REV. DR. KANE, OF BELFAST.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 278, 24 November 1898, Page 2

REV. DR. KANE, OF BELFAST.

In our cables of Tuesday there appeared the following: 'Bro. Kane, (Grand Master of Orangemen, is dead.' Bro. Kane was the Grand Master of the Orangemen of the City of Belfast. He occupied the position fcr over ten years, and was one of. the foremost speakers and workers in opposing the Home ]tule Bill. lie was also one of the speakers at the Ulster Convention held in Belfast in 1892, over which convention the Duke ot Abercorn presided. The name of Dr. Kane was a household word in Great Britain, Ireland, America, and the colonies. He was one of the foremost ministers of the Irish Episcopal Church, being rector of Christ Church, Belfast. As a preacher in that Church he had no superior, and as an Evangelical Churchman the General Synod of Ireland was justly proud of him., While he was G.M. of ■ Belfast his faithful friend and brother, the Bishop of Ossorywas his chaplain. Strange anomaly, but such was the fact, and at the last Grand Lodge meeting; there these two min-. istors were greeted with 'Cjad Mile Failthe.' He was a broad Churchman. While : holding to the tenets of his; Church he had a helping hand for every other denominaition, and his whoie life was devoted to the education and betterment of' all classes. During Her Majesty's Jubilee, hefounded what is now known as the Queen Victoria Jubilee Schools, adjacent to his parish. This school is open to any and every denomination. The building, with class rooms, lee--ture rooms, libraries, etc., will hold four thousand people, built at a cost of £10,000, some of which was subscribed in this colony. The Duke and Duchess of Abercorn opened the building, the Rev.R. ,T. Lynd, D.D., Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly preached, the opening sermon, a minister o.f the Methodist Church said the prayers, and a. ConCTegational minister pronounced the Benediction. This shows his broad spirit of Christian charity, and it also shows that the other denominations recognised in him an able champion of Evangelical Protestantism. That the Church of Ireland has lost a man of culture, intelligence .refinement, and Christian charity there is no doubt; that the Orangemen of Belfast have lost a guiding star is evident: and that the poor have lost a friend, counsellor, and guide will be deeply felt by those within and beyond his parish. A man of genius, worth, and loyalty to his honoured and beloved Queen, and an ornament to the Church of Ireland has passed away.