Page:A colonial autocracy, New South Wales under Governor Macquarie, 1810-1821.djvu/291

 persons in that situation having dined at the Governor's house; but with respect to this particular individual, unquestionably he never did so. He pleaded &hellip; that he had no intention of sitting at table with a person who had been a convict, as he had uniformly dissented from such a measure. The person alluded to accidentally came in and took a seat at the card-table, and the officer had not presence of mind enough to retire immediately. &hellip; "

He was afterwards reinstated in the Army, though not in the same regiment.

The reports of the intercourse between the 73rd and the emancipists had not a good effect upon their reputation. The 46th Regiment, having heard what was said of this intercourse in the talk of the mess-rooms, and seen some scurrilous paragraphs in the Press, determined not to lay themselves open to the same reproach.

On their arrival in Sydney, Macquarie welcomed them warmly, for Lieutenant-Colonel Molle, their commanding officer and the new Lieutenant-Governor, was an old companion-in-arms, and on his account alone the Governor was eager to show them hospitality. The officers were frequently invited to Government House, and Macquarie noticed that though they met several emancipists at his table, none were invited to theirs. Believing that Molle held the same views as he did himself on the treatment of this class of persons, Macquarie became curious to know the reason for their exclusion from the mess. He discovered "that the Officers of the 46th Regiment, on the particular recommendation of their commanding officer, Colonel Molle, had previous to their arrival in the Colony bound themselves never to admit into their society or hold any intercourse with any of those persons who had arrived here under sentence of transportation. They also entered into another resolution at the same time never to engage in any Trading, Farming or Grazing concerns in the Colony, the observance of which, although by no means exceeding what should be expected from their profession, would at least have reflected credit on them as military men. Their adherence to this rule," said Macquarie,