The last measure which I consider necessary to the prosperity of this colony is a radical reform in the courts of justice. It has long since been noticed that at the principal settlement and its dependencies, there are five courts, one of criminal and the other four of civil judicature, viz. the criminal court, the governor's court, the supreme court, the court of vice admiralty, the high court of appeals, all of which are held in Sydney, and the lieutenant governor's court, which is held in Hobart Town. The constitution of these various courts has been already explained, and a mere cursory glance at their several jurisdictions, will convince us of the danger and absurdity of their organization. To commence in the order in which I have noticed them, what can be more improper than the constitution of the criminal court? At the time indeed, when this court was instituted, there was a necessity that it should wholly consist of the officers of the colony, since they and convicts were the only two classes of whom it was composed; but even then, what motive existed for excluding the civil officers? Were they either less competent to be members of a court, whose decisions ought to be founded solely on the laws of England, or were they less respectable than the military and naval? The bare appearance of this tribunal has long been odious and revolting to the majority of the colonists. It is disgusting to an Englishman to see a culprit, however heinous may be his offence, arraigned before a court clad in full military costume; nor can it indeed be readily conceived that a body of men, whose principles and habits must have been materially influenced, if not entirely formed, by a code altogether foreign to the laws of this country, should be able on such occasions to divest themselves of the soldier, and to judge as the citizen. Without meaning to impugn the general impartiality and justice of their decisions, it may be easily imagined that _an individual might happen_ to be _traduced_ before a court, of which _all_, or _part_ of the members, might from various causes be _his_ enemies. No one has mixed much in military society, without witnessing that _esprit du corps_ which is so common in regiments, and which, however much it may contribute to their union and happiness, is, in a community of this nature, of the most dangerous tendency to the individual, against whom its collected fury may be levelled. It must be remembered that this colony is not like a country town from whence a regiment may be removed the moment its conduct becomes obnoxious to the inhabitants. There the regiments necessarily remain for many years, and from this very circumstance, disputes of a much more serious and rancorous nature are apt to arise between the inhabitants and the military, than are known in this country. And this observation applies more particularly to the officers and the superior class of the colonists: since the disputes and