FIRST YEARS OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

One of the greatest efforts to which the industry and powers of man can be directed is to change a lonely uncultivated wilderness into an enclosed and fruitful country,—to occupy with civilised human beings and comfortable dwellings those wilds which have hitherto been nearly deserted, or at best but scantily and occasionally inhabited by savage barbarians. The colonisation of New South Wales by the English has been one of the most successful of these efforts; and certainly never before did the change effected by industry so rapidly make itself visible in the face of the new country. But, although the settlement of this colony may now be most certainly pronounced to have been a very successful experiment, it was by no means without hazard, and disappointment, and suffering, to those who were first engaged in it. Indeed it would appear to be the lot of infant colonies to cope with difficulties known only to first settlers in uncultivated lands; and while the enterprising colonist has to endure and struggle against these early trials, his children or grandchildren, or often the stranger who has made a favourable bargain of his property, are the persons who reap the reward of his toils. It must assuredly be a subject of interest to every inquiring mind to trace the feeble beginnings of an infant colony, accompanying it through all its variations of hope and despondency, of good or ill success, until it is at length conducted to a state of greatness and prosperity quite unexampled, when the shortness of its duration is considered. And since that colony is our own, since Britain is, for several reasons, unusually concerned, both morally and politically, in the welfare of New South Wales, it cannot but be useful as well as interesting to inquire somewhat concerning the past history, previously to our entering upon the present state, of that settlement.

In the year 1770, Captain Cooke, in his first voyage, had touched upon the eastern coast of New Holland, at a bay which, from the number of curious flowers that were there found growing wild, received the name of Botany Bay. About sixteen years afterwards, when the American war had closed up the great outlet by which the mother country had been accustomed to get rid of the worst of its population, it was resolved to form a colony for this purpose elsewhere. The coast of Africa was thought of, but wisely abandoned; and at length Botany Bay was the spot selected by the English government, which despatched, in 1787, the Sirius and the Supply, with six transports and three store-ships, having on board 565 men and 192 women, convicts, besides 160 marines, with their officers, some of their wives, and the necessary crews for working the ships. Provisions for two years were taken out, tools, agricultural implements, and other articles deemed necessary were also furnished, and the little fleet was placed under the command of Captain Phillip, the future governor of the intended colony. Some live stock was obtained at the Cape of Good Hope, and plants and seeds likely to be useful were procured likewise at that place, (then under the Dutch government,) and at Rio Janeiro. In eight months and a week the voyage was, with the Divine blessing, completed; and after having sailed 5021 leagues, and touched at both the American and African continents, they came to an anchor on January 20th, 1788, within a few days’ sail of the antipodes of their native country, having had, upon the whole, a very healthy and prosperous voyage. Botany Bay did not offer much that was promising for a settlement, since it was mostly surrounded by very poor land, and water was scarce.[82] The governor, accordingly, went in person to examine the two neighbouring harbours of Port Jackson and Broken Bay, and upon drawing near to the entrance of the former the coast looked as unpromising as elsewhere, and the natives on shore continued shouting, “Warra, warra,”—Go away, go away. Captain Cooke, passing by the heads of Port Jackson, thought there might be found shelter within for a boat but Captain Phillip was agreeably surprised at finding there one of the finest harbours in the world; and since the goodness of the soil and the supply of water appeared to be sufficient, it was resolved to fix the new settlement in one of the coves of this large and beautiful inlet. The spot chosen was near a run of fresh water, which stole silently through a very thick wood, the stillness of which was then for the first time interrupted by the rude sound of the labourer’s axe; and fifty years afterwards so great a change had taken place here, that the lowest price of crown land was then 1,000l. an acre, and in eligible situations sometimes a great deal more.[83]

The royal commission appointing the governor was read, together with the letters patent establishing courts of justice; and the behaviour of the convicts soon rendered it needful to act upon these, for, within a month of their landing, three of them were tried, found guilty, and severely punished. The ground was begun to be gradually cleared, a sort of farm was prepared to receive the live stock, and a garden for the plants and seeds; and, in obedience to the orders of the government at home, the Supply, commanded by Lieutenant King, was sent to Norfolk Island, some few days’ sail to the northeast of Port Jackson, for the purpose of forming a colony there in which the flax of New Zealand might be cultivated. With respect to the first progress of the colony at Sydney, it was very slow, in consequence both of the idleness and ignorance of the great majority of the colonists, to say nothing of their wickedness. In spite of all the efforts of the governor to prevent it, misunderstanding soon began to arise between the convicts and the natives, and it seemed impossible in an infant colony to put a sufficient check upon some of the unruly spirits belonging to the former class, while, at the same time, the thievish temper of the natives began very early to show itself, and to provoke injuries from men possessed of fire-arms. It must be owned, however, that proper regard was not always paid to the rights of the poor savages; and even so late as in the year 1810, a person charged with shooting at a native and wounding him, was tried simply for an assault; whilst another, who had committed a similar offence against a European was tried on the same day for his life![84] In the beginning of May, not four months after the arrival of the British ships at Port Jackson, and at a time when death and disease were making sad havoc among the settlers, it was found needful to cut short the life of one very juvenile offender by the hand of justice. James Bennett, a youth of only seventeen years of age, was executed for burglary, and died confessing that the love of idleness and bad connexions had been his ruin. Soon after this, three convicts were killed, and a fourth dangerously wounded, by the natives; and upon inquiry it was found that two of them had robbed these people of a canoe, an act of injustice which was, no doubt, the cause of their death. The celebration of King George III.’s birthday, on June the 4th, gave an opportunity to the evil-disposed to commit several robberies, and two of these afterwards suffered death for their offences, while another, who had gone into the woods, was proclaimed an outlaw. For want of any overseers or police, except those taken from their own class, the convicts were getting beyond all discipline; and so utterly reckless and improvident were some of them, that they would consume their weekly allowance of provisions by the end of the third or fourth day, and trust for their supply during the rest of the week to the chance of being able to steal from others that were more provident.[85] One of these degraded creatures is stated to have made up his week’s allowance of flour (eight pounds) into cakes, which having devoured at one meal, he was soon after taken up, speechless and senseless, and died the following day. Among a population like that of which we are treating, while crimes were lamentably common, conviction was comparatively rare. There was so much tenderness to each other’s guilt, such an acquaintance with vice and the different degrees of it, that, unless detected in the fact, it was next to impossible to bring an offence home to the transgressors. And with respect to their intercourse with the natives, though the convicts who suffered from them generally contrived to make out themselves to be in the right; yet, even upon their own showing, every accident that happened was occasioned by a breach of positive orders repeatedly given. In New South Wales, no less than in every other country, obedience to lawful authority was proved to be the safest and best way, after all; nor could that way be forsaken with impunity.

Amid the mass of moral corruption, which the British ships had thus imported into the coasts of New Holland, the only hope of infusing health and purity was from religion. But, unhappily, the age in which that expedition left the English shores, was certainly not a religious age; if there was less hypocrisy then than there now is, certainly there was less real piety. In the great towns of the mother country, population and wealth were allowed to make rapid strides, without a single thought being entertained of applying a portion of the increasing wealth of the nation to the spiritual instruction of its increasing population. If there was no room for the poorer classes of society at the parish church, it was thought they might go to the meeting-house; and if there was no room for them there, they might stay at home on the Lord’s day and be idle; it was doing no worse than many of their betters, in a worldly sense, were constantly in the habit of doing.[86] While notions and practices of this nature prevailed at home, it was not to be expected that any very extraordinary attention would be paid to the religious instruction of the convicts and other settlers in New South Wales. Yet since, even then, it would have been thought shocking to have left a large gaol, with 757 prisoners in it, altogether destitute of the offices of religion, so it could not have been expected that the same number of convicts would ever have been cast forth as evil from their native land, and their souls left to perish on the other side of the globe, without a single chance, humanly speaking, of receiving those blessings of forgiveness and grace, which Christ died to procure for all men. But, whatever might have been thought before hand, or whatever may have been the immediate cause of such neglect, it positively appears, that, “when the fleet was on the point of sailing, in the year 1787, no clergyman had been thought of,” nor was it without a strong appeal to those in authority from one whose conduct in this instance is worthy of all praise, Wilberforce, aided by the interest of Bishop Porteus with Sir Joseph Banks, that the Rev. William Johnson was appointed chaplain.[87] From whatever cause this oversight may have arisen, whether it was intentional, or (what is more likely) merely the consequence of forgetfulness and carelessness, it speaks pretty plainly for the religious indifference of the government. However, the colony was, happily, not permitted to be founded without any one present to administer the sacraments and ordinances, and enforce the duties of our holy religion among the first settlers and convicts.[88] By Divine Providence, acting through the instrumentality of man, the British nation was spared the sin and shame, which it had well nigh incurred, of casting forth from its own shores a vile mass of uncleanness and corruption, and forgetting at the same time to place amongst it the smallest portion of that good leaven by which alone its evil might be corrected. Accordingly, one chaplain[89] was sent out to officiate among about 1000 souls, who were at first dispersed in eleven ships, and more than two-thirds of them were in a state of extreme spiritual need, inasmuch as they had been guilty of gross and flagrant offences. And thus, thanks to the zeal and good feeling which had gained a victory over the supineness of government, the discharge of religious duties on the Sunday was never omitted at Sydney, Divine service being performed in the open air whenever the state of the weather would permit. All seems to have been done by the chaplain which could be effected under circumstances of great discouragement.[90] When our blessed Redeemer sent forth his disciples, he sent them by two and two, and how encouraging, in the midst of an evil world, is the conversation or counsel of a christian friend that is dearer than a brother! But the chaplain of New South Wales had no such assistance to fall back upon; he was left alone and single-handed—yet not alone, for Christ is ever with his authorised ministers, to fight against the mighty power of evils by which he was surrounded. He visited the sick and the convicts, going from settlement to settlement, and from hut to hut; travelling to the more distant stations, that were afterwards formed, as far as he could reach, and assembling as many as he could for divine service. With what success these efforts were attended we shall be better able to judge hereafter; but one truth must be borne in mind, which is, that, in the very nature of things, evil will make itself more prominent and noticed in the world than good; so that, whilst it may almost appear from the history of the colony, as though there was not one godly man left in it, we shall do well to remember that there may have been, nevertheless, many a one who was profited by the ministry of Christ’s Church among them, many a Naaman who had been taught to forsake the evil thing which he once delighted in worshipping, many a knee which had not bowed to Baal, and many a mouth which had not kissed his image.[91]

However, it cannot be denied that the greater number of the settlers of every description were but little disposed to listen to the words of eternal truth, although they were ready enough to listen to any falsehood which promised well for their worldly interests. Thus, before the first year of the colony had expired, it was pretended and believed that a gold mine had been discovered. The specimens of this which the impostor produced, were manufactured out of a guinea and a brass buckle; and his object in deceiving was, that he might get clothes and other articles in exchange for his promised gold dust, from the people belonging to the store ships. But his cheat was soon discovered, and all that his gold dust finally procured him, was a severe flogging, and before the end of the year he was executed for another offence. Yet it would not be far from the truth to state, that the British had indeed discovered a gold mine in Sydney, by working which with industry, ability, and perseverance, enormous riches have been obtained. When the story of the mine was invented, the land around Port Jackson was unproductive, and the hills wild or barren, but in little more than fifty years from that time the imports into the Port of Sydney amounted in 1840 to £2,462,858, while the amount of goods exported from the same place during that year was valued at £1,951,544.[92] Where was there ever a gold mine that was known to make a return so profitable as this to those that worked it?

The great object, and generally the most difficult to be obtained, in forming altogether a new colony, is to make it begin to produce a sufficiency to supply its own necessary wants. But, although this object was kept steadily in view from the very first in New South Wales, yet were there many hindrances to be overcome, and much suffering to be endured, before it was finally gained. The land near the new settlement is none of the best for farming operations, and persons at all acquainted with agriculture appear to have been very scarce among the settlers and convicts; besides which, the prevailing idleness was so great, that it seemed almost impossible to make the men exert themselves; and, perhaps, nothing less than the want and privations, which they subsequently endured, could have had this effect. A regular supply of provisions had constantly been issued from the government stores, and the convicts, with that short-sighted imprudence by which the vicious are generally distinguished, had never given themselves the trouble of looking forwards to the necessity of raising a supply of food for themselves. Meanwhile, although farming operations were going on but slowly, and not very successfully, the stores were being lessened at a rapid rate, not only by the ordinary issue of provisions, but likewise by rats and pilferers. Six soldiers, and an accomplice who turned king’s evidence, were discovered, after eight months of impunity, by means of a key which was left by one of them in the lock, upon his being disturbed by the patrol; and these men, having betrayed their trust as sentinels, and carried on a regular system of plunder for the purpose of indulging themselves in vice and drunkenness, were all executed. In April 1789 the Sirius returned, bringing the first cargo of provisions received by the colony, which was, however, only equal to four months’ supply at full rations. But full rations were not to continue much longer in the infant settlement. In November, 1789, very nearly two years after the arrival of the colonists, it was found needful to reduce the allowance to two-thirds of every sort of provisions, spirits alone excepted. No alteration was made in the allowance of the women, who were already upon two-thirds of the full ratio of a man; and it was eagerly and confidently expected that, after having waited so long, it would be but a short period more before an ample supply of all that was necessary would be received from the mother country.

In November, which is one of the summer months of the Australian calendar, the little harvest of the colony was got in. At Rose Hill, (or Paramatta, as it is now called,) where the best land had been found, upwards of two hundred bushels of wheat, about thirty-five bushels of barley, besides a small quantity of oats and Indian corn, were harvested; and the whole of this produce was intended to be kept for seed. At Sydney, the spot of cleared ground called the Governor’s Farm had produced about twenty-five bushels of barley. But the evil spirit of thieving was still as rife as ever among the convicts, and the young crops of wheat were the objects of plunder (especially after the reduction of the allowance,) notwithstanding the immense importance of preserving seed sufficient to crop a larger breadth of land for the following year. In the very beginning of 1790 the provisions brought from England wholly failed, having just about lasted during the two years for which they had been calculated; and the colonists then became totally dependent upon the slender stock brought for them by the Sirius from the Cape of Good Hope. Great anxiety began to be felt for an arrival from England, and a flagstaff[93] was erected on the south head of the entrance to the harbour of Port Jackson, so that a signal might be there made upon the first appearance of the expected vessel. In hope of this welcome event the eyes of the colonists were often directed thither, and often must their hearts have grown sick from the tedious delay of the hope in which they indulged. Certainly, it is a remarkable instance of the hard-heartedness and corruption of man’s nature, that, even under these circumstances, with the horrors of famine daily in view, left alone on a remote and desolate coast, and, as it appeared, forsaken by the rest of the world, they did not profit by the lessons thus forcibly brought before them, nor listen with any good effect to the warnings taught them by sorrow and trouble, those great and awakening preachers of righteousness.

During the anxious interval that succeeded, everything that was possible to be done for the public advantage was done by the governor. Occasionally, a fair supply of fish had been brought in, and accordingly a boat was employed to fish three times in the week, and the whole quantity that was taken was issued out in addition to the rations, which were equally distributed to every person, no distinction being made in favour of the governor himself, who, when he had a party at Government House, always requested his guests to bring their bread with them, for there was none to spare;—in February, 1790, there were not four months’ provisions in the colony, even at half allowance. These circumstances required thoughtful and vigorous measures to be promptly taken, and since Norfolk Island was a more fertile spot, and much better supplied with provisions at that time, it was resolved to send some of the convicts thither, unless the expected supplies from England should arrive before March 3d, the day fixed for their departure. 116 male and 68 female convicts, with 27 children, were thus sent away, and the colony wore quite a deserted appearance. Every effort was made to prevent the destruction of live stock, which was very rapidly taking place, and towards the end of March a yet further reduction was necessary in the allowances, which were then to be given out daily; an alteration at the same time was made in the hours of public labour, and the afternoons of each day were given up to the people to work for themselves in their own gardens. The fish that was caught was also issued out as part of the allowance, but at a more liberal rate,—ten pounds of fish being deemed equal to two and a half pounds of pork. In the midst of this necessity it is gratifying to find that the witness of the Church, though, as usual, too little heeded, was yet not silent; “attention to religious duties,” i.e. to Divine worship on Sundays, “was never omitted, and service was performed on Good Friday.”[94] But the early settlers of New South Wales were taught by sad experience the truth of that common saying that bids us to “welcome the sorrow that comes alone.” It had been arranged that the Sirius should return immediately from Norfolk Island, and then should sail direct for China to procure a supply of provisions immediately. But Providence never permitted the Sirius again to float upon the quiet waters of Sydney Cove. The vessel was lost upon a reef at Norfolk Island, after having landed most of those on board, and the others escaped with their lives, but the ship was totally destroyed. Disgraceful to relate, it was set on fire by two convicts who had been allowed to go on board on the second day after the wreck, in the hope of saving the live hogs, but these men got drunk with the liquor they found, and set the ship on fire in two places, nor was it without great difficulty that they were themselves rescued. This sorrowful intelligence was brought by the Supply,—the only remaining hope of procuring relief for the wants of the colony. After various precautionary measures had been taken, the Supply was despatched to Batavia, under orders to procure, not only a quantity of provisions, but also to hire a vessel, which should accompany the English ship on its return, and should bring to New South Wales a second cargo of necessaries. Meanwhile, the allowances were yet further reduced, and the governor, having reserved 300 bushels of wheat for seed, gave up 300 lbs. weight of flour, which was his own private property, for the public use; besides which, the expedients of fishing and shooting wild animals were tried, but with no great success. Crime appeared rather to increase than to diminish with the increase of temptation and opportunities; and at this awful period of trial for the whole population, it was judged necessary to execute one criminal. A female convict was at this time robbed of her week’s provisions, and she was left to subsist upon the bounty of others, since it was impossible to replace them from the public store; and if it was a cruel offence of one to rob the poor woman, it reflected credit upon many, that, under such circumstances, she was preserved from starvation.

At length, after six months of indescribable anxiety and privation, the expected signal was made, and a boat was sent off (in very rough weather) to direct the ship how to get safely into the harbour. It was the transport-ship, the Lady Juliana, which had been no less than ten months upon the voyage, and which brought news of the almost total destruction of another ship, the Guardian, which had been sent out previously, and well supplied with every thing necessary for a rising colony. The Lady Juliana brought very little addition to the supplies, compared with the additional number of consumers, above 200 female convicts, which she had with her; these had been sent upon the reckoning of the Guardian’s stores arriving beforehand; and if this had been permitted, probably the colony would never more have experienced want. It was unfortunate, at a time when a cargo of any thing but of convicts would have been serviceable, that scarcely any thing else should arrive. Before the end of June, however, another ship laden with provisions arrived, after having very narrowly escaped a wreck off the heads at the entrance of Port Jackson; and upon the welcome arrival of this supply the immediate scarcity ceased. Three other vessels shortly followed, and things were thus for a time restored to their former course; but repeated trials, arising from want of provisions, were afterwards, at intervals, the lot of the colony. In 1794, on the very day when the doors of the provision-store were closed, and the convicts had received their last allowance which remained, the signal for a sail was made; and it was the third day before the two vessels then in sight could be got into the harbour, but their arrival brought comparative abundance to the starving population of 3,000 people, who were beginning seriously to reckon up how far their live stock would go towards the supply of their necessities. Several other similar seasons of famine have been recorded, and it is curious and instructive to look back upon the day of small things in a country abundant as New South Wales at present is in the necessaries, comforts, and even luxuries, of life.

The state of health in which many of the convicts reached their place of exile, and the numbers of them which never reached it at all, were deplorable facts, proving too truly that men may be found capable of doing any thing for the hope of profit. A certain sum per head was paid by the government for each convict, and thus the dead became more profitable to the contractors than the living were; for the expenses of the former were less, while the stipulated payments were the same in both cases. Out of three ships 274 convicts died on the voyage,[95] and when they had landed, there were no less than 488 persons in the hospital. Neglect like this of the miserable creatures who had broken their country’s laws, most justly awakens our feelings of indignation; and these are righteous feelings, but let them not be confined to the bodily neglect to which, in a comparatively few instances at first, the convicts were exposed. Let us recollect, with sorrow rather than indignation, how many thousands of these unhappy creatures have, down to the present time, been left to perish, in a spiritual sense, and that, likewise, from motives of profit, for fear of the outcry of want of economy being excited in a wealthy nation, if sufficient means of spiritual instruction were provided for our banished fellow-countrymen!

Soon after the arrival of the three transports, those of the convicts that were in tolerable health were settled at Rose Hill, and the town now called Paramatta was laid out; and the commencement of a system of free settlers was provided for, although the retired soldiers, those parties for whom it was originally intended, were not usually very persevering or successful in their attempts at farming. In September, 1790, Governor Phillip received that wound of which mention has been made elsewhere;[96] and this season the dry weather was so excessive, that the gardens and fields of corn were parched up for want of moisture. Five convicts left Paramatta in a boat, and got out of the harbour without being discovered, having provisions for a week with them, and purposing to steer for Otaheite![97] A search was made for them, but in vain, and beyond doubt they must have perished miserably. At various times, the convicts, especially some of the Irish, set off to the northwards, meaning to travel by the interior of New Holland overland to China; and many were either starved to death or else killed by the natives, while pursuing this vain hope of escape from thraldom.

The next event of importance to the infant colony was the arrival, towards the close of 1791, of what is called the second fleet, consisting of no less than ten ships, and having on board upwards of 2,000 convicts, with provisions and other necessaries. These ships came dropping into the harbour at short intervals after each other, and their arrival, together with the needful preparations for the additional numbers brought by them, gave an air of bustle and life to the little town of Sydney. Various public works and buildings had been carried on, especially some tanks were cut in the rocks to serve as reservoirs in dry seasons, and at Paramatta between forty and fifty fresh acres were expected to be got ready for Indian corn this year. By his Majesty’s ship Gorgon, certain needful instruments and powers for carrying on the government of the colony were sent, and amongst others the public seal of New South Wales. Two or three of the vessels which had arrived from England, were employed, after discharging their cargoes, in the whale-fishery, and not altogether without success; so early did British enterprise turn itself to that occupation, which has latterly become most profitable in those regions. During this year, the governor for the first time exercised a power which had only recently been given him, and several convicts were, on account of their good behaviour, released from their state of bondage, on condition of their not returning to England before the term of their sentences had expired. Various allotments of land were also given to those whose terms had already expired, and who signified their willingness to become settlers in this new country. At the close of the year 1791, nearly four years from the first landing of the British in Port Jackson, the public live stock consisted of one aged stallion, one mare, two young stallions, two colts, sixteen cows, two calves, one ram, fifty ewes, six lambs, one boar, fourteen sows, and twenty-two pigs. The cultivated ground at Paramatta amounted to three hundred acres in maize, forty-four in wheat, six in barley, one in oats, four in vines, eighty-six in garden-ground, and seventeen in cultivation by the soldiers of the New South Wales Corps. Thus humble were the beginnings, even after some time, of that wealth in flocks and herds for which our Australian colonies are now so justly celebrated.

Very little, meanwhile, is recorded of the chaplain, Mr. Johnson, or his doings, but that little is to his credit. He was, it appears, in the habit of relieving from his own private bounty the convicts who were most in need; and some of them spread abroad a report that this was done from funds raised by subscription in the mother country; and upon the strength of this notion, in the spirit which the poorer classes in England too often exhibit, they chose to claim relief as though it were their just right. This false notion was publicly contradicted, and Mr. Johnson thought it necessary that the convicts should know that it was to his bounty alone that they were indebted for these gifts, and that, consequently, the partakers of them were to be of his own selection. Another instance of the kindness of Mr. Johnson, and of the evil return it met with, has also been recorded, and though it occurred some years afterwards, in 1797, it may be noticed here. It happened that among the convicts there was found one who had been this gentleman’s schoolfellow, and the chaplain, feeling compassion for his fallen condition, had taken him into his service, and treated him with the utmost confidence and indulgence. Soon afterwards, it was rumoured that this man had taken an impression of the key of the store-room in clay, from which he had procured another key to fit the lock. Mr. Johnson scarcely credited the story, but at length he consented that a constable should be concealed in the house on a Sunday, when all the family, except this person, would be engaged in Divine service. The plan succeeded too well. Supposing that all was secure, the ungrateful wretch applied his key to the door of the store-room, and began to plunder it of all the articles he chose to take, until the constable, leaving his hiding-place, put an end to the robbery by making the thief his prisoner.

The attention of Mr. Johnson to his ministerial and public duties appears to have continued in a quiet and regular way, but its fruits were by no means so manifest as could have been wished. In 1790 he complained to the authorities of the want of attendance at divine service, which, it must be observed, was generally performed in the open air, exposed alike to the wind and rain, or burning sun; and then it was ordered that a certain portion of provisions should be taken off from the allowance of each person who might absent himself from prayers without giving a reasonable excuse. And thus, we may suppose, a better congregation was secured; but, alas! from what a motive were they induced to draw near their God. And how many are there, it is to be feared, in our country parishes in England, whose great inducement to attend their church is the fact that the clergyman generally has certain gifts to distribute: how common a fault, in short, has it been in all ages and in all countries for men to seek Christ from no higher motive than that they may “eat of the loaves and be filled!”[98] In proof of the single voice that was raised in the wilderness of New South Wales being not altogether an empty and ineffectual sound, we are told that in 1790, when the female convicts who arrived by the Lady Juliana attended divine service for the first time, Mr. Johnson, with much propriety, in his discourse, touched upon their situation so forcibly as to draw tears from many of them, who were not yet hardened enough to be altogether insensible to truth. Another instance of very praiseworthy zeal was afforded by the voluntary visit of the chaplain of New South Wales in 1791 to Norfolk Island, which small colony had never yet been favoured even with the temporary presence of a minister of the Church of Christ.

But a yet better proof of the chaplain’s earnestness was given, after the colony had been settled for six years, in his building a church,—the first that was raised in New Holland for the purposes of christian worship. Even now, we often may hear and lament the ignorance which chooses to reckon the clergy as the Church, and which looks upon the efforts recently made in favour of church extension, as lying quite beyond the province of the laity; and this deplorable ignorance was much more common in Mr. Johnson’s days.[99] Accordingly, to the disgrace of the colony and of the government at home, no church was raised during six years, and when at last that object was accomplished, it was by the private purse and the single efforts of an individual,—the chaplain of the colony. The building was in a very humble style, made of wood and thatched, and it is said to have cost Mr. Johnson only 40l.; but all this merely serves to show how easily the good work might have been before done, how inexcusable it was to leave its accomplishment to one individual. A few months before this necessary work was undertaken the colony had been visited by two Spanish ships, and it is possible that an observation made by the Romish priest belonging to one of these ships may have had some effect towards raising the first church built at Sydney. At the time when the Spanish ships were in the harbour, the English chaplain performed divine service wherever he could find a shady spot; and the Spanish priest observing that, during so many years no church had been built, lifted up his eyes with astonishment, declaring (truly), that, had the place been settled by his nation, a house of God would have been erected before any house for man. How disgraceful to the English nation, how injurious to our Reformed Church, that an observation like this, coming from the lips of one who belonged to a corrupt and idolatrous church, should be so true, so incapable of contradiction! However, if the remark had any effect in exciting the efforts of the Protestant chaplain, and in thus supplying at length a want so palpable as that of a house of God in the colony, it was by no means uttered in vain; and supposing it to be so, this is not a solitary instance of our Church and her members having been aroused into activity by the taunts and attacks of those that are opposed to her.

Upon the opening of the humble building, which had thus tardily been raised for the purposes of divine worship, and to consecrate which according to the beautiful forms of our English church there was no bishop in the colony, the chaplain preached a suitable sermon, we are informed; but, if it may be judged from the scanty record that is preserved of it, this discourse partook of the cold and worldly spirit of the age in which it was delivered. Mr. Johnson began well with impressing upon his hearers the necessity of holiness in every place, and then lamented the urgency of public works having prevented the erection of a church sooner. As though a building for the public worship of Almighty God were not the most urgent of all public works in every christian community! He next went on to declare, that his only motive in coming forward in the business was that of establishing a place sheltered from bad weather, and from the summer-heats, where public worship might be performed. The uncertainty of a place where they might attend had prevented many from coming, but he hoped that now the attendance would be regular.[100] Surely, the worthy chaplain might have had and avowed a higher motive for building a house of God, than that of keeping men from the wind, and the rain, and the sun; and, undoubtedly, as the inconvenience of the former system was no good excuse for absence from divine service, so neither could the comparative convenience of the new arrangement be at all a proper motive for attendance upon it.

However, many allowances are to be made for Mr. Johnson, and it becomes us, while we condemn the faults, to spare the persons, of the men of that and of other past generations; especially when we look at our own age, and see, notwithstanding the improvement that has unquestionably taken place, how many conspicuous faults there are prevailing among us, which those of future generations will justly pity and condemn. It may be well, before the subject of the church raised by Mr. Johnson is finally quitted, to acquaint the reader with its fate. In 1798, after having stood only five years, it was discovered one evening to be on fire, and, all efforts to save it proving useless, from the combustible nature of the materials, it was consumed in an hour. “This was a great loss,” observes the historian of the colony, “for during the working days of the week the building was used as a school, in which from 150 to 200 children were educated, under the immediate inspection of Mr. Johnson. As this building stood alone, and no person was suffered to remain in it after the school hours, there was not a doubt but the atrocious act was the effect of design, and in consequence of an order enforcing attendance on divine service.” The governor, however, with praiseworthy zeal, would not suffer a single Sunday to be lost, but ordered a new store-house, which was just finished, to be fitted up for a church. One brief observation may here be added. How powerful a witness do the enemies of Christ’s Church, and of our English branch of it, bear to the usefulness and effect of its doctrine, even in its most helpless and lowest condition, by the ceaseless and unscrupulous pains which they take in trying to silence its testimony!

No apology is necessary for detaining the reader so long upon these little details, since if the religious state and progress of an infant colony be not an interesting feature in its history, what can we hope to find in it that is deserving of the attention of a thoughtful and well-regulated mind? But we return now to the temporal affairs of New South Wales. The year 1792, which began with reduced rations of provisions, was a time of great suffering and scarcity in the colony, nor was it until the latter part of the year that any relief for the wants of the settlers arrived. Meanwhile the mortality that took place was very alarming, and notwithstanding the sickness that prevailed, there was no abatement in wickedness and crime. At one time during this year no less than fifty-three persons were missing, many of whom never returned, having perished, no doubt, miserably in the woods, while seeking for a new settlement, or endeavouring to find their way to China! An execution for theft took place in January, and the unhappy man declared that hunger had tempted him to commit the crime for which he suffered. Many instances of profligacy among the convicts occurred, but one stands forth distinguished by especial wickedness. A woman had been trusted to carry to the bakehouse the allowance of flour belonging to two others; and after having run in debt for flour taken up on their account, she mixed a quantity of pounded stone, in the proportion of two-thirds of grit to one of flour, with the meal belonging to the other women.[101] Fortunately, the deceit was found out before the flour was mixed with other meal at the bakehouse, and the culprit was sentenced to wear an iron collar for six months. In April, a convict was killed by a blow from the limb of a tree, which fell on his head as he passed under it, and fractured his skull. He died on the spot, having earned from those who knew him the character of being so great a reprobate, that he was scarcely ever known to speak without an oath, or without calling on his Maker to witness the truth of the lie he was about to utter. Are these poor creatures, if may be again asked, to be cast out from their own country, and left (as they too often have been,) to their own evil devices and to Satan’s temptations, without involving the nation that has thus treated them in a load of guilt too fearful to contemplate?

Towards the end of the year 1792 the harvest was gathered in from the 1540 acres of cleared ground, which were sown in the preceding seed-time. The produce was tolerably good, and since no less than 3470 acres of land had already been granted to settlers, it was hoped that before very long the colony might cease to be almost entirely dependent for its support upon the precarious supply which it received from ships. The colonists then learned by sad experience what many Englishmen in the present day seem unwilling to believe, that it is one of the worst evils to be dependent upon other countries for daily bread. In December, the governor, Captain Phillip, left the colony from ill health, having acted with much prudence and vigour during his administration, and leaving behind him a respectable character; he returned to England, where his services were rewarded by a pension of 400l. a-year, and he retired to Bath, at which city he died. His activity in exploring the neighbouring country and discovering its capabilities, his courage and firmness on many very trying occasions, his steady opposition to every proposal of abandoning the settlement, together with his general character, sufficiently entitle his memory to regard and respect from those who are now living in New South Wales, and reaping in comparative ease the fruit of that harvest which it cost him and others great pains and many trials to sow.

Before the first Governor of New South Wales left that country, he had the satisfaction of seeing its prospects of a future sufficiency of provisions very greatly improved; and a work of charity, the hospital at Paramatta, was completed in the month before that in which he sailed. With the year 1793 began a new government, for as no successor had been appointed at home to Captain Phillip, the chief power now came, according to what had been previously provided, into the hands of Major Grose, of the New South Wales Corps, who assumed the style of Lieutenant-Governor. During nearly three years things continued in this state; only Major Grose left the settlement, and was succeeded by Captain Paterson; nor was it until 1795 that a regular successor to the first governor arrived in the colony. In this period many things occurred which were, no doubt, of the highest interest to the settlers at the time, but few events which deserve our particular notice now. A fire, which destroyed a house worth 15l., and thirty bushels of new wheat;—the alternate scarcity and comparative abundance of provisions;—the arrival or departure of ships from the harbour;—the commission of the first murder in the colony, and other sad accounts of human depravity and its punishment;—the gradual improvement and extension of the colony;—the first sale by auction of a farm of twenty-five acres for the sum of 13l.:—these and similar subjects occupy the history of New South Wales, not merely during the three years that elapsed between Governor Phillip’s departure and the arrival of his successor, but also during the long period of gradual but increasing improvement which followed the last event.

Yet, while the improvement of the little colony was evidently steady and increasing, when its affairs are regarded in a temporal point of view, in morals its progress appeared to be directly contrary; and, painful though it be to dwell upon the sins and follies of men, whose bodies have long since passed away to their parent dust, and their souls returned to God who gave them, nevertheless, there are many wholesome lessons of instruction and humiliation to be gathered from the history of human depravity in New South Wales. One of the crying sins of the mother country,—a sin now very much confined to the lower classes of society, but fifty years ago equally common among all classes,—is that of drunkenness; and it could scarcely be expected that the outcast daughter in Australia would be less blamable in this respect than the mother from which she sprang.[102] Accordingly, we find that as soon as it was possible to procure spirits, at however great a sacrifice, they were obtained, and intoxication was indulged in,—if such brutality deserves the name of indulgence,—to an awful extent. Whether all that a writer very intimately acquainted with New South Wales urges against the officers of the New South Wales Corps be true or not, so far as their dealings in spirituous liquors are concerned, there can be no question that these mischievous articles became almost entirely the current coin of the settlement, and were the source of worldly gain to a few, while they proved the moral ruin of almost all, in the colony. But, without giving entire credit to all the assertions of Dr. Lang, who deals very much in hasty notions and exaggerated opinions,[103] we may sorrowfully acknowledge that, if the convicts in New South Wales gave way in a horrible manner to drunkenness and its attendant sins, the upper classes, in general, either set them a bad example, or made a plunder of them by pandering to their favourite vice. The passion for liquor, it is stated by Collins,[104] operated like a mania, there being nothing which the people would not risk to obtain it: and while spirits were to be had, those who did any extra labour refused to be paid in money, or in any other article than spirits, which were then so scarce as to be sold at six shillings a bottle. So eagerly were fermented liquors sought after, and so little was the value of money in a place where neither the comforts nor luxuries of life could be bought, that the purchaser has been often known, in the early days of the colony, to name himself a price for the article he wanted, fixing it as high again as would otherwise have been required of him. When the few boat-builders and shipwrights in the colony had leisure, they employed themselves in building boats for those that would pay them their price, namely, five or six gallons of spirits. It could be no matter of surprise that boats made by workmen so paid should be badly put together, and scarcely seaworthy.

But, however commonly the standard of value might be measured by spirituous liquors, yet it is evident that these, being themselves procurable for money, could not altogether supersede the desire of money itself. Hence arose those numerous acts of theft and depredation, that improvident thirst after present gain, that total disregard of future consequences by which many of the first inhabitants of the colony were disgraced and ruined. The contagion of evil example forced its way into Government House, and the steward of Governor Hunter became an awful instance of the mischief of bad society. Against this he had been often cautioned by his master, but to no purpose, until at length he was discovered abusing the unlimited confidence which had been placed in him, and making use of the governor’s name in a most iniquitous manner. At this discovery the wretched victim of evil communication retired to a shrubbery in his master’s garden, and shot himself through the head.

From the love of money, which no mean authority has pronounced to be “the root of all evil,”[105] arose likewise that spirit of gambling, which ended in murder on one occasion before the settlement had existed more than six years; and which on many occasions was the manifest cause of misery and ruin to those in whom this evil spirit had taken up its abode. To such excess was the pursuit of gambling carried among the convicts, that some had been known, after losing provisions, money, and all their spare clothing, to have staked and lost the very clothes on their wretched backs, standing in the midst of their associates as degraded, and as careless of their degradation, as the natives of the country which these gamblers disgraced. Money was their principal object, for with money they could purchase spirits, or whatever else their passions made them covet, or the colony could furnish. These unhappy men have been seen to play at their favourite games for six, eight, and ten dollars each game; and those who were not expert at these, instead of pence, tossed up for dollars![106]