, Hildebrand and Henry, Becket and Plantagenet, has to be
played over and over again, wherever the State refuses to understand that
spiritual matters lie beyond its grasp; and when Governor Macquarie
prescribed the doctrines to be preached and the hymns to be used in the
churches, and commanded the most unsuitable secular notices to be
promulgated by the clergy, if Mr. Marsden had not resisted the Church
would have been absolutely degraded. When convicts of wealth and
station, but still leading most vicious lives, were raised to the
magistrates' bench, Mr. Marsden could not but refuse to associate or act
with them, and even tendered his resignation of the magistracy, but
Macquarie would not accept it. How uncompromising these sermons were is
evidenced by an anecdote of a man, who, being stung to the quick, fancied
that the words had been individually aimed at him, and determined to be
revenged. Accordingly, as soon as he saw the chaplain riding near a
piece of water he jumped in, and when Mr. Marsden at once sprung after
him, did his utmost to drown his intended deliverer; but after a violent
struggle the Yorkshire muscles prevailed, and the man was dragged out, so
startled by the shock that he confessed his intention, and, under the
counsel he had so fiercely spurned at first, became truly penitent, and
warmly attached to Mr. Marsden, whose service he ultimately entered.

The square short face and sturdy form of Samuel Marsden show the force,
vigour, and determination of his nature, which told on beast as well as
man. On the road between Sydney and Paramatta, he used to let the reins
lie loose on the splash-board of his gig and read, saying that "the horse
that could not keep itself up was not worth driving," and though one of
the pair he usually drove was unmanageable in other hands, nothing ever
went amiss with it when it went out with its master. Such a spirit of
determination produced an impress even on those who opposed him most, and
many works were carried out in the teeth of the difficulties thrown in
their way; such as the erection of schools, of a factory for the
reception of the female convicts, and of a sort of model farm, where it
was intended to collect, tame, and civilize the aborigines. This was at
first planned between the governor and chaplain, but when it was ready
Marsden was under Colonel Macquarie's displeasure, and was therefore
excluded from all share in the management, though the site was ac