for transportation
with effect, and proposed to remit the objects of their charity to the
reform societies, parishes, and municipalities of England. This proposal
was seriously discussed at Port Phillip, and nothing prevented its
partial execution but the difficulty of preserving, with the ordinary
arrangements of a vessel, the subordination of such a ship's company.]

[Footnote 260:

"_The solemn Declaration of the undersigned Colonists of Van Diemen's
Land, addressed to the British nation._

"On the 5th day of April, 1850, the ship _Neptune_, the vessel freighted
with convicts to the Cape of Good Hope, but rejected by its inhabitants,
anchored in the port of Hobart Town, under the orders of the right
honorable the secretary of state, Earl Grey.

"Our reiterated petitions presented to her Majesty's government have
impressed the feelings of every class upon the subject of
transportation, and exhausted every argument which could enforce its
abolition.

"The ministers of religion, the parents of 20,000 children, the
magistrates almost unanimously, have in every form expostulated and
implored; nothing that the constitution authorises remains to be done to
make known the most unhappy and oppressed condition of this country....

"We cannot resist the oppression of the British government. We are
convinced that appeals to the justice and humanity of the ministry are
utterly unavailing; and that the principles which have induced them to
relieve armed or rebellious colonies, lead to the oppression or
contemptuous disregard of those who are too feeble for effectual
resistance.

"We have patiently awaited redress; we have borne illegal taxes, imposed
by a council of crown nominees, and maintained by the amoval of _one_
judge and the appointment of another; and have appealed only to the
provisions of the constitutional law of England--but in vain.

"And now, to fill up the measure of our wrong, ministers have publicly
announced their contempt for our petitions, by ordering the _Neptune_ to
our port, and discharging her passengers upon our shores.

"In such circumstances silence would be criminal. As citizens and
parents we hereby solemnly protest against the cruelty and falsehood of
the English government--against the wrongs which threaten and oppress
ourselves and our children.

"Van Diemen's Land, April, 1850."]

SECTION V.

But the day of deliverance was at hand. "_The Australias are one_"
became the wat