Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/129

 THE KEW SOUTH WAIiES COBPS. 101 own responsibilitj or songlit approval from head-qnarters ^^^ before recruiting the Corps in this manner does not appear^ but the practice at a later date received the official sanction sanotioned by Home of the British Government. The War Office having in the oovwn- oarly part of 1797 decided to raise the strength of the Corps to ten companies^ a despatch (22nd February, 1797) was sent to Governor Hunter, instructing him to consult with Major Paterson, the Commandant, as to the best means of carrying the Order into effect : — " You will, in addition to such individuals as shall be willing to inrtnictloiw enlist^ and who are not otherwise employed or engaged in the public Engianci. service of the settlement, emancipate such convicts as are willing to enlist, and whose good conduct since their arrived shall best entitle them to such an indulgence/' These instructions could not have been much relished by Hunter. He had previously, when complaining of the con- duct of the soldiers, made some strong remarks on the consti- tution of the Corps, and now he was directed to employ the convict population of the colony in the same service. Much, however, was left to his discretion. Only men of good conduct were to be enlisted, and amongst the convicts were many who had been transported for trivial offences, and were not unfit for military service or other honest employ- ment. But putting the matter in the most favourable light, this method of strengthening the Corps was open to serious objection. If it was necessary to recruit from the criminal class, it would have been better to go to the Savoy than to enlist convicts on the spot. The objections to the practice are obvious. It is not to undarimWo be supposed that because the convicts left one servitude for recmittng. another they broke off all intercourse with their friends. Nothing was more improbable. Men of that kind were more likely to sympathise with the convicts than with the military, and their introduction into the Corps was a source of embarrassment, if not of danger.
 * -^ . method of