A note on Structure
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- 20 th of January, 1816
The third article referred to Lieutenant Dawes’ encounter on the 12th of April, and finished by referring to the stopping of a government supply waggon on the road to Bathurst in March 1816.In this article the author mocked both the editor of the Gazette and Aborigines.In a subsequent number of the Gazette, the editor, after stating that a body of natives had stopped and robbed a cart belonging to Government carrying provisions for the supply of the persons stationed on the mountains, and that they demonstrated considerably less apprehension than formerly from the effects of firearms, thus sought to shew the natives how full of Christian charity he was. "In justice to those who do not engage in these mischievous acts," said he, "we should be at all times ready to receive corrected statements in favour of any whose names may have been erroneously reported as present on such occasions." The reader can imagine how gratified the innocent aborigines would have been at this display of generosity - if they had been able to read and understand the paragraph; and how many "corrected statements" they would have sent in to the editor - if they had been able to write. But, alas, for the darkness of the savage state, they were not able to do one or the other.’121 Charles White was not alone in misshaping our understandings of our past. A four thousand word article in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 4th of January, 1896, extolling the virtues and achievements of Governor Macquarie, made only one enigmatic reference to Aboriginal people: “His action as to the aborigines seems peculiar, as seen in these days.”122 The Sydney Morning Herald in 1904 made the following fallacious comment: “It was a troublesome district between 1796 and 1816, for the settlers and blacks constantly waged war against each other, but Governor Macquarie quieted the feud, when, on December 28, 1816, he held the first annual friendly conference with the aborigines in the market place.”123 20th of January, 1816Queen Charlotte’s birthday was the subject of Mr. Robinson’s latest Ode. In it he managed to insert a tribute to Governor Macquarie, very much in keeping with the image that Macquarie liked to present – the visionary leader, dispenser of justice and mercy. It also probably explains why Mr. Robinson was the colony’s poet laureate and his occasional slips with a pen did not get him into too much trouble. Robinson’s Odes are significant because anniversaries and celebrations naturally lend themselves to the mythologizing of the past and the blurring of what actually happened. ‘A BRITISH CHIEF! Who, on Australia’s Shore, First cherish'd Arts, and bade young Science soar; Bade active Labour course the distant Soil, But sent bright Hope to animate their Toil; And when His Justice dealt the gracious Meed, MERCY- stood by - to consecrate the deed. The Ode was largely indistinguishable from its predecessors, extolling Britain over other countries, celebrating the triumph of Britain bringing light into the darkness. The only originality in this work was its reference to cannibalism. Apart from inserting some apostrophes, I have retained Mr. Robinson’s spelling and the Gazette’s layout. ‘ODE FOR THE QUEEN's BIRTHDAY, 1816 BY MR. MICHAEL ROBINSON. WHEN Spain's proud Genius saw COLUMBUS brave The Western Course of the Atlantic Wave; Saw his aspiring Mind, adventurous, soar To trace the Bearings of an unknown Shore: What Time Castilian Barks, with Sails unfurl'd First wav'd their Banners to a wondering World, O'er whose rude Race, by humble Nature led, Proud Science yet no radiant Gleams had she:- Tho' Superstition saw her spell-bound Hand, Form'd, to pervade an unenlightened Land As round their Shrines, to Pagan Darkness giv'n, Their Idol's stood - the Passports to their Heav'n; And, as the Sun thro’ Space empyreal rode, Instinctive Impulse pointed to their GOD! Till Time, maturing REASON'S dawning Ray, Bade happier Prospects gild their brightling Day; And Christian Faith, with heav'n taught Truths refin'd, Rouse to new Energies the human Mind! Hence Wisdom's scientific Lore Diffusive spread from Shore to Shore, And patriot Worth, reserv'd for Glory, Swell'd the proud Page of letter'd Story. But, in Columbus' wayward Days, Envy deform’d his Meed of Praise, And Slander, with envenom'd Breath, Tarnish'd the living Hero's Wreath; Yet grateful Sympathy surviv'd, to wave The Cypress Laurel o'er his hallow'd Grave! Far brighter Trophies ALBION'S Heroes bore, When Glory call'd them to a distant Shore; When, on the raging Bosom of the Deep, They watch'd the giddy Mast's impending Steep; Heard the rude Howling of the swelling Gale, And the wild Flapping of the shatter'd Sail, Firm as the Oak that bound their Vessels' Sides, They brav'd the Fury of contending Tides; Trac'd desart Coasts, where prowling Natives Stood, Eager to snatch their Feast of human Blood; Eplor'd the length'ning Beach, the land lock'd Bay, Where treach'rous Shelves in lurking Ambush lay; Mark'd the lone Sea Bird, whose portentous Flight Presag'd the brooding Horrors of the Night – Left to encounter Danger's varying Form, As Billows stirr'd and ruthless burst the Storm; Till, the dire Conflict past, bright Morning came, Hope cheer'd the Dawn, and led the Course to Fame! True to the great Example of their Sires, Where Duty calls, and Ardour fires;- Advent'rous Britons still that Impulse feel, Which prompts to Glory, and their Country's Weal! But not, alone, on Ocean's vast Domain They glean the Spoils his deep dark Caves contain, Or where the Harpoon's lengthen'd Line is hurl'd, Grapple the Giants of the watery World - Tracts of untravers'd EARTH their Toils ex plore, And add new Triumphs to AUSTRALIA’S Shore! Where yon Blue Mountains, with tremendous Brow, Frown on the humbler Vales that wind below, Where scarcely human Footsteps ever trac'd The craggy Cliffs that guard the lingering Waste O'er the wild Surface of the Western Plains, - Erst the lorn Range of isolated Trains: - Where, from the Birth of Time the slumbering Soil Had borne no Traces of the Peasant's Toil Behold, where Industry's encourag'd Hand Has chang'd the lurid Aspect of the Land; With Verdure cloath'd the solitary Hills, And pour'd fresh Currents, from the limpid Rills; Has shed o'er darken'd Glades a social Light, AND BOUNDLESS REGIONS OPEN TO OUR SIGHT! Ere yet their Tasks the sturdy Swains began, Invaded Nature startled at the Plan; With Wonder gaz'd, when human Art appear'd To burst thro' Bounds in untrac'd Ages rear'd: But when they brav'd the noon tide sultry Ray, Scal'd the steep Cliff, and pierc'd the pathless Way, Taught the reluctant stubborn Glebe to yield, And in the Desart sprung the cultur’d Field – She shar'd their Triumph, and, with liberal Smile, Disclos'd the rich Resources of the Soil, And pointed where th' ALMIGHTY Hand had giv'n True balmy Manna, pure as Dew from Heav'n! Trophies like these shall spread from Clime to Clime, Shelter'd thro' Ages from the Spoils of Time; And proud Posterity shall prize the Land That owes its Culture to a BRITON'S HAND! And, when some future Bard's historic Lays Shall trace AUSTRALIA thro' progressive Days, Describe the Plains, where first, to Reason led, Their Sires were civiliz’d, their Hamlets spread; When early Commerce, borne by fav'ring Gales, First in the Offing loom'd with swelling Sails; - Here shall he Pause to venerate a Muse – Virtue bequeath'd in sacred Charge to Fame; A BRITISH CHIEF! Who, on Australia’s Shore, First cherish'd Arts, and bade young Science soar; Bade active Labour course the distant Soil, But sent bright Hope to animate their Toil; And when His Justice dealt the gracious Meed, MERCY- stood by - to consecrate the deed. Here shall charm’d Fancy's glowing Tints retire And Themes coeval wake "the living Lyre;" Themes Science saw her Isis nurse with Pride, And on CAM'S Margin swell her classic Tide; - And still, wherever cherish'd Genius smiles, Or Britain's Sceptre guards her happier Isles, The Muses, sacred to this festive Day, Shall pour their earliest - their proudest Lay; And Songs of Triumph hail th' auspicious Morn, On which our Albion's Hope - her peerless QUEEN was born! And tho' usurping Time's rude Hand appears To mark the Lapse of CHARLOTTE'S silver'd Years In calm Seclusion, midst Her WINDSOR'S Bow'rs, Reflection gilds the retrospective Hours; Brings to fond Mem'ry when her Bosom's Lord Liv'd! (and still lives!) by grateful Worlds ador'd! While his proud Navies aw'd the subject Main, And new Discov'ries mark'd His glorious Reign: Reviews the smiling Dawn of opening Youth, When mutual Virtue pledg'd connubial Truth; Whence graceful Scions, like the Olive Vine, Branch'd, to perpetuate the BRUNSWICK Line - And thro' succeeding Æras long shall prove Their EMPIRE'S GLORY, and their PEOPLE'S LOVE! New South Wales, Jan. l8, 1816.’124 On the 2nd March 1816, 20 to 30 Aboriginal warriors plundered Palmer’s farm at Bringelly.125 On the following day, seven workers crossed the Nepean in pursuit. In the fight that followed four of them were killed and one wounded. The incident is particularly noteworthy in that it was the first recorded use of muskets by Aboriginal warriors against settlers. On Monday 4th March, about sixty warriors plundered Wright’s Bringelly farm. Around the 12th March a stock keeper was killed at Cowpastures and an attack made on a government cart on the road to Bathurst, suggesting that Aboriginal unrest was widespread. Directory: docs docs -> Application for acem docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. What is a Register Of Merit docs -> Protecting the rights of the child in the context of migration docs -> United Nations E/C. 12/Esp/5 docs -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration docs -> Getting To Outcomes® in Services for Homeless Veterans 10 Steps for Achieving Accountability Download 3.05 Mb. Share with your friends:
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