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a license, and a signed copy of each newspaper was to be lodged with the Colonial Secretary within ten days of publication. The Chief Justice, having no political associations in the colony, was not impelled to veto the Acts by withholding his certificate.

The printer, Andrew Bent, who had obtained a quasi-triumph over Colonel Arthur in legal contention about the proprietary of the Gazette, applied vainly for a license. He published a monthly periodical, but the speculation failed. He presented a memorial supported by many colonists, but Arthur was inexorable. He transferred his press to Mr. Gellibrand, intending to occupy himself as a subordinate, but the Governor saw in such a transfer no reason for modifying his resolution. He told the memorialists that the press ought not to be free so long as the colony might be a receptacle for convicts.

The Acts passed in 1827 did not remain long on the Statute-Book. A tax of threepence in so small a community was prohibitory of all newspapers from which profit was expected, and the Stamp Duty was not maintained. But an Act to regulate the printing and publishing of newspapers was re-enacted in 1828. It prescribed affidavits of the names of printers and publishers under heavy penalties—recognizances with two or three "sufficient sureties to the satisfaction of the Chief Justice" . . "in the sum of four hundred pounds" for the printer or publisher, and "a like sum" in the case of the sureties. The printing press was still subject to the grasp of law, and to the strong will of the soldier who had the island in his charge. Printers and editors battled vigorously against the tyranny to which they complained of being subjected; but the Governor pursued what he called his duty, and more than one offender pined in imprisonment.

Colonel Arthur did not rely on prosecutions only. He secured the co-operation of an able colonist, Dr. Ross, to superintend the publication of the Gazette, which supported the government policy, and was denounced as venal. When the Gazette became a formal vehicle for advertisements, Dr. Ross continued his labours in the Courier. The unflinching ruler shrank from no responsibility. A motion had been made by the Solicitor-General to disbar the Attorney-