had assumed a prominent place among the
magistrates. By his connection with two great societies for the
propagation of Christianity (the Church, and the London), he commanded
large influence in the religious world. Nothing can be more opposite
than the estimates of his character, given by the partisans of the
emancipists, and those furnished by his ecclesiastical associates.
Soured by the vices rampant around him, and perhaps deteriorated by the
administration of justice, when it was hard to distinguish the
magistrate from the executioner, he does not always appear to have
merited the unmeasured eulogies of his friends.[135] He was, however,
celebrated for his attention to the islands of the Pacific, whose
welfare he promoted with exemplary diligence: his house was the home of
the missionaries who touched at Port Jackson; whose letters spread
through Europe the reputation of his benevolence. In reference to his
ultimate intentions, their apprehension of his character was probably
just; but the magisterial office is rarely compatible with the duties of
an ecclesiastic--least of all, when punishments were discretionary, and
inflicted on the spot. The servant, charged with a misdemeanour, he
flogged; who then took to the bush, and re-appearing, charged with a
capital crime, was hanged; and the magisterial divine attended him on
the scaffold. This was not peculiar; most clergymen were magistrates.
But Marsden was warm and sensitive--perhaps, resentful. The punishments
he inflicted were distinguished for their severity: his opposition to
vice, his unsuccessful struggle to prevent it, and some methods of
coercion, not then uncommon, but which now look like torture, exposed
him to the hatred of the prisoners. The differences between Macquarie
and this resolute clergyman, were frequent--they ended in open rupture;
and at length became so personally offensive to the Governor, that
Marsden was dismissed from the commission of the peace.

Mr. Henry Grey Bennet, member of parliament for Shrewsbury, addressed a
letter to Earl Bathurst, founded on the material furnished by Mr.
Marsden. This publication delineated a great variety of abuses, and
charged Macquarie with ignorance, rashness, and oppression. Having thus
prepared the way, a motion was made in parliament, which led to the
issue of the Commission of Enquiry, entrusted to John Thomas Bigge,
Esq., a relative of Mr. Bennet, and by profession a barrister. The
Commissioner was at