There were demonstrations of joy in Sydney at the downfall of Bligh and the defeat of Crossley. Bonfires were
lighted. Bligh and his friends endeavoured afterwards
to prove that a salute was fired in honour of Johnston's
usurpation, but on this point as well as on an imputation
that Macarthur had, on the night before his trial, dined
with the officers who were to sit in the Criminal Court, the
contrary evidence was overwhelming. There was a proposition to raise a sum of money to defray the expenses of
Macarthur as a representative to lay before His Majesty's
Government the circumstances of the colony, but though
more than £1000 were subscribed the project was not
carried out, and four days after the meeting at which
Macarthur's delegation was resolved upon, Johnston
appointed him Secretary.
When Bligh's papers fell into the hands of Johnston and his friends, the opprobrious character given by Bligh to Atkins was discovered, and Atkins learned that while he had fancied himself a favourite with Bligh, he had been a sponge in the hand of Crossley. Both Bligh and Johnston desired to call Atkins as a witness in England. The latter succeeded; and the poor creature seems to have given evidence fairly.
But though the inhabitants were generally satisfied with the change from the frenzy of Bligh to the military methods of Johnston and Macarthur, Johnston found that in doing his duty a Governor made enemies. In a despatch (11th April 1808), he told Lord Castlereagh: "The unanimity in which I have felt so much pleasure I quickly discovered was not to be preserved without a sacrifice of His Majesty's interests, and a departure from the regulations that have been made to check the importation of spirituous liquors into the colony." Following King's practice, Johnston forbade the landing of spirits from an American vessel. Bligh had, just before his deposition, allowed the landing of
another examined a room which the steward had said contained nothing but his own bed and some lumber. Bligh swore that one of the soldiers threatened to bayonet him, and that he appealed to a sergeant to keep the man off. Sutherland denied that there was any such violence. Lieut. Minchin averred that the soldiers were very "orderly" in their conduct, and it was to Minchin that Bligh surrendered himself.
