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5 corrections, most recently by monak - Show corrections

Proclamation.

By His Excellency Lachlan Macquarie,            

Esquire, Captain General and Governor       in Cheif of the Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies, &c. &c. &c.

Whereas His Excellency the Governor  

has seen with great Regret, the Immorality and Vice so prevalent among the Lower Classes of this Colony ; and whereas he feels Himself called upon in particular to reprobate and check,    

as far as lies in his Power, the scandalous and

pernicious Custom so generally and shamelessly adopted throughout this Teirritory, of Persons of different Sexes Cohabiting and living toge-   ther, uusanctioned by the legal ties of Matri-     mony ; and whereas the Consequences of this immorl and illicit Intercourse have been found (as might have been expected) not only highly injurious to the Interests of the Society at large, but oftentimes attended also with grievous Cala- mity to the Parites themselves, and the innocent Offspring of their Misconduct :-And whereas   such Practices are a Scandal to Religion, to

Deceny, and to all Good Government ; And whereas also, frequent Applications have been made on the part of divers Women, to   the Court of Civil Jurisdiction, for the Grant of Letters of Administration of the Goods and Effects of Persons dying intestate, on the sole Ground of having lived for a Number of Years with the Deceased in a State of illegal and criminal inter- course; His Excellency the Governor, anxious to promote the Interests of Virtue (upon which those of Society must ever rest), by the Encourage- ment of lawful Marriage to preserve Morality and Decorum, and to protect the innocent Sufferers from the Consequences of such Practices; and hoping that the frequency of such Connexions may be in a great Measuie owing to an Igno-

rance of the Calamity which will probably result   from them ; and that a more extended Knowledge

of this Circumstance may be the Means of check-    

ing the Formation of such Engagements in future, feels it his Duty hereby publicly to make known to the Inhabitants of this Colony, that the mere Circumstance of illegal Cohabitation (for whatever Length of Time) with any Man, con- fers no valid Title upon the Woman to the Goods and Effects of such Person, in Case he   should die intestate ; and that Letters of Admi-    

minstration of the Goods and Effects of Persons dying intestate cannot be legally granted to any Applicants upon such Grounds, and under such Circumstances as aforesaid; and that the distress- ful Consequences which may be felt in particular Instances from the Refusal of such Applications, can alone be avoided by the Formation of honour- able and legal Engagements.  

His Excellency the Governor, aware of the Frequency of such illicit Connexions, and seeing the shameless and open Manner in which they are avowed, to the utter Subversion of all De- cency uand Decorum, is compelled to express, in   this public Manner, his high Disapprobation of     such Immorality, and his firm Resolution to re-   press, by every Means in his Power, all such disgraceful Connexions; and publicly declares, that neither Favour nor Patronage will ever be extended to those who contract or encourage

them.

On the other Hand, His Excellency the Go- venor is anxious to hold forth every Induce- ment to the Formation of lasting and virtuous Connexions, and to encourage lawful Marriage   by every possible Means ; he is convinced, that from such Connexions alone can be expected to arise either Habits of Industry, or Decency of Conduct :-Those, therefore, who form such   Connexions, and whose Lives and Conduct are

sober, decent, and industrious, may ever look up

to His Excellency for all reasonable Encourage-  

ment.

As a further Means of effecting that Improve- ment which he so earnestly wishes, His Excel- lecncy cannot forbear to make known his Indig-   nation towards those Persons who, in Defiance

of all Law and Decency, scanchdously keep open, during the Night, the most licentious and dis- orderly Houses, for the Reception of the abandoned of both Sexes, and to the great Encouragement of dissolute and disorderly Habits ; and he publicly avows his Resolution to give strict Orders to the Ofïïcers of the Police to report to him the Proprie- tors of all such Houses, and to punish such Offen- ders to the utmoft Extent allowed by Law.

His Evcellency the Governor sanguinely hopes that the measure he is now adopting will not be ineffectual in producing that Decorum and Mo- rality, the Want of which is at once so disgraceful and so detrimental to Society ; And he trusts, that when the Inhabitants of this Colony shall see that Favor and Encouragement are to be obtained only   by a strictt Observance of the Rules of Morality and         Decorum, they will become sensible of the Error   and Folly of a longer indulgence of Habits of Pro-

fligacy and Irregularity.  

Given under my Hand, at Government House, Sydney, this 24h Day of Fe-     bruary, 1810.      

lachlan macquarie.    

God Save the King!

 

By Command of His Excellency,

John Thomas Campbell, Secretary.

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