\ 

 94 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



have come just at the right time to complete the work of individual enterprise in 

 developing the vast resources of the country. Had it come earlier it would certainly 

 have disorganized, and might possibly have wrecked, the community in a chaos of wild 

 disorder, in which the most dangerous classes would have found free play for their 

 vicious instincts. Coming as it did, and when it did, it was almost an unmixed good 

 fortune. By attracting population from every quarter, it settled the great question 

 connected with the supply of labour, brought the world's commerce to the shores of 

 Port Jackson, and gave a fresh impulse to every form of industrial occupation. 



The Administration of Sir Charles Fitzroy marks the transition period from the 

 old form of government to the new. The colony in its inception was simply an 

 unwalled prison, in which a few free men were permitted to reside, and so rigid was the 

 exclusion that even a clergyman was re-shipped because he arrived without authority. 

 By a kind of natural instinct, naval officers -were chosen as the earliest Governors, being 

 accustomed to command, and to insist upon obedience. But in the nature of the case the 

 colonial prison tended to become a society, and the arbitrariness of the Governor became 

 inconsistent with the enjoyment of those personal and political rights which Englishmen 

 had been taught so dearly to cherish. With the exception of Captain Phillip, the naval 

 officers were not skilled in adapting themselves to the situation, and the mutiny in the time 

 of Governor Bligh convinced the Home Government that some change w r as necessary. 



A new principle of selection was therefore established, and military men took the 

 place of the sea-captains of former days. Colonel Macquarie was sent out with a view 

 to establish a different system of Administration, and from that time to the departure 

 of Sir George Gipps, the colony was governed on principles considerably .more enlightened 

 than those which had previously obtained, though the personal authority of the Governor 

 remained unaltered. The steady progress of the colony, notwithstanding all its reverses, 

 combined with the rapid increase of the free population, brought about a condition of 

 things which rendered military rule no longer possible. The colonists demanded the 

 rights and privileges of British subjects, and this demand was felt to be so natural and 

 so just, that it continued with increasing strength until it was satisfied. 



\\ ith Sir Charles Fitzroy came in a new order of Governors, neither soldiers nor 

 sailors, but gentlemen of high official or social standing, whose previous experience better 

 fitted them for the performance of their duties than that of their predecessors. A Legis- 

 lative Council, consisting of one-third Crown nominees and two-thirds elected members, 

 established in 1843, had brought the principle of popular representation partially into play. 

 It gave parliamentary voice to public opinion, and put pressure on the Administration 

 to govern in harmony with the wishes of the people. The Governor, too, though still 

 nominally absolute, rested largely on the advice of the experienced officers who presided 

 over the different departments so much so, that it may be said that during Sir Charles 

 Fftzroy's term of office the colony was really governed by the Colonial Secretary, Sir 

 E. Deas-Thonison, a gentleman of considerable capacity and high character. 



This state of things happily prepared the way for the introduction of responsible 

 government, under which the Viceroy should reign but not rule, following the advice of 

 his Cabinet in all but certain reserved matters of Imperial importance. This system has 

 now lasted for over thirty years without any serious hitch, anil with the result that the 



