Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/508
he shall remain until the ship shall be under weigh, at
which time he will be embarked for England." Macquarie
enclosed two of O'Flynn's letters which displayed ignorance;
and said, if there were to be Roman Catholic priests, they
should be educated people. O'Flynn, moreover, was
seditious. In the colony there was some consternation.
Marsden, in a letter to England (May 1818), said "the
Roman Catholics are much enraged." Questions were
asked in Parliament. Mr. Goulburn admitted that O'Flynn
had applied to the Colonial Office, but averred that his
letter was so ill-written as to create doubt; that the Roman
Catholic authorities disowned the man, and that Macquarie
had acted rightly in sending him away; but that measures
would be taken to supply the wants of the Roman Catholics
in the colony. Accordingly two Roman Catholic Priests
were accredited to the colony, After a time subscriptions
were collected in Sydney for the building of a Roman
Catholic cathedral. Macquarie laid the foundation-stone
(Nov. 1821) and hoped that the encouragement given to
the Roman Catholics would induce them to continue," as
he had ever found them, loyal and faithful subjects of the
Crown."
In 1815, a Wesleyan minister, Mr. Leigh, arrived in Sydney, and was soon joined by another, Mr. Carvasso. Macquarie discouraged Leigh at first, but Marsden took him by the hand, and on one occasion offered him, out of his private property, land sufficient for sites for a chapel and minister's house at Windsor. Marsden, having accompanied Governor King to England in 1807, had interviews with Lord Castlereagh. He urged that, to promote morality, convicts' wives should be sent from England at the public expense. He did not prevail. Already the wealth of emancipists attracted attention, and transportation was beginning to be looked upon as a means of reaching a better land. To enhance the comforts of criminals was but to increase the premium on crime. From Marsden's point of view his object was good, and his representations had the effect of causing the soldiers' wives to be sent with them. He urged that practical mechanics and manufacturers should be sent out also; and in Warwickshire and Yorkshire found the experts required. He saw George III.,