Chapter 2

remains, lest, in the event of their ultimate success to obtain their liberty, any of them might consider himself innocent of his death, and give evidence against the rest. After a day or two, they all swam across the river, except Travers, whom they dragged across by means of a pole, to which he tied himself. Having spent some days in distress and famine, it was proposed to Pearce, by Greenhill and Travers, that Mathers be killed, to which he agreed. Travers and Pearce held him, while Greenhill killed him with an axe. Living on the remains of the deceased, which they were hardly able to taste, they spent three or four days, through weakness, without advancing beyond five of six miles; Travers being scarcely able to move from lameness and swelling in his foot. Greenhill and Pearce agreed to kill Travers, which Greenhill did while Pearce collected fire-wood. Having lived some time on the remains of Travers, they were for some days without any thing to eat; their wants were dreadful: each strove to catch the other off his guard, and kill him. Pearce succeeded to find Greenhill asleep; took his life--and lived upon him for four days. He was afterwards for three days without any sustenance; fell in, at last with the Derwent River, and found some small pieces of opossum, &c., at a place where the natives had lately made fires. More desirous to die than to live, he called out as loudly as he could, expecting the natives would hear him, and come to put an end to his existence! Having fallen in with some bushrangers, with whom he was taken, Pearce was sent back to Macquarie Harbour, from whence he escaped with Cox, as has been already stated, for whose death he is now about to suffer."--_Hobart Town Gazette_, 1824.]

[Footnote 170: _Ross's Almanack._]

[Footnote 171: "The fact was also corroborated by Brady, when examined by the gentleman from whom I got the account; and, strange as it may appear, it is perfectly correct."--_Breton's New South Wales_, p. 340.]

[Footnote 172: _Gazette_, 1825.]

[Footnote 173: The author is assured by a clergyman, that he has been dismissed his attendance upon a prisoner, within a few days of his execution, for refusing to write down the particulars of his life.]

[Footnote 174: "The flagitious proceedings of several of these men were clearly traced to have had their source in the weakness or improper treatment of their employers, whose ill-judged neglect of discipline, or corrupt toleration of irregularity, had contributed to entail consequences so awful to those victims to offended justice. If it shall be ascertained, any settler makes payment to convict servants in stock, or apportions to them land for their exclusive benefit, or suffers them to be employed in any other than his immediate service, every support and indulgence of the crown will be withdrawn."--_Gazette Notice, Sept. 1826._]

[Footnote 175: _Ross's Almanack._]

SECTION XIII.

To preserve the continuity of this narrative, it may be advisable to give throughout the incidents which relate to Macquarie Harbour. The short but severe government (1824) of Lieutenant Wright was superseded by Captain Butler (1825), of whom the common testimony is favorable. Its economical results will be comprehended in that general view of prison labor, reserved for the close of this volume. He extended cultivation, and thus mitigated the sufferings of the prisoners; and by building ships, varied the industry of the men--many of whom went down for punishment, but returned skilful mechanics.

Of all the thousands professing to bring back its consolation to the wretched, not one minister had been found--perhaps not sought for--to try there the remedies of the gospel. That a Wesleyan missionary ventured, entitles him to the esteem of mankind. Governor Arthur suggested, and even entreated this direction of missionary labours: he wrote to Joseph Butterworth, M.P., and to the Colonial-office, and the Rev. Mr. Schofield was appointed to enter this moral desert. On his arrival in 1829, he heard terrific accounts of the perils of that place: he was told, that his labors would be useless, and his life sacrificed. He hesitated for a time; but Arthur declared that such a post of danger, he, as a soldier, should consider one of honor.

Mr. Schofield proved that he was neither deficient in zeal nor prudence. The place prepared for his ministry was, indeed, comfortless: the wind overpowered his voice, and his congregation shivered with cold; but to the men it was a new era. Having discoursed on the advantages of knowledge, forty-seven prisoners requested instruction; and, assisted by Mr. Commissary Lempriere, and countenanced by the commandant, he taught many to read. Capt. Butler marked a change in the temper of the men: punishments fell off one half; several were united with the wesleyan society; and on the missionary's recommendation, their stay was shortened.

They only should ask the reality of such repentance, who have endeavoured to reform the wicked. One man was specially pointed out to Messrs. Backhouse and Walker: the change in his conduct was great, and its effects visible: his demeanour, his countenance, and, said the commandant, "his very voice was changed." He had lost his arm by an accident, which nearly deprived him of life. He had formed a cave at the base of the island, reached by a steep slippery descent. It was here Mr. Backhouse joined him, as he knelt down on the rough floor of his cold cavern to adore the Almighty, for granting the privilege of solitude! Strange meeting, and strange subject of thanksgiving!

Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, of the Society of Friends, travelled these colonies (1831 to 1836), chiefly engaged in religious labors, and principally to admonish the prisoners. The volume, of which Backhouse was the author, attests their industry and accurate observation, while performing a mission, which the moral weight of their connections rendered of great moment. To understand this record of their labors, some acquaintance with science is requisite, and not less a knowledge of quaker modes of thought. The adventurous and buoyant spirit of the writer, which carried him into odd situations, is sometimes irresistibly droll, in contrast with formal phrases. He was a gentleman of prudence and sagacity: "he lifted up his heart to God; took his pocket compass," and thus escaped some perils, both by sea and land; and carried to England a reputation, from which detraction has taken nothing, and which friendship would scarcely desire to improve.

The capture of the _Cyprus_ in Recherche Bay, on the voyage to Macquarie Habour, was a stirring episode in the history of transportation. It excited vast interest in Great Britain, and was dramatised at a London theatre. The prisoners, who wage war with society, regarded the event with exultation; and long after, a song, composed by a sympathising poet, was propagated by oral tradition, and sung in chorus around the fires in the interior. This version of the story made the capture a triumph of the oppressed over their oppressors. The stanzas set forth the sufferings of the prisoners by the cruelty of their masters, who they vainly attempted to please. It related their flight from torture to the woods, and drew but a dreary picture of the life of an outlaw. It passed through the details of conviction and embarkation, and then described the dashing seamanship of the pirates in managing the bark, once destined to carry them to that place of suffering; but which bore "bold Captain Swallow" to the wide ocean and liberty. Such was the song; but the facts were different. In August, 1829, thirty-one prisoners embarked on board the _Cyprus_; among them was Swallow, a seaman, who eighteen years before had cut out a schooner at Port Jackson, and was afterwards transported to Van Diemen's Land in the _Deveron_, Captain Wilson.

This man, before he landed, exemplified remarkable courage. A dreadful storm disabled the vessel; the rigging was in fragments: it became necessary to cut away a portion of the wreck, which would probably cost the adventurer his life. The captain called for a volunteer, and all being silent was himself about to ascend, when Swallow remarking that his own life was of little moment, accomplished the perilous task. Perhaps presuming on this service, he was found secreted on board the _Deveron_ on its homeward voyage, and was delivered to the British admiral at Rio; he, however escaped, got to London, was retaken and returned to this colony. Several others were capital respites, who had been guilty of atrocious crimes.

These men were entrusted to the charge of Lieut. Carew, and a guard of ten soldiers. On board they had provision for four hundred men for six months, with a scanty supply of water. When he received the prisoners, Lieut. Carew was warned of their desperate character by the gaoler, though not of the precise nature of their crimes. The ammunition supplied was, however, insufficient--ten rounds each man: to spare the powder, the muskets were not often charged. The berths of the soldiers were below, and the opening only sufficient to emerge unarmed: that of the prisoners was too small to permit their lying down: one opening admitted air, without bars or fastenings, and could not be closed day or night. It was necessary to exercise on deck, and at the time of the capture the number allowed was exceeded, it is said by the connivance of the convict sailors. Several of the prisoners had before been relieved of their irons: among the rest, Swallow, the pirate captain; and when the assault commenced, there were nine, and soon after sixteen engaged in the fray. There were only two sentinels, and one other soldier unarmed on deck. Lieut. Carew had left the vessel to fish, accompanied by the surgeon, the mate, a soldier, and the prisoner Popjoy. A few minutes after, he heard the firing of a musket, and hastened towards the vessel; but when he reached her side she was taken. The struggle with the sentinels seems to have been severe; and one of the soldiers below fired a shot, which passed between the arm of Swallow and his side. The mutineers compelled them to surrender by pouring down water into the hold, and threatening to stifle them if resistance were prolonged: they were also in danger of suffocation from their own gunpowder. Carew implored the pirates to give up the vessel, and promised oblivion: when attempting to board, they pointed several muskets at his breast. At length he consented to go ashore, with the soldiers and thirteen prisoners, who refused to share in the adventure; and, in all, forty-five were landed at different points of the bay. The pirates gave them one sheep, a few pieces of beef, thirty pounds of flour, and half a bag of biscuit, with a small quantity of spirit and sugar; and at dawn sailed from the coast. The refusal of a boat, cut off all immediate communication with the port, and gave time for considerable progress. The _Cyprus_ was without charts, but several of the mutineers were well acquainted with navigation.

The sufferings of the party on shore were inexpressible: they distributed one quarter of biscuit daily, and subsisted chiefly on muscles, found for some time, until a spring-tide covered them. Morgan and Popjoy set out the next day for Hobart, and attempted to cross a river, with their garments tied on their backs: they were driven back by the natives, and were obliged to return, having lost their clothes. Five men started to head the Huon, and thus reach Hobart; and were saved from starvation, only by the party sent down to meet them. Morgan and Popjoy, under the direction of Carew, and encouraged by his lady, who displayed extraordinary fortitude, constructed a coracle of wicker work, about twelve feet long, formed of the wattle: they covered it with hammock cloth, and overlaid it with boiled soap and resin mingled, which they happened to possess. In this frail bark they boldly ventured to sea; and, notwithstanding a strong south breeze, happily found the _Orelia_ at Partridge Island, twenty miles distant. Contrary winds had compelled that vessel to put back to the island, and boats were instantly forwarded to the relief of the sufferers, who for two days had been without sustenance. Though several had received severe contusions in the capture, and experienced much privation during the thirteen days detention, no life was lost.

The circumstances attending the capture were subject to the investigation of a court martial. Lieutenant Carew was charged with neglecting the proper precautions, though warned of the extreme peril which demanded his vigilance; that he proceeded on a fishing excursion; that during his absence the vessel was surprised and seized; that he exhibited professional incapacity, and had been guilty of a breach of the articles of war. This trial lasted five days, and was fully reported. The evidence is conflicting, and especially respecting those incidents which were supposed to suggest the capture to the prisoners: such as the neglect of the fire-arms, and the indulgence of the prisoners by a removal of their irons, and their access to the deck. On the other hand, the testimony was positive and multiplied, that Carew had guarded the prisoners with great steadiness and rigour. That he apprehended no danger was certain--his wife and children were aboard; but he forgot that the desire of liberty makes men quick and desperate, and that they who had the miseries of Macquarie Harbour before them, made light of life.

The arrangements of the vessel did not, however, admit of proper precautions. When two of these men, in company with sixteen other prisoners, were sent down three years after to the penal settlement, there were ten soldiers to guard them: two only were on deck at once. Their prison was railed in, and closed down with triple bolts: the sentinels were doubled, and some sat continually in sight of the prisoners.[176]

The pirates proceeded to the Friendly Islands, and thence to the Islands of the Japannese, where seven deserted, and the rest passed towards China. Four seamen presented themselves in a boat, having _Edward_ on the stern, to a vessel at Whampoa, and stated that they had belonged to a lost ship of that name. Swallow was one of them: he was examined by the committee of supercargoes at Canton, and produced a sextant on which was the name of Waldron, of the _Edward_. This name Swallow assumed, and said that he was captain of the _Edward_, of Durham; related his voyages to various ports of South America, the Sandwich Islands, and Japan. Compelled to abandon his vessel, injured by the fire of the Japannese, the crew had divided into parties, of which himself and companions were one. This deposition was forwarded to the company's secretary, and passages were given free to Swallow and three others. A few days after he had sailed, four more appeared: Davis, who gave his name as Stanley, was examined; but he had forgotten the assumed name of the captain, and called him Wilson--this led to minuter inquiries, and he was sent home a prisoner. Information was instantly forwarded, and reached England before Swallow arrived with his companions, and a warrant was issued for their detention: the three were taken, but Swallow had left the ship at Margate, and for a time escaped.

Watts, Davis, and Swallow, were ultimately tried for this offence by the Admiralty Court, in London: the two first were executed, and Swallow was acquitted. It is said that the proof of his participation, except by compulsion, was incomplete. The events which led to their conviction were curiously coincident. The Thames police magistrate was unable to proceed, and they might have been discharged; but the police clerk had studied the _Hue and Cry_, and was struck with their resemblance to the description. Popjoy, now in England,[177] pardoned for his good conduct at the capture, had been recently before the magistrate for some trifling offence, and to interest his worship had given the story of the capture, the coracle, and all incidents of his intrepidity. He was thus soon found out by the police, and gave full proof of identity. He stated their crimes, their names, and secret marks which were discovered on their persons: one of them, the very day of the capture, had the figure of a mermaid punctured on his arm. Mr. Capon, the gaoler of Hobart Town, was in London,[178] and thus was able to supply important particulars.

Several were forwarded to Van Diemen's Land, and tried by Judge Pedder: they pleaded that their concurrence was involuntary. The chief question was the actual position of the vessel; whether or not on the high seas. The military jury were not disposed to hesitate on this point, and when asked repeatedly, whether they found a place shut in between two heads _the high seas_, they answered, without hesitation, "we do." Only John Cam suffered death in Van Diemen's Land. Robert M'Guire was tried last for this offence: in the scuffle, he wounded a soldier, who had attempted to strike him, and whose testimony was decisive: he stood sentry, with a military cross-belt and bayonet fixed; and was recollected by his refusal of liquor, which he warned his comrades would prove their destruction.

The chief advantage of Macquarie Harbour was its total isolation; but the opening of the country from the Derwent to the Gordon, destroyed this seclusion. The bar gradually rising, became more dangerous: the place was too distant for supervision or supply; its barren soil allowed no variety of labour or produce. The decaying buildings were of little worth: there was nothing removable, except the doors and windows. These were shipped on board the _Frederick_, of one hundred tons; and all being ready for sea, on the 11th January, 1834, Mr. Taw, the pilot, as captain, embarked with the master shipwright, Mr. Hoy, the mate, ten prisoners of the crown, and a corporal's guard. They were detained by adverse winds, and the pilot allowed the prisoners to land to wash their clothing, all except one; they returned with great apparent cheerfulness. Two of the soldiers were permitted to fish near a neighbouring rock, and thus only two remained on board: while one of these, allured into the forecastle, listened to the singing of a convict, the prisoners on deck handed out the arms. Messrs. Hoy and Taw endeavoured to recover possession, both by persuasion and force: there was a short scuffle, and shots were fired: the balls passed near the gentlemen in the cabin, though they were not injured. Remonstrance being useless, they surrendered, and with the soldiers now recalled from the rock, were sent on shore: thus, although the military and civil officers were nearly equal in number, the mutineers accomplished their purpose without loss of life. They sent next day a quantity of provisions, small in amount, but, considering the voyage before them, more than such men could have been expected to spare. The soldiers, gratified by their fairness, forgot their own position in sympathy for the liberated men, and gave them cheers and good wishes. On the morning after, the wind became fair, and a light breeze carried them beyond danger.

When the mutineers had gained possession of the ship, John Barker, a mariner, was chosen captain: he could take an observation, and direct a ship's course; his mate was John Fair, and several others were sailors. By carrying too much canvas they strained the vessel, which required their constant efforts at the pump. They proposed to run to Valdavia, South America: they suffered from a gale of wind of nine days duration, which they weathered with great difficulty, and saw land on the 26th of February, having been six weeks on their passage. They resolved to abandon the brig: they had three carpenters on board, by whom the launch was decked and rigged, and they left the _Frederick_ with her channel plates under water. Having landed, they discovered an Indian ploughing with a wooden share: from him they could not obtain supplies; they, however, found that they were in the neighbourhood of Valdavia, and soon approached the battery of that port, and were humanely received by the inhabitants. On examination they declared the entire facts of their escape, and were allowed to reside under promises of protection. They appealed to the officials as _patriots_, and implored them to take their lives rather than to restore them to the British. A few months after, H. M. S. _Blond_, Commodore Mason, excited their alarm; it however passed over: several married, and the governor and his lady honored the nuptials of the pirate captain with their presence. Shortly after, they were put under friendly arrest, Commodore Mason having applied for them, and made some preparations to seize them by force; sending an armed boat, which the Americans repelled. The second "governor" was not equally favorable, but was conciliated by the promise of Barker and three others to build him a boat: this accomplished, they seized her and absconded. The governor exasperated at the loss, and their perfidy--probably excited by his harsh treatment, and their constant apprehension of capture--arrested and delivered up their companions to the _Blond_; who were sent first to England, and then to Van Diemen's Land.

They were tried in 1837: one of their number raised an objection, which was referred to the English judges, and decided in their favor. The defence was very ingenious: admitting the vessel was taken, it had never been finished; it belonged to no port; it had received no name: it was canvas, rope, boarding, and trenails, put together shipwise--yet it was not a legal ship: the seizure might be theft, but not piracy! Upon the whole, the prisoners conducted themselves well: however criminal the escape, their kindness to the people they overpowered; their unusual unanimity, and prudent acknowledgment of their real circumstances; their appeal to the _patriots_ for sympathy, and the ingenuity of their defence,--must be admitted as exhibiting qualities by no means despicable.

But never was the government more culpable, or the prisoners less so, than in the instance of the _Badger_, a vessel of twenty-five tons, freighted with provisions for the East Bay Neck military station (1833). She was a fast sailer, and well found, and in charge of a master mariner, a convict, and convict seamen. The escape was joined, and probably planned, by Darby, late a lieutenant in the royal navy, and present at the battle of Navarino: a man of small stature but great daring. On his passage to the colony he had been implicated in a plot to take the vessel, which was partly known to a notorious receiver on board,[179] who expected some favor by informing. The plotters intended to shut down the soldiers and officer, to run for the American coast, and there allow those who thought proper to land, or to attend the vessel to her destination. Darby declared that, buried on the shores of America, he had considerable treasure. On his arrival in Van Diemen's Land the affair on board was made known to the Governor, by whom Darby was told, that if ever he attempted to abscond, or to enlist others in the enterprise, he should suffer all the law could inflict. He was, however, placed at the signal station, and afterwards appointed to assist the water bailiff, and thus had always in view the means of escape! A convict clergyman, employed as tutor by a member of council, was the companion of his flight. The loss of this vessel exemplified the laxity of official oversight, where most required. No one could be surprised at the escape, which good men suffering in a good cause would have naturally ascribed to the favor of Providence.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 176: _Backhouse's Narrative._]

[Footnote 177: This man had been transported, when eleven years of age, for horse-stealing. He was lost off the coast of Boulogne. Swallow died at Port Arthur.]

[Footnote 178: On the affair of Ikey Solomon.]

SECTION XIV.

The escapes of prisoners might be called romantic, could romance enter the province of crime. While the first fleet were at anchor off Teneriffe, John Powers slipped down into a boat attached to the _Alexander_ transport. He boarded a foreign ship: his offer to enter as seaman was refused. He then landed beneath some insuperable rocks: assisted by the governor of the island, his retreat was soon found.

Such was the first absconder. The determination to escape from New South Wales, induced the prisoners to listen to every project, and to commit their lives to boats of the most imperfect structure, in which they were usually lost. But Bryant, an expiree, his wife and two children, and seven convicts, escaped in a small fishing boat (1790). He had purchased a compass and quadrant, and obtained a chart of his intended course. They provided food for the voyage, and the boat was in excellent trim; they were met at Timor by the crew of the _Pandora_, sent to the southern seas to arrest the mutineers of the _Bounty_. Bryant professed to have suffered shipwreck: he was kindly received by the Dutch. He died at Batavia; also one of his children and two of his companions: the rest were afterwards seized, and conveyed to England, where the story of their sufferings excited the public compassion, and they were merely detained in Newgate for the unexpired term of their sentence.[180]

Their nautical intrepidity and their comparative success, inspirited future attempts. But the most celebrated project was concocted by Irish convicts, who proposed an overland passage to China! Of forty-four men and nine women absent, the greater part perished on this curious enterprise.[181] Some, after the absence of several weeks, re-appeared, exhausted with fatigue and hunger. The Governor, finding it impossible to prevent elopement by punishment, attempted to convince them by experience. He furnished some of the strongest with provisions, and appointed them conductors, that they might proceed as far as possible towards the desired land: they returned, only partially convinced that flight in that direction was hopeless.

The imagination of the prisoners pictured an elysium beyond the mountains. A seductive rumour long prevailed, that in the interior a community of white persons were living in primitive innocence; but many years elapsed, ere the notion obtained the consistence of a story. In 1833, an account was circulated in England, that white people were found several days journey from the north coast of New Holland, in a village enclosed by a wall to defend them from the natives. They spoke in Dutch, and stated that their ancestors, among whom were twelve females, came from a distant land; that their vessel was broken; that they travelled far towards the rising sun; that many died by fatigue, and the rest settled on that spot--a beautiful valley, on the borders of a lake. A full description of their habits and customs was given in the _Leeds Mercury_, but which can have no interest to such as disbelieve their existence.[182]

The _Young Lachlan_, a vessel the property of Capt. Howard, was seized at the Derwent, by sixteen prisoners (1819). The sails were bent; the rudder was on board: she was freighted and provisioned for a voyage to Port Jackson. She lay outside the cove, and was to drop down the river on the morrow. The four seamen were surprised, and shut down below: the darkness of the night and a strong wind favored their escape; passing the battery, unseen by the guard. At daybreak the pilot boat, with, a party of the 48th regiment, gave chase: a sloop, the property of Mr. Birch, with another detachment, followed. The boat found the seamen on Brune Island, but both vessels returned without any other success.

Arrived on the coast of Java, the robbers destroyed the vessel by fire. They then presented themselves to the authorities as shipwrecked mariners: their story was believed; but at length they were suspected of piracy, and imprisoned. Some of them confessed: all, except five, died at Batavia, to which place they were transmitted, and the survivors were conveyed to this colony by the _St. Michael_. The _Young Lachlan_ not being on the high seas their offence was not piracy: they were therefore charged with stealing only. Their punishment was necessary, but who could forget their temptation?

One of the more common methods of elopement was to hide in the hold of a ship, often with the connivance of the sailors, until the vessel had cleared. Scarcely did a ship quit the coast during the first years of the colony, without discovering, mostly too soon for the culprits, their concealment. Sometimes, to stir them from their stowage, the vessel was fumigated. Ships calling at Van Diemen's Land often delivered up absconders, found after they had weighed anchor.

When secreted runaways were enabled to avoid detection until the ship had advanced far on her voyage, they were conveyed to England, and usually surrendered to the authorities. A soldier, on looking down the hatchway of the _Dromedary_, when returning to England (1820), saw a spectre walking the deck below, who requested a glass of water: the soldier alarmed, made known the vision; and after a search, a stranger was pulled out from among the planks with which the vessel was laden. Having said "we," repeatedly, in speaking of his condition, the presence of another was suspected, and further search discovered his companion.[183]

Morgan, a Welshman, who concealed himself, was more fortunate: having made a considerable sum by his labor, which he was desirous of carrying home unbroken, he concealed himself in the hold of a vessel, and after a few days appeared on deck. He was carried to London, and handed to the police, when he coolly thanked the captain for his passage! He had satisfied the law before he ventured on his voyage.[184]

The penalties on merchantmen conveying prisoners in a clandestine manner, were sufficiently severe. The most remarkable was the instance of the _General Gates_, an American vessel, which carried off ten prisoner mechanics, and one free man;--a double violation of the local laws. The _Dromedary_, store ship, was instantly sent in pursuit, and captured the vessel at New Zealand. An action for twelve thousand pounds was instituted by the Governor, and awarded by the court (1820). The judge, in his address, dwelt chiefly on the ingratitude of the defendant, who, "being permitted to partake in a valuable fishery, had abused the hospitality of the country, and had gone into low public-houses to entice away their best workmen!" This, indeed, was the chief grievance, and occasioned the rigour of the pursuit and capture--a stretch of power, it was deemed proper to compromise.

It was made lawful to arrest any persons suspected of being illegally at large, and to detain them until they "proved otherwise;" the onus of proof resting with the person apprehended: indemnity was provided for those who did anything in furtherance of the act. In defence of these powers it was alleged, that tenacity of the forms of British freedom was unsuited to a state of society, where of the adults more than one half were prisoners; and to distinguish them was impossible. The government maintained that free persons, arrested in _bona fide_ error, were bound to regard their consequent sufferings as a tribute to the welfare of the country; but considering the ungentle spirit and ruthless instruments of convict government, it was necessary to check these prerogatives with a considerable responsibility.

The arrest of Mackay, a free man, at Swan River, indicated the danger of undefined powers, and the boundless arrogance of office. He was seized by the commander of a vessel and delivered to the _Phoenix_ hulk, New South Wales, where, loaded with irons of unusual weight, his clothing branded, he was confined with prisoners destined for a penal settlement. Having been brought up by a writ from the judges, he was _discharged_, and _retaken_: again the court interfered, and the man--never known as a prisoner, against whom nothing but a general suspicion existed; who had been torn away from a distant colony, and exposed to the contemptuous treatment of those through whose hands he passed--owed his final liberation to the interference of an advocate, and the firmness of the judges. He obtained L200 damages, against which the government appealed, unsuccessfully, as excessive!

Absconding has been punished with various degrees of severity. By the first governors it was held a venial offence: before the law provided any specific penalty, it was usually flogging or a penal settlement. A capital respite was, however, sent to Port Macquarie: within three months he absconded, with several companions, and started to reach Timor: on his re-capture, he was executed without further trial (1823).[185]

A colonial law, of 1827, made it capital to escape from a penal settlement. It was intended to prevent a recurrence of those evils which resulted from the Macquarie Harbour elopements. That it intimidated a single person, to whom the chance of escape was presented, is extremely doubtful: that it rendered their efforts more desperate, and their course more sanguinary, is far more probable. No one will contend for the right of a prisoner to burst the bonds imposed by a sentence, yet will it never appear to justify the sacrifice of life. Such laws are useless: they outrage the common sentiments of mankind--more criminal than the offences they intend to prevent: they belong to what Lord Bacon stigmatised as "the rubrics of blood."

Their extreme diffidence of each other, has rendered the combined opposition of prisoners impossible. A guard of two or three soldiers is sufficient to intimidate hundreds, and to prevent an open effort to escape. The sentinels have, generally, displayed forbearance and consideration--the honorable characteristics of the British soldier.

Governor Arthur recommended a declaratory statute, to subdue any doubts respecting their right to shoot absconders, which seemed common among the military. That right had never been called in question; and in two instances only, during fourteen years, was it exercised in this country. The sense of responsibility is a healthy emotion: promptitude in taking the life of a runaway, however tolerated or authorised by law, could never be remembered by a soldier but as an odious execution.[186]

The piratical seizure of vessels lately, has not been common: escape is easy in other forms. The elopement of individuals has been attended with no great perils, since the establishment of the surrounding colonies. Craft of small burden have been sometimes taken, and at the close of the voyage dismissed. Prisoners have passed as merchandise, or boldly submitting to examination, have been lost in the crowd of emigrants. A contrivance was recently discovered, by the fatal consequences which followed it: a woman was enclosed by her husband in a case, and on arriving at Port Phillip was found dead.

These instances comprehend most of those forms of escape which are found in the colonial annals. They prove how powerful the passion for liberty, with which, when united to common intelligence, the threats of legal vengeance, or the vigilance of official guards, cannot cope. The same instinct, however, which induces men to break their bonds, restrains many more from transgression, and is a powerful auxiliary to the laws.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 179: Ikey Solomon.]

[Footnote 180: _Collins's New South Wales._]

[Footnote 181: Ibid.]

[Footnote 182: Clarke, executed at Hobart Town (1835), and who for five years wandered among the natives of New South Wales, asserted he had seen an isolated colony of Malays, or some other nation, the remnant of a shipwreck, which had existed for ages on the borders of a lake in the far interior to the north of Sydney. This he affirmed to the last moment of his life. If reliance can be placed upon his testimony, the village he described is doubtless the same, and is yet to be discovered. "Clarke addressed the people from the scaffold, acknowledging his crimes, and imploring all who heard him to avoid the dissipated course, which had led him to so wretched and ignominious an end." Upon this execution Dr. Ross adds--"It is a matter of consolation that we have a pastor, possessed of the very peculiar--we had almost said tact--but we should rather say endowments, with which Mr. Bedford is gifted, for leading to repentance, and affording all possible consolation to the miserable beings in their last extremity."--_Courier, August_, 1835.]

[Footnote 183: _Cunningham's New South Wales._]

[Footnote 184: _Gazette_, 1824.]

[Footnote 185: James Hawkins, a celebrated pugilist and pickpocket, was not less remarkable for his escapes. He was transported to Hobart Town, where he found several persons who invited him to become a bushranger: he refused, and devoted all his efforts to escape. In this he succeeded: soon re-transported for life, again he stowed himself on board a vessel, and returned to Weyhill, and was again transported. On his way to the hulks he once more got off his irons, but was secured (1820). In gaol he was orderly and quiet, and refused all enterprises which might have compromised his life.]

[Footnote 186: _Par. Papers_.]

SECTION XV.

The principles of penal government recognised in the times of Governor Arthur, may be best ascertained from his despatches and orders, and from the writings of Dr. Ross, who, if not directly assisted by Arthur, was inspired by his opinions. Whether those principles were practically applied, will be known by reference to other testimony. The deviations must not, however, be ascribed exclusively, either to the Governor's connivance, or to the intrinsic defect of his system. He could not act alone, and the agents he employed were sometimes incapable, and sometimes corrupt. In his own writings, he repeatedly alludes to the gradual approximation to what he deemed perfection of detail: it cost him the labor of years.

The estimate he formed, philanthropists are slow to entertain: one-third of those who arrived in these colonies, he rated incorrigible; the rest, chiefly affected by the prospect of reward or the dread of punishment, and indifferent to abstract good. In tracing crimes to their causes he largely ascribes them to poverty, and the pressure of classes on each other. He enunciated a novel view of the mental character of criminals--that they were subjects of _delirium_; that they saw every object through a false medium; and that no treatment could be successful which did not restrain them by an enlightened rigour. This view, given in a code of rules[187] for the management of road parties, was attributed to the reasonings of a medical member of his government: the notion it embodies, he himself ascribed to long experience in the management of prisoners. His observation supplied the facts; his councillor, perhaps, constructed the system.

He believed that to remove the opportunities of crime, was the only successful method of general prevention; that to keep the convicts quiet, to withdraw all external excitement was essential to successful treatment of their mental malady. He compared the ordinary offender to a steed untrained: very impatient of the curb and rein. The discipline of the government, either by its own officers or the master, he likened to a _breaking in_. Under the first application of the bridle, more facile tempers became at once submissive and docile; or if not--if the man threw the master--then came the government with heavier burdens and more painful restraint: he was caught, and resistance was borne down. The milder servitude being unsuccessful, then came magisterial admonition; then the lash; then sequestration on the roads; then irons; then the penal settlement--with its stern aspect, its ponderous labor, and prompt torture; in which mercy wrought through terror and pain, and hope itself was attired in lighter chains.

Arthur alleged that his system was inductive: reared upon a foundation of facts, its classification was self-constituted: every step in the several gradations of a prisoner's punishment was the result of his own will; the first, by his crime against English society, the residue by his misconduct in servitude. It was in his power, when delivered to his master, to work out his own liberty, without knowing again the frown of a magistrate, or the darkness of a dungeon: it was in his choice to delay deliverance until death. Thus the distribution and separation vainly attempted by a direct management of government, was better done by the prisoners themselves: they determined their own merit by their actual position, where they awaited pardon and liberty, or gradual descent to despair.

Arthur watched with great diligence the operation of his system. The character of most masters was known: they were bound to make annual returns of the number and conduct of their men. Their recommendation was required to procure the prisoner's indulgence: his police character was drawn out in form--the parliamentary papers shew into what minute particulars those documents entered; even an admonition of the magistrates was noted, and made part of the case. _Black_ and _white_ books were kept, in which meritorious actions and the reverse were recorded. The term of preparatory servitude was four, six, or eight years--as the sentence was for seven, fourteen years, or life; then a ticket-of-leave allowed the prisoner to find his own employ, to enjoy his own earnings; subject to the surveillance of the police, and to a forfeiture for breach of its regulations.

Arthur described the police as the pivot of his system: it comprehended surveillance and detection. The establishment of district courts, in which a paid magistrate resided, was an essential element of its success. The masters had a correctional authority at hand: a few miles, often a few minutes, brought them within the police court, and the punishment ordered followed the offence by a very short interval. The police constables, mostly prisoners of the crown, were selected from each ship to assist the recognition of their fellow prisoners, and they were rewarded for every runaway they arrested. They often shortened their own sentence by procuring the conviction of others; often, too, they obtained considerable sums, and even instant liberty, by the discovery of an outlaw. They were acute, expert, and, we are told by Arthur, vigilant beyond all men he ever knew. They were objects of fear and detestation.

The strong will of the prisoners thus encountered opposition on every hand. They were hedged round with restrictions; they were at the mercy of the magistrate, and subject to the lash, for offences which language is not sufficiently copious to distinguish with nicety.[188] Their unsupported accusations recoiled on themselves. They were entitled to complain, but the evidence they could generally command, was heard with natural suspicion. So well did they understand the hopelessness of contest, that they rarely replied, where a defence sometimes aggravated their punishment.

The convict was subject to the caprice of all his master's household: he was liable every moment to be accused, and punished.[189] Unknown, without money, he had no protector or advocate: one magistrate could authorise fifty lashes; one hundred could be inflicted by the concurrence of a second. It was asserted by Arthur, that the statement of their liabilities produced an expression of dismay in the countenances of convicts newly arrived. The indefinite character of these offences; the boundless discretion of the magistrate; the influence of the master; the presumption always against the accused; the dreadful nature of several of the punishments--doubtless created in many the recklessness of defiance and despair. A prisoner's sentence might be extended one or three years; he might be doomed to a penal settlement and chains. Nor could he liberate himself from his servitude: he came back from the triangles or road party, and stood at his master's door.

The determined resistance of change, except for punishment; the indissoluble tie of men to masters--was one part of Arthur's plan. The knowledge that submission was the only chance of happiness, caused many to yield to their destiny without a struggle; and where masters were humane, the connection lasted, without murmuring or oppression, until the close; but with many more, it was a period of misery, mental and bodily--the fierce passions breaking into open war, and seeking nothing but revenge or freedom. The rolls of the muster-master exhibit curious instances of this long struggle: there are several now before the writer, in which punishments succeed each other with a frequency so terrible, that the mind is only relieved by the belief that sensibility is destroyed by incurable misery.

Governor Arthur addressed a despatch, on "secondary punishments," to Viscount Goderich, intended to answer the report of the select committee of 1832. He thought the witnesses were not conversant with the state of the prisoners--a fact not surprising, since even the effect of English penitentiaries was debated under their very walls. The gentle system of Governor Macquarie was a tradition among the criminal population of Great Britain; but in this country, colonised at a later date, and by settlers of a higher class, the advantages of the convict were small, and his control more complete. Arthur thus delineated the condition of the assigned servant: deprived of indulgence, living in the interior, employed in clearing and cultivating forest land, allowed no wages; idleness, even looks betraying an insurgent spirit, exposing him to the chain gang or the triangle; deprived of liberty, subject to the caprice of a family, and to the most summary laws. He was a slave, except that his master was not trusted with the lash, and his claim for service terminable. True, he was well fed, while many in England labored hard, and yet were hungry and poor; but nothing reconciled the prisoner to bondage: he compared his condition not with the British pauper, but theirs who, though working in the same field, were masters of their own labor. He asserted that the bravado of persons, who affected indifference when ordered for Macquarie Harbour, was fully answered by the murderers who, to enjoy a momentary escape, ventured their lives; by the desperate efforts of many to conceal themselves in vessels, deprived of food for days, and tortured until their limbs mortified; by the despair of many rioters who arrived in the _Eliza_, who, dejected and stupified by grief, soon drooped and died. He maintained that transportation, though not absolutely successful, was to be preferred, as frequently most dreaded, reformatory, and final.

He maintained, that the current reports respecting transportation deserved no credence, and were unsafe as foundations of public policy. Often, from the most selfish motives, the most delusive statements had been forwarded by prisoners. He instanced a woman from Liverpool, who arrived with her four children, allured by the representation of her husband, and sent out by the charity of his prosecutors; and who had informed her that, beside L60 per annum, he was lodged and fed for his labor. In this case, however, the man wrote falsely; but at that moment there were many who might have made the statement with truth.

In the despatches of Governor Arthur there is much acute observation and just inference. He had actually lessened abuses, until they became not very common or very flagrant: by collecting men in the employ of government under a more rigid system of superintendence, he had curtailed their indulgence, and made their condition more irksome. But it is well known to every colonist, that throughout his administration some prisoners were favored with greater liberty than others; that they accumulated property, and had at command whatever money could buy. He often, with a discretion both wise and humane, mitigated the severity of a sentence and alleviated the domestic desolation of a wife, by granting some indulgence to her husband. It is told to his credit as a man, although it does not add to the weight of his despatches.

The enunciation of principles was not common in the writings of Governor Arthur; he, however, states his view of the objects contemplated by punishment. He held that the severity of a penalty was to be measured by the operation of the crime on society,--or the views taken by legislators of its effect. Unhappily, this theory overlooks the fact, that penalties are usually for the protection of classes, rather than communities. The severe laws against poaching have never been vindicated on the principles of equity or national right: they are the laws of an aristocracy, for the protection of its pleasures. The unlimited power over life and liberty claimed by this doctrine, would excuse the Spartan method of anticipating crime. It is the old code of the opulent and powerful; but it is essentially unjust, fallacious, and therefore useless and wicked.[190] It is probable, however, that abstract opinions maintained but a slight influence on his actual policy, and that by his strong perception of the interest of society in the reform of the offender, he adopted many practical lessons of philanthropy.

Governor Arthur was directed by the Secretary of State to assign the prisoners employed on public works: such as were unfit for the service of settlers to form into gangs, and employ on stations distant from the towns. Lord Goderich had come to the conclusion that the service of government was rather courted than dreaded by the prisoners. This plan was skilfully resisted by Arthur: he admitted that constables and messengers were favorably situated. So great, however, were the hardships of those employed in public works, that his conscience was troubled, and only relieved by remembering that they were the worst of offenders; or, if better conducted, passed at length into the loan-gang--a condition as preferable to assignment, as was assignment to the service of the crown: thus balancing the advantages of their last against the severity of the first stage. He stated their assignment, so far from increasing the severity of punishment, their faults, and even crimes, would be covered by their masters, to preserve their labor; their earnings would place them beyond the condition of their class in Great Britain; and when their fortune should be known, they would never want for successors. But he appealed to a still more cogent argument. The expense of a convict mechanic to the crown, was one shilling per day; of a free artizan, seven to ten shillings: the difference would go to the workmen, to bribe their industry and gratify their vices. It was not, perhaps, known fully to Arthur, that at the moment he sealed his despatch, forty mechanics lodged in one ward, who earned not much less than L50 per week, by the leisure hours they enjoyed.[191] It was, however, true, that the inducement to pay large sums for occasional labor, arose from the difficulty of obtaining it: few mechanics were transported; so few, as to excite astonishment.[192]

But however exact and successful transportation, in Governor Arthur's opinion, a variety of causes contributed to excite in England a powerful prejudice against it, and to lead the ministers to interfere with some of its details of great practical consequence. The gradual amelioration of the criminal code--a restriction of capital punishments, demanded by the humanity of the British public--was allowed by the ruling classes with doubt and grudging. Some conspicuous cases confirmed their predilection in favor of the scaffold. What punishment, they asked, would transportation have proved to Fontleroy, who from the spoil of his extensive forgeries, might have reserved an ample fortune? It was reported, and not untruly, that many had carried to the penal colonies the profit of their crime; that the wife had been assigned to the nominal service of her husband; or, still more preposterous, the husband committed to the control of the wife--and were enabled at once to invest their capital in whatever form might promise success.

Several volumes issued in succession from the British press, full of highly colored sketches of colonial life; in which the advantages possessed by many emancipists, the splendour of their equipage, and the luxurious profligacy of their lives, were exhibited as the larger prizes of a fruitful lottery. Among these works, the most popular, that of Cunningham, professed to delineate the sentiments of the prisoners, from which it might be inferred that few conditions of human life offered so many chances of gaiety and prosperity.[193]

About the same period, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, of a talented family, and afterwards distinguished by his connection with colonisation, was imprisoned in Newgate for the abduction of Miss Turner. During three years' residence he professes to have devoted great attention to the subject of transportation. Few sessions passed but some prisoner, formerly transported, appeared under a second charge. In conversing upon their prospects, they described the country of their former exile in terms of high eulogy. It was the opinion of Wakefield that, as a punishment, it had no influence in preventing crime. The evidence of several settlers from New South Wales was of the same character; and M'Queen, a member of parliament, long resident in that country, stated that he had been often asked what offence would be sufficient to ensure transportation.[194] The letters received from the prisoners, recorded their good fortune, and were read by their former acquaintances. They were filled with exaggerations, dictated by vanity or affection; and seemed to convey an impression that, of their families, they only were fortunate.

A colonist is certainly not entitled to deny, that many strong cases of perversion occurred; but, except the superiority of diet, and the high value of labor common to new countries when they prosper at all, the descriptions given were mostly illusive and mistaken. The extreme misery and degradation endured by many, and to which all were liable, rendered the ordinary condition of prisoners one which could not have been desired, except by the most wretched of the people.

New South Wales was regarded, by the laughing portion of the British public, as a perpetual beggar's opera. One eminent writer said, that the people of these colonies attracted attention only from the curiosity they excited: mankind were amused to know what form would be assumed by a community, composed of men who narrowly escaped the executioner. By another they were compared to an old fashioned infant, which had all the vices and deformity of a corrupt constitution and precocious passions. The exhibition of a panorama of Sydney in the metropolis of England, attracted large crowds. It was hardly possible to exaggerate the charms of its scenery, when clothed in the radiant verdure of the spring; but the dwellings were drawn, not only in their just proportions, but with all the grace of the pencil--cabins looked like bowers. The poet, Campbell, struck with the glowing harmony, exclaimed, how delightful to the London thief--beneath the clear sky and amidst the magnificent forests of Australia,

"Where Sydney Cove its lucid bosom swells"--

to shake the hand he once encountered in the same pocket at Covent Garden theatre! It is thus, too often, that substantial interests are sacrificed to humour. No one, acquainted with the minds of prisoners, can imagine that the purest atmosphere, or most exhilarating prospect, would be half so attractive to a veteran robber, as the murky cellars of the "London Shades."

The writings of Archbishop Whately tended to the same result. Against the principles of transportation he entered an earnest protest, not only as defeating the primary objects of a penalty, but as constituting a community charged with the elements of future mischief. He reasoned in his closet, and formed his conclusions from a process of investigation which was not complete: he overlooked some facts which tended largely to neutralise the evil, and that suppress or defeat propensities which thrive in Europe. He made many senatorial converts, and those he did not convince, in reference to his main proposition, were anxious to obviate his objections.

To meet, however, the views which prevailed, and which were strongly recommended by the parliamentary committee of 1832, the government determined to increase the rigour of transportation. The effects of the French revolution, and the pressure of commercial distress, had produced a strong tendency to crime. In the agricultural districts of England riot and arson were prevalent: the utmost exertion of the laborer did not preserve his family from want. Depredations upon game, and other species of rural property, exasperated the legislative class. The hulks were crowded: it was proposed to establish a penitentiary at Dartmoor, long the site of a French prison, and employ the convicts in cutting granite for sale; but the discussions in parliament manifested the strong preference of the agricultural interests for a system of absolute banishment. It was observed by Peel, that the detention of prisoners exposed the government to endless annoyance, and before half their time was expired the solicitation of their friends often procured a remission.

Pending these enquiries, a rumour reached the colony that transportation was abolished. The papers broke out in the language of wailing and woe: the _Courier_, especially, gave utterance to the most passionate grief. The editor described the melancholy visage of the settlers, and the different expressions of vexation and disappointment which he heard around him. One declaiming against the perfidy of government, and another delineating the ruin involved in the fatal resolution. Some threatening to leave the country ruled by covenant breakers, who, in the spirit of reckless experiment, were not only demolishing the finest imaginable system of penal discipline, but sacrificing the fortunes of colonists, who had emigrated in the confidence that convicts would follow them in an uninterrupted stream.[195] These apprehensions were but temporary. The strong representations of Governor Arthur, and the extreme difficulty of change, secured a further trial under new conditions.

Lord Melbourne held a consultation with Mr. Stanley. He suggested that the increase of crime had arisen partly from ignorance of the actual consequences of transportation. He requested him to reflect upon this topic, and to determine whether it might not be proper to send transgressors through a more rigorous discipline on their landing, and to stop the comparative ease and comfort it was customary to enjoy.[196] Mr. Stanley undertook to contrive a scheme, which should terminate the indifference with which banishment was regarded. He had said that he would render the punishment of transportation more dreaded than death itself. At his suggestion Lord Melbourne addressed a letter to the judges, and requested them, when on their circuits, to explain the extent of torment which banishment included; to select such as they might deem it proper to separate to a more terrific form of punishment; and to declare, in a public manner, the degree of severity which would follow a particular sentence.

It was determined that the more hardened should be confined at Norfolk Island or Macquarie Harbour; and that no prisoner for life should be withdrawn from a penal settlement, until seven years of his sentence was passed, or until one-third of a shorter period was completed. Then drafted to the roads: after wearing chains a further five years, he might be assigned to a master, and commence his probation. The less guilty were to join the road party at once, and in seven years be liberated from their chains. Mr. Stanley forwarded sixteen persons in the _Southwell_, whom he directed should be kept in chains for the first seven years of their bondage. He thus established the system, distinguished as the "certain and severe" in the orders of government; and for several years described by the journals, as the "worse than death" system of Mr. Secretary Stanley.[197]

The object of Stanley was to invest transportation with novel terrors, and to give a more tragic aspect to the law. He did not, however, reflect, that he who has destroyed hope has also made the despairing worthless; that the victim will have recourse to violence or insensibility--that when he cannot rupture he will hug his bonds. He did not perceive that no Englishman would accept the service of a felon, who for twelve years had experienced the misery of chains--that it was not as prisoners, but as husbandmen, that the poachers and rioters of England were acceptable to the Australian farmer; who was reconciled to penal slavery, only when disguised under semi-patriarchal forms.

The change proposed by Stanley was greatly disliked by Arthur. It was the reverse of his system. Whatever influences were brought into action by agricultural service, would be lost in a gang. He foresaw the despondency, the oppression of the prisoners, and the gradual alienation of the colonists. Arthur referred Stanley's despatch to the executive council, with his own rejoinder. His system of twelve years bondage and chains was unanimously reprobated: the council concurred in the opinion of the Governor, that it would break up the gradations of punishment; and unless sustained by a large reinforcement of military, endanger the public safety and produce habits of outrage and revenge.[198] Whatever influence these representations possessed, the plan was abandoned of necessity. The chief justice of New South Wales advised the Governor that the law had not authorised the arbitrary addition of chains to a sentence of transportation--to increase the misery, not to add to the safe keeping of the prisoners. Such, on reference, was the opinion of the English legal authorities, and the men in irons were released.[199]

Whatever the motives of Lord Stanley, the transmission of such an order, without ascertaining the authority under which it was issued, was a serious official error. It is probable, that the persons injured had no means of appeal, and deserved no redress; but when it is remembered, that the law does not profess to determine the moral enormity of an offence by the extent of punishment, to aggravate a penalty which the legislators deemed equal to the crime--avowedly to make it more terrible than death itself--was a stretch of official power, which can scarcely be explained.

St. Paul denounced the judge who smote contrary to the law. Mr. Stanley's encroachment on the functions of legislation was only more defensible because less corrupt. To repress colonial disorders, the local government had, indeed, grafted the penalties he prescribed on the colonial statute book; but the despotic interference of a secretary of state was specially objectionable. Persons sentenced to transportation for political or agrarian crimes, were not unlikely to provoke the personal hatred of ministers, and therefore to suffer a vengeance beyond the intention of the judges, or the spirit of the laws.

To render corruption more difficult, the power of the governors was limited by statute. They had granted tickets-of-leave for the discovery of outlaws, the detection of serious crimes, and any service of great public utility. They had been often swayed by feelings of humanity in hastening the liberation of men, whose families required their care; but an Act "for abolishing the punishment of death in certain cases,"[200] not only fixed the time when prisoners should be capable of tickets-of-leave, but abstracted the chief advantages a ticket conferred. They were excluded from the protection of civil laws, and thus thrown on the mercy of any who might employ them. These clauses were introduced by Lord Wynford (Sergeant Best), and were intended to equalise the punishment of offenders, and to prevent an early enjoyment of plunder. This restriction was, however, practically unjust. The grant of a ticket-of-leave was to enable a man to procure a livelihood: to deprive him of legal resource, was to invite the swindler and the cheat to make his earnings and acquisitions their prey. The local courts had hitherto resisted the injustice by evasion: a record of conviction being required to stay a civil action; although in the criminal courts it was sufficient to prove that the person accused had been dealt with as a transported offender.

Lord Wynford's Act made no such distinction. Its provision, probably the result of inadvertence, was so palpably a contradiction, that it was never acted upon in Van Diemen's Land, and was earnestly deprecated by all classes. To grant a prisoner liberty to seek subsistence, and yet suffer any fraudulent person to deprive him of his just wages, could arise only from that confusion of ideas, too common in legislation on the subject.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 187: "It can scarcely be doubted, that the main body of convicts are under mental delirium--they see and appreciate every thing through a false medium; and as, from long experience and close observation, the Lieutenant-Governor is confident that a firm and determined, but mild and consistent supervision, is the very best to be followed, in order to remove the infirmity under which they labor, it is the treatment he enjoins shall be uniformly observed!"--_Regulations issued to the Roads' Department._]

[Footnote 188: "Absconding, insubordination, drunkenness, indecent conduct, neglect or wilful mismanagement of work, neglect of duty, indecent or abusive language, swearing, insolence, or other disorderly conduct."]

[Footnote 189: Arthur.]

[Footnote 190: Arthur's despatch to Lord Goderich.]

[Footnote 191: It was not uncommon for four in their number to consume one gallon of rum at a sitting. Incredible as this may appear, it stands upon indubitable testimony; and one of the witnesses, had he been classical, might have said--_Pars magna fui_.]

[Footnote 192: Arthur's despatch to Lord Howick, 1832.]

[Footnote 193: "Several went out with me on these very terms: and among them one merry youth of two-and-twenty, whose father had been transported when he was a child. His elder brother followed the fortunes of his father by special invitation. On our arrival the elder brother came alongside, and introduced the younger brother and father (who, of course, were strangers to each other). 'When may we expect Jem?' was the question put shortly after the preliminary congratulations."--_Two Years_, &c., vol. ii. p. 259.

"I shall conclude this subject with a short anecdote, which fully illustrates how little a convict cares for transportation, or rather how much he prefers it. A gentleman, who came home passenger in the same vessel with myself, brought with him a convict as a domestic. I asked him what were his future plans? He replied, that he meant to go and see his mother, if she was alive; but if she was dead, he, to use his own words, would 'frisk a crib,' (_Anglice_--rob a shop) or do something to lag him for seven years again, as he was perfectly aware that he could not work hard enough to get his living in England."--_Widowson's present state of V. D. Land_, 1829. p. 65.

"In order to show the opinions entertained by some of the convicts, as regards the colony, I will give an extract from one of the sundry letters which I have read, written by them to their friends in England, using the writer's own language and punctuation, but altering the spelling. He requests that his wife will come out, and bring their children with her, and then proceeds as follows: 'I am perfectly well satisfied with my situation thanks be to God that has placed me under those that does not despise a prisoner. No, my love, I am (not?) treated as a prisoner but as a free man, there is no one to say a wrong word to me. I have good usage, plenty of good meat, and clothes with easy work. I have 362 sheep to mind, either of our lads could do it with ease. The best of men was shepherds. Jacob served for his wife, yea and for a wife did he keep sheep and so will I, and my love we shall be more happy here than ever we should be at home if happiness is to be found on the earth. Don't fail to come out I never thought this country what I have found it. I did expect to be in servile bondage and to be badly used but I am better off this day than half the people in England, and I would not go back to England if any one would pay my passage. England has the name of a free country and this is a bond country, but shame my friends and countrymen where is your boasted freedom. Look round you, on every side there is distress, rags, want, and all are in one sorrowful state of want. Happiness and prosperity has long taken their flight from Albion's once happy isle.' He then alludes to the low price of provisions, and adds--'Except you live in a town you have no rent to pay, for each builds his own house, no tithes, no poor-rates, and no taxes of any kind. And this is bondage is it?' There are some other amusing remarks in this original composition, but the above will suffice to show that convicts lead not always the unhappy life they are supposed to do, unless through their own bad conduct. The writer of the above letter bears such an excellent character that his master has sent to England for his wife and family, with the intention of trying to be of some use to them."--_Breton's New South Wales_, p. 281.]

[Footnote 194: Potter M'Queen's evidence before the Commons, 1831.]

[Footnote 195: _Courier_, 1831.]

[Footnote 196: May 20th, 1833.]

[Footnote 197: Stanley's despatch, August, 1833.]

[Footnote 198: February 3rd, 1834.]

[Footnote 199: _Par. Pap._: Forbes's evidence.]

[Footnote 200: 2 & 3 9th Will. iv. cap. 42.]

SECTION XVI.

The treatment and disposal of mechanics, craftsmen, and the educated, or "specials," disturbed the equal operation of the laws.

The artizan, when not adapted for public works, was placed in the loan gang, and lent from time to time, chiefly to the officers of government, or to such settlers as were deemed worthy official patronage. They were not authorised to claim wages, but their employers prompted their industry by its usual recompense. Their value as workmen often secured them an appearance which surpassed the common means of English artificers, or they expended their earnings during paroxysms of intemperance. The power to grant the assistance of skilled workmen, and the custom of the officers to borrow them for their own service, excited unceasing murmurs. Master tradesmen complained, that their callings were followed by captains and lieutenants, whose journeymen were the prisoners of the crown, and who, beside the emoluments of office, engrossed the profits of smiths and carpenters--of tailors and shoemakers. Those settlers, excluded from participation in the _loan_ labor, denounced the venal partiality of its distribution. Long lists were published of workmen allotted to the relatives and confidants of the Governor, to display his unwearied nepotism.

The educated prisoners occasioned still greater complaint. At an early period, many of the higher functionaries were utterly ignorant of accounts, and were glad to employ the abilities which transportation placed at their disposal. Curious anecdotes are told of the profits derived by this class of scribes, by the distribution of royal clemency: thus the indents were altered by a clerk, who charged L10 for reducing considerably the duration of a sentence.[201] At a later date, a prisoner offered by letter L15 for his conditional pardon. The bearer gave information of its contents to another convict in office, who offered to obtain the "royal mercy" for L10, and he did so.[202] The reliance frequently placed in the fidelity of their penmanship, sometimes modified the details of punishment.

From the report of a board appointed by Arthur, it appeared that sixty-six were employed in the various departments. The evidence is valuable, from the statements it contains respecting the condition and influence of this class. They were represented to be quick, intelligent men, and were preferred because more easily commanded--if not controlled. Their office hours usually terminating at 4 o'clock, they obtained considerable sums as book-keepers. All correspondence, except despatches to the British government, and communications with the judges, passed under their eye. They were employed in taking depositions, and received bribes for expediting indulgences. Their acquaintance with the probable demands of the commissariat, was a source of emolument: they sold information to the shopkeepers, and thus enhanced the price. Arthur professed to deplore the necessity of their employment; a practice which long survived his government.

It was, indeed, a mournful sight, to behold men of better hopes sink into habits of intemperance; and for a long series of years pass through a succession of punishments, often for trifling infractions of the penal code--to see them display the utmost facility in penmanship, and to hear at every movement the rattle of chains. Yet these prodigal sons of many a desolated house, were not so much objects of compassion, as those whose peace they had blighted with an incurable affliction. No one could imagine how many families, distinguished for rank, benevolence, and piety--known at home as the fortunate and happy--had in these regions unhappy relations, whose fate must have cast dark shadows on their own. Many, however, protected their kindred from public dishonor by the change of their names: they not unfrequently were overtaken by crime and punishment, having long left the dwellings of their fathers, whose reputation they spared by artifice and silence.

The wives of prisoners, who once moved in the higher circles, often exhibited an example of complicated virtue. What they took from the misery of their husbands they added to their own; and even by their participation rendered more intense the mental anguish they came to remove. Delicately reared, familiar with the comforts of affluence, they resolutely abandoned all. No entreaty, maternal tears, or offers of support, could change the purpose of conscience and affection. They gathered up the fragments of their shivered fortunes to venture on a lonely voyage, and encounter a rough courtesy--generous, when not brutal; to solicit commiseration from the harsh delegates of a nation's vengeance, or the hucksters of its mercy. Sad lot! fraught with anguish, with terror, and trembling: every moment passed in fear of some new fetter--of some fresh official caprice, or sudden separation! Such scenes of mental and physical martyrdom have been often known to professional men, who enter the interior of life, and watch the operations of secret sorrow. The mould of Tasmania covers many a true-hearted woman, whose constancy and self devotion are registered on high; and which, in another sphere, might command the admiration of the world!

The colonial government interdicted the connection of prisoners with the press, which, however, was not prevented or punished, when loyal to the authorities. Their writings were commonly laudatory of the officials, even when most offensive to the colonists. They were not always the most trucculent and unprincipled; although the censorship of public morals and political measures was unsuited to their civil condition.

Among those thus employed was Savary, once an opulent sugar baker at Bristol, who in 1824 was convicted of forgery, and his life spared by an exercise of mercy then novel. Happier far, had he died! He wrote for the press--on the right side. On the accusation of a colonist, his ticket-of-leave was withdrawn; but he was spared the usual penalty of banishment by the kindness of his patrons, who granted him another form of liberty. This man was followed by his wife; but on her arrival, her affection was seduced, or exhausted, and she returned to England. Savary attempted suicide, recovered, and again fell into crime: he was tried by Judge Montague, convicted of a colonial forgery, and afterwards died at Port Arthur--an awful instance of the effects of transgression; and of the proneness of men to repeat a crime they have once committed.[203]

It having been resolved to abandon Macquarie Harbour (1832), the government fixed on Port Arthur, on the east coast, as the site of a settlement where the rigour of discipline might be preserved. This district is situated on a peninsula within a peninsula, and contains about 100,000 acres of woodland--barren, but not repulsive. A neck of 450 yards broad, divides Tasman's and Forrestier's Peninsulas: there lamps are set on posts, to which fierce dogs are chained; and to close the passage by the shore, when opened by the recession of the tide, others are kennelled on a floating platform. Sentinels, guard-boats, and telegraphs, are the precautions employed to prevent escape; which few have attempted, and fewer still accomplished.

The first commandant was Surgeon John Russell; an office subsequently confided to Captain O'Hara Booth, a gentleman whose administration has been the subject of great eulogy. A minute code of government regulations defined the duties of all on the station. Hither all convicted of colonial crimes, or of more serious misconduct as assigned servants or in the road gangs, or who were separated to more than ordinary punishment by the secretary of state, or of the educated class, were sent. The degrees of punishment were, however, varied; and the more severe was exhausting and dangerous. The carrying gang, with a massive balk on the shoulders, resembled a huge centipede. The laborers, sometimes thirty together, groaning beneath a weight of many tons, obtained no respite from toil. The slippery and inclining ground exposed them to terrific perils: when they complained of inability to bear their burden, they were flogged, taken back, and compelled, by supernatural effort, to raise the load they had laid down. The numerous orders were enforced without momentary relaxation, and the scourge was the chief agent of control.

When the settlement was new, the men suffered from scurvy; they were not, subsequently, unhealthy: diseases of the heart formed a large proportion of their maladies. Many instances of great hardship have been authenticated; and several committed murder to be removed from misery by a public execution. The possession of a piece of tobacco was penal, and for this offence alone multitudes were flogged; but its use was only limited by the supply: many men would have risked the rack, rather than rejected this valued indulgence. A wesleyan missionary was accustomed to reward his servant with the luxury, until he found that being distributed, others were involved in punishment. Visitors usually carried tobacco, which they dropped on the tramway by which they were conveyed; and even when the prohibitions were most severely enforced, money would procure a supply.

The effect of Capt. Booth's administration was soon visible: the stoutest hearted gave way. Inexorably just, according to the system he represented, the accused might plead, but were never pardoned. The gentlemen convicts, clad in a prison dress, were employed in lighter labor and worked together; but were transferred to more penal gangs, for the least disorder. It is said that the terrors of Port Arthur were preventive of crime; that its rigour controlled and reformed, for the time, such as were sent there; but, both by those who vindicated, and those who condemned its severity, it is admitted that relapses were usual;[204] that it operated on the will by mechanical force, but debased the soul.

However heavy the hand of authority, it was not capricious. The overseers and constables were less brutal than at the road parties and previous penal stations. Compared with every other settlement of its class, Port Arthur, during Booth's management, was more humane because more equal and impartial. Constantly exhibited as a place of profound misery, it carried the vengeance of the law to the utmost limits of human endurance.

It would be improper to withhold the common testimony in favor of this officer, of whom the writer never heard a prisoner speak with reproach: he was detested only as the personification of unimpassioned severity. He gave all the weight of his example to promote the success of the missionary, and paid him respect in the sight of the prisoners. Time softens all things, and Captain Booth, on calm reflection, deserves to be remembered with respect, as an officer who took no pleasure in the sufferings he inflicted--who was as prompt to reward as to punish. A further detail is needless, and would add no new illustration of transportation.

The interest which Arthur took in the settlement which bears his name, may be inferred from his frequent visits, and the large promises which he offered in reference to its future prosperity. He thought seven thousand men might be sent there, to be detained six months on an average; and that the large consumption and expenditure would be repaid by the produce of their labor. From an early date, Port Arthur possessed the advantage of schools and ministerial attendance. A church, of handsome exterior, was erected.[205]

As the settlement improved, a tramway formed of hard wood, crossed a space of five miles, and thus connected the opposite bays. On this road, travellers were conveyed by human labor, a large proportion of the distance being, however, overcome by spontaneous locomotion.

The denizens of Port Arthur would furnish a curious collection of biography: the muster would be a living calendar. Among the more celebrated were, Ikey Solomon, the receiver, whom they made constable: the chartists--men, in whose fate millions have publicly expressed an interest. There was Collins, the mad sailor, who threw a stone at the last king; May, who murdered the Italian boy; and Cohen, a jew, who resigned himself to despair, and refusing sustenance, died: they now rest in the "_Isle de Mort_."

The establishment at Point Puer was intended to reclaim and control, rather than to punish, the unfortunate youth submitted to its discipline. Until a very late period, boys had been transmitted to the colonies in company with the men, and were treated without much discrimination: some at an age to understand crime only as a trick, or to deserve aught except pity and correction. Thus at Preston, a child, only seven years old, was transported for life. A boy, three years older, perhaps the same, called by his fellow prisoners, "King John," after three years imprisonment, arrived in this colony (1829) with sixty other lads; of whom, on their embarkation, not one in twenty could repeat the Lord's prayer.[206] It was stated by a Lord Mayor of London, that nothing could be kinder than to transport juvenile offenders to a country where their labor would be useful and their prosperity sure. It may be presumed, that in this spirit a girl and two boys were committed to take their trial for stealing some wood, valued at twopence, the property of the crown.[207] These acts of severity forcibly contrast with the happier fortunes of other classes. It is said of George III, that he arrested two Eton boys in the act of poaching: they took him for a keeper, and offered their pocket-money as a bribe. He threatened to inform their master; but next day sent them a present, requesting them to cease their depredations. They were peers when the monarch told the story, and he observed that they were most rigorous preservers of their game--"according to the old proverb, set a thief to catch a thief," said the king! A better authenticated anecdote was given by Lord Eldon, of his juvenile adventures; such as a rigorous magistrate might have turned to a very different account.[208] By what construction of equity the poor man's son, or the orphan, could deserve to be branded with an indelible stigma for no heavier crimes, it would be in vain to ask. Infractions of the law cannot be tolerated in any age, yet its administration has been often both partial and unmerciful.

Most of these young convicts had been first imprisoned a short period, and then turned on the world to obtain, by greater crimes, more lasting protection; or sometimes accused, but not convicted, they waited amidst moral pestilence the long delays of justice. A lad, fourteen years of age, was charged with stealing a hat: twelve months after, he was acquitted. What wonder that, dismissed a hardened criminal, he returned to be transported for life.[209] Such was the education of many, who might fairly adopt the language of Howard to the German emperor--"It is not in the power of your majesty to make reparation for the injury they have suffered." No subsequent care could atone for the long slumber of protective justice.

It is refreshing to find that kindness and coercion were united in the discipline of Point Puer: an oasis in the desert of penal government--unless viewed from the woolsack. Captain Booth was prompt in subduing rebellion and enforcing industry: the meals were regular, and habits of devotion and cleanliness were promoted. But when the boys were submissive and diligent, they were not forbidden to be happy: they were made tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, boat-builders, masons, and gardeners. Some became acceptable apprentices, were lost sight of as prisoners, and are now known only as respectable men. Such boys, however, were protected from contamination, from the moment of conviction. Those who mingled indiscriminately with the prisoners, surpassed them in mischief and wickedness. When landed they were placed in the barracks: some, not more than ten years old, blended the trickery of boyhood with the villainy of age, and had scarcely arrived a week, before they were tied up to the triangles and punished with the cat. Lord John Russell, yielding to humane suggestions, collected a cargo of juveniles from the various prisons, and appointed a surgeon-superintendent, who never lost sight of their moral welfare. The care was not unavailing: Captain Booth reported that a large proportion passed through his hands without incurring even magisterial correction, notwithstanding the most trivial disorders were punished. The reformation of adults may admit of scepticism, and be tolerated as a topic of ridicule: but children, taught to steal earlier than to speak; who received the first lessons of crime on the lap of a mother; who never heard of God, but from the lips of blasphemers--or of right, but as the fair distribution of spoil, were surely entitled to compassion. The sympathies of man cast penal science to the winds, and scorn to preserve the inexorable temper of legal vengeance, to save the rich from peculation, by the moral immolation of infant robbers. They are orphans cast upon a nation's mercy; for though nature gave them the claims of children, she did not secure them an interest in a parent's heart.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 201: Collins.]

[Footnote 202: _Mudie's Felonry of New South Wales_, p. 27.]

[Footnote 203: Savary wrote a novel, called _Quintus Servington_, 3 vols. It professes to detail his life: it sets out with a gypsy prophecy, delivered at his birth, which gave warning to his father that his son would be in danger between his thirtieth and fortieth year; but, passing that period, safely reach a happy old age!]

[Footnote 204: Arthur's evidence: Murdoch's ditto.]

[Footnote 205: While its foundation was digging, a murder was committed in the trench, and when its roof was covered, the plumber moulded dollars from lead, the property of government.]

[Footnote 206: This child, when asked his age by the superintendent, answered, "I was so young when I was born, that I cannot tell."]

[Footnote 207: _Spectator_, Sept. 21, 1833.]

[Footnote 208: "I do not know how it was, but we always considered robbing an orchard an honorable exploit. I remember once being carried before a magistrate: there were three of us. The magistrate acted upon what, I think, was rather curious law: he fined our fathers each 30s. for our offence. We were very good boys, indeed. I believe, we never did anything worse than a robbery."--_Lord Eldon; Life, by Horace Twiss._]

[Footnote 209: _Prison Discipline Society's Report_, 1827.]

SECTION XVII.

The views of the ministers respecting the severity of punishment, rendered the discipline more stern.[210] The subordinate agents of government received instructions to enforce an amount of labor from the prisoners employed upon the roads, which was measured without much regard to their previous habits, dexterity, or strength.

Nottman, to whose management several gangs were committed, was a person of unflinching temper--rigorous and fearless. Once, when assailed upon the road, he clenched the robber by the throat, until he expired. He found a pleasure in hastening the operations entrusted to his oversight, and neglect of work was an offence which was never pardoned. It did not unfrequently happen, that a tailor, or other sedentary craftsman, was sentenced to the roads; but in breaking stones, there is an art, and while the dexterous could make every blow effective, the utmost toil of the novice left a deficiency in the task. To admit excuse, would have disturbed the calculations of labor, and the defaulter was delivered at once to the flogger; often, too, the implements, injured by use, rendered the fracture of stones more difficult: the issue of rations weekly, tempted the improvident to consume their food, so that the last days of the week were spent in exhaustion and hunger.[211] The slightest symptoms of insubordination were promptly visited; and in one party, 3,300 lashes were administered in one morning.

The overseers copied the rigour of their superiors, without their discrimination or sense of justice. It was not uncommon, though forbidden, for these men to strike down the prisoners who displeased them. Such violations of rule were punished when discovered: but men of weak minds bore in silence miseries they were afraid to resent. The government compelled to accept such agents as transportation yielded, employed persons of the vilest character, of which the following may be taken as a specimen: W. A----, a prisoner for life, forfeited his ticket-of-leave for keeping a house of ill-fame, and harbouring assigned servants. He applied for its restoration: this was opposed by the police magistrate, who recommended that he should serve as an overseer for three months on probation, as he had been notorious for keeping a bad house![212] The incongruity of this employment with his character must have suggested itself to all except those familiar with similar appointments. Such as could command a bribe ameliorated their condition, while those who possessed no such resources, were selected to illustrate the vigilance and fidelity of the overseers. It requires no extensive acquaintance with mankind to perceive, that in such hands public justice was desecrated, and the weight of a sentence determined by causes which had no relation to the character or the crime.

The orders of Stanley were constantly criticised by the press, and from various motives were disliked by every section of the public. All who had been prisoners, naturally sympathised with the sufferers: those who were employers, reprobated a form of punishment which, without diminishing the application of the lash, abstracted from their farms a proportion of labour. A spirit of resistance was extensively propagated, and during the year following many sad instances occurred, in which an insurgent spirit was fatal. A young man, when employed on the public works, struck at Mr. Franks with his hammer: fortunately, the blow fell lightly; but he was tried and executed. A considerable number threw down their tools and retired to the bush, whither they were pursued and retaken. One instance made a powerful impression on the public mind: a convict, named Greenwood, took from a fellow prisoner his shovel, which was better than his own. He was sent at once by the superintendent to the cells in charge of a fellow workman. In the spirit of reckless daring, he told his conductor that he could run away if he thought proper; the other replied--"no doubt of it." Thus, by a sudden impulse, in bravado or in terror of the lash, he sprang across the boundary, and threw up his hat as a signal of his flight. He appeared on the race ground, and was there discovered by the constables committing some act of petty robbery: he was pursued, drew a knife from his pocket, and wounded his captor. Being taken before a magistrate, both his absconding and his resistance were stated--the last a capital offence. To punish this man was, of course, the duty of those whose authority he had defied. As an absconder, he was sentenced to one hundred lashes, and told--in words the import of which has not been disputed, although the taunting tone attributed to the justice may possibly admit a question--that after his flogging he would be hanged! Ten days after, he was condemned to death: his execution was delayed a few more by a respite; but he went to the scaffold with his wounds unhealed! The treatment of this man called forth, and justified the strongest expressions of public indignation. True, it was within the letter of the law: either of the penalties inflicted, might have been vindicated or excused both by necessity and custom; but to torture a fellow creature shortly to make his defence against a charge affecting his life, and to send him to his last account whilst suffering the pangs of laceration, was inexpressibly revolting. Those who desired to disgrace the government, embraced the opportunity--perhaps with the eagerness of faction: pictures were exhibited of the unfortunate man, illustrative of his melancholy fate. Surely no argument can be found, in the calmest exercise of the understanding to extenuate an administration of the law, which distorted justice into cruelty.

Under circumstances far more consonant with reason, but scarcely less affecting when considered at large, was the execution of Samuel, a black man: he was transported for theft, from the Cape of Good Hope, and was remarkable for the quiet easiness of his disposition. For some violation of penal discipline he was ordered to be flogged: when approaching the triangle, he attacked one of the officers in attendance, who was slightly wounded; for this he forfeited his life--justly, had England been just; but what was his story? With his mother and sister he was stolen from Mozambique, and thus became a slave: he robbed his masters, and thus became a criminal. His fate turns justice into mockery, and might make the Briton blush for his country. His execution, however, was not without utility: Dr. Ross, who for years had attended such scenes, then adopted the conviction that no resources of language, or varieties of incident, could invest them with interest, and he resolved to attend them no more. Here, too, the reader will be willing to abandon them. Since, they have often been repeated; but happily society has adopted from reflection, what that gentle-hearted man, so powerful is habit, required years to learn--that the executioner is an officer far less useful, and the agent of a spirit far less just, than past ages have deemed.[213]

At parting, it is proper to pay the tribute of history to the memory of Dogherty, the hangman--a functionary who surpassed greatly the common character of his order; and who, while he lived, contrived to evade the detestation of his calling. There was no amateur gaiety in his manner--no harshness in his speech. He accepted office when a prisoner, to enjoy the quiet quarters of the gaol and liberation from ordinary toil: he intended to resign it with his bondage, but the number of candidates for his place, it is said, reconciled his mind to its retention. Not in the spirit of menace, but defensive retort, he would promise those by whom he was jeered, his most delicate attentions in their last emergency. He was always willing to part with his provisions: to divide his sugar and tea with the necessitous, and to perform errands of kindness in their favor. No one could wield the lash with more mercy; and it is said that once, an offender, sentenced to a public flogging, received one stroke at starting, and the cart being driven by an associate, a second at stopping. His predecessor was a different character; and overcome with the misery of his condition, he committed murder, that he might escape from life! Dogherty passed through the town without fear of vengeance; although once, certain soldiers, his countrymen, injured him, and left scars which he carried to the grave. But what character is perfect? He was addicted to intemperance, and commonly spent the day succeeding an execution in drunkenness. The incredulous are assured, that this is not the language of fiction, but the character commonly ascribed in sober earnest to this unfortunate being.

The day will come, when the sacrifice of life, made with more hesitation, will cease to be a public spectacle; when, if it is deemed requisite to cut off from the earth the shedder of blood, the dreadful doom will cease to amuse the brutal, or to offer a momentary excitement to the unreflecting. Women will be no longer seen raising their children above the crowd, to enjoy the most humiliating sight that can meet the eyes of mortals. Let no one imagine, that men are effectually intimidated by attending public executions: as the fatal moment draws nigh, crowds are indeed seen rushing towards the spot; but they wear the lineaments of insensibility, intemperance, or habitual crime. It is not the guilt of the sufferer which extinguishes their pity: they would run to witness the murder of a saint. The utility of executions is left to the judgment of statesmen, but it cannot be wrong to detest them.

Thus far having delineated the broad features of the system known as the "certain and severe," it will be proper to explain the changes which it ultimately produced in the practical working of transportation. Simultaneously, a new theory of colonisation was promulgated. Land ceased to be granted: the funds accumulated by its sale were available for emigration,--and thus to decrease the rate of wages, and to enable the government to dispense with the services of convicts as writers, overseers, and mechanics. To assist this project, it had been determined to levy a tax on prison labor; but the protest of the colonists and the remonstrance of Arthur, led to its abandonment. The despatch which explained his views, dwelt on the inconvenience, vexation, and loss, to which the settlers were subject. He informed the Secretary of State, that his lordship could not understand, except by experience, how much and how often the colonists were fretted by the misconduct of their servants, and despoiled by their peculation: however perfect the discipline established; although the roads were safe, and violence infrequent; though many prisoners were reformed and useful, still the existing social state was charged with every form of domestic annoyance and mortification. Trivial thefts were constantly passed over, because punishment was attended with greater loss. Thus, two hundred men arrive--they are distributed: their masters pay down money for their clothing; but before they reach their home, their clothes are destroyed or sold--or, perhaps, they are committed for felony to gaol. At first the settler repines, but his difficulties are inevitable: he is silent, because his trials have long lost the interest of novelty, and all around him are fellow-sufferers. The settlers who submitted to the impertinence and unwillingness of pickpockets, he thought certainly entitled to the benefit of their services without any other tax than might be levied by their fingers. This earnest protest was not without success; but it became, afterwards, a potent weapon in the hands of those who pronounced transportation a failure.[214]

The arrival of many hundreds, whose previous habits were far from respectable, increased the difficulties of penal government. The former marked division of classes was confounded: the emigrant laborer was the companion of the prisoner of the crown; but, in law, the equal of the prisoner's master. This addition was greatly deplored, both by the Governor and the press. It was perceived that great organic changes must follow the influx of free men, whose interest would run in a direction entirely opposite to penal institutions. Thus, almost instantly, a change became perceptible: the high value of prison labor was reduced, and employers hostile to the government could afford to defy its power. The emigrant laborers formed an intermediate class, which detested the espionage and insolence of a convict constabulary, and was disposed to resent the haughty spirit which slavery has ever generated in the ruling classes.

In 1835, the feeling in opposition to transportation was strongly expressed by certain portions of the people. A meeting was called, under the auspices of Messrs. Kemp, Gellibrand, Hackett, Thomas Horne, and others, which complained that the hope entertained, that the colony might ultimately be freed from its penal character, had been disappointed, and that the colonists "were made materials for the punishment of British offenders;" were considered only as the "occupants of a large prison;"--phrases of Arthur--and that "this penal character had recently increased; thus violating the feelings of the adult, and barbarising the habits and demoralising the principles of the rising generation." This meeting, at which the sheriff presided, called by public advertisement, was perhaps _de jure_ a meeting of the colony; but the sheriff refused to attach his signature, lest the petition should be taken as that of the settlers in general, whose opinions it certainly did not then represent.

Arthur, in his despatch, endeavoured to neutralise its possible influence, at the same time intimating that he had "long foreseen that abolition would become a popular question." He, however, maintained that the emigrant, knowing the object of the settlement, had no right to complain; and that for the quarter of a century succeeding it would become increasingly adapted for the enforcement of penal discipline. He advised the ministers to stop the current of emigration, which, if continued, would render "convicts less valuable to the settlers," or to confine it to female emigrants, or such artificers as carpenters and masons.[215] Two hundred and sixty persons, in the Launceston district, repudiated the following passage of the petition:--"Your Majesty's humble petitioners most respectfully pray your Majesty to be pleased in your paternal goodness to remove from the colony of Van Diemen's Land the degradation and unspeakable evils to which it is subject on account of its penal character."

It would be amusing to contrast the sentiments expressed by various persons during the first formal agitation of this subject, with those that have latterly prevailed. It must, however, be remembered, that there were two political parties. Some opposed transportation as the last indignity which could be offered to Arthur, its zealous patron; while others desired its continuance only because no other labor was at hand. The paupers sent from the parishes did not create a strong feeling of preference for free servants, many of whom were profligate, intemperate, and otherwise worthless. Nor is it honest to conceal the disastrous influence of power on the moral perceptions of the mind. It is justly observed by Franklin, the philosopher, that "it is one of the worst features of human nature, yet one with which it is too generally impressed--the love of power; whereby all men prefer to be served by slaves, over whom they have absolute dominion, than by free men, who have rights as well as their masters." These motives, mingled and corroborated by the practice of many years, contributed to strengthen the views of the local government, and to reduce to a small minority the advocates of abolition. Yet such are the singular conjunctions of affairs: though derided and rejected on the spot, they were afterwards quoted with respect by a committee of British legislators, when the subject of transportation again engaged the attention of parliament.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 210:

"_Colonial Secretary's Office, 14th February_, 1833.

"His Majesty's government having been pleased to enjoin the strictest fulfilment of the law upon all convicts sent to this colony, and that their punishment should be _certain and severe_, the Lieutenant-Governor directs the renewed attention of all public officers connected with the convict department, to the instructions which have from time to time been issued on the subject.

"His Excellency is desirous especially to impress upon them the necessity of invariably exacting the due portion of daily labor from each convict, and of not permitting any remission or indulgence but such as have been previously and especially authorised.

"The orders prohibiting convicts employed on the roads and in the public works (including clerks, messengers, and persons of that description) from laboring, under any pretence, for private individuals, or to the advantage of those in charge of them, are at all times to be most perseveringly and carefully enforced, and to avoid any misconception in a matter deemed so important by his Majesty's government, the instructions are to be understood most peremptorily to forbid every species of indulgence beyond the food, clothing, bedding, and lodging authorised by regulations to every convict.

"A proportionate degree of restraint and watchfulness over all assigned convicts is equally essential. The object of their reform, as well as punishment, must never be lost sight of.

"His Excellency is sensible that this end could never have been so successfully attained as it has been, without the zealous co-operation of the colonists at large, who in conjunction with a due exaction of labor, have very generally insisted upon the observance of orderly and regular conduct.

"As it is through this good feeling on the part of the colonists generally, that the police has proved so efficient an auxiliary in the general control of the convict population, and as it would be unjust to allow the exceptions which may yet exist to affect the reputation of the colony at large, the government will still more firmly pursue the course of withdrawing assigned servants from all masters who neglect to regard cleanly, decent, and sober habits in and out of their huts, and a seasonable attention to moral and religious duties, as part of the compact under which the labor is placed at their disposal.

"The Lieutenant-Governor on this occasion feels it due to the general body of the settlers, to acknowledge his obligation to them for the cordial support he has received at their hands in the control and management of the convict population, with which no political differences have been permitted to interfere, and his Excellency does so with the more satisfaction, at this particular time, when the attention of the Imperial Parliament is so especially drawn to the consideration of the important subject of prison discipline, and when the state of things in the colony has placed the local government in a situation to contradict the unjust imputations which have been raised against transportation as a punishment.

"By his Excellency's command,

"J. BURNETT."]

[Footnote 211: Backhouse and Walker's observations. This evil was corrected on their representation.]

[Footnote 212: _Par. Papers._]

[Footnote 213: "The Rev. Dr. Bedford, in the course of his remarks, stated that his duty had imposed upon him the painful task of attending between three and four hundred executions, and that more than nineteen-twentieths of the unhappy men who had thus miserably perished, had been brought to this end by the effects of drunkenness."--_Courier_; Speech at a meeting of the first Temperance Society at Hobart Town, 1832.

"It has fallen to our lot to be present at the executions of a large proportion of the malefactors who have suffered the extremity of the law in Hobart Town, and the apparent apathy with which the unhappy men met their fate, was always to us the most humiliating part of the spectacle. Their lips would utter with apparent sincerity the invocations prompted by the clergyman, but the heart, that should have given them expression, was too plainly wanting. They were empty sounds--the soul was gone. The main part of the executioner's duty was performed to his hand; the kernel was already consumed.... They sung psalms, ate a hearty meal: they heard the summons of the sheriff; their arms were pinioned; the halter was put about their neck; the cap was brought over their eyes, and they dropped into eternity with more indifference than the ox goes to the slaughter."--_V. D. Land Annual_; edited by Dr. Ross, 1833.]

[Footnote 214: 28th June, 1832.]

[Footnote 215: Despatch to Spring Rice.]

SECTION XVIII.

Governor Arthur held the reins of authority while considerable changes transpired in the elder colony. Sir Thomas Brisbane, who succeeded Macquarie, had chiefly attempted to diminish the expenditure, and in the management of convicts had sought in the results of their labor, rather than its detail, the success of transportation. Formed into gangs, they were employed in clearing farms under the inspection of government superintendents, for which the settlers paid a moderate price; but on the arrival of General Darling, the government assumed an aspect of increasing rigour, and the reins of authority were tightened until they were in danger of breaking. It does not belong to this work to examine minutely the general policy of that ruler; it was, however, held in earnest detestation by those who were, or had been prisoners. The magistrates were empowered to inflict corporal punishment to a very questionable extent, and it was customary for one settler to judge and sentence the servant of another, who in his turn performed a similar office. It is surely not necessary to prove, that the moderate exercise of such extensive powers depended rather on the equitable temper of British gentlemen than the practical limitation of their power.

On the arrival of Sir Richard Bourke, the successor of Darling, the spirit of convict discipline underwent a change. By a new law he lessened the power of the magistrates to inflict corporal punishment, and particularly terminated the system of distributing through successive days the sentence awarded. The magistrates complained that the convict servants treated the penalties to which they were liable with derision, and petitions from various districts of the colony claimed the restoration of the abolished laws. This led to the issue of an order to the various district magistrates, requesting their personal attendance at the triangles, and a special report upon the extent of suffering which resulted from the application of the lash. Superintendent Ernest Augustus Slade, son of General Slade, prepared a scourge, which was called the "regulation cat." Every flagellator through the colony was supplied with this instrument, and the effects it produced are described with scientific minuteness. The last victim was much more fortunate than the first: the lash loosened, or softened, and became more merciful at every stroke.

The description of several hundred cases in the course of one month, prove how useless, how unequal, and unavailing this form of torture. Such as these: "a fair skinned young man, he bore his punishment well;" "he resolved to bear his punishment like a man;" "he begged for some water;" "he seemed much exhausted, and cried like a child;" "this man never moved or spoke;" "he seemed to suffer much mental pain;" "he bit his lip, he had had former punishments;" "he neither cried nor spoke;" "he cried out domino." Of fifty, one half had never been flogged before. Then there follows in each case a description of the writhings of the sufferers: the discoloration of the skin, the time at which the blood appeared, and whatever might illustrate the power of the lash to degrade and torture. These returns were obtained to vindicate Governor Bourke from the charge of unseasonable lenity, and to prove that no just discontent was authorised by the mitigations he had enforced.

A great portion of these punishments were inflicted by the order of Mr. Slade. Dismissed for immoralities he was authorised to avenge, he excused them by alleging his youth. Though capricious, he was not cruel; but it is due to mankind, to protest against depositing power in the hands of young persons, who have to cover their own passions by the plea of juvenility, and who, in every part of the penal colonies, have exhibited an example of those habits which lead to crime--and too often administered public vengeance in the spirit of tyranny.

Corporal punishment, long tenaciously vindicated, by those who ruled masses of men, was held indispensible, and no severe reproach can be due to the government which authorised, or the magistrates who ordered, its infliction. It seems, indeed, to be essential to every social system that denies the ordinary rewards of labor. The rebel slave, to deprive his master, will dare any suffering which suspends or terminates his service. But beside those who employed the lash from conviction, there were others of a different stamp: it is quietly observed by Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, that they found its greatest advocates "among persons given to profane swearing." The violent temper, prone to break out in imprecations, would find another and congenial relief in scenes of torture and debasement. There were modes of punishment which no prejudice could extenuate: among these, the infliction of the lash in a form which degraded society more than it debased the sufferer. Thus, at Hobart Town, men, for mere faults, have been sentenced to _exposure_ and the scourge, in the view of hundreds: the flagellator extinguished the last feeling of the man, and roused the temper of the demon. An old compositor, within a month of his freedom, was charged with some trifling breach of convict discipline, and though the father of grown up children, was ordered by a chief police magistrate, this cruel disgrace. He is dead--and his oppressor is dead! Such cases were not uncommon, but they are past, and they may be left to oblivion.

Whether it is possible, in the present state of penal discipline, to withdraw the scourge from the hands of authority, it might be difficult to decide: it should not, however, be forgotten, that its present comparative disuse, was once pronounced impossible; and that when flogging decreased, crimes of savage violence became unusual.

The partisans of General Darling, many of whom were eminent, both for their opulence and social worth, resented the constructive censure of his policy. They asserted that discipline was relaxed; that, under the title of the "prisoners' friend," Bourke was an incendiary, stirring up the laborers to rebellion.[216] They predicted that the diminished severity of transportation as a penalty, would suggest new arguments against it in parliament, ultimately lead to its abolition, and thus inflict a fatal injury on the colony. The press, supported by emancipists, lauded the lenient temper of the governor, and exasperated the advocates of the past system by allusions to their tyrannical rule, and exultation at their defeat. The old quarrel revived: the dissatisfied magistrates and settlers dwelt on the characteristic depravity of the emancipists; and the necessity for their permanent disqualification as jurors and electors. While they asserted the lasting civil and moral distinctions between the voluntary and expiree settlers, the patrons of the latter avenged them by maintaining that the convict was only less _fortunate_ than his free employer, and that the moral disparity assumed and vaunted, was rather fanciful than real.

The treatment of assigned servants in New South Wales had always been more open to objection than Van Diemen's Land.[217] The transportation of 30,000, during ten years ending in 1836, produced the moral evils inseparable from such vast accumulations. Several of the settlers employed from one to two hundred men, and it was a capital object to reduce them to the feeling, while they were subject to the economy of penal slavery. There were, indeed, many mitigations and many exceptions; but the settlers at large realised less the healthy sympathy between the master and servant than was common in this country.

A class of settlers, whose management was not less exceptionable, chiefly expirees, surrounded the large estates; thus, while some convicts were considered both as criminals and slaves, others sat at the table and enjoyed the company of their masters. The results of these extremes have been already described, and are always uniform.

Among those who resented the policy of Bourke, Major Mudie was the most bitter and persevering. In his "_Felonry of New South Wales_," he employed every epithet of horror and contempt in condemning the conduct of this governor. The character of Mudie, as delineated by his friends, is not repulsive: they have described him as a good master and a just magistrate; but the style of his work awakens a suspicion that his temper was not fitted for the control of his fallen countrymen. They were sent to New South Wales to be punished: such was his theory. Macarthur, who participated in many of his sentiments, yet describes his own plan as the reverse. He knew that a severe gaoler could not be esteemed as a good master: "he endeavoured to make his farm servants forget that they were convicts."[218] Mudie spoke of those he employed in the tone of an executioner--nothing could wash away their guilt, or obliterate its brand. His descriptions of the "felonry"--a cutting term devised by himself, are grotesque and amusing. He deserves the fame of a satirist, but on historical questions his vehement language impairs the force of his testimony, and lessens the weight of his opinions.

This gentleman was the proprietor of Castle Forbes, an estate of large extent, where many convicts were employed. Their immediate superintendence he intrusted to his nephew, of whom their complaints were bitter and mutinous. Their remonstrances were punished: one man set out for Sydney, and carried a petition to Governor Bourke; he was sent back with a note to his master, written by the private secretary, who interceded in his behalf; but his application was irregular, and his absence unauthorised, and Mudie delivered him to the magistrate, by whom he was flogged and condemned to chains. On this, several men rose in rebellion: they attacked the house of their master, robbed him of some race horses, and attempted the life of the overseer. At their trial, and just before their death, they implored the governor to stop the cruelties which had driven them to desperation and the scaffold.

Deferring to the strong feeling excited by their appeal, Bourke appointed an enquiry. The evidence collected did not sustain the charges of the men, who probably mistook their position, and exaggerated their grievances; but their accusations made a deep impression on a certain class, and the tyranny of the settler magistrates, of whom thirty were dismissed from the commission, was denounced with increasing boldness and asperity.

Among the most effective writers of the time, was William Angus Watt, who held up the angry magistrates to derision, and their partisans, "as a faction dwindled to a shadow--

A mumping phantom of incarnate spite; Loathed, but not feared, for rage that cannot bite."[219]

The career of this man is a curiosity of Australasian literature. Both Dr. Lang and Major Mudie have spread his fame by their works and their parliamentary evidence. He committed a crime in Scotland, for which he was outlawed; for a second, in London, he was transported. At Wellington Valley he won the favor of his superintendent employed in an office at Sydney, he conciliated the good-will of Bishop Broughton and several other clergymen, who interceded for his pardon. This was refused, but he obtained a ticket-of-leave, and engaged in the service of the editor of the _Gazette_, the reputed organ of the government. The profligacy of his habits, and the insolence of his writings, exposed him to observation. He lived with a female illegally at large, whose child, born in the factory, was baptised in his name. To involve the editors of the _Herald_ in a prosecution for libel, Watt procured, by the agency of a printer in their office, a slip proof of a letter they had resolved to suppress. This he transmitted through the post to the person calumniated, to give him the necessary evidence of publication. For his share in this scandalous trick he was tried, but the paper stolen was of so little value that he was acquitted. In addressing the jury, he pointed out Major Mudie as his unrelenting persecutor, and as an oppressor of unfortunate prisoners. Mudie, to punish the alleged insolence of his defence, accused him of immorality and habitual lying, and demanded the revocation of his ticket-of-leave. The investigation lasted several weeks, and ended in the dismissal of the charge, which was not unfairly attributed to the animosities kindled by newspaper warfare, in which Mudie was more than a spectator. Judge Burton represented that the residence of Watt in Sydney was pernicious, and Governor Bourke ordered him to the district of Port Macquarie; whither he was followed by the proprietress of the _Gazette_, with whom he married, by the governor's permission. There he was again concerned in an official dispute: his ticket was withdrawn; he absconded, was retaken and flogged--and thus dropped down to the degraded condition which his enemies desired, and which was certainly not undeserved.

The attempt to identify Bourke with this man was an artifice of faction. The license he received was not unusual, and his previous character had been free from colonial offence. His influence resulted from his ability: his principles were the current notions of the emancipists; nor is it easy to discern how talents, such as he was supposed to possess, could be prevented from finding their level.

About this time Dr. Lang established the _Observer_. Its object was to write down the emancipist partisans, and the journals subject to their power. The good service performed by this earnest censor was not without alloy: and in his attacks on their moral reputation, he seemed sometimes to write what they themselves might have written. The emancipists were drawn together by common sympathies: they charged the free settlers with attempting to exact from the sufferings and failings of their brethren, a consideration in the colony, to which they were entitled neither by their rank nor their reputation. Nor was this reflection always without reason: in strange forgetfulness of the natural operation of self-love, the upper classes of New South Wales expected multitudes, often of greater wealth than themselves, to walk humbly in their presence. Such claims the emancipists met with defiance. The false morality of their journals will be largely ascribed by a calm enquirer to retaliation and hatred, rather than to a judgment corrupted--in reference to the real nature of crime.[220]

Nothing so powerfully contributed to rouse the attention of the empire, as the charge of Judge Burton, delivered to the petty jurors, at the close of the criminal court, 1835. Perhaps a more awful picture was never drawn, or a more serious impeachment pronounced against a people. This celebrated speech furnished the text of examination, when parliament once more enquired on the subject. Judge Burton asserted that the whole community seemed engaged in the commission or the punishment of crimes. Crimes, including 442 capital convictions in three years: crimes of violence, murders, manslaughters in drunken revels--deliberate perjuries, from motives of revenge or reward, were brought to light. He complained of the deficiency of religious principle: of the neglect and profanation of the sabbath: on which day the worst actions were planned and perpetrated. The convict stations he compared to "bee-hives, diligently pouring in and out; but with this difference--the one worked by day, the other by night: the one goes forth to industry, the other to plunder." These evils he traced to "squatting;" the congregation of prisoner servants in Sydney; the license of improper persons to public houses; and, more than all, the total neglect of superintendence by employers of convicts, who, armed for marauding expeditions, sometimes left their masters' premises by night, and even by day. He closed, by declaring his love to free institutions--the pride, indeed, and boast of England; but which, if conferred on such a populace, he believed would end in the corruption of all.

That this address gave a true description of a part of the population, cannot be doubted; but inferences were liable to error, even on the spot, much more when drawn at a distance. A mass of thieves under any system, if in contact with property, must produce a mass of crime; yet even in the worst days of transportation, the relapses were proportionately less than under any other system of prison discipline. In England, 30,000 such persons at large, would yield annually at least an equal number of felonies.

The abuses which were brought to light, were certainly flagrant: the most memorable was the instance of Nash, who took to Sydney the rich spoil of a robbery, and set up a large drapery warehouse; and of Gough, an assigned servant of the chief justice, who lived at large, and carried on a quiet business as a receiver of stolen goods. Cases so conspicuous strongly illustrated the evils of assignment. The miserable fate of Mudie's men, compared with the condition of such persons, naturally suggested the idea, that some new change was essential, to protect from reproach or derision the public justice of the nation.

The appointment of a committee to promote emigration from Ireland, of which Archbishop Whately was chairman, called attention to the subject of transportation. It was the opinion of the committee (1836), that to send the peasantry of Ireland to a community so polluted, was base, cruel, and impolitic. The right reverend prelate asserted that statesmen were tolerating a social organisation, destined one day to involve the empire in deep disgrace, and exhibit the awful spectacle of a nation of criminals!

The desire to possess free institutions, brought the question of transportation to a crisis. The patriotic association advocated an unrestricted concession of political rights; the anti-emancipists a limitation of the franchise to such as were always free. This division of opinion was characterised by the usual warmth of political faction, aggravated by personal anger. The petition of the exclusionists called the attention of parliament to the state of the convict question, and solicited enquiry.[221] Macarthur, whose work is a commentary on the petition, full of valuable information, suggested the abolition of assignment, the separation of the convict department and colonial government, and the establishment of large gangs, in which labor might be exacted, without partiality.

Such was the state of this important question during the last years of Arthur's administration. When he deemed the details of his penal system nearest perfection, the main principles on which it rested were undermined. The severity enjoined by Lord Stanley, and the lenity exercised by General Bourke, raised an outcry against transportation; and once more propagated the idea that in its lenity it was corrupt, and its severity cruel. A running fire was kept up by the press, which returned to the question of secondary punishments with new vigour, and repeated all the problems on this perplexing subject--perhaps, destined to confound the wise, and furnish a theme for dogmatism through all time.

In 1837, the House of Commons appointed the committee, of which Sir William Molesworth was chairman.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 216: _Mudie's Felonry._]

[Footnote 217: "I thought them a villanous shabby set, compared with convicts in Van Diemen's Land." "There appeared a great deal of flogging." "My men did twice as much work." "I told my brother, if he used his men as we did, he would get more work: he said _it would be ill-received through the country_. They had very inferior clothing, and got very little meat. These remarks were applicable to the estates in general."--_Mr. P. Murdoch's Evidence_--questions 1397 to 1403.]

[Footnote 218: _Par. Pap._]

[Footnote 219: _Sydney Gazette, April 1835._]

[Footnote 220: "It was the uniform tendency or design of the writings of these individuals, as it has been also that of all other public writers of convict origin in the Australian colonies, to reduce the reputable portion of the community to the same level as themselves; to abolish all the salutary distinctions which the laws of God and man have erected between right and wrong; and if possible to dispossess the whole convict population of all sense of criminality and degradation."--_Lang's Transportation and Colonisation_, 1837. p. 109. And yet the disappearance of emancipist disqualifications has almost banished a class of writers who were accepted as champions, but who could not seriously affect the ultimate views of public and private morality--they were mere actors.]

SECTION XIX.

While these questions were agitated in England, Sir John Franklin received the government of Tasmania. Captain Maconochie, already known to scientific men, and who had enjoyed long the friendship of the Governor, accepted the office of private secretary--a situation of not much emolument, but highly confidential. When his destination became public, the society for the improvement of prison discipline requested him to examine closely the results of transportation, as exhibited in Van Diemen's Land. To assist his inquiries, they prepared sixty-seven questions, comprehending the details of convict management, on which they desired a minute exposition of his views; and added, "_make such general remarks as occur on the whole convict system of the colony, and its effects on the moral and social state of the community: also remark on the effect of the latter, and enter on the subject largely, making any observation which may be useful in regard thereto_."

Captain Maconochie referred the application to Sir George Grey, who consented, conditionally:--that all papers on the subject should pass through the usual channel to the colonial-office, and be first placed at his absolute disposal. The effects of this commission were momentous. Maconochie, when he left Great Britain, professed a freedom from decided bias, and to favor the general system of Arthur, rather than that propounded by Archbishop Whately. The opinions he ultimately adopted, he ascribed to his own observation, and disclaimed all prejudice against those forms of prison discipline he was destined to subvert.

The discussions thus originated are of a deeply interesting character, and their influence will long survive the animosity they occasioned. The completion of Maconochie's report was exceedingly rapid, or it was very early commenced. He had resided but three months, when he felt authorised to pronounce the existing system of management defective, far less in application than in principle. The course ascribed to Maconochie was that of a prejudiced spy, seeking evidence for a case pre-judged: that which he claimed, was the task of a philosopher, scanning facts patent to every eye--even more striking when first seen. His conclusions he attributed to the inevitable process by which facts are generalised, and demonstrate systems. His style, when deliberate, is terse and explicit: his ideas he expressed with the utmost freedom; or, as it then seemed, audacity. The colonists he treated as an operator, who indeed pities the sufferings of his patient, but disregards a natural outcry, while expounding in the language of science both the symptoms and the cure. Without circumlocution or reserve, he spoke of the officers concerned in convict management as blinded by habit--as empirics who could patch and cauterise a wound, but were involved in the hopeless prejudices of a topical practice, and much too far gone to comprehend improvements founded on scientific principles. His deviations from the tone of philosophical discussion were not numerous, but they were marked. The chief police magistrate he compared to the lamplighter, by whom gas is detested. In praising that officer's administrative talent, he observed that he belonged to the martinet school, and that his estimate of human nature depressed it below its worth.

The representations of Maconochie, with reference to the condition of the convicts and the character of the settlers, awakened a storm of indignation. Transportation, he said, at a distance appeared a trivial penalty; but when surveyed more nearly, it was found to be inhuman. The servant was assigned to a master without his consent; his employment was alien to his habits; he labored without wages; he was met with suspicion, and ruled with insult or contempt. The servant became sullen, the settler vindictive: slight offences were visited with punishments "severe, to excessive cruelty,"--offences, often the ebullitions of wounded feeling, and the tokens of a hopeless wretchedness.

Notwithstanding, this condition--unknown to the population at home--afforded no warning. The victims were uncompensated--the great majority unreformed. Thus, employers preferred new hands to those passed through this discipline of suffering. Such as rose in society, were seldom really respectable; they neither regretted their crimes, nor offered atonement. But if the prisoner was injured, the colonist was not less so. Social virtues were discouraged; all classes were contentious and overbearing: the police, ever prying into the business of life, thus intermixed with penal systems, filled the colony with exasperation, from which not even the mildest spirits could escape. He did not propose to abolish transportation, but that the government by its own officers should both punish and reform; that the prisoners, when restored to society, should stand in the relations of free men to all except the crown, receiving wages at the current rate; and if restrained in their expenditure, not for punishment, but for safety--"the chains of paternal authority" thrown over them, "to protect them against themselves."

Maconochie sent to Sir G. Grey a Summary of his Report, containing his opinions of existing systems: at his request it was at once handed to Lord John Russell, who again, conveyed it to the committee then sitting upon the subject of transportation. Although substantially agreeing with his report, _the summary_ condensed, and therefore rendered more flagrant, the charges against the colonists, and his description of the condition of the prisoners still more revolting.

This _Summary_ appeared in an English newspaper. Hitherto the discussion had been confined to official circles or to select correspondence: it was now open to the world; and the colonists found, with astonishment, that the reform proposed was radical, and that the opinions of the reformer were wholly adverse to the existing systems.

In this summary, the condition of the convicts was depicted with all the coloring of misery: they were slaves, subject to coercion; strangers to moral impulses, save only the distant hope of liberty. They were lodged in huts with stable roofs, damp floors, and rude furniture.[222] They slept on truckle bedsteads, often undressed; their food was cooked in the roughest manner; without wages, they robbed; miserable, they were drunken. Their better qualities were unregistered: the artful escaped, while the "careless fellow," otherwise good, was involved in a long train of penalties. A ticket obtained, the holder could acquire no property, and was worried by police interference; and in one night his indulgence might be forfeited. Though some masters, generous or weak, softened its rigour, assignment as a punishment, generally exceeded the desert of minor offences: and its degradation, unfelt by old offenders, was agony to men of minds more sensitive. The bad were little punished, the good demoralised; self respect was destroyed; and men born to better things, sacrificed by political institutions, rather than by their personal depravity or their crimes. This state was worse than negro slavery: the interests of the masters were less permanent; who, though they did not fear their servants, disliked, coerced, and inveighed against them. This slavery tainted colonial life: the colonists were harsh and overbearing at home; they were quarrelsome neighbours, given to reckless assertion; rapacious, envious, and disaffected. Government was unpopular, and all governors so in succession. The police, if not corrupt, was irksome and intrusive. Labor was wasted, emigration discouraged. Crime and drunkenness multiplied, and what a hundred and fifty is to one thousand, or thirteen hundred, such was the crime of Van Diemen's Land to that of England and Scotland. Drunkenness had risen, in ten years, from three per cent. to fourteen per cent.: in London, such was the difference of tendencies between those meridians, it was reduced to an imperceptible fraction.

To remedy these evils, he demanded the abolition of domestic slavery: a separation, distinct as their natures, between punishment and moral training; punishment, certain and appropriate--inflicted upon system, and in seclusion; and training, not less systematic, but social and probationary--coercion being banished, moral influence alone applied. For punishment, Maconochie deemed the system of Port Arthur, administered by Booth, an admirable model. For training, he suggested stations within reach of the free community, where the convicts should be prepared for society in parties of six, joined in a common fate, by mutual agreement. They were to work out their redemption together: their vigilance would detect, their interests depress disorders in the clubs; the virtues of sobriety, diligence, decency, and industry, achieved by each, would be rewarded for the common benefit of all; but for the fault of one, the whole would pay the penalty; or should the partnership be dissolved by the intolerable injustice of any, its disbanded members would return to their starting point, and in new combinations pursue again, and perhaps again, the first steps, until all should reach abreast one common goal.

Such was the system of moral training and mutual responsibility, which he deemed only a new accommodation of established principles. In his view, it was a moral field the greatest statesman might enter with success, and thus crown himself with immortal renown. Such in substance was the summary, afterwards amplified by details and illustrated by facts. In subsequent papers the more offensive passages were explained and qualified; but at best, they appear not only an indictment of opinions and systems, but of classes and communities.

Sir John Franklin promptly referred the queries of the _Society_ to an official board, which consisted of the chief police magistrate of the territory (Captain Forster), the director-general of public works (Captain Cheyne), and the superintendent of convicts (Mr. Spode). In reply to sixty-six of these questions they had only to refer to undisputed facts; but the last contemplated both the theory and practice of transportation. In the statement of facts they united; but the proper remedies to apply to acknowledged evils, admitted of difference--and they all differed.

The memorandum of the chief police magistrate, beside briefly describing the practice of former times, recommended important changes for the future. Instead of assignment from the ships, he suggested that all prisoners should be placed on the public works, for a period to be fixed by the judges. He proposed a new distribution of time penalties: thus instead of seven, fourteen years, and life, to recognise by law a more minute and proportionate sub-division. In assignment, he recommended wages, rateable at the discretion of government; afterwards a _first class_ ticket-of-leave, with a permission to choose employers; and a _second class_, to include most of the privileges of freedom, voidable only by a court of quarter sessions for specified offences. The conditional pardon he deemed it necessary to defer a longer time than usual; since, when released from surveillance and responsibility, ticket-holders often relapsed into the vices from which they had previously emerged.

Mr. Spode concurred with the chief police magistrate, though with serious reservations: especially, he deprecated any delay of assignment--a state he deemed most conducive to reform, and highly useful to the colony. Mr. Forster had declared that female prisoners "_were not available subjects for prison discipline_." Mr. Spode recommended solitary confinement, or marriage. In the meantime, Maconochie having drawn up his report, submitted it to Captain Cheyne, and made a proselyte.

Captain Cheyne took the colony by surprise. Not only did he denounce assignment, but spoke of the settlers with still less tenderness: he asserted that a great proportion of those entrusted with convicts "were dissolute in their habits, and depraved in their principles." That there "existed a fearful degree of depravity, unparalleled in any age;" that assignment was the great source of crime and caste: for the convict "no man cared;" few were exempt from contemptuous and brutal treatment--few escaped punishment. Such opinions could only usher in a system radically new. Thus Captain Cheyne proposed to divide the prisoners into gangs of two hundred each, and the adoption of task work proportioned to physical strength. He proposed wages to be paid to the road parties, to be expended in the purchase of comforts, or reserved for a future day. On introducing the prisoners into society, he recommended a graduated scale of indulgence, not greatly dissimilar from the propositions stated already.

The papers of Maconochie and Cheyne were referred to the members of the executive council, and were generally condemned. Captain Montagu urged the great danger to the public peace, from the propagation of an opinion that the laws were unjust, the masters oppressive, and the government cruel. Were it intended to test Maconochie's theory, he demanded a large increase of military force. He, however, complained that gentlemen, who possessed such slight practical knowledge, should venture to assail established systems. His remarks chiefly related to the colonial influence of their ideas, and he exaggerated the danger to the public safety. The most dispassionate examination of this report was given by Archdeacon Hutchins. It was far more copious in its admissions in reference to the existing system. Little work was done; the prisoners were very slightly reformed, and the agents often unfit. But by what means labor could be exacted, or a "millennial age of righteousness" supersede the past, he declared himself uncertain. He was sceptical that it was possible to obtain men of science, prudence, and equity, to administer a system so complexed, and requiring such discretion.

Mr. Gregory, the colonial treasurer, adopted a less grave form of criticism. He soothed, by his humour, the colonial wrath, and among the lesser gods excited unextinguishable laughter. The charges of Maconochie and Cheyne against the colonists, he described as loose and random shots, fired by inexperienced hands. In reducing the plan of clubs to practical details, he insisted they were unequal, and even impossible. The minute appraisement, both of good and evil; reckoning up the diurnal merits of the men--the balance of which was to furnish their capital stock, to discharge their fines, to find them food and clothing, and liberty--he described as a gigantic scheme of finance.[223] He amused himself by supposing the number of chances which might intervene before, of ninety-six men, the whole should be divided into clubs of six, and by the separate agreement of all combine their fortunes, and risk joint forfeitures: each man settling into partnership with five others whom he could trust, and by whom he could be trusted. He figured also the embarrassment of the protectors, who every evening, ledger in hand, must make up their debtor and creditor account for the three hundred probationers.

The summary, Capt. Maconochie had enclosed, under seal of the Governor, to Sir George Grey, without however fully explaining its contents to Sir John Franklin, or intimating its serious and formal nature. When the journal containing it was placed in his hands, he uttered an exclamation of astonishment, and instantly dismissed its author, but did not withdraw his friendship. Maconochie represented that it was a private document, intended for private use--its sudden appearance not less unexpected than embarrassing. That he had not submitted this paper to the Governor, he ascribed to the irritation caused by the difference of their opinions; and that he did not delay its transmission, he imputed to its overwhelming importance and its pressure on his mind. How the spirit of the Governor was extolled by the colonists need not be formally stated, or how his discarded secretary was accused of rashness, perfidy, and falsehood. Maconochie did not himself disdain to acknowledge, that in error of judgment he had forwarded too early, and in a manner seemingly clandestine, a report so decided. The imputation of duplicity was unjust: Franklin was not wholly ignorant of the contents of the packet. Although not, perhaps, aware that he was franking a system, yet by the same vessel he wrote to the minister that he had not read, and could not answer for the _summary_. It was, however, strange for the ministers of the crown to rely on a private report; and especially upon the truthfulness of an analysis, which gave opinions, but deferred the evidence on which they were said to rest.

The resemblance which may be traced between the system propounded by Maconochie, and the suggestions which have been offered at various times by writers on this subject, will not deprive him of the credit of originality. Hazarded by their authors without much reflection, the boldness of a reformer was required to adapt them. It may, however, be interesting to trace the details which he combined, or the sources of those ideas which he comprehended in his scheme.

Sidney Smith suggested "new gradations of guilt to be established by law, and new names to those gradations; a different measure of good and evil treatment attached to those denominations--as rogues, incorrigible rogues," and so forth.

Mr. Potter M'Queen recommended a division of offenders, some of whom should be punished in gangs, and others subject to a process simply reformatory.

Blanco White, a celebrated Spaniard, had suggested sentences to an amount of work rather than to an extent of years. He proposed that the tread-wheel should measure the progress of the culprit, and that every revolution should bring him nearer to liberty.

His punitive system had long been adopted by Arthur, though probably with objects somewhat distinct: it was found in every penal settlement and road gang.

Capt. Cheyne had recommended the opening of accounts and payment for probationary labor.

At Bermuda, the stimulus of present enjoyment was offered to industry: convicts were allowed 1_s._ 6_d._ per week, half of which they were at liberty to expend in fruits, vegetables, and such like comforts; the residue forming a fund, sometimes of L15 and L20, receivable at discharge. These indulgences were attended with the happiest effects, and the superintendent, Sir Thomas Usher, was so satisfied with their reformation, that he had no doubt seven-eighths were better men at the close than at the commencement of their bondage.

The idea of clubs was found in the tithings of the ancient Britons, which were enrolled by the authority of Alfred, and made liable for each other. Maconochie saw in the disjointed and licentious condition of that era, something analogous to the state of convicts, and in the result that "a bracelet might be left on the highway with security," an encouragement to hope, from a similar organisation, for the same success. Capt. Maconochie quoted Hume in describing these societies, but he omitted those sentences which seem to give another aspect to the institution; for when a member of the tithings was charged with a crime, the rest could purge themselves from responsibility, if acquitted on oath of connivance with the offender, or his escape: but, however innocent, the clubs of Maconochie were involved in the responsibility of the transgressor--a fundamental difference, the suppression of which was scarcely compatible with literary candour.

Bentham himself had proposed that convicts should remain at auxiliary establishments, in principle resembling the training stations of Maconochie, until they could be prepared for the full enjoyment of liberty. He also suggested mutual surveillance associations, in which the prisoners should watch over, instruct, and assist each other. Archbishop Whately advocated the detention of prisoners until their reformation was established.

Maconochie attributed his idea of marks to an observation of Messrs. Backhouse and Walker on their usefulness in training the rising generation: they thought they discerned a faint image of the club system at Macquarie Harbour, where devout prisoners separated themselves into a society, and were secured from the interruption of the rest. Men from bondage, were released in the hulks, when the sum total of marks in their favor covered a certain period of their sentence.

Macarthur had recommended the employment of an officer, under the immediate direction of the home secretary of state, responsible for the full execution of a sentence, to whom the entire management of the convict department might be committed. The governors would thus be less likely to change the aspect of transportation, according to their particular theories.[224]

Captain Maconochie was preceded in this branch of penal philosophy by a gentleman, not equally celebrated, but who proposed changes as radical. It is amusing to observe, with what different objects, and how diverse in spirit, similar mutations have been enforced. Dr. Henderson, the founder of the Van Diemen's Land Society, on returning to India, offered through the press at Calcutta a new scheme of colonisation, based on convict government. That which existed he deemed defective in its main principles, and futile in its results. The settlers he described, with some contempt, as an inferior class, inflated with notions of liberty and equality, and debased by convict associations; prone to quarrel and encroach, but distressed with the endless vexations of their lot. Forbidden to punish the insolence of their servants; exposed to the disgrace of meeting their accusations; or when they prosecuted a charge, liable to the strictures of the magistrate, who might penetrate the secrets of their dwellings, and censure them in the presence of their exulting slaves. Thus, though the author assumed the tone of philosophical discussion, he differed from others who professed to investigate principles: he observed--"We find the convicts in the condition of slaves placed under despotic power." "It is not necessary to enquire whether it is for their benefit;" "they are not entitled to our sympathy, should they be treated with the rigour of slaves:" "they will not often labor when they are removed from the dread of punishment." "The magistrates should be relieved from forms and precedents, and punish according to the intrinsic value of offences, and for the public good." "More injury is done by the trammels of the law, than by leaving the judges to their own discretion." Such is the essence of his system, which, however, always presumed the existence of a lofty purpose and a dispassionate administration.[225] For this large discretion, however, he pronounced the existing settlers unfit: he recommended the employment of young educated gentlemen, under a board of directors, and proposed as the primary object of discipline, neither punishment nor intimidation, but _productiveness_. Power being lodged in the hands of the superintendents, without regard to _Burns' Justice_, or written regulations, they would check offences at once, and punish according to their social and material tendency. He held, as vitally important, that all national views in reference to transportation should be subordinate to the colonial welfare. Having formed agricultural establishments, and fitted them to become the home of capitalists, the officers of government would give place to another class of employers. The house, the servants, and the cleared ground, would be disposed of by the crown; the convicts, gradually trained, exalted into a free population, and with their families would form a peasantry. The sale of these estates would repay the original outlay; and thus, without further drafts on the treasury, the process could be renewed in an endless succession. The lash, Dr. Henderson was far from rejecting as an instrument of correction--"cheap and expeditious:" in short, his was a plan of slavery, and which conveyed semi-magisterial powers to the overseers, and gave them a profit on the labor they might exact.

Henderson had become sultanised by living in India: he was attached to the spirit of its government; the legal formalities, which delight an Englishman, seemed to him the degradation of rank, and a pernicious license to inferiors. In his imaginary commonwealth, he saw but two classes, which, in the language of the East, he distinguished as the "head and the hand." He thought the judges should be required to aid the governors by their interpretations of the law; who, at the close of their administration, might be tried by their peers, and, if found wanting, handed over to everlasting shame! Thus, his plan embodied the spirit of caste, of orientalism, and of the India House. He had no simpering tenderness for the prisoner, while he attributed to the upper classes an innate rectitude and self control, such as the British records of the East will hardly sustain. His speculations are worth remembering, for the contrast of their _animus_ with those of Maconochie, and for the analogy in their details.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 221: The petition to the Commons prayed an enquiry into the efficacy of transportation to New South Wales as a secondary punishment: whether it should be continued, and under what alterations of the present system; or, if discontinued, in what manner, &c.--_Petition_, 1836.]

[Footnote 222: It was not much better in England: the Rev. J. Clay stated, that in Preston there were 422 dwellings, inhabited by 2,400 persons, sleeping in 852 beds; that is an average of five and a fractional part as follows:--84 cases 4 in a bed; 28 cases 5, 13 cases 6, 3 cases 7, 1 case 8; one family of 8 on bed frames, covered with a little straw.--_Health of Towns Commission_, 1844.]

[Footnote 223:

_Dr._ _Cr._ A. 3 marks for getting drunk. | B. 1 mark for punctual at C. 2 marks for losing part of his | church. Sunday clothes. | D. 2 marks for general E. 5 marks for wantonly assaulting F.| steadiness and obedience. -- | F. 3 marks for self command 10 | under grievous provocation. 6 | -- -- | 6 4 loss; falling one-half on those who obtained the entire stock of credit.]

[Footnote 224: _Macarthur's Present State, &c._ pp. 47, 49.]

[Footnote 225: "They should have increased the barriers between him and the convict; and in those investigations they should have leaned towards him (the master), even at the expense of legal justice: his character should have been rendered sacred in the eyes of the convict."--_Henderson's Observations_, p. 12.]

SECTION XX.

At this era, no one will question the integrity or benevolence of Captain Maconochie, and it would be disgraceful in a historical work to adopt the language of prejudice, much more the invectives of a quarrel; but it is not less important to estimate aright both his opinions and his plans. His description of the condition of the prisoners might be easily illustrated by examples. There were settlers, not a few, to whose care the prisoners were entrusted, who were unfit to govern a kennel. Low in their origin, corrupt in their principles, and detestable in their lives--themselves differing from felons in nothing but their position.

The unhappy prisoner entrusted to their charge, was insulted, coerced, and crushed. Sufficiently cunning to avoid a palpable infraction of the orders of government, they constantly violated their spirit. Physical weakness, or mental incapacity, they treated as evasion or contempt. Prone to invoke the interposition of the magistracy, they drove unfortunate beings for slight offences to a tribunal, where the presumption was always against them. In the presence of the magistrate they were smooth and supple; but the eye of the punished prisoner marked the exultation of cruelty triumphant, and his course was rapid from failings to faults, and from faults to crimes.

In the larger establishments, except where the humanity of the master kept alive his vigilance, the men were sometimes placed in the power of an overseer, himself perhaps an expiree; who, elated with office, delighted in the advent of his turn to torture. On such farms the rigour of discipline seemed essential to order: too often, the men differed but little from slaves. Violations of rule were deemed more pernicious by their example than their immediate inconvenience: to pass by a fault, was thought to license its imitation. The indulgences afforded by a small settler, whose social happiness depended on their good humour, would have proved, where many herded together, an item of large expense. Punishments, the readiest instruments of control, were inflicted on calculation: there was, perhaps, no anger in the breast of the accuser--the defaulter he would have readily forgiven, had he stood alone; but impunity would relax the reins of authority, and the lash was invoked because most convenient. The published documents of the House of Commons illustrate the perseverance of masters, in repeating their prosecutions; and the resistance and suffering of miserable men, who for the long period of their service lived in constant warfare, and retaliated the social wretchedness they endured. An enquirer could not long reside in the colony, without learning that many had borne a succession of punishments sufficient to prostrate the strength of a giant, and which no mere animal in the creation could survive.

Yet this is not a fair estimate of the character of the settlers, or the results of assignment; and a want of discrimination in Maconochie, however unintentional, was a serious injustice. It was true, that the constant vexations of a settler's life produced, too generally, a tone and manner, striking to a stranger, because not so common under happier circumstances. The substantial benevolence of many employers is not the less unquestionable: a large number continued their liberated men in their service, whom they had taught the arts of industry, brought under the influence of moral instruction, and assisted to settle in life. Hundreds scattered throughout these colonies, who were born in the contagion of wickedness, were rescued from habits of crime by the long and patient training of their masters. That many such have become virtuous, in the highest sense, could not be affirmed without hazard; but can this be said of the majority of mankind?

The charges of Maconochie incurred severe reproach, for their rashness. It is true, that the prominence of evil fixes the attention, while humanity is retiring and noiseless--as the riot of the streets conceals rather than illustrates the sobriety and order within doors; but a philosopher should have taken into account this facility of error, while condemning with whatever severity the evils he might scan: lest he should be found to set forth the exception as the rule, and the rule as the exception.

Were persons, who have passed through assignment, to give their testimony, a very large proportion would acknowledge that their condition was not unhappy, or their masters unkind. In his estimate of prisoners, Capt. Maconochie was equally deceived by a generous confidence, or by his pity for human suffering. Some were, indeed, far superior to their degradation: they retained in bondage the principles they had derived from education, or the dispositions natural to their character: offenders by accident, not habit; and some condemned by that last calamity incident to society, the mistakes of public justice. A much larger class were victims of early neglect: parental example, or of the social evils which are incident to the refinement, corruption, and selfishness of the age; but very many, whatever the cause of their depravity, were really and recklessly depraved. The pitying eye of the philanthropist, glancing at their history, would find his compassion in the ascendant, and in surveying their misfortunes might forget their crimes; but to stand in contact with them; to struggle against their passions, to hear their profaneness, to correct their indolence, and to thwart their peculations--these were duties and trials, in the presence of which the highest benevolence became practical, and theory gave way before actual experience. Nor is it easy to discover by what plan the injustice of European society, or the misfortunes of youth, can change the colonial aspect of depravity, or supersede the penalties provoked by indisputable wickedness.

A close examination of the records in the police-office, not only proves the revolting severity of our penal administration, but by preserving the original character and colonial career of the prisoners, illustrates the depth, continuity, and recklessness of their guilt. It was in this department of his investigation Maconochie dropped into serious errors. He entertained the conviction that the far greater number were wicked, because they were unhappy: nor did he sufficiently perceive, that in a large mass of offenders the principles which debase them had become constitutional by habit; and that nothing, short of divine power, could change the current of their passions, or the course of their lives. From such a view of human nature the feeling mind revolts, and the philanthropist may justly cherish those animating hopes which instances of reformation may save from the charge of folly; but a philosopher, constructing a system, cannot disguise facts with impunity: and nothing is more certain than that he whose expectations are disappointed, feels a dangerous reaction, and passes from unlimited confidence to undiscriminating suspicion. The administration of the criminal laws, both in Great Britain and the colonies, presents a series of alternations between rigour and laxity, which have proceeded from the alternate ascendancy of conflicting ideas, that can never settle into harmony.

Maconochie delighted to trace the better qualities of prisoners: how even the most daring are moved by tenderness, and when kindly spoken to, melt into tears. Unhappily these characteristics too often exist in combination with passions which render them useless. It is, however, the duty of all to endeavour to elicit and nourish them; for though they but slightly relieve the depravity with which they are not incompatible, they afford a nucleus round which the social virtues often gather, and prevent the total despondency of those who labor for the welfare of the weak, the wicked, and the miserable.

Sir John Franklin made a last effort to save the system of assignment. He defended the colonists from the imputations of Captain Maconochie, and exhibited statistics, which proved their anxiety to promote the spiritual welfare of the population. He maintained that the surveillance of the government was active, the distribution of labor usually impartial; the protection of the prisoners from injustice secured by law, by the press, and by the constant scrutiny of the lieutenant-governor. He argued that the quiet submission of the prisoners was not ensured so much by military power as the consciousness that they were treated with justice. In his view assignment, by its near resemblance to the ordinary combinations of social life, prevented the worst consequences of penal degradation, and tended to rouse the sympathies which crime might have rendered dormant; he, however, disapproved of assignment in towns, and for domestic service.[226]

The abuses of assignment were prominently exhibited in the instance of Clapperton, a man greatly trusted by his master, Mr. Alfred Stephen. He was guilty of embezzlement to a large extent: he was tried by Captain Forster, and sentenced to fourteen years transportation; but Clapperton was famous as a clever cook, and as such was desired by the colonial secretary, who, however, judged it right first to enquire whether his services would be in demand for the kitchen of the governor. The private secretary waived the precedence, and Clapperton was accordingly sent to the residence of Captain Montagu. On the way to his destination he called at the house of his old master, to acquaint the servants with the favorable turn in his fortune: this became known to Mr. Alfred Stephen, who found that, by the prosecution he had instituted, he had conferred a favor upon an official friend. He immediately appealed to Sir John Franklin, who was evidently unconcerned in the arrangement: he recalled the man, and sent him to labor on the roads. The public discussion of this case excited a strong sensation: it illustrated the system, which sent one man to toil on the chain, and another to wear the livery of the second officer of the government.

Fifty gentlemen presented a requisition to the sheriff, to call a meeting, to discuss the abuses of transportation: this, however, he declined, and the requisitionists permitted the matter to drop, lest an exposure should endanger assignment altogether. It could only suggest to the British parliament new arguments for abolition, when it was found that a doubly convicted offender was sent a few miles, into an opulent establishment, to enjoy the dominion of the larder, to romp with the maids, traffick with the tradesmen, and command the means of vicious gratification; while a simple rustic, fresh from his first transgression, was subject to all the hardships of predial bondage.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 226: Despatch lo Lord Glenelg, October, 1837.]

SECTION XXI.

But Sir W. Molesworth had roused opposition to the prevailing system. The Commons' committee examined twenty-three gentlemen, whose testimony would be without novelty to the reader of these volumes. The greater part concurred in the inexpediency of assignment, and in the usefulness and importance of transportation. These witnesses were charged by Maconochie with a general indifference to the moral welfare and personal improvement of the prisoners. A colonist would, however, easily distinguish substantial benevolence from sentimental opinions; and they knew, by the trials of experience, how toilsome are the most generous efforts to correct habits not to be softened by the tears of compassion, and which do not yield to the wand of the magician.

The committee recommended that transportation to New South Wales, and the settled districts of Van Diemen's Land, should be discontinued: that establishments abroad should be limited to places where no free settlers were allowed to enter; that the abridgment of a sentence should be determined by fixed rules; that at its close, encouragement should be offered, to such as might merit the favor, to go to some country where support could be more easily obtained, and character recovered; and, finally, that no convict should be permitted to remain at the place of his punishment after its termination.

Such were the recommendations of this famous committee, which were carried into effect only so far as suited the convenience of the ministers; who, however, stopped transportation to New South Wales, and revoked the order in council by which that country was constituted a penal settlement. "On the 1st of August, 1840," said Lord John Russell, "transportation to New South Wales will cease for ever."

In van Diemen's Land, assignment was abolished: first in domestic service, then in the towns; and the opinion was intimated by Lord John Russell, that he inclined to the views of Archbishop Whately, with limitations and exceptions.[227]

Among writers upon the subject, who most strenuously maintained the policy of transportation, may be enumerated Bishop Broughton, Dr. Lang, Dr. Ross, of Hobart Town, Sir George Arthur, Sir John Franklin, Messrs. Macarthur, David Burns, and Captain Wood. They united in vindicating the colonists from the imputation of profligacy and cruelty. Governor Bourke was alone, among influential persons, a secret advocate of total abolition. In writing to the secretary of state, he intimated his conviction that, however strong the prejudice of the colonists in favor of penal labor, they were losers by the bargain; and that the social mischief gathering around them would soon demand a total cessation.[228]

In the voluminous productions, which for more than twenty years teemed from the colonial press, the idea of total abolition was scarcely suggested; except, indeed, in the year 1826, a colonist, under a fictitious signature, hinted in modest language that free labor might prove the cheapest in the end. The notion was tolerated, while the country was ravaged by bushrangers, but it was only treated as a curiosity and a dream.[229]

Towards the close of 1839, a meeting was held in the Mansion-house at Dublin, to promote emigration to New Zealand. A resolution was passed, on the motion of Dr. Dickenson, the chaplain of the Archbishop of Dublin, which exhibited a frightful portraiture of the Australian colonies.[230] Dr. Dickenson dwelt upon the social corruption, and declared that it was in vain to imagine a colony, so composed, could ever become respectable. The natural conclusion from the proportions of the census, the amount of crime, and the character of the expirees, was unfavorable to the colonies; but the imputation of general vice and juvenile depravity, were made most frequently by projectors of rival settlements, and were tinged with selfishness. The object of the arch-bishop and his chaplain warped their judgment, and their lofty tone induced the public to believe that they were right; yet when they described the colonies as vast brothels--as the dwelling of banditti, rank with the crimes and ripening to the ruin of Gomorrah--they were guilty of injustice. Many, who labored to civilise the brutish, and to reform the vicious, read with just indignation the statements of persons, whose station gave weight to their accusations, when they told the world that the children of the settlers surpassed, by the precosity of their depravation, the dreams of misanthropy. Against these sweeping opinions, Major Macarthur, then on the spot, earnestly protested. Dr. Broughton, on this side the globe, made an energetic remonstrance, and asserted that the report of the transportation committee could be taken only as the collection of facts, which were spread over a long period of time, and were descriptive only of a base and dishonored fraction. He asserted that a series of the _Times_ newspaper contained a succession of atrocities which, if combined, would exhibit Great Britain as the most worthless of nations.

Inspirited by Captain Wood, of Snake Banks, the settlers of Tasmania had endeavoured to check the calumnies which assailed them. A public meeting, held when the report of the committee arrived, requested the Governor to do them justice. Sir John Franklin warmly denied the corruption imputed to the settlers, and the chief facts alleged against transportation; and the clergy united in general commendations of the liberality, decorum, and religious habits they had witnessed. This appeal was not received with much favor in England, and the London _Times_ pertinaciously maintained that they were mere assertions of individuals--who represented that Van Diemen's Land, far from being a den of vice, was the place to look for virtue.[231]

The Archbishop of Dublin presented a petition from certain citizens of London, praying for the total abolition of transportation. He declared that no opposition, derision, or contempt, should daunt him. He advised the establishment of insular penitentiaries in the neighbourhood of Great Britain, and he moved that the punishment of transportation should be abolished immediately, completely, and finally.[232] The Bishop of Exeter, always in antagonism to Dr. Whately, asserted that his representations were exaggerated, and that crime amongst the native born population was one half less than in England. The whig Bishop of Norwich sustained the views of Dr. Whately. In reply, the minister stated that they had stripped transportation of its allurement. Some punishment for life was essential; Englishmen would not endure the perpetual imprisonment of human beings, or the sight of felons in their streets working in chains. It was resolved, however, to reduce the proportion transported, and to promote emigration. Lord Normanby observed, that although the most reverend prelate had made the question the subject of eight years meditation, he had not yet discovered a substitute which could justify abolition.

The ministers of the crown resolved to diminish transportation, but nothing was prepared for a change so great as was implied by total abolition: they, therefore, adopted a middle course, and Lord Normanby, in a despatch to Sir George Gipps, developed the policy then in the ascendant.[233] The principal scene of the future experiment, chosen by her Majesty's government, was Norfolk Island, commended by its healthy climate, its fertile soil, and its seclusion.

When the former settlers relinquished this insular paradise, it was long abandoned to desolation. The timber of the buildings was consumed by fire, lest the place should allure and accommodate pirates or enemies. In 1825, when it was re-visited, the few swine left there had multiplied; the domestic cats had become wild, and the trees were thronged with pigeons and doves. The ruined walls and blackened chimneys spread over with the unpruned vine, the coffee plant, the orange tree: the road overgrown, the stone enclosure beset with rank vegetation, amidst which many a garden flower grew wild, presented a scene, perhaps, unprecedented, except by oriental desolations.[234]

It was proposed to erect a prison on the island, in which a large body might be lodged; for which plans were forwarded, and the expenses required authorised by the crown. It was intended to remove the convicts already there; thus to preserve the prisoners transported from the united kingdom from the contaminating example of their predecessors. A commandant was to be appointed, at a salary of L800 per annum, who was expected to avoid the extremes of laxity and severity; qualified by a deep interest in the moral welfare of the prisoners. To this office Captain Maconochie was appointed by Sir George Gipps, and was permitted to test the ideas he had propounded, and to seek the success he had foretold. It was expected by the government, that the labour of the prisoners would soon almost cover the cost of their support.

The advent of Maconochie created vast excitement among the unfortunate beings. The active efforts of this officer altered the tone of the settlement, and inspired the desponding with hope: they changed the aspect of that abode of misery--where suffering, insurgency, and carnage, had furnished a dark page in penal history. True to his creed, he removed the permanent gallows, which met the eyes of the prisoners as they left their barracks for their morning toil, and abolished the doubly-loaded cats, which had been heretofore the instruments of punishment. The impulse was powerful: a new tone of command, humane even to tenderness; the promise of speedy deliverance, wrought on the minds of the prisoners with the force of novelty and surprise. The gaol doors were thrown open: the gaoler loitered before the deserted prison, and the prisoners yielded to the spell of a transient enchantment. On his arrival, Maconochie issued an "exposition" of his plan: he told the prisoners that punishment would be inflicted, to inspire the thoughtless with reflection and the guilty with repentance. Such would be its object, and such its limits. He exhorted them to a manly endurance and a diligent preparation to acquire the comforts of _honest_ bread. He assured them, that while the escape of the incorrigible would be barred for ever, he would delight to hasten the freedom of the worthy. Thus those that earned 6,000 marks would discharge a seven years' sentence, or 7,000 would be required for ten years' servitude; and 8,000 was the composition proposed for a sentence for life. They were, however, to enjoy a portion of their earnings, which they paid in exchange for luxuries, or to reserve the whole to hasten their discharge. Thus it was possible to obtain a ticket-of-leave in one, two, or two and a-half years, from a sentence of seven, ten years, or life. He deprecated those lengthened punishments, which deprive men of the years of youth, and strengthen and ripen every evil propensity into fatal maturity.

While the government of Norfolk Island developed the novel system, accounts were conveyed to the colonies only at intervals: some in the spirit of hostility, and others because they were idle, delighted to depict the enthusiastic Maconochie as the subject of delusion, and the butt of ridicule among those he reformed; but the climax at last came.

Never was Norfolk Island so gay, or its inhabitants so joyful, as on the 25th May, 1840. A proclamation had been issued by Maconochie, describing the pleasures and festivities he contemplated. On this occasion he resolved to forget the distinction between good and bad, and to make no exception from the general indulgence; but he entreated the men to remember that on the success of this experiment his confidence would greatly depend: he warned them to suppress the first tokens of disorder, and by retiring to their quarters at the sound of the bugle, prove that they might be trusted with safety. On the morning of the day, the signal colours floated from the staff, crowned with the union jack: twenty-one guns, collected from the vessels and from the government-house, were mounted on the top of a hill, and fired a royal salute. The gates were thrown open, and eighteen hundred prisoners were set free, and joined in various amusements, of which Captain Maconochie was a frequent spectator. Eighteen hundred prisoners sat down to dinner, and at its close, having received each a small quantity of spirits with water, they drank health to the Queen and Maconochie--three times three for Victoria and the captain rent the air. They then renewed their sports, or attended a theatrical performance. New scenery, dresses, music, and songs, contributed to the hilarity of the party. The performances were, the _Castle of Andalusia_, in which the comic powers of the prisoners were exhibited to their companions, a variety of glees and songs, the tent scene of _Richard III._, the _Purse, or the Benevolent Tar_, and finally the national anthem.[235] At the termination, no accident had occurred; the gaol was entirely unoccupied; no theft or disorder had disgraced the day; and thus the notion of Maconochie seemed to be illustrated by the experiment. The contrast with the past system created the greatest amazement, and the description of this extraordinary scene excited universal laughter.

The long habit of connecting the notions of crime and punishment, of guilt and misery, was thus violently shocked. Its novelty gave to the policy of Norfolk Island the air of delirium: the disciplinarians of the ancient regime raised their hands with astonishment. The place, once of all most hateful, painted by fancy became an elysium: employment enlivened by plays, rum, and tobacco, was described as a cheering vicissitude in a life of crime. It was not difficult to see, that a reaction would follow, and that any untoward accident would produce a recoil.

It is said, that the prisoners at Norfolk Island deeply sympathised with their chief: that they combined in a society for mutual reformation, and that the paper which contained the outlines of the plan was headed by the well-known motto of the Irish liberator--

"Hereditary bondsmen! know ye not, who would be free, Themselves must strike the blow."

These promising appearances were soon followed by a catastrophe, attended with sad sacrifice of life.

On 21st June, 1842, the _Governor Phillip_ stood in the Bay. A prisoner, seated upon a rock, awaited the return of his companions from the vessel, twelve in number: they had been sent to assist in unloading the stores, and had remained all night. He heard firing on board, and ran to give notice to the nearest officer: the vessel had been taken. There were twelve soldiers, beside eighteen seamen. Two sentries were placed over the hatchway, but the prisoners were allowed to pass to the deck, where they noticed the negligence of the guard, which they rapidly communicated to their comrades below. In a few minutes they were all on deck: they rushed one sentry, and attempted to seize his pistols; then threw him overboard: the other resigned his gun. Two unarmed soldiers, who were accidentally on deck, struggled against them; they were unsuccessful: one took refuge in the main chains, and slipped down into the launch; the second attempted to swim ashore, but when within a few yards from the rock, he uttered a cry, raised his hand, and disappeared. The sergeant having gained the deck, shot the nearest of the mutineers; but he received a blow which rendered him insensible. The sailors ran to the forecastle, and the hatches were fastened down; but the prisoners, unable to work the vessel, summoned two sailors from below to assist them. The soldiers, having broken through to the captain's cabin, fired through the gratings: several mutineers were wounded. The convicts then proposed to send the sailors on shore, and demanded the surrender of the captain, who answered with a shot, which struck the leader in the mouth, and passed through his brain: the remainder instantly ran below, and the vessel was retaken. One soldier, who had attempted to reach the shore, had been compelled to swim back, and had been saved by a mutineer; but in ascending the side of the vessel was shot by the sergeant in mistake. The prisoners now asked quarter, which was granted; but one, on reaching the deck, received a shot in the thigh: another raised his arms, and cried "spare me!" Either by mistake, or in revenge, his head was blown off by the fire of the soldiers. Thus the deck was covered with the dying and the dead. The wounded were landed, and the bodies of those slain were buried by moonlight.

The prisoners were confined together in a large room of the gaol, where they were visited by the chaplain and commandant, who both labored to awaken them to a sense of their guilt. Several were remarkable for their misfortunes and their crimes. They were conveyed to Sydney in the vessel they attempted to capture. On their arrival, crowds met them, anxious to catch a glimpse of the men who had dared, unarmed, so bold an enterprise. They met their fate with fortitude, and their last words were in grateful remembrance of Maconochie. The chaplain who attended them, has described[236] the gratifying change of which he was the witness; and mentions with natural indignation the negligence which suggested the attempt, the cowardice with which it was resisted, and the cruelty displayed in its suppression.

Before deciding the merits of Maconochie's system by the result at Norfolk Island, it is proper to estimate the disadvantages under which it was tried. The island was not cleared of its former occupants, and thus its corrupting traditions were perpetuated. The officers employed had been formed under another system: several regarded the process with contempt, and were involved in quarrels with its projector. They resented the diminution of personal consequence, by an attempt to give prisoners the air of free men.[237]

The application of marks in redemption from a time sentence, was forbidden in cases of second conviction: thus, while some were spurred on to labor by the prospect of earlier liberty, the older and worst offenders were rewarded in having at their own disposal the time they saved by extra exertion; too often injuriously passed.

The small extent of the island, and the absence of a free employing population prevented an uniform practical liberation of the prisoners: vessels were not always at hand, and thus tickets-of-leave were granted to prisoners, who were employed on small farms allotted for their use. The obstruction to rapid dispersion prevented the hope of liberty from acting on the imagination with proper efficacy. The experimental nature of the plan was injurious to its fame. It required constant adjustment: irregularities and excesses suggested new details, and gave to the movements of the commandant the aspect of vacillation.

The settlement continued under the command of Maconochie four years; during which time another Plan, known as the probation system, was launched on the sea of penal speculation. The destination of Norfolk Island was reversed: no more the school of reform, it was to be made the lowest deep of transportation; and well has its destiny been fulfilled.[238]

Sir George Gipps, in his address to his council,[239] announced that, after two years and a-half trial, it was found that the expense had greatly increased; he had, therefore, resolved to transfer the prisoners from Norfolk Island to Van Diemen's Land. It had been at first contemplated to establish in that island not less than from two to four thousand men; but this accumulation the ministers had found it necessary to abate: and he expressed his conviction that that settlement would be only reserved for the restraint of incorrigible offenders, and the punishment of aggravated crimes.[240]

Sir George Gipps deemed it necessary to visit Norfolk Island (1843). His stay was too brief for more than a superficial survey. His impressions, on the whole, were favorable. He found the men orderly, respectful, and contented. The "old hands," or colonial convicts, formerly subject to a discipline severe to cruelty, were softened in their demeanour. "Great and merciful as the amelioration, no evils had resulted equal to those prevented." The lash was disused: the men were permitted to walk abroad during their leisure; to fish or bathe; to mix sweet potatoes with their maize bread--an indulgence greatly prized; to use knives, and other conveniences before denied them: yet beneath these pleasing appearances a fearful demoralization was traced. The prisoners from Great Britain were exposed to examples of appalling sensual degradation: vices prevailed which have ever stained that island.

The colonial press, uniformly hostile, was crowded with grotesque delineations--a style of opposition, when not ill-founded, more fatal than the most bitter criticism. The politeness of Maconochie to his men, and which formed a part of his system, was the subject of constant humour: he treated them like gentlemen in distress; they regarded him as a patron and benefactor.[241] The recall of Maconochie had been contemplated from the publication of the birthday festivities of 1840: his administration was, however, prolonged until 1844, from the difficulty of finding a qualified successor.

The people of New South Wales, who regretted the abolition of assignment as a calamity, disapproved the scheme of Maconochie. The legislative council declared against the transportation of convicts to Norfolk Island, not only as hopeless in reference to the moral recovery of the prisoners, but tending to perpetuate all the evils of transportation without its advantages. They requested that prohibitory measures might be adopted to prevent them from entering the colony at the expiration of their sentences (1840).

The trial of the "mark system" in Norfolk Island during a period of four years, according to Captain Forster, totally failed. This was the most important element of Maconochie's reform discipline. The men, however, found means to render the accumulation of marks independent of individual conduct and moral reformation. The amount, which ranged from eight to thirty marks a-day, afforded ample means for corruption. Clever mechanics were rewarded for their skill; the strong for their strength. The convict clerks falsified the accounts; men transferred their marks to each other as a private traffic. Offences were mostly punished by the forfeiture of marks: blasphemy at thirty; insolence at fifty; and greater insubordination, two or three hundred. These are the representations of an officer hostile to the plan; but they are such as are probable in themselves, and are inseparable from every system admitting indefinite good conduct as a positive claim to liberation.[242]

The officers had been permitted to keep shops and to traffic with the prisoners; and, it was said, that a vessel was freighted from Sydney to supply them with goods. It was, however, asserted by Maconochie that the practice had prevailed before his time; that it was in harmony with the milder views which led to his appointment, and conduced to the development of social virtues; that the re-convictions of persons discharged from the island were one-third less than of prisoners trained in Van Diemen's Land. Captain Maconochie repudiated "the fearful conclusion, that to make men examples to others, it is necessary to destroy them, body and soul."[243]

Nothing could have been more ill-judged than the selection of Norfolk Island for the experiment. The detention of the doubly-convicted, men long practised in the vices of the island, was still more unfavorable to a moral reformation. The preliminary accommodations, directed by Lord Normanby, were not provided: even friendly officers were not secured; and had the scheme been ever so sound in its principles, its failure was inevitable. In retiring from office, Maconochie was permitted to recommend for indulgence all whose expectation of release was justified by his promises, and he left the island regretted by the prisoners. A total change was contemplated in the discipline of the place: Norfolk Island returned to its former character as the "lowest deep."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 227: These views are thus stated by the Archbishop:--"Thus, under a reformed system of secondary punishment, supposing transportation abolished, it strikes me as desirable, with a view to the preservation from a return to evil courses of persons released from penitentiaries, &c., after the expiration of their punishment, that such as may have evinced a disposition to reform, should be at their own desire furnished with means of emigrating to various colonies, British or foreign, in which they may mix, not with such men as their old associates in crime, but with respectable persons unacquainted with their past history; and may thus be enabled, as the phrase is, to turn over a new leaf.' This, of course, implies that they should not emigrate in a body to any one place, and as a distinct class. For juvenile offenders the same course would, perhaps, be even still more suitable."--_Letter addressed to the Rev. H. Bishop, on the evidence taken before the Transportation Committee; containing his Grace's opinion on the efficacy of the punishment of transportation._]

[Footnote 228: "I may venture to assure you, the colonists will feel great satisfaction at the declared intention (1833) to continue transportation.... The great advantage they derive from the labor outweighing, in their opinion, the mischief. Regarding, however, the advancement and prosperity of this colony, as now placed on foundations which cannot be shaken, I am strongly impressed with the belief, that the manners and morals of this people would be much improved, and ultimately their wealth and happiness would be much augmented, by a gradual relinquishment of the services of convicts. Yet I am aware that this sentiment is not generally prevalent among the settlers, and I shall therefore abstain from troubling you with any detailed explanations, upon which my opinion is founded."--_Despatch of Major-General Bourke, addressed to Mr. Secretary Stanley_, 1834.]

[Footnote 229: _Hobart Town Gazette._]

[Footnote 230: "Resolved--That in the opinion of this meeting it is unjustifiable to induce intending emigrants to take up their abode in the midst of the vice and immorality which notoriously prevail in the penal colonies; but that such persons should be encouraged to settle in countries, where they will not only be likely to thrive in fortune, but to lead good lives, and bring up their children in virtuous habits."]

[Footnote 231: _Times, February 11th, 1840._]

[Footnote 232: House of Lords, 1840.]

[Footnote 233: May 11th, 1839.]

[Footnote 234: For an account of Norfolk Island see vol. i.]

[Footnote 235: The following are the characters and performers in the _Castle of Andalusia_: _Don Caesar_, John Lawrence; _Scipio_, George Rolfe; _Fernando_, James Walker; _Alphonso_, Henry Whitton; _Spado_, James King; _Pedrillo_, James Monns; _Sanguino_, James Cranston; _Rafrino_, James Porter; _Calvetti_, William Smith; _Vasquez_, R. Saunderson.]

[Footnote 236: See _Chambers' Miscellany_, vol. i.]

[Footnote 237: The idea of employing the prisoners as jurors, will not appear more strange than as witnesses, except that it is unusual:--

"These may appear singular proposals, and I readily admit that the absolute _rights_ of prisoner jurors, and thereby their power of directly controlling the course of justice, might, without impropriety, be for a time somewhat restricted, though, if properly trained up to the privilege, and this latter confined exclusively to men in their last stage, they would very rarely, I am certain, be found wanting in what was required of them. But apart from this, the objects of interesting prisoners, when under a course of moral discipline, in the administration of justice, and of giving them confidence in its equity, are very important ones--perhaps not any in all their management are more so: and both are absolutely wanting now, and may well be so in the circumstances in which they are placed.

"In 1839, the year before my arrival at Norfolk Island, 811 cases were tried; of which only four ended in acquittal--such was the certainty at that time of conviction if accused. In 1840, I acquitted 90 out of 416 tried. (I was then, perhaps, too difficult about evidence, and in my inexperience carried abstract principle too far.) In 1841, I acquitted 25 out of 297 tried; in 1842, 24 out of 326; and in 1843, 16 out of 429. I was much in the habit of employing the officers about the court as a sort of jury, referring to them, though not formally, in cases of difficulty, and inviting them to ask questions. And I very early appointed an intelligent prisoner, in whom I otherwise had confidence, to speak for men accused of local offences, and make the most of their several statements, on condition, however, that he never said for them what he knew to be directly false. He thus served me very much, for what he did not say I sifted with the more care; and the plan altogether, and it is nearly that in the text, answered extremely well. It greatly improved the pleader himself: under the new impulses given to both his head and heart, he became almost a new man: while stupid prisoners, who could not speak for themselves, had as good a chance given them as the cleverest, and the latter, another very important point, had no better."--_Maconochie on the Management of Prisoners in the Australian Colonies._]

[Footnote 238: The following extract from Maconochie's pamphlet, may be taken as his plan, matured by experience:--

"The management of penal settlements should be as follows:--1. A fictitious debt of 6,000, 8,000, or 10,000 marks should be created against every man, according to his offence, which he should redeem by labour and other good conduct, having a proportion placed to his credit daily as wages, according to his behaviour, and suffering a loss by fine if he offends. 2. No ration should be allowed him of right, except bread and water: for every thing else, following up the analogy thus created between marks and money, he should be charged in them. 3. He should be allowed, however, thus to expend his marks for present indulgencies to what extent he pleases, but never to obtain his discharge, till from his labour and economy combined (both voluntary) he shall fully redeem his debt. 4. On first arriving at a penal settlement, for a period not under three months, but beyond that depending entirely on his own regularity and proficiency, and the acquisition of marks exhibiting them, his treatment should consist of moral, religious, and other intellectual instruction in a penitentiary. 5. After this, he should for a time not under eighteen months, but the period also depending on the acquisition of marks, serve in a mutually responsible party, labouring for government, and disqualified for any situation of trust, authority or indulgence under it, or for any private service. 6. After this, he should hold for not less than fifteen months (making three years in all), and beyond this till he has fully redeemed his marks and earned his entire discharge, a ticket-of-leave in the settlement. 7. In this last stage every reasonable facility should be afforded him to accumulate a little money against his return to society. For this purpose small farms or gardens should be let to men holding this indulgence, at moderate rents in kind:--any stock or edible produce they may raise on these, beyond their rents, should be purchased from them at fair prices into the public stores:--and a fixed proportion of them (3, 4, or 5 per cent, of the entire number of prisoners on the settlement) should further be eligible, as selected by their superintendent, to fill subordinate stations of trust in the general management, and receive (say) 6_d._ per day as money salary, besides the marks attached to their situations. (In my proposed regulations I suggest also another mode of giving the men a little money to take with them on their return to society--which is, perhaps, a little extravagant, and it would thus admit, at least, of modification; but the point is very important.) 8. On discharge the utmost possible facilities should be afforded the men to disperse;--and their final liberation, as well as every intermediate step towards it, should in every case depend solely on having served the _minimum_ time, and accumulated the corresponding number of marks. No discretion on either head should be vested in any local authority. The whole arrangement should be, as it were, a matter of contract; and the local authorities should have no other control over it, than to see its conditions on both sides punctually fulfilled."--_Maconochie's Management, &c._]

[Footnote 239: 1843.]

[Footnote 240: Address to the Legislative Council of New South Wales, August, 1842.]

[Footnote 241: "The whole island, we understand, is in a disorganised state, and thefts of every day occurrence. A few weeks since a boat (the second) was ran away with by nine convicts: one named Barratt, who a few days before he left the island had been charged with making a picklock, for the purpose of robbing the store, of which he was acquitted; and Captain Maconochie actually begged his pardon for allowing him to be locked up."--_Sydney Herald, July 26 1841._]

[Footnote 242: _Comptroller-general Forster's Report,_ 1845.]

[Footnote 243: _Observations on the State of Norfolk Island: Par. Pap._ 1847.]

SECTION XXII.

Lord Normanby was succeeded by Lord John Russell, 1840. The decrease of transportation to Norfolk Island and Van Diemen's Land, was interpreted as an intention to terminate the system altogether. This was avowed in the usual organs of the government, and the colonists were warned[244] to prepare for the change which awaited them. Thus the total number arriving in Van Diemen's Land in 1839 and 1840, was little more than 2,000: less than one-fifth of the usual number transported.

Two thousand inhabitants of New South Wales made a last effort to recover their share in the benefits of convictism. They forwarded a petition to the British parliament, entreating the continuance of transportation for five years longer. Lord John Russell regarded their request as a strong argument against compliance; and a few weeks after settled the question by cancelling the order in council! The intention of Lord John Russell was to limit transportation to the worst class of offenders, estimated at 500 per annum.

Sir William Molesworth endeavoured to prevent the restoration of the practice, and proposed to supply the demand for labour by anticipating the land fund. The decision of parliament was precipitated by the contrivance of a friend of Captain Maconochie, Mr. Innes, who, in a pamphlet of considerable acumen and literary merit, set forth the value of his scheme. He asserted that the advantage of transportation as a reformatory and deterring system, notwithstanding the numerous experiments, remained yet to be resolved.[245] The House of Commons negatived the motion of Molesworth (September, 1840), and the crowded condition of the hulks excited serious complaints. The House of Commons resolved that the sentence of transportation should be carried into effect, and the prisoners sent out of the country. Lord John Russell then observed that, although he admitted that it was desirable to send a certain number of convicts abroad, where after their liberation they might earn their own livelihood, "he was bound at the same time to consider the state of society, and not expose it to the evils likely to result from a disproportionate number of convicts." (April, 1841.) He announced that not fewer than 2,000 would be sent to Norfolk Island and Tasman's Peninsula.

During these debates, Captain John Montagu, the colonial secretary, was in England. The views of this colony were favorable to transportation under the plan of assignment: many, indeed, were anxious to obtain, through the old channels, the supply of labour so necessary to their prosperity. Montagu succeeded in removing some impressions at Downing-street, unfavorable to the colonial masters, and was welcomed as their successful advocate and general benefactor. At a public dinner, given to celebrate his return, all parties united in expressions of warm respect and gratulation. The roads, he observed, were to be made, public works to be completed, and labour to be abundant. When in England, it was said, "Mr. Montagu steadily pursued one object: transportation--no matter under what modification." The system of assignment had already terminated.

It had been determined that all new prisoners should be worked in gangs, and on their dispersion should receive two classes of tickets; the last giving them greater freedom. It had been recommended by the secretary of state, to compel the prisoners in service, to wear a badge; but this open mark of slavery was exceedingly offensive, and indeed, as a measure of police, exceedingly impolitic--not only calculated to degrade well-conducted men in their own eyes, but to facilitate recognition, and secret signs; and perhaps the confederation of a large class, whose numbers it was so desirable to disguise.

The probation system, initiated by Sir John Franklin in obedience to the orders of Lord John Russell, was intended to combine the principles afterwards extended by Lord Stanley with some of the advantages supposed to result from assignment. The former practice, by which the government transferred the prisoner without delay to the service of a master, left his fate to accident.

Sir John Franklin endeavoured to meet, as far as possible, the views of all parties. To carry out the plans of Lord J. Russell, he proceeded to form gangs of from two to three hundred men, and to locate them wherever it might be practicable to render them useful. The superintendence of the scheme he committed to Captain Forster, who at the same moment held the office of police magistrate, and whose administrative tact was highly esteemed. The effects appeared, at first, encouraging, and the despatches of Sir John Franklin gave promise of success; but in 1842 he found it necessary to recall the favorable opinion: he found that many great and formidable evils were rising into strength, and that the gangs had far from realised his anticipations in the moral improvement of convicts.[246]

It is probable that transportation would have been limited by Lord John Russell, had not a change of ministry thrown the colonies into the hands of Lord Stanley. This nobleman, who succeeded September, 1841, differed greatly from his predecessors. He hinted that the colonies were not entitled to separate consideration--scarcely to notice, in the discussion of this question. That the interest of the mother country was the final and sufficient object to regard; but he did not hold the common views of assignment. He thought that it had been far too hastily condemned. Thus it did not seem improbable that on his return to power the former system, so highly prized by the colonists, would be restored.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 244: _Courier_, February, 1840.]

[Footnote 245: The following eloquent and touching appeal closes this very able production:--

"I am well aware of the scorn with which the main principle recognised in these pages--the reform of the culprit, is regarded by many persons. I know that the task is pronounced a hopeless, visionary one. But, that a being _lives_, is a Divine authority for believing him not to be beyond hopes, in which his own reclamation is implied. That the task is not an easy one, is admitted; but that is the case in reference to every other end of penal institutions as well: and, is it really so very much more difficult to reclaim a criminal than any other man given to vice? I believe not;--criminals, I think, will be found even more accessible to religious influences, sympathisingly applied, than those whose errors have had a less equivocal stamp. Their apparent hardness of heart is not always the native hardness of the rock, but more often the frozen hardness of the ice, which the sun of human sympathies may melt again. The world, accustomed to judge them harshly, to see only their crime, and to see it without its palliations--to out-cast them, makes them what they become; when instead, a discreet humanity might have converted many, after a first transgression, into useful and honored members of society.

'The tainted branches of the tree, If lopp'd with care, a strength may give, By which the rest shall bloom and live All greenly fresh and wildly free: But if the _lightning_ in its wrath The waving boughs with fury scathe, The massy trunk the ruin feels, And never more a leaf reveals.'"

--_Secondary Punishments. By Frederick Maitland Innes._ 1841.]

[Footnote 246: November, 1842.]

SECTION XXIII.

When the new secretary of state saw that the probation gangs, formed under Lord John Russell's directions, were not attended with moral benefit, he attributed the failure to the defective supply of religious teaching, and not to the inherent qualities of the scheme. It became necessary to reorganise the whole plan, and to provide for the transportation of 4,000 men annually. Lord Stanley was greatly perplexed; but Captain Montagu (dismissed by Sir John Franklin) and the attorney-general of New South Wales happened to reach Downing-street at the moment: in concert with them, Lord Stanley framed the celebrated "System of Probation," which has astonished the whole civilised world.

The employment of men in gangs, had been practised from the foundation of these colonies: they usually, however, consisted of persons under short colonial sentences, and who were only sequestered awhile from society. The distribution of ten or twelve thousand men over a settled country, in parties of from two to three hundred, and subject to an oversight not usually exceeding the ordinary superintendence of free labor, was indeed an experiment, and fraught with the most important consequences.

At the head of this scheme was a comptroller-general, appointed by royal warrant, who, as colonial secretary for the convict department, was in communication with the governor alone. Under him were superintendents and overseers, religious instructors, and all other subordinate officers. He was authorised to make rules for the government of the whole, and these were minute and elaborate; and gave to the department the air of a great moral and industrial association.

The most severe form of this discipline was established at Norfolk Island, for the prisoners for life, or not less than fifteen years. For this purpose the island was relieved of persons entitled by the promises of Captain Maconochie to a more indulgent treatment, and the remainder were detained to assist in the preparation of buildings for the new plan. Thus the traditions of Norfolk Island--a complicated theory of evasion, artifice, pollution, and fraud--were preserved on the spot, and propagated through all the gangs located in Van Diemen's Land.

Persons sentenced for less offences, were transported to Van Diemen's Land: were formed into gangs, generally placed in close vicinity to the settled districts. Into these, men were drafted from Norfolk Island, when their first stage of probation was closed. The superintendents were instructed to keep a record of industrial and general improvements: the religious instructors were to insert a similar statement of moral and religious advancement. Thus it was expected, that at any instant the character and merit of every man might be known. The denominations selected to supply religious teaching were the episcopalian, wesleyan, and Roman catholic. The convicts having passed this probation were declared eligible for hire at wages, and entered the service of settlers. This portion of their progress was divided into three stages: in the first they were entitled to one-half, in the second to two-thirds, and in the last to their entire earnings. The masters were expected to pay the surplus into the hands of the crown; and the passholder was informed that the sum, if not forfeited by misconduct, would be receivable at his discharge, or in the event of death by his heirs. The fourth stage was revocable pardon, or ticket-of-leave: the holder could possess property, sue or be sued, and enjoy all the ordinary advantages of freedom, subject to police inspection. The last stage, pardon--conditional, or free: if the former, it removed the consequences of conviction in the colonies--if the latter, it had that effect in any part of the empire; but the enjoyment of this enfranchisement was made entirely dependent on the royal pleasure, and could not be demanded as a right. Such were the main provisions of the scheme: so fair in its outlines, so prodigious in its results.[247]

In describing the operations of the probation system, it may be desirable to trace throughout the branch established at Norfolk Island. Major Childs, the commandant in succession to Captain Maconochie, was nominated by Lord Stanley. His fitness for the office was assumed from his reputation as a strict disciplinarian: in this the minister was mistaken. It must not, however, be forgotten, that many of the most flagrant evils attributed to his administration, had existed at different periods during the preceding experiments.

The island was annexed by parliament to the government of Van Diemen's Land, and thus terminated a connexion with New South Wales, which had subsisted from the colonization of that country.

Captain Forster, who succeeded to the chief control, was hostile to Maconochie's system, and proceeded to interdict all the privileges he had been accustomed to grant. A gang system of labour was restored; the barter of food was forbidden; vegetable stalls, pork shops and general stores, herds of swine and private gardens, were swept away. Thus, to all the prisoners left behind by Maconochie, the new regulations were equal to an additional sentence.

Two classes of prisoners were sent to Norfolk Island under the new system. The doubly-convicted colonial prisoners, and persons sentenced in England to transportation for fifteen years or life: the accumulation of both was rapid. Many bushrangers and other capital convicts, were transmitted to that settlement, to whom the arts of a prison were fully known; who were celebrated as "flash" robbers; and who bore down by their tyrannical wickedness all the weaker or better men within their influence. The numbers on the island in 1845, were nearly 2,000; of whom one-fourth were colonial or doubly-convicted prisoners. For these rapid additions no preparation was made: the buildings in the island, adapted for prison purposes, were dilapidated and insufficient. In the sleeping wards, the hammocks were placed in contact: the men were shut up after dusk, from eighty to a hundred together, in charge of a convict wardsman, until the morning. The place of promiscuous association was called the lumber yard, and was subject to the dominion of a "ring:" there old and new prisoners met; it was regarded as an _Alsatia_, or sanctuary. To arrest a prisoner there would have risked the life of the constable: attempts were sometimes met with concerted resistance: the whole body would surround the culprit, and draw their knives in defiance; in several instances the officers were assaulted with violence. The assembly of such numbers in one spot destroyed all authority: the officers did not choose seriously to infringe the privileges of the "ring." Those who gave information or evidence, did so at the venture of their lives. The harmless prisoners were the victims of oppression and rapid deterioration. At a station where the English and colonial convicts were intermixed, the colonial suffered various punishments, in three months 58 per cent., the English 30 per cent.; while the English separated from direct contamination suffered only about 18 per cent. Thus contact evidently produced one-half the penal disorders of the English convicts.

The incapacity and corrupt practices of the officers were serious obstructions to their usefulness. Thus, they were found to traffic with the men; to obtain their services under false pretences. The superintendents left the actual supervision of the work to the convict sub-overseers, who, had they been inclined to preserve order, or to enforce labor, would have been liable to vengeance.

The Rev. Thomas B. Naylor, chaplain, who quitted his employment in 1845, addressed a letter to Lord Stanley, describing the condition of Norfolk Island. This letter was intended for publication; but being placed in the hands of Captain Maconochie, he transferred it to Lord Stanley. Mr. Naylor asserted that the regulations were neglected: the commandant, a good intentioned but blustering person, was utterly incompetent to secure obedience. Thus the island was ever on the verge of insurrection. Large gangs had succeeded by mutiny in obtaining terms with their officers: the commandant himself had been knocked down. Convicts of every grade were intermixed; the fresh feelings of English prisoners cruelly insulted; youths seized upon with abominable violence--_inter christianos non nominandum_. He described the parade of separation, classification, and religious instruction, as an elaborate scheme of delusion.[248]

The reports transmitted by different parties from Norfolk Island, were published in the colonial newspapers; and the lieutenant-governor (Wilmot) was induced to issue a commission of inquiry, entrusted to R. P. Stewart, Esq., whose bold and faithful delineation of abuses more than sustained the rumours that prevailed.

On his return to head-quarters Mr. Stewart furnished a minute report. He stated that the reins of authority were relinquished, and that the anarchy and insubordination justified the fear that the whole island would be involved in mutiny and bloodshed. He considered the commandant deficient in the qualifications required by his arduous and perilous post. This report occasioned the utmost alarm, and the executive council resolved on the removal of Major Childs without delay.

On leaving Norfolk Island, Mr. Stewart, in obedience to his instructions, recommended the commandant to a more stringent discipline. Many colonial convicts, who constituted the "ring," exercised a power over the less daring, which intimidated more than the authority of their officers, or the fear of punishment. The "flash" men conspired with the cooks to deprive their fellow-prisoners of their food, and were permitted to prepare in their own dishes the produce of their frauds.

To end this scandalous robbery of the well disposed, Mr. Stewart recommended that all should be deprived of cooking utensils, and receive their rations dressed. Unhappily the stores on the island were not sufficient to afford the stipulated quantity and kind of food. Many suffered from dysentery, which the medical officer considered to be aggravated by the state in which the maize was prepared. The sweet potato, which mixed with the meal so greatly improved the diet, was no longer attainable; pork was absurdly issued instead of vegetables; and the deficiency of proper food--a greater grievance than any amount of severity--provoked their murmurs and threatenings.

Among the leaders of the "ring," were Westwood, or Jacky Jacky, and Cavannah, both bushrangers, recently re-transported. They were both able to read and write, and possessed a sort of intelligence which renders such men more dangerous. The conduct of the English prisoners at the stations, where they were separated from the doubly-convicted, was far from disorderly, and punishments were rare. There was no lack of severity elsewhere. A stipendiary police magistrate, appointed shortly after the system was changed, organised a body of police: twenty-five thousand lashes were inflicted in sixteen months, beside other forms of punishment. The men committed to the gaol were often tortured: iron-wood gags were bridled in the mouth. Men were sometimes tied to bolts in the walls, the arms being out-stretched, and the feet in contact fastened on the floor: this was called the "spread eagle." The solitary cells, as they were named, were often crowded, and the men exposed to more than disease. Yet all this severity was useless for the purposes of discipline, while the precautions against violence and crime were comparatively neglected.

The apprehensions of Mr. Stewart were, unfortunately, realised. A murderous outbreak on the 1st of July, filled the settlement with terror. The constables were ordered, on the 30th of June, to remove the dishes and cooking utensils while the men were in the school-room. Westwood was calculating a sum: at the sound, he raised the pencil and listened; and a murmur passed through the classes: a sullen gloom overspread the whole. The next morning they were mustered for prayers: their conduct was orderly. They then marched to the lumber-yard; there they collected in a crowd, and suddenly moved to the stores, which they broke open and carried off their impounded dishes. They then returned to the yard, and Westwood told them that he was going to the gallows, and advised those who were afraid to keep back. Several armed with bludgeons; Westwood caught up an axe, and in a few moments four constables were murdered, some in their beds. The military were instantly called out, and in a very short time appeared, and the prisoners, without waiting a charge, retired to their quarters. When the account of these proceedings were received at Hobart Town, a special commission was sent down to try the rioters: thirteen suffered death.[249]

It is exceedingly difficult to determine to whom the chief blame of this fatal disaster belonged. The officers on the spot, whose testimony can be scarcely deemed impartial, alleged that it was chiefly due to the system of Maconochie: "when," said they, "the reins of discipline were tightened, the rage of the prisoners was unbounded." The police magistrate declared that he had all along expected such resistance: "before a more healthy state of things could be produced, a sacrifice would be made." It is, however, obvious that no such necessity could have existed, had the two classes of prisoners been divided, and proper military precaution secured.

On the 3rd of August, 1845, Major Childs was succeeded by John Price, Esq., formerly a police magistrate at Hobart Town. This gentleman, remarkable for his knowledge of prisoner habits, language, and artifices, was represented by the local government as unusually qualified to put down the disorders which prevailed. The greater number of the officers, civil and ecclesiastical, were dismissed or recalled; and Mr. Price commenced his career with a vigorous, summary, and, it is said, merciless exercise of his authority. The agents he employed were, of course, liable to strong objections: they were chiefly persons who were or had been prisoners; some remarkable for their crimes. The clergymen stationed on the island exhibited the most serious charges against the new commandant, and the persons acting under his authority and encouragement.[250] Cruelties of the most atrocious description, and a toleration of evils of an appalling kind; but the often insane violence of the men, scarcely admitted of either much caution or delay. It could answer no purpose to collect the awful details. In part, these charges have been disputed; but their substantial truth is, at least, rendered probable, by the accumulation of similar facts in the history of such settlements.[251]

The dismissal of the chaplains occasioned a long and painful controversy. The reports of their conduct appear to have been hastily collected; often dependant on testimony which would never be received elsewhere, unless strongly corroborated. The entire spirit of convict government is almost inevitably modified by its penal purpose. The instances are rare where a clergyman, acting in harmony with the design of the gospel, could escape the censure of men who look on prisoner piety with habitual suspicion and disdain, and who consider "doing duty," both the obligation and the limit of the clerical office. Thus when a prisoner desired to receive the sacrament, although a man of respectable origin and quiet demeanour, he was sent to the church in charge of constables, while men of far different habits were occasionally indulged with considerable liberty.

The constables were afraid for their lives: many of them, when the discipline became rigorous, implored to be removed from their office. One was sentenced to chains, for declining to be sworn; another, who had given evidence, entreated a discharge: he was refused, and was murdered. The civil commandant, Mr. Price, himself did not dare to neglect his personal safety, and appeared with loaded pistols in his belt.

When these accounts reached Downing-street, the abandonment of Norfolk Island was determined. The secretary of state having read the letter of Mr. Naylor, requested the lieutenant-governor to break up the establishment without delay: to withdraw the whole population to the settlement of Tasman's Peninsula, at the time a secondary penal station in Van Diemen's Land. No discretion was allowed in the execution of this imperative instruction. On further reflection, however, Earl Grey qualified his order.[252]

When the proposal to vacate Norfolk Island, and to settle the prisoners in this colony, became known, the inhabitants manifested the strongest indignation. Their views coinciding with the wishes of the local authorities, were received with respect, and the lieutenant-governor decided to delay the measure until the secretary of state should be fully informed. The administration of Mr. Price had quelled the mutinous temper of the convicts, and the removal of the better class had greatly diminished the number. The desirableness of an island prison to punish colonial offences, and obstinate insubordination in the English penitentiaries, overcame the intention to desert once more that spot, so celebrated for its natural beauty and moral pollution (1849). The reader will not, however, confide in present appearances; but will expect a repetition, at some future day, of those startling disclosures which have several times filled the world with horror.

The attempts of the convicts to overthrow the authorities have been numerous. Three years after the re-occupation of the island (1827) a large body murdered the guard, seized the boats, and crossed over to Phillip's Island. Seventy were engaged, and their number screened them from the capital penalty. In 1834, a still more sanguinary attempt issued in the instant loss of several lives, and the execution of eleven men. It was on this occasion that Mr. Justice Burton sat as judge: when he heard the appeal which "brought tears to his eyes, and wrung his heart;" and which, recorded by the famous anti-transportation committee of the House of Commons, told with such power on public opinion. The culprit being brought up for sentence said--"Let a man be what he will, when he comes here he soon becomes as bad as the rest: _a man's heart is taken from him, and there is given him the heart of a beast_."

Such has been always the result of capricious severity; and not only to the prisoners--to the ministers of vengeance might often be extended, without injustice, the appalling description.

The administration of law at Norfolk Island was but a choice of difficulties. Special commissions were of late sent down, when cases were urgent or numerous. The temptation to risk life for a release from toil, or the excitement of a voyage, was thus removed. But at this settlement the formalities of justice were but a slight security for its fair distribution. The value of an oath was less than the least favour of the authorities; the prisoners without counsel; the jury taken from the garrison. A convict attorney was occasionally permitted to advise the accused; but in the case of the July rioters such aid was denied, and several who were convicted, died protesting their innocence. During the assize, one judge sat with the military as an assessor, under the old law of New South Wales; a second, under the law of Van Diemen's Land, which appoints a jury. Capital convictions were thus obtained by a process, one or the other, totally illegal. These would be deemed slight considerations, taken separately; but it is difficult to be satisfied with a trial, in which all, except the judge, may be interested in the prisoner's condemnation. Substantial justice will not be long secure, when its usual conditions are either evaded, or are impracticable. A civilized nation would release the culprit rather than condemn him in haste, and the judge is criminal who smites contrary to the law, though he smites only the guilty.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 247: Despatch of Lord Stanley, 1842.]

[Footnote 248: _Par. Pap._ 1847.]

[Footnote 249: The following was addressed by Westwood, on the eve of his execution:--"Sir,--The strong ties of earth will be soon terminated, and the burning fever will soon be quenched. My grave will be a heaven--a resting place for me, Wm. Westwood. Sir, out of the bitter cup of misery I have drunk from my sixteenth year--ten long years, and the sweetest thought is that which takes away my living death. It is the friend which deceives no man: all will then be quiet; no tyrant will disturb my repose, I hope--WM. WESTWOOD."--_Letter to Rev. Thomas Rogers._]

[Footnote 250: _Correspondence relative to the dismissal of the Rev. T. Rogers._]

[Footnote 251: "That I may not be supposed to speak heedlessly when I say that the gaol treatment, at the period spoken of, was of itself sufficient to derange men's intellects, I subjoin a few facts in proof of my assertion, taken from written communications made to me by several respectable officers with whom I am acquainted. The original letters are in my possession:--

EXTRACTS.

_August 6._--Visited the general hospital; found a man named Lemon dreadfully beaten, and having his arm broken. It appears that constable Baldock was taking a man to gaol, charged with either having or using a towel irregularly. He threw his shirt to Lemon, and asked him to get it washed. Baldock would not allow him (Lemon) to have it. Upon this the man Lemon gave Baldock either a blow or, as he says, a push, when a number of constables fell upon him and beat him with their clubs. It was just as divine service was commencing yesterday evening. All the officers and constables left the church, except Mr. Duncan, and the "old hands" made a general rush towards the windows to see what was going on. Mr. Bott told me he interfered to cause the constables to desist after the man was down, but Baldock said "lay it into him--lay it into him." While down he was handcuffed with his hands behind him; after this he was taken to gaol and gagged two hours, with his hands chained behind him to the lamp post, having all this time his arm broken! He was then taken to the new gaol, and Stephens sent for the doctor who received him into hospital.

_April 16 (Friday)._--Had a long chat with Dytton. He was chained down to the floor by Mr. ---- order, and had been gagged. I asked the reason: he said for getting up to the window to get some air in the hospital cell, as the doctor had ordered him to have air and he was refused out. He has been ill at the general hospital--had six or seven weeks' sickness--has never been well since a beating he received while I was absent from the island. He was then in the chain-gang. Some pegs had been removed upon which he hung his clothes and rations. He abused the gaoler for removing the pegs; was gagged and taken to the new gaol, and chained down; was then dreadfully beaten by six or seven constables. He lay in a puddle of blood. The next day a constable came in and jumped upon him, and severely hurt his chest: he pierced his body with a piece of sharp iron or steel. He showed me a scar on his arm he had received on that occasion. He said Mr. Elliot came to the cell and found him in that mutilated condition, and asked ---- when it was done. ---- replied, "he received a portion yesterday and a portion to-day."

_August 6, 1847._--Visited the gaol. Found Waters strapped down on suspicion of having prevented his eye from recovering. His back was bad, having been flogged, and the cord which laced the straitwaistcoat which they put on him pained him much. His eye was very bad. He was laid on his back, bound unable to stir hand or foot, and in agony of pain from the pressure of his lacerated back on the lacing cord. Having asked to see Major Harrold as a magistrate, he said to the turnkey, "If I am guilty of injuring myself let me be punished; but if not, why am I strapped down?" For saying this he was flogged! He told me that Dr. Everett said he did not think he had done anything to his eye. I saw him again soon after: he said his back had stunk most offensively, and through the intercession of the turnkey Mr. Price had allowed the cord to be removed; but his hands were chained to the foot of the bed. He had received a sentence of eighteen months on the reef in chains. [Note: Some of these chains were 36lbs. weight; and on the reef the men had mostly to work up to the middle in water.--T.R.]"

"In one of the turnkeys' rooms in the new gaol is to be seen an article of _harness_, that at first sight creates surprise in the mind of the beholder, when considering what animal of the brute creation exists of so diminutive a size as to admit of its use; but on enquiry it will be found to be a bridle, perfect in head band, throat lash, &c., for a fellow creature. There is attached to it a round piece of ironwood of almost 4 inches in length, and 1-1/2 in diameter; this again is secured in a broad strap of leather to cross the mouth. In the wood there is a small hole, and, when used, the wood is inserted in the mouth, the small hole being the only breathing space; and when the whole is secured with the various straps and buckles, a more complete bridle in resemblance could not well be witnessed. This is one of Mr. ---- instruments for torturing the unhappy and fallen men, and on one occasion I was compelled to witness its application on a poor blind wretch, named Edward Mooney. My duty required my attendance at the gaol occasionally. I came in one evening after eight o'clock. I was conversing with one of the turnkeys; the notorious ----, who robbed Mr. Waterhouse of L700, was present; he also at that time being a turnkey, holding a third class pass, and in receipt of 2_s._ per diem. Everything was quite still. I could not help remarking how quiet the gaol was, when the said ---- exclaimed, 'there's some one speaking; I know what b---- it is;' and forthwith took from its pegs one of the bridles just described and a pair of handcuffs. I followed him to one of the cells which he opened, and therein was a man lying on his straw mat undressed, and to all appearance asleep. ---- desired him to get up, calling him by his name, and to dress himself. He did so, and came out into the yard, where ---- inserted the ironwood gag into his mouth, and the sound produced by his breathing through it (which appeared to be done with great difficulty) resembled a low indistinct whistle. He then led him to the lamp post in the yard, placing him with his back to it, and his arms being taken round were secured by the handcuffs round the post. As the night was very chilly, I buttoned his jacket up to the throat, speaking at the same time a few words to cheer him, that brought tears from his sightless eyes, to think that some one felt for his miserable and forlorn condition; and this convinced me still further, that even the most hardened villain can be melted by kindness, however trifling. Having enquired how long he was to remain in the condition described, I was told three hours!"

"Perkins had another drubbing some time since coming out of church. ---- a prisoner constable, was the first to fall on him, and after him a host who soon covered him with blood and wounds, for not walking in a proper manner out of church. And the commandant allowed this drubbing to stand as a sort of instalment of punishment when the man was brought up for trial. On account of the beating he received a lighter magisterial sentence. Mr. ---- told me one day that the commandant censured the conduct of the constables who complained of some man not opening his mouth to have the inside of it searched for tobacco. It seems they were deemed blameworthy for having in this instance neglected to use violence. 'Why didn't you knock him down like a bullock?' was the interrogatory at Norfolk Island!"--_Correspondence_, pp. 41, 42.

"Before Mr. Price's arrival I resided for twelve months on the Cascade station. Its strength was between three and four hundred men. I have known this station to continue twenty days without a single case requiring the intervention of a magistrate. Within three months after Mr. Price's arrival, I have known forty cases for the police-office on one single morning! Many of the men thus brought up were sentenced to solitary confinement, and sent to the Longridge cells--our own not being sufficient to contain a quarter of them. The Longridge station had a strength of five hundred men, and the united solitary sentences of both stations often trebly filled the Longridge cells. I have frequently found in my daily visits as chaplain from twenty to forty men confined by threes and fours in the Longridge cells, doing what was called 'solitary;'--three men sleeping together on the floor of a cell four and a half feet wide by seven feet long. For pulling a lemon or guava--for laughing in the presence of a convict policeman--for having a pipe--for wearing a belt or button not issued by government--for mustering in dirty trousers on Sunday, although to wash them the owner would have to go naked all the Saturday afternoon--for having half or a quarter of a pipeful of tobacco--for offences the most trivial, and sometimes on false charges--the most inoffensive and best behaved men of Cascade and Longridge were often to be found filling up the cells which might otherwise have been set apart for the custody of some of the grosser criminals who were tried at the assizes.... The convicts selected as constables were like a ruthless band of predatory assailants, seizing their fellow-prisoners under any and every pretence, in order to have 'cases for the police-office!' A first-class officer overheard the following speech uttered by a convict policeman:--'I have no case for court this morning--what will Mr. ---- say to me? But a case I must have--and a case I will have--and here goes!' This policeman proceeded with another into the bush, and in an hour returned bringing in two men on a capital charge. On the evidence of their captors alone these two men were committed to gaol, tried at the assizes, and sentenced to death. By whom were the police compelled to such activity? By Mr. Price. His opinion, publicly expressed, was, that a policeman could not be doing his duty unless he had 'cases for court.'"--Ibid, pp. 88, 89.

* * * * *

"A short analysis of the abstract would quickly strip the favored '25' of some rays of their infamous glory, and do more to expose the blunders, follies, and ferocious inhumanities of convict discipline than volumes of concocted reports and oracular despatches. From his position, Dr. Hampton must know that under the name of _discipline_, deeds have been done sufficiently atrocious to glut the soul of a Caligula. He knows that the perjuries and punishments about tobacco were sins that cried to heaven for abolition. He knows that in every seven cases out of ten the convicts at a penal station are more sinned against than sinning. Nothing is required to prove this but a critical inspection of their 'police sheets.' In the court-house at Hobart Town, a youth, E---- G----, aged 19, was on his trial for a capital offence. The crown prosecutor referred to the prisoner's _bad character_ as exhibited by the unusual number of offences on his police sheet. The judge asked to see the parchment. While looking at it, G---- said, 'Your honor, the whole of them wouldn't make one ---- good one!' For a few moments the judge continued to examine the record, and then flung it on the floor of the court-house with an expression of disgust at the childish nature of the 'trifling offences' set down as serious crimes."--_Review of Dr. Hampton's First Report on Norfolk Island: By Rev. T. Rogers._ p. 21.]

[Footnote 252: Despatches, 30th September and 7th November, 1846.]

SECTION XXIV.

But Van Diemen's Land was the chief sphere of the probation system. The colonists, at first, were not indisposed towards the experiment: the promise of an unlimited expenditure and a boundless supply of labor reconciled them to its gigantic proportions. It assumed the air of philanthropy: Sir John Franklin, when he announced the first outline of the scheme, referred to the redemption of the negro slave, and said--"that England was about to incur a large expenditure in the attempt to emancipate her erring children from the infinitely more degrading slavery of crime."[253] This picture was fully borne out by Sir James Graham, who observed, in reference to the probationer--"New scenes will open to his view, where skilled labor is in great demand; where the earnings of industry rapidly accumulate. The prisoner should be made to know that he enters on a new career. The classification of the convicts in the colony (of Van Diemen's Land), as set forth in Lord Stanley's despatch, should be made intelligible to him. He should be told that he will be sent to Van Diemen's Land: there, if he behave well, at once to receive a ticket-of-leave, which is equivalent to freedom, with the certainty of abundant maintenance, the fruits of industry."[254]

In describing the probation system it is not necessary to do more than state its general aspects and acknowledged results. The publications in the colonies and the official documents substantially concur, and with minute controversy history has no concern. To view the subject with the prejudices of a party would be treason to those important interests affected by the question. Crime will still be committed--and its treatment, the great problem of the age, is the business of all men.

The comptroller-general, Captain Forster, who obtained his appointment by the influence of Captain Montagu, entered on his office when Sir Eardley Wilmot arrived (1843), and re-modelled the practical measures of Dr. Milligan, who for a time, under the auspices of Sir John Franklin, had possessed the chief command. Captain Forster was too well acquainted with discipline to entertain the smallest expectation of ultimate success. Among his friends he expressed his distrust without reserve: but believing the home government irrevocably pledged, he concluded that penal philosophy was not his affair; and, not without reason, that he was better qualified than a stranger to mitigate the natural tendencies of the system. He had not been consulted in its structure: he did not hold himself responsible for its errors or results.

During four years, ending in 1844, more than 15,000 prisoners arrived: in 1847, there were, in all, 30,000. Free emigration was stopped. In 1842, 2,446 emigrants landed; in 1843, 26; in 1844, only 1.[255] The greater number of transports under short sentences became almost immediately eligible for hire, who were at first preferred by the farmers to free men. The free laborers rapidly retreated to the other colonies. Gangs of probationers were formed throughout the country. Their locations were chiefly selected with reference rather to their easy accommodation than their useful employment. A few large gangs were established beyond the settled country, but the greater part were lodged in the old buildings erected for the use of road parties, and ill-adapted for either moral or industrial operations.

Van Diemen's Land was supposed by the crown to be peculiarly fitted for the experiment: an area nearly equal to Ireland, occupied by little more than 50,000 inhabitants, appeared to offer ample room for the stations. It was not considered that the free population was condensed chiefly within a line of country between the Derwent and Tamar, or on the borders of those rivers; and that however a temporary location might be chosen, the settled districts must ultimately absorb the pass and ticket holders. Most were within a few hours, nearly all within a day's journey of the free population. The ample supply of food; a system of moral training, which devoted considerable time to books and pencils; a decided discouragement of strictness in discipline and severity in punishment, removed the temptation to rebel. The chief grievance of the prisoners was the prohibition of smoking, often indeed evaded by the connivance and assistance of the overseers; yet, while at some stations indolence and plenty prevailed, at others, remote from the public eye, misery and vice existed to an extent too awful for more than mere reference. At the coal mines the men were robbed of their provisions by their fellow-prisoners; new clothing was not issued until they were in tatters; hundreds were without shirts, scores without shoes, and some only wrapped round with rugs (1843). These evils were certainly not lasting; but they have been by no means unfrequent at stations remote from the capital, and from the notice of the press.

The colony did not afford a sufficient corps of able and conscientious superintendents: many were military and naval officers, qualified to control, but utterly unable to instruct. The quiet movement of the vast system was earnestly desired by the local government: its effects would, of course, be inferred from the absence of punishments; and it was understood by the lower officers, that the shorter their black lists, the more agreeable their periodical reports. It was stated by the comptroller that they were engaged to carry out the system, not to condemn it; and disaffection ended in dismissal.[256]

The rapid increase of numbers disconcerted the comptroller. The new arrivals were sent to crowd the stations of their predecessors: order, and even decency, were impracticable. The accommodation of the officers was often miserable: too distant for proper inspection.

As the men removed from Norfolk Island were added to the gangs, their tendencies became more alarming and apparent: they were of the worst possible description, and defied all remedy.[257] No artifices of language will enable the moralist to describe them.

The mean pay of the officers, their uncertain tenure of office, and the nature of their duties, would only attract candidates for employment as a temporary expedient. The control of considerable bodies of men, under favorable circumstances, demands both vigilance and firmness. The prisoners perceive, almost at a glance, the character of their superiors: their history and habits are the theme of constant inquiry and discussion. An equal temper and unwearied attention are required in this arduous occupation. But the persons engaged were often wholly disqualified by their past pursuits and personal character, to inspire either awe or respect. The practical oversight was often committed to the least responsible.

The religious instructors selected by the government, though chiefly of the episcopal or catholic professions, were of miscellaneous origin. The clergy of all persuasions were formerly admitted to the road parties; their discourses were welcome, for they gave an interval from toil: some performed service on the sabbath at their own charge. The new instructors were strictly official: some, indeed, highly educated men, of long standing in their respective churches; others were the off-shoots of various sects, without education or personal dignity. Of their qualifications, several high officers have spoken with contempt.[258] These opinions were, however, partly the indirect result of disputes, in which the instructors were very generally involved. Several were known to convey accounts of evils within the stockades, which it was the desire of the department both to conceal and to suppress: notwithstanding, many were deficient in zeal and ability. Their labors were strictly formal, and were soon considered hopeless. Several exceptions must be understood; but to select them would be invidious. The exclusive occupation of clergymen as teachers of convicts, is generally unfavorable to their usefulness: the recognised pastor of a congregation brings to the prison the reputation and sanctity of his character among the free; the instructor of a gang is soon considered but as the agent of penal government.

The basis of Lord Stanley's system was an imaginary demand for labor in Van Diemen's Land. The home government was so confident in this resource, that placards were suspended on the English prisons, holding forth the prospect of high wages as the final stage of transportation. The execution of public works in the colonies, except at an equivalent price, was strictly prohibited. By improving the settled parts of the colony, the crown might have increased its attraction to capitalists, and by diverting an excess of laborers excited the competition of masters. The governor was desirous of allaying colonial irritation by some substantial boon: the orders of Lord Stanley were, however, rigid. The comptroller-general was forbidden to adopt any detailed regulation at variance with the scheme prescribed by the crown, or to alter or depart from its provisions, without express authority.[259]

The demands of the settlers for laborers soon fell far short of the supply. The written contracts for the passholders in the first stages of service bound the master to pay over a portion of their wages to the crown: this course was troublesome. Thus few, except in the last stage of their service, were able to obtain employment at all; and the graduated scale of payment fell to the ground. The accumulation at the hiring depots, sometimes to the number of 4,000, who could obtain no engagement, induced the governor to urge their useful employment in public works. He stated that neither private individuals nor the colonial treasury could afford to employ them in improvements of prospective utility, and recommended that a fixed moderate payment should be accepted, in return for the service they might perform. The reply of his lordship was decided:--"If," he observed, "the free inhabitants cannot purchase the labor we have to sell, at a price which it is worth our while to accept, it remains for us to consider whether other advantageous employment cannot be found." "The necessaries of life may be produced to such an extent, as to render the convicts independent of the free colonists, who are not entitled to claim any compensation for the inconvenience with which their presence may be attended." His lordship proposed that new lands should be surveyed, cultivated, and sold for the advantage of the imperial treasury; and thus the government might assert "its independence of the settlers," and teach them to "appreciate correctly the value of convict labor."[260]

The defiant tone of this despatch, and its contemptuous reference to the settlers, determined the question of transportation.[261] The partizans of abolition could assail the system at its foundation. Thenceforth the interests of the colonists, moral and material, were obviously one. The crown was to compete in the market with the farmer and the landowner; and the labor market to be overruled by official contrivance, for the benefit of the imperial treasury.

The colonial newspapers were filled with notices of robberies, and the complaints of employers. A rapid emigration took place: free laborers and mechanics sold their properties, acquired by years of toil, often for a trifling sum; and the immigrants, brought to the colony at great public and private cost, almost universally passed over to the adjacent communities.

The comptroller-general attempted to carry out the supplementary plan ordered by Lord Stanley. Agricultural establishments were formed; but this only provided for the probationers. The passholders were entitled to enter the service of the settlers. To detain them twenty miles from the nearest farm-house, was to extend indefinitely the first stage of punishment; but when drafted to the settled districts, they could not be employed,[262] except for the benefit of the colony, and against this resource the decision of Lord Stanley was imperative.[263]

The hiring depots were placed in settled districts or chief towns. The stage of rigid discipline being past, the convicts were not required to labour with diligence, or suffer much restraint. They were now deemed fit for society, and it was merely the fault of their numbers that many were unemployed. They were permitted to roam about in search of casual employment--to spread themselves over the country. They were allowed to expend the money they acquired in temporary service, and while any remained they were unwilling to accept an engagement. Thus they were fed and clothed, and lightly worked: they were free from care, their time was running out, and they were objects rather of envy than commiseration.

The official reports of the probation system forwarded to Downing-street, were not unfavorable. Lord Stanley asserted in his place, "that from all he could judge the system had been productive of the most beneficial results, and that the general conduct of the convicts had been most satisfactory;"[264] but in his despatch to the governor, he complained that, amidst an abundance of statistics, the notices of moral success were "slight, unimportant, and few."[265]

The operation of the system was, however, well known to his lordship. The under-secretary, Sir J. Stephen, with extraordinary exactness, described the actual condition of the prisoner population--"living, not by a healthy competition for employment, but by an habitual and listless dependence on the public purse." He depicted the apathy and indolence, the low tone of moral feeling, the lamentable and degrading habits which prevailed; and asserted that in the hands of Lord Stanley, were proofs of an existing state of convict society, such as would be contemplated with deep solicitude. It may not be impossible to reconcile in detail these official and parliamentary declarations; but, taken alone, they would lessen our confidence in the value of ministerial explanations, not less than in official reports.

The comptroller-general stated that the system would not only prove beneficial to Great Britain, but work a great moral reformation in the convict population:[266] "that it had fully answered its object." These assertions were confirmed by the governor, who remarked, "that the men behaved as well as possible." Such views were strongly opposed by other testimony; among the most conspicuous was that of Dr. Hampton, surgeon-superintendent of the _Sir George Seymour_, who, charged with the care of a party from Pentonville prison, resided some time in the colony. He described the prisoner population as sunk in the deepest debasement; the ticket-holders in great misery; the reformed prisoners committed to the charge of felons; the better disposed taunted as "pets, psalm-singers, and Pentonvillains." Whatever had been most strongly affirmed by the enemies of the system, was amply sustained by his testimony.[267]

To the same effect was the evidence of Mr. Boyd, formerly of Pentonville, and appointed an assistant-superintendent to Darlington, Maria Island. This station was regarded by the government as superior to all. Separated entirely from the free population, it was accessible only by authority; yet close to head-quarters, it had the advantage of direct inspection and control. There were, at this time, 800 persons subject to twenty-one officers, civil and religious. Not a single soldier was on the island, and yet there were "no prisoners more orderly, or better behaved, in Van Diemen's Land."[268] This reputation it maintained, while the stations of Rocky Hills and Broad Marsh, were infamous for the abandonment of all order and decency. "Few could be favorably compared with Darlington, and none possessed its local advantages."[269] But the interior, as described by Mr. Boyd, entirely changes the scene. He declared the precautions against corrupt intercourse insufficient and unsuccessful: the most disgusting language was common; hoary villains and boys were worked together; the school books were torn and defaced; education was mere pretence; a large proportion of offences were unpunished; lashes were received in hardened indifference; the criminal habits of the men were unbroken; conspiracies to murder were frequently denounced. On the whole he concluded, that there could exist no better school of crime than a probation station.[270]

The laxity which prevailed was everywhere confessed, except by the immediate dependents of government. The Rev. Mr. Fry, a clergyman of Hobart Town, differed, however, with the colony in general. His earnest defence of the probation system (1845) was published by command, and quoted by Lord Stanley in the House of Lords. He asserted that the convict population had placed the settlers in ease and opulence; and that the bulk of the colonists were emancipists, who were bound to assist the condemned outcasts of Europe to acquire honesty and independence. "The clank of chains," said the reverend gentleman, "is now seldom heard, and the deportment of free laborers, grateful and respectful, has succeeded to the scowl of malignity, with which the assigned white slaves regarded their owners." He asserted that the gangs recalled the men from intemperance; that they were attentive to religious teaching; that the parties, although almost abandoned to self-discipline, yet lived tranquilly, unawed by surrounding force. These opinions were afterwards modified.[271]

Notwithstanding the habitual acquiescence of the colonists in the measures of the crown, the development of Lord Stanley's system occasioned considerable sensation. The rapid increase of prisoners early excited alarm. The masses accumulated from all parts of the empire presented a new and fearful aspect: crimes reached a height beyond example in any civilised country. The settlers, environed by parties, were subject to frequent irruptions, and were compelled to guard their dwellings, as if exposed to a foreign enemy. The men wandered miles from the stations, alone: at the hiring depots they were left almost to their discretion. According to the evidence of a magistrate, neither the comptroller-general, nor any confidential subordinate, visited the station of Cleveland from its establishment to its dissolution. At another, ninety men, near the township of Oatlands, under the charge of one free overseer, were worked in a line of seven miles extent. A settler, whose flocks had been pillaged, brought back twice in one month the same party; and again they escaped, threatening vengeance on the authors of their arrest. At Jerusalem station, 800 convicts were permitted to roam on their parole; to carry bundles in and out of barracks unsearched; to disguise their persons, and to change their dress. Their daring highway robberies ended in the proof of these facts before the supreme court at Hobart Town. At Deloraine, nearly one thousand prisoners were in charge of twenty persons, including the military: on one occasion, eighteen started for the bush, and filled the neighbourhood with terror. The local authorities could offer nothing but condolence; and even this poor relief was presented in a peculiar form. It was alleged that the amount of depredation and violence had not risen more rapidly than the number of convicts. This was scarcely correct; but it was little consolatory to the sufferers, assailed so much the more frequently, though by different hands.[272] Their honors the judges, with repeated and pointed condemnation, reprehended the utter want of proper surveillance and restraint, as cruel alike to the settlers and the convicts. Nor were the towns exempt from extraordinary inundations: many hundreds of men were turned out from the penitentiary on Saturday afternoon, and were thus exposed to the temptations of a populous city.

The officers of the department were charged with the trial of a system professing to breathe the most exalted charity. Had they, however, designed to expose theoretical benevolence to endless execration, no course could have been chosen more obvious. The liberty and indulgence given to the unfortunate prisoners seemed to bring them purposely within the circle of their old temptations. Many were led into scenes which act with fascinating power on men of criminal tendencies: they were often seen lingering for hours around the doors of houses for the sale of liquor. Amusements, which are always attended with some peril, were rendered more public and accessible. Dancing houses of the lowest kind were licensed, until their noise and confusion compelled their suppression. The regulation of night-passes became much less practically stringent. Everything facilitated the allurements and the commerce of crime. Receivers were always at hand, and robbers were tolerably insured when the first danger was over, by the rapid shipment of their spoil. Offenders, practised in the fraud of cities, were admitted into the towns, and placed in situations precisely calculated to recall their former habits, and excite their habitual passions. The puisne judge, in passing sentence on prisoners of this class, for new crimes, and holding up their police character in his hands, exclaimed--"Now, Mr. Attorney-general, I ask you what we may expect if such men as these are assigned in towns. Is it not surprising that I have to try such cases? It is shameful! It is shameful!" And such will be the opinion of mankind.

The chief expedients of Lord Stanley to relieve the colony from the redundancy of labor, and pressure on the treasury, were never applied. At the suggestion of Mr. Bishton, a clergyman of Westbury, Sir Eardley Wilmot recommended the leasing portions of land to well conducted ticket-holders. This was however strongly opposed on the spot, as tending to depreciate property, and inconsistent with the social circumstances of the country. The English allotment system was inapplicable: at home, it is a subsidiary to the general resources of the laborer, who can commonly find employment with the farmers, and easily dispose of the produce of his supplementary toil.

But a project of greater moment was contemplated by Lord Stanley, and adopted by Mr. Gladstone, and advanced far towards completion. This was the formation of a new colony, called North Australia. The civil list, composed of officers of modest designations--as superintendent, chairman of sessions, and clerk of the peace--was framed with the strictest economy, and the expense was to be defrayed by the English treasury. The colonists for the most part were to consist of exiles landed with pardons, either from England or Van Diemen's Land, and thither female prisoners were intended to be sent. During the first three years only new settlers were to be furnished with food for one year; with clothing, tents, tools, bedding, and seed. L10,000 in all, were to be expended in public buildings. To the office of superintendent, Colonel Barney was appointed, under the governor of New South Wales. A party set out for their destination: they were discouraged by the appearance of the country, but before an experiment could be made they were recalled.

A more practical measure was the extension of conditional pardons to the neighbouring countries, the operation of which had been limited to Van Diemen's Land. The dearth of labor in New Holland induced the settlers to send vessels to this colony, and many hundreds, liberated by the new form of pardon, were conveyed to pastoral districts on the opposite shore.

During the short official relation of Mr. Secretary Gladstone, who in 1846 succeeded Lord Stanley, Sir Eardley Wilmot was recalled, and Mr. La Trobe and Sir William Denison were placed in succession at the head of our colonial affairs. Like his predecessor, Mr. Gladstone complained that the information conveyed by Wilmot and the comptroller-general, amidst abundant statistics, left the main moral questions obscure. Mr. Forster had passed beyond the reach of censure; and Sir Eardley Wilmot maintained that the actual evils imputed had formed the topic of incessant communications. He derived his impressions from others; and seeing but the surface, was persuaded to the last that the probation system had not failed.

The despatch of Mr. La Trobe fully corroborated the common report. His honest discrimination was worthy his high reputation for integrity. Nothing the reader has perused will be unsustained by his more elaborate analysis--which may be expressed in one sentence--as illustrating both the high-wrought theory and the mischievous practice of the probation department:--"In spite of all the superior arrangements of the system, vice of every description is to be met with on every hand: not as an isolated spot, but as a pervading stain."[273]

Dr. Hampton, whose representations had largely contributed to these official changes, which were however fortified by a mass of concurrent testimony, received the appointment of comptroller-general. Meanwhile the office of secretary of state for the colonies devolved on Earl Grey, and at his assumption of office he abandoned at once all the schemes of his predecessors. The practice of transportation he resolved to discontinue, and in its stead to inflict punishment at home; and to send out the prisoners, when entitled to liberation, to the various colonies of the British empire. His expectation that their labor would be highly prized, was fortified by the "Associations" at Port Phillip to obtain laborers from Van Diemen's Land, and the resolutions of the committee of the New South Wales Council, where a strong disposition was exhibited, on the part of employers, to renew transportation. Several ship-loads had been sent from Pentonville, and the nominal lists of their employment and wages, appeared to assure an unbounded field for their successors. To shut out the possibility of complaint, however, Earl Grey sent circulars to all the colonies on this side the Cape of Good Hope. The reply was universally adverse; and this plan, which a few years before would have been gladly accepted, was rendered impracticable perhaps for ever.

The total abandonment of North Australia was a subject of deep regret to its projectors, and was too hastily done; but as a substitute, Earl Grey proposed the creation of villages in the more remote districts of Van Diemen's Land. The erection of houses and a limited cultivation of forest land, was expected by his lordship to afford employment for the ticket holders, and to yield a fund for an equal amount of free emigration. It was intended these dwellings, built on quarter acre allotments, should be sold to prisoners, or subject to a rental of L5 per annum; and a clergyman and schoolmaster provided in each. It would be useless even to examine the plan, which was based on a valuation of crown lands at that time entirely erroneous, and a fallacious estimate of mere labor, in any form whatever.

Late changes, effected by a more intelligent superintendence, and the vigilant censorship of the public, may be readily confessed. The decrease of numbers in the gangs, and the greatly improved resources of the convict department, have ameliorated several evils which formerly elicited great complaint. The male establishments at Hobart Town are patterns of neatness--the female, of disorder.

It merely remains to be stated, that the present system is to send out prisoners when entitled to tickets-of-leave; to disperse them through various districts in search of labor. In the colony they enjoy all the privileges of free laborers, except responsibility to a police magistrate. They will be entitled to release at a term prefixed, but on condition that they pay a sum for their passage. Few have either the ability or self-restraint required by this regulation, and unless it is relaxed they must remain prisoners during the term of their sentence--often for life.

A great variety of details might be added; but the total revolution in the system will now lead the enquirer into the state of society rather than the management of gangs and penitentiaries. The despatches, which fill volumes of blue books, are rather transactions of penal philosophers than trustworthy guides to the historian of transportation; and the writer has not relied exclusively on these authorities, even when he has quoted them--a discretion amply justified by their endless contradictions.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 253: Address to Council, June, 1841.]

[Footnote 254: Sir James Graham, December, 1842.]

[Footnote 255: _Report of Emigration Commissioners._]

[Footnote 256: "It is but just for me to observe, that the state of various convict establishments, inquiring into the conduct of the various officers engaged, was not so generally unfavorable as I had been led to anticipate. The negligence and irregularity of subordinate officers cannot be denied."--_La Trobe's Despatch, November_, 1847.]

[Footnote 257: _Forster's Report_, 1845.]

[Footnote 258: Despatches: Sir Eardley Wilmot, acting Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe, and Governor Denison.]

[Footnote 259: Despatch, 1843, No. 34.]

[Footnote 260: Despatch, 1844.]

[Footnote 261: The proceedings of the colonists, in reference to this question, will be found in the first volume of this work.]

[Footnote 262: _Forster's Report._]

[Footnote 263: "Employment, in many cases, appeared to be merely devised, because whether to the real advantage of the military chest or not, they are certainly not to the colony."--_Le Trobe, November_, 1847.]

[Footnote 264: March, 1846.]

[Footnote 265: September, 1845.]

[Footnote 266: _Forster's Report_, 1844.]

[Footnote 267: "Under all the circumstances of the case, therefore, I cannot find language sufficiently strong, to express my opinion that convicts, considered deserving of any indulgence whatever, ought not to be sent to Van Diemen's Land; ... for, in my opinion, it would be more just and humane to shut up Pentonville Prison at once, than to pass men through such a course of training, only to discover, on arriving here, that their previous expectations are a mockery, their present prospects worse than slavery, and their future moral ruin and contamination nearly a certainty."--_April_, 1845.]

[Footnote 268: Sir Eardley Wilmot's despatch, 1846.]

[Footnote 269: La Trobe's despatch, 1847, No. 18.]

[Footnote 270: Letter to Dr. Hampton, 1845.]

[Footnote 271: The writer thus records his opinion in 1850:--"If transportation were discontinued, and the colonists, under a free government, were allowed to exercise their own intelligence and develop the resources of their country, the stain and evils of having been the receptacle of criminals would gradually and speedily disappear.... For nearly ten years have the colonists been struggling to relieve themselves from the annual importation of criminals, and throughout that long period they have displayed a spirit and disposition worthy of the highest admiration. Regardless of the profits of convict labor, and of the immense government expenditure, they preferred any sacrifice to the continuance of what they considered demoralising their community. In future ages their conduct will be regarded as one of the few examples of a people struggling against temporal advantages for morality and virtue; and if the desire of removing a grievous injury, and aiding the sufferers in recovering from its effects, be a noble feeling, the people of England are bound to afford their powerful sympathy and assistance to the inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land."--_A System of Penal Discipline, with a Report on the Treatment of Prisoners in Great Britain and Van Diemen's Land. By the Rev. H. P. Fry, A.B._]

[Footnote 272: "A settler in the interior loses a quantity of sheep: whether correctly or not, he believes that they are stolen by probationers. Perhaps they are sold, perhaps they are slaughtered, and the wool 'planted.' He finds two members of the gang wandering over his grounds: he suspects, challenges them, and on their refusal to withdraw, attempts to arrest them. One of them seizes him by the throat, and threatens his life: the timely appearance of his brother enables him to secure them both. He conveys them to the station, lays before the magistrate a charge, who sentences them. They are turned out among the gang, without special permanent restraint, and abscond again. Our readers may fancy this to be mere romance, but every word of it is truth, and the detailed account will be found in another column. The place is Oatlands; the complainant, Mr. Wilson; the time, last week. Let us look at this case. A settler who bought his land from the government, finds in his neighbourhood ninety convicts, in the charge of a single overseer. His property, and it is impossible it should be otherwise, is subjected to daily depredation. And who is the real robber? Who, at least, are the more accountable parties? The men whose known propensities have occasioned their transportation--the unfortunate overseer, whose life hangs upon his connivance or indifference--_or the government_, which, knowing all these circumstances, exposed the men to temptation, and the settler to ruin? And what will be the result of all this? The unfortunate settler will chafe, murmur, and implore, but he must, at last, gather together the remnant of his property, and escape for his life!"--_Observer, March_, 1846.

"In another column will be found the proceedings of the criminal court. The puisne judge, in passing sentence on the prisoners, said 'it must be remembered that there are from 20,000 to 30,000 men spread throughout the country, whose increasing offences require that some signal examples should be made. I am sorry to say that crime has increased amongst this class very considerably within the last two or three years.' After dwelling upon the absolute necessity that the executive should rigidly carry out the sentences of the court, he added, 'I am sorry to say that within the last two or three sessions some twenty or thirty cases of this description (cutting and wounding) have been tried in this court, as great a number as were formerly tried in two or three years, and also of a more aggravated character.'"--Ibid.

"The evidence of Mr. James Arnold Wheeler, the superintendent of the St. Mary's Pass station, exposed some of the beauties of the system. A hawker was robbed within about a mile of the station under very aggravated circumstances, by men in the dress of probationers. It was, of course, important to ascertain who was absent from the station at that particular period, and Mr. Wheeler stated that he could not tell, as all the third class had liberty to roam about within hearing of the bell, about half a mile in any direction from the establishment. When asked by the judge what prevented the men from going further if they pleased? he replied, nothing, provided they returned at a certain hour.' His honor shook his head in silence."--_Examiner_, 1846.

"During the trial of John Burdett in the supreme court, on the 2nd instant, for robbery, the prosecutor, an old man between 60 and 70, swore that he had been robbed (his property taken) seven times since last Christmas; that his bed, rug, and blanket had been taken from his hut; that he lived a mile and a-half from Oyster Cove probation station; that he was reduced to such straits that he now depends on his neighbours for a little bread to eat; that the superintendent's lady had given him a rug and a blanket, but he had nothing but straw to sleep upon. There is only an open four-rail fence outside the station to confine the prisoners after they are let out of their sleeping cells. Mr. Justice Montagu commented, with indignation, upon the total want of restraint upon the probationers, and of protection to the poor settlers in the neighbourhood of the station; and expressed, in feeling terms, his sympathy for the prosecutor's distress and losses, and kindly declared that, if the old man would prepare a petition, and forward it to him, he would take care that the clerk of the court should give the jurors an opportunity to join in it, and would use his best endeavours with his excellency the lieutenant-governor, who, he was sure, would feel happiness in extending compensation, if it were in his power. In passing sentence of transportation for fifteen years (the lightest which the law permits in cases of robbery), his honor protested that, considering the position of the prisoner, placed in a probation station but having no restraint laid upon him to prevent from going in quest of luxuries and comforts, he would be fain to pass a lighter sentence. He felt the inefficiency of the sentence that he was about to pronounce, but he had no alternative. Accordingly he passed the mitigated sentence of fifteen years transportation".--_Courier, September_, 1846.]

[Footnote 273: Despatch to Earl Grey, 1847.]

SECTION XXV.

The notices of the treatment of female prisoners in this work have been few. Until recently, the attention of the English government has been almost entirely confined to the management of male convicts; and the impression has been always too general, that the unhappy women are beyond recovery. In the local discussion of the convict question the deliberate opinion of Captain Forster has been usually adopted, by all who have seen the conduct of the women. "I have not," said that distinguished officer, "entered upon the topic of discipline for female convicts, not considering them available subjects for prison discipline." (1837) Colonial experience, before and since, would hardly authorise any other conclusion.

The first female transports were left to the casualties of a convict colony. Some, who were adopted by the officers, became the mothers of respectable families: some wholly emerged from their degradation, and became respectable wives; but, for the most part, they merely exhibited the depth to which vice can depress. Nearly 20,000 have been transported; of these, a considerable proportion have fallen victims to intemperance, and sunk into a premature grave.

The description of the conduct of female prisoners is so uniform, that any date and any account might be joined at random. Those who read the works of Collins, of Read, of Henderson, and of Lang, and compare them with each other, and with works of the present time, will find little variety of incident. They represent woman deprived of the graces of her own sex, and more than invested with the vices of man.

The transportation of women has been a great social evil to the colonies. At first it seemed unavoidable: it was afterwards deemed highly expedient, for reasons it is not necessary to describe. Yet it is not too much to attribute the chief vexations of domestic life to their character and conduct. It would have been better for the nation, for the male convicts, and for the women themselves, had they been detained at home, or banished to countries where they would have avoided the double degradation of moral and social infamy.[274] Such were the views of many most enlightened men. The extreme difficulty of finding them employment as servants, and their perpetual relapses, have induced the government usually to encourage, at first concubinage, and, in more scrupulous times--marriage: in some instances with great success. It is the last expedient in the administration of penal laws; when it fails, the case is considered hopeless.

The number of females transported, until within twelve years, were about 1 to 10 men; since then, they have been about 1 to 7. The penalty has been inflicted for the lighter crimes; and in many instances the Irish courts must have been influenced rather by a vague notion of humanity than of punishing offenders. Such are often young creatures: not a few could be scarcely considered depraved.

The accumulation on the hands of the government has been usually very great, and curious expedients have been devised to dispose of the burden. The factory at Parramatta, in former times, was a mart of women. Thither the laboring man went in search of a wife, and often, after a general survey, selected one on the spot. These marriages were not always a failure, but far the greater number ended in intemperance and prostitution.

To overcome the reluctance of the settlers to employ them, Sir George Murray, when secretary for the colonies, directed the governor to compel the settlers to receive one woman with three or four men (1829). The effect of this stipulation was probably never considered. The condition of the better disposed has been one of great hazard and temptation. The last state of female degradation was often their inevitable lot. They were surrendered to solicitations and even violence: a convict constable conducted them to the houses of their master; they lodged on the road, wherever they could obtain shelter; convict servants were usually their companions,--or when their manners were superior to their class, corrupters of a higher rank were always at hand to betray or destroy them. Reformation has been commonly deemed unattainable, and precautions useless.

The influence of such persons on the tone of society, the temper of masters, the morals of children, and even the conduct of the convict men, has proved everywhere disastrous, unless checked by incessant vigilance. Smoking, drinking, swearing, and prostitution, have very commonly formed the character ever present to the tender mind. The stranger entered perhaps a splendid dwelling, and found all the advantages of opulence, except what money could not procure--a comely and honest-hearted woman servant. The eye at length became more familiar with lineaments bloated or rigid with passion and debauch, and the ear accustomed to the endless vicissitudes of the servants' hall, which discharged and received an endless succession of the same debased, despised, and unhappily despicable beings. The writer has not forgotten, for a moment, that under the protection of a virtuous mistress, some unfortunate but not depraved females have escaped the terrible ordeal, and have found in the land of their exile the comforts of a home.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 274: Letter from Chief Justice Forbes, 1836.]

SECTION XXVI.

Lord Stanley devoted commendable and humane attention to the management of female prisoners. They were comprehended in his scheme of probation. He resolved to establish a penitentiary, on a large scale, within twenty miles of Hobart Town. The women were to be carefully classified and separated, and trained for the duties of domestic life. The discipline intended rather to restore than to punish: those remitted in disgrace to the government, were not to re-enter this place of reform. Instructions were forwarded to prepare the ground and collect the material (1843); but the local officers were averse to the plan. They complained that the contemplated site was remote and inconvenient, and they succeeded in postponing and finally defeating the project.

Mrs. Bowden, a lady of majestic presence and enlightened mind, who had acquired considerable experience in the management of the insane, was appointed matron. Her fertility of resource, courage, and zeal, had been greatly admired at Hanwell, where many hundreds of the unfortunate were relieved from the greatest of human calamities. The reputation of this lady recommended her to the confidence of government:[275] with her husband, Dr. Bowden, the medical officer, and a chosen staff of assistants--several only inferior to herself--she arrived in this colony with high expectations of success. As a temporary expedient, the _Anson_, a ship of war, was appropriated to the project. The decorum of the ship, and the healthy and cleanly appearance of the women, were striking to a stranger; but the early lack of employment ruined the enterprise. The government, with its usual negligence, failed in details, and thus failed altogether. Towards the close of the experiment, the making of clothing for the prisoners was more successfully attempted; but the local authorities were always hostile to the institution. It was protected by Lord Stanley and Mr. Gladstone, but Earl Grey consented to its extinction. The results were certainly not encouraging. The women, discharged from the ship ignorant of the colony, were at once thrown into every temptation of convict associations. They had been instructed in the principles of religion, reading and needlework, and the fruit of these labors will hereafter perhaps, appear; but whoever expects much from mere dogmatic knowledge, will be doomed to disappointment. On the death of her husband Mrs. Bowden returned to England, convinced that moral insanity is far more hopeless than the diseases of Hanwell. This lady and her friends and coadjutors, the Misses Holdich, found the women generally submissive and docile: they were haunted with all kinds of terrors, and had less than the ordinary courage of women. Mere children in understanding; some, such only in years; but their actual reformation, for the most part, only remained an object of confident expectation, while their true tendencies were repressed. The lady officers, who expected to reap a harvest in this field of mercy, began by blaming the colonists for scepticism, and after 3,000 women had passed through their hands, they, alas! ended in becoming sceptical.

A great number of these prisoners are married. During the probation system, the local government of the colony became far less scrupulous in reference to their character, previous engagements, and means of living. As a choice of evils this course was the least; but many of these marriages were a disguise for licentiousness, and of a very temporary character. The freed man united to a convict woman could not be detained in the colony; indeed, he was often compelled to leave it, and his wife was not permitted to accompany him. From this cause alone, infinite vice and misery has arisen; and a total disregard of ties so modified by a police regulation; which, while encouraging women to marry, subjects them to lasting desertion.

Before the introduction of Lord Stanley's probation system, several pious ladies established a committee of visitation. They entered the factories and cells, and conversed with the female prisoners. Official teachers superseded these efforts of private benevolence; and lessons, however excellent in themselves, lost the attraction of spontaneous sympathy and disinterested toil.

It is with deep regret these observations are recorded. It is not intended to assume that the reform of female prisoners is impossible. A considerable minority are probably not inferior to the lower classes of poor and uneducated women in the cities, or more uncivilised provinces. Re-convictions are not numerous; though, of course, many are deeply implicated with colonial crime. The law which consigns all to one penal fate, devotes all to one common ruin. Were it possible to escape the contamination of a gaol, what could be hoped, where the male population is contributed chiefly by prisons? What can be done to obviate these evils? Such is the enquiry of the philanthropist: would to God it could be successfully answered.'

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 275: _Report of Hanwell Institutions_, 1842.]

SECTION XXVII.

Whatever details are omitted from the foregoing pages, nothing has been withheld necessary to complete a colonial view of transportation. Errors may doubtless be detected; but as they have not resulted from carelessness or haste, it is hoped they will be found both unimportant and rare.

The views expressed by various parties on the subject of transportation are modified, or even wholly suggested by their interests. The English peer rejoices that sixteen thousand miles of ocean divide him from the "wretch" who entered on his preserves, or dragged his rivers, and is at rest; the citizen is glad that one burglar less lives in his neighbourhood, and considers that transportation is indispensible to the safety of plate. The colonist farmer regards convictism as a labor power; the working emigrant as a rival labor market; while the officers in charge naturally cloak its evils and exalt its efficacy.

It is nearly impossible for a stranger to estimate the weight of testimony, so prejudiced throughout, and nearly as impossible for a writer, interested in the issue of its discussion, to preserve the unclouded judgment required to arrive at truth. But little reliance can be placed on official statistics: they give imperfect views of moral or industrial results. They have often been compiled by government for specific purposes, or by agents unworthy of confidence.

It may be proper to point out the chief difficulties which beset this branch of penal jurisprudence. Some of these have been long noticed by authorities on political philosophy. From Paley, to the latest speculators on transportation, all have noticed its inequality. They have dwelt on the uncertainty of its details--from the differing habits and original condition of those subject to its infliction; and from the absence of supervision, only to be expected where those who direct the sentence secure its observance. The convict is condemned to a penalty which may subject him to predial slavery, to capricious punishments; to brutal taskmasters, and to the antipathies of a caste; or he may be regarded with compassion, good-will, and even preference: the sting of the law may be taken away, and what was a penalty may constitute a brotherhood.

Thus it happens that no uniform description is a true one. What may correctly delineate the aspect of transportation on one class, may be false in reference to another; what may be facts one year, may be an exaggeration in the year following. This inequality has been partly the result of the law. The relation of the convict to the free has been constantly changing. He was a bond servant; he was permitted to compound his servitude by a daily payment; he was allowed to work partly for himself and partly for the crown, at the same moment. He has been restrained in government gangs; he has lodged in barracks, and worn the coarsest dress, or he has lived in his own hired house. Sometimes treated as a public enemy, chained, flogged, and over-worked; at others, petted as a favorite or soothed like a child.

The public policy has depended on causes which have had little relation to the individual character of convicts. A mild or severe governor, or secretary of state; a great increase or decrease of numbers; the book of some literary idler, or of an angry colonist; instances of extraordinary good fortune, or an insurrection against tyranny; the fluctuations of feeling at home, sometimes wrath against crime, sometimes compassion for the criminal. Such are the causes, traced in the incessant agitation of penal transportation.

Two incompatible objects have been always professedly embraced--intimidation and reform; but while they have both animated the scheme, they have struggled for the ascendancy, and the one or the other has seemed to be the chief, if not sole, motive of government. The Australian seal expressed the design of mercy: it was to oxen ploughing--to bales of merchandise, and the various attributes of industry, that Hope pointed the landing convict, when she broke off his bonds. Fifty years after, Lord Stanley deemed many years spent in chains, a just punishment for crimes against property, or others of no deep dye.

The changes of systems have been usually based on facts and opinions, elicited during those paroxysms of reform which occur generally once in ten years. Thus the improvement of discipline; the efficiency of convict labor; the several efforts to restrain its attendant vices; have usually occurred when some old officer has been superseded; and others have devoted to their novel duties the first vigour of their zeal.

The whole spirit and apparent object of convict discipline has been revolutionised several times. In the vicissitudes of English factions a new secretary of state has had power to sift and overturn the expedients of a rival. It has rarely remained beyond a few months in one stay. For four or six years, during the governorship of Colonel Arthur, transportation reached its highest perfection. It was rendered uniform, by the imperial confidence reposed in his judgment; more so by the demand for labor, by the rapid influx of capital, and by the common interest of the government, the colonist, and the well-doing prisoner. It would be difficult to find half that period undisturbed under any other ruler.

Many difficulties connected with transportation are created by natural and social laws: full of mercy to the human race. The sufferings inflicted by man cannot reform man: he cannot carry out the vengeance of another, for wrongs he neither endured nor saw. His heart melts at the sight of distress, and forgetting general principles, says, in the absence of accusers, "neither do I condemn thee;" or if forgetful of a common nature, he punishes with inflexible severity, while the iron enters the soul of his brother his own heart is seared. Thus, again, a nation cannot send away her criminals, and yet make their punishment exemplary; she cannot detain them in masses, without rendering them a scourge; she cannot discharge them to live under a clement sky and amidst abundance, without meeting everywhere the reproaches of the honest poor. Thus beset on every side, she is taught that crime is not an excrescence to be cut off, but a disease to be cured; and that to increase the comparative penalty of guilt, more than liberty must be forfeited. She must offer something better to her paupers than the benefits of disgraceful exile.

In reference to practical results, almost every theory may be sustained by the records of transportation, if one class of facts only are admitted into view. Thus it has been pronounced by men distinguished and intelligent, as an expedient worthy an enlightened statesman, and gratifying to the most ardent though scrupulous philanthropist; but they have often omitted sections of facts which, resting on evidence not less deserving regard, excite astonishment, disgust, and horror.

Whether the judgment of Governor Arthur was correct on the main question, or not, he doubtless pointed out the great difficulty. His words are well worthy remembrance:--"Sanguine as I am of the beneficial results of transportation, and confident as I feel that it may be made to surpass any other secondary punishment, both as relates to the criminal and to the country from which he is banished,--I cannot lose sight of many imperfections of our present system, some of which are bottomed on a state of things which no human ingenuity can rectify:--'you cannot make that straight which God hath made crooked.'"[276]

A few men of the generation survive, which witnessed the departure of the first fleet of convict vessels to a country then a wilderness, and inhabited only by savages. The stranger, who lands where they first pitched their tents, will survey the scene and consider the question of transportation determined. The shipping which crowd the harbour; the public and private buildings rivaling the architecture of Europe; the spacious churches, filled with well-dressed families; the extensive thoroughfare, thronged with business and equipages, and adorned with elegant shops and offices; the courts of law; the public markets; the London cries; the noise of the hustings; the debates of the assembly. Such are the alleged results of transportation: as if by some vast effort the people of an old country had transferred the seat of empire, and were collecting all that art could devise and wealth could bring. Should the visitor extend his enquiries, he will find vessels trading to many neighbouring and kindred cities. They all owe their existence to that first fleet. Sometimes they repudiate their origin; but they bear evidence that their giant youth has learned from the experience, and risen in part under the auspices of the great convict country. Should the traveller extend his travels to Van Diemen's Land, he will hear the same tale of penal transportation, and its wondrous effects in former times. He will pass over a road made after scientific plans, and bridges of costly structure. He will see orchards, in which mingle the blossom of the cherry, the apple, the pear, and the peach; and gardens green with British vegetation. This successful spread of the English name, language, commerce, and power, has required less than the life of man. Many survive, who were born when the first sod of Australia was turned by the hoe of a banished Briton. The man even now seen sauntering along, chained and moving sullenly to labor, is but a continuation of that army who first broke in on the solitude of a new world; laid the first foundation, and planted the first field.

Should the traveller still extend his enquiry, his astonishment and delight will not be diminished. The swarms of children rushing from a village school participate the blood of men, some of whom were once a terror to society, or of women who were its reproach. In the lists of religious societies, commercial companies, jurors, magistrates, will be found traces of their lineage. What could hope have anticipated beyond these realities!

But the connection between these successes and transportation, is rather co-incidental than of cause and effect. Were it supposed that seventy years would have elapsed prior to the occupation of these countries, but for transportation, the advantage must be calculated not by actual achievements but the value of that advanced starting point, which colonisation now possesses. It is not improbable that colonisation would have commenced at a much earlier date: the first ships of free settlers would have been more intelligent; their attention to the resources of the country more earnest. The second quarter of a century had half expired, when the Blue Mountains ceased to be a barrier to the colonists of New South Wales. The dawning of a new world must have attracted the national mind, had not an unexampled society, abandoned to vice and crime, appeared to the people an object of dread and horror.

The progress of the colonies, until 1830, cannot be considered rapid. The first settlers were, individually, prosperous: many emancipists were wealthy; but for the rest, their houses were mean, their commercial arrangements pedling and insignificant; their public buildings generally miserable. It is from the date of emigration that progress has been conspicuous: and that date is but recent--a progress in a ratio vastly greater than any previous cycle. The great colonies of Port Phillip and South Australia, before that time, were hardly in existence.

If, indeed, no capital had been introduced; no whalers collected the treasures of the deep; no free emigrant arrived; no free colonies erected; then the improvements of this quarter of the globe might be ascribed to penal laws; but they have the same relation to its present prosperity as the numerous parts of an edifice have to each other--not such as of the oak to the acorn. When, therefore, it is stated that transportation has been the making of these colonies, it should be rather said it was the cause of their establishment. The outlay of the crown, although great, has been small compared with the outlay of the people. The chief settlers of the convict colonies were capitalists; they gave themselves to cultivation, which, in most instances, has involved them. Agriculturists are poor: it is the shepherd prince who is rich. He may be benefited a few score pounds by labor artificially supplied; but nature is the great patron of his house.

The chief connexion between transportation and progress is in the government outlay; but that has been less than apparent; it has often been the mere difference between an English and a colonial price; it has been attended with great consumption without equal re-production. It has sometimes had no other effect than foreign commerce on the places of depot and transit. The price of labor, when labor was chiefly supplied by transportation, was often very high. Thus a farmer found one man with rations and clothing; but a person, working in the same field, received L30, L40, or even L60 per annum. The price of labor was therefore often, on the whole, sufficient to absorb the capital of the employer.

There are many wealthy landowners, who are, however, the sole representatives of those numerous fortunes lost by London firms in these colonies. The court of insolvency made that which was foreign, colonial property. The rich freights sent from Europe, when not wasted by an extravagant consumption, were really exchanged for land improved, and finally disappeared from the ledger of the merchant. It remains--not as the result of convict labor, but as the dividend of an expenditure which shews more loss than gain.

The value of convict labor has been generally overestimated. "The day that sees a man a slave, deprives him of half his worth." The employers, as a class, are uniformly poor. Slave labor in America is dearer than free, although it implies no moral degradation.[277] What then could be expected from bondmen of the same colour as their lords; whose resentment and indolence combined to prevent their usefulness. It may be safely affirmed, that the employer who gained by his servants, not only watched, but paid them.[278] Instances may be found in opposition to this conclusion: the great employers, who reduced their men by an unrelenting pressure, were few in number; and their advantages were of brief duration.[279]

The ordinary settlers purchased convict labor at great sacrifices, which they never estimated. They lived in woods, often without religious instruction, medical attendance, and in want of those refinements which can be realised only when the stern features of the wilderness are softened by neighbourhood and civilisation. Who can value the toil and time, and wear and tear of life, in bringing the stubborn, ignorant, and vicious to drive the plough and reap the harvest. Other colonists, in other lands, with less capital, but with free labor, have thriven faster; and attained a prosperity far less compromised by debt, and far more durable.

A very great quantity of property has been destroyed by crime and vice. It is commonly said that theft merely changes ownership, and does not detract from the aggregate of wealth; but the thief is not only idle, his expenditure is reckless; he wastes more than he consumes.

Many colonists of former years spoke of the arrival of prisoners with gladness, and seemed to regard the punctual supply of a certain but increasing number as a boon. The minds of these persons usually dwelt solely on the advantage of coercive labor, of military and prison expenditure, and the prisoner was regarded as a "productive power." When ashamed of sordid calculation, they discovered a defence in the blessedness of expatriation to the offender. His food was greater in quantity, and better in quality, than he could obtain by industry in a crowded country. His liberty restored, fortune became often auspicious, and the temptation, to rude roguery ceased. He took his side with the laws; he married, and educated his children; he attended the house of God, and became serious; he rivalled his master in liberality and public spirit. Multitudes died in hospitals and in prisons; but they were forgotten, and the fortunate only were conspicuous.

The public works performed by convict labor, though sometimes extensive and important, will appear inconsiderable, if compared with the imperial or colonial cost. The deep cuts and massive bridges, which please the eye, are yet disproportionate to the traffic, and produce no adequate return. The proportion between free and bond labor, is as 2 and 3 to 1. Task labor has been commonly found incompatible with discipline, or liable to favoritism and official dishonesty: the overseer "approximates" or guesses, when not inclined to reckon. Day work is still less satisfactory: the pick is slowly uplifted, and descends without effect. The body bends and goes through hours of ineffectual motion; or if the rigour of discipline renders evasion penal, the triangles disgrace a civilised nation, and the colony is filled with violence and vengeance. Yet convict labor has, generally, been deemed important to an infant settlement; to secure a combination, without which preliminary stages of colonisation are slowly passed. Such has been its undoubted use; but who, with the prodigies of modern enterprise before him, will assign to bond labor a peculiar efficacy, or doubt that well directed capital can ensure all that force can effect.

The industrial enterprises of the crown have been utterly unsuccessful: they have been the laughter of the colony. Examples might be given in abundance; but it is needless to prove what has been never disputed. Convicts have been employed by the authorities as ship-builders, masons, hop-growers, and cultivators; but the general results would have involved any less opulent proprietor in ruin.

Nearly 120,000 prisoners have landed in these colonies; of these, the major part have passed into eternity. Thousands have died in chains; thousands and tens of thousands perished by strong drink. Their domestic increase, compared with equal numbers of free persons, is insignificant--partly by the effects of vice, and in part by the impracticability of marriage: they melt from the earth, and pass away like a mournful dream. In every parochial burial-ground there is a large section of graves, where not a tomb records who slumber there.

The nursery is the natural hive of arts and agriculture. The sons of the farmer, when they commit him to the dust, occupy his fields, and the little one becomes a thousand. There are several families in this colony, more than were the sons of Jacob when he lodged in Goshen; but convicts, for the most part, die childless.

In delineating the character of an exile population, a broad line must be drawn between the accidental offender and the hereditary robber. To the first no special description will be applicable: they are often not inferior to the ranks from which they sprung. Though a small section of the whole, they present not the least affecting picture among the many sad sights of a penal land. In the folly and recklessness of youth they lost at once their fame, their honor, and their freedom. The statesman may behold only a mass of outcasts; but among them are many whose names are the burden of a father's prayer, or are traced in deep lines of sorrow on a mother's breaking heart.

Transportation confounds men of entirely distinct character in one common penalty. Thus every variety of disposition, and every grade in life may be discovered. A proportion, certainly not considerable, obtain the respect and influence due to benevolence, integrity, successful toil: a much larger number exhibit only the common faults of uneducated men, and acquire the common confidence suited to their original station.

The character of convicts cannot be safely inferred from their sentence. Thus highway robbers were not unfrequently the best conducted men: they exhibited a courage and resolution which, directed aright, became useful to society and to themselves. The petty thief, often detected in his least offence, proved incapable of shame or gratitude. To an English reader, preference expressed by masters for persons under heavy sentences, would appear inexplicable; but it was founded, not on length of servitude alone, but a not uncommon superiority of disposition. Those transported for agrarian offences and political crimes, were often honest men. The rustic insurgents of 1832, were considered valuable servants. The Canadian prisoners conducted themselves with exemplary decorum.

Among those who belong to the class of habitual offenders, a large proportion are intellectually deficient. These unfortunate beings regularly return to crime on their discharge; incapable of resisting temptation: while prisoners, they are perpetually involved in difficulties. A very bad man will pass through the different stages of his sentence without reproach, while the weak-minded are involved in endless infractions of discipline and successive punishments. Nothing retards the release of the artful villain when his time is expired, while the warm and incautious, but better man, accumulates a catalogue of prison penalties.

The most civil and useless prisoners are the Irish: the most base and clever are the Scotch. They stand in different relations to the law: the Scotchman violates his own judgment, and offends, against knowledge; the Irish peasant unites a species of patriotism with his aggressions.

The modern convict is, in some respects, better than his predecessor; less ruthless, or prone to atrocious violence. Civilisation has extended its mollifying influence, even to the professional robber. On the other hand, in former times, men were transported for very trivial offences: poaching, with its consequences, formed the leading crimes of the English counties; yet many poachers were otherwise first-rate men, both in disposition and physical development. The modern convicts are, more generally, criminals in the popular sense. The abolition of capital punishments, and the erection of penitentiaries at home, left the penalty of transportation chiefly to more serious offences.

The tendency to particular crimes is often curiously displayed. Prisoners are safe amidst scenes which present no allurements adapted to their former habits: the pickpocket is perfectly trusty as a shepherd; the housebreaker makes a confidential dairy-man. Old temptations are fatal: even the stealing particular goods seems a special propensity. A woman, lately convicted of stealing blankets, who was originally transported for blanket-stealing, had twice stolen the same article in the colony. It is, of course, in the same department that the robber, the coiner, or the receiver of Europe, resumes in Australia his antagonism to the laws. These characteristics are happily often obliterated and overpowered.

The Christian will not doubt that reformation is possible, and that many once neglected and unfortunate, placed under the guidance and encouraged by the countenance of benevolent men, acquire both the principles and habits of ordinary society. The affections of domestic life are all awakened. The parent feels a new interest in the world: his share in the common prosperity excites the sentiment of patriotism. He promotes his children's education with unusual care; but it is at this stage of life that his heart endures a pang which legislators never contemplated.

The occasional prosperity of the transported person has been the opprobrium of the laws. He rises above his former condition; becomes a master where he was a bondman; patronises public amusements, and rides in his chariot past the pedestrian who received him in bonds. Great changes in condition are common everywhere: but transportation presents the whole career of the exile, from the bar to the civic hall, as parts of the one drama. A pardoned offender is lost in the population of Great Britain. Were the changes in his fortune noticed, it would occasion no reflection on the laws; but when numbers ascend under the same auspices, their prosperity is flagrant, and stands in ludicrous contrast with the predictions of the magistrate, who opened up a field of successful enterprise when he pronounced the sentence of transportation.

The colonial aspect of transportation is, to a British statesman, a secondary question: thus the injury of a distant community is of inconsiderable importance. If the expatriated classes carry out with them their ignorance, disorder, and crime, they retard the progress and destroy the reputation of a distant country, but the nation may still be satisfied: she may balance the evil and the good, and find herself the gainer. The colony is injured; but the parent country is saved. Thus transportation not only removes the habitual criminal, it extinguishes the embers of insurrection: it prevents the dreaded war between property and poverty, and silently withdraws a mass of dangerous discontent.

Of those transported a great proportion, if in England, would be in prisons; or, if at large, preying on the world--following their old calling, as burglars, coiners, and sheep-stealers. They would be active incendiaries and anarchists: they would be out at every riot, and by throwing their numbers into the scale of sedition, overturn all order, and even change the constitution. Such have been the conclusions of English statesmen: perhaps, partly founded on their fears, or stated for effect; but not wholly unsupported by analogy.

While some exhibit a convict colony as depraved beyond all examples of depravation, others lower the standard of human virtue, and not only extenuate its evils but magnify its worth. It was asserted by Lord Stanley, that the feeling of caste guarded the habits of the free. A view so flattering to human pride could hardly fail to be confessed; but, in fact, familiarity with crime, although it may not corrupt the judgment, must abate the moral sensibility. No colonist can forget his shudder at the first spectacle of men in chains: none can be unconscious that the lapse of years has deadened the sense of social disorder. It has, indeed, made many doubly circumspect, and awakened a peculiar interest in the ordinances of religion. Nor is it to be doubted that many expirees, disgusted with the enormities of vice, have, under the same feeling, contributed to set up the indispensable land-marks of honesty and religion.

Never were families guarded with more care, or efforts to educate the population more earnest, than during the inundation of the probation system. The external decorum of the Sabbath, the general attendance of the free inhabitants on worship, would go far to countenance the idea that the place of peril is the place of caution and prayer.

Ministers of the crown are, or profess to be, astonished that when the freed population increases, and the territory is explored, a country, still needing labor, should object to the prisoner supply; but the slave-holding interest expires, when immense numbers can be held no longer by a few: the common views of mankind re-assert their ascendancy. All, save employers, are hostile to degraded labor; employers themselves become less interested as masters than as colonists.

But transportation to one country cannot continue for ever. The causes which suggest the exile of offenders will occasion their rejection: money or labor may bribe the settler to become an overseer for the crown; but from the beginning he will calculate on a nobler vocation. A considerable community cannot be tempted by convict labor: and the numbers who regain liberty are enemies to the social state they have escaped. Fathers, who for themselves dreaded no dangers, tremble for their children: the adventurer becomes a citizen; a merchant, a politician: and the time approaches, when the same causes which induced the parent country to send the first convict vessel, will impel the colony to send back the last.

The late expedient of Earl Grey, is the trial of a scheme long present before his imagination.[280] Its rejection by the Australian continent has limited the experiment to Van Diemen's Land, where resistance is unavailing. It is the last achievement of penal philosophy, and will ascertain how long one small portion of the earth can receive the liberated masses, gathered by the penal laws of a mighty empire!

The ticket man lands; the colony is crowded with his predecessors; the colonists consider his arrival a grievance; the government, ignorant or careless of his fate, cast him into new temptations. Under such a plan the emigrant is gradually superseded by the exile population: the emancipated laborer is expelled by a fresh ticket holder. The country-born youth finds himself unable to live in his native land. The tone of public morals follows the prevailing spirit: crime is currently spoken of merely as a fault or a misfortune; the press teams with vicious sentimentalism; the administration of justice becomes more uncertain, perjury more common; the reputation of the colony is formed from the census, and the land becomes a by-word and a hissing.

Such, then, is the scheme which originated in philanthropy; such the practical result of years of laborious inquiry and official debate!

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 276: Despatch of Colonel Arthur to Right. Hon. E. G. Stanley, March 10, 1834.]

[Footnote 277: "On the left bank of the Ohio the population is rare. From time to time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-deserted fields, the primaeval forest recurs at every turn: society seems to be asleep. From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which proclaims the presence of industry. The elegance of the dwellings announces the taste and activity of the laborer: in the end, the slave has cost more than the free man."--_Tocqueville_, vol. ii. p. 222.]

[Footnote 278: Murdoch's evidence, 1837.]

[Footnote 279: It is a curious fact that, generally, the most severe government officials were reckoned the most indulgent of masters.]

[Footnote 280: The following question, put by Earl Grey (then Lord Howick), and answer, given by James Macarthur, Esq., appears in the evidence taken before a committee of the House of Commons, 1837:--

"Q. Suppose, instead of the present system of transportation, criminals were to be punished in England with a certain number of years' imprisonment, and after that to be banished to New South Wales, were there to be placed under the surveillance of the police, in the same manner as ticket-of-leave men, what do you think would be the effect of such a system?

"A. I conceive that the effect would be, in a modified shape, the same as that of continuing transportation."--_Report of Commons_, 1837, p. 218.]

HISTORY OF TASMANIA

CONCLUSION.

CONCLUSION.

The history of Tasmania is a type of the Australian world. The events recorded in these volumes represent the policy, modified slightly, which has everywhere prevailed. The author has however rarely attempted generalization, and has represented every fact in its independent colors. Thus an evil pursued to its source might have been avoidable by greater forethought and care, or it may have been the inevitable issue of a system upon the whole beneficial and therefore just.

For many years the government of these colonies was absolute: could it be otherwise? A company of exiles, overawed by dissolute soldiery, interspersed here and there with few persons of a superior class, could only be governed by despotism. It might have been legalised instead of tolerated by the parliament, and it might have been less offensive to the spirit of liberty. But to have trusted a few proprietors with legislation or a share of the executive authority, could have only created a tyranny more grievous.

The comparison between the early colonists of America, at least those of the northern states, and the founders of Australia, must quickly run off into a contrast. The primary object of the Pilgrim Fathers, was the enjoyment of opinions in peace. The early denizens of the southern world burned their first church to escape the tedium of attendance. The first pilgrims of New England attempted a community of goods on the plan of the apostles. The first Australians drew their stores from the commissariat, and adopted the traditions of Houndsditch and Wapping. The leaders of the first Americans were their clergy,--the bible was their political and civil standard. The rulers of the first Australians were half marine, half soldiers, whose pay was supplemented by the sale of spirits sold by convict women, their mistresses. Thus for many years the government of these colonies was absolute, and the usual consequences sometimes appeared.

Were a judgment to be formed however of the spirit of colonial government by a severe examination of its early frame-work, erroneous conclusions would be drawn. In the worst times the sentiments and habits of Englishmen tempered the operation of power. Settlers fresh from English society could not discard the opinions and principles cherished in Great Britain; nor could the rulers of the day forget that their conduct would be judged, not by the standard of continental despotisms, but by British systems of government. The establishment of British courts of justice and the protection of English laws have been found with few exceptions an impenetrable shield. The chief examples of official wrong have been generally connected with the misappropriation of public resources rather than invasions of personal liberty. How different the despotism of a Spanish viceroy and the sternest rule of a British governor! For the last twenty years cases of aggravated oppression have been exceedingly rare. The genius of British freedom has ever overshadowed the British colony, and awed the despotic ruler, while it has encouraged and sheltered the feeblest colonist. The great defect in official men has been their superciliousness and indolence, rather than their tyranny, and the popular governors of this hemisphere have gained the public esteem by their manners rather than their ability. A genial temper and a feeling heart rarely failed to conciliate the multitude, while distinguished talents have lost their immediate influence when in union with a harsh, contemptuous, and fiery spirit.[281]

For many years the press has exercised a powerful influence on the affairs of government, and left no avenue of escape to official ignorance and corruption. Even when jurors were selected by governors, the most unmeasured denunciations were poured forth without fear of prosecution. Associations for the redress of grievances have carried their organizations to the very verge of constitutional order. A democratic state certainly would never have tolerated the discussion of its principles and authority in feeble dependencies. But the British government, secure in its power and serenely conscious of its ability to check an intrusion on its just authority, has encouraged rather than repressed the freedom of public discussion and combination. The local rulers, instructed by their superiors, have long permitted even the licentiousness of the press. The strength of the empire justified and accounted for its tolerance. There is no tyranny so watchful as that of fear, and no cruelty so relentless as that of factions who struggle for existence.

The non-dependence of the government on the people has united the colonists in one body. It has been the colony against England, and not tories against whigs. In America the powers of self-government were too often seized by a faction, and a political opposition, even in a most moderate form, was stigmatised as felony and punished as treason. But in the Australias the colonists have expended their rage on a distant office, and in their real or imaginary sufferings have felt a sympathy for each other. The ascendancy of a faction in a small community is the reign of terror, and might soon lead those who value their personal freedom to regret the most sensitive and unscrupulous vice-regal despotism.

The spirit of colonial government, however, has been sensibly affected by the policy of Great Britain. The enlargement of popular freedom at home has relaxed the severity of colonial rule. For every considerable amelioration the colony has been indebted to the whigs. They gave trial by jury: they stopped white slavery in the Australian colonies, and thus in the end transportation. They placed religious denominations on an equal footing: they introduced the sale of land, for the purposes of immigration: they granted first to New South Wales, and since to all the colonies, the legislative assemblies which now watch over their rising liberties. In the days of a Castlereagh or a Bathurst, England possessed far less practical freedom than her colonies now enjoy. It is impossible to prevent the contagion of opinions, and the colonies may see in the growing intelligence and spirit of the United Kingdom the assurance of their own gradual advancement in the ranks of freedom. In this respect Australia is more happily conditioned than was once her American sister. The colonies of that continent were in advance of the parent country. The royal government not only detested their institutions as democratic, but as a standing reproach to the maxims of domestic policy. Thus, the appearance of a royal governor was ominous to their liberties. He came to entrap, to report, and to betray them. They had to hide their charters, to preserve them from violent abduction; and to threaten insurrection as the alternative of liberty. Whatever Australasia gains she will attain with the approbation of English statesmen. She will look to the spirit of the times as the guardian of her rights. While privileged exclusiveness is in Great Britain crumbling to the dust, it cannot be that the middle classes will impose upon the necks of infant colonies the burdens they themselves abhor.

In seeking the improvement of colonial government, a prudent colonist will guard against the extravagance of theory. It is true that the people are the best judges of their own interests, but not that the interests of all colonists are uniform, or that they are capable of impartially disposing of all the incipient interests of the colonial state. Their covetousness as landholders might absorb the inheritance of the nation--their ambition as citizens contract the franchises of the humbler classes. The most strenuous opponents of Downing-street have denounced most fiercely the extension of the popular power. Mr. Wentworth, whose services in the cause of Australian freedom have immortalized his name, is yet a lictor when he turns towards the multitude, and a tribune only when he faces the seat of authority. His defiance of Earl Grey was pronounced nearly the same time that he imprecated vengeance on the Sydney democracy. The most strenuous educated advocates of self-government are not yet prepared to carry out their principles to their utmost limits. If the people have reason to dislike the autocracy of Downing-street, they would find no amelioration in the ascendency of an oligarchy which would divide the universe into sheep walks for the benefit of flockmasters, and convert the residue of mankind into shepherds. True liberty is a compromise, and if a small community would prevent faction from establishing a tyranny, it must exchange some advantages for a control which defends while it restrains. Thus the claim of responsible government, and the appointment of officers chosen from the colonial ranks, though favorite projects, and certain finally to prevail, require a considerable growth before they could be useful. Our functionaries hold their office at the pleasure of the crown and thus survive the confidence of the assemblies; but evils of another class would issue from an opposite system. Official men, always fearful of defeat, would strengthen their position by the most desperate use of their power, and a dozen voices would decide. Thus family compacts would be formed, and cliques and cabals would finally determine the distribution of office. For this the Americans have found a remedy in the meagre pay of those who occupy their highest situations. Ambition is moderated by its unrequited toils, and the public business chiefly carried on by paid servants of humble designations. But were thousands a year the prize of a successful opposition, not better men, but worse than the nominees of the crown might be expected to climb or creep into the seat of government.

In looking down the lists of colonists who have most largely benefited their adopted country many would be found who were appointed from home to fill offices they have long since quitted. Nor would it be just to deny that they have largely contributed to whatever has elevated the taste and improved the social condition of these countries. For some time to come the appointment of well-educated Englishmen, though not to the exclusion of Australians, would be desirable, unless the recent discovery of gold should rapidly augment the population, and thus extend the basis of government and the number from which its officers may be chosen. The feelings of the colonists have, indeed, been too often violated by the scandalous multiplication of offices and the utter incompetence of those who have filled them. But a community little more than half a century old cannot be entitled to denounce Englishmen as foreigners, or to complain that strangers usurp the rights of the country-born. A wise administration of local patronage, without distinctions which are unnatural and absurd, would strengthen the hands of the executive and satisfy the reason of the people.

The future independence of the Australian colonies is written in the book of fate; but the inevitable change may be long postponed with advantage to themselves. A superior power is desirable to regulate their development, and to preserve at once their order and their freedom. The reins of government, if snatched from vice-regal hands, would not immediately fall into those more worthy. The love of order is too strong in the English breast to tolerate anarchy, and whatever changes transpire the public voice would pronounce in favor of a strong and regular administration. But since life is short, no wise man would wish to waste a considerable portion in passing through the disorders of a revolution to gain the mere name of a State. The royal government may redress every grievance, and the colonist may turn with confidence to the seat of empire for the accomplishment of every municipal change requisite to advance the country of his adoption. But were independence desirable in itself, the colonists would, notwithstanding, calculate its cost. Those who have pretended that England does not prize her colonies, know little of her temper: her colonies are her pride, her ornament, and her strength. One day she will lose them; but that day will be a day of mourning and humiliation.

The discussion of this question by the metropolitan press, and the predictions of parliamentary statesmen, have induced many ardent minds to anticipate an early realization. These prophecies are but the weapons of party which would disappear in the presence of real danger; one voice would be heard proclaiming the rights of Great Britain. To her power what could Australia at present oppose? The American revolutionists had an army: they had thrust out the Indians and beaten the French, and their national character was deepened by the political and religious sentiments in which they had been cradled. But Australia has not a soldier or a gun. Her population may quickly reach the three millions numbered by the Americans at the era of independence; but she has not the habits of Americans--she has not their country, their forests, their frozen rivers, their terrible snows. England, when America resisted, hired a few German troops to assist her own feeble army. Since then she has conquered Napoleon, subdued India, and established her military power in every region of the world. Whether the mutual interests of Great Britain and her colonies are sufficient to bind them together may be a question at issue. Independence may be desired; but it is well to remember that those who will attain it must fight for it, and that in this war they will not only contend with the most benign and just, but with the most powerful government on the earth. England will not permit her ministers to oppress the colonies; but would hazard the last regiment rather than lose the colonial empire.

The British government will not, if wise, rely on any abstract principles of loyalty, or conclude too confidently that no attempt will be successful. The distance of the central power; the peculiar structure of colonial societies; the mountainous regions of Van Diemen's Land and New Holland, where small bodies could resist all the armies of the world; the possibility of foreign sympathy: all these are considerations proper to moderate imperial confidence, and to teach that the integrity of the empire is only safe in the unity of interest and affection.[282]

The colonies have every motive for preferring the British rule to any other; yet the contingencies of war may expose them to extraordinary sufferings. Foreign nations would scarcely attempt a permanent occupation; but the cities which contain half the inhabitants, and more than half the moveable wealth, might be successfully assailed, pillaged, and easily destroyed. Thus, a powerful European state may expose her distant colonies to the calamities once endured by those of Spain. Such may be the expectation of the Australias. When they are required to support armies for their defence it will be felt that these are necessary chiefly because they are united with an empire whose interests are complicated with every government in the world.

To strengthen the authority of the British crown no measure would be more effectual than a federal union of these colonies. They require a senate exalted by station above the influences of mere localism, and capable of holding in check individual ambition. Statesmen, gathered from the various colonies, would restrain and moderate each other. The highest questions of colonial government being confided to their care, they would leave the internal improvement of the districts to be pursued by the local legislative assemblies. The state and expense of colonial governments, which now maintain distinct departments in each colony, assuming all but imperial style, might then be abated. Monetary establishments find no difficulty in conducting their affairs under a general inspectorship assisted by a local direction. The American states, by remitting all great questions to the federal government, are sustained at less cost than the branch establishments of the Bank of Australasia. It is true that a federal union would increase the importance of the colonies among nations, and contract the power of the ministry to a distant superintendence: it would, however, prevent many of the evils of political dependence, and secure to Great Britain all the advantages of imperial authority so long as it shall last.

It is infinitely important that intelligent and upright men should occupy their true position in public affairs. A reluctance to face the virulent and brutal opposition of low adventurers must be naturally felt by every refined and educated man. The future character of these colonies will, however, depend on the courage and perseverance of the respectable classes. The widest extension of suffrage cannot be long resisted, and qualifications for office founded on property will inevitably break down. But the reputable and intelligent will be able to command the public mind if they think it worth while to instruct and conciliate it. Religious men must no longer avoid the strife of the hustings as inconsistent with piety, or set the claims of religion in opposition to the obligation of the citizen. Both are in reality one; and while churches in their corporate capacity stand best when they are most distant from the arena of politics, it is the duty of all who reverence the Almighty's will and regard the welfare of mankind, to devote themselves to the social and political amelioration of society. Personal character and social position are distinct elements of political power. The Queen of England and her illustrious husband are instead of armies: wherever they have moved they shed light and pleasure, not only through the mansions of the rich but the cottages of the poor. The theoretical republican is compelled to doubt whether an example so valuable may not be worth all the cost and prerogatives of royalty.

The settlers of Australia are as diversified in their habits as in their origin. Many in Van Diemen's Land are retired officers of the army and navy, masters of merchantmen, and persons of respectable connexions. The squatters of Port Phillip are a superior class, although their habits will require time to recover from the deteriorating action of bush life. The middle classes constitute the most influential body in South Australia. The German race are largely interspersed in the colonies of South Australia and Port Phillip. As they acquire the language they separate. Their condition improves more rapidly by diffusion, and their villages are rather asylums than homes. As might be expected the prevailing spirit of the colonies is democratic: the democracy of the middle classes, not of the mob. There are no permanent springs of crime: the instinct of order, everywhere powerful, cannot but be strong where society is prosperous.

The social prospects of the colonists, though not without omens of ill, will not discourage the political philosopher. The various races are not sufficiently distinct to prevent an easy amalgamation. Nationality, whether of Germans, Irish, Scotch, or English, insensibly loses its political character. Hostile traditions cannot be naturalised in a new land: all respectable men condemn the revival of ancient feuds, and they will soon disappear for ever.

More fortunate in this respect than America, in these regions no African slavery exists--the brother will not sell his sister, or the father his son. The temporary inconvenience of transportation will leave no deep indent on colonial society; but the black brand of slavery is indelible.

The liberality and generosity of the Australians has been remarked by every stranger. In prosperous times money is at command for every project which professes to do good, and suffering is instantly relieved by bounty which is sometimes extravagant. The loss of a vessel a few years ago afforded an instance of this. The utmost latitude of beneficence could not exhaust the immense sum (L1,200) contributed to make good the personal losses of a few passengers and seamen. The liberality of the hand is here unrestrained by religious antipathies. Bigotry assumes the character of ill temper and puffing. Two parrots in Philadelphia trained to polemics were set over against each other, one crying all day, "there can be no church without a prelate;" the other, "there can be a church without a prelate;" the passengers were divided in opinion, but laughing walked on. Such is colonial life.

No believer in the glorious destinies of the Anglo-Saxon race can look upon the events of the last three years without wonder and hope. The American and British empires are seated on all waters; the old and new worlds are filled with the name and fame of England and her children. The lands conquered by Caesar, those discovered by Columbus, and those explored by Cook, are now joined together in one destiny. There are indeed peculiarities in the various branches of the Anglo-Saxon race; but they are only the varieties of the same family, conscious of eternal unities. How awfully grand are their prospects. America attracted by gold has pushed forward her commercial pioneers, not only to the extremity of her territories, but to all the islands of the Pacific. The discovery of gold in California was scarcely less momentous to the Australasian than to the American continent. They are now our nearest neighbours: their markets are affected by our own; their territory offers the quickest transit to Europe; every hour will develop the immense importance of this contiguity--that passage across the isthmus of Panama, once represented as the last achievement reserved for commerce and science in their highest maturity, has already been assured. The common interest of trading nations will strengthen the securities of peace, diffuse civilisation among the thousand islands of the Pacific, and facilitate the extension of Christian knowledge in the remotest portions of the earth. England, the parent--no longer the exclusive centre of Anglo-Saxon civilisation--will find auxiliaries only less powerful than herself in a work once entirely her own.

An impetus has been given to the Australian colonies by the discovery of still richer gold fields than those of California. In six months, more than two millions in value has been taken from the surface of the earth by laborers unskilled in the process, and who have perhaps wasted more than they have secured. The riches which remain scattered over many hundred miles can only be appropriated by the state as they flow through the coffers of commerce. A period cannot be imagined when the precious metal will be exhausted.

The interest excited in Europe by the discovery of new mineral wealth, is chiefly important from its tendency to change the current of emigration to these regions--certainly unsurpassed and scarcely equalled in the world. Here, under a tropical sun, no fever rages; here indigenous diseases are unknown; even those so fatal in Europe rarely visit this hemisphere. The small pox, the measles, and various other disorders fatal to infancy are only occasionally seen, and are scarcely ever mortal. No miasma arises from the marshes: no decaying vegetation poisons the virgin soil. The clement skies and light atmosphere stimulate and confirm the health. Whether long life is the gift of this quarter of the globe is hardly yet determined. Those of middle age who land here find their constitutions recruited; but the country-born come more quickly to maturity. It is probable, however, that the highest average of human life will be attained: fewer will die in infancy, perhaps a smaller proportionate number reach old age.

If the productions of these countries are considered, they will be still more attractive than other unoccupied regions. Nature has multiplied her gifts with a liberal hand. It were more easy to enumerate those that are wanting than those that exist. Gold, silver, iron, copper, coal, and every variety of stone are included in our geological wealth. All the fruits of the tropics and of the most temperate lands may be easily brought to the same table. Taking Tasmania and Port Phillip as the central regions; on the right and on the left the fertile earth yields every variety of European fruits, until the meridian is reached where the sugar cane and cotton tree flourish. It is true, that some other lands present more comparative fertility, but the Australias contain sufficient alluvial soils to satisfy the wants of millions. Washington raised but twenty bushels of wheat per acre in his paternal lands of Virginia. The intelligent Australian farmer often far exceeds that quantity even with imperfect cultivation. Nor is there a season of the year when he cannot toil, or one when the garden is wholly unproductive.

But if the position of Australia in relation to the rest of the world be surveyed, the prospect is still more brilliant. An Englishman measures distance from his native land, and thus his pardonable vanity fixes the Australias at the extremity of the earth. But such is not the real position of New Holland. In reference to the most populous and fertile, or the most ancient and opulent,[283] it has been compared to the frog or soft part of a horse's foot in relation to the outline of the hoof. With the face turning to the north, America is on the right, Asia and Africa on the left. Great Britain, the parent land, is far more distant from most of those mighty regions which feed her commerce and sustain her strength than her Australian colonies. They will soon meet her vessels on every shore. Steam navigation will flourish on the Pacific ocean not less than on the rivers of America. The eye that scans the future, guided by calculation rather than fancy, sees the ports of Australia thronged with steamers, or follows them traversing every sea and ocean, and bringing from every city of the civilised world both merchandise and men.

Thus the progress of the next quarter of a century will be multiplied by its years.

When North America separated from Great Britain, she exported not much more than four millions in value per annum. Australia already exports not less.[284] The commerce of England with her Australian colonies is without parallel. History affords no example of such rapid advancement; and this not as the result of protective laws, or of remarkable intelligence or enterprise, but as the fruit of that boundless opulence scattered by the hand of nature and gathered with unexampled facility. The merchant laments the paucity of navigable streams. Yet there are rivers of many hundred miles extent, which will ultimately be available to commerce. The engineer of Europe would laugh at difficulties opposed by stones, and trees, and marshes. Population will one day justify the improvement by art of what nature has only partially accomplished. But in the level plains of the Australias there is a compensation for this deficiency. Hundreds of miles are almost prepared for the rail road; and as the cheap methods adopted in America become known, the inland communication will be rapidly enlarged.

The late date of the discovery of gold in Australasia has created much astonishment. It seems to have been concealed by Providence, or rather the signs of its existence were not permitted to arrest attention, until the colonies could endure the shock. A shepherd publicly sold at Sydney several ounces of gold in 1844. Years after a still larger quantity was exposed in Victoria (1849). These facts were recorded in the journals of the time; in the first instance scarcely awakening the slightest interest, and the last producing little but distrust and derision. The delay has probably upon the whole benefited both the colonies and the human race. Had gold been discovered before the era of free immigration it must have led to frightful disorders. California has added another to those warnings presented in the history of gold mining, that the absorbing pursuit, for a time, suspends the voice of reason and morality. The multitudes who have precipitated themselves on the gold fields of Victoria indicate the uniform direction of similar passions; yet how superior are our present resources to those of former times or of other countries. The governments organised and intelligent, and sustained by the strong moral support of four hundred Christian congregations. The social interests of perhaps not less than fifty thousand families will be able to check, and probably to master, the spirit of anarchy and violence. That any lives should be sacrificed is of course a matter of regret; but the politician and the philanthropist may pronounce in favor of a dispensation which though permitting the sacrifice of a few, will rapidly cover the regions around us with villages, towns, and homesteads.

Though rich beyond example, the mines will be abandoned by the many for whom the pleasures and the rest of home, the calm and even pursuits of industry, and the intercourse of civil and religious life have permanent attractions. Yet the unexampled profusion of the precious metal must rapidly augment our commerce and supply the means of mercantile enterprise. The capital we have so often coveted is now within our reach. The farmer desired a market; he has it in his neighbourhood, at his very door. The demand for foreign articles will give employment to shipping directly trading from the Australian to the producing market. The increase of commerce will thus lead to its independence. The Australian merchant will acquire the same relation to the general trade of the world as the American possesses. The ships of America carry her passengers and convey her produce. She divides the profits equally with her customer.[285]

The happiness and prosperity of the people is by Divine Providence placed within their power. If they grasp at wealth to the neglect of their social and political duties; if, for the sake of selfish ease, they resign to ignorant and violent men the business of legislation; if they tolerate systematic debauchery, gambling and sharping; if they countenance the press when sporting with religion, or rendering private reputation worthless; if they neglect the education of the rising generation, and the instruction of the working classes; if the rich attempt to secure the privileges of rank by restricting the franchises of the less powerful; if worldly pleasure invade the seasons of devotion; and the worship of God be neglected by the masses of the people,--then will they become unfit for liberty; base and sensual, they will be loathed and despised; the moral Governor of the world will assert his sovereignty, and will visit a worthless and ungrateful race with the yoke of bondage, the scourge of anarchy, or the besom of destruction.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 281: A more venal and almost more desirable fault can scarcely be ascribed to a governor than a strong attachment to the people whom he is sent to govern.--_Coleridge's friend_, vol. 3, p. 325.]

[Footnote 282: It is very difficult to make the mass of mankind believe that the state of things is ever to be otherwise than they have been accustomed to see it. I have very often heard old persons describe the impossibility of making any one believe that the American colonies could ever be separated from this country. It was always considered as an idle dream of discontented politicians, good enough to fill up the periods of a speech, but which no practical man, devoid of the spirit of party, considered to be within the limits of possibility. There was a period when the slightest concession would have satisfied the Americans; but all the world was in heroics; one set of gentlemen met at the Lamb, and another at the Lion: blood and treasure men, breathing war, vengeance, and contempt; and in eight years afterwards, an awkward looking gentleman in plain clothes walked up to the drawing-room of St. James's, in the midst of the gentlemen of the Lion and Lamb, and was introduced as the _ambassador from the United States of America_.--_Works of Sidney Smith, Vol. III., p. 336._

"If you are told of the existence of discontent in any of your colonial possessions, do not believe it; and if any application be made to you for the redress of the grievances of any of your colonial possessions, reject the prayer at once; for if you grant that, you may be asked for something more. Redress no grievance, lest it should lead to a petition for the removal of another cause of complaint. Believe only the accounts which reach you from governors, and others officially connected with your colonies; and treat any statements in opposition to their accounts as the invention of demagogues, whom you should hang if you could catch them, and thus tranquillize the colony."--_Franklin._]

[Footnote 283: "Just before I embarked at Plymouth, I visited my grandmother, in order to take leave of her for ever. Poor old soul! she was already dead to the concerns of this life: my departure could make but little difference in the time of our separation; and it was of no importance to her which of us should quit the other. My resolution, however, revived for a day all her woman's feelings: she shed abundance of tears, and then became extremely curious to know every particular about the place to which I was going. I rubbed her spectacles whilst she wiped her eyes, and, having placed before her a common English chart of the world, pointed out the situation of New Holland. She shook her head. 'What displeases, you, my dear Madam P' said I. 'Why,' she answered, 'it is terribly out of the way; down in the very right-hand corner of the world.' The chart being mine, I cut it in two through the meridian of Iceland, transposed the parts laterally, and turned them upside down. 'Now,' asked I, 'where is England P' 'Ah, boy,' she replied, 'you may do what you like with the map; but you can't twist the world about in that manner, though they _are_ making sad changes in it.'"--_A Letter from Sydney; the principal town of Australia. Edited by Robert Gouger_, 1829.]

[Footnote 284: United States Returns, 1791. Population. 3,921,352; revenue, $4,771 000; exports, $19,000,000; imports, $20,000,000.--_Tomlins' History of America._]

[Footnote 285: At the close of the first year of our existence as a gold producing country, the mind naturally pauses and contemplates the past, the present, and the future--to those who look upon this land as their home and the scene upon which their children and children's children are to play their part, the year 1851 will ever be one of deep and solemn interest; the events have been of the most startling character, and its results no human intellect can fathom. The first hour of the present year was ushered in by a brilliant sun which rose above the horizon in all its majesty, shedding its gladsome rays over a happy and a prosperous people--every heart was gay--every industrious hand was employed, and our future prospects were as cheering as the most ardent mind could have desired. Our great staple was rapidly increasing, and had even then become an export which commanded the attention of the British nation. Our tallow was of considerable value--our copper mines were presenting indications of richness--our pastoral and agricultural interests were flourishing, and it was evident to all, that we must at no very distant period become a great and prosperous colony. In fact it could have been almost impossible to suggest a discovery that could add to our importance; but before this memorable year had half sped its course, a colonist returned from San Francisco, impressed with the similarity that existed between the geological formation of this land and that in which he had been sojourning, and determined to bring it to light if possible. No sooner was he on shore than he set boldly out on his great expedition, notwithstanding the ridicule of his friends, who promised him disappointment for his reward. What wonderful events have frequently sprung from simple causes! Our mountains and glens had been visited by scientific men of several nations, but they had failed to trace anything beyond mere indications. Such, however, was not the case with Edward Hammond Hargraves, who, after spending a few weeks in the bush, announced to his brother colonists that their hills and valleys contained in rich abundance the precious metal by which the commerce of the world is carried on. All honor be to the man whose keen observation has brought into practical operation so vast a gold field for the employment of British labour and British capital. May he enjoy not only the reward which conscience yields to those who perform a good action, but may his merits be duly appreciated by an Australian public, and that appreciation assume a form that shall descend from father to son, as long as the name of Hargraves exists! Such an addition to our already developed colonial resources cannot fail to add materially to our position, and raise us, in an incredibly short space of time, from a small colony into a noble and powerful nation. Our vast interior will be speedily populated; Britain will be relieved of her starving thousands; and Australia will stand prominently forward as the brightest jewel in Her Majesty's Crown.--_Lloyd's Gold Circular._]

HISTORY OF TASMANIA.

ALPHABETICAL ACCOUNT OF CHIEF PLACES.

LIST OF CHIEF PLACES.

The island of Tasmania is situated between the 40th and 44th parallels of south latitude, and between the 144th and 149th degrees of east longitude. Its greatest length is 190 miles, and its breadth, 170. It contains 24,000 square miles, or 15,000,000 acres, having a surface nearly equal to that of Ireland. Its general character is mountainous, with numerous beautiful valleys, rendered fertile by numberless streams descending from the hills, and watering, in their course to the sea, large tracts of country. The south-western coast, washed by the Southern Ocean, is high and cold, but the climate of the northern and inland districts is one of the finest in the temperate zone, and produces in abundance and variety all the fruits which are found under the same latitude in Europe. The harbor of Hobart is one of the finest in the world. The principal rivers are the Derwent, Ouse, Clyde, Jordan, Coal, Huon, and Dee, in the south; and the Tamar, North and South Esk, Macquarie, Lake, Mersey, Leven, Arthur, Blyth, Forth, and Meander, in the north. The chief bays are Adventure Bay, in Bruni Island, so named after Captain Furneaux's discovery ship, and where Cook anchored in his third voyage; Fortescue, Port Arthur, Fredrick Hendrick's (so named by Tasman), Prosser's, Spring, Oyster, and George's Bays, and the Bay of Fires, on the eastern coast; Storm Bay (so named from the weather which Tasman experienced there), Bad Bay (in Bruni Island), Recherche (named after the ship in which D'Entrecasteaux sailed in search of La Perouse), Esperance (after the ship which accompanied the admiral), and Port Davey, on the southern coast; Macquarie Harbor, on the western; Port Sorell, Port Frederic, Emu Bay, and East and West Bay, at Circular Head, on the northern coast. The principal capes are Cape Grim, the north-western and most northern extremity of the island, in lat. 40 deg. 47' S., and long. 144 deg. 50' E.; Cape Portland, the north-eastern point; St. Helen's Head, the most easterly point, in long. 148 deg. 25' E.; South Cape, in lat. 43 deg. 35' S.; and West Cape, in long. 144 deg. 40' E.; St. Patrick's Head, Cape Pillar, and Cape Lodi, on the eastern coast; Tasman's Head, Cape Raoul, and South-west Cape, on the south; Rocky Point, Point Hibbs, and Cape Sorell, on the west; and Rocky Cape, Circular Head, Table Cape, and Stony Head, on the north. The settled part of the island is divided into eleven counties,--three northern, Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall; four midland--Westmoreland, Somerset, Glamorgan, and Cumberland; and four southern--Kent, Buckingham, Pembroke, and Monmouth; each having an area of 1,600 square miles. These counties are subdivided into hundreds and parishes, the former containing 100 and the latter 25 square miles. To most of these divisions, as well as to the fifteen electoral districts, British names have been given. The island is also divided into nineteen police districts, each having a resident police magistrate, chief constable, police clerk, and deputy registrar of births, deaths, and marriages. In the country districts, the police magistrates act as coroners, and in the districts of New Norfolk, Richmond, Oatlands, Campbell Town, Longford, Horton, and South Port, as commissioners of the court of requests. In the first five of these districts they are also deputy chairmen of courts of quarter sessions. The chief and best constructed road in the island is that which connects the towns of Hobart and Launceston. It is 121 miles in length, and 30 years were spent in its construction. The population, according to the census taken on 1st March, 1851, is 70,130; of this number 30,488 are free, 21,590 were born in the colony, and the remainder are prisoners of the crown. The number of places of worship in the colony is 108, containing about 23,000 sittings; the number of ordained ministers is 100; there are also missionaries, lay preachers, and other persons, who supply the remote stations. Of Sunday schools belonging to all denominations there are about 60; of public and denominational schools, 74; of private schools, about 100; besides these, there are a high school, and an episcopal college and two grammar schools. The total number of schools is above 300. Of the public schools, 10 are wholly, and the remainder partly supported by voluntary contributions. There are 109 public institutions of various kinds, inclusive of 2 local and 2 English banks, 2 banks for savings, 4 joint-stock companies, and 3 English and 4 local insurance offices. Of these societies 10 are literary and scientific (including 2 mechanics' institutes, with large libraries, and a school of arts), 17 are agricultural and horticultural, 14 charitable, 9 missionary and religious instruction, 6 benefit, 10 temperance, 7 masonic and odd fellows, and 10 miscellaneous, including a mercantile assistants' association, a turf club, and united service club. Excepting 12, which are partly supported by government, the whole of these institutions are maintained by voluntary subscriptions. The number of houses is 11,844, of which 5,723 are of stone or brick, and the remainder of wood. The number of acres under cultivation is 177,600; the number of horses, 17,200; of cattle, 85,490; of sheep, 1,752,900. The number of vessels belonging to the colony is 240, besides vessels under 40 tons, and their collective tonnage 18,500 tons. There are four northern and two southern light-houses, and about twenty vessels are employed in the whale fishery.

_Abercrombie_--a township in the parish of Abercrombie and county of Somerset.

_Adamson's Peak_--a mountain in the south-eastern corner of the island, said to be 4,000 feet high.

_Alarm_--a river which falls into Bass' Strait on the western side of Rocky Cape.

_Altamont_--a village on the Derwent, 20 miles from Hobart.

_Andover_--a village on Little Swan Port River, in the parish of Brisbane and county of Somerset, about 50 miles from Hobart.

_Antill Ponds_--so called by Governor Macquarie, in honor of Major Antill of the 48th regiment--a district in the county of Somerset, 60 miles from Hobart, the road to which passes through it. There is a post station here.

_Apsley_--a river in the county of Glamorgan, falling into Oyster Bay.

_Apsley_--a township in the parish of Apsley and county of Monmouth, about 40 miles from Hobart.

_Arthur_--a river, flowing into the sea on the western side of the island, about 30 miles south of Cape Grim. It receives in its course the waters of the Hellyer, Horton, Frankland, and Leigh rivers.

_Arthur's Range_--a chain of mountains in the south-western part of the colony. The most elevated point is 3,900 feet above the sea.

_Arve_--a branch of the river Huon.

_Asbestos_--a range of hills extending inland from Port Sorell, in the county of Devon. Some of the elevations are 1,700 feet high.

_Auburn_--a village on the Isis, in the parish of Hill and county of Somerset. It is about 10 miles from Campbell Town, 40 from Launceston, and 75 from Hobart. Not far from Auburn is the remarkable hill called Jacob's Sugar Loaf.

_Avoca_--a township in the parish of Avoca and county of Cornwall, near the confluence of the St. Paul's and South Esk rivers. It is 99 miles from Hobart, 62 from Launceston, and 19 from Campbell Town. It is on the road from Campbell Town to the east coast, and contains a small episcopal church (St. Thomas') and school, a post and police station, and two inns. The police magistrate holds a court at Avoca once in a week. At the entrance of the township the St. Paul's river is crossed by a small substantial stone bridge of one arch.

_Bagdad_--a small township in the parish of Strangford and county of Monmouth. It is on the main road, 20 miles from Hobart. The country near Bagdad is fertile, and the road passes by numerous farms. On the northern side is a beautiful valley, the cultivated part of which is two miles wide, bounded by lofty hills thickly wooded, and through which flows the Bagdad Creek.

_Barrow_--a lofty hill, about 13 miles east of Launceston.

_Bayford_--a village in the parish of Spring Hill and county of Monmouth, about 40 miles from Hobart.

_Bellerive_--a township nearly opposite Hobart, in the parish of Clarence and county of Monmouth.

_Ben Lomond_--a mountain in Cornwall, 5,000 feet high, about 45 miles from Launceston, and 15 from Fingal. A rivulet of the same name rises here, and falls into the South Esk, about 30 miles from Launceston. About 15 miles north of this mountain is Ben Nevis, 3,900 feet high. During winter these elevated points, which are named after celebrated mountains of Scotland, are covered with snow, and seen from a distance, they present a magnificent appearance. They form parts of a chain of mountains extending inland from St. Patrick's Head to the northern coast.

_Beverley_--a township on the Ben Lomond Rivulet, in the parish of Beverley and county of Cornwall, about 30 miles from Launceston.

_Bishopsbourne_--a village in Westmoreland, about 8 miles from Longford and 26 from Launceston. It contains a post station, an inn, and a school. Christ's College is situated here.

_Boobyalla_--a small river in the county of Dorset, flowing into Ringarooma Bay, in the north-eastern corner of the island.

_Bothwell_--a town in the parish of Grantham, and county of Monmouth, 44 miles from Hobart, and 104 from Launceston. It is situated on the eastern side of the Clyde, in the midst of a level and excellent pastoral country, well watered. There are a church, (occupied alternately by English and Scotch congregations), a church of England day school, a library society, three inns, some small shops, a police office, and post station in the town. It has a resident assistant police magistrate. The population of the town and police district is 1,045; the number of houses 200, of which 72 are of stone or brick.

_Boyd_--a small river on the western side of the island, falling into the Gordon.

_Blackman's River_--a stream which rises in Somerset and falls into the Macquarie, about 4 miles south of Ross.

_Blythe_--a river rising in Devon and falling into Bass' Strait, about 5 miles east of Emu Bay.

_Break o'Day_--a stream watering plains of the same name, in the south-eastern part of the county of Cornwall. It joins the South Esk about 6 miles east of Fingal. The country here is from 500 to 800 feet above the sea, and is well adapted for grazing purposes.

_Bridgewater_--a village and post station on the Derwent, in the parish of Wellington and county of Buckingham, 12 miles above Hobart. The Derwent, which is about three-quarters of a mile in width at this place, is crossed by a bridge of wood, which forms a part of the main road from Hobart to Launceston, and is said to be the largest work of the kind in the Australian colonies. The river is spanned to a length of 2,300 feet by an earthen causeway, and the length of the bridge from the end of this to the northern shore is 1,010 feet, with a breadth of roadway of 24 feet; the whole length of the work being 3,310 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile. The navigation of the river is preserved by means of a moveable platform near the northern shore. The timber was procured from Mount Dromedary, 7 miles from the bridge, which was begun in January, '48, and opened in April, '49. The cost was L7,580.

_Brighton_--a town in the parish of Drummond and county of Monmouth. It is on the eastern side of the Jordan, on the main road, 17 miles from Hobart, and 104 from Launceston. The country around Brighton is cultivated and fertile, and was early occupied. On the right is a branch road to Jerusalem and Jericho, districts on the Coal River. On the left is the district on the Jordan, called the Broadmarsh. Brighton has a resident magistrate, a post station, several inns, small stores, and retail shops. The church (St. Mark's) and police office are at Pontville, near the town. The population of the town and police district is 2,582, and the number of houses 427, half of which are of stone or brick. Brighton is also an electoral district, for which John Walker, Esq., is the first member.

_Brown's River_--a stream rising near Mount Wellington, and falling into the Derwent about 10 miles below Hobart. The land on its banks is fertile, and is divided into many small farms. There is a village and post station here, 8 miles from Hobart, containing an episcopal church and day school, and a Wesleyan chapel. This district is celebrated for the fineness of its potatoes.

_Brumby's Creek_--a small stream rising among the Westmoreland mountains, and joining the Lake River, about 12 miles south of Longford. Several streams rising near the Western Lagoon fall into it.

_Bruni_--an island lying between D'Entrecasteaux Channel and Storm Bay, at the entrance of the Derwent. It was named after the French admiral who discovered it. It is about 50 miles long, and varies in breadth from 4 to 15 miles. It consists of two parts, connected by a long and narrow neck of land. There are a township called Lonnon and several farms in the northern part of the island, and in most of the bays many fine kinds of fish are found in abundance. There is a light-house on Bruni Head, the south-western point of the island, and off one of the southern capes is a remarkable rock, closely resembling in its form the pedestal and shaft of a monumental pillar.

_Buckingham_--a southern county and electoral district. Hobart is in this county. R. W. Nutt, Esq., is the first member for the district.

_Buckland_--a village at Prosser's Plains, in the county of Pembroke, on the eastern coast, 34 miles from Hobart and 155 from Launceston. It has an episcopal church, and a police and post station. The assistant police magistrate of the district holds a court here once in a week.

_Buffalo Brook_--a beautiful stream rising under Ben Lomond, and joining the South Esk near Eastbourne.

_Burford_--a village in the parish of St. Alban and county of Cumberland, about 60 miles from Hobart.

_Burgess_--a township at Port Sorell, in the county of Devon, on the northern coast, 157 miles from Hobart and 60 from Launceston. It has a resident police magistrate, a small episcopal church and school, and a post station.

_Burghley_--a village on the Leven, near the Surrey Hills, in the county of Devon. It is on the road through the western district, about 60 miles from Launceston. The Van Diemen's Land Company has a station here.

_Burnham_--a village in the parish of Cambridge and county of Monmouth, about 40 miles from Hobart.

_Cam_--a river rising in the Hampshire Hills, and falling into Bass' Strait a few miles west of Emu Bay.

_Campbell Town_--a town in the parish of Campbelton and county of Somerset, 89 miles from Hobart, and 42 from Launceston. It is situated in a level pastoral country, on the Elizabeth River, and the main road from Hobart to Launceston passes through it. The town consists chiefly of one long street, in which are four large inns, a brewery, some stores, small shops, and an assembly room. There are in the town an episcopal and presbyterian church (St. Luke's and St. Andrew's), a Wesleyan Chapel, and schools. The river is crossed by a bridge or causeway, 200 yards long, and on the southern side are numerous fine farms. The road to Avoca, Fingal, and the eastern coast here branches off from the main line. In the town there are also a gaol and police and post offices. There is a resident police magistrate. The population of the town and police district is 2,319, and the number of houses, 255 of which are of stone or brick, is 386. Campbell Town is also an electoral district. It is considered to be the middle district of the colony, and the Midland Agricultural Association originated here. R. Q. Kermode, Esq., is the first member for Campbell Town.

_Carlton_--a village and post station on the stream of that name, in the parish of Carlton, and county of Pembroke, about 35 miles from Hobart. The Carlton falls into North Bay, below Pittwater.

_Carrick_--a township and post-station on the west bank of the Liffey and western road, in the parish of Carrick and county of Westmoreland, 113 miles from Hobart and 10 from Launceston. The Liffey is crossed by a bridge at the township. There are a small episcopal church and day school, a mill, a brewery, and three inns. Annual races are held near the township.

_Catemara_--a small stream falling into Recherche Bay, in the county of Kent.

_Circular Head_--a bold promontory, 500 feet high, forming part of a small peninsula in the north-west corner of the island, about 30 miles east of Cape Grim. It is seen at sea at the distance of 10 leagues. It is 280 miles from Hobart, and 160 from Launceston, and here the western road terminates. The town of Stanley, which stands on the eastern side, contains an episcopal church, a Roman catholic chapel, a post station, a custom-house, three inns, and some substantial buildings. It has also a benevolent society, and schools. There is a resident police magistrate. The Van Diemen's Land Company has an extensive establishment here, and a considerable trade is carried on between the settlers in the neighborhood and Victoria, to which large quantities of timber, potatoes, and other produce grown on the fertile farms on the coast, are shipped in small vessels belonging to the port. The town and district of Stanley have greatly advanced during the last ten years, under the intelligent management of Mr. Gibson, the company's agent. The failure of the previous management may be traced to those general causes which have always prevented the success of similar companies, when they have attempted cultivation and grazing. Mr. Gibson urged upon the company the importance of establishing a tenantry, and succeeded in attracting a considerable rural population by offering advantageous terms to small farmers. The arrangements made with them, from the depression of prices, proved unfavorable to the company, but the prosperity of their tenants has probably firmly fixed a population on their estates, which will ultimately indemnify them for all their losses. Occupying a geographical position highly favorable to trade, and in the vicinity of extensive forests of valuable timber, there can be no doubt that within a few years their settlements will become of great importance. Within a few hours' sail of Port Phillip and South Australia, their timber will find an increasing market, and enable their settlers to turn to good account what often elsewhere proves an incumbrance. The population of the district, which is called Horton, is about 900, and the number of houses 137.

_Clarence Plains_--a cultivated and fertile district on the east bank of the Derwent, nearly opposite Hobart. It contains the villages of Rokeby, Kangaroo Point, and Bellerive.

_Cleveland_--a village in the parish of Cleveland and county of Somerset, on the main road, 91 miles from Hobart, and 30 from Launceston. There are a small chapel, two inns, a post and police station, with a district constable. The police magistrate of Campbell Town holds a court here once in a week. A branch road to the eastern coast breaks off at the township, and Epping Forest is a short distance on the Launceston side of it. The country near Cleveland consists chiefly of grazing farms.

_Clyde_--a river which divides the county of Monmouth from Cumberland, and falls into the Derwent above the township of Macquarie, about 40 miles from Hobart. It waters, together with the Dee, Ouse, Shannon, and Jordan, a fine district of the same name.

_Coal River_--a stream rising in the northern part of the county of Monmouth, and falling into the bay of Pittwater, at Richmond. The Wallaby and Kangaroo rivers fall into it.

_Cocked Hat Hill_--a name given to a hill on the side of the main road, 8 miles from Launceston. A fine view of the Tamar is obtained from its top. There are a post and police station, a small church, and an inn in the village at this place, where the roads to Perth and Evandale separate.

_Colebrooke_--a village in the parish of Ormaig, and county of Monmouth, about 30 miles from Hobart. It has a small episcopal church and school.

_Cornwallis_--a village in the parish of Cornwallis and county of Somerset, about 80 miles from Hobart.

_Cornwall_--a northern county and electoral district. Launceston is in this county. J. W. Gleadow, Esq., is the first member for the district.

_Cullenswood_--a small village and post station at St. Paul's Plains. It has a small episcopal church.

_Cumberland_--a midland county and electoral district. Bothwell is the principal town. W. S. Sharland, Esq., is the first member for the district.

_Deloraine_--a township and post station on the Meander, in the parish of Calstock, and county of Westmoreland, 132 miles from Hobart, and 30 from Launceston. It contains a small episcopal church and a Wesleyan chapel, and three inns. There is a police station with a district constable, and the assistant police magistrate of Westbury holds a court twice in a week. About 15 miles from Deloraine, in the Western Mountains, are situated the great caves, which, in extent and beauty, perhaps equal subterranean wonders of more celebrity. They have not often been visited; but those who have seen them describe them as being extremely grand and beautiful. The entrance of the principal cave, which is considerably more than two miles in length, is in the limestone rock, at the upper extremity of a narrow ravine, down which flows the stream which issues from the mouth of the cave, and extends throughout its whole length. The opening is thirty feet high, and fifty or sixty in width. At a considerable distance from the entrance light is admitted by two openings in the roof, the only ones throughout the whole extent of the cave, and when these are passed the full beauty of the scene breaks upon the view of the visitor. Stalactites of every form, hang like icicles from the roof; some presenting the appearance of inverted cones, others that of glistening semi-transparent tubes, about the thickness of a pipe stem, and several yards in length. In some parts, the stalactites, meeting with their opposite stalagmites, form pillars in appearance supporting a roof of immense height. In other places they assume the form of elegant and flowing drapery thrown over the huge rocks that project from the sides of the cavern. The fringes of this drapery, when struck by any hard substance, give forth a ringing sound, and every variety of note, high or low, according to their respective lengths. The floor is covered with stalagmites of every form, and it sparkles as if paved with diamonds. If the visitor extinguish his torch, myriads of glow-worms are seen to cover the roof and walls, emitting a faint blue light, and making the surrounding stalactites appear like spectres in the gloom. As the spectator proceeds, new objects of wonder appear. In some places the stalactites, shooting out in all directions, into innumerable small fibres, appear like fret-work along the roof; in others like masses of elegant drapery, extending fold above fold, to the height of thirty or forty feet, from the floor to the roof. Near the entrance of the cave they are of a grey or brownish color, but in the interior they are of a pure white. There are several chambers, some of great beauty, which branch off from the main passage, and have been formed by the rivulet which passes through the cave. Others will probably yet be discovered in the Western Mountains.

_Denbigh_--a township in the parish of that name, and county of Somerset, on the Lake River, about 80 miles from Hobart.

_D'Entrecasteaux_--the name of the channel between the main land and Bruni Island, so called after the French admiral who first sailed through it. A small river of the same name flows into Recherche Bay. On the western side of the entrance of the channel is the reef on which the _Acteon_ was wrecked, in 1822.

_Derwent_--a river which rises at Lake St. Clair, in the western mountains, and flows through the county of Buckingham, which is well watered by it and its numerous tributaries. The land on the banks of the Derwent is fertile, with occasional tracts well adapted for grazing and pastoral purposes. In the upper Derwent there is a fall of some magnificence, and the scenery on the banks of the river is various and beautiful. The Derwent receives in its course the waters of the Dee, (flowing from Lake Esk) Clyde, Jones, Ouse, Styx, Plenty, and Thames. From its source to Hobart it is about 70 miles long, and to its entrance at Storm Bay 85 miles.

_Devon_--a northern county.

_Douglass_--a river in Glamorgan, on the eastern coast. Excellent coal is procured in its neighborhood.

_Dulcott_--a township in the parish of Forbes, and county of Monmouth, about 60 miles from Hobart.

_Eastbourne_--a township in the parish of Eastbourne, and county of Cornwall, near the South Esk.

_East Grinstead_--a township in Somerset, about 80 miles from Hobart.

_Ebrington_--a township in Cumberland.

_Elderslie_--a village near the Jordan, in the parish of Wallace and county of Monmouth, about 40 miles from Hobart.

_Eldon_--a range of hills on the western side of the island, southward of the river Macintosh.

_Emu Bay_--a harbor on the northern coast, about 45 miles west of the Tamar heads. The Van Diemen's Land Company has an establishment at Emu Bay, and there is also a police and post station and an inn. The road to Circular Head passes by the bay. The country here abounds with timber, of which large quantities are exported. A stream called the Emu falls into the bay.

_Enfield_--a township in the parish of Staffa and county of Monmouth, about 20 miles from Hobart.

_Esperance_--a harbor on the south-eastern coast, into which falls a river of the same name.

_Evandale_--a town in the parish of that name and county of Cornwall, 115 miles from Hobart and 11 from Launceston. It is prettily situated on the eastern side of the South Esk, and contains several substantial brick buildings, three large inns, and a steam flour mill. It has a resident magistrate and a post station. There are two well-built, neat, and commodious churches (episcopalian and presbyterian), a Wesleyan chapel, and a good subscription library.

_Evercreech_--a township in the parish of that name, and county of Cornwall, about 120 miles from Hobart.

_Exeter_--a village on the west bank of the Tamar, about 15 miles below Launceston.

_Falmouth_--a township near St Patrick's Head, in Cornwall, on the eastern coast, 141 miles from Hobart and 104 from Launceston. There is a post station here and an inn. The produce of some of the farms on the coast is forwarded to Hobart by sea from this place.

_Fingal_--a township in the parish of Fingal and county of Cornwall, on the southern side of the South Esk. It is 100 miles from Hobart and 70 from Launceston. The road from Campbell Town to the east coast passes through it. On the banks of the Esk in this district are many fine farms, as well as tracts of pasture land. There is a resident police magistrate and a post station at Fingal, and two inns. There are 877 persons in the township and district, and 134 houses. About 11 miles beyond Fingal the road has been carried with immense labor, to a distance of 5 miles round the face of a high, rocky, and almost perpendicular hill, called St. Mary's Pass. On one side the hill towers above the traveller, and on the other he sees a precipice of many hundred feet. Gold has been discovered in the neighborhood.

_Forth_--a fine river in Devon, falling into Bass' Strait, between the Mersey and the Leven.

_Frankland_--the name of a range of hills on the western side of the island. A mountain called the Frenchman's Cap, 3,800 feet high, is near this range.

_Franklin_--a township on the river Huon, in the county of Buckingham, about 28 miles from Hobart and 149 from Launceston. It has an assistant police magistrate, an episcopal church and school, and a post station.

_Franklin_--a village on the main road, 117 miles from Hobart and 3 from Launceston. It contains a small church, an excellent private school, and two inns. About half a mile on the south side of the village there is a substantial stone bridge crossing a deep ravine.

_George Town_--a town in the parish of George Town and county of Dorset, 153 miles from Hobart, and 32 from Launceston. It is situated on the shore of a small bay of the Tamar, about 4 miles from the entrance. It was originally intended to fix the northern head-quarters at George Town, but the scarcity of water, and some other local disadvantages, caused the abandonment of the plan. The town is now chiefly supplied from Launceston, many inhabitants of which resort to it as a summer residence. It contains a small church, a school, three inns, and has a resident magistrate and a post station. The population of the town and district is 601, the number of houses 115. There is a road to George Town down the eastern side of the Tamar, but communication is chiefly carried on by water.... Outward-bound vessels waiting for a fair wind usually anchor off George Town, where there is a convenient bay.

_Glenorchy_--a township and post station in the parish of Glenorchy and county of Buckingham, 7 miles from Hobart, near New Town.

_Gordon_--a river on the western coast. It passes through a wild and romantic country, and falls into Macquarie Harbor.

_Great Swan Port_--a bay on the eastern coast. A river of the same name falls into it. The district has a police magistrate, an episcopal and a presbyterian church, and a post station. The population of the town and district is 1,684, and the number of houses 274, 105 being of stone or brick.

_Green Ponds_--a district and township 29 miles north of Hobart, on the main road. It is situated in a fine valley, at the southern entrance of which is Constitution Hill. There is a church (St. Mary's) and school, a congregational chapel, two inns, and a police and post station. The assistant police magistrate of Brighton holds a court at Green Ponds twice in a week.

_Grindlewald_--a township in the parish of Denbigh and county of Somerset, about 80 miles from Hobart.

_Hadspen_--a village on the Westbury road, in the parish of Launceston, 128 miles from Hobart. There is a small church, a Wesleyan chapel, an inn and a post station. The South Esk is crossed by a wooden bridge at this place.

_Hamilton_--a town on the Clyde in the parish of Hamilton and county of Monmouth, 43 miles from Hobart and 93 from Launceston. There is a church (St. Peter's) and school, two inns, and other buildings in the township, which has also a resident police magistrate and a post station. The population, including that of the district, is 1,415, and the number of houses 281.

_Hobart_--in the parish of Hobarton, and county of Buckingham, is the chief town of the colony, and is in lat. 42 deg.. 53'. S., and long. 147 deg.. 21'. E. It was named after Lord Hobart, once secretary for the colonies; and stands on the shores of Sullivan's Cove, about 15 miles from the entrance of the Derwent. It is finely situated on a rising ground, and covers a surface of nearly two square miles. On the western side it is bounded by a range of wooded hills, with Mount Wellington, a snow-capped mountain, 4,000 feet high, in the back-ground. On the southern side of the harbor there are many beautiful residences, and, on a commanding eminence, fine military barracks. Close to the harbor, on the western side, stands the government-house, an extensive range of wooden buildings, erected at different times. Mulgrave Battery is on the southern side of the harbor. The streets are regular and well made; and many of the buildings--some built of freestone--are commodious and handsome. The wharves are extensive and well constructed, and are lined with numerous large stone warehouses and stores. St. David's church is a large well-built brick edifice, in the Gothic style, stuccoed, and well fitted up. The court house, nearly opposite the church, is a large stone building, containing various offices. The hospital and prisoners' barracks, on the north-eastern side, are extensive buildings. The police office is a substantial edifice. The female factory and orphan schools, a short distance from the town, on the western side, are commodious buildings. The commissariat stores, the treasury, the bonded stores, the custom-house, and other public buildings are built of freestone. The legislative council chamber is included in the custom-house. On the north side of the harbor are situated the engineer stores and other government buildings. On this side also is the government domain, a large open piece of ground, used as a place of amusement and exercise. The magnetical observatory is erected here. Many of the shops are large and handsome. Besides St. David's (the cathedral church), there are three handsome episcopalian churches--Trinity, St. George's, and St. John's. There are two presbyterian churches--St. Andrew's and St. John's--both commodious buildings--one Roman catholic church, two Wesleyan chapels, three congregational churches, a baptist chapel, a free presbyterian church, and a synagogue. There are four banks and a bank for savings, three local and two English insurance companies, and a company to establish steam communication with the adjoining colonies. The educational establishments are the High School and Hutchins' School, besides private schools. The public institutions are the Mechanics' Institute, the Tasmanian Society of Natural Science, the Royal Society, the Public Library, Gardeners' and Amateurs' Horticultural Society, St. Mary's Hospital, Dispensary and Humane Society, Dorcas Society, Hebrew Benevolent Institution, Asylum for the protection of destitute and unfortunate females, Branch Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and for the Propagation of the Gospel, Auxiliary Bible Society, Wesleyan Library and Tract Society, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Auxiliary London Missionary Society, Wesleyan Missionary Society, Colonial Missionary and Christian Instruction Society, Infant School, Auxiliary of British and Foreign School Society, Wesleyan Strangers' Friend Society, Sunday School Union (including eight schools), three Masonic Lodges, Masonic Benevolent Fund, three Odd-fellow's Lodges, with Widows' and Orphans' Funds attached, Independent Order of Rechabites, Hibernian Benefit Society, four Temperance Societies, Society of Licensed Victuallers, Choral Society, Mercantile Assistants' Association, Turf Club, Bathing Association. There are a wet dock and a patent slip, and 170 vessels belonging to the port, their collective tonnage being 14,640. The population is 23,107, and the number of houses 4,050; 2,932 of which are of stone or brick. Five bi-weekly newspapers and a Government _Gazette_ are published in Hobart. T. D. Chapman, Esq., and J. Dunn, jun., Esq., are the first members of council for the city.

_Huon_--a river which falls into the sea about 30 miles below Hobart. At its mouth there is a pretty island of 300 acres, also called Huon. On the northern side of the river, about 5 miles from the entrance, there is a beautiful bay, named by the French discoverers the Port of Swans. The banks of the stream are finely wooded, and the timber, of which immense quantities are cut, is of great value. Fine spars for shipbuilding purposes are found here, as well as the mimosa bark. Ships of considerable tonnage can ascend the river for a distance of many miles. In the upper part of the river grows the valuable pine, to which the name of the district has been given. Many of the trees attain to a gigantic size, and some have measured ninety feet in circumference. The district contains on the banks of the Huon many fine farms, and the population is 2,988; the number of houses, 570. Richard Cleburne, Esq., is the first member for the district.

_Hythe_--a township at South Port, a harbor on the western side of Entrecasteaux's Channel. The township stands on the South Port river, which falls into the bay, and is about 50 miles from Hobart.

_Ilfracombe_--a village on the west bank of the Tamar, 25 miles from Launceston.

_Invermay_--a village near Launceston, on the road to George Town.

_Isis_--a beautiful river in Somerset, falling into the Macquarie, about 6 miles north of the village of Lincoln, which, with Auburn, stands on its banks.

_Jericho_--a township and post station on the Jordan, in the parish of Spring Hill and county of Monmouth, 43 miles from Hobart, and 78 from Launceston. On the southern side is the district called Lovely Banks.

_Jerusalem_--a township in the parish of Ormaig and county of Monmouth, 28 miles from Hobart, near the source of the Coal River. A police magistrate's court is held here once in a week, and there is a post station. An episcopalian clergyman is stationed at this place, and ministers of other denominations occasionally officiate in the district.

_Jordan_--a river flowing from a lagoon near Oatlands, and falling into the Derwent at Herdsman's Cove. It passes by Brighton.

_Kangaroo Point_--a village on the eastern side of the Derwent, opposite Hobart. A police magistrate's court is held there twice in a week, and there is a post station, a chapel, and a school. After crossing the Derwent, the road from Hobart to Richmond and Sorell begins at this place.

_Kelso Bay_--a small bay on the western side of the Tamar, opposite George Town. There are several marine residences on its shores.

_King_--a small river rising near Mount Sorell, on the western side of the island, and falling into Macquarie Harbor.

_Kingston_--a town at the entrance of Brown's River, about 10 miles south of Hobart, and 130 from Launceston. It has an episcopal church and school, and a post station.

_Lakes_--In the south-eastern part of the county of Westmoreland lay several large lakes,--Great Lake, Crescent Lake, Arthur's Lake, Lake Sorell, and Lake Echo. The first has a circumference of about 90 miles; the others vary from 10 to 30 miles round. They are situated on high land, amidst magnificent and picturesque scenery. They are frequented by innumerable quantities of black swans, and game of every kind, and large flocks of kangaroos and emus are found in their vicinity.

_Lake River_--a considerable stream which rises among the lakes in the south-eastern part of Westmoreland, and joins the South Esk at Longford.

_Launceston_--in the parish of Launceston and county of Cornwall, is the second town of the colony, and is in lat. 41 deg.. 24'. S., and lon. 147 deg.. 10'. E. It stands at the confluence of the North and South Esk rivers, which here discharge their waters into the Tamar. It is 121 miles from Hobart, and 40 from the sea at Port Dalrymple. On the east and west it is bounded by hills, and on the north stretches the valley of the Tamar. The town is well laid out, and viewed from the hills which overlook it, or from the Tamar, it has a picturesque appearance. The wharves, which afford accommodation to vessels of large tonnage, extend along the river which forms the northern boundary. Farther up are numerous spacious stores and other commercial buildings. There are two large episcopalian churches, a handsome presbyterian church, a Roman catholic church (all built in the Gothic style), a Wesleyan chapel, two congregational chapels, a free church, a baptist chapel, and a synagogue, all neat and commodious buildings. The court house, the gaol, the house of correction, female factory, and several other government establishments, are large and well-built. Many of the shops, offices, inns, and private buildings are of considerable size and respectable appearance. On the hill which bounds the town on the eastern side, and commands a splendid view of the town and river, are many private residences and gardens. There are four banks, four insurance offices, three printing establishments, and two bi-weekly newspapers. The principal public offices are the police office, the custom-house, the post office, and the port office. The population of the town is 10,855, the number of houses, 2,181; 798 of which are of stone or brick. There are an episcopal grammar school, a Wesleyan day school, an infant school, three episcopal day schools, a catholic school, seven Sunday schools, and numerous private schools. The public institutions, besides the banks and insurance offices, are a mechanics' institute and reading room, a library society, several circulating libraries, two horticultural societies, a benevolent society, auxiliary bible society, two masonic lodges, odd fellows society, rechabite society, and a teetotal society. There are 70 vessels belonging to the port, their collective tonnage being 8,564 tons. There is also a floating dock. Richard Dry, Esq., the hon. the speaker of the Legislative Council, is the first member for the electoral district of Launceston.

_Leipsic_--a township in Cornwall, at the St. Paul's River.

_Leven_--a river which rises near Mount Gipps in the county of Devon, and falls into Bass' Strait, about 10 miles east of Emu Bay.

_Liffey_--a small stream in Westmoreland which falls into the Meander or Western river, a short distance north of Carrick, which stands on its banks.

_Lincoln_--a village in Somerset at the junction of the rivers Macquarie and Isis, about 95 miles from Hobart, and 30 from Launceston. It contains an inn and a few houses.

_Little Swan Port_--a boat harbor at Oyster Bay, on the eastern coast. A stream of the same name falls into it.

_Llewellyn_--a small village in Somerset, on the road from Campbell Town to the eastern coast, near the South Esk.

_Longford_--a town prettily situated at the junction of the rivers Lake and South Esk, in the parish of Longford and county of Westmoreland, 115 miles from Hobart, and 14 from Launceston. The population of the town and district is 3,829, and the number of houses 595, half of which are of stone or brick. It has a resident police magistrate, (who is also deputy chairman of quarter sessions and the court of requests,) a postmaster, and other officers. It contains a neat episcopal church, built in the Gothic style, several schools, a Wesleyan chapel, a court house and gaol, several large inns, a brewery, a mill, and many substantial buildings. Longford is also an electoral district, for which Joseph Archer, Esq., is the first member.

_Macquarie_--a river which rises in the northern part of the county of Monmouth, and flowing through Somerset, by Ross and Lincoln, joins the Lake after receiving the waters of the Elizabeth, Blackman's, and Isis. The district through which the Macquarie flows, is one of the finest in the island, and on its banks are the residences of numerous settlers. On the eastern bank, about five miles from Campbell Town, there is a presbyterian church, having a resident minister. There is also a post station.

_Macquarie Harbor_--a large bay on the western coast, into which fall the rivers King and Gordon. There was once a penal settlement here, but it has long been abandoned. The country along this part of the coast, and to a considerable distance inland, has not yet been opened up, and is little known. It is high, and in some places rocky and mountainous. Pine of good quality is procured in the neighbourhood.

_Macquarie Plains_--a district in Cumberland, on the northern side of the Derwent. It contains several sheep and agricultural farms, and the village of Macquarie, 39 miles from Hobart, which contains a church and post station.

_Maitland_--a township on the Isis.

_Maria Island_--(so named by Tasman), an island off the eastern coast of the county of Pembroke, about 7 miles from the main land. A narrow sandy isthmus connects the northern and southern parts of the island, and has on its western side Oyster Bay, and on the eastern Reidle Bay. The scenery is romantic and picturesque. The northern and southern coasts are high and rocky. In the northern part there is a remarkable mountain, 3,000 feet high, on the summit of which are two rocks projecting one above the other, called the Bishop and Clerk. The base is composed of petrified shells. Near here on a small stream is the penal settlement of Darlington, at which are several government buildings, the residences of a commandant, magistrate, religious instructors, and other officers, and a post station.

_Marlborough_--a village in Cumberland, near the Ouse. The assistant police magistrate of Hamilton holds a court here, and at the bridge on the Ouse once in a week.

_Meander_--a small stream which rises in the western mountains, and, passing Deloraine, falls into the South Esk at Hadspen. The Dairy, Quamby, and Liffey rivulets fall into it.

_Mersey_--a considerable river in Westmoreland, which rises in the western mountains, and falls into Bass' Strait, about 10 miles west of Port Sorell. Its mouth forms a small harbour, called Port Frederic. There is a village called Frogmore at this place, where timber is cut and exported. Coal has been found in the neighbourhood.

_Montague_--a small stream falling into Bass' Strait, in the north west corner of the island.

_Morven_--a northern electoral district. It consists of agricultural farms, and Evandale is the chief town. The town and district contain 2,311 inhabitants, and 372 houses. James Cox, Esq., is the first member for the district.

_Mountains_--The principal mountains are the western range in Westmoreland, of which the highest point is Quamby's or Dry's Bluff, 4,590 feet above the sea; a high rocky range in Cornwall, of which Ben Lomond and Ben Nevis are the highest points, and the Eldon range. A range extends along the western coast, and another farther inland, of which the highest points are the Frenchman's Cap, 3,800 feet above the sea; Mount Arrowsmith, east of the former, 4,075 feet high; Mount Humboldt, 5,520 feet; Cradle Mountain, 4,700 feet. St. Valentine's Peak, on the Van Diemen's Land Company's estate, is 4,000 feet high; Mount Wellington, near Hobart Town, 4,195 feet.

_Neville_--a township in the parish of Abergavenny and county of Cumberland, on the Clyde.

_New Norfolk_--a town in the parish of New Norfolk and county of Buckingham, on the Derwent and Lachlan rivulet, 21 miles from Hobart, and 119 from Launceston. It has a resident police magistrate and post master, and contains an episcopal church (St. Matthew's) and school, a Wesleyan chapel, and another place of worship, a police office, a government house, an asylum for insane persons, and several inns. The population of the town and district is 2,226, and the number of houses, 389. The district contains several fine farms. Coaches run daily to New Norfolk from Hobart, and communication between the two places is also carried on by means of boats on the Derwent. New Norfolk is also an electoral district, for which M. Fenton, Esq., is the first member.

_Newtown_--a town in the parish of Hobart and county of Buckingham, 2 miles north of Hobart, and 119 from Launceston. It contains an episcopal church (St. John's) and school, a handsome congregational chapel, the Queen's orphan schools, two inns, a post station, and several handsome private residences.

_Nile_--a small river which rises near Ben Lomond and falls into the South Esk, about 10 miles south of Evandale.

_Nive_--a river which forms the western boundary of the county of Cumberland, and falls into the Derwent.

_Norfolk Plains_--a fine district in the north-eastern part of Westmoreland, between the rivers Lake, South Esk, and Liffey. It consists chiefly of small agricultural farms, and contains the towns of Longford and Carrick, and the villages of Bishopsbourne and Cressy. Cressy is on the estate of the Van Diemen's Land Establishment, and has a small episcopal church, a Wesleyan chapel, and an inn.

_North Esk_--a river which rises in the Ben Lomond range, in the eastern part of the county of Cornwall, and falls into the Tamar at Launceston. The St. Patrick's river, a small stream, falls into it.

_Oatlands_--a considerable town in the parish of Oatlands and county of Monmouth, 51 miles from Hobart, and 70 from Launceston. It contains an episcopal (St. Matthew's) and Roman catholic church, a Wesleyan chapel, several schools, a gaol, police and post offices, a military station, several inns, and other large buildings. It has a resident police magistrate, and courts of request and quarter sessions are held in the town. The supreme court sits twice in a year. The population of the town and police district is 1,873, and the number of houses 279. Oatlands is also an electoral district, for which H. F. Anstey, Esq., is the first member.

_Orielton_--a village in the parish of Sorell, and county of Pembroke, on the eastern side of Pittwater Bay.

_Ouse_--a considerable river which rises in the western side of the county of Westmoreland, and falls into the Derwent in the southern part of Cumberland. At the bridge on the upper part of the river, there is a village, containing a church and school house, and a post and police station. The assistant police magistrate of Hamilton holds a court here once in a week.

_Oyster Bay_--a harbor on the eastern coast. The rivers Swan and Little Swan Port and other streams fall into it. The road from Prossor's to St. Paul's Plains is along its western side, and on the eastern side is Shouten's Island, where coal of good quality is procured. The bay has several boat harbors. There are several farms on the western side. There is a bay of the same name on the western side of Maria Island.

_Patterson's Plains_--a district in Cornwall, lying south-west of Launceston. It is watered by the North Esk, on which are two flour mills, and a bridge. The district has a small episcopal church and school, and a Wesleyan chapel.

_Pedder_--a lake and river on the western side of the island, named after the Chief Justice.

_Perth_--a town on the northern bank of the South Esk, in the parish of Perth and county of Cornwall, 110 miles from Hobart, and 11 from Launceston. It has an episcopal church and school, a Wesleyan chapel, three inns, and a police and post station. The South Esk is crossed at this place by one of the best stone bridges in the island.

_Picton_--a township in the parish of Dysart and county of Monmouth.

_Piper's_--a small river in Dorset, which falls into Bass' Strait, near Stony Head.

_Plenty_--a small stream in Buckingham, falling into the Derwent above New Norfolk.

_Port Arthur_--one of the penal settlements on Tasman's Peninsula.

_Port Dalrymple_--the entrance of the Tamar, so called by Captain Flinders, in honor of the hydrographer to the admiralty.

_Port Davey_--a large harbor, lying on the south-western coast.

_Ramsgate_--a village on the shore of D'Entrecasteaux's channel, in Kent.

_Richmond_--a town at the mouth of the Coal River, in the parish of Ulva and county of Monmouth, 15 miles from Hobart, and 100 from Launceston. It contains an episcopal and a catholic church, a congregational chapel, a police office, post station, a gaol, and court house, and several inns. It has a resident police magistrate, and the population of the town and district, which consists of farms, is 3,144, and the number of houses 545, nearly half of which are of stone or brick. The Coal River, which here falls into the bay of Pittwater, is crossed at the town by an excellent stone bridge of six arches. Richmond is an electoral district, for which T. G. Gregson, Esq., is the first member.

_Risdon_--a village at Clarence Plains, nearly opposite Hobart. There is a ferry at this place, which was the site of the first settlement in the colony.

_Rochford_--a township in Cumberland.

_Ross_--a township on the Macquarie, in the parish of Ross and county of Somerset, 73 miles from Hobart, 47 from Launceston, and 6 from Campbell Town. It contains an episcopal church and school, a chapel, a police and post station, and two inns. The police magistrate of Campbell Town holds a court here once in a week. There is a bridge across the Macquarie at this township. The district is chiefly agricultural.

_Rugby_--a township on the Derwent, in the parish of Sutherland and county of Buckingham.

_Shannon_--a river which rises at the Great Lake in Westmoreland, and falls into the Ouse.

_Shepton Montacute_--a township in Monmouth.

_Sidmouth_--a village on the west bank of the Tamar, about 20 miles from Launceston. There is a presbyterian church here, and a resident minister.

_Sorell_--a town in the parish of Sorell and county of Pembroke, 23 miles from Hobart, and 144 from Launceston. It has an episcopal church (St. George's) and school, a presbyterian church, a police and post office, and other public buildings. There is a resident police magistrate. The population of the town and district is 3,354, and the number of houses 370. A small stream falls into the bay of Pittwater, close to the town. The district is electoral; Askin Morrison, Esq., is the first member.

_South Esk_--a considerable river which rises in the eastern part of the county of Dorset, and after a circuitous course, in which it passes the towns of Fingal, Avoca, Evandale, Perth, and Longford, falls into the Tamar at Launceston. About half a mile from the place where it joins the Tamar, the river forms a considerable basin, surrounded by lofty hills, and having a water-fall at the upper part. A few yards lower down, there is another cataract--one of the most magnificent in the island--and the river continues its course to the Tamar between two high and almost perpendicular hills. Along one of these hills a wooden aqueduct is carried, which conveys water to turn a mill and supply the town. The river is crossed here by a ferry, which leads to the road down the western side of the Tamar. The view up the Esk at this place is one of the most picturesque in the colony.

_South Port_--a harbor on the western side of D'Entrecasteaux Channel.

_Styx_--a branch of the river Derwent in Buckingham.

_Summerleas_--a township in the parish of Kingborough and county of Buckingham.

_Swansea_--a township in Glamorgan on the western side of Oyster Bay, 74 miles from Hobart, and 194 from Launceston. It has a police and post station.

_Tamar_--a fine river in Cornwall, at the head of which stands the town of Launceston. It is navigable from its entrance to the town--about forty miles--for ships of 600 tons, and is of considerable width--in some places of three miles. At the wharves at Launceston the tide rises from twelve to fourteen feet. On the banks of the river are some good farms, and the scenery is generally picturesque.

_Tasman's_--a large peninsula forming the south-eastern part of the county of Pembroke. There is a smaller one, called Forrester's, between it and the main land. Tasman's Peninsula has several fine bays, and contains some penal stations.

_Tenby_--a township at Spring Bay in the county of Pembroke.

_Tierney_--a township in the Lake River.

_Trent_--a small river in Devon, which falls into Bass' Strait, near Rocky Cape.

_Triabunna_--a village at Prossor's Bay.

_Tunbridge_--a town in the parish of Maxwell and county of Somerset, a few miles south of Ross, on a small stream called Blackman's River, which falls into the Macquarie.

_Victoria_--a village on the river Huon.

_Westbury_--a town in the parish of Westbury and county of Westmoreland, 140 miles from Hobart, and 20 from Launceston. It has a resident police magistrate, a postmaster, and other officers, and contains an episcopal church and school, a Roman catholic church and school, a Wesleyan chapel, and three inns. The town and district has a population of 2,842, and 420 houses. William Archer, jun., Esq., is the first member for the electoral district.

_Windermere_--a village on the eastern bank of the Tamar, about 15 miles from Launceston. It has an episcopal church and a mill.

_Wye_--a branch of the Swan Port River.

TASMANIA: PRINTED BY J. S. WADDELL, LAUNCESTON.

* * * * *

NOTES AND ERRATA.

Transcriber's Note: the following errata have been corrected in the text above.

Page 14. Black Tom, executed, was not the murderer of Mr. Osborne, but a servant of Mrs. Birch of the same name.

Page 27, for "north-east belonging," read "north-west."

Page 71, for "1839," read "1830."

Page 71, for "Oyster Bay," read "Oyster Cove."

Page 90, for "Monododo," read "Monboddo."

Page 92, for "aborigina," read "aborigine."

_Note_, page 101. Conditional servitude, under indentures or covenants, had from the first existed in Virginia. The servant stood to his master in the relation of a debtor bound to repay the cost of his emigration by employing his powers for the benefit of his creditors--oppression easily ensued. Men who had been transported to Virginia at the expense of L10, were sometimes sold for L40 or L50, or even for L60. The supply of white servants became a regular business, and a class of men, nick-named "spirits," used to delude young persons and idlers into embarking for America as to a land of plenty. White servants came to be a usual article of traffic. They were sold in England to be transported, and in Virginia, were resold to the highest bidder. In 1672, the average prices for five years service when due, was about L10.--_Bancroft_, vol. i. p. 175.

"The Scots, whom God delivered into your bands at Durbar, whereof sundry were sent here, we have been desirous as we could, to make their yoke easy. Such as were sick of the scurvy or other diseases, have not wanted physic and surgery. They have not been sold for slaves, to perpetual servitude, but for six, or seven, or eight years, as we do our own; and he that bought the most of them I hear, buildeth for every four of them a house, and layeth some acres of ground thereto, which he giveth them as their own, requiring them three days of the week to work for him by turns, and four days for themselves, and promises as soon as they can repay him the money laid out for them, he will set them at liberty."--_Letter to Cromwell, by Mather Cotton: Carlyle's Letters and Speeches_, vol. ii. p. 349.

Page 102. "I beseech your Majesty that I may inform that each person will be worth ten pounds, if not fifteen pounds a-piece. And, sir, if your majesty orders that as you have already designed, persons that have not suffered in the service, will run away with the booty."--_Letter from Jefferies, Sep., 1685._

"Take all care they continue to serve for ten years at least, and that they be not permitted in any manner to redeem themselves by money or otherwise until that term be fully expired. Prepare a bill for the assembly of our colony, with such clauses as shall be necessary for this purpose."--James II. Letters (countersigned by Sunderland) to the Governor of Virginia, Oct., 1685--_Bancroft_, vol. ii. p. 25.

Page 102. "Good God! where am I? In Bristol! This city it seems, claims the privilege of hanging and drawing among themselves. I find you have more need of a special commission once a month at least. The very magistrates that should be ministers of justice, fall out with one another to that degree, that they will scarcely dine together, and yet I find they can agree for their interests if there be _a kid_ in the case, for I hear that kidnapping is much in request in this city. You discharge a felon or traitor, provided he will go to Mr. Alderman's plantations in the West Indies."--_Jefferies Speech: Life of Lord Keeper Guilford, by Roger North_, vol. ii. p. 113.

_Note_, page 121. A commission was appointed to enquire into those allegations, and their report fell into the hands of the author after the account of the _Amphitrite_ was printed. It does not appear, that the imputations of sordid calculation were well grounded, and no bond would have been enforced for an unavoidable breach of contract.

Page 148, for "_free_ women," read "_freed_ women."

Page 149, for "_Macarthur's New South Wales_," read "_Mudie's Felonry_."

Page 151, for "12,000," read "1,200 houses."

Page 155, for "regarded by," read "appeared to."

Page 166. Rev. S. Marsden. A pamphlet was published by Mr. Marsden, called _A Statement Relative to Illegal Punishment_ (1828). A warrant to this effect was produced:--"Sitting magistrates--Henry Grattan Douglas, Esq., and Rev. S. Marsden. James Blackburn, attached to the prisoners' barracks, ordered to receive twenty-five lashes every morning until he tells who were the four men in company with him gambling." This warrant, Mr. Marsden declared a forgery. Other charges were made of the same character, but they were refuted by Mr. Marsden. He proved his absence from the bench when sentences of torture were passed. In the text there is an apparent leaning to the charge, but there appears no fair ground to reject Mr. Marsden's refutation, which is most decisive as to his own participation in this revolting practice.

Page 189, for "real name," read "known name."

Page 271, for "primitive," read "punitive."

Page 321, for "Report of Institutions," read "Report of Hanwell Institution."

Page 335. The long delay in the publication of this work has given time for several important changes in the aspect of convict discipline. The local government of Van Diemen's Land, resolved in November, 1850, to restore the practice of assignment, and notices for this purpose were issued.

Thus the convict was bound to serve his master according to the duration of his sentence, and to accept such wages as the convict department might sanction. The object of this change was to reconcile the settlers to the continuance of transportation, by restoring an interest and authority which the probation system subverted.

The men who had been promised comparative liberty on their arrival, complained bitterly of this change, and claimed to work as free servants with masters of their own choice. Earl Grey expressed strong disapproval of this return to a system expressly repudiated by his party, and condemned by himself, and ordered the governor to compensate the men for breach of faith. August 4. 1851; No. 156.

The discovery of gold has altered the prospects of laborers. The amazing productiveness of the gold fields has withdrawn almost all good free labor from the colony. The active convict has the means of earning large wages, or of reaching the gold fields at an expense estimated at L5, including hush money. Thus the _Gazette_, from January 6, to March 30, 1852, shows the absconding of 492, and the arrest of 254. Yet many are not reported, and are therefore not included in these lists.

The incessant agitation of the colonies has produced considerable activity in the department, and external decency is respected. The more prominent establishments--both male and female, are creditably kept, and probably the internal evils are abated; and yet what can be hoped for men who, on their discharge from detention, recognise everywhere the associations and the haunts of convictism?