Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/403

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CHARLES ROBBINS.

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to neutralize one another, but not to take the place of truth. As the character of a hero is dear to mankind, all that could be certainly traced has been narrated here to show that of Bass, as much as possible, by his own words and deeds.^[1]

When King sent Robbins in 1805, in the Integrity, to explain to Don Lewis de Guzman, the untoward and illegal captures by Campbell, the master of the Harrington, the envoy and the sender must have had a keen sense of the danger of the mission. Both of them had recently learned the treacherous seizure of Flinders at the Mauritius; both of them were persuaded that Bass had met an untimely, perhaps a treacherous end, but neither of them shrank from duty.^[2]

A characteristic occurrence in 1801 shows the nature of the cases brought before the Civil Courts in matters of trade; and that King bore no grudges against those who had been troublesome to him in former years. Sergeant Whittle bought, in 1801, one hundred and forty-three packs of cards from one Turnbull. Considering them inferior to the sample, he returned them. Turnbull sued him for the price. The rate of profit fixed under King's orders was 100 per cent. on the goods in the importing ship, but the naval officer certified that the cards were not entered in the manifest. Nevertheless, Turnbull obtained a verdict. King reversed the decision, and directed "the

↑ An unpleasant circumstance occurred with regard to Bass's affairs. After he had been gone more than three years, an emancipated convict, a trader in Sydney, sued the agent for Bass and his partner Bishop, averring that Bass had taken away by mistake a trunk containing goods. The agent denied the fact, and alleged that before Bass sailed in 1803 all accounts were carefully closed by Bass. Bishop had become insane, and the agent had become his guardian. The Civil Court, composed of Atkins and two others, unfortunately gave credence to the trader. The agent appealed. King's sympathies were with the absent man, against whom, "after a lapse of three years without any demand made," such a claim was preferred.
↑ Robbins was to obtain tidings of Bass, if possible. King wrote (July 1806): "I am much concerned to inform your Lordship that the Integrity is not yet returned, and I am more than apprehensive for that vessel's safety, but for the hope that she may have been detained on some pretext by the Government of Chili; although I think no consideration ought to have operated on the Spanish Admiral, who governs that province, to detain her under the just and honourable principles in which she was put within his power." See note pp. 367-8.

[1] An unpleasant circumstance occurred with regard to Bass's affairs. After he had been gone more than three years, an emancipated convict, a trader in Sydney, sued the agent for Bass and his partner Bishop, averring that Bass had taken away by mistake a trunk containing goods. The agent denied the fact, and alleged that before Bass sailed in 1803 all accounts were carefully closed by Bass. Bishop had become insane, and the agent had become his guardian. The Civil Court, composed of Atkins and two others, unfortunately gave credence to the trader. The agent appealed. King's sympathies were with the absent man, against whom, "after a lapse of three years without any demand made," such a claim was preferred.

[2] Robbins was to obtain tidings of Bass, if possible. King wrote (July 1806): "I am much concerned to inform your Lordship that the Integrity is not yet returned, and I am more than apprehensive for that vessel's safety, but for the hope that she may have been detained on some pretext by the Government of Chili; although I think no consideration ought to have operated on the Spanish Admiral, who governs that province, to detain her under the just and honourable principles in which she was put within his power." See note pp. 367-8.

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