Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/343

 CHANaSS EFFECTED BY GEOSE. 289 mine to see the colony in a thriving condition will not induce me 1792-4 to describe it in a more flourishing state than it i& The great assistance I have received from the civil and military officers has enabled me to do much more than could be expected. '^ I am particular in stating what has been done since the departure of the Governor, not because I wish to arrogate any consequence or merit to myself, for very little is due to me, but because I wish to represent in the most favourable point of view the officers serving in the colony, to whose great exertions the Sj^®*^"" *^' promising appearance of it may be entirely attributed."* Writing on the 8th December, a few days before his departure, Grose spoke of the " flourishing state " of the colony, and no doubt its condition was as he represented it to be, so far as productiveness was concerned ; but the prosperity was that of a class rather than of the community Progperity as a whole. The small settlers on tHe banks of the Hawkes- bury were doing well, and so were those at Parramatta and Toongabbie; but it was only the officers, who had been supplied with convict labour on a liberal scale, who were obtaining large returns. The advantages enjoyed by this class, as well as the prosperous state of the colony, may be seen from the letter of Captain Macarthur to his brother, written in August, 1794 : — "The changes we have undergone since the departure of Governor Phillip are so great and extraordinary that to recite them all might create some suspicion of their truth. From a state of desponding poverty and threatened famine, that this settlement should be raised to its present aspect in so short a time is scarcely credible. As to myself, I have a farm containing 250 acres, of Maoarthur** which upwards of 100 are under cultivation, and the greater part of the remainder is cleared of the timber which gi-ows upon it Of this year's produce I have sold £400 worth, and I have now remaining in my granaries upwards of 1,800 bushels of com. I have at this moment 20 acres of very fine wheat growing, and 80 acres prepared for Indian com and potatoes, with which it will be planted in less than a montL"f t lb., p. 608. VOL. II. — T
 * Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 208.