l
produce of their wool. Sir Thomas Brisbane was pleased with the advent
of men of this class: he gave them grants of land and assigned to them
as many convicts as they were able to employ. Very speedily the fine
lands of the colony were covered with flocks and herds; and the
applications for convicts became so numerous that, at one time, two
thousand more were demanded than could be supplied. Hence began an
important change in the colony. The costly Government farms were, one
after another, broken up, and the convicts assigned to the squatters.
Then the unremunerative public works were abandoned; for many of these
had been begun only for the purpose of occupying the prisoners. All this
tended for good; as the convicts, when thus scattered, were much more
manageable, and much more likely to reform, than when gathered in large
and corrupting crowds. In Macquarie's time, not one convict in ten could
be usefully employed; seven or eight years after, there was not a
convict in the colony whose services would not be eagerly sought for at
a good price by the squatters.

This important change took place under Governors Brisbane and Darling,
and was in a great measure due to those Governors; yet, strange to say,
neither of them was ever popular. Brisbane, who entered upon office in
1821, was a fine old soldier, a thorough gentleman, honourable and
upright in all his ways. Yet it could not be doubted that he was out of
his proper sphere when conducting the affairs of a young colony, and in
1825 the British Government found it necessary to recall him.

#4. Governor Darling.#--He was succeeded by Sir Ralph Darling, who was
also a soldier, but was, at the same time, a man well adapted for
business. Yet he, too, failed to give satisfaction. He was precise and
methodical, and his habits were painfully careful, exhibiting that sort
of diligence which takes infinite trouble and anxiety over details, to
the neglect of larger and more important matters. His administration
lasted six years, from 1825 to 1831. During this period an association
was formed in England, consisting of merchants and members of
Parliament, who subscribed a capital of one million pounds, and received
from Government a grant of one million acres in New South Wales. They
called themselves the Australian Agricultural Company, and proposed to
improve and cultivate the waste lands of Australia, to import sheep and
cattle for squatting purposes, to open up mines for