110 PHILLIP 1788-92 its origin to the absence of any instrnctions from the Homo Government with respect to the exact position of the mili- tary force in relation to the Grovernor. The necessity for ^^tiona s^^® s^^^ definition of duty did not present itself to the undefined. Groyemment when the expedition was being organised ; nor did it occur to Phillip, since there ia no reference to it in his letters. Probably both he and Lord Sydney took it for granted that the Act of Parliament passed in 1787 rendered any special instructions from the Admiralty unnecessary. But they might have known that nothing, according to his- torical precedents, was more likely to happen under such circumstances than dissension between the two powers. The antagonism which grew up between Grovemor Phillip and Major Ross was but a reproduction, on a very small Historical scalc, of the violcut struggles between the civil and military ^° ^ authorities which formed the prelude to many of the great revolutions recorded in history. That the difference be- tween himself and the Major was not cairied to violent extremes must be attributed to Phillip's tact, good temper, and self-control. He had provocation enough, had he been irritable and vindictive, to justify him in any steps he might have thought fit to take for the purpose of asserting his authority as Captain-G^eneral and Govemor-in-Chief. rStaint. ^^^ ^® wiscly refrained from taking any steps of the kind, contenting himself with proper representations of the matter to the Secretary of State. Major Boss was evidently disposed to act an aggressive part at every opportunity. Not satisfied with thwarting Phillip's good intentions with respect to the management of the convicts, he endeavoured to place still more serious The officers obstructious ui his path. He incited hia officers to raise object to , . '*^ t r>t gjj^ technical objections as to the Governor s power to summon them to attend the sittings of the Criminal Court. One* of
- Captain James Campbell, an especial friend of the Major's. In a letter
to Evan Nepean, written shortly before his leavine England, Ross implored the Under Secretary to obtain some appointment for his friend, suggesting that he might be made Judge of the vice- Admiralty Court instead of him- Goort. Digitized by Google
