FL14425186

53
August 24th 1801
Sydney, New South Wales

Dear Madam,
I received your kind fabour by the Cornwallis. It
always gives us peculiar pleasure to hear from you in this distant
part of the globe. I hope, we this period, our friends Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
will have paid you a visit. From them you will learn the exact
state of this Colony and what a miserable place it is in a moral and
religious sense. Since my colleague's departure it is quite changed.
The greatest alterations have been brought about from a variety of
causes uniting together. Our present Governor has put almost a
total stop to the introduction of spirits into the colony. However strong
an inclination the common people may have to get instructed
they will not have it in their power. We have also had a number of
ships from all quarters with commodities for sale, which has reduced
many goods below their original cost, and many thousands of [indecipherable]
worth of goods have been taken out of the settlement lately for want of
purchasers and an immense quantity of goods (have been taken out
of the Settlement lately for want purchasers - all deleted) remain unsold;
we are at present in great want of bread. This is a great [indecipherable]
to be attributed to the extravagance and idleness of the farmers, who