THE STIRRING OF POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS. 263 



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 . . . 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. . . . 1 " 



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 para- 

 graphs in the Press, 2 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 them- 

 selves 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, al- 

 though 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, 



1 See Riley, C. on G. 



2 Bigge's Report, I. 



