SIR GEORGE GREY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 227, 26 September 1898, Page 5

SIR GEORGE GREY.

IN MEMORIAM,

PULPIT REFERENCES IN AUCK-

LAND,

In many of the Auckland city and ■suburban churches sympathetic remarks were matte from the pulpit in connection with the death of Sir Geo. Grey, and some of the services took the form of in memoriam services. At St. Paul's Anglican Church last evening- the Rev. Canon Nelson, who had been an old friend of Sir George Grey, made some feeling remarks at the close of his sermon, which was based, on the text, 'Behold there was a dead man carried out.' Mr Nelson, in the course of his remarks, said: — 'And this that I have said leads us, I think, not unnaturally to bear in mind that to-morrow will be "carried out" for sepulture, to the most honoured resting-place of Britain's great men, the mortal remains of one'of the truest friends of our new land, and one of England's noblest sons No need for me here (and indeed this-is no fit place for such a recital) to recite or recall the history of Sir George Grey's life It is well known to all of you. The details of that life—its struggles, victories,- defeats, vicissitudes, troubles, disappointments, aspirations, achievements, unfulfilled yearnings, have all been admirably jpourtrayeel before us in the columns of our daily press. But why have they so done! Why this universal remembrance amongst us? Why, although He had passed by many years, the allotted span —why this general regret, and, I shall venture to say, mourning? Because he was a great man, a foreseeing man, a man who lived not in the present except as working for the future; who from his earliest times of responsibility recognised whai responsibility meant; who, gifted both with powers of mind and material advantages of moderate wealth and high position, sought ever to turn those endowments which he possessed to the advantage and good of others. What we owe to him here in Auckland is testified by his lasting memorial to us—l mean the bulk of the books' of any worth now to be found in our Free Library; in the existence and endowment of our Grammar School and kindred institutions; in his far-seeing efforts in the way of equal legislation, whether for European or Maori, for man or woman; and in countless ways which I cannot possibly mention. Those who knetw him personally (as some of,us did) will remember (with the hope of taking pattern of it) his courteous manner to all, his chivalrous bearing to our wives and daughters, his unfaltering, unaffected, sincere love of children. Sir George Grey was for years a parishioner of St. Paul's while Governor. During that period, as I am credibly informed, it was a very rare occasion that when in Auckland he was absent from divine service either morning or evening at the old metropolitan church of the colony. He was a man whose instincts were by nature religious (I use the word in its highest and best significance). He was a man of culture, with more than ordinary gifts of eloquence, possessed also in no small degree of what we may call ;'*the gift of tongues." Polynesian literature owes not a little to Sir George Grey. Wisely, too. as-I have said, he used these powers and gifts for the good of others. Unlike some others of our benefactors, by. his prudent bestowal of his properties during his lifetime he saw some fruit of the generosity he bestowed. Statesman, diplomatist, orator, man of letters, cultured gentleman, an aristocrat'in its best sense, and yet withal a true friend of the people, full_ of years and honours, but not,alas! without saddening sufferings at life's close, he has gone to his rest. His works do follow him.' During the offertory 'Blessed are the Departed' (Spohr) was sung as a quartette, and at the close of the service the organist played the 'Dead March' in 'Saul,' the congregation ■standing. - ' , At the morning service at bt. Mary s Cathedral, Parnell, yesterday, the Rev. Mr Mac Murray. vicar, preached an appropriate sermon in which he made reference to Sir George Grey's life and works, and to the high ideals which the departed statesman had kept m view Mr Mac Murray quoted the message to the citizens of Auckland spoken into the phonograph by Sir George j Grey some years ago, and the record | of which now rests in the Free Library. At the close of the service the 'Dead March' in 'Saul' was played, the congregation standing as a mark o± relt etbe Church of the Holy Sepulchre yesterday special hymns were sung and the organ voluntaries were Blest are the Departed' (Spohr) and a funeral march by Beethoven, in memory of the late Sir George Grey. At St. Stephen's PresVytenan Church, Ponsonby, yesterday morning, the Rev .T. F. Robertson made special • reference to the death of Sir George Grey. In his sermon he spoke of the dead statesman's noble ideals and his beneficent works, and held out his; life as one well worthy of imitation by young New Zealanders, Speaking o± Sir George Grey's Christian character, Mr Robertson referred to the perilous experiences of the young explorer, and told how while facing death m Australia he took out his Bible for guidance and support. There were many types of Christia.ns. a.nd the preacher thought that Sir George Grey's life and public service were a practical exemplification of Christianity. Mr Robertson spoke especially of Sir George's care for the native races in all the countries which he had visited, and said this evidenced his great nobility of character, especially when it brought him into conflict With the white settlers who were anxious to possess themselves of the natives lands and were consequently generally at variance with the aborigines. Mr Robertson went on to speak of the wonderful breadth of Sir George Grey's culture. 'When he looked over the treasures in the Grey collection at the Free Library he was amazed at the variety and breadth the great man's knowledge and research. It was not mere collection by a man who accumulated these things as curios, but it was a general result of a.n intimate kntowledg-e of such subjects. His public life was throughout carried on with the idea of being- helpful to others, and the preacher spoke of the use of such a life as an example to the young- generation. He had raised himself to his honourable position entirely by his own efforts and his ability, and in this respect his life was an encouragement to all young -men. Mr Robertson thought it was fitting that the remains of .what was mortal of Sir George Grey should be interred in St. Paul's Cathedral, where his grave would be visited by colonists from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. It was n more appro-

priate resting place than Westminster Abbey, in which building the speaker thought there was something narrow and monkish. It always seemed to him, on the-visits he had paid to St. Paul's, that the spacious dome of that place was typical of a broader Christianity. At the close of the service the organist, Mr Rowe, played the 'Dead March in Saul.'