The peace of the colony was threatened, however, in the year 1800, by the seditious conduct of a number of Irish convicts who had recently arrived in this country, and who had laboured, with ceaseless exertions, to disseminate their pernicious and absurd doctrines amongst the prisoners.  They had assembled frequently for the purpose of accelerating their diabolical views, and a Roman Catholic priest, named Harold, who was discovered to be one of the instigators and originators of the scheme of insurrection, was taken into custody.  Voluntary associations were embodied, and every measure of prudent precaution was promptly adopted, to prevent the expansion of principles which are totally subversive of all order, and of the best interests of civilized society.  It may easily be supposed, that amongst such characters as composed the colony, there must be numbers to whom these sentiments of insubordination must be congenial, and who would eagerly grasp at any projects, however absurd and impracticable, the proposed object of which was their emancipation from the punishment which their crimes had drawn upon them.  Men who have obtained a proficiency in crime, and are callous to the voice of conscience, science, are seldom very choice as to the degree of the criminality which they are inclined to commit; and it is highly creditable to Governor Hunter’s prudence and skilful management, that the settlement was at this moment preserved from the horrors and consequences of internal commotion.

In September, 1800, Governor Hunter quitted the colony, having exercised the functions of government for the space of five years; during which his attention to the interests of the settlement was most unremitted; his humanity and condescension rendered him inestimably dear to every bosom, which confessed the influence of grateful feelings; and his cheerful vivacity and private worth caused him to stand highly in the estimation of those who were honoured by a participation in his hours of recreative enjoyment.  The necessary consequence of his abstracted devotion to the service of the settlement, for a long period, was the obtainment of a thorough knowledge of every subject connected with its welfare; and in the application of that knowledge to the practical improvement of the settlement, no man could have been more happy, none more eminently successful.  A more forcible illustration of the truth of this remark will, however, be found in the following statements of the situation of the colony before and after Governor Hunter’s residence there, in an official capacity; and I am the more readily induced to give these details, as the reader may thence be enabled to form a judgement, by comparison, of the progressive prosperity of the colony, subsequent to that period, until the commencement of the year 1809, the date and termination of the facts which I shall elicit in the succeeding pages.