Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/555

---

I the ** factory " at PaiTamatta became, under Lord Batburst's directions, a special subject of consideration, as it had been in Bigge*8 Report. It was the fortune of Sir T, Brisbane to have serious differences with members of several religious denominations- He did not, like Macquarie, imprison or send them away. Nor does it ajipear that he desired to quarrel with them. Those who surrounded him created his enemies. As the differences with Marsden agitated the colony for several years, and were much discussed iu England, it is proper to summarize them. They sprang from the intrigues of one Dr. Douglass, against whom a surgeon of a ship preferred a criminal charge at the instance of a female convict, in Aug. 18'22. Judge WyMe referred the complaint to the magistrates at Parramatta. Hannibal Macarthur, Marsden, and Messrs, J. and G. T, Palmer and J. Blaxland investi- gated it. There was con ftie ting evidence, and the magistrates were accused of exceeding their powers by affectmg to pass a sentence touching a question of perjury. The facts induced three of the magistrates to decline to sit with Douglass afterwards on the bench. The Governor gave them the choice of resigning or abandoning their refusal. They professed a desire to avoid any hostility to the Governor's wishes, but persisted in their refusal. Brisbane dismissed them. Thereupon Wylde, Judge Advocate ; Field, the Judge ; Oxley, the Surveyor-General ; and Messrs. Riley, Antillj and Woolstoncraft in theii* capacity as magistrates, resolved that the proceedings of the dismissed magistrates in investigating the charge against Douglass reflected *' the highest character for unsullied justice, and the most chastened sense of delicacy towards Dr. Douglass as a brother magistrate, consistent wnth public duty." Other complimentary terms were used. Nevertheless the dis- missal of the magistrates was approved by Lord Bathurst on the ground of their exceeding their jurisdiction. Douglass, whose family had been friendly with Marsden's, resolved to use his influence to disgrace his former friend. Marsden had an assigned servant, a painter and glazier, named Eing, who was permitted to workfoY YCi^^tvk.^^Vca^^ ^mouf^st the neiq^libours. Dr, Dou"a%^ ^^^ qi^^i^^^^