The Far Horizon by Gretta Curran Browne

finer points with the use of italics in future,’ Lachlan said, ignoring the rapturous little cries that came from the printer, ‘... with an equal number of italics,’ Lachlan said as he wrote.
    ‘And double primer,’ Happy added, delirious. ‘I don't believe any of this!’
    He patted and plucked delicately at the Governor's arm to make sure he was not dreaming.
    ‘And hackle-tooth bodkin blades with six handles.’ He pointed with his finger for the Governor to write it down. ‘And don't forget the quotes and exclamations!’
    All written down, Lachlan sat thinking for a minute, and Happy's face returned to its normal glumness, certain that the Governor was now thinking of the cost ... having second thoughts about the cost of the wonderful new printing press with sloping italics .
    ‘Why don't we have a new emblem to head the front page?’ Lachlan suggested.
    ‘A new emblem?’
    ‘Something solid and impressive.' Lachlan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. ‘How about the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom?’
    Happy almost swooned. He clutched for his handkerchief and began to mop his brow.
    ‘Governor Macquarie … before I came to New South Wales almost twenty years ago, I worked on The Times in London...’ His voice began to shake with emotional little tremolos. ‘And The Times , as you know, has the Royal Arms on its front page.’
    ‘And so shall we!’ Lachlan said, repeating as he wrote, ‘Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, in brass, supporters couchant, about the size and form that head His Majesty's speeches to Parliament.’
    Happy Howe was in a daze. Here before him, he decided, was a man who saw New South Wales as something more than just a convict colony. Here was a man with vision!
    By the time the meeting had ended, the Gazette was also to have asterisks to divide its paragraphs, as well as flowers to decorate its social and gossip pages.
    Turning to leave, Lachlan put his hand on the door handle, and then paused and looked over his shoulder. ‘You say you worked on The Times in London, Mr Howe?’
    ‘I did, Your Excellency.’
    ‘So why did you leave such a fine newspaper to come to New South Wales to establish the Gazette ?’
    ‘I was transported,’ Happy replied glumly.
    ‘Ah.’ Lachlan nodded his head thoughtfully – the crime had to be forgery, probably of bank notes.’
    ‘So, newspapers are not the only things you have printed, Mr Howe?’
    For a time Happy seemed unable to speak, then he looked honestly at the governor and said with a croak of nostalgia in his voice, ‘In my time, Your Excellency, I have printed works of pure art .’
    *
    In the hot summer months of February and March, all the new regulations were enough to make anyone dizzy, but Happy Howe no longer complained. In his view, Lachlan Macquarie's impact on the settlement was not only fresh and healthy; it also filled everyone with a new community spirit.
    ‘No aspect of our previously unimportant lives has failed to engage the Governor’s interest ,’ Happy declared in the Gazette’s gossip column, ‘ And never before have we had such a PATERNAL ruler.’
    Mr Hassall, a missionary, immediately wrote a letter to the editor of the Gazette in agreement:
    ‘I’m relieved to say that the former differences between the various classes in our colony are nearly at an end and we begin to live more in peace and unity. Indeed, I don’t know whether the colony could find a better man for a Governor.’
    ‘It's because he makes us feel as if we ain't all bad,’ explained Elizabeth's maid, Rachel, as she dressed her mistress's hair for an official event that afternoon. ‘Not like on the ship! On the ship the guards talked to us as if we was dogs! But Governor Macquarie, when he sees us, he don't talk to us like we was dogs, no he don’t, not at all.’
    Elizabeth was curious. ‘How does he speak to you?’
    ‘Well, he just says fings like "Good mornin," nice as you like, and then he walks on wivout even a spit. I