Bent did his best to foment the excitement, and it is a remarkable testimony to Macquarie's essential uprightness of character and to the respect with which, in spite of all his faults, the colonists regarded him, that no rioting or disorder resulted. But the incident created a great deal of uneasiness, which did not die out so long as the Government remained in the hands of one man. No reference to the matter was ever made in official despatches, and when Macquarie did later defend his action, his arguments were wholly irrelevant to the point at issue. He had given way to irritation, acted precipitately, and the only way to retrieve himself was by not repeating the mistake and hoping that it might be forgotten.[1]
A little later another rather unfortunate incident occurred. Some years earlier, in 1813, two lieutenants of the 73rd Regiment had been tried for the murder of a man "in the lower ranks of life" in the streets of Sydney. The Criminal Court, in the face of much conflicting evidence, found them guilty of manslaughter only, fined them 1s. each, and ordered them to be confined for six months in the Parramatta gaol. Macquarie thought the verdict too lenient and the sentence too light. He published a lengthy Order of Reprimand and reported the matter fully to the Commander-in-Chief.[2] In due time the 73rd was relieved by the 48th and sent to Ceylon, and while there the two officers were dismissed the service in accordance with orders from the Commander-in-Chief. In May, 1816, one of them returned to Sydney in order to marry. Macquarie ordered him to return by the ship on which he had come. This did not leave time to put up the banns and the Governor refused the young man a license. Bent took up the cause of the bridegroom and wrote two letters to Macquarie, calling in question his right to keep any British subject from coming
- ↑ See his defence in letter to Lord Bathurst published in 1822. Bent persuaded Blake to go to England, and in 1819 prepared a petition which was presented to Parliament on Blake's behalf. See Chapter IX. It is rather strange that the measures taken by Macquarie which reflected such great discredit on him were at the same time quite ineffective. On 6th July, 1816, he published an Order threatening the "most summary and exemplary" punishment for those who injured the wall, etc., of the Government Domain.
- ↑ In the course of this Order he forbade any officer to go about the town out of uniform.
