[276] Despatch of Colonel Arthur to Right. Hon. E. G. Stanley, March 10, 1834.
[277] "On the left bank of the Ohio the population is rare. From time to time one descries a troop of slaves loitering in the half-deserted fields, the primæval forest recurs at every turn: society seems to be asleep. From the right bank, on the contrary, a confused hum is heard, which proclaims the presence of industry. The elegance of the dwellings announces the taste and activity of the laborer: in the end, the slave has cost more than the free man."—Tocqueville, vol. ii. p. 222.
[278] Murdoch's evidence, 1837.
[279] It is a curious fact that, generally, the most severe government officials were reckoned the most indulgent of masters.
[280] The following question, put by Earl Grey (then Lord Howick), and answer, given by James Macarthur, Esq., appears in the evidence taken before a committee of the House of Commons, 1837:—
"Q. Suppose, instead of the present system of transportation, criminals were to be punished in England with a certain number of years' imprisonment, and after that to be banished to New South Wales, were there to be placed under the surveillance of the police, in the same manner as ticket-of-leave men, what do you think would be the effect of such a system?
"A. I conceive that the effect would be, in a modified shape, the same as that of continuing transportation."—Report of Commons, 1837, p. 218.