"A GOOD PATRIOT."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 162, 11 July 1930, Page 7

"A GOOD PATRIOT."

EXAMPLE TO NEW ZEALAND. PROFOUND FAITH IN PEOPLE. ADDRESS BY BISHOP LISTON. ■ "The Catholic custom is not to pass a eulogy on the dead," eaLjliis Lordship, Bishop Liston, "for the Master alone shall praise and the Master alone shall blame, but to father round the Christian altar of sacrifice and offer the sacred prayers of the Chu'reh for the eternal rest and peace of the departed. Vet the circumstances of the present occasion demand that the thoughts of manv hearts be spoken, and our tribute of esteem and gratitude be paid to the memory of Sir Joseph Ward. "Whenever we call to mind the dead whom we have known and respected, and may be loved, we think not so much of their honours and high office as of the soul that made them what they were. We think of their spirit, the intellectual and moral outlook, and the habits that made them wise, brave, true, loyal, just, helpful in their dealings with their fellows, reverential and obedient in their relations with their Maker. To be drawn to a genuine, noble man it is not necessary that we accept his opinions without reserve, or approve all his actions. All that is required is faith in his intelligence, honesty, courage, goodwill, tolerance and disinterestedness. New Zealand is at one to-day in attributing these qualities to Sir Joseph. His aims were high, his industry and perseverance exceptional. His alert mind saw into the heart of many problems that concern the general welfare. His faith in the people was profound and he believed that government by the people may be so organised and administered as to make it a blessing to all. And in addition he possessed the grace of urbane courtesy, that was at once simple and attractive,' like a rose touched by the aof; light of a windless summer dawn.

"Found Faithful." "New Zealand will always honour the deceased statesman as a good patriot and in the last analysis a good patriot is a good man—one who fears God, honours the King, is true to himself, his home and his fellow countrymen. It is the patriot's business to strengthen the institutions by which the nation is built up—the family, the Church and the State. It is in the family that each one receives his better self and learns that truth and justice and love of God and neighbour are the solid pillars of human happiness and virtue. The Church has her divinely-appointed work and no less has the State its divinely-authorised .sphere of activity. "In each of these institutions was Sir Joseph Ward found faithful. Affectionate by nature, he loved intensely his Irish parents, his wife pnd home and children. His devotion to his God, his Saviour and his Church never failed or faltered. Only truth can make met free, and only righteousness can serve as an everlasting foundation for a nation's greatness. In vain will our numbers grow and our lines of commerce lengthen out, if we ourselves decay and lose firm grasp of ■ the spiritual realities, that make the worth and the honour of human life. Sir Joseph—and I epeak of him as I know him in a close friendship of 26 years —was always reverent an', obedient to his God; he trusted in his Saviour; he possessed a simple, childlike faith in the Church's teaching, and he joined to a beautiful spirit of prayer an ; ever-practical devotion to his religious duties. On the several occasions I visited him during the last few months at Rotorua, I was deeply edified by his Christian fortitude in suffering, his fervent spirit of prayer and his consolation in the Sacraments which he received week by week; he was meeting death like a true soldier of Christ.

Ennobled by Suffering. "Of his devoted and lifelong service to the State there is no need for me to speak, and I content myself with saying that a career like his should remind us all to think with gratitude of the splendid services given to this favoured land by our pul-.c men in Parliament and on public bodies, and should inspire the young New Zealander with the noble ambition to serve his fellows. "It was well that sorrow, deep sorrow, should have visitea the home of Sir Joseph Ward, that reverses and disappointments should have come to him in his public career, as it is well they should come to every son of Adam, for without them and the suffering they brought, the deepest chords of his nature would never have been touched, to their finest music. "Thus did Sir Joseph live out his life, in reverence for God, in love for his home, in service of his country, until death came with gentle summons to bring the aged frame to rest. We may well hope—Christian faith bids us hope —and this is the burden of our prayer to-day, that as the light of earth faded from his eyes it did but melt into the tender radiance that falls from the eternal throne of God, for 'if our earthly house of. this habitation be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven'."