A triple discharge of musquetry concluded this part of the ceremony; after which Governor Phillip advanced, and addressing first the private soldiers, thanked them for their steady good conduct on every occasion: an honour which was repeated to them in the next general orders.

He then turned to the convicts, and distinctly explained to them the nature of their present situation.

The greater part, he bade them recollect, had already forfeited their lives to the justice of their country: yet, by the lenity of its laws, they were now so placed that, by industry and good behaviour, they might in time regain the advantages and estimation in society of which they had deprived themselves.

They not only had every encouragement to make that effort, but were removed almost entirely from every temptation to guilt.
There was little in this infant community which one man could plunder from another, and any dishonest attempts in so small a society would almost infallibly be discovered.

To persons detected in such crimes, he could not promise any mercy; nor indeed to any whom, under their circumstances, should presume to offend against the peace and good order of the settlement.