sheep stealing and crimes against the person, committed by prisoners, were punished by flogging, and removal to a more penal station; and thus, while a prisoner of the crown might escape with a milder sentence, free persons for similar offences were placed in jeopardy of their lives.

"The experiment of a reformatory penal colony," said Sir James Mackintosh, "is the grandest ever tried; but New South Wales is governed on principles of political economy more barbarous than those which prevailed under Queen Bess."[97]This great statesman, who declared no provincialsphere seemed to him so worthy a noble ambition, as to become the legislator for these colonies, never failed to denounce the accumulation of illegality and folly.

At this stage of our inquiry, it may be proper to scan this singular government. The legislators who authorised its establishment, prescribed as little as possible: all beyond the repression of crime was hidden from their eyes. They saw that punishments must be necessary, and provided for their infliction; but the complicated arrangements which grew out of the colonisation, were left to the adjustment of chance, or the discrimination of ministers, and ultimately to the caprice of naval and military governors.

The extemporary character of their contrivance and expedients, is sufficiently apparent. Nothing was expected: nothing was dreaded: no checks were opposed to abuses. Thus acts of tyranny were perpetrated beyond the ordinary excesses of arbitrary governments, and all classes were confounded in one regimen of despotism. The commencing measures manifested their indifference to personal rights. Intending to banish men for life, the ministers selected for the first fleet chiefly persons whose crimes only forfeited their freedom for a few years. By withholding, or neglecting to forward lists of their names, their crimes, or their sentences, they consigned them not only to perpetual exile but protracted and illegal bondage. Imitating the ministers of the crown, the governor imposed compulsory labor on free men, or detained them when their liberation was notoriously due.

Thus again, law had conveyed power to the king to deliver prisoners by assignment to shippers, but jealous of trusting the executive, the actual transportation could only be carried out as the result of a covenant with private persons. Regardless of these well-advised precautions, the ministers delivered prisoners to ships of war, in custody of captains in the royal navy, bound to obey the orders of the crown; and when loud remonstrances induced them to obtain a legislative sanction to the innovation, they were silent in reference to the past, and trusted in their party influence toprotect their own agents from legal penalties.[98]No wonder, with such examples before them, the governors detained or released at their pleasure.

Bentham was the first to protest against this illegal and violent system of government, as opposed to every principle made sacred by the Revolution, by judicial decisions, or by the oaths of sovereigns. He asserted that the movers and ministers of these despotic proceedings were liable, one and all, to the visitations of the most penal laws.[99]They had legislated without warrant, had detained free persons in bondage, levied illegal duties and imposed unconstitutional restrictions, and had inflicted cruel punishments for crimes invented by themselves. The apology for usurpation, was its obvious importance and general utility; but no one will dissent from the strong indignation expressed by the philosopher, at wanton violations of British law, neglect of personal rights and parliamentary privileges.

Governor King, it is believed, first established customs.[100]Hunter had assessed the property of the colonists, upon obtaining the consent of several, for the erection of a gaol.[101]The poorer inhabitants refused to comply with the levy, and were threatened with vengeance: they knew that however useful, such taxes were illegal though otherwise just. Thus, although legislation was not shadowed by the parliamentary act, the governors assumed it in its amplest form. Among the earliest were orders respecting the production and sale of spirits: to this, the oriental penalty was attached—"his still shall be destroyed, and his house pulled down." Infraction of this law was subsequently punished by imprisonment and transportation.

Of torture, to extort confession, we have ample proof, both written and traditional: of one Collins observes, "when he trifled he was punished again; he then declared that the plunder was buried. He went to the spot, but could not find it; he was then taken to the hospital." Another was tortured in the same form; but, adds the judge, "the constancy of the wretched man was astonishing:"[102]he was in consequence acquitted! This practice continued fortwenty years, and in 1825 a prosecution was instituted against a magistrate for attempting to extract confession by torture.

The tendency of undefined power to run into tyranny, is illustrated by Macquarie himself. He had prohibited the entrance of strangers within the government grounds, and to detect the offenders stationed constables on the spot, who lay in ambush: three men and two servant girls were captured and committed. The next morning, the men each received twenty-five lashes, by the written order of the governor: the women were detained in the cells for forty-eight hours. There was no appeal to law; and the sole actors were the governor and the gaoler. A process so simple was no longer to be tolerated: the public were alarmed.[103]The assumption of magisterial powers was not compatible with the office of the governor; but to authorise the flagellation of free men without trial, for a perhaps innocent trespass, was both dangerous and unjust.

This was, perhaps, the last instance of such extravagant despotism, and it exposed Macquarie to much inquietude during his life. That a person so humane in his general character should forget the precautions due in equity and in law, and punish arbitrarily for imaginary offences, proved that no power is safely bestowed, unless its objects and extent are minutely defined.

The civil, called the "Governor's Court," was instituted by George III. in virtue of his prerogative. It consisted of the judge advocate, and two inhabitants chosen by the governor: it was empowered to decide in a summary manner all pleas in relation to property and contracts, and it granted probates of wills.

When convicts contracted pecuniary obligations, the governor specially withdrew them from liability to arrest; and told the creditors that in trusting these debtors their opinion of their honesty must be their sole guarantee: government could not spare "the servants of the public" from their toils to answer the plaints of suitors.[104]

From its decisions, a cause could be carried to the governor; and in sums exceeding £300, to the king in council.

Though unsanctioned by an act of parliament, this court departed widely from the practice of England. Its authority was keenly disputed by Bentham; and Commissioner Bigge, in stating its origin and operation, hints a similar doubt.[105]

Undisturbed by objections the crown, by the patents and commissions of 1814, separated the criminal jurisdiction from the civil, and created a supreme court, which adopted the English practice. By the new patent, an appeal was permitted from the supreme court to the "High Court of Appeals," consisting of the governor and the judge advocate; and, except when £3,000 were in issue, his judgment was final![106]To both these tribunals the Tasmanians were amenable; but in civil cases the appointment (1814) of a local court under the deputy judge advocate, terminated the absolute dependence on Port Jackson for judicial relief. Plaints for debts not exceeding £50 were entertained by this court, and creditors contrived to bring their claims within its jurisdiction, by dividing the amount into bills of £50. This evasion of the law, although it defeated the intention of a superior court and lessened its business, was useful to both parties; it decreased the difficulty and expenses of suits. It was more equitable in its operation than the supreme court: the owner of a vessel could carry up his own witnesses to Sydney, and at the termination of a trial convey them home without delay; but the less opulent debtor or creditor found himself practically excluded from redress.

Mr. Judge Abbot was, however, not eager to assume his office, and it was not until 1816 that he commenced operations. The accumulation of debts must have been great, for at his first session fourteen hundred plaints were entered: nor did he exhaust the suitors by delay, for eleven hundred were disposed of during that year. Two inhabitants, chosen by the governor sat as assessors; and being known, and knowing all parties, they often discussed in private beforehand the causes awaiting their verdict![107]

The deputy judge advocate held in contempt the net-work of the law, by which equitable rights are sometimes entangled: his was a court of request without appeal, and he took pleasure in asserting its finality. For the convenience of suitors he allowed agents to practice in his court: these gentlemen had somewhat more legal knowledge than the judge, and often exasperated his antipathies by itsostentation. They would dwell on the dignity of his court: his decision was irrevocable; even the lord chancellor of England, they would say, was subject to the revision of a still higher court than his own, but the deputy judge advocate decided the cause for ever. Trusted with such resistless jurisdiction—such onerous responsibility, how great must be his care to avoid an error beyond correction—an injustice that could not be undone but by an act of parliament! Such were their addresses: occasionally heard with complacency—and, it is said, not always unsuccessful. The most famous of these practitioners were Messrs. R. L. Murray and Evan Henry Thomas. The last gentleman was an emigrant, and issued a rhetorical advertisement for employment as a preceptor; but renouncing that calling, he provided himself with a blue bag, the sole qualification essential, and paraded the vicinity of the court: here some suitor found him. What he wanted in experience he made up by industry; and thus carrying his cause, established his reputation as a pleader.

Abbott was a lover of fair play: when one of these gentlemen stated a cause, he expressed a wish that the other side could be placed in as clear a light. Willing to show how well he comprehended the case, the agent for the plaintiff set before the court what the defendant might allege; and Abbott, admitting its force, determined in his favor! The equitable judge decided that the plaintiff should pay the defendant the unsought balance of his bill.

On such a primitive plan were minor rights protected. Although the decisions were often grounded on imperfect proof, the substantial equity of Abbott's adjudications was rarely questioned. In cases under £5 the court received no fee, but in higher causes a small sum was paid. The agents obtained what they could, as the recompense of their professional toils.

Major Abbott continued to preside as deputy judge advocate, until his office was abolished. After visiting England he returned to Launceston with the appointment of civil commandant. He died in 1832: the inhabitants spontaneously honored his funeral. He was esteemed as a person of a generous nature and upright intentions. Major Abbott entered the army at the age of thirteen: he was in the service of the crown fifty-three years, forty-three of which were spent in the colonies.

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