insubordination must be congenial, and who would eagerly grasp at
any projects, however absurd and impracticable, the proposed
object of which was their emancipation from the punishment which
their crimes had drawn upon them. Men who have obtained a
proficiency in crime, and are callous to the voice of conscience,
science, are seldom very choice as to the degree of the
criminality which they are inclined to commit; and it is highly
creditable to Governor Hunter's prudence and skilful management,
that the settlement was at this moment preserved from the horrors
and consequences of internal commotion.

In September, 1800, Governor Hunter quitted the colony, having
exercised the functions of government for the space of five
years; during which his attention to the interests of the
settlement was most unremitted; his humanity and condescension
rendered him inestimably dear to every bosom, which confessed the
influence of grateful feelings; and his cheerful vivacity and
private worth caused him to stand highly in the estimation of
those who were honoured by a participation in his hours of
recreative enjoyment. The necessary consequence of his abstracted
devotion to the service of the settlement, for a long period, was
the obtainment of a thorough knowledge of every subject connected
with its welfare; and in the application of that knowledge to the
practical improvement of the settlement, no man could have been
more happy, none more eminently successful. A more forcible
illustration of the truth of this remark will, however, be found
in the following statements of the situation of the colony before
and after Governor Hunter's residence there, in an official
capacity; and I am the more readily induced to give these
details, as the reader may thence be enabled to form a judgement,