We continue our series of short articles commemorating the Bicentenary of the Foundation of Saint Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.
Before the ritual of laying the First stone of the chapel commenced, Father Therry, the Catholic Chaplain resident in Sydney, read a prepared Address to the Governor. Afterwards, he gave a copy of his speech to the editor of The Sydney Gazette, and so we have preserved the actual words he spoke on that occasion :
To His Excellency LACHLAN MACQUARIE, Esquire, Governor in Chief, &c. &c. &c
In presenting to Your Excellency this humble Instrument (which, undervalued as it may be by the supercilious and unscientific, will not be condemned by any who have studied and patronised, as Your Excellency has done, the sciences and useful arts), We, the Catholics of this Colony, cannot refrain, on so auspicious an occasion, from expressing our most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to Your Excellency, for having deigned to honour us, by personally laying the first Stone of the First Roman Catholic Chapel attempted to be erected in this Territory.
As a worthy Representative of a benevolent King, you, by this act of condescension, give an illustrious example, which will prove to be not less beneficial to society than meritorious to Your Excellency. You will have the merit of laying the firm foundation of a moral Edifice of unanimity, mutual confidence, and fraternal love, and of more strongly cementing the respect and affection of all persuasions and parties, in this Country, to our Sovereign, to yourself, and to each other.In the Temple which you now commence, prayers shall be frequently offered to the Throne of God, to invoke upon yourself, and your amiable Family, the richest blessings of Heaven; and we venture to predict, that, whilst it shall continue to be appropriated to the sacred use for which it is intended, neither the Name, nor the Virtues of Your Excellency, shall at any time be forgotten.JOHN JOSEPH THERRY, Roman Catholic Chaplain,For himself, and his Roman Catholic Brethren of New South Wales
Sydney, 29th October, 1821.
Founder of Saint Mary's Cathedral
To the Reverend JOHN JOSEPH THERRY, and the Roman Catholics of New South Wales.
REVEREND SIR,
I receive from your hands, with much pleasure, in your own name, and that of your Roman Catholic Brethren of New South Wales, the very handsome Silver Trowel now presented to me; and I feel myself much honoured in having been thus selected to make use of this Instrument in laying the First Stone of the first Roman Catholic Chapel attempted to be erected in Australia.The sentiments you have addressed to me, are congenial with my own, in the beneficial result to be derived from the erection of the proposed Edifice.It has been a great gratification to me to witness and assist at the ceremony now performed;—And I have every hope, that the consideration of the British Government, in supplying the Roman Catholics of this Colony with established Clergymen, will be the means of strengthening and augmenting (if that be possible) the attachment of the Catholics of New South Wales to the British Government, and will prove an inducement to them to continue, as I have ever found them to be, loyal and faithful Subjects to the Crown.I beg you will accept of my best acknowledgments for the sentiments of friendly regard, and kind good wishes, you have been pleased to express for myself, and my Family.LACHLAN MACQUARIE, Governor in Chief of New South Wales.Sydney, 29th October, 1821.
A correspondent records that the Governor's address was listened to respectfully and greeted with cheers. The language of these two addresses is decidedly that of another age, but important points are made both by Father Therry and Governor Macquarie, with the utmost graciousness. Given the social and legal standing of Catholics at this time (prior to the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829) it is unsurprising that the tone of Father Therry's address is deferential. It presupposes that Catholics are tolerated, but perhaps not warmly welcomed. Father Therry does indicate, however, what Catholicism can add to the Colony of New South Wales, namely, social cohesion through the spread of Christian morality and mutual respect. In his turn, Governor Macquarie makes a most important observation about his experience of the Catholics of the Colony, namely, that they are good Citizens.
By that short ceremony, two hundred years ago, Catholicism gained within the Colony of New South Wales a sense of permanence and even respectability. The Governor, by his own hand, had founded their place of worship and indicated that Catholics were not rebels, felons and troublemakers, but "Faithful and Loyal Subjects of the Crown."
To be continued.
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| Hyde Park, 1829 Image : Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums |
The Supreme Court and Saint James' Anglican church are shewn at centre left. To the right is the Rum Hospital (now the Mint Building) and beside it, the Hyde Park Barracks. To assist with identification, names of the buildings have been digitally added.
On the right-hand of the engraving is shewn Old Saint Mary's, still under construction and before it began to be used as a place of worship. The walls are in place and the timber members of the roof, but the actual timber shingles were not in place for a few years more, owing to a lack of money to complete work. At this time, 1829, the roadway we now know as College Street did not exist, but Saint Mary's Road (as it would later be known), seen in the engraving, was part of a roadway leading to Woolloomooloo Bay.
