M. Péron, who accompanied Captain Baudin, the French navigator, and who visited the Colony at this time, says, "In the port we saw several vessels recently arrived from different quarters of the world. This assemblage of grand operations, this constant movement of the shipping, impressed on these shores a character of importance and activity which we were far from expecting in a country so lately known to Europe, and the interest it excited increased our admiration." The population of the Colony in 1806 was about 9,000, of which 7,200 were in New South Wales. The quantity of land located was 48,855 acres, of which 12,860 acres were under crop; and the live stock consisted of 438 horses, 3,264 head of horned cattle, 16,501 sheep, 14,300 pigs, and 2,900 goats. Captain William Bligh-whose previous career in command of the "Bounty" is known to all acquainted with the history of the memorable mutiny-succeeded King in the Governorship of New South Wales. His career was short, but eventful. The circumstances attending his arrest appear to have absorbed the attention of most Australian historians, and to have diverted their thoughts from industrial and commercial topics. From an address presented to Governor Bligh, signed by 833 settlers and landholders-dated January 1, 1808, a few days before his arrest-the Colony is represented as in a plenteous and flourishing state, rapidly growing in population and opulence. On the other hand Bligh painted the condition of the settlement in the darkest colours. At the commencement of 1808 there arose a circumstance which was fruitful of serious results. A succession of quarrels with the head of the Executive about commercial matters had resulted in Mr. John Macarthur (late of the New South Wales Corps) being committed for trial for high misdemeanours before a Criminal Court, consisting of the JudgeAdvocate and six officers of the New South Wales Corps, on the 25th January, 1808. After a stormy scene-owing to the conduct of the officers, who had resolved on defending Mr. Macarthur-the Judge-Advocate left the room and procured a warrant for the latter's arrest; while the officers sent a memorial to the Governor requesting the appointment of a new Judge-Advocate. Various complications ensued; the Governor repeatedly in this crisis sent for Major Johnston, the officer commanding the New South Wales Corps, who replied that he was too unwell to attend. On Anniversary Day, when it was found that the officers were to be summoned before the Governor and a Bench of magistrates, the situation culminated in a riot, and Major Johnston, riding up about this time, was persuaded by a number of the excited populace congregated around the barracks to place the Governor under arrest. He accordingly addressed the following letter to Governor Bligh : Head Quarters, January 26, 1808. "Sir, "I am called upon to execute a most painful duty. You are charged by the respectable inhabitants of crimes that render you unfit to exercise the supreme authority another moment in this Colony; and in that charge all the officers serving under my command have joined. "I therefore require you, in His Majesty's sacred name, to resign your authority, and to submit to the arrest which I hereby place you under, by the advice of all my officers, and by the advice of every respectable inhabitant of the town of Sydney. “I am, sir, (Signed) "Your most obedient humble servant, Acting Lieutenant-Governor, and Major commanding "To William Bligh, Esq., F.R.S., &c., &c." This was followed by the order to march on Government House. The Governor was found and placed under arrest; whereupon Major Johnston assumed the government of the Colony. On the following day a proclamation was issued, also a general order superseding Governor Bligh's nominees, and appointing others in their stead. Mr. Macarthur shortly afterwards assumed office as Colonial Secretary, after a trial resulting in unanimous acquittal. To prevent a re-action among the free emigrants and better part of the Emancipists -among whom the deposed Governor was popular-all public meetings (save for addressing existing authorities) were strictly prohibited. Governor Bligh was kept under restraint for twelve months, when, after much negotiation, he was allowed to resume command of the "Porpoise," on condition of his proceeding to England. He, however, sailed for Van Diemen's Land; where, owing to despatches from Sydney, an attempt was made to seize his person. He re-embarked, however, and remained on the coast till the arrival of Governor Macquarie in December, 1809, whom he followed to Sydney a few weeks after, and finally left for England on the 12th May, 1810. Major Johnston was tried in England by courtmartial for his action in the business on the charge of mutiny in May, 1811, and cashiered from the service; Mr. Macarthur was prohibited from returning to the Colony for eight years. CHAPTER IV. GOVERNOR MACQUARIE.-181C-1821. Passage of the Blue Mountains-The Charter of Justice-King's Surveys-Oxley's and Hume's Discoveries-Social Contests-Macquarie's Defence-Statistics. GOVERNOR MACQUARIE arrived in the Colony in December 1809, and entered upon his administration on 1st January, 1810. In 1813 the Blue Mountains were crossed by Messrs. Wentworth, Blaxland, and Lawson; and Bathurst Plains were discovered by them. Repeated droughts, and the unsuitableness of the country around Sydney for agricultural or pastoral purposes, had forced upon the colonists the necessity of again searching for a passage across the mountain barrier. With incredible toil and hardships, these intrepid men, some of whom were destined to play an important part in colonial history, effected a passage "across a chain of mountains clothed with dense timber and brushwood, and intersected by a succession of ravines, which presented extraordinary difficulties-not so much from their height as from their precipitous character. At the foot of the opposite side of the mountains, an easy journey led to Bathurst Plains-the finest country the colonists had yet seen, far exceeding even the famous Cowpastures on the Nepean." Within fifteen months from this discovery Governor Macquarie, with characteristic promptitude, caused a road to be made; and many settlers quickly transferred their flocks and herds to the newly-discovered country. In 1812 a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the state of New South Wales. The circumstances connected with the deposition of the late Governor, and the many complaints received in England regarding the hardships caused by the monopoly of the favoured class, led the British Parliament to this action. A new Charter of Justice was conferred on the Colony as the result of these investigations. By this Charter two Courts-the Governor's Court and the Supreme Court-were created. The former Court was a modification of the previously existing tribunal; the latter consisted of a Judge, appointed under the King's sign manual, with two assistant magistrates, appointed by the Governor. The first Judge of the Supreme Court-Mr. Jeffrey Hart Bent-arrived in the Colony in July, 1814. When the new Judge was about to open his Court, in May, 1815, a letter from the Governor was read, transmitting petitions from two persons who had been transported for perjury and forgery respectively, praying for permission to practise as solicitors and barristers of the Supreme Court. Although the Governor recommended the prayer of these petitions, the Judge refused to admit the petitioners as attorneys of the Court, or to administer the oaths to them, averring that it would be contrary to law, and that no circumstances and no necessity could exist so strong as to induce him to do so. This led to a collision between the Judge and the Governor; and the upshot of the dispute was the recall of Judge Bent by Earl Bathurst. He was succeeded by Mr. Barron Field, an English barrister, who arrived in the Colony in 1817; and whose career was not a more fortunate one (owing to certain disputes with the Emancipists), than that of Judge Bent. In the year 1817 Captain Phillip Parker King, R.N. (son of Governor King), sailed from Sydney on a voyage of discovery, and reached the north-west Cape on 1st January, 1818. Here he transferred his party from the "Mermaid" to the Government surveying ship "Bathurst." His explorations consisted of a survey of the east coast for 900 miles, to Cape York; of the north and north-west coasts, from Cape Wessel to Cape Villaret, 1,100 miles; and of the west coast from Cape Leeuwin to Depuch Island. In 1817, Mr. John Oxley (Surveyor-General) explored the Lachlan River, tracing it downwards for more than 400 miles, to 1443° east longitude, where it terminated in extensive morasses. In returning, however, he crossed a fine tract of pastoral country, now called Wellington Valley, and at length reached the Macquarie River, which was silently pursuing its north-westerly course to its unknown termination. In the following year Mr. Oxley made a journey down the Macquarie, but was completely baffled by arriving at a dead level where the river spread itself far and wide all over the country. Striking across towards the coast, the party crossed the well-watered country of Liverpool Plains; and before returning to Sydney discovered the Hastings and Manning Rivers. In the same year Mr. Hamilton Hume discovered and explored the large agricultural and pastoral district of which Goulburn is now the centre. This discovery, which at first embraced only the district of Argyle, was in 1819 pushed as far as the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, a large and rapid stream, which was left pursuing its solitary and mysterious course to the south-westward. The important discoveries which were made in Macquarie's era increased the known area of the Colony to perhaps twenty times its former extent; and new sources of wealth, of incalculable amount, were thrown open to the industry and enterprise of its inhabitants. One of the most remarkable features of Governor Macquarie's time was the number of public buildings erected, the total reaching 250. Representations regarding the elevation of certain Emancipists to the magistracy by Governor Macquarie, and the favour with which he regarded that class generally, were, towards the close of his administration, made to the Home Government. They accordingly despatched a Commissioner (Mr. John Thomas Bigge) to "examine into all the laws, regulations, and usages of the territory and its dependencies, and into every other matter or thing in any way connected with the administration of the civil government, the state of the judicial, civil, and ecclesiastical establishments, revenue, trade, and resources." Mr. Bigge's inquiries extended over two years, and his report was printed in 1822, by order of the House of Commons. Governor Macquarie returned to England in the middle of the year 1822. In defence of his policy, which had been vigorously attacked principally on account of the favour with which he regarded the Emancipist class, he wrote to Earl Bathurst on his arrival, as follows:-"I found the Colony barely emerging from infantile imbecility, and suffering from various privations and disabilities; the country impenetrable beyond 40 miles from Sydney; agriculture in a yet languishing state; commerce in its early dawn; revenue unknown; threatened with famine; distracted by faction; the public buildings in a state of dilapidation and mouldering to decay; the population in general depressed by poverty; no public credit nor private confidence; the morals of the great mass of the population in the lowest state of debasement, and religious worship almost totally neglected. Such was the state of New South Wales when I took charge of its administration on 1st January, 1810. I left it in February last, reaping incalculable |