Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/342

 288 1793^ Chanires effected by Groec. Moral welfare. Material prosperity. CHANGES EFFECTED BY GROSE, Grose directed the affairs of the colony for only two years, but in that short space of time great changes were brought about. The Government, as already indicated, had been deprived of its civil character and placed on a military basis, a new class of proprietors had been placed on the soil, and cultivation had so progressed that the settlement was almost independent of the mother country, so far, at all events, as the supply of grain was concerned. It was in these matters, principally, that Grose, working evidently with a settled design, had produced such a remark- able transformation in the appearance of the country. The changes effected in the social condition of the settle- ment, by relaxing the stringent rules of Phillip in regard to the importation of spirits, and by discountenancing the efforts of the Chaplain, were less obvious at the time, and appear to have been the result of want of foresight on the part of Grose, rather than of any settled policy. There can be no question that the colony when Grose left it was in a highly prosperous condition. Eight months before his departure he wrote to Dundas informing him that the settlement required no more than a few months' supply of flour ; after that only salt meat need be sent from England. He seemed to think that the favourable account of affairs which he was giving might be attributed to enthu- siasm, for he went on to say :— our wants were at all disguised or concealed, and any wishes of
 * < I am perfectly aware of the consequences that might ensue if