Permit me to subscribe myself a deep sympathiser with you in your affliction,
J. EGERTON WARBURTON.
The Major had been a candidate for the office of leader, but his conditions as to his second were objected to. The next letter is from a gentleman who had accompanied Major Warburton as second on some explorations from Adelaide. At Totnes I knew him when a boy.
Dorset Terrace, Adelaide.
MY DEAR SIR,
I truly sympathize with you in the loss you have met with in so heroic and superb a fellow as your son. I cannot read his journals without wishing that I had been with him, for his qualities as an explorer were perfect in my humble opinion. The news of his sad death has been a great blow to all of us, and we sincerely feel for you in your affliction. But though dead in the flesh, the brave spirit of your son will stand emblazoned on the pages of our country"s history as one of those heroes who have died for the cause in which he was engaged, in the flush of victory, cheerfully fulfilling his duties to the last.
I cannot believe that Wright and Brahe ever returned to Cooper"s Creek. If they had done so a stockman so well experienced in tracking as Wright must be, would have detected the presence of signs that might escape the eye of one less practised; for it is ascertained now that the stores had been removed about the time that Brahe left, and before, as they say, they returned in company.
I also believe that, had Burke taken his companions" advice, and followed down Brahe"s tracks, they would have been saved, for it is well known to all travellers that animals will feel cheered in following the footsteps of their late a.s.sociates; but to attempt to force his party to explore new country when a well-known route was open to him was little short of madness. I have not patience to criticize Wright and Brahe"s conduct. If Brahe had even left more stores, clothing especially, we should have had the pleasure of welcoming the explorers home.
But G.o.d"s wise providence knows what is best, and in saying, His will be done, I pray that He may comfort you and yours in this great bereavement. Mrs. B. and my daughter unite with me in kindest regards, and believe me to be as ever,
My dear sir,
Your sincere friend,
ARTHUR JOHN BAKER.
FROM P.A. JENNINGS, ESQUIRE, ST. ARNAUD, VICTORIA.
St. Arnaud, December 15th, 1861.
MY DEAR SIR,
I did not like to intrude upon your sorrow before; but I feel desirous of now testifying the sympathy of myself and friends at St. Arnaud with you under your heavy affliction. I had the pleasure of forming an intimacy with your lamented and gallant son during his stay here; an intimacy which soon ripened into a true friendship.
It was in the year 1858, from March to July, that your son stopped in this vicinity, as the promoter of the survey of this town. I was thrown much into his company, and soon learned to appreciate his amiable and n.o.ble disposition. My mother and sisters, who also found pleasure in his society, had the deepest regard and admiration for him; and the expedition in which he was engaged therefore possessed an unusual interest for us.
I a.s.sure you I can hardly find words to express our feelings, at the thought of his fate, and the base desertion of Burke and himself by those who should have endeavoured to sustain them. I had the most profound confidence in your son"s ability as an explorer, knowing well the varied nature of his scientific attainments, his great practical knowledge of bush life, and the clear common sense which was his leading characteristic. Many a time we have talked about him; and every time we mentioned his name the same feeling of a.s.surance in his safe return was always expressed, even to the last. Such was our confidence in him. A week before the sad tidings of his death reached Melbourne, I had a conversation with Mr.
Byerly, whom I then met accidentally, and who had just returned from Queensland. Our conversation reverted to your son, and Mr.
Byerly coincided with me in my faith in him, but remarked that all his exertions could be of little avail if not properly supported.
Mr. Byerly had at first expressed a fear that the party HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO PERISH through the remissness of those whose duty it should have been to use every possible means to rescue them in the proper time. His words were, unfortunately, prophetic.
I know, my dear sir, that almost anything like consolation for you now must come from other than man, but I could not help saying these few words to you; and I know that no persons unconnected by blood with your family, and enjoying such brief personal acquaintance with your son as myself; and mother and sisters, can be more sincerely or deeply moved at the harrowing record of his untimely fate. Indeed, it has cast a gloom over every one; and the hardest heart could not but be affected by such a n.o.ble spectacle as the last days of his glorious life present.
It is proposed here to erect an obelisk to his memory, and I am about to get one of the streets named after him. I cannot commit myself to write further on the subject, but will conclude by subscribing myself,
Yours, ever faithfully,
P.A. JENNINGS.
W. Wills, Esquire, M.D.
FROM DR. MUELLER.
December 11th, 1861.
MY DEAR DOCTOR,
His Excellency informed me by note last night that Mr. Heales thinks to leave the consideration of everything connected with the great and glorious enterprise of your son and Mr. Burke, to the Commission, which Mr. Heales will probably have installed before leaving office.
His Excellency adds, that every thought shall be given, that the family who immortalized their name by the work of your lamented son shall not be forgotten. I hope to be in town to-morrow, and will do myself the pleasure of calling on you.
Very regardfully yours,
FERD. MUELLER.
The Melbourne Advertiser, of December the 4th, 1861, contained the following leading paragraph:
It is the intention of Mr. O"Shana.s.sy to place a sum of 5000 pounds on the Estimates towards the erection of a national monument to Burke and Wills, and it is believed a like amount will be raised by public subscription in various parts of the colony; so that the aggregate amount will enable us to raise a memorial worthy of Victoria, and worthy of the heroes whom we design to honour. This is as it should be. Burke and Wills achieved a splendid exploit: their lives were the forfeit of their daring; and we owe it to their reputation, as well as to our own character, to preserve a durable record of their great achievement, and to signalize to after-ages our admiration of its simple grandeur, and our grat.i.tude to the brave men who accomplished it. A time will come when a belt of settlements will connect the sh.o.r.es of Port Phillip with those of the Gulf of Carpentaria; when, on the banks of the Albert or of the Flinders, a populous city will arise, and will const.i.tute the entrepot of our commerce with the Indies; and when beaten roads will traverse the interior, and a line of electric telegraph will bisect the continent. The happy valley of Prince Ra.s.selas was not more verdant or more fertile than much of the country pa.s.sed through by the explorers, whose loss we deplore; and it is certain that these beautiful solitudes will be rapidly occupied by the flocks and herds of the squatter. Agricultural settlements will follow; towns and villages will be established, gold-fields probably discovered, and waves of population will overflow and will fertilize vast tracts of country which we have hitherto concluded to be a sterile desert. These events will owe their initiation to the adventurous pioneers who first crossed the continent from sea to sea. Theirs was the arduous effort; theirs the courage, endurance, and sustaining hope; theirs the conflict with danger and the great triumph over difficulties; theirs the agony of a lingering death, and theirs the mournful glory of a martyr"s crown.
Defrauded, as it were, of the honours which would have rewarded them had they lived to receive the congratulations they had earned, it becomes the melancholy duty of their fellow-citizens to perpetuate the memory of Burke and Wills by a monument which shall testify to their worth and our munificence.
FROM DR. MUELLER.
Melbourne, December 21st, 1861.
MY VERY DEAR DOCTOR,
I need not a.s.sure you that I shall be but too happy to render you any services within my power, and especially such as are connected with doing justice to your poor and great son.
Having been duly authorized by you to secure the pistol of your late son, I will take an early opportunity to claim it for you and bring it to your son Thomas. I will also very gladly do what I can in restoring to you any other property I may hear of as belonging to your lamented son William. As soon as Professor Neumayer returns, we can learn with exactness what instruments were your son"s. I will also inquire about the telescope. I believe I forgot mentioning to you, that it would be a source of the highest gratification to me to call some new plant by the name of the family, who claim as their own, one of now imperishable fame. But I will not be unmindful that, in offering an additional tribute, humble as it is, to your son"s memory, it will be necessary to select, for the Willsia, a plant as n.o.ble in the Australian flora as the young savant himself who sacrificed his life in accomplishing a great national and never-to-be-forgotten enterprise.
Trusting, my dear and highly valued friend, that the greatness of the deed will, to a certain extent, alleviate your grief and sorrow for an irreparable loss, and that Providence may spare you long in health and happiness, for your family.
I remain,
Your faithfully attached,
FERD. MUELLER.
W. Wills, Esquire, M.D.