THE LATE BISHOP HARPER.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9873, 2 November 1897, Page 3

THE LATE BISHOP HARPER.

UNVEILING THE MEMORIAL.

Yesterday was All Saints D.-iy, and the feast of the dedication of the Cathedral. At 8 a.ra. Holy Communion was celebrated, and at 11 a.m. Matins were hold. At 7.30 p.m. there was Choral Evensong, when the recumbent marble figure of the late Primate, Bishop Harper, was unveiled. There was a very large audience, and a large number of the clergy in vestments wero present. The service was Calkin in B flat, and the lessons were read by the Yen. Archdeacon Lingard and the Rev. Canon Knowles. Before the anthem the choir, the clergy, the Chancellor of the diocese, and his Lordship the Bishop gathered round the veiled monument, and his Lordship said— " Dear brethren in the Lord, we are taugh* in God's Holy Word that the memory of th« just is blessed, and that the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance. Wherefore it is our purpose to unveil thie monument of Henry John Chitty Harper, the late revered Bishop of this diocese and Primate of the Church of the Province oJ New Zealand, that standing hero or in the completed choir of this Cathedral as a witness of our affection ifc may serve to remind us and our children after us of his gracious and faithful life. Let us therefore praise God for His mercies vouchsafed to this His servant, and pray that we may have grace to follow his good example." The congregation took part in saying the 16th Psalm. His Lordship offered up a special prayer. The statue was then unveiled by the Rev. Canon Harper and Mr H. Slater, the Chancellor of the Diocese. The choir sang the anthem by Stainer, " What are these arrayed in white robes," after which they resumed their seats in the choir, and hia Lordship ascended the pulpit. He said that in the xiii. chapter of Acts, at the 36th verse, were the words, "David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God fell on sleep." The day was a great one, his Lordship said, as the festival of the rank and file of the army of the Chuich of God. They did not recall the names of great leaders whj had fought manfully, but I they remembered the vast multitude of men [and* women and children, whose names weto unknown save to Him who knew everyone, who fought the good fight and kept the faith. Moreover, it wae specially interesting to the Churchmen of the Diocese of Christchurch, for it was the festival of the dedication of their church, and it brought with it another interest for everyone, as they had unveiled the memorial to one whose name would be ever intimately bound up with the foundation of the diocese and the building of the church, and it was this which might give direction to their thoughts that night. St. Paul described David as one who served his generation, and his Lordship went on to show that the men who served their generation first learned to serve God. All that was good, true and noble and enduring in modern altruism and the philanthropic talk of the present day was to be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ himself; the saints of the Lord were those who could resist the drift of modern times, who were a rock for the weary to rest upon and shelter under, a rallying point for the weak. Such were those who served their generation as spoken of by St. Paul. And, continued his Lordship, " What words could I find that more aptly represent the life of him whose monument we have unveiled. He served hie own generation, and what a generation' it was. It has almost passed away now. Those Canterbury Pilgrims; those men of the early times, who came here with great hopes, great courage, with large faith, and perhaps, if you will, with great illusions. When they came here and sought a Bishop of their own, they found him in that saintly man of God who passed away from us in the last few years. They found one who went out and in among them, who knew them, who loved them, who shared their early trials and hardships, who travelled up and down the country sparing never himself, who lived with them through the years and watched the changes that came upon the little community and the growing city and the province he loved, and shaped himself in coming years by the Grace of God to understand the conditions of the new times in which he was called to live, and to understand the necessities of those days and of the Church which he was called to lead. There he lived, and I, who knew him only in his last days, loved him well. I knew what life was his, because I knew how old men and old women here in Canterbury, who had lived with him and by him, and watched him from earliest days, I knew how they loved him, how they respected him, and I knew that a man who had woo such confidence was indeed a man amongst men. And shall he ever be forgotten 1 God forbid. Again and again, as we look upon that touching memorial of the loved Bishop of Christchurch, we shall remember the words he spoke and the work he did, and the kindly face which looked down upon us. We shall tell our children of him and of his services, and it may be when we think of the great aims which occupied his mind and heart, we, unworthy children though we be, shall set ourselvee to fulfil something of those aims, and Jto carry on the work somewhat as he would have done. Bishop Lightfoot, in one of his essays, speaking of those j of whom it is said God's heroes are made, says '—'There is indeed vouchsafed to the steady, progressive growth of a career which has known no abrupt transition, and in which the days are bound each to each by natural piety, a calm wisdom, a clear insight and an impressive influence unattainable on any other terms. . Might not these words be written on that monument ? Do they not tell the very man himself, a calm wiedom, a clear insight, an impressive influence attained , through the grace of God by a life of constant! 1 piety. And so it was that with the saints of God Bishop Harper served his generation, and by the will of God when hie time was come he fell on sleep. Aye, sleep on, my brother; God give thee rest and refreshment; sleep on, for thy work is done ; sleep on until the Christ Himself shall wake thee at His great day." The monument, which was viewed by nearly every member of the congregation before they left the Cathedral, bore the following inscription:— " Henry John Chitty Harper, D.D., first Bishop of Christchurch, 1856-1890 ; Primate of New Zealand. Born January 9th, 1803, died December 28th, 1893. Iα peace, Deo Gratias."