48 THE PASTORAL AGE IN AUSTRALASIA 



fought for himself. Johnston then left Bligh under 

 arrest, proclaimed martial law, and purged the public 

 service of unworthy officers. McArthur was re-tried 

 and acquitted, and next appointed Colonial Secretary. 

 So ended the first act of the tragi-comedy. 



Such is the commonly accepted version of this strange 

 series of events. It is almost certainly biassed and 

 partial. Judge Barron Field and Judge-Advocate 

 Wylde were no mere partizans, and they were McArthur's 

 contemporaries. Well, their account of " the Botany 

 Bay Mutiny " was uncompromising. They wrote of 

 " the rebellion which he John McArthur almost alone 

 caused." A writer of later date — certainly no friend 

 of McArthur — Dr. Lang, denominated the rising as 

 simply " rebelhon." It is probably the opinion of most 

 readers now. Bligh's temper and manners were none 

 of the best, it is true. He screamed at McArthur as 

 if he were, like the majority of Bligh's subjects, a con- 

 victed felon. With an oath he blasphemously took 

 in vain the high name of the Secretary of State and 

 the still more august dignity of the Privy Council. 

 But it was chiefly the big men, the officers and the 

 leaders, who had cause to be offended. The evidence 

 offered (as by Rusden) to show that their resentment 

 was shared by the community is unconvincing. 



The free settlers, according to Lang, were for Bligh 

 and exerted themselves for him. They were not 

 numerous, it is true, but they existed, though they 

 were all along borne doAvn by the military. All of 

 Mr. Rusden's attempts to diminish the magnitude 

 and importance of their sympathy strike one as being 

 in the nature of special pleading. He had a thesis to 

 maintain. He evidently beheved Bligh to be either 

 an outrageous fool or a violent madman. He makes 

 no attempt to account for Bhgh's unpopularity with 

 the miUtary. The chief consideration he could have 

 adduced he was precluded from using. He had main- 

 tained that Governor King had completely suppressed 

 the mihtary monopoly and the trade in spirits. He 



