Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/196

94 PHILUP AND HIS WORK. 1788HKI Thbrb are few materials of mucli interest in the present day — ^if we except his letters and despatches from Sydney Cove — for a biography of Arthur Phillip. The scanty details of his career prior to the expedition of 1787 that have come down to ns represent him as a naval officer of merits but without many opportunities for distinction.* He held the rank of a post-captain in the Navy when ap- pointed Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the new Lord Howe'8 colouy. But although Lord Howe was unable to see any opiniona gpeciaT qualifications in Captain Phillip for such a com- mand,* the event proved that the great admiral's judgment was as much at fault in that instance as it was when he expressed his doubts about the prospects of a settlement in New South Wales. Phillip's career in the colony showed that he possessed in full measure the qualifications required for the position in which he was placed. Had it been other- wise, he could not have shown the readiness of resource he did under the unexampled difficulties by which he was surrounded from first to last. But for his unwearied atten- tion to every detail connected with the despatch of the Maiu««- First Fleet, it is not probable that the voyage would have Expedition, met with the remarkable success which attended it. We have only to contrast it with that of the Second Fleet in 1790 in order to see how easily the whole expedition might have been wrecked — ^not by storm and tempest, but by mere neglect of duty. Making every allowance for favour- able winds and^ weather while at sea, it must still be • Post, p, 495. I Digitized by Google