Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/182

were given to twenty-three convicts thus enlisted. Attendance of convicts at Divine service was enforced; in summer when the heat was great, and the want of a building made out-door service oppressive, "the church-call was beaten" at a quarter to six in the morning; and the Rev. Mr. Johnson preached "wherever he could find a shady spot." Remission of sentence was given without much delay where Phillip thought it consistent with the public interest. Barrington, a convict who arrived in Sept. 1791, was conditionally emancipated in Nov. 1792, and received at the same time a grant of thirty acres of land near Parramatta. He had, as a pickpocket, plied his roguery in fashionable assemblies in Dublin. His exemplary conduct when transported speedily earned a pardon, and he behaved well afterwards. He was a constable for some time, and in 1796 Governor Hunter gave him a free pardon and made him a superintendent of convicts. A "History of New South Wales," dedicated grandiloquently to the King, was published in his name, but he disclaimed the authorship, and it is probable that his name was used to excite curiosity and attract buyers. There is nothing original in the work, which is a mere copy of other publications.^[1] In 1800 he resigned because of infirmity, and received a pension. He died in 1804.

Amongst the chronicles of the early days the report of the finding of a gold-mine by a convict named Daly deserves notice, if only to show how a stupid report will sometimes hold its ground. Even in recent times persons have been known to assert gravely that as gold has been found in other parts of the colony, it is likely that Daly may have found it at Sydney. That the geological conditions are adverse to the idea matters not to such people. They are of the tribe of fools and fanatics who believed in England in 1873 that Orton was Sir Roger Tichborne. Not even the confession of a criminal can tear their deception from them.^[2] Daly in Aug. 1788 made, from a guinea and a brass buckle, some specimens of gold which he said he had found "down the harbour." An officer was sent with him to see the spot. When Daly found further deception