The Book Of The Bush by George Dunderdale (books to read to improve english .TXT) 📕

As The First Judge.  The Proceedings In His Court Were Conducted In

The Style Of A Drum-Head Court Martial,  The Accusation,  Sentences,

And Execution Following One Another With Military Precision And

Rapidity.

He Adjudicated In Petty Sessions As A Magistrate,  And Dealt In A

Summary Manner With Capital Offences,  Which Were Very Numerous.  To

Imprison A Man Who Was Already A Prisoner For Life Was No Punishment;

The Major's Powers Were,  Therefore,  Limited To The Cat And The

Gallows.  And As The First Gallows Had Been Built To Carry Only Eight

Passengers,  His Daily Death Sentences Were Also Limited To That

Number.  For Twenty Years Torture Was Used To Extort Confession--

Even Women Were Flogged If They Refused To Give Evidence,  And An

Order Of The Governor Was Held To Be Equal To Law.  Major Abbott Died

In 1832.

In 1835 The Court Consisted Of The Judge-Advocate And Two Of The

Inhabitants Selected By The Governor,  Colonel Arthur,  Who Came Out In

The Year 1824,  And Had Been For Eleven Years A Terror To Evil-Doers.

His Rule Was As Despotic As He Could Possibly Make It.  If Any

Officer Appointed By The Home Government Disagreed With His Policy He

Suspended Him From His Office,  And Left Him To Seek Redress From His

Friends In England--A Tedious Process,  Which Lasted For Years.

Disagreeable Common People He Suspended Also--By The Neck.  If A

Farmer,  Squatter,  Or Merchant Was Insubordinate,  He Stopped His

Supply Of Convict Labour,  And Cruelly Left Him To Do His Own Work.

He Brooked No Discussion Of His Measures By Any Pestilent Editor. He

Filled All Places Of Profit With His Friends,  Relatives,  And

Dependents.  Everything Was Referred To His Royal Will And Pleasure.

His Manners Were Stiff And Formal,  His Tastes Moral,  His Habits On

Sundays Religious,  And His Temper Vindictive.  Next To The Articles

Of War,  The Thirty-Nine Articles Claimed His Obedience.  When His

Term Of Office Was Drawing To A Close He Went To Church On A Certain

Sunday To Receive The Lord's Supper.  While Studying His Prayer Book

He Observed That It Was His Duty If His Brother Had Anything Against

Him To Seek A Reconciliation Before Offering His Gift.  The

Ex-Attorney-General,  Gellibrand,  Was Present,  A Brother Christian Who

Had Had Many Things Against Him For Many Years.  He Had Other

Enemies,  Some Living And Some Dead,  But They Were Absent.  To Be

Reconciled To All Of Them Was An Impossibility.  He Could Not Ask The

Minister To Suspend The Service While He Went Round Hobart Town

Looking For His Enemies,  And Shaking Hands With Them.  But He Did

What Was Possible.  He Rose From His Knees,  Marched Over To

Gellibrand,  And Held Out His Hand.  Gellibrand Was Puzzled; He Looked

At The Hand And Could See Nothing In It.  By Way Of Explanation

Colonel Arthur Pointed Out The Passage In The Prayer-Book Which Had

Troubled His Sensitive Conscience.  Gellibrand Read It,  And Then

Shook Hands.  With A Soul Washed Whiter Than Snow,  The Colonel

Approached The Table.

Amongst The Convicts Every Grade Of Society Was Represented,  From

King Jorgensen To The Beggar.  One Governor Had A Convict Private

Secretary.  Officers Of The Army And Navy,  Merchants,  Doctors,  And

Clergymen Consorted With Costermongers,  Poachers,  And Pickpockets.

The Law,  It Is Sad To Relate,  Had Even Sent Out Lawyers,  Who

Practised Their Profession Under A Cloud,  And Sometimes Pleaded By

Permission Of The Court.  But Their Ancient Pride Had Been Trodden In

The Dust; The Aureole Which Once Encircled Their Wigs Was Gone,  And

They Were Often Snubbed And Silenced By Ignorant Justices.  The

Punishment For Being Found Out Is Life-Long And Terrible.  Their

Clients Paid The Fees Partly In Small Change And Partly In Rum.

The Defence Of The Seamen Accused Of Murdering Captain Blogg Was

Undertaken By Mr. Nicholas.  He Had Formerly Been Employed By The

Firm Of Eminent Solicitors In London Who Conducted The Defence Of

Queen Caroline,  When The "First Gentleman In Europe" Tried To Get Rid

Of Her,  And He Told Me That His Misfortunes (Forgeries) Had Deprived

Him Of The Honour Of Sharing With Lord Brougham The Credit Of Her

Acquittal.

Many Years Had Passed Since That Celebrated Trial When I Made The

Acquaintance Of Nicholas.  He Had By This Time Lost All Social

Distinction.  He Had Grown Old And Very Shabby,  And Was So Mean That

Even His Old Friends,  The Convicts Who Had Crossed The Straits,

Looked Down On Him With Contempt.  He Came To Me For An Elector's

Right,  As A Vote In Our Electorate--The Four Counties--Was

Sometimes Worth As Much As Forty Shillings,  Besides Unlimited Grog.

We Were Conservatives Then,  True Patriots,  And We Imitated--Feebly,

It Is True,  But Earnestly--The Time-Honoured Customs Of Old England.

Mr. Nicholas Had Been A Man Of Many Employments,  And Of Many

Religions.  He Was Never Troubled With Scruples Of Conscience,  But

Guided His Conduct Wholly By Enlightened Self-Interest.  He Was A

Broad Churchman,  Very Broad.  As Tutor In Various Families,  He Had

Instructed His Pupils In The Tenets Of The Church Of England,  Of The

Catholics,  Of The Presbyterians,  And Of The Baptists.  He Always

Professed The Religion Of His Employer For The Time Being,  And He

Found That Four Religions Were Sufficient For His Spiritual And

Temporal Wants.  There Were Many Other Sects,  But The Labour Of

Learning All Their Peculiar Views Would Not Pay,  So He Neglected

Them.  The Wesleyans Were At One Time All-Powerful In Our Road

District,  And Nicholas,  Foreseeing A Chance Of Filling An Office Of

Profit Under The Board,  Threw Away All His Sins,  And Obtained Grace

And A Billet As Toll-Collector Or Pikeman.  In England The Pike-Man

Was Always A Surly Brute,  Who Collected His Fees With The Help Of A

Bludgeon And A Bulldog,  But Nicholas Performed His Duties In The

Disguise Of A Saint.  He Waited For Passengers In His Little Wooden

Office,  Sitting At A Table,  With A Huge Bible Before Him,  Absorbed In

Spiritual Reading.  He Wore Spectacles On His Roman Nose,  Had A Long

Grey Beard,  Quoted Scripture To Chance Passengers,  And Was Very

Earnest For Their Salvation.  He Was Atoning For The Sins Of His

Youth By Leading The Life Of A Hermit By Praying And Cheating.  He

Has Had Many Followers. He Made Mistakes In His Cash,  Which For A

While Were Overlooked In So Good A Man,  But They Became At Length So

Serious That He Lost His Billet.  He Had For Some Time Been Spoken Of

By His Friends And Admirers As "Mr. Nicholas," But After His Last

Mistakes Had Been Discovered,  He Began To Be Known Merely As "Old

Nick The Lawyer," Or "Old Nick The Liar," Which Some Ignorant People

Look Upon As Convertible Terms.  I Think Lizard Skin,  The Cannibal,

Was A Better Christian Than Old Nick The Lawyer,  As He Was Brave And

Honest,  And Scorned To Tell A Lie.

The Convict Counsel For The Four Seamen Defended Them At A Great

Expenditure Of Learning And Lies.  He Argued At Great Length:--

"That There Was No Evidence That A Master Mariner Named Blogg Ever

Existed; That He Was An Outlaw,  And,  As Such,  Every British Subject

Had An Inchoate Right To Kill Him At Sight,  And,  Therefore,  That The

Seamen,  Supposing For The Sake Of Argument That They Did Kill Him,

Acted Strictly Within Their Legal Rights; That Blogg Drowned Himself

In A Fit Of Delirium Tremens,  After Being Drunk On Rum Three Days And

Nights Consecutively; That He Fell Overboard Accidentally And Was

Drowned; That The Cook And Mate Threw Him Overboard,  And Then Laid

The Blame On The Innocent Seamen; That Blogg Swam Ashore,  And Was Now

Living On An Unchartered Island; That If He Was Murdered,  His Body

Had Not Been Found:  There Could Be No Murder Without A Corpse; And

Finally,  He Would Respectfully Submit To That Honourable Court,  That

The Case Bristled With Ineradicable Difficulties."

The Seamen Would Have Been Sent To The Gallows In Any Case,  But

Nicholas' Speech Made Their Fate Inevitable.  The Court Brushed Aside

The Legal Bristles,  And Hanged The Four Seamen On The Evidence Of The

Mate And The Cook.

The Tragedy Of The Gallows Was Followed By A Short Afterpiece.  Jim

Parrish,  Ned Tomlins,  And Every Whaler And Foremast Man In Hobart

Town And On The Tamar,  Discussed The Evidence Both Drunk And Sober,

And The Opinion Was Universal That The Cook Ought To Have Sworn An

Oath Strong Enough To Go Through A Three-Inch Slab Of Hardwood That

He Had Seen Captain Blogg Carried Up To Heaven By Angels,  Instead Of

Swearing Away The Lives Of Men Who Had Taken His Part When He Was

Triced Up To The Mast.  The Cook Was In This Manner Tried By His

Peers And Condemned To Die,  And He Knew It.  He Tried To Escape By

Shipping On Board A Schooner Bound To Portland Bay With Whalers.  The

Captain Took On Board A Keg Of Rum,  Holding Fifteen Gallons,  Usually

Called A "Big Pup," And Invited The Mate To Share The Liquor With

Him.  The Result Was That The Two Officers Soon Became Incapable Of

Rational Navigation.  Off King's Island The Schooner Was Hove To In A

Gale Of Wind,  And For Fourteen Days Stood Off And On--Five Or Six

Hours One Way,  And Five Or Six Hours The Other--While The Master

And Mate Were Down Below,  "Nursing The Big Pup."  The Seamen Were All

Strangers To The Coast,  And Did Not Know Any Cove Into Which They

Could Run For Refuge.  The Cook Was Pitched Overboard One Dark Night

During That Gale Off King's Island,  And His Loss Was A Piece Of

Ancient History By The Time The Master And Mate Had Consumed The Rum,

And Were Able To Enter Up The Log.

Ex-Attorney-General Gellibrand Sailed To Port Philip To Look For

Country In Australia Felix,  And He Found It.  He Was Last Seen On A

Rounded Hill,  Gazing Over The Rich And Beautiful Land Which Borders

Lake Colac; Land Which He Was Not Fated To Occupy,  For He Wandered

Away And Was Lost,  And His Bones Lay Unburied By The Stream Which Now

Bears His Name.

When Colonel Arthur's Term Of Office Expired He