ion had already been issued, prohibiting suits of law for
injuries suffered from the usurping government, and giving indemnity and
protection to all who had acted under its authority; but Bligh was
empowered to carry home all who might be able to throw light on his
deposition. This order must have terminated the government of Collins,
had he survived. Colonel Johnstone was tried and cashiered (but
permitted to sell his commission), and the mildness of his sentence was
attributed by the crown to the extraordinary circumstance of the
case.[68]

This was the last important occurrence in the eventful life of Collins:
he died on the 24th March, 1810, in the fifty-sixth year of his age,
having held the administration six years and thirty-six days. His death
was sudden: except a slight cold, there was little warning of its
approach. He died whilst sitting in his chair, and conversing with his
attendant. His funeral was celebrated with all the pomp the colony could
command, and 600 persons were present.[69] The share he accepted in the
responsibility of the deposition of Bligh, disturbed his tranquillity,
and it was thought hastened his end.

In 1810, Collins attempted to establish a newspaper--_The Derwent Star,
and Van Diemen's Land Intelligencer_.[70] Though but a quarto leaf, with
broad margin, and all the contrivances which dilate the substance of a
journal, it was much too large for the settlement--where often there was
nothing to sell; where a birth or marriage was published sooner than a
paragraph could be printed; where a taste for general literature had no
existence, and politics were excluded. The chief contents were droll
anecdotes and odd exploits. The second number contains a rather pompous
account of Governor Macquarie's inauguration at Sydney. The next issue,
beside a government order or two, describes the feat of Barclay, the
pedestrian--a thousand miles in a thousand hours; the wonderful
longevity of Joseph Ram, a black of Jamaica, who died in his 140th year;
then the greatness of Lambert, whose body weighed 52 lbs. fourteen times
told; and who was sent by an inclined plane into his grave. Then follow
an eulogy on the governor's profession, one trial, one ship, two births,
and one marriage. The notice of a wedding is characteristic and
unique--the first published by the Tasmanian press:--"On Monday, 26th
ult., R. C. Burrows to Elizabeth Tucker, both late of Norfolk Island.
They had cohabited together fourteen