etter
school of crime than a probation station.[270]

The laxity which prevailed was everywhere confessed, except by the
immediate dependents of government. The Rev. Mr. Fry, a clergyman of
Hobart Town, differed, however, with the colony in general. His earnest
defence of the probation system (1845) was published by command, and
quoted by Lord Stanley in the House of Lords. He asserted that the
convict population had placed the settlers in ease and opulence; and
that the bulk of the colonists were emancipists, who were bound to
assist the condemned outcasts of Europe to acquire honesty and
independence. "The clank of chains," said the reverend gentleman, "is
now seldom heard, and the deportment of free laborers, grateful and
respectful, has succeeded to the scowl of malignity, with which the
assigned white slaves regarded their owners." He asserted that the gangs
recalled the men from intemperance; that they were attentive to
religious teaching; that the parties, although almost abandoned to
self-discipline, yet lived tranquilly, unawed by surrounding force.
These opinions were afterwards modified.[271]

Notwithstanding the habitual acquiescence of the colonists in the
measures of the crown, the development of Lord Stanley's system
occasioned considerable sensation. The rapid increase of prisoners early
excited alarm. The masses accumulated from all parts of the empire
presented a new and fearful aspect: crimes reached a height beyond
example in any civilised country. The settlers, environed by parties,
were subject to frequent irruptions, and were compelled to guard their
dwellings, as if exposed to a foreign enemy. The men wandered miles from
the stations, alone: at the hiring depots they were left almost to their
discretion. According to the evidence of a magistrate, neither the
comptroller-general, nor any confidential subordinate, visited the
station of Cleveland from its establishment to its dissolution. At
another, ninety men, near the township of Oatlands, under the charge of
one free overseer, were worked in a line of seven miles extent. A
settler, whose flocks had been pillaged, brought back twice in one month
the same party; and again they escaped, threatening vengeance on the
authors of their arrest. At Jerusalem station, 800 convicts were
permitted to roam on their parole; to carry bundles in and out of
barracks unsearched; to disguise their persons, and to change their
dress. Their daring highway robberi