The Free Presbyterian Magazine - Free Presbyterian Church of ...

Christianity and the First Fleet 331
I must answer for my preaching, and you for your hearing. O that this awful
day of judgement may be often, yea, always, present to your thoughts, and
to mine! That we may live in constant expectation of its approach! So that
when the last loud trumpet shall sound, we may stand with acceptance and
boldness in His presence, and be admitted as believers in the great Saviour,
into His heavenly kingdom, with a ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord’ (Mt 25:23).
“This will be my daily prayer to God for you. I shall pray for your eternal
salvation, for your present welfare, for the preservation, peace, and prosperity
of this colony: and especially for the more abundant and manifest success of
the Redeemer’s cause and kingdom, and for the effusion and outpouring of
His Holy Spirit, not only here, but in every part of the habitable globe. Longing,
hoping, and waiting for the dawn of that happy day when the heathen
shall be given to the Lord Jesus for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the earth for His possession: and when all the ends of the earth shall see,
believe, and rejoice in the salvation of God (Ps 2:8).”
During the first four years in the colony, Johnson suffered much from ill
health, no doubt brought about by poor diet and the stress of his situation,
but his sufferings were to increase with the departure of Governor Arthur
Phillip to Britain and the appointment of Major Francis Grose as Lieutenant
Governor of the colony in his place. During a two-year incumbency, Grose
replaced the civil magistrates with military officers from the New South
Wales Corps he helped raise; he favoured them with extra rations, grants of
land and convicts to work it. This led to a monopoly on farming and trade
– particularly spirituous liquors – and ensured the wealth of what came to be
known as the “Rum Corps”. 8 Grose clashed with Johnson virtually from the
first day and so severe was his dislike of the Chaplain that he opposed him
at every opportunity, undermined his standing in the Colony and maligned
his character both in the settlement and in Britain. When Samuel Marsden
arrived on 10 March 1794, Grose provided him with a level of comfort which
he had withheld from Johnson. 9
Upon arrival Marsden wrote to a friend: “As I enjoy some privileges which
Mr Joh[nson] at present does not, this hurts him a good deal . . . to see the
Gov[ernor] pay me more attention than he does him gives him much pain.
Mr J[ohnson] has been treated unkindly. I must and will take his part in what
I see he is right, but then I must not, it is not my duty to be at variance with the
Gov[ernor] here if I can consistent with my duty and conscience avoid it.” 10
8 9 Macintosh, Richard Johnson, p 63. Macintosh, Richard Johnson, pp 62-75.
10
Marsden to Mrs Stokes, Hassall Correspondence, II, pp 1-5 in ML. Quoted in Macintosh,
Richard Johnson, pp 62-75.