OTHER CHURCHES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10043, 23 May 1898, Page 5

OTHER CHURCHES.

In St. Michael's Church last evening, coupled with the festival of the Ascension, the death of Mr Gladstone was commemorated. Previous to the service the organist, Mr Wells, played Chopin's "Funeral March." Special services were read. The anthem "Blessed are the departed," from Spohr's "Last Judgment," was sung, and the "Dead March" was also played at the conclusion of the service. The Rev. A. W. Averill took as his text H. Kings, ii., 3, "Knowest thou- not that the Lord will take away the Master from thy head to-day? And he said yea, I know it; hold ye your peace." He said that to young and old the name of Mr Gladstone in religious and political circles had been a household word. In the region of politics men would always differ; but in passing judgment on any great politician every true man should seek to look beyond the mere wordy strife of politics to the deeper life and motives of him they judge. A fierce light beats on all prominent political men. It was well it was so, for they needed purity, honesty, uprightness, and conscientiousness in such men. Few would dare say these qualities were lacking in Mr Gladstone. In his day Mr Gladstone had done more for religion than any other layman. Who could measure the influence of the*_mipie faith of such a man in these days of doubt and scepticism? He was intimately connected with the Church of New Zealand. Born in the same year as Bishop Selwyn, he was also at Eton with him, where they were constant "and firm friends. It might be said that the prominence given to the lay element in the government of colonial churches was mainly due to Mr Gladstone's advice to belwyn. It was on his advice also that the basis of the constitution of the Church of New Zealand was formed. He showed, in a time of great perplexity, that tlie right course to pursue was on the'basis of "voluntary compact," thereby giviug to the colonial Church the right to govern itself. At St. John's, Latimer square, the church was crowded to the doors last night on the occasion "of-the sermen on the late Mr Gladstone, preached by the Rev. H. CM. Watsou. The service was special and appro-: priate, and at the conclusion the organist, Mr T. F. Faulkener. played the "Dead March in Said." The vicar took for his text I. Chi-on. xii., 32—"And of the children of Issachar, which were men that 'had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do. - . And all' then- brethren were at their commandment.*" He said that Mr Gladstone's personality was not simple, but cioniplex and hard to understand. He had been closely identified with English public life for upwards 0 f sixty .years, and during that period had dealt Avith many deeply agitated questions, and had passed through every stage of politics, Tory, Peelite, Conservative, 'Whig, Liberal, and Radical. He was, his friends affirmed, consistent and .. deeply conscientious. A fuller knowledge of hidden political life he might demonstrate his sincerity to all. He- was.associated with some public events which stay in the memory of Englishmen to this day- Amongst others the Boer capitulation and the death of General. Gordon, the greatest Englishman of the century. Within the sphere of politics he had been described as an opportunist- But when they spoke of him as a man they spoke as with one voice. His physical endurance, his varied acquirements, his* marvellous eloquence, his tremendous influence, were all points wJiich they must admire. He was, if not a humanitarian, yet a lover of mankind, and did not use. them as too many Liberals did, .as political counters in the game of politics. He was conscientiously just, and strove to do right to those whom he may have wronged. Above all, he was devoutly religious, and this it was that made him a theologian, and gave him a firm hold over the hearts of Englishmen and women of all denominations. At St. Luke's the vicar, in the course-of his sermon at Matins, referred briefly to the national loss sustained by the death of the late Mr Gladstone, and eulogised his career, more especially as a Christian and a churchman. At evensong "The Dead March in Saul" was played. At St. Mary's, Merivale, the Rev. H. Airay Watson* officiated. Speulfcmg of the death of Mr Gladstone, he asked why was Mr Gladstone so great a man? First, because "he was God-fearing. And the fear of God quenched all pettiness and made such self-negation possible as shone forth when he made peace after Majuba Hill, a tiling a little man would not hate dared. So in politics he was kept pure and disinterested. Then the fear of God led him on to value the "precious loan of time. Again, the busiest, the most hard-woriang of men in any part of tlie world, found time for daily public worship. . The service ended with hymn 289, "Days and moments quickly flying," sung during the collection, and after the blessing Beethoven's "Funeral March" was played, all the congregation standing. At St. Barnaoas, Fendalton; the Rev. Canon Stack said, speaking on the dearth of Mr Gladstone, that in an age when so many excuse their rejection of the Bible as a Divine revelation, and of Jesus Christ as the

Incarnate God, on the ground of the intellectual difficulties which stood in the way of their accepting them, it was a matter for devout thankfulness that a man gifted with an intellect of such exceptional power should, throughout his long life, have held s8 firmly to the Christian creed. That which in Mr Gladstone appeared especially to challenge Cliristian homage and admiration -was not the possession of high intellectual power, but its consecration to the service of God. However much they might differ in their estimate of the deceased statesman's political career, they could all unite in thanking God for the grace given to him to witness a good confession of faith. At the conclusion of the sermon the hymn ■ "Days and moments" was sung, after which the congregation continued standing while "The Dead March in Saul" was played. At St. Mark's, Opawa. the Yen. Arch- i deacon Cholmondeley, in his sermon yesterday morning, said Mr Gladstone's claim to the honour and affection of his countrymen was that he was for the whole of his long life a laborious and gifted worker both in the field of knowledge and in the more actiye sphere of public life. He had left bein.fd him the example of untiring industry, of rare powers, of brilliant genius, of steadfast endeavour to "serve his own generation by the will of God." It was his high privilege to guide the destiny of the nation during many dilScult and dangerous years, not always without hesitancy and without mistakes, not to be referred to here, but still on the whole with a wise hand and a large heart and sympathetic spirit. Their life, indeed, is cast far away from the country in which Mr Gladstone" had been a unique personality for more than sixty years, but the great ocean that rolled between them and their mother-land did not quench m them their sense of brotherhood. The affecting message of grief for the life that 1 ad sutik to rest at Hawarden surely made them feel that while the accidents of life, such as wealth, and rank, and power, and culture, sever men, yet that they were bound together in brotherhood by the deeper unities of love, joy, sorrow, duty, faith, fife, death, and the eternal life beyond. At the conclusion of the service the "Dead March in Saul" was played. At St. Matthew's, St. Albans, the Yen. Archdeacon Thorpe preached at the morning service from John xiv., 1 to 3—"l go to prepare a place for you," and at its close paid an eloquent tribute to the personal character of the great statesman. After the Benediction the "Dead March" was played, the congregation standing. Mr R. Lake was the organist. In the evening the vicar preached a memorial service from 11. Sam. iii., 38, "Know ye not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel. The preacher's theme was "Lessons from the life of Gladstone." There was a large congregation. At the morning service at Saint Saviour's, Sydenham, the Rev. E. A. Scott, who pieached, drew attention to tJhe singular coincidence that one of the lessons appointed for the day contained the story of the death of Moses, the greatest of Jewish statesmen." Alluding to Mr Gladstone he said he held him out as a bright example as the champion of the poor and oppressed, the __vocate of arbitration in place of war, and as a man of enormous industry. He spoke of the purity of his htome and private ine as a sincere Cliristian and a devoted Churchman, asserting that his faith stood by him in deatili as well as in life. Special hymns were sung, and at the conclusion of the service the congregation stood up during the playing of the "Dead March." At St., Andrew's Church the Rev. Gordon Webster preached in the morning from Zachariah, chap, i., sth verse—"Your fathers where are they? the prophets did they live for ever?" He said Mr Gladstone had often been called the foremost champion of liberty in the world.' With equal justice he might be recognised as the foremost champion of the Christian religion. It was as a champion of the Church that he began his career. This work had first been opened to him in his youth by the Christian Church in a Christian State, and in his later years he had devoted himself almost entirely to defending, vindicating, and commending the Cliristian gospel and the Christian Uhurch in all its branches. Not merely did he do this in his leisure years, but when he was doing the work of many men in politics, and no matter how absorbed in politics he might be he never failed to give his testimony for the Christian faith, and to strike a blow at the enemies of .the faith. He referred in this connection' to the magnificent vindication of Christianity which he had delivered as Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh, when Chancellor in Lord Palmerston's Government, and again twenty years after as Lord Rector in Glasgow, both of which the speaker had had the privilege of listening to. All through the sixty years of his public life Christianity had been attacked as it had never been attacked before by the representatives of learning and intellect, yet never once had this great man, whose colossal intellect was admitted by all, wavered or hesitated. Mr Gladstone began in a somewhat narrow and conservative mode and broadened out, becoming more and more in sympathy with Liberty and progress as the years passed, until in his later years there was practically no limit to his sympathy with opinions of freedom and progress except that it must always be constitutional "liberty. It was common to say that he was a great Home Minister but weak in his foreign policy. In a superficial sense that was true, but only in a superficial sense. In one respect he was one of the strongest men England has had in her relations to the outside world, because he was the one man who had the ear of the whole world, and could speak to the head of every nation and move the masses of the people. At St. Paul's Presbyterian Church the Rev. Dr. Elmslie referred briefly to the death <*f Mr Gladstone. He spoke as to the heavy loss which the nation had sustained by the removal of one who had for so many years held a prominent place in her counsels. A tribute was paid to the greatness of his character and to the religion which proved so great and integral part of it. -Special hymns were sung, and at the conclusion of the service "The Dead March in Saul" was played by the organist, Mr Davis Hunt. At the Durham street Methodist Church last evening the Rev. Wm. Morley, in the course of his sermon (the text of which was taken from Psalm Ixxxvii., 4-6) made touching reference to Mr Gladstone. He said that, like John Bright, Cobden, Wilberforce, and Lord Salisbury, Mr Gladstone had always combined his patriotism witu piety, and to that fact was due, in a veiy large measure, his usefulness to the nation, if not to the world. As a political leader through all his career he wore the white flower of a blameless life. The preacher also eulogised his defence of God's Holy Word, and made reference to the honest manner in which he had denounced everything vile. The choir, under the direction of Mr H. Johnson, sang Tennyson's "Crossing the bar," an_ "The Dead March in .Saul" was played by the organist, Mr R. T. Searell. There was a large congregation at the Sydenham Wesleyan Church last night. The Rey. H. Bull conducted the service, and took for his text Job v., 26th verse: "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." After going over a short history of some of the most noticeable actions in Mr, Gladstone's life, the preacher dealt very fully with the part the great statesman had played in the cause of (~ft*ri_4ia_d-y. At the close of his address the whole of the congregation rose while a brief prayer was offered for the bereaved wife and family. During the service "The Dead March in Saul" was played, and the choir sang "Vital Spark." At Trinity Congregational Church memorial services for Mr Gladstone were conducted by the Pastor, Rev. Sidney J. Baker. At the morning service an address was given to the children and young people from 11. Sam., iii., 38—"Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel," while the sermon was based on Psa. lxi., 14—17. At the evening service, at which there was a very large congregation, Mr Baker spoke from 11. Tim., iv., 7—'"l have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." He spoke of Mr Gladstone's generous and passionate sympathy with the oppressed, as shown in the social reforms effected at Home, and his powerful intervention on behalf of subject and despoiled races abroad. Closely allied with this was a kindred quality, his love of justice. It was this yearning for justice to be done that made him often the perplexity of his friends and the confusion of his foes. Politics with Gladstone was a sacred vocation, which he sought to discharge with a clear conscience. He was a devoted Christian. Specially selected hymns were snog, the anthem being "Now thel__bo_rer's Task is O'er." The service oonoladed with

the "Dead March,'' played by the organist, Mr A. M. Owen. At the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church yesterday morning, the Rev. J, J. Doke spoke of Mr Gladstone as one of God's great men. Whatever views might be held with regard to political questions, and however much the supremacy of those vi.ws might have been allowed, in the 6tress of battle, to obscure men's judgment of him, yet in a calm review of the elements of his wonderful life, his brilliant talents, versatile genius, profound learning, splendid honesty, and masterful statemanship, no one, save the bitterest of ignorant partisans, could withhold from him that well-deserved title. He was a great man whose mind and character, in their wonderfid completeness, stood, perhaps, unrivalled in the history of the British race. Gladstone was also, emphatically, God's man. So long as his name was reu*embered, the lie would be given to any who might affirm that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His miracles and revelation, was a synonym for intellectual weakness. The greatest mind of the century, the statesman towards whom the world w*as accustomed to look with expectancy in its times of need, tho metaphysical student whose knowledge of literature was encyclopedic, based his eternal hope with unhesitating faith.on what he termed "the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture" and its gospel of salvation through Christ. At the Pro-Cathedral the Rev. Father Le Menant dcs Chesnais, S.M., V.G.. who preached at eleven o'clock high mass, said they all deeply lamented the death of Mr Gladstone, one of the most eminent of statesmen. By his wise and able statesmauship he had contributed more perhaps thau any other man in his day to the peace and prosperity of the British Empire. As Catholics they owed him a deep debt of gratitude for what they believed to have been an honest endeavour te procure a fair measure of justice to Ireland, and they were in earnest sympathy with their fellow colonists in their expression of their condolence with his bereaved family. Throughout the whole Empire his loss would be long felt and his memory never forgotten, and in a tribute of honour to the memory of one whose surpassing genius and stainless honesty of purpose would secure him for ever a first place in tho glorious ranks of illustrious statesmen. At the close of the service Miss Funston played the " Dead March in Saul." At St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church the Rev. Father Marnane, preaching in the evening, said that in losing Mr Gladstone England had lost one of her greatest statesmen and the civilised world a true friend. The whole story of his life formed an example upon which the young men of today might well model their own. Mr Gladstone had always raised his voice and used his pen in the interests of suffering humanity. He had worked nobly in the cause of Ireland and in the cause too of Armenia against the atrocities of the Turks. The Sultan of Turkey would bear for ever the name that Gladstone had given him, the name of ''Great Assassin." They would all, he was sure, unite in condolence and sympathy with Mrs Gladstone and her family. The " Dead March in Saul " was played by the organist after both morning and evening masses. At St. Stephen's Church, Ashburton, the Vicar, Rev. Thos. A. Hamilton, speaking of Mr Gladstone, commenced by quoting the first portion of the leading article appearing in the Christchurch Press on Friday morning, and then dwelt upon the nobly religious, unselfish and useful life of the great scholar, poet, statesman, philosopher and Christian, whose death every Britisher was now deeply mourning. At the conclusion of the sermon Mrs Bowman Fox, the organist, played the Dead March in Saul. It is proposed to hold a special memorial service on one evening this week. In v the various churches at Lyttelton yesterday, reference was made to the death of Mr Gladstone, speoial stress being laid upon the religious aspect of his character.