Marcus Clarke

“ Whatever they say, or whatever they do, every word and its meaning, every action and its motive, is represented in an unfavourable light, and is distorted from the real intention of the speaker or the actor. ”

“ The Governor received him with kindness, appointed him superintendent of convicts, and in November, 1792, he entered upon that office by virtue of one of the first warrants of emancipation granted in the colony. From this time Mr. Barrington seems to have conducted himself with propriety, and to have given up the follies of his youth. It is possible, indeed, that police were more plentiful than purses in the land of his adoption. However, he made an admirable superintendent of convicts, and would address his petty officers in tones which yet faintly smacked of the Phoenix and Ranelagh. ”

“ His hopeful pupil, turning his head from the card-table, saw the arrest of his friend, and with a plausible excuse, rose, slipped out, and took horse for Dublin.
At Dublin, he was caught on the racecourse, but, restoring the snatched purse to its owner, was permitted to escape. Judging that the story would soon get wind, he wisely started for London.
Now begins a new phase in his career. He had been the Bohemian, the strolling player, the bon camarado of bully-rooks and swindlers. He would take a new line of action. He would be the gentleman, the gamester, the man of fashion. ”

“ Every effort to deserve well of mankind, that my heart bore witness to, its rectitude has been frustrated by such measures as these, and consequently rendered abortive. Many of the circumstances of my life, I can, without any violation of the truth, declare to have therefore happened absolutely in spite of myself. ”

“ The lash cut the manhood out of them. Here Barrington seems to have suffered severely in mind and body. He tried to escape twice and to stab himself once, but was unsuccessful in all three efforts. His misery, however, attracted the attention of a wealthy associate of former days, who, exerting his influence with the Government, succeeded in getting Barrington's release, on condition that he should exile himself, as his old patron, manager Price, had done, to Ireland. Here he resumed his old occupation, until Dublin was too hot to hold him ”

“ Among the extraordinary vicissitudes incident to human nature, it is the peculiar and unfortunate lot of some devoted persons to have their best wishes and their most earnest endeavours to deserve the good opinion of the most respectable part of society frustrated. ”

“ Barrington, upon this, set out to look for Price, and found him at Cork, picking pockets. He told him of his loss.
"Join your fortunes with mine, lad!" says Price over a bowl of punch. "Fools were made for men like us to live upon!"
The compact was soon made. Barrington took the part of a young gentleman of fashion, and Price that of his tutor. They frequented assemblies, balls, and races, and by the end of the year made £1000. Emboldened by success, Price became less cautious in his operations, was detected, convicted, and sent to the plantations. ”

“ Sherwood, Neily, and Jones, of 5 Newgate-street, London, published, in the year 1810, in two volumes quarto, a History of New South Wales, by George Barrington, superintendent of convicts, the literary fame of its author was not much enhanced. His speeches, at his trials, were excellent, but his writing is execrable. The History is a very slip-slop piece of work; and is, moreover, according to Dr. Lang, untrustworthy. [*] As a thief, Mr. Barrington was not above suspicion. As an author, he is beneath contempt. ”