[126] Doe, on demise of Jenkins, v. Pearce and wife.
[127] 1814: 54 Geo. iii, took away the corruption of blood, from children born after conviction, except in case of treason and murder.—Sydney Gazette, 1818.
[128] Bigge's Report.
[129] Collins's New South Wales.
[130] Acts.
[131] 4 Geo. iv.
[132] Mr. Wentworth states the trials in the criminal court in 1806, as 117, in 1817, at 92; but then he asserts, that offences had increased, subject to summary jurisdiction, from 300 to 1,000, while the population (20,000) had only doubled. He was not, however, ignorant, that many of those offences were not such in law or morals, but merely violations of local regulations (Wentworth, 2nd edit.). The colonial convictions were, with few exceptions, of persons who had been transported before: of 116 persons for trial at Hobart (1821), 79 were then under sentence, and 37 expirees—the entire number.—Bigge.
[133] "With regard to character and respectability allow me to observe briefly, that while some are in general well-conducted persons, little that is praiseworthy can be advanced: there is not much religion among the best, and the far greater part have not the appearance of it."—Rev. Mr. Cowper, 1820.
[134] Edinburgh Review, 1803.
[135] "His sentences are not only more severe than those of other magistrates, but the general opinion of the colony is, that his character, as displayed in the administration of the penal law in New South Wales, is stamped with severity."—Bigge's Report.