This created such a relaxation of
discipline, that a repetition of orders and regulations were from time to
time published, to keep the labouring people constantly in mind that they
were the servants of the crown, and remind those who were appointed to
look after them, that they had neglected that duty which should ever have
been their first and principal consideration.
The expected signal for a vessel was at length made at the South Head on
the morning of the 18th; and in the afternoon the ship _Barwell_
arrived from England, with male convicts, some stores, and provisions. It
must be supposed, that while the mother country was engaged in such a war
as then subsisted, she would not spare from the service of the state any
other than the most worthless characters, who, instead of assisting in
the public defence against the common enemy, were employed in
perpetrating private injuries. The weakness of the public gangs, however,
was such, that this allotment of villainy was considered as an
acquisition to the general strength, and it was hoped that they might be
employed to advantage.
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