Читать книгу The Flogging Parson - George Forbes - Страница 8

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"On the 18th January, 1800, a week after my arrival in the Colony," says Richard Hale in continuation of his narrative, "I received instructions to go down to the wharf in order to proceed to Parramatta, it being intended to locate me in the interior. We were taken in a boat up the river, landed at a village about twenty miles from Sydney, where we were directed to the Rev. Jonathan Carden, who sent a man with me to point out a house where, for the present, I was to take my wife. It belonged to a man named Henry, who was sent out by Sir Joseph Banks to cultivate the science of botany.

"Next day, the Reverend Mr. Carden sent me a note to say he would call upon me, which he did, in company with Captain Johnson, Mr. Atkins, and Dr. Thompson. He requested me to accompany them to Toongabbie, a Government settlement, where they were tilling the ground on the public account.

"At a distance I saw about fifty men at work, as I thought, dressed in nankeen jackets, but, on nearer approach, I found them naked, except for a pair of loose trousers; their skin was tanned by the sun and climate to that color. I felt much pity for the poor wretches; they each had a kind of large hoe about nine inches deep and eight inches wide, and the handle as thick as that of a shovel, with which they turned up, as with a spade, the ground, which was left to rot in the winter. They cannot bear any clothes when at work in the heat of the day.

"Captain Johnson addressed me, saying, 'Mr. Hale, you are a good farmer, I suppose?'

"'I do well enough with horses and oxen but not with men," said I.

"Dr. Thompson then said, 'Do you not think these men would understand you better than horses or oxen?'

"'Yes, sir,' I replied, 'but it appears great barbarity to work men in this manner.'

"'Well,' said he, 'it matters not what you think it; you will soon come into it.'

"Captain Johnston then called a man named Michael Fitzgerald and said, 'Here is Mr. Hale to assist you, so you will not be so much confined in future?'

"'I am very glad of it,' replied Fitzgerald.

"I afterwards found that this fellow had been a pick-pocket in England. When I heard this conversation I could hardly contain my indignation, but I thought it better to let matters proceed to the end.

"We now journeyed to Parramatta, and next morning we waited for the arrival of Captain John Hunter, Governor-in-Chief in and over New South Wales and its dependencies, and I had the good fortune to meet his Excellency.

"'May I presume to ask,' said I, 'if it was by your Excellency's command I was put under a man of the name of Fitzgerald as a superintendent at Toongabbie?'

"His Excellency answered with saying, 'No, sir; I never intended or meant to put you into Government employ; you came here as a State prisoner, without any indent against you, and while you conduct yourself correctly none can or shall molest you. All you have to do is to conduct yourself as a peaceful subject, and we have no desire or power to put you under restraint.'

"That evening I received a note from Mr. Cox to the effect that he wanted to see me, and next morning I went to his house. Feeling myself once more a free man was a delightful sensation, and I had been declared free by the mouth of His Excellency the Governor himself, one of the most worthy men, and the father, and a right good father he was, to this infant Colony; a perfect gentleman in his manners, he was gracious and condescending to all, without compromising his dignity, personal or official.

"I was received by Mr. Cox with cordiality, respect, and even friendship, and we went to see his farm together. I did not forget to communicate to Mr. Cox the interview I had had with His Excellency the Governor, and I stated that I was now confirmed in the opinion that I was altogether, at my own disposal, to do the best I could, and Mr. Cox said he rejoiced at the circumstance, and he doubted not to see me a prosperous man. He then offered me the management of his farm, which I accepted on terms to our mutual satisfaction. I got men to break up the ground and prepared sixty acres to be sown in with wheat.

"It was getting late for sowing wheat, but, by great exertion, I commenced sowing on 24th March, and finished the 3rd of June. The 4th of June, the King's Birthday, was a general holiday throughout the colony, and every prisoner got a pound of beef or pork, as did the soldiers, with an addition of half a pint of spirits each man to drink the King's health.

"Every Saturday I settled with the men, calling all hands together, and showing them their week's work. Thus I managed the estate to Mr. Cox's perfect satisfaction and at Brush Farm, after all my recent troubles, I at last found a home, and a happy one."