The _True Colonist_ newspaper was published daily during 1835: the
editor, Mr. Gilbert Robertson, filled its columns with strictures on
government, and in a style which might be termed heroic, if inspired by
truth. The rashness of his imputations was never surpassed. He heaped on
the governor, and the members of his administration, charges of
misdemeanour and felony. One day he denounced them at the police-office,
and the next printed his accusations _verbatim_. He libelled the
governor (whom he accused of altering a deed after its enrolment) in a
paper, headed "a fearful discovery;" and declared him not less deserving
than others of a capital conviction. Robertson charged an overseer of
Arthur with feloniously receiving hay for the governor's use, and with
his connivance. His nephews, Captains Forster and Montagu, were each
accused of a felonious appropriation of property belonging to the crown.
For these imputations, Robertson suffered fine and imprisonment;[196] in
part remitted by the clemency of Arthur. Such charges were a buckler to
the governor against the current scandal of the time. They were
transmitted to the colonial-office: they destroyed the moral weight of
the press, and cast suspicion on just complaints, yet emanating from a
community which tolerated such extravagance.
It is not to be inferred that the opponents of Arthur's government,
generally sanctioned these excesses. The violence of periodical writings
resulted partly from the paucity of topics, and was mainly a necessity
of trade. The limited field of discussion huddled all disputes into a
squabble. The writers could not forget the names of their antagonists:
they espoused with vehement zeal the trivial quarrels of this or that
functionary; officers, who were dismissed, supplied anecdotes of those
left behind, which were worked up in every form. The want of ideas and
information would have withdrawn many writers from the combat, had they
not possessed CAPITALS, exclamations (!!!!), and dashes--officered by
epithets of horror, as an army of reserve. These attempts to impart
energy to weakness, and terror to insignificance, gave to the articles
of many old newspapers the aspect of auction bills, rather than
political disquisitions.
The reader of a better era may fancy this description shaded; but the
writer, in preparing this work, has explored many a volume, and shudders
at the memory of his toils: he would not assign them to his worst enemy.
Such were not all: there were writers on either side, whose opposition
was discriminating, and who enlightened the understanding without
debasing the taste. The press was the more licentious, because nothing
else was free; but it raised a barrier against official corruption. Men
of integrity were annoyed, but rarely injured. It intimidated the
corrupt, and protected the oppressed. Considered in detail it was often
detestable; but it prevented mischief more serious and lasting.
These contentions embittered colonial life: they were daily renewed. The
topics they embraced were rarely interesting beyond the moment: they
filled the ephemeral publications of the day, and they now lie entombed
in those repositories of the literary dead.
From 1831 to the termination of Arthur's government, the circulation of
newspapers prodigiously increased: the improvement of the postal
establishment facilitated their spread. Settlers, who delighted in their
controversies, or dreaded their censure, subscribed to them all. With a
few honorable exceptions they rivalled each other in recklessness of
statement and roughness of diction. No lover of truth will accept their
testimony, or transmit their praises. They were often what they were
denominated by the chief justice--"a moral guillotine."
The spirit of contention was promoted by the peculiar fabric of society.
The great majority of the colonists were below the period of human life,
when the temper becomes cautious and the passions calm. Its narrow
sphere magnified their temporary importance. Every man might claim, or
forfeit benefits the government could bestow, and thus multitudes had
personal grievances, or unsatisfied expectations. The hostilities of the
day were almost invariably associated with some sense of individual
wrong. A grant of land desired by one, was given to another; a valuable
servant was denied on some public pretence, and then assigned to a
favored applicant. One found his mercantile tenders always rejected,
while another, by some unintelligible process, engrossed the custom 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
£20, the property of the crown. I have another distinct charge against
Captain Forster, and one against Captain Montagu, for stealing or
receiving certain building materials, the property of the crown."--_True
Colonist_, Feb 26, 1835.]