THE PUBLIC FUNERAL.
In our issue of last week we published a long account of the rejoicing in Dunedin. Our columns bristled with triumphal arches, flags transparencies, illumiuations, feasts, and loyal cheers, that did indeed make the welkin ring. The future King of England had espoused a Princess of Denmark; and the people of this city declined to remain under the stigma of being non-participators in the general joy. The jubilation of the community was general and genuine; and it scarcely ceased for days afterwards. It was altogether a great demonstration of love and loyalty to the Queen and her family. To-day we have to record another demonstration, not less general, not less hearty — but how different in character! While we were rejoicing, there was a stout ship beating up the coast of this Colony, after a most rapid run from England. She was the Matoaka, Captain Stevens, from London. She brought many intending settlers; and as population is our want, they might well and correctly feel that they wouli be welcomed. But population alone will not assure the future weal of any Colony. To secure that end, we must soundly teach and rightly train our youth. Otago is not backward in the recognition and the acting out of that truth. Practical steps had been taken. The agent of the Province, formally instructed by the Superintendent, had sought out in the home-land, three gentlemen to undertake the conduct of the Dunedin High School. The agent had done his work. The future masters were on board the Matoaka; and they, too, might well and correctly feel that they would be especially welcomed. He who was to have been the Principal and Classical Master, the Rev Thomas H. Campbell, had with him his young wife and four children, who had been long the darlings not only of their parents but of all others on board, when a fifth child was added to the family circle. And the good ship had anchored safely, her long voyage done. Mr and Mrs Campbell had been in our midst;. they had selected a temporary abode; and he, amidst his first acts, had undertaken that on the next day he would assist in the performance of the solemn services of the English Church. In a flutter of love, and gratification, and gratitude, they sought their little ones; and all were safely — alas! the word — on board the Pride of the Yarra. The collision came. Shattered by the blow from the Favorite, the little boat reeled for a minute or two, rolled over, and sank. Mr Campbell, his family, and servants, unable to escape from the cabin, went down with the boat; three other, residents amongst us, certainly shared their fate; and it would be a mercy if the horrible fear could be dispelled, that more than those twelve human beings thus perished in Blanket Bay.
What could be done, but that which has been done ? The pale corses have been followed to their resting-place in God's Acre, by the community of which they proposed to form, or did form, parts. His Honor the Superintendent notified a Public Funeral. He embodied the wish of the people, the first to be formed when the deadening effects of the tidings of the calamity had somewhat passed away; and it is not too much to say that the sufferers have been followed to their graves by the community. Who amongst us needs to be told of the heartfelt sorrow that has been felt for the awful effects of this collision between two port steamers? Who has not felt it? Who has not tried to picture all the hopes of the young minister and his wife as connected with their new home — hopes that need be strong to break the ties to fatherland, to relatives, and friends? Who has not sickened at the faintly-realised scene in that cabin, as the water rushed in one great stream into it; and its tenants first foresaw that life with them was done? Who laments not their deaths as those of friends? Who does not participate in the grief of the friends of the dead, when next month's mail reaches home?
A Public Funeral having been resolved upon, it became necessary to remove the bodies from Port Chalmers; and this was effected on Tuesday morning. They were taken to a large room in the Provincial Hotel, which Mr Jones had caused to be hurriedly but most appropriately hung with black draperies; and there they were coffined and remained under the care of the police. Those who could set up a good claim to pass into that dimmed chamber, so pitifully tenanted, were allowed to do so; and to take a last look at the features of those whom they had known. The passengers by the Matoaka went freely: they valued and esteemed Mr and Mrs Campbell; but it was the children they mostly craved to see once more. No show was, however, made of the room or its sacred contents. Everything was done as carefully and decorously as possible.
In that room, the bodies remained until Thursday afternoon, when arrangements for the interment were commenced. The conduct of the funeral had been entrusted by the Government to Messrs Spicer and Murray, who fully justified the choice. Shortly after half-past one, four hearses were drawn up in frqnt of the hotel. In the first were deposited seven coffins, containing all that remained of Mr Campbell, his wife, and children. The second was assigned for the coffins of Mary Roberts and Fanny Finch, the servants. In the third, was the body of Mrs Elisabeth H. Anderson, who resided in Dunedin; and the last bore the mortal clay once known as Mr Charles Sommerville, formerly of Wanganui, but a resident here for several months, and Mr William Hammond, who came here from Victoria five or six months ago. Mr Branigan, with mounted and foot constables, formed a guard during the necessarily rather lengthy removal of so many coffins; as they did also during the passage of the hearses from the Provincial Hotel to St. Paul's Church, in Stuart-street, and thence to the Cemetery.
In all the principal shops and places of business, as in the Government Offices, the day was strictly kept as a holiday; and during the passage to the church, and thence back through Princes-street, to the Cemetery, there was not, during the passage of the funeral procession, a single shop that was not closed. At the Treasury, the flag was half-masted, and flags were similarly displayed at two or three hotels. Around the Provincial, and lining Stafford-street and Princes-street, in its vicinity, there were large crowds of people standing mute and sorrowful; and there was many a tear-wetted eye and choking throat, as coffin after coffin was borne out and hearsed. A child's funeral always affects anything that may be called human; and here there were five little coffins, each containing the lifeless but beautiful remains of a member of one flock, to be placed beside the large ones in which rested the parent clay.
St. Paul's Church had been simply, but impressively decorated by Mr St. Quintan, we believe. Every seat was occupied, or appropriated, before the starting of the hearses from the hotel. His Honor the Superintendent, John Hyde Hams, Esq., was there, with the members, of the Executive; there too, was his Honor, Sir Justice Richmond, who had specially adjourned the sitting of the Supreme Court; and there were also present the various heads of departments, members of the Town Board, &c. A guard of police officers was on duty at the porch; and very numerous earnest applications to be allowed to enter the sacred building had to be met by refusals. In Stuart-street, from Princes-street to the Church each side of the roadway was lined with spectators, and many a head was bared as the hearses passed. They were followed by Mr A. C. Strode and Mr R B. Martin, the church wardens of St. Paul's, who, with Mr Hocken, the coroner, were in the room at the Provincial during the removal of the bodies.
Between half-past two and three o'clock, the church was reached. The Rev. E. G. Edwards proceeded to the porch, and met the bearers of the remains of Mr Campbell, whom he preceded up the aisle, reading the Scriptural sentences appointed for that portion of the ceremony of "The Funeral of the Dead" by the Church of England.
At the moment of the entry, the crowded congregation rose; and Mr Brown, who presided at the harmonium, commenced the "Dead March" in "Saul," which he continued to play during the time occupied in the removal of the the eleven corpses. The sight was most affecting as one after the other, the mortal remains of the drowned were borne along the aisle, and deposited in the chancel. Strong men bowed their heads, and wept, and looked again with suffused eyes at the succeeding pall-covered mass; women sobbed: every heart was deeply touched. At 1.30, all were within the precincts of holy church. The bell of St. Paul's ceased to toll; but the two bells on the neighboring hills clanged mournfully, the sounds blending strangely with the chant of the choir who commenced the 90th Psalm, the music being from Purcell's "Burial Chaunt." The officiating Minister proceeded with the service to the point at which the Anthem occurs. For this a hymn was substituted, connected with which there is a most touching story. Mr Campbell brought with him, from England, as presents for the choir, some copies of "Hymns, Ancient and Modern," containing both words and music, as is common with such publications now-a-days. It required but a few slight Alterations to make the 191st Hymn a mournfully appropriate one; and thus the deceased clergyman, in another and sadder sense, like Mozart produced his own requiem! We give the hymn, as sung: —
Christ will gather in His own
To the place where he is gone,
Where their heart and treasure lie,
Where our life is hid on high.
Day by day the Voice saith, "Come,
Enter thine Eternal home;"
Asking not if we can spare
These dear souls it summons there.
Had He asked us, well we know,
We should cry. "Oh, spare the blow!"
Yes, with, streaming tears would pray,
"Lord we love them, let them stay."
But the Lord doth nought amiss,
And, since He hath ordered this,
We have nought to do but still
Rest in silence on His will.
Many a heart no longer here
Ah! was all too inly dear;
Yet, O Love, 'tis Thou dost call,
Thou wilt be our All in all.
The hymn was very sweetly sung, and the service, up to the point at which it is ordered that the coffins shall be borne to the burial ground, was soon completed. The congregation, at the request of the minister, retained their seats during the painful process of carrying forth the coffins, and replacing them in the hearses. While this was being done, the " Dead March" from "Saul" was played.
A procession was then formed. There was no strict marshalling of authorities or public bodies to their places; and what follows as a list is rather an indication of the composition of the cortege, than the order of its arrangement. It was a "public funeral" in the simplest sense of the words; and the long file of citizens was the strongest possible evidence of the depth of the public sympathy and sorrow.
The names and ages of the dead are given as they appear on the coffin plates, except in the case of Mr Hammond, whose Christian name was there "Robert," as it was first supposed to be, instead of "William," as was afterwards found to be the case: —
Policemen.
Mounted Troopers. Four Hearses,
The First containing the bodies of;
"Thomas Hewett Campbell, Clerk
"Died 4th July, 1863,
"Aged 32 years."
Julia M. Campbell, aged 23 years.
Edward Campbell, aged 5 years.
Duncan Campbell, aged 4 years.
Muriel Campbell aged 3 years.
Lilian Campbell, aged 11 months.
Alfred Campbell, aged 5 weeks.
The Second containing the bodies of Mr. Campbell's servants —
Mary Roberts, aged 23 years.
Fanny Finch, aged 17 years.
The Third containing the body of Elizabeth H. Anderson, aged 28 years.
The Fourth containing the bodies of Charles Sommerville, aged 46 years.
William Hammond, aged about 40 years.
The Chief Mourners, Messrs G-. P. Abram, English Master, and Daniel Brent, Mathematical Master of the High School, who came out with Mr Campbell.
Mr Hislop, secretary to the Education Board.
Captain Stevens, of the Matoaka; Dr Alexander, her surgeon, and Mr Shipton, a fellow-passenger and intimate friend of the family.
The father, uncle, and cousin of Fanny Finch.
Mr Anderson and his Brother.
Mr Somervllle, son of one of the deceased.
The Rev. Mr. Edwards. Mr. A. C. Strode and Mr. R. B. Martin, churchwardens, and the vestry of St Paul's.
Captain Thompson, harbour master; Captain Dickie, deputy harbour master; Captains Lowden, Henry, and Harper, and Mr Vann, clerk of the department.
Elder Boys attending the Middle and North District Schools, and Mr Shaw's Grammar School; accompanied by Messrs Halliwell, Tiley, and Craig, Mr Shaw and his assistant.
A long line of Citizens, walking three and four abreast.
Members of the Town B.oard, comprising Messrs Mcleod, Henderson, Milne, Fenwick Jenkinson, &c.; Mr James Prendergast, City Solicitor; Mr J. Millar, City Engineer; and
Mr Reid, Clerk to the Board.
Mr Thompson, Chief Surveyor.
Mr Swyer, Provincial Engineer
Other Government Officers and Employes.
Members of the Provincial Council.
His Honor the Superintendent.
Mr Dick, Provincial Secretary.
Mr Reynolds, Provincial Treasurer.
Mr Paterson, unofficial member of the Executive.
Mr Willis, Assistant Secretary.
Mr Borton, Gold Receiver.
Mr W. H. Cutten, Commissioner of Crown Lands.
Citizens, three abreast.
About 100 horsemen.
Citizens.
Mounted Police.
The procession, it is generally agreed, stretched for nearly a mile; and we should think there must have been between 1,500 and 2,000 persons in it. Every class, from the Superintendent to the operative was represented; and throughout there was an evident equality of mourning for what was a public calamity.
Princes-street was slowly paced; and when the curve towards the Ocean Beach Road was passed by the head of the procession, its imposing length was strikingly seen. There were groups of spectators throughout the line. After Princes street had been quitted, the Cemetery was soon reached.
A brick vault, given by the Churchwardens and Vestry of St. Paul's, bad been constructed on the highest slope of the consecrated ground to receive the remains of the Campbell family; at the foot of the vault there were graves for the servants; and the other graves were not far removed.
The coffins were for the last time borne forth, and were placed beside the vaults and graves. The Rev. Mr. Edwards, who was deeply affected, with a choked utterance, resumed the solemn service. Then came a pause, while the coffins were lowered. The bodies were committed, "dust to dust, ashes to ashes," by the Minister, and the thuds of the soil thrown upon the coffins sounded out heart-chillingly over the densely-packed, uncovered assembly. Then came the cheering words in which the Church points to the hope of a ''joyful resurrection;" and the Benediction having been pronounced, all was over,
All but to wait until one's turn came to advance and to look into that vault. There they lay, those seven coffins. The father and the mother, side by side; the infant that was never borne alive on solid ground, now lay as it were in its parents' embraces, and on each side, two of the other children were placed, the girls on one side, the boys on the other. Who that saw that sight, failed to pray that he might never look upon its like again? There, they lay, on a pleasant slope from which one can look down on the bright waters of the Bay, and can almost catch a view of the spot at which they met their sudden deaths A pleasant slope for a grave-yard in which, let us hope, for generations to come, the bodies of seven persons may not again be laid, connected with whom and whose end so touching a story will have to be told, as has been told and will be repeated in far off lands, of Thomas Hewett Campbell and his family!
A procession was re-formed, and returned to town about dusk. -Otago Witness, 11/7/1863.
The Late Steamboat Collision. — In our summary of Otago news, we observe with regret that Mr Sommerville, lately a farmer at Wanganui, was one of the drowned in the recent sad accident. -Wellington Independent, 16/7/1863.
Next morning — a bright, genial Sabbath morning — the Favorite was again at the scene of the disaster. She had on board every one in authority who could render assistance in recovering the bodies; and, she had also an experienced diver, named Watson, who had, during the night, been fetched from the Heads, a dozen miles below Port Chalmers. Preliminaries were soon got over: and the channel was dragged. Then came the time of terrible interest to the group assembled on the deck of the steamer, and in the crowd of boats surrounding The rapidly ebbing tide had slacked, and Watson, the diver prepared to go below to bring up any bodies which might be found in or about the wreck. He was assisted by his brother diver Wheeler and at one o'clock went over the steamer's side his disappearance below the surface occasioning intense interest among the friends of supposed drowned, and in the sad hearts of many more. He was not many minutes down, when by the motion of the surface water, bubbling hither and thither as he moved round the wreck, it was distinguished that he had reached the cabin, the scene in which few eyes indeed, would dare to witness. A minute or two later there was a nervous twitching of the signal rope, and a spare line having been attached and hauled down by the diver: the first body of eleven rose to the surface. It was Mrs Campbell: the features placid, and little changed, the hands as if crossed upon the bosom. The same arrangement of ropes repeated, and there rose the body of a handsome young woman (Mrs. Anderson) even yet more life-like. Next came the broader figure, of an aged and bearded man, and, as it rose, the attention of the spectators was momentarily directed to a young man who, with the words, "My father!" fainted away, and fell upon the steamer's bridge. It was the corse of Mr Sommerville. The body of Fanny Finch, who was in the service of Mr Campbell, and who was one of a large family who were passengers by the same vessel, came next; and she was followed by the dead forms of two of her youthful charges — an infant and a little boy — both so fair, so young, and absolutely so life-like that it was difficult to believe they were not in full life, as they appeared to be. Poor Mr Campbell, whose family with himself had thus perished at one fell swoop, seemed by his attitude to have most appreciated what had come upon them — stretching out his arms, as if, alarmed and stunned by an impending danger. The other maid-servant of the family, Mary Roberts, a second boy, and another child completed the sad catalogue; and glad were the onlookers that the sickening scene was over. One by one the dead had been placed in boats alongside and covered from the intrusive gaze, until the diver completed his examination of the wreck, which he soon did, moving round her as far as her bows; but there was none loth to hear that he could discover no more. By the deck being off, the interior of her hull was perfectly exposed to view, and there was no one there. The melancholy work over, the steamer lifted anchor, and with the boats containing their sufficiently numerous dead, returned to Port Chalmers. -Otago Daily Times, 18/7/1863.
