Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/190

 could not govern, as Phillip had governed, in his own. person. The settlements at Toongabbe, and near Parramatta, engrossed much of Phillip's time; but, we are told, "with infinite fatigue to his Excellency." Grose "thought it absolutely necessary" (Jan. 1793) that there should be a resident at Parramatta to enforce personally the execution of his orders, and be at all times ready to hear the complaints of the settlers. This trust was conferred upon John Macarthur, of the New South Wales Corps. But it was not at the outlying station only that the gown yielded to the sword. Grose imagined that, as he was a soldier, his mode of government ought to be military. In Phillip's time the civil magistrates adjudicated, reporting to the Governor. Grose, besides issuing an order (when he was sworn in) to the effect that "all orders given by the captain, who commands at Parramatta, respecting the convicts stationed there are to be obeyed;" followed it up in a few days with an order that "all inquiries by the civil magistrates are in future to be dispensed with, until the Lt.-Governor has given directions on the subject." This deposition of law was fruitful of evil. Respect for law being abandoned, there is in human government no security.

In communities of Englishmen especially, respect for and obedience to law, as they are the most trustworthy supports, can the least be dispensed with. An able officer has remarked that, as the English soldier is the most manful in respect for discipline while it is maintained, so is he the most ungovernable of men when discipline is abandoned.

The government of Grose rapidly degenerated in the direction which Shakspeare marked out. A passion for drinking was not to be wondered at among the convict population, drawn as they were from the ranks of the riotous; but it spread amongst the settlers. The Government offered five shillings per bushel for maize, but the grower preferred disposing of it for spirits. "While spirits