"I would submit, therefore, that it is necessary from the moment the
Aborigines of this country are declared British subjects, they should, as
far as possible, be taught that the British laws are to supersede their
own, so that any native who is suffering under their own customs, may
have the power of an appeal to those of Great Britain; or to put this in
its true light, that all authorized persons should, in all instances, be
required to protect a native from the violence of his fellows, even
though they be in the execution of their own laws.
"So long as this is not the case, the older natives have at their
disposal the means of effectually preventing the civilization of any
individuals of their own tribe, and those among them who may be inclined
to adapt themselves to the European habits and mode of life, will be
deterred from so doing by their fear of the consequences, that the
displeasure of others may draw down upon them.
"So much importance am I disposed to attach to this point, that I do not
hesitate to assert my full conviction, that whilst those tribes which are
in communication with Europeans are allowed to execute their barbarous
laws and customs upon one another, so long will they remain hopelessly
immersed in their present state of barbarism: and however unjust such a
proceeding might at first sight appear, I believe that the course pointed
out by true humanity would be, to make them from the very commencement
amenable to the British laws, both as regards themselves and Europeans;
for I hold it to be imagining a contradiction to suppose, that
individuals subject to savage and barbarous laws, can rise into a state
of civilization, which those laws have a manifest tendency to destroy and
overturn.
"I have known many instances of natives who have been almost or quite
civilized, being compelled by other natives to return to the bush; more
particularly girls, who have been betrothed in their infancy, and who, on
approaching the years of puberty, have been compelled by their husbands
to join them.
"To punish the Aborigines severely for the violation of laws of which
they are ignorant, would be manifestly cruel and unjust; but to punish
them in the first instance slightly for the violation of these laws would
inflict no great injury on them, whilst by always punishing them when
guilty of a crime, without reference to the length of period that had
elapsed between its perpetration and their apprehension, at the same time
fully explaining to them the measure of punishment that would await them
in the event of a second commission of the same fault, would teach them
gradually the laws to which they were henceforth to be amenable, and
would shew them that crime was always eventually, although it might be
remotely, followed by punishment.
"I imagine that this course would be more merciful than that at present
adopted; viz.
