The Far Horizon (9 page)

Chapter Ten

In the shabby printing office of Sydney's
Gazette
newspaper, Mr George Howe, the paper's editor and printer – better known to one and all as ‘
Happy Howe
' – felt himself sinking with fatigue under the pile of proclamations that the new Viceroy wanted printed for the benefit of the population.

And Happy Howe was not the only one sinking under the weight: his beloved printing press was also creaking towards a collapse.

Happy finally put on his hat and set out boldly for Government House to lay his problems directly before the colony’s new ruler.

It's my printing press, Your Excellency,’ Happy said glumly. ‘She's old and infirm, d'you see? Not up to running with the energy of a youngster anymore.’

Lachlan's immediate response was curiosity. ‘May I come and take a look at it, Mr Howe? Your printing press?’

Happy Howe was utterly taken aback. No Viceroy had ever visited the office of the
Gazette
before. He paused, not sure if he liked the idea. A printer's press was like his beloved, something he cherished and something he didn't like other men touching. But how could he refuse the new governor of the settlement?

Half an hour later Lachlan was running a finger over the old printing press and examining it carefully. ‘Oh, yes, I see what you mean, Mr Howe.’

Happy nodded glumly. ‘She's a good old thing. Never lets me down. But she's been here almost as long as myself, since Governor Phillip's day, and she can't cope with modern times no more. Not now Sydney needs all these new rules and proclamations.’

Lachlan considered. ‘You need a new one.’

Happy sighed, blinked his eyes rapidly. ‘A new one, Your Excellency? A
new
printing press?' He sighed again, stirred the papers on his desk, hummed a sob under his breath, and swallowed emotionally at the very idea.

Lachlan was highly amused by the expressions on Howe's face.

‘Smile if you will, Governor Macquarie, smile if you must, but the sad fact is that the
Gazette
cannot
afford
a new printing press.’

‘Then we shall just have to pay for it out of the public purse,’ Lachlan decided. ‘If the
Gazette
is to be the government's main line of communication to the people, then the government must financially support it.’

Happy's usual glum expression changed to one of stupefaction, his blue eyes staring with incredulity as Governor Macquarie sat down at the desk, lifted a quill, dipped it in ink and began to jot down notes for the order of a new printing press which would be immediately dispatched to England.

‘One printing press … ’ Lachlan said as he wrote, and then looked up at the publisher questioningly.

‘With three composing sticks,’ said Happy in a shaking voice, ‘two of common length, with fourteen lines Long Primer...’

Happy couldn't believe this was happening. ‘Governor Macquarie … are you sure you have not lost your wits?’

Quite sure,’ Lachlan said as he wrote; then again looked at Howe questioningly.

‘And 400 weight of Long Primer, with a double comp of Capitals,’ added Happy. ‘I've become very addicted to Capitals,’ he confessed.

‘Personally, I rather like italics,’ Lachlan replied. ‘Italics are far more impressive, do you not agree?’

‘
Italics
!’ Happy sang ebulliently, holding up his palms in worship. ‘Oh, sir,
italics
are the very
art
of the printer! The sheer force of
drama
on the printed page! Many's the night I've actually
dreamed
in italics ... but not having any, I'm forced to come down to earth and make my point in Capitals.’

‘Then we shall make even finer points with the use of italics in future,’ Lachlan said, ignoring the rapturous little cries that came from the printer, ‘... with an equal number of italics,’ Lachlan said as he wrote.

‘And double primer,’ Happy added, delirious. ‘I don't believe any of this!’

He patted and plucked delicately at the Governor's arm to make sure he was not dreaming.

‘And hackle-tooth bodkin blades with six handles.’ He pointed with his finger for the Governor to write it down. ‘And don't forget the quotes and exclamations!’

All written down, Lachlan sat thinking for a minute, and Happy's face returned to its normal glumness, certain that the Governor was now thinking of the cost ... having second thoughts about the cost of the wonderful new printing press with sloping
italics
.

‘Why don't we have a new emblem to head the front page?’ Lachlan suggested.

‘A new emblem?’

‘Something solid and impressive.' Lachlan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. ‘How about the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom?’

Happy almost swooned. He clutched for his handkerchief and began to mop his brow.

‘Governor Macquarie … before I came to New South Wales almost twenty years ago, I worked on
The Times
in London...’ His voice began to shake with emotional little tremolos. ‘And
The Times
, as you know, has the Royal Arms on
its
front page.’

‘And so shall we!’ Lachlan said, repeating as he wrote, ‘Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, in brass, supporters couchant, about the size and form that head His Majesty's speeches to Parliament.’

Happy Howe was in a daze. Here before him, he decided, was a man who saw New South Wales as something more than just a convict colony. Here was a man with
vision!

By the time the meeting had ended, the
Gazette
was also to have asterisks to divide its paragraphs, as well as flowers to decorate its social and gossip pages.

Turning to leave, Lachlan put his hand on the door handle, and then paused and looked over his shoulder. ‘You say you worked on
The Times
in London, Mr Howe?’

‘I did, Your Excellency.’

‘So why did you leave such a fine newspaper to come to New South Wales to establish the
Gazette
?’

‘I was transported,’ Happy replied glumly.

‘Ah.’ Lachlan nodded his head thoughtfully – the crime had to be forgery, probably of bank notes.’

‘So, newspapers are not the only things you have printed, Mr Howe?’

For a time Happy seemed unable to speak, then he looked honestly at the governor and said with a croak of nostalgia in his voice, ‘In my time, Your Excellency, I have printed works of pure
art
.’

*

In the hot summer months of February and March, all the new regulations were enough to make anyone dizzy, but Happy Howe no longer complained. In his view, Lachlan Macquarie's impact on the settlement was not only fresh and healthy; it also filled everyone with a new community spirit.

‘No aspect of our previously unimportant lives has failed to engage the Governor’s interest
,’ Happy declared in the
Gazette’s
gossip column, ‘
And never before have we had such a PATERNAL ruler.’

Mr Hassall, a missionary, immediately wrote a letter to the editor of the
Gazette
in agreement:

‘I’m relieved to say that the former differences between the various classes in our colony are nearly at an end and we begin to live more in peace and unity. Indeed, I don’t know whether the colony could find a better man for a Governor.’

‘It's because he makes us feel as if we ain't all bad,’ explained Elizabeth's maid, Rachel, as she dressed her mistress's hair for an official event that afternoon. ‘Not like on the ship! On the ship the guards talked to us as if we was dogs! But Governor Macquarie, when he sees us, he don't talk to us like we was dogs, no he don’t, not at all.’

Elizabeth was curious. ‘How does he speak to you?’

‘Well, he just says fings like "Good mornin," nice as you like, and then he walks on wivout even a spit. I always hated that on the ship – the guards spittin' at us. I always thought it was very insultin'!’

Elizabeth's eyes watched Rachel in the mirror, listening attentively as always in her efforts to absorb and understand everything about the people who surrounded her.

‘It
is
insulting, Rachel. It sounds as if
they
were the ones acting like rabid dogs.’

‘There now, all finished,’ Rachel said, standing back to admire the work she had done on Elizabeth’s hair. An' d'you know, Ma'am, I fink the sun an' sea air here in Sydney must agree wiv you. You looked as white as a ship’s sail when you first come, but now yer cheeks are lookin' real peachy.'

Elizabeth moved to her feet. ‘Are you joining us this afternoon?’

‘What?’ Rachel was completely taken aback. ‘Me…? Joining
you…? Oh no, Ma’am, that ain’t allowed.’

‘Of course it’s allowed. The entire population is invited.’

‘What … all of us … mixing together? Free ‘uns and convicts alike? Even us servants?’

‘Everyone.’

‘But it’s an official do, and Governor Macquarie and all his officers –’

‘Rachel,’ Elizabeth said firmly, ‘it is not only Governor Macquarie’s wish that everyone should attend – free
and
convict – it is also his
order.
Everyone has been given the afternoon off. Were you not informed by Mrs Ovens or Mrs Kelly?’

Rachel stared at her mistress in disbelief, and then put her hands over her mouth and started to giggle like a shocked child.

‘Oh, Ma’am, that Governor Macquarie, he’s a right one ain’t he … he makes up all his own rules – letting all us convicts have the afternoon off … the Exclusives will be so mad an’ they will just
hate
him!’

‘No they won’t hate him,’ Elizabeth said confidently, ‘because Governor Macquarie consulted with them all through the
Gazette
, and so far not one has objected.’

After a moment’s thought, Rachel asked quietly, ‘Will … will George Jarvis be going as well?’

‘George?’ Elizabeth hesitated before answering further. She was well aware now of Rachel’s attraction to George, the poor girl showed it every time George walked into a room, but apart from always being his usual polite self, George seemed totally unaware of the girl and her eyes always burning on him.

‘I’m sure George will be there,’ Elizabeth said finally. ‘Didn’t I just tell you that Governor Macquarie says
everyone
must attend. Today is going to be a very special day for Sydney, so he wants us
all
to enjoy it.’

Chapter Eleven

‘
Sydney is to have its first Race Meeting
,’ the Gazette had cheerfully announced, “
because His Excellency the Governor has decided it will be the best method of encouraging the rearing of good horses in the colony.’

For days the excitement leading up to the afternoon’s event had kept tongues wagging and heads buzzing with excitement.

Entertainments were arranged, and for the first time in the history of the settlement, town-dweller and countryman, convict and free, all gathered for feats of fun on an open space of ground which had grandly been renamed “Hyde Park.”

Convict women raced in sacks and wheelbarrows for the prize of a mound of cheese or a roll of Indian muslin.

Ladies allowed their ankles to be tied together and raced in pairs for the prize of a case of Madeira.

Then came the big event – the first official horse race in New South Wales, which Captain Ritchie won on his gelding
Chase
. His prize was fifty guineas from Governor Macquarie and a silver cup from Mrs Macquarie.

Michael Massey Robinson, a poet from Oxford who had been transported for alleged blackmail, solemnly and sonorously read a poem to the crowd, in honour of the day, dedicating it to an embarrassed Lachlan Macquarie.

‘To him whose calm voice makes his people rejoice,

That this friend to Mankind is their Sovereign's choice

And long may his mild and beneficent sway,

Enhance - whilst it sanctions the sports of today!’

Mr Hassall wrote a tactless letter to Governor King's wife who had left the colony less than three years before, telling her that she would soon learn from the public papers about how gay they had all become in New South Wales. ‘
It is not like the same place it was when you were amongst us.
’

But not all the inhabitants were so happy with the new Governor. Dr Reverend Arnold wrote in a complaint to England:

It appears to me that Governor Macquarie is of too peaceable a nature for his situation. He endeavours to conciliate all persons, and instead of showing a marked disapprobation of the emancipist–felons, he has invited some of them to dine at his table at Government House, in particular a former architect named Francis Greenway. He has also put some in responsible situations, and has made others his confidants.

Some of the Exclusives were inclined to agree with Dr Arnold. It really was shocking – men like that architect who had once worn leg irons, not only being allowed to speak to the Governor, but also invited to dine with him! Yes, indeed, quite shocking!

But apart from these few malcontents, the rest of the population simply adored their new Governor.