86 A COLONIAL AUTOCRACY. 



destructive purposes ". Petitions requiring one signature only l 

 were exempted altogether from these provisions. The penalties 

 were those " provided on that behalf by the laws of England ". 2 



These regulations appear to have remained in force up to 

 the time of and after Macquarie's arrival. They embody in- 

 deed the whole attitude of the Government towards any form 

 of political activity in the colonists. Macquarie's attention was 

 first directed to such matters by an association formed between 

 "diverse Victuallers, Publicans and others" who combined to- 

 gether and " injuriously, with a view only to their own interests, 

 without due notice or just cause, altered the then subsisting 

 rate of exchange between the bills drawn for the public service 

 and the promissory notes issued by different individuals, known 

 by the name of currency, by means whereof great confusion 

 had been introduced into all private dealings and transactions ". 

 This form of association was to be prevented for the future and 

 for that purpose it had become " highly necessary to define 

 more specifically the regular form of assembling the inhabitants 

 of this territory". 3 



In accordance with the Proclamation issued, any meeting of 

 more than six persons was an unlawful assembly unless the 

 following regulations had been observed. First, a requisition 

 stating the purpose of the proposed meeting must be made to 

 the Provost-Marshal, signed by at least seven householders 

 resident in the district in which the meeting was to be held. 

 The Provost-Marshal, within twenty-four hours, if possible, 

 must submit the requisition to the Governor. If the latter con- 

 sented, the Provost-Marshal convened the meeting through the 

 medium of the Sydney Gazette stating its time, place and pur- 

 pose. This notice must be inserted at least five days before 

 the meeting, and the Provost-Marshal had to attend and pre- 

 side at it when it took place. The necessary powers were 

 given to Judges and Justices of the Peace to disperse unlawful 

 assemblies and to inflict fines and imprisonment on those in- 

 fringing the regulations. Any publican permitting the unlawful 

 assembly at his house would immediately forfeit his license, 



1 eg., petitions for remissions of sentence. a G.G.O., 8th June, 1805. 



3 Proclamation, 27th November, 1813, S.G., drawn by Ellis Bent. See 

 Wylde's Evidence in Appendix to Bigge's Reports. R.O., MS. 



