4 October 1807, by Elizabeth Macarthur

The Store at Parramatta

Government and trade - once the two would never have mixed, but Mr. Campbell is a clever trader and has joined forces with Mr. Palmer in more ways than one. The Governor appears to believe that involving Government in retail selling will benefit ordinary people and in places far away, such as the Green Hills, it might but to the detriment of others. When the Colony was hardly able to feed itself, it was not Government that stood in and maintained a ready supply of necessaries; without the actions of the officers of the Corps to establish a market with ready money and supply that market with variety, there would be less prosperity than there is today.

However, one's diary should not be a place where one complains, but rejoices that life is good: Mr. Macarthur and I are the luckiest of people in that our concern for each other is undiminished, that our aspirations have largely been met and we respect each other - after nearly 20 years, what more would we want?

The heat and wind diminished greatly today, and I expect Elizabeth will be better tomorrow. John is back from our outlying farms and all is well there; I have cut asparagus from the garden today, along with great leeks - they will go well with a duck I bought from Banagaree, one of the young natives who live near here. She came this morning with the duck