it, and of the impolicy of suffering the present form of government to continue in force a single hour beyond the period necessary for its supercession.  Never was there a more humane and upright man than Governor Macquarie; and if the power with which he has been for so many years intrusted, has indeed at length propelled him beyond the bounds of moderation and justice, it may be safely asserted that there are but very few men in existence whom it would not have tempted to commit a similar indiscretion.]

From the period* at which this colony was able to raise a sufficiency of grain for its consumption, the adoption of this measure has been imperatively called for by the wants and circumstances of its inhabitants; and it is to so palpable an omission, that the constant succession of abundance and scarcity, which, to the astonishment of many inquiring persons, has for the last fifteen years alternately prevailed there, is mainly ascribable.  So long as the necessities of the government were greater than the means of the colonists to administer to them, the productive powers of this settlement developed themselves with a degree of rapidity which furnishes the surest criterion of its fertility and importance.  But from the moment this impulse was checked, from the instant the supply exceeded the demand, the colony may be said to have continued stationary, with respect to its agriculture; producing in favourable seasons, somewhat more than enough grain for its consumption, but in unfavourable ones, whether arising from drought, or flood, falling so greatly deficient in its supply, that recourse has been invariably had to India, in order to guarantee its inhabitants from the horrors of famine, which have so often stared them in the face; and to which, but for such salutary precaution, the majority of them must have long ago fallen victims.  These dreadful deficiencies have been the natural and inevitable result of a want of market; since no person will expend his time and means in producing that which will not ensure him an adequate return for his pains.  So long, therefore, as other channels of industry, yielding a more certain compensation for labour, were open, the colonist would naturally prefer such more profitable occupation, to the comparatively precarious and unproductive culture of his land; and it was accordingly found, that many, who had till then devoted their sole attention to agriculture, abandoned at this period all tillage but such as was necessary for the support of their households, and employed the funds which they had acquired by the former successful cultivation of their farms, in the purchase and rearing of cattle, which continued a certain lucrative employment, long after agricultural produce had become of a depreciated and precarious value.  The reason why these two branches of husbandry did not keep pace in this as in other countries, is obvious, from the remoteness of its situation, which rendered the conveyance of cattle thither so extremely