CHAPTER II. Rebellion of Military...
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CHAPTER II
Rebellion of Military and People--Governor Bligh--John Macarthur--Henry Kingsley's View.
IN the history of the first twenty years of the Colony of New South Wales is recorded a rebellion of the military and the people. A certain number of the leading men in public affairs, encouraged by the military authorities, and backed up by the people, took the extreme course of deposing the Governor, shipping him off to the old country, labelling him as "tried, and found wanting," and wholly unfit for a Governor; and earnestly praying those responsible for the good government of the colony not to send them such another. My father, when asked if he had been one of the rebels, replied that he was absent in England during the commotion; but his friends were bold enough to say, that had he been in the colony during the great crisis, he most certainly would have been foremost amongst them. Those who have written in a judicial spirit of this interesting episode in the history of the colony, are pretty unanimous in speaking of it as a rebellion provoked by the arbitrary disposition and acts of the Governor. Of course, the Imperial authorities could not wholly overlook such a gross act of insubordination on the part of the military and the people; and lost no time in bringing to trial Major Johnstone, the commanding officer of the New South Wales Corps--the result being that he was cashiered, and his regiment disbanded.
The colony was now growing in population and wealth; and to preserve order thenceforth, one or two regiments of the line were stationed in the principal centres of settlement up and down the colony.
Extracts of a book, entitled, "First Twenty Years of Australia," by James Bonwick, F.R.G.S., published in 1882, may fittingly be inserted here. The author goes somewhat fully into the question of the great rebellion in the little colony. It was conceived, organised, and to a large extent developed by John Macarthur, of the New South Wales Corps. He was, at this period of the history of the colony, certainly the foremost and most enterprising of its settlers.
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Developing at a rapid rate into a rich and influential man, he seemed to provoke the jealousy, if not ill-will, of Governors. This strained relation between Governors and governed had perceptibly existed during the rule of Governors Phillip and Hunter, both of whom had, in their day, represented to the Home Government that Mr. John Macarthur was certainly getting to exercise too great an influence in public affairs. But the authorities in the old country seemed not to be much disturbed by the information; they, at any rate, took no steps to lessen that influence. Meanwhile, Governor Bligh arrived in the colony; and from the day of his arrival to the hour of his departure, Mr. Macarthur seems to have been treated by His Majesty's representative as a man to be 'put down' at any cost. Mr. Macarthur, however, was not a man to be put down easily--had no notion, even, of submitting patiently to what he regarded as persecution. Gathering around him a large body of sympathisers, men of influence, from all parts of the colony, he defied the Governor; and placed himself in communication with his commanding officer, who, acting under Mr. Macarthur's inspiration and direction, took the bold step of deposing the Governor. The requisition, drawn up and forwarded to Major Johnstone, the officer in command of the 102nd Regiment, imploring him to relieve the colony of the incubus that rested upon it in the person of Governor Bligh, was in the following terms:--'The present alarming state of this colony, in which every man's property, liberty, and life are endangered, induces us most earnestly to implore you to place Governor Bligh under arrest, and to assume the control of the colony. We pledge ourselves, at a moment of less agitation, to come forward to support the measure with our fortunes and our lives.' In accordance with the above requisition, Major Johnstone lost no time in communicating with the Governor, and in the following terms:--'Sir,--I am called upon to execute a most painful duty. You are charged, by the respectable inhabitants, of crimes that render you unfit to exercise the supreme authority another moment in this colony; and in that charge, all the officers under my command have joined. I, therefore, require you, in His Majesty's sacred name, to resign your authority, and to submit to be arrested. I now place you under arrest, by the advice of all my officers, and with the approval of every respectable inhabitant of the town of Sydney.'
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On the following day, the Governor was formally deposed; bonfires were lighted at the corners of almost every street; magistrates were dismissed, &c, &c.; and on the same day, Major Johnstone issued the following proclamation:--'The public peace being happily, and I trust in Almighty God, permanently established, I hereby proclaim the cessation of martial law. I have this day appointed magistrates, and other public functionaries, from amongst the most respectable officers and inhabitants. In future, no man shall have just cause to complain of violence, injustice, or oppression 5 no free man shall be taken, imprisoned, or deprived of his home, land, or liberty, but by law. Justice shall be impartially administered, without regard to, or respect of persons, and every man shall enjoy the fruits of his industry in security, &c, &c." Thus ended the great rebellion of the New South Wales Corps and the colonists. The sequel was that Major Johnstone was cashiered, and the corps became one of the ordinary regiments of the line (103rd), and was removed for ever from New South Wales. Major Johnstone returned to Sydney as a settler, and lived there for many years, much respected. The civil power again became dominant, and no military or militia ever again interfered with the safety of Government, or the peace of the citizens.
Henry Kingsley, before quoted, has something to say of the rebellion, and of the Governor.who provoked it. He writes:--"The first real sign of civilisation was, of course, a rebellion. Our old friend and hero, 'Bligh,' of the 'Bounty,' who had successfully proved that his temper was so atrocious that he could not keep a picked crew of excellent men in order, was, for some inscrutable reason, 'told off' to administer this colony, just at the very time when free settlers were becoming powerful, and when the most perfect tact and caution were required. The end was an explosion. The troops mutinied, &c, &c. The part that Captain John Macarthur took in the rebellion is well-nigh forgotten; but the enterprise and energy displayed by him, from first to last, in establishing the reputation of New South Wales as an unlimited and unsurpassed field for pastoral pursuits, is not, ought not, and never will be forgotten by all good colonists. He introduced into Australia the merino sheep. In the year 1800, they numbered some three or four hundred; they now number thirty millions, or more. A little over
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ninety years ago, the population of this continent, as large as Europe, numbered 1,000 strong. The population of the united colonies, ten years ago, was 1,670,000. Their revenue, in the same year, was £10,194,000." In conclusion, he says, "The object of our race is to civilise the earth; and we have not done very badly, with such figures as these before us." There is recorded also, in the early history of New South Wales, a flickering of the flame of rebellion among the Irish exiles, which would appear to have been promptly snuffed out by the same Major Johnstone, who had played so prominent and important a part in the great rebellion.
