On his return to Great Britain, Arthur was received with favour by the ministers. He was created a knight, and appointed governor of Upper Canada: afterwards, he obtained a similar office in India.
Sir George Arthur cannot be withdrawn from the rank of eminent functionaries; and his administration, on the whole, is entitled to more than respectful remembrance.
FOOTNOTES:
[197] Ross's Almanack, 1837.
[198] Mr. Meredith, of Swanport, captured bushrangers; but after their trial was anxious to intercede for their lives. He applied to the police clerk, a ticket-of-leave holder, for a copy of his own deposition, and that of his servant: this, not uncommon, was called a breach of trust. The clerk was punished, and Meredith warned that he would receive no more servants, except he could explain his conduct. A report reached the government, that himself and Mr. Amos set the magistrates of the territory at defiance, and he was told his servants would be probably recalled. This was a practical application of Arthur's views, before expressed to the same settler. The governor maintained, that when the secretary of state authorised a grant of land, it did not confer a claim on the government for the assignment of servants (Letter to Mr. Meredith from the Colonial Secretary, 1828). It was alleged, that the conduct of Meredith had been inimical to the government, and to the maintenance of internal tranquillity.
[199] At p. 148 of this volume, it is said, that an attorney-general (Stephen) received an additional grant for improvements he never made. This, Mr. Stephen contradicted, and stated that when he obtained his maximum grant he was not in office. The statement was made by Mr. Bryan before a committee of the House of Commons.
[200] Backhouse's Narrative, p. 15.
[201] "At the time to which he (Mr. Hall, of the Monitor) refers,—we say it with the deepest regret—we suffered ourselves to be influenced by a set of heartless, self interested beings, whose opinions we blindly adopted, and to whose objects we were the dupe. Other circumstances produced a state of excitement which can never again exist here, because it can never be again endured."—Tasmanian (Mr. R. L. Murray), June 25, 1833.
"We were forced into opposition by what we conceived to be an act of unmerited, unprovoked injustice, which we resented; and the perpetration of which led us to listen, and to be influenced, by the opinions of those into whose intimate associations we were drawn. We thereby provoked persecution, which we resented: we were prejudiced by these persecutions, and our opinions and the expression of our feelings were influenced by this feeling of unmerited suffering, and by the opinion of those into whose association we were driven." ... "If we have, in our editorial capacity, wronged any man, we sincerely ask their forgiveness; and wishing health and prosperity to every man in the colony, we now bid adieu to our editorial pen for ever."—Mr. Gilbert Robertson's legacy: True Colonist, December 28, 1844.
[202] Speech, 18th of April, 1837.