| "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 assuredly 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 circumstances 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 passing 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 noble token of love, in the days of poverty, than the most splendid monuments of accumulated wealth.
One duty only remains for the author, and that is the last and very simple one of gratitude 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.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Poems by Mrs. Elizabeth Cobbold, with a Memoir of the Author. Ipswich: Printed and sold by J. Raw in the Butter Market, 1825.