ively to the persons
of four of the principals in this transaction, a warrant was made out to
apprehend them; but before it could be executed, the soldiers expressing
themselves convinced of the great impropriety of their conduct, and
offering to indemnify the sufferer for the damage they had done him, who
also personally petitioned the governor in their behalf, the warrant was
withdrawn.

It was observed, that the most active of the soldiers in this affair had
formerly been convicts, who, not having changed their principles with
their condition, thus became the means of disgracing their fellow-soldiers.
The corps certainly was not much improved by the introduction of
people of this description among them. It might well have been
supposed, that being taken as good characters from the class of
prisoners, they would have felt themselves above mixing with any of them
afterwards; but it happened otherwise; they had nothing in them of that
pride which is termed _l'esprit du corps_; but at times mixed with the
convicts familiarly as former cornpanions; yet when they chose to quarrel
with, or complain of them, they meanly asserted their superiority as soldiers.

This intercourse had been strongly prohibited by their officers; but
living (as once before mentioned) in huts by themselves, it was carried
on without their knowledge. Most of them were now, however, ordered into
the barracks; but to give this regulation the full effect, a high brick
wall, or an inclosure of strong paling, round the barracks, was
requisite; the latter of these securities would have been put up some
time before, had there not been a want of the labouring hands necessary
to prepare and collect the materials.

On the 11th of this month the ship _Marquis Cornwallis_ anchored in the
cove from Ireland, with two hundred and thirty-three male and female
convicts of that country. We understood from her commander, Mr. Michael
Hogan, that a conspiracy had been formed to take the ship from him; but,
the circumstances of it being happily disclosed in time, he was enabled
to prevent it, and having sufficient evidence of the existence of the
conspiracy, he caused the principal part of those concerned to be
severely punished, first taking the opinions of all the free people who
were on board. A military guard, consisting of two subalterns and a
proportionate number of privates of the New South Wales corps
(principally drafts from other regiments), was embarked in t