Sydney Gazette: Memorial Service, November 1824

The late Governor Macquarie.

In pursuance of the Resolutions that were adopted at a Meeting at the residence of John Thomas Campbell, Esq. on the 5th instant, the Solemn Procession took place on Sunday last, the 14th instant, in honor of the memory of our late Governor, General MACQUARIE.

On the present occasion we shall be as brief as circumstances will possibly admit. At ten o'clock the Officers, Civil, Military, and Naval, the Honorable the Judge Advocate, and Magistrates of the Colony; and the private Gentlemen, Merchants, and respectable Inhabitants, were assembled in the front of the Court-house, in Castlereagh street. At half-past ten the Procession began to move, adhering, as nearly as possible, to the following order, which was determined on at the Meeting held on the 5th, and rendered public for general information:—

Two Mutes;
Two Mutes;
Three Mutes;

The Rev. Wm. Cowper, Senior Assistant Chaplain;
The Staff of the late Governor as Chief Mourners; comprising H. C. Antill. Esq. late Major of Brigade; John Thomas Campbell, Esq. late Secretary to Government; and William Redfern, Esq. Surgeon to His late Excellency's Family;

The Officers of Regiment, formerly on Duty in New South Wales;
The Officers of the present Garrison;
Officers of the Navy and Commissariat;
Law Officers according to Rank;
Medical Gentlemen;
Judge Advocate and Senior Magistrate;
Other Magistrates, according to Priority of Commission;
Principal Civil Officers;
Solicitors;
Private Gentlemen, Merchants, and Strangers;
Clerks in Public Offices;
Inhabitants generally;
The Detachment of H.M. 48th Regiment;
Two Members of the Procession Committee in the Rear;
Two Mutes.

The streets were lined with the populace, thousands of whom were assembled to behold the cordial tokens of respect that remained to be offered by a grateful People, to the memory of their departed Governor.

The Rev. WILLIAM COWPER, who had fulfilled the duties of the Ministry in the Town of Sydney, and in the Church of St. Philip, during the whole of the administration of General MACQUARIE, was very properly chosen to preach the Sermon on this mournful occasion. The Reverend Gentleman selected for his text the following passage, to be found in the XXII chap. Proverbs: — "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." — The Rev. Gentleman took occasion, in his discourse, to remark upon the uncertainty, of subliminary affairs; and pathetically urged immediate attention to the realities of the eternal world. In the exordium Mr. Cowper descanted upon the unremitting energy of the deceased GENERAL whose indefatigable in exerting himself in the cause of these interesting Colonies, whose welfare and prosperity were primary objects in his elevated and liberal mind. After the Reverend Gentleman concluded his discourse, in which he made solemn appeals to the crowded congregation, he briefly delineated the contrast betwixt the present state of the Colony, and what it bore in 1809 – a contrast most striking! Governor MACQUARIE, the Rev. Gentleman observed, was subject to the fallibilities of man; but his principles and character demanded our esteem, and called upon us to revere his memory. The public and private virtues of the late GENERAL were eminently conspicuous. As a Husband, Father, Friend, and Master, his equal, in private life, was rarely to be found; for eleven years and eleven months he sacrificed every thing to the duties of his Administration. In 1809, almost the whole of the Australian population were living in a state of unblushing concubinage – marriage, the ordinance of Heaven, was little respected. In the first year of General MACQUARIE'S Government no less than 181 marriages were solemnized in the town of Sydney ! To behold the numbers of poor children wandering about the streets, destitute of instruction and clothing, was a lamentable object for enlightened humanity to contemplate. Public and charity schools were instituted seven weeks after his arrival, in 1809 the Sabbath was unknown as the day of the Most High – and quite disregarded. Cattle were slaughtered, provisions issued from the stores, carts and waggons were employed, and public worship little attended. The Sydney Gazette, too, the only paper printed in the Colony, was published on a Sunday. * The Bible and Benevolent Societies were formed under Governor MACQUARIE'S auspices, and every laudable Institution was generally encouraged and promoted. His Excellency General MACQUARIE, too, founded the Male Orphan Institution, thus imitating one of His Predecessors (Governor KING), who first formed the Female Orphan Institution. In closing the subject, the Reverend Gentleman observed, that he could not but pertinently remark that the deceased, in his long and arduous public course, had most aptly illustrated the text. "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings." General MACQUARIE stood before GEORGE THE THIRD, and GEORGE THE FOURTH! and, as a mark of Royal approbation, was rewarded with a pension of £1000 per annum.

We think Mr. Cowper will now stand higher than ever in public regard; he deservedly merits, from 15 years' unceasing diligence in the Ministry, the grateful consideration of the Colony – particularly when it is to be recollected that he was one of those who had, in common with many others, to share the fatigue of the late GOVERNOR'S arduous Administration. No other Minister, in New South Wales, perhaps, could have done more ample justice to the memory of our late GOVERNOR in CHIEF, than Mr. COWPER; the Rev. Gentleman is therefore entitled to our warmest and grateful respect for his exertions on this interesting occasion.

* Here we think it necessary to offer a word of explanation. Notwithstanding all the representations of the Clergy, and other powerful interest that was occasionally exerted for years, still the Gazette was printed, during the whole of Governor MACQUARIE'S reign, on a Sunday. It is true, the day of publication was altered from Sunday to Saturday, but Sunday was the ostensible publishing-day, and continued until the arrival of His Excellency Sir THOMAS BRISBANE; to whom we are indebted for the alteration so Morally made in the day of publication.

Source:
Sydney Gazette 18 November 1824 p.2b.

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