Having now brought down the history of the colony of New South Wales to a period when it might be said to be firmly established and flourishing, both party feeling and needless details may best be avoided by stopping here, yet it will not form an unsuitable conclusion to this chapter to borrow General Macquarie's account of his own doings, although this may be somewhat tinctured with that vanity, which is said to have been his greatest weakness:--"I found the colony," he states, in a Report to Earl Bathurst, "barely emerging from infantile imbecility, and suffering from various privations and disabilities; the country impenetrable beyond 40 miles from Sydney; agriculture in a yet languishing state; commerce in its early dawn; revenue unknown; threatened with famine; distracted by faction; the public buildings in a state of dilapidation, and mouldering to decay; the few roads and bridges formerly constructed rendered almost impassable; the population in general depressed by poverty; no public credit nor private confidence; the morals of the great mass of the population in the lowest state of debasement, and religious worship almost totally neglected.[128] Such was the state of New South Wales when I took charge of its administration on the 1st of January, 1810. I left it in February last, reaping incalculable advantages from my extensive and important discoveries in all directions, including the supposed insurmountable barrier called the Blue Mountains, to the westward of which are situated the fertile plains of Bathurst; and _in all respects_ [?] enjoying a state of private comfort and public prosperity, which I trust will at least equal the expectations of His Majesty's Government. On my taking the command of the colony in the year 1810, the amount of port duties collected did not exceed 8000_l._ per annum, and there were only 50_l._ or 60_l._ of a balance in the Treasurer's hands; but now (in 1822,) duties are collected at Port Jackson to the amount of from 28,000_l._ to 30,000_l._ per annum. In addition to this annual colonial revenue, there are port duties, collected at Hobart Town and George Town in Van Diemen's Land, to the amount of between 8000_l._ and 10,000_l._ per annum."[129] [128] How could public religious worship be attended to, when, in the year after Governor Macquarie's arrival, 1810, a widely-scattered population of 10,452 souls, mostly convicts, were left in the charge of _four_ clergymen? And in what respect were things improved at the time of that Governor's departure in 1821, when, to a similarly situated population of 29,783 souls there were _seven_ clergymen assigned: and the Romish church had _one_ priest for New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, while the Presbyterians at Portland Head had their lay-catechist?--See BURTON _on Education and Religion in New South Wales_, pp. 8, 9, 12, 16.