their will. But Macquarie's designs were repulsive to men
of honour. As Colonel of the 73rd, he was able to cause
his emancipated friends to be entertained at the regimental
mess; but when the 46th Regiment arrived, Colonel Molle
and his brother officers were not so compliant. Long and
acrimonious correspondence reached the Secretary of State;
but the 46th left the colony without abatement of their
determination. When the Rev. S. Marsden prosecuted the
Governor's Secretary for libel, the officers of the 46th
wrote to congratulate him on his success. Marsden's reply
(Oct. 1818) reveals the importance ascribed in the colony
to the stand taken by the 46th. They did for society in
Sydney what their active comrades did for the safety of life
in Van Diemen's Land.
(He could) "never forget the public service you rendered to this colony from the time you landed to the day of your departure, by your firmness and gentlemanly conduct as British officers, and by your good and prudent example as members of the community. . . . When you first arrived in New South Wales every barrier against licentiousness was broken down. There were a few, and but a few, who resolved to stand their ground and preserve that line of conduct which the wisest and best men consider essential as marking the distinction between the good and the evil. Had you not arrived in New South Wales and acted the honourable part you did, the few who were marked out for future conquest would not have been able to have stood out longer, but must have either yielded to superior force, or have withdrawn from the colony. Some would not have had strength of mind sufficient to have carried on a perpetual warfare against such unequal force, and thus would not have been able to meet the expense of continued resistance. You just arrived in time to turn the wavering balance, and to inspire the desponding with hopes."
Many regiments bear on their banners mottoes telling of their past services, but it may be questioned whether the escutcheon of the 46th could be more nobly adorned than by the memory of their conduct in New South Wales, which smells sweet across the lapse of the century.
The 48th Regiment arrived, and Macquarie found Colonel Erskine more pliant than Colonel Molle, but as a body the officers were actuated by the same sense of honour as encountered him on the 46th. Erskine agreed to join Macquarie in forcing an emancipated protégé upon society. The man was welcome at Government House; but all was nought so long as the hated free settlers, and civil and military officers, were not compelled to meet him elsewhere. A
