ding to notice 5 feet 2-1/4," he remarks, "we dropped
from our proper elevation." What that might be, it is not difficult to
conjecture, if the rejoinder is to be credited:--"if he had his right
place, he would be wearing a leather apron and scouring pewter pots."
Such were the literary love tokens of those days. It will be seen, that
the quarrel of Arthur with the press, was continued to the end of his
administration.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 146: _Gazette_, November, 1824.]

[Footnote 147: "We are indebted to the Italians for the idea of
newspaper. The title of their _gazettas_ was, perhaps, derived from
_gazzera_, a magpie or chatterer; or, more probably, from a farthing
coin peculiar to the city of Venice, called _gazetta_, which was the
common price of newspapers."--_D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature_,
p. 53.]

SECTION III.

Captain Dixon, commander of the _Skelton_, came to Van Diemen's Land in
1820. On his return to England, he published a small volume on the
capabilities of the country. He suggested the formation of a pastoral
company, with a capital divided into L100 shares, as a profitable
scheme. Causes foreign to this enquiry reduced the marketable value of
money, and awakened a speculative spirit in Great Britain: projects of
every kind found favour--a madness fraught with insolvency, fraud, and
ruin. But in the meantime the Van Diemen's Land Company had been formed.
Men of opulence and prudence, when compared with common projectors, were
concerned in its origin. They proceeded with caution, and postponed the
issue of their share list until their plans were laid. Nor did they
promise a dividend, but as the result of a considerable outlay, and at a
distant date. Yet they drew a brilliant picture of this colony, and
delineated in vivid language the riches of its soil, its relative
position, and its future destinies. "Such advantages," said they, "could
not long escape the penetration of the British public." It was, among
their objects, to relieve Great Britain from dependence on foreign wool;
to improve the quality of the Australian flocks: this object they have
contributed to accomplish.

They applied to Lord Bathurst for 500,000 acres of land. By his
countenance they obtained an act of parliament, under which the charter
of their incorporation, on the 9th November, 1825, passed the great
seal. By this charter they were authorised to employ their capital in
cultivation and sheep farming; to