MacArthur with the contravention of the
governor's express orders in detaining two stills; with the offence of
inducing the crew of his vessel to leave her and come on shore, in direct
violation of the regulations; and with seditious words and an intent to
raise dissatisfaction and discontent in the colony by his speeches to the
Crown officials and by a speech he had made in the court of inquiry over
the seizure of the stills. The speech complained of was to the following
effect:--

"It would therefore appear that a British subject in a British
settlement, in which the British laws are established by the royal
patent, has had his property wrested from him by a non-accredited
individual, without any authority being produced or any other
reason being assigned than that it was the governor's order; it is
therefore for you, gentlemen, to determine whether this be the
tenure by which Englishmen hold their property in New South
Wales."

MacArthur objected in a letter to Bligh, written before the trial, to the
Judge-Advocate presiding, on the ground that this official was really a
prosecutor, and had animus against him. Bligh overruled the objection, on
the ground that the Criminal Court of the colony, by the terms of the
King's patent, could not be constituted without the Judge-Advocate.
MacArthur renewed his objection when the court met; Captain Kemp, one of
the officers sitting as a member of the court, supported MacArthur's view;
and the Judge-Advocate was compelled to leave his seat as president.

MacArthur then made a speech, in which he denounced the Judge-Advocate in
very strong language, and that official called out from the back of the
court that he would commit MacArthur for his conduct. Then Captain Kemp
told the Judge-Advocate to be silent, and threatened [Sidenote: 1808]
to send him to gaol, whereupon Atkins ordered that the court should
adjourn, but Kemp ordered it to continue sitting. The Judge-Advocate then
left the court, and MacArthur called out: "Am I to be cast forth to the
mercy of these ruffians?"--meaning the civil police--and added that he had
received private information from his friends that he was to be attacked
and ill-treated by the civilians; whereupon the military officers
undertook his protection and told the soldiers in the court to escort him
to the guard-room.

Then the Provost-Marshal said this was an attempt to rescue his prisoner,
went at once an