of candour and decision, in so much that it is impossible to place the smallest reliance on the fulfilment of any engagement he enters into. … Thus far, My Lord, I have deemed it my duty to state my sentiments in a private letter, respecting Governor Bligh's conduct; but I trust that I shall be excused by Your Lordship for refraining from entering more fully into the merits of the transactions and disturbances connected with his arrest."[1]
Included in the instructions which dealt with individual persons concerned in Bligh's deposition had been some clauses of a general nature. Macquarie carried these out by three Proclamations, one issued on 1st January, the others on 4th January, 1810. Though it was impossible in Bligh's absence to reinstate him, the Instructions on this head were quoted in the first Proclamation in order to make it known that Bligh had the support of His Majesty's Ministers. Two years had passed since his arrest, and the enthusiast in the cause, John Macarthur, was absent. It was no wonder that those of his party who remained should have grown cool. They had gained little, and they had all to fear and nothing to expect from the decision of the Home Government. From the economic point of view, which consciously or unconsciously influenced their ardour, the most vehement of Bligh's opponents felt that the restoration of regular government would ease the situation. The Lieutenant-Governors, not feeling quite sure as to the legality of their position, had hesitated to draw heavy bills upon the Treasury, so that there was a scarcity of the only stable part of the currency. Major Abbott put the case very succinctly in 1808. "The Colony is quiet," he wrote. "There is no money."[2] But a Governor in whose title there was no flaw would of course not feel himself thus restricted.
Before Macquarie's arrival it had been rumoured that the Colonial Office had condemned the action of Johnston. His party found, however, that there was greater hope than they had expected of conciliating the authorities, and that hope they eagerly seized. The first Proclamation ended with a friendly
