How, goaded by their position and temper, and aided by
the plots of such intriguers, the Irish at last rose in rebellion, must be told hereafter. Meanwhile their conspiracies
taxed to the utmost the powers of governors. Constitutionally a governor was supreme, and there was little that
he could not do, subject to the final decision of the Secretary
of State. Thus were repressed hundreds of schemes which
in ordinary communities would have engaged the law-courts. No lawyer could arraign the government, no newspaper could attack it, no public meeting could be held
without its permission. The governor was always an
officer of the army or navy, and instruments to compel
obedience were at his disposal. Thus order was maintained;
but Phillip had foreseen that ultimate welfare could only be
secured by building up a civil form of government as soon
as possible, and encouraging the introduction of respectable
settlers.
Grose had marred Phillip's plans by annihilating the magistrates' court, and had thus contributed to evil. It is plain, however, that the Act of 1787 (27 George III., cap. 2) created what was called a civil, but was equivalent to a military government. The Governor was martial, the Judge-Advocate was martial, and the Court of Judicature was to contain six officers of the sea or land forces. Sentences of death were within their cognizance. The Governor appointed the members of the court, and was to all intents and purposes the government. He had a giant's strength in a community of which almost every free man had been disciplined in the army or navy. While the settlement was confined to narrow compass he was more like a governor of a gaol or penitentiary than of an ordinary community; but his authority was practically supreme. He promulgated his orders by causing a manuscript notice to be read and posted in a public place. He had no legislative body to advise with. He was himself the legislature. Phillip appointed civil magistrates to administer the English law and his orders. They were the Governor's court, his Aula Regis; and the Governor sometimes administered justice there himself when his deputies were ill or engaged elsewhere. So untrammelled a position attracted Sir James Mackintosh, and induced him to write
