Lucky old Oz
Once again, unbelievably, considering his past, when Lachlan wrote and suggested himself for the post of Governor of New South Wales in place of poor sick General Nightingall, he was accepted.
Remember, this was a bloke who by the age of forty-two had perpetrated seemingly endless frauds on the British army and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had a serious problem with the booze, and a consequent more than dodgy liver, whose skin, including his face, was blotched with the medicines applied to his syphilitic ulcers, and who had a very impressive twitch from his mercury treatment.
Perhaps the reason for Macquarie's appointment lies in the background to it. Australians tend to forget what was going on elsewhere when looking at this period of history. The British were fighting against the forces of arguably the greatest general ever, and certainly the greatest of his time, Napoleon Bonaparte. Remember, they reckoned the best they had was represented by the Duke of York!
Wellington was just starting to make a name for himself, but Wellington wasn't really a patch on Napoleon, despite English propaganda, which often ignores the fact Wellington was Irish, and the other fact that many Europeans reckon the victory at Waterloo was won by mad old Marshal Blücher, who claimed to be pregnant to an elephant, and his Prussians anyway. And, frankly, when Wellington had his chance at government later on, as Prime Minister, he was worse than awful.
Nonetheless, Britain was really, or at least thought it was really, fighting for its very existence. It was a war that had been draining Britain of money and men on and off since the early 1790s, and in the great scheme of things was of significantly greater importance to the British government than petty quarrels in a convict colony on the other side of the world. In other words, Britain needed its best elsewhere.
And thank goodness for that, because it was unwittingly sending to Sydney a man who, considering his past, was extremely surprisingly the best for the job. Considering that past, it's absolutely impossible to believe anyone involved in the decision-making reckoned Macquarie was in any way suited to it. And why they continued to entrust the Black Watch to his care is anyone's guess. And why these Scottish savages weren't being sent to stick their sgian-dubh, or even better a bayonet, up Frenchie's bum, rather than police some barely heard of convict colony, is also anyone's guess.
Goodness only knows how Nightingall would have gone. Don't get me wrong, Macquarie had his faults, and ultimately lost his immediate fight with the wealthy free settler class of New South Wales, but in the meantime he achieved much. And he set an example the less wealthy majority would try to get his successors to attain, all too often unsuccessfully, but which perhaps triggered or helped trigger Australia's gradual steps towards democracy. Which would probably have appalled Macquarie, who regarded democracy in the same light as people in Australia and the United States regarded communists, or in our time regard Islamic terrorists.
Oh, by the way, while the word "Australia" had been used by a couple of people, it was not generally applied to the continent we now know as Australia. It was the great and extraordinarily unlucky maritime explorer Matthew Flinders who popularised the name, with official help from Macquarie.
Remember, this was a bloke who by the age of forty-two had perpetrated seemingly endless frauds on the British army and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had a serious problem with the booze, and a consequent more than dodgy liver, whose skin, including his face, was blotched with the medicines applied to his syphilitic ulcers, and who had a very impressive twitch from his mercury treatment.
Perhaps the reason for Macquarie's appointment lies in the background to it. Australians tend to forget what was going on elsewhere when looking at this period of history. The British were fighting against the forces of arguably the greatest general ever, and certainly the greatest of his time, Napoleon Bonaparte. Remember, they reckoned the best they had was represented by the Duke of York!
Wellington was just starting to make a name for himself, but Wellington wasn't really a patch on Napoleon, despite English propaganda, which often ignores the fact Wellington was Irish, and the other fact that many Europeans reckon the victory at Waterloo was won by mad old Marshal Blücher, who claimed to be pregnant to an elephant, and his Prussians anyway. And, frankly, when Wellington had his chance at government later on, as Prime Minister, he was worse than awful.
Nonetheless, Britain was really, or at least thought it was really, fighting for its very existence. It was a war that had been draining Britain of money and men on and off since the early 1790s, and in the great scheme of things was of significantly greater importance to the British government than petty quarrels in a convict colony on the other side of the world. In other words, Britain needed its best elsewhere.
And thank goodness for that, because it was unwittingly sending to Sydney a man who, considering his past, was extremely surprisingly the best for the job. Considering that past, it's absolutely impossible to believe anyone involved in the decision-making reckoned Macquarie was in any way suited to it. And why they continued to entrust the Black Watch to his care is anyone's guess. And why these Scottish savages weren't being sent to stick their sgian-dubh, or even better a bayonet, up Frenchie's bum, rather than police some barely heard of convict colony, is also anyone's guess.
Goodness only knows how Nightingall would have gone. Don't get me wrong, Macquarie had his faults, and ultimately lost his immediate fight with the wealthy free settler class of New South Wales, but in the meantime he achieved much. And he set an example the less wealthy majority would try to get his successors to attain, all too often unsuccessfully, but which perhaps triggered or helped trigger Australia's gradual steps towards democracy. Which would probably have appalled Macquarie, who regarded democracy in the same light as people in Australia and the United States regarded communists, or in our time regard Islamic terrorists.
Oh, by the way, while the word "Australia" had been used by a couple of people, it was not generally applied to the continent we now know as Australia. It was the great and extraordinarily unlucky maritime explorer Matthew Flinders who popularised the name, with official help from Macquarie.