Obituaries Australia

On Friday, the 18th ultimo, a sad gloom was spread over Geraldton, at the very sudden death of a widely respected citizen and merchant residing there, in the person of Mr. J. M. [Julius Maxwell] Rosenthal. He complained of being unwell on the afternoon of Thursday, and during that night was rather restless having little or no sleep; towards morning he was a trifle more composed, but still in pain, and it was manifestly evident that unless a decided change for the better were to take place the sufferer could not survive. At about 11 o'clock in the morning the doctor announced that he was much worse, and advised his friends to be present in order to receive his last wishes and desires. He gradually grew weaker in mind and body, scarcely able to converse as the day drew on, and at twenty minutes past two o'clock, he breathed his last apparently with no pain. Unable to lie in bed during his illness, he was supported in an easy chair with pillows, and in this position he died. The extreme suddenness of Mr. Rosenthal's death took nearly all by surprise, as until Thursday afternoon at about 5 o'clock he was at his store attending to business, and to all appearance quite well. He had complained during the past two or three weeks of his health failing him, and his appetite was not at all good, yet he never had occasion to retire from business until the afternoon previous to his death. The deceased had been in the habit of attending the services of the Wesleyan Church, and his friends made arrangements with the Rev. W. S. Worth, the Minister of the Circuit, that the deceased should be interred in the Wesleyan Cemetery. It was arranged that the funeral should take place on Saturday, at 4 o'clock p.m., and the various places of business were closed out of respect to the occasion. A difficulty, however, presented itself as to the form of funeral service, the deceased being of the Jewish persuasion, but the difficulty was happily easy overcome. Mr. Rosenthal had been for a considerable time past connected with the order of Freemasons, and was up to the time of his decease an active member of the Geraldton Lodge, No. 1,683, and, in order to meet the difficulty referred to, it was decided by the Lodge to conduct the burial service, such service not in any way interfering with the deceased's religious persuasion. The undertaker, Mr. Wm. Trigg, carefully attended to the arrangements for the funeral, and precisely at 4 o'clock the brethren of the Lodge assembled at the Lodge-room, and having concluded arrangements marched to the Victoria Hotel, where the deceased had resided, and joined the funeral cortege each, being attired in plain black, with white ties and gloves, and carrying in their right hand sprigs of myrtle. The following is the order of the procession: Undertaker

Mute                                               Mute

Br. H. Gray. S. W.                        Br. W. B. Timperley W. M.
Br. B. Woodman                          Br. G. Baston J. W.
Br. Henry Levy                             Br. F. Fowler,

Friends of deceased, as chief mourners.
Entered Apprentices -
Fellow Craft
Master Masons

Mr. H. J. Samuel                                Mr. J. E. Towsend
employes of deceased -
Mr. J. A. Liebler
General Public.

Arriving at the grave the W.M., Bro. W. H. Timperley, read the ninth chapter of the Book of Job, as also the following prayer, compiled by the Rev. W. S. Worth:— Great Architect of the Universe, Creator of all things, God of heaven, we bow and adore thy great and terrible name; thou art the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, and we trust in thee; great is thy power, sovereign is thy will. Thy servant David saith, 'When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man, that thou are mindful of him, or the Son, that thou visited him ; and again, The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handiwork, day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night sheweth knowledge ; there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard, their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world; man, thy favourite creature, man is as frail as the grass of the field, for all flesh is as grass and the goodliness there of as the flower of the field, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever'; again Job saith, 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble; he cometh up like a flower and is cut down, he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not; man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more, for there is hope of a tree if it be cut down that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch will not fail, but man dieth, yea man wasteth away, yea man giveth up the ghost, and where is he.' And now, oh thou great and glorious God, all wise and all-powerful, we bow in reverence at thy throne, acknowledging thy supreme authority and sovereign Will ; Great God, hear us when we cry, and help us. — Amen and Amen.' To which the brethren responded in the usual manner. The W.M. then read the thirty-ninth chapter of the Psalms of David, and each of the brethren in order, commencing with the W.M., cast his sprig of myrtle in the grave, as a token of affection for the deceased; thus concluding the mournful ceremony.