“Richard Clarke was the first to yield; his sister, who seemed more attached to him than her husband, next softened.
“O’Gar, whose demeanour had always been quiet and humble, after meeting with his mother, entirely threw off his obduracy.
“It has been the long-established practice in this gaol to permit interviews between convicts newly sentenced to transportation and their near relations with more frequency than is usually allowed, partly from a feeling of compassion to all the parties, and partly from a hope that in such cases as the present one, warning may be taken by those who witness the convict’s misery should they be in any danger of treading in his steps.
“I was present at two meetings between the Clarkes and their relatives.
“The visitors on the first occasion were the father, the boy, Edward Clarke, and a young man introduced as a cousin.
“They were all expensively dressed for their station; the father’s appearance was rather prepossessing, the boy, though good-looking and well clad, showed to an experienced eye the unmistakable and undisguisable physiognomy and manner of a bold and practical thief.
“Creditable natural feelings were shown by all parties, and many tears were shed by all but the girl, who seemed most anxious to keep up the spirits of the others.
“Old Clarke, habituated to the short imprisonments of his children, seemed unable to conceive that he saw them in a more serious predicament. Almost the first words he spoke were—
“‘Don’t fret. Sure you’ll not be here more than five months. I’ve sent a letter to General W——, and he’ll soon get you off.’
“The convicts themselves were well assured that such expectations were utterly vain, but the father could not be made to comprehend that General W—— neither could or would interfere with the course of justice.