Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/279

 whatever proved to have beaten the convicts assigned to them, instead of having reconrse to the magistrates, will be deprived of that accommo- dation ill fntiire/' The power of grantin*:^ assigned servants rested wholly with the Governor, and it placed at his mercy any BobadOs of the corps who thought to show their valour by striking theu' servants, and nevertheless wished to retain their ser- vices. Writing to Lord Hobart (9th May 1B03) King said : Bayley hnn been once tried by a general court-martial for having. . . beaten and ilbtreated the convict whose labour Wiia assigned to him, instead of taking the preset ibetl steps for his punishment by the magis- trates, he has since thoitght proper to repeat those acta. . . On the third offence I was compelled to try him. The court refused to talie c-og- nizance of it, and although the facts would have been clearly cfitablished, even from his own confession, yet, as no inve.stigation waa nmile, the nature of the aentennje requires me to transmit the proceedings of that court- martial also to the Judge-Advocatetleneral for His Majesty's decision,'* In a military letter of the same date the irate Governor alluded to the dissemination of **anonymoa8 seditious papers/' when from illness his *' existence was doubtful." It was owing to the disappointment and ** concealed revenge of those who felt themselves aggrieved by the different orders and restrictions" imposed by him to *' bring about I regularity." '* Conscious as I was of my integrity, and having a thorougli *;ontempt for tlie assassin'^ blow, I should have passed over any number of similar attacks that such concealed villainy could have suggested with the acorn and contempt they merit, had they not been circulated by thoae who ought to have uuiintained a very dilferent conduct; but as I saw officers piiDliahing those infamous papers, the duty I owe to His Majesty's ser ee, the public, and myself, required that I should bring those officers to a Fublic account for liaving so industriously disseminated those papers, . » ♦ bad net other nmile of noticing theae otlicei's' conduct than by trying them by a general court-martial^ which made it necesfiary for me to prosec'ute. Isvsuing the warrants, my presence as prosecutor could not be-j admittetl. That authority I delegated to the surL^eon of the corps (Harriab ', who has generally officiated us Deputy- Judge Advocate, Judge, my Lord, how far 1 ought to ©xpeet impartiality when those officers were tried by others of their own corps, and although I did not nominate three officers, in conformity to His Royal Highness llie Commaiiderin-Chief a intimation ijf e:x chiding such officers as might be suspected of partiEility.yet certainly a Governor has very little chance of justice where he is so situated, — having only one coi-ps, and but a sufficiency of officers to sit on a court- martial, and being unable to manage the prosecution in person." In a separa.te despatch (of the same date) he reminded Lord Hobart that that nobleman had akeady fe'mriwiV3
 * I am also much concerned to stnte that, notwithstanding Ensign