Page:A colonial autocracy, New South Wales under Governor Macquarie, 1810-1821.djvu/295

 laying the whole matter of their insubordinate behaviour towards him "at the foot of the throne" by writing to the Commander-in-Chief. Molle, meanwhile, attempted to bring Wentworth to a Court-Martial on the ground that he had aided and abetted the publication of the libellous "pipe," but Wylde decided that Wentworth's military commission as surgeon did not make him amenable to a Court-Martial for such an offence.

Luckily the regiment was then, in 1817, on the point of departure, and they left at the end of the year amid the general regrets of the inhabitants, except indeed of Macquarie and the emancipists.

The behaviour of the 48th was rather different. Lieutenant-Colonel Erskine, the Lieutenant-Governor; Major Morriset, afterwards Commandant at Newcastle; and Major Druitt, the Chief Engineer, were all on friendly terms with emancipists. They even took Redfern to call on other officers, though not one received them. When Redfern appeared at mess as Erskine's guest, the junior officers immediately rose from the table, and Erskine in consequence of this occurrence promulgated a mess-rule "that no officer should quit the table until the first thirds were drunk".

In spite of the ill-feeling between Macquarie and the majority of the officers, he and Erskine continued on such excellent terms that the situation with the 48th never became so strained as that with the 46th. But the discussions aroused by