stom of
the crown. A youthful stranger was invested with the honors of a
justice, when colonists of long standing were left undistinguished. The
infractions of rule involved one master in public disgrace; another, was
a licensed transgressor. Such was the complaint, which might be easily
illustrated by examples; but they are such as a knowledge of mankind
will amply explain, and are inevitable when the form of government is
arbitrary, and where its functions enter into all the details of private
life.

This was felt towards the close of Arthur's administration, and many,
not prone to party strife, were anxious for its termination. The
meetings to petition were more frequent, and assumed a more general
character. As the causes of dissension became better understood, the
patronage of the governor ceased to be considerable, and no colonist was
a lover of unprofitable despotism. These sentiments prevailed in both
penal colonies.

A "political association" was formed in Van Diemen's Land: a standing
council was organised, under the auspices of certain leading
politicians, who discussed the measures deemed necessary to amend their
social and political condition. Mr. Thomas Horne, the secretary of this
body, opened a correspondence with the governor, and endeavoured to
direct his attention to its complaints. Arthur declined recognising his
credentials, without an express sanction from the crown. The
association, however, carried on its debates. The council deliberated in
public: the members were assembled in the body of the hall, and
spectators were admitted to the gallery. Their proceedings were reported
in the newspapers, but with party coloring. By Dr. Ross they were
turned into bitter ridicule: his remarks were retorted with cruelty and
insult. A storm collected around him he could not disperse, and he laid
down his pen soon after, with expressions of ill-concealed anguish.[197]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 196: "I charge Mr. Fitzpatrick, late overseer of the
government farm, with stealing or embezzling a quantity of hay, the
property of the crown; and one John Compton, the overseer of Colonel
Arthur's farm at the Marsh, with receiving the hay. I also charge Mr.
Davidson, late superintendent of the government garden, with embezzling,
and Captain Forster with receiving, four Norfolk Island pines, value
L20, the property of the crown. I have another distinct charge against
Captain Forster, and one against Captain Montagu, for