The punishment of transportation for life, undoubtedly severe, yet less so, one gladly allows, than that absolute forfeiture of life which the existing laws demand, affords a melancholy picture of human depravity, and the lamentable prevalence of crime, which makes its frequent recurrence necessary, the convicts transported for life being actually one half, it will be seen, of the entire number in this instance sent out of the country. The major part of that number most probably were respited from capital punishment by the royal clemency, or owe their lives to the compassion of the Juries that tried them.
List of the Crimes of the Male Convicts per the Neptune, 1817.
| Convicts. | |
|---|---|
| Forgery | 8 |
| Housebreaking | 6 |
| Robbery in a dwelling house | 3 |
| Stealing in a dwelling house | 10 |
| Burglary | 28 |
| Highway robbery | 7 |
| Horse stealing | 8 |
| Felony | 44 |
| Sheep stealing | 7 |
| Cow stealing | 1 |
| Frame breaking | 1 |
| Desertion | 2 |
| Assault and robbery | 1 |
| Having forged notes | 6 |
| Stealing from a person | 1 |
| Stealing—various small thefts | 17 |
| Grand larceny | 10 |
| Larceny | 1 |
| Capital respite (one of these an infidel) | 6 |
| Obtaining goods by false pretences | 1 |
| Breaking out of prison | 1 |
| Aiding in ditto | 1 |
| ——— | |
| Total | 170 |
| ——— |
The enormity of the offences, of which these men had been found guilty, may be estimated by a glance to the punishments annexed to their names.
| Convicts. | |
|---|---|
| Transported for life | 85 |
| Transported for fourteen years | 33 |
| Transported for seven years | 52 |
| ——— | |
| Total | 170 |
| ——— | |
The different offences with which they had been charged, and for which they were sentenced, were less a criterion, perhaps, than a report of characters with which they came accompanied from the Hulks, whence they were shipped for transportation. Of these the following is a concise view, being an abstract of the Report then given.
Abstract View of Convicts as to Character.
| Convicts. | |
|---|---|
| Bad character | 34 |
| Old offenders | 17 |
| Good | 1 |
| Very bad character | 10 |
| Orderly | 43 |
| Very orderly | 2 |
| Indifferent | 4 |
| An infidel | 1 |
| New prisoners not reported on, transported for life | 24 |
| New prisoners not reported on, transported for 14 years | 10 |
| Transported before | 6 |
| Second sentence, orderly | 6 |
| Belonging to a gang, bad | 2 |
| Old thief, orderly | 1 |
| Noted pickpockets, behaved well | 5 |
| Behaved very well, convicts for felony | 4 |
| ——— | |
| Total | 170 |
| ——— |
These were the materials on which a system of amendment was to be tried; and it must be confessed that when every circumstance was considered, the task could not but be deemed repugnant. A general character of violence and desperate daring had long been identified with the inmates of prisons; and here were presented crimes of a description not likely to remove such an unfavourable impression.
The opinion universally prevailing for many years of the irreclaimable state of convicts, both male and female, rendered the superintendence of them on board the vessels which conveyed them to the colony, in every respect a heartless undertaking, if any thing like reform were had in contemplation. If at any time an experiment to that effect had been made, its failure only contributed to make a renewal of the attempt useless, or even mischievous; for the depraved, watchful of failure in the endeavours to restrain their bad passions, rarely abstain from enjoying it as a victory and converting it to wicked purposes.