The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock eBook

Ferdinand Brock Tupper
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 433 pages of information about The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock.

The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock eBook

Ferdinand Brock Tupper
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 433 pages of information about The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock.

    ‘We ne’er shall look upon his like again.’

“On no similar occasion had there ever been collected so large a concourse of persons in this island.  Some pains were taken to ascertain the number of those who entered the burial ground, and it is believed that they considerably exceeded 4,000.  An equal, or perhaps a larger number, were dispersed, as spectators, in the Grange Road and adjacent parts.  Every house that commanded a glimpse of the procession, or the interment, was crowded.  The windows, even, to the attics, were peopled; whilst walls, gardens, and every spot from which any thing could be seen, were in like manner occupied.  Notwithstanding the extraordinary number of persons collected, a very creditable degree of order and decorum was maintained throughout the whole of the proceedings."[163]

The union jack was hoisted half mast at Fort George and Castle Cornet from the day succeeding the bailiff’s death to that of his funeral, on which days also the bells of the parish church of St. Peter-Port were tolled, and the flags of the vessels in the two harbours and roadstead were hoisted half mast.  On the day of the interment, the shops in St. Peter-Port were entirely closed until the mournful ceremony was completed.

The lieutenant-governor of the island, Major-General Napier, the celebrated historian of the Peninsular war, evinced, in a manner as creditable to his feelings as it was gratifying to those of the family, an anxious desire to pay every respect to the memory of the deceased, his excellency, with the officers of his staff, and Lieut.-General Ross, and Lieut.-General Sir James Douglas, ex-lieutenant-governors, attending the funeral in full uniform, as did all the officers of the garrison, and the officers of the five regiments of militia.  All the civil and military authorities, as well as the whole of the clergy of the island, were present.

* * * * *

The following remarks are extracted from a long and ably written article of nearly two columns, in the Guernsey Star of Monday, September 26, 1842, in which the last moments and character of Mr. Brock were feelingly portrayed by the editor, an English gentleman: 

“Mr. Brock’s career, his talents, his services, and his amiable qualities, are so familiar to every native and inhabitant of Guernsey—­they have, as it were, become so much the common property of the community—­they have been so much the objects of their study—­so constantly the theme of their praise and admiration—­that it may seem almost a work of supererogation in us to make any observation on them on the present melancholy occasion.  We cannot, however, allow the grave to close upon him without strewing it with some of those offerings of respect and praise which spontaneously spring to our hand as we pen the notice of his death.  We feel that we enjoy considerable latitude on this occasion, because, from having been for years the political antagonists
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The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.