NEW SOUTH WALES AND PARLIAMENT. 301 



Colony in 1808, also gave evidence. The most recent arrival 

 and the most intelligent witness was Lieutenant Edward Lord 

 of Van Diemen's Land, but he had no knowledge of the parent 

 Colony. The evidence on the whole was very weak. Few 

 witnesses appeared sure of their facts and fewer still to have 

 observed with closeness or accuracy the colonial Government 

 or the condition of the population. Far more valuable was 

 the small collection of extracts from Macquarie's despatches 

 and the letter of Ellis Bent to Lord Liverpool, 1 and it was on 

 these that the Committee based the greater part of their report. 2 

 That report was on the whole sanguine. New South Wales 

 was "in their opinion in a train entirely to answer the ends 

 proposed by its establishment. It appears latterly to have 

 attracted a greater share of the attention of Government than 

 it did for many years after its foundation ; and when the several 

 beneficial orders lately sent out from this country 3 and the 

 liberal views of the present Governor 4 shall have had time to 

 operate, the best effects are to be expected. The permission 

 of distillation and the reforms of the Courts of Justice are two 

 measures which your Committee above all others recommend 

 as most necessary to stimulate agricultural industry, and to give 

 the inhabitants that confidence and legal security which can 

 alone render them contented with the Government under which 

 they are placed." 5 



The report was no doubt very unsatisfactory to those who 

 had promoted the Committee, and for some time New South 

 Wales was neglected by the Opposition. In 1815, however, 

 when the Government brought in a Bill for renewing the Trans- 

 portation Laws, they met with strong opposition, and the Bill 

 was passed as a temporary measure for one year only. 



On this occasion Romilly and the Hon. Henry Grey Bennet 

 were the most prominent speakers against the Bill. Bennet 

 had entered Parliament in 1814 as member for Shrewsbury, 



1 Quoted in Chapter III. above. 



2 See P.P., 1812, vol. ii., Appendix. 



3 The most important was the order for opening the ports. 



4 The hearty endorsement by the Committee of Macquarie's Emancipist 

 Policy exerted far greater influence on the development of the Colony than any 

 other part of the report. 



5 See conclusion of C. on T. 



