The History of Margaret Catchpole Part 24

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

CONCLUSION.

If true love and constancy are n.o.ble qualities in the heart of man, and prompt him to deeds of generous philanthropy, they deserve to be recorded and imitated from the example of John Barry. And if sincerity and repentance be qualities worthy the charitable consideration of good Christians, Margaret Catchpole's career in this life, and especially her latter days, will not afford a bad example of the promise of "the life that now is, and of that which is to come." The remaining history of this singular individual was one of quiet calm, and yet benevolent exertion in all good works of faith and love. She lived highly respected in the situation to which her husband's good qualities and good fortune had raised her. She lived a retired, though not a secluded life, on the banks of the Hawkesbury, fulfilling the duties of her station as a good wife, aunt, sister, and mother, in an exemplary manner. Charitable as she was rich, she never thought she could do enough to relieve the distresses of others.

Not many months after her marriage she received another chest of goods from her benevolent mistress in England, and wrote her last epistle of thanks, dated "WINDSOR, HAWKESBURY, June 25th, 1812.

"MY DEAR MADAM, "The contents of this letter will surprise you. I hope that I am not the less grateful for your goodness because G.o.d has blessed me with such abundance, that I no longer require that aid from England which has. .h.i.therto been such a blessing to me. Indeed, my dearest madam, my good and early friend, I am most grateful for all your past favours, though I do not wish to tax a generosity which I do not now, in the same manner, need. May Heaven bless your warm heart, which will glow with fervent praise to G.o.d when you read this letter from your former poor servant!

"Everything that I could wish for, and, oh! how much more than I deserve, have I had granted to me in this place of probation! G.o.d grant I may not set my heart too much upon their value! Dearest lady, I have men-servants and maid-servants, horses and cattle, flocks and herds in abundance. I have clothing and furniture above what you can imagine, and a house wide enough to entertain in it all your numerous family. But, more than all this, I have an excellent husband, one whose constancy from his youth has been beyond the praise which I could find language to express.

"You may remember what I once told you of a young man whom I had rejected for a less worthy one. He has proved his love for me in such a manner as I am sure could never have been seen in any but the most n.o.ble of his nature. He told me in England that he would never marry any other, and through years of industry and prosperity (and as I have every reason to believe he would have done to the last day of this life) has kept himself single on my account. Did you ever chance to hear of such a case as this? When I reflect upon it, as I often do, I find it more and more wonderful.

"You must remember my telling you of Mr. John Barry's attachment to me. He left me when I lived at Nacton, and came out here among the earliest free settlers in the country, and has prospered beyond his utmost antic.i.p.ations. He found me out here by accidental inquiries of my dear Mrs. Palmer, and obtained for me my free pardon. My wishes to return again to my native land became absorbed in the sense of duty and obligation to my benefactor, who, when he had obtained that pardon, gave me the option of sharing my life and freedom with him, or of being independent here or elsewhere. n.o.ble generosity! Does it not win your heart? It won mine. I am his faithful wife: happy, happy, as the days are long. He is good, virtuous, amiable, and truly religious; constant in his love to G.o.d and man. I could fill many letters in speaking of his virtues; but I forget that you never saw him, though he lived upon the sh.o.r.es of the same river that you do.

"He is very good to me, so that I want nothing more from England. How proud shall I be to send you now anything which this country produces!

"Herewith I send you a sketch of my present beautiful abode, done by Mrs. Palmer. It will give you a slight idea of my situation. I send you also a present of various seeds, skins of animals (one of the ursine opossum), and dried plants, which I think will be valuable to you; and also some curious weapons and instruments of the natives, for my dear friend, Dr. Stebbing.

"What a wonderful life has mine been! You only, my dear lady, know its reality. There may be others equally eventful; but how few are there who find such a place of unmerited repose as I have? My dear sister's words often recur to my mind when she told me whom I should not marry: I wonder if she ever thought of the one I have married. There are many very excellent people in this flouris.h.i.+ng country. The governor and his family have received us, and have been very kind to me. My dear friend, Mrs. Palmer, is now staying in my house. She is my benefactress here, as you were in England. Oh! if I could but bring you both together, and could sit quietly listening to your conversation, it would be such an intellectual treat as few could more enjoy! She is, like yourself, very clever. I believe I should die happier if I could see your dear, loved face in this land; but if that never may be, nor I see old England again, then may Heaven bless you; and G.o.d bestow His brightest gifts of grace upon you and your children!

"I am this moment engaged, and lay down my pen to give directions concerning the work in that most interesting of all female employments, preparing for the coming of a family of my own. Mrs. Palmer, who sees me writing these words, says, 'How astonished you will be!' You will rejoice in my happiness. I know you will. Forgive, dear lady, all my errors, both of the weakness of my head and heart. Give my love to all my dear friends. Any person coming to this country, with a recommendation from you to me, will find the warmest reception. In justice to my husband, I would forget what I have been, and I speak seldom of my past errors, though, before G.o.d, I never cease to lament and repent of them; and did I not know who 'died for the unG.o.dly,' my grief for the past would be without consolation. Blessed faith, that teaches the contrite how to be comforted! Who can value Thee as he ought in this struggling state!

"I can add but a few more words, and I do so with tears and trembling. It is not from pride of heart. Dear lady, you must judge of its propriety. I am likely to increase my family; and I would conceal from them, in future years, their mother's early history, at least those parts which are so unworthy to be mentioned. But I feel that my maiden name cannot be forgotten in your neighbourhood. Hundreds will speak of it when you and I shall be no more. Oh that it could be represented to the world in its proper light, as a warning to that portion of my countrywomen to which I belonged, that they never give way to their headstrong pa.s.sions, lest they fall as I did! But 'the tender mercies of G.o.d are over all His works,' and I can never magnify that mercy too much, as it has been shown to me.

"If, dear lady, as years increase, our correspondence should not be so frequent, because of my altered situation in this country, do not think me proud. Your feelings as a mother will point to the nature of my own. You would not have your children know your faults. Pardon this, perhaps, my greatest weakness.

"Should you ever think fit, as you once hinted in your letter to me, to write my history, or should leave it to others to publish, you have my free permission at my decease, whenever that shall take place, so to do. But let my husband's name be concealed. Change it, change it to any other; not for his sake, for it is worthy to be written in golden characters, but for mine and my children's sake! And now, dear lady, farewell. G.o.d's peace be with you! and ever think of me as "Your grateful and affectionate servant, "MARGARET BARRY."

So ends the correspondence of Margaret with her mistress. That lady wrote one more letter to her, a.s.suring her of her joy and thankfulness at her providential settlement in the land of her adoption. She told her that she had kept the early facts of her history in such order, that on some future day they might perhaps be published, but that her wishes should be strictly attended to, and her parental anxieties respected. She took an affectionate leave of her in that last letter, promising not to intrude anything of past obligation upon her notice, but leaving it entirely to her own heart to recognize any friends of hers, from the county of Suffolk, who might, either in military, naval, or civil capacity, go out to Sydney. How delicately those wishes were observed, some can well remember.

Margaret Barry lived many years at Windsor, greatly respected and beloved. She had one son and two daughters, who received the best education which England could afford, and returned to settle in their native land. Among the foremost for intelligence, benevolence, activity, and philanthropy, is the distinguished son of Margaret; and in the future history of Australia he will bear no unimportant share in her celebrity and greatness. The daughters are amiable and accomplished, and have married gentlemen of the first respectability in the country.

After fifteen years of the tenderest and most uninterrupted domestic comfort, Margaret had the severe affliction to undergo of losing her devoted and excellent husband, who died September 9th, 1827, leaving the bulk of his property at her disposal. She removed to Sydney in 1828, where she was conspicuous only for the mildness of her manners, and the unostentatious character of her habits of life.

She had a great desire that her son should settle in her native county of Suffolk, and he came over to this country with that view; and when the sale of Kentwell Hall took place, he was nearly the last bidder for it. His resolution, however, seemed to fail him at the last moment, and he did not become the purchaser of the estate. He stayed a year in England, and then returned, with a determination not to settle in any other country than his native one. He returned to close the eyes of his affectionate parent, who died September 10th, 1841, in the sixty-eighth year of her age.

SUPPLEMENT.

BY THE AUTHOR.

A. D. 1858.

Since the first publication of the Life of Margaret Catchpole, many have been the correspondents who have addressed the author upon the subject of her life and character. Many have been the inquiries made concerning her, and many things, which the author never heard of her, have since come to light. They would fill a volume. The author has no intention of inflicting any further pain upon the sensitive minds of some, who, in writing to him, have quite overlooked the idea that he, the author, had any sensitiveness whatsoever. He has no intention of reviving any feeling of the past, respecting what may or may not be mere local descriptive scenic representation; but there are certain moral representations which the author gave, both of her early respectability and character, which he deems it but a mere act of common justice to her memory to substantiate, and thus furnish the only defence which can ever be in his power to make against those who accused him of wilful misrepresentation. Though all the doc.u.ments relating to this extraordinary female are duly filed and preserved,--and her own letters in her own handwriting have been transmitted for inspection to several inquirers,--there are some facts which may be interesting as proof positive of the a.s.sertions contained in the narrative. To a few of such the author now refers the reader.

The first is a letter from the Reverend William Tilney Spurdens, formerly head-master of the Grammar School at North Walsham, Norfolk; a celebrated scholar, the translator of Longinus, the early and beloved tutor and friend of the author. This gentleman had an uncle at Brandiston in Suffolk, with whom he used to stay, and to that uncle and to Peggy's aunt he refers in this letter.

"NORTH WALSHAM, 30th Oct. 1846.

"MY DEAR FRIEND, "I cannot delay to put you in possession of my 'love-pa.s.sages' with your heroine, albeit, at this present writing, suffering much pain from asthma and chronic bronchitis, which are both aggravated by our foggy air for some days past.

"In my early childhood I had an uncle, an aged widower with no family, who did me the favour of being very fond of me. He had one domestic in his house, and another out of it, the former a female, the latter a male. The former rejoiced in the name of Nanny, I suppose there was another postfixed to it, but of this I am not cognizant: but Nanny had a niece, or cousin, or something of the kind, named Peggy Catchpole; and whenever the old uncle's favourite paid him a visit, the maid's paid a visit to her, 'for,' as Nanny used to say, 'it was so comfortable for the children, like; and the little dears helped to amuse one another;' and so it was that Peg and I walked together, played together, and slept together.

"I wish I could give you dates, which are the sinews of history, you know. There is one event which my mind connects very exactly with this period, and which will afford you one date. Peggy and her young swain were going on philandering at supper, at the time of the loss of the Royal George, at Spithead. The newspaper came in while my good relative was playing a hit at backgammon with his neighbour, the doctor, as was their frequent practice; and by dint of spelling, and a lift or two over hard words, I read to them the mournful narrative. For this I received sixpence, and laid it out in figs, of which Peg and her swain each ate so many as to make themselves ill.

"Now all this would unquestionably have been forgotten, had it not been made fresh in the memory from Peggy's subsequent career. Whilst she was in Ipswich Gaol I made interest with the personage, then usually called 'Old Rip,' to see her, intending to give her money. I must then have been a young man. She, however, would not know anything of me--in fact, 'cut me:' and so I kept my money. But I afterwards learned that Ripshaw would not have permitted it to be given! 'And that's all.'

"I am afraid that, with all the exuberance of your imagination, you would be puzzled to concoct a chapter out of this.

"I am beginning to long for our young friend's visit in order to [] my introduction to your other heroine.

"Meanwhile I am, "My dear Sir, "Yours very truly, "W. T. SPURDENS."

There is no need to concoct a chapter out of this letter. It is the genuine offering of a kind heart and clear head, and sufficiently explains the purpose in view; viz. that Margaret was regarded in her early career with respect and pure affection, by one who sought to relieve her in her distress, and in a day of degradation and adversity owned her as his early playmate, and would have ministered to her necessity. Both, I trust, are now awaiting that final day when the cup of cold water, given with a good heart for Christ's sake, shall meet with a blessed reward.

The second letter is from a gentleman in Lincolns.h.i.+re, a solicitor and banker, and speaks to the career of that brother Edward who is mentioned in the narrative.

"ALFORD, LINCOLNs.h.i.+RE, 10th Dec. 1846.

"SIR, "I have lately read the Life of Margaret Catchpole, and was deeply interested in it. Her brother Edward was several years in the preventive service in this neighbourhood, at Sutton-in-the-Marsh, about six miles hence, where he died and was buried a few years ago.

"I often saw him in his rounds on the sea-coast, and have had conversations with him. He was rather a tall person, and of stern manners. I could readily obtain a copy of the inscription on his grave-stone, which refers to his former residence at Ipswich, and forward it to you, should you wish it. His widow, who was a Norwich person, still lives in this neighbourhood.

"I remain, Sir, "Your very obedient servant, "HENRY T. BOURNE.

"REV. RICH. COBBOLD, "Wortham Rectory, "Diss, Norfolk.

"P.S. Since writing the above I have heard that Mr. Edward Catchpole became a decidedly religious character for the last few years of his life, and died a very happy death."

From the same gentleman is the memoir here inserted of Margaret's brother Edward, obtained from an authenticated source, the substance of which is given in a note, page 294.

"Mr. Edward Catchpole was born near Ipswich in Suffolk, in the year 1778. Of his early days we know but little; he was led to choose a sea-faring life in preference to any other line of business; he served an apprentices.h.i.+p on board a merchant s.h.i.+p. Some time afterwards he became mate on board the Argus Revenue Cutter, of Harwich. Whilst in this service, a most interesting circ.u.mstance occurred, which deserves to be noticed. Sept. 18th, 1807, the Argus succeeded in rescuing an English coal-brig from the Star, French privateer. Having put some men on board the brig, elated with success, they go in pursuit of the privateer. They soon fall in with her, and a sharp engagement ensues, and at 10 o'clock at night the captor was captured; they came to close quarters, and, owing to the great disparity in numbers, the privateer having eighty-six men, and the cutter only twenty-seven, they were boarded, overpowered, taken into a French port, and sent to prison. Mr. C. was about seven years in a French prison. Frequently his expectations were raised by hopes of liberation, an exchange of prisoners was often talked of, but still they were kept in bondage and suspense. A favourable opportunity occurring, he made his escape, and came over to England. His arrival at home was so sudden and unexpected to his wife, that he seemed to her almost like one come from the dead. Subsequently he was appointed chief officer in the Coastguards; his last station was at Sutton-in-the-Marsh, in the county of Lincoln; there his health failed, and there he finished his earthly course, and made a good end. His conversion to G.o.d was most satisfactory. In his affliction the Lord graciously supported him, he had a hope full of immortality, and his end was peace. He died on the 17th of December, 1836. He changed mortality for life. He was interred in the churchyard at Sutton, and a stone has been placed at the head of his grave, with the following inscription: IN MEMORY OF EDWARD CATCHPOLE, A NATIVE OF IPSWICH, IN THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK, AND LATE CHIEF OFFICER OF THE COAST GUARD STATIONED AT THIS PLACE, WHO DIED DECEMBER THE 17TH, 1836, AGED 58 YEARS.

As some correspondents have actually accused the author of producing before the public a fict.i.tious character, and in terms of unmeasured reprobation told him plainly that they understood there never was such a person as Margaret Catchpole in existence, the author here gives a copy of the doc.u.ment signed by her judge, the Lord Chief Baron Macdonald. This doc.u.ment was not obtained until after the publication of the work. The original is preserved in the Corporation Chest at Ipswich.

Copy of a Certificate from the Right Honourable Lord Chief Baron Macdonald, to exempt from all parish offices, for having prosecuted Margaret Catchpole at Bury a.s.sizes, Aug. 11th, 1797.

"These are to certify, That at the delivery of the Gaol of our Lord the King, of the County of Suffolk, holden at Bury St. Edmunds, in the County aforesaid, on Wednesday, the ninth day of August instant, before me, whose name is hereunto subscribed, and other his Majesty's Justices, a.s.signed to deliver the aforesaid Gaol of the Prisoners, therein being Margaret Catchpole, late of the Parish of St. Margaret, in the Town of Ipswich, in the County aforesaid, single woman, convicted of feloniously stealing a Gelding, of the price of twenty pounds, of the goods and chattels of John Cobbold, on the twenty-third day of May last, at the Parish aforesaid, in the Town and County aforesaid; and that the said John Cobbold was the person who did apprehend and take the said Margaret Catchpole, and did prosecute her, so apprehended and taken, until she was convicted of the Felony. Therefore, in pursuance of an Act of Parliament made in the tenth and eleventh years of the reign of his late Majesty king William the Third, int.i.tuled, An Act for the better apprehending, prosecuting, and punis.h.i.+ng of felons that commit burglary, housebreaking, or robbery, in shops, warehouses, coachhouses, or stables, or that steal horses; I do hereby further certify, that by virtue hereof and of the said Act of Parliament, he, the said John Cobbold, shall and may be, and is hereby, discharged of and from all manner of Parish Offices within the Parish of St. Margaret, in the Town of Ipswich aforesaid, in the County aforesaid.

"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven.

"AR. MACDONALD."

The author now approaches a most painful, and yet he trusts a pleasurable, duty. Painful, because his own mind and that of others have been excessively hurt by a misconception of the ident.i.ty of that Margaret Catchpole whose life he has written, and pleasurable, because of the opportunity afforded him of contradicting the fact so often a.s.serted, that Mrs. Reibey of New Town, Sydney, was the identical Margaret Catchpole.

The relatives and friends of that highly-esteemed lady, lately deceased, will be glad to read a letter from the late Bishop of Australia, written to one of his clergy, the Rev. H. D. D. Sparling, of Appin, New South Wales, the good Bishop himself, as well as hundreds of others, having been deceived in that ident.i.ty from a strange but very simple mistake, viz. that of two places bearing the same name in England, though one be in Suffolk,--Bury, and the other in Lancas.h.i.+re--Bury.

Hence originated the grand mistake concerning Mrs. Reibey who emigrated from Bury in Lancas.h.i.+re, and Margaret Catchpole, who was tried at Bury in Suffolk. It appears from original letters in the possession of the author, and from Mrs. Reibey's herself, that Suffolk was totally unknown to her. She was very justly hurt at presents being sent to her, under the idea that she was that poor girl, whose correspondence and grat.i.tude to her benefactress, the late Mrs. Cobbold of Holywells, showed her to be honest and exemplary. She was justly hurt, because therein was the supposition that she had been tried and convicted as a felon, and was transported for horse-stealing.

The friends and relatives of Mrs. Reibey, as well as all Christians, will be glad to read the amiable Bishop's letter; and even the author, whom it condemns, gives it to the public, because his own heart is in full accordance with the charity therein breathed; and he is even more anxious to turn the hearts of that lady's relatives in grat.i.tude to that spirit and testimony which this good man gives of all the branches of their respectable family.

Notwithstanding the remonstrance conveyed in the Bishop's letter, concerning the publication of the Life of the real Margaret Catchpole, over which the author had then no more control than he now has, he cannot help here expressing his grat.i.tude to all those who, viewing the narrative in the light of truth, and intention on the author's part to convey a moral and spiritual warning and lesson in an easy and instructive style, have written to him letters of approbation.

The Bishop's letter, whilst it will animate the hearts of Mrs. Reibey's real relatives, will also speak equally kindly to the descendants of the real Margaret Catchpole, and will be the author's best proof of his desire to convey the Bishop's love to them along with his own. The wildest olive, when grafted into the true stem, must be productive of good fruit.

Mrs. Reibey, a high-spirited, romantic girl, from the neighbourhood of Bury in Lancas.h.i.+re, of good family, with friends and relatives of England's n.o.blest merchants, conceived the idea that she should be happier in our distant colony than in the Mother Country. She left England very young, and, like many of her s.e.x, succeeded in proving that her enterprising spirit was not unrewarded. She lived respected by her family and friends in England, and although mistaken by the good Bishop himself, yet n.o.ble testimony is borne to the excellence of her character. She was a clever woman of business, and of a n.o.ble disposition. The author can only hope, that all her relatives and friends who have written to him will thus accept at his hands the apology for all the mistakes that have arisen; whilst, at the same time, he rejoices to keep concealed the name of Margaret's real descendants until they shall themselves divulge it.

"SYDNEY, 18th April, 1845.

"REVEREND SIR, "I was very much vexed to learn from your letter of the 15th inst. the course which it is intended to be taken with reference to the publication named in the Prospectus which you forwarded, and which is now returned. My opinion entirely coincides with yours and Mr. Hossall's as to the inexpediency of such an undertaking. It would be cruel even to the individual, whoever it may be, to have early offences thus placed permanently on record as a memorial of shame and cause of annoyance to her younger and perfectly innocent connexions. Indeed, if the party meant be the one whom allusions in your letter lead me to conjecture, they who would suffer in their feelings are not only innocent, but praiseworthy in a very high degree for exertions in the cause of religion, and of the Church of England, scarcely to be paralleled by any instance I have ever known. The Bishop of Tasmania would regret equally with myself, perhaps even more, that any pain should be occasioned to parties so worthy of respect. If my conjecture be right, I happened once to be in circ.u.mstances which placed other members of the same family (young females just attaining to womanhood) under my close and special attention, and I can truly testify the impression by me was, that they were in character and deportment altogether unexceptionable, and in habits of devotion very exemplary. Others I know, are regarded by the clergyman of their parish as among the best instructed and sober-minded of the communicants in his church.

"My acquaintance with Mr. Cobbold is not such as I think would justify my taking any step which would so carry the air of remonstrance as that of my writing to him would.

"It appears to me that as you have, through various circ.u.mstances, been brought into correspondence with him, it would be more proper that you should make a statement of the true facts, and of the view which is taken of his proposal. At the same time, if you think it would strengthen your case if he were acquainted with my sentiments, I can have no objection to your communicating them; as all my statements to you upon the subject have been in accordance with them, and expressive of my satisfaction at witnessing the exemplary conduct of the individuals whom I suppose to be alluded to.

"I remain, "Reverend Sir, "Your very faithful servant, "W. G. AUSTRALIA.

"REV. H. D. D. SPARLING, "Parsonage, Appin."

Mrs. Reibey is no more, and the author acknowledges the receipt of very satisfactory letters from her and her relatives, all conveying their free pardon for any unintentional pain, which might have been given to an innocent and praiseworthy individual, but a.s.suredly they did not endure, and never could endure, the pangs which the author himself received at the very thought of giving pain to others.

He ever did admire the conduct of his mother towards her erring servant, believing it to be as magnanimous and Christian-like as that of the Bishop towards her supposed relatives, and though circ.u.mstances compelled the prosecution in question, and the very prevalence of the crime at the time made it too notorious to be disregarded,--the years of intercourse, and pa.s.sing presents to and fro, between the prosecutor and the prisoner, made too deep an impression upon the young heart of the author to be obliterated even in these his old days.

He cannot help thinking that the removal of the card which was placed at the foot of the "Manura Superba," the first Lyra Pheasants sent from that country to England, as a present from Margaret Catchpole to her mistress, and presented by Mrs. Cobbold's eldest son to the Ipswich Museum, simply because it stated the fact of her transportation, was, however kind in intention, a mistake in point of judgement. The object of all records of crime ought to be taken as warnings to others; though the simple fact of such birds being sent as a grateful present from a once poor transport, proves that the heart was not totally devoid of grace, and that we should ourselves be more glad to see such a n.o.ble token of love, in the days of poverty, than the most splendid monuments of acc.u.mulated wealth.

One duty only remains for the author, and that is the last and very simple one of grat.i.tude to the memory of those who loved his mother, as well as to those living who were subscribers to the monument placed in the Tower Church, Ipswich, to her memory. That duty is simply to record the inscription engraved upon it; and the author does so, because, as years increase, so much the brighter in his mind is the memory of the talents and virtues of the departed.

AS A PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF RESPECT FOR EXALTED TALENTS AND UNWEARIED EXERTION IN THE CAUSE OF BENEVOLENCE AND CHARITY THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY THE GENERAL CONCURRENCE OF AN EXTENSIVE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS TO THE MEMORY OF ELIZABETH COBBOLD.

THE BELOVED WIFE OF JOHN COBBOLD, ESQ. OF HOLYWELLS SHE DIED OCTOBER XVII, MDCCCXIV AGED LIX.

Rectory, Wortham, Oct. 21st, 1858.